It's Been Forever Since We Last Talked

Updates and links

Well, it has been quite some time since I last wrote. Where was I? What was I doing?

(Note this is about to be a longish update but links to stories are at bottom if that’s what you’re in the mood for. Just scroll down :D)

So right after the last newsletter I started my new job. I’ve worked before and have cockily said how good I was at writing even when I had a full-time job. I didn’t think I’d have any trouble posting once a day even with a new schedule.

Here’s the thing, this was retail, something I had not done in a very long time. So I had forgotten what it was like. I didn’t even consider that it might have an effect on my productivity. 

I was wrong. 

The commute is an hour and a half on a regular day, an hour if everything goes perfect. I used the time to sketch or read the news. Sketching was a way better option. News be bleak you guys. But after missing my stop not one, not two, but THREE times I decided it was smarter to simply listen to a book and keep my laser focus on the outside world. Though someone suggested I set a timer if I plan to lose myself in writing or drawing so will give that a try one day.

Then there was the actual work. It’s not backbreaking  but it is like any other service job that you aren’t passionate about. Lots of trying to sell things that you don’t believe in, lots of small mindless tasks to do when not busy if you want to show the boss that you are a valuable employee, and lots of products to constantly resize and learn about so you don’t look like a fool. In one word, it's boring.

All of that I could take. The thing that I found most draining, though I didn’t realize it at the time, was the music. The constant din of sound for 7-9 hours a day was driving me absolutely insane. I couldn’t escape it, not even when I went to the bathroom to find relief. It was still present in the break room. Of course if I ventured out into the mall proper there was no silence to be had. It’s a mall, after all.

So for 3 weeks I sort went blank. I did the work on auto-pilot. Coming home I only wanted one thing. Quiet. Pure alone time. If I arrived home by six I might make dinner. Though to be honest I’d started to rely on cans of corn (which I love) and apples. 

I wished I had more time to write. And like making a wish on a cursed monkey’s paw I got it. My store closed down, as all non-essential businesses were required to do. So there I was, with all the time in the world. 

And I could not think of anything to write. 

So I rewrote older pieces that had not done well in their original form. I worked on them, editing content to tighten the jokes and ideas I hadn’t quite nailed down the first time. Some received better feedback the second time around, others did not. Still, I was getting back on that writing horse.

Then when I did create new humor it was all…well, there was a theme. I won’t lie and say I’m not afraid of the current state of the world. I think my work reflected that, as I sought out ways to make the virus and the being shut-in more less scary. Finding humor in the situation is how I’ve always managed to cope.

Most of my days while away from work have been spent writing and learning. Skillshare and other online learning platforms are getting most of my attention. I filled one sketchbook with very ugly lettering. Another is almost full of very ugly “realistic” hand and figure drawing. Thank goodness for my tablet to work on shading, otherwise I would have wasted lots of paint and ink while being very bad.

Perhaps I’ve been teaching myself to be a better artist because I could sense which way the wind was blowing a week into being forced home.

Today I got the call. I’m not fired, no one is. But until further notice there will be no work or salary, so we should find other avenues for paying rent.

Luckily I was able to do lots of small things these last two weeks. So rent will be paid. Partially thanks money saved from that steady check. Partially thanks to random side projects I managed to grab. And partially thanks to some of you, for reading and supporting my humor writing even as I took a step back.

I’m not really sure what comes now. I am focused on writing more topics outside of sickness and quarantine. I’m focused on producing better work outside of Medium. I want to find a part-time job for this month. I shall talk to friends and family more. And I shall remember how lucky I am to have what I have.

I also need to find more recipes to use up the pile of bean cans I have in my cupboard.

Links to new pieces from this month: 

When cross stitch phrases reflect your growing anxiety during a pandemic.

Some unusual DIY craft kits for adults when the weaving looms are sold out on Etsy.

Classic literature if the illness in the text was the coronavirus.

A surprisingly popular look at if social media existed during the bubonic plague.

Nonexistent apps that would make social media bearable during an election year.

Some famous shut-ins from literature teach you how to make the best of your situation.

Other writers I enjoy:

Alex Baia is one of the editors of Slackjaw, a humor publication on Medium. Besides being extremely funny, as seen in this piece about that person who claps once for your Medium story, he is one of the key organizers of this comedy writing contest coming up with a ton of cash prizes. Click here for more information about that contest.

Shani Silver is a writer I’ve followed for a long time who writes wonderful essays and humor. Sometimes combined. This one about the subscription boxes she will bequeath to her loved ones is very good.

Thank you for reading,

Kyrie