Here we are, the final week of May and the final installment of my quarantine diaries. I’m not sure if I learned much during these past few months while writing these, other than that during difficult times it’s nice to have art and entertainment that can offer you some level of comfort. I suppose I also learned that even if the entertainment industry shuts down the way it has recently, there’s still enough content out there to keep you satisfied until the end of time. Like, it’s a little weird that there’ve barely been any notable movies to get released this year, and yet I’ve had a rewarding enough time revisiting older movies these past few months that I’ve barely been affected. Still, as we transition out of this period, it will be nice to go to movies and concerts again, though let’s hope the venues for these communal experiences will even be able to survive.

So yeah, things are a little grim and the future is quite uncertain, but for now, here’s the last bunch of things that have been getting me through quarantine. Continue reading →

These posts are starting to feel a little more like a chore each week, so I think next week will be my last installment of Colin’s Quarantine Diaries. Not sure if I (or anyone else on the blog) will feel compelled to write much on here after that, though I suppose we have Criterion Month coming up in July, which weirdly isn’t that far away.

I’m not sure that things have quite started shifting back to normal, though it’s probably more likely that this is the case if you don’t live in a big city. But for me, the past week has seemed to be a lot of talking about transitioning towards normal rather than any action being taken to do so. Which is fine. Everybody being a little cautious about when is the right time to start living life in the outside world again is by no means a bad thing, especially when there seem to be plenty of people that are more than happy to throw precaution by the wayside. I, however, was not one of those people this week, since I spent just as much time inside watching movies and TV and listening to music as ever. Continue reading →

Each week in these intros, I try to find something remarkable about the past week. Though this week, not much is coming to mind. Well, other than all the bad stuff that’s going on. I suppose yesterday was mother’s day, though I don’t think many people managed to have typical mother’s days, and if they did they probably shouldn’t feel great about it. But I can’t point too much blame on people who are trying to have some semblance of actual human contact with the people they love. It’s hard. It’s all hard, and if we get to see our friends or family soon, that will be swell. But for now, there’s still the comfort of music and movies and whatnot. Continue reading →

I’m not sure how long I’ll be doing these quarantine posts, since it seems that we’ve started the slow transition into normal life (for better or for worse). Maybe another week or so will suffice, but whatever the case, it’ll at least be nice to have some sort of document of this weird 2+ months spent cooped up inside. Also, this week barely felt like there was much return to normalcy. I may have seen more people out and walking than usual, though that may be due to the weather more than any new assurance that this virus is no longer a threat. Hell, maybe my quarantine diaries will come back in the fall with a new iteration of the coronavirus. Though as much as these do keep me writing stuff on the blog, let’s hope not.

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It’s pretty strange that it’s basically May already, which means that it’s basically Summer already. It’s hard to say what the effects of missing out on all of Spring by spending it in doors will be. I suspect it’ll just cause 2020 be a very unmemorable year, despite the fact that it has been a year that has seen us living through most unusual circumstances. That said, if you’re not a healthcare or essential worker, then these have mostly been a mundane couple months of sitting indoors playing Animal Crossing or watching Tiger King or however you’ve chosen to spend these housebound weeks and months. Anyways, here’s what I did with some of my hours this week… Continue reading →

I found that this was the week I found myself thinking about the “before times” a lot more. Just the experience of what it used to be like to go out to restaurants and see movies and hang out with friends without being their inadvertent murderer by way of an infectious virus. I know we’re still at least weeks away from any sort of transition towards normalcy, but it does feel like we’re on the verge of slowly walking down the mountain of sadness that this whole period has been rather than constantly ascending it. Continue reading →