Playlists and Other Silliness

It’s been a little over a month since the NBA season was shutdown due to COVID-19 – with the subsequent chain reaction simultaneously transforming the world into one of self-isolation, social distancing, and the occasional hoarding of toilet paper. Where does the time go? Well, as far as I can tell, the same place it always goes. But maybe with a mask these days.

And as these days become weeks, and now a new month, the new normal is becoming seemingly more normal every day. Or maybe that’s just me. As I’ve mentioned before, my routine hasn’t actually changed all that much. Plus, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying making my mini-movies (for a minimal audience), learning new software online – or learning new tools for not-so-new software, and going out on the bike (with or without the wind) as much as I can. Cycling and social distancing continue to go together well. Of course, there are challenges. My tendency towards independence means I didn’t particularly enjoy having staff at Bulk Barn scoop my purchases for me the other day but I suspect they don’t particularly enjoy it either. Either way, I fully appreciate the caution.

I also didn’t particularly enjoy the 72 hours straight which I spent indoors this past week. I didn’t plan it. It just kind of happened. And, I guess it’s not accurate to say I didn’t enjoy it. I mean, I didn’t NOT enjoy it. I just got sucked into a project on the computer and, whoosh, the hours flew by. Normally, I would have escaped on the bike for a little breather or two at some point but the winds were so strong for many of those hours that I suspected going for a ride wouldn’t have had any of the usual relaxing benefits it typically does. That said, when I did finally go out on the bike again it was glorious. Like a whole new world was before me. Ha. In a way, it kind of was! Every day.

Speaking of the new world, I remember going into a grocery store shortly after all this silliness started and shaking my head in disbelief at the empty shelves that once held flour. I remember finding it amusing that apparently the coronavirus was turning people into bakers. Well, fast-forward a few weeks later and I now find it amusing that I’m seriously considering embarking down the mysterious path of homemade sourdough. To a limited degree anyway. Unfortunately, I lack the necessary Dutch oven needed to make bread (from my research at least, it seems a Dutch oven is the way to go) but apparently sourdough pancakes and sourdough banana bread are very much possible. In either case, I will need a sourdough starter which apparently takes 5-6 days. Not sure if this plan will happen and/or work out but I was able to get my hands on some flour (from a seemingly reputable unmarked van parked on the outskirts of the city) so, in theory, I’m on my way.

Completely unrelated, I’ve been listening to more music lately than I usually do … well, mostly in the background which means I tend to tune it out most of the time as my mind gets focused on other things. However, as I wait for the weather to become more Miata-friendly, I did make it through my entire “Mark’s Miata Music” collection – a collection which began 20 years ago and grew to 43 CDs before playlists took over. Since then, many playlists have been created. Usually for each road trip I went on.

Speaking of playlists, they’re kind of a funny thing. For me, most of them are just a collection of songs I want to listen to. Obviously. But sometimes they have a theme. Of course, depending on the them, those “themed” playlists frequently contain a bunch of songs which FEEL like they support the theme but actually have little (or nothing) to do with said theme. For example, I decided (like I’m sure many other people) to create a coronavirus-themed playlist. Not surprisingly, I don’t have a lot of songs in my library that specifically speak to COVID-19 and/or our current world of self-isolation and social distancing. But there are more than a few titles (or perhaps lines within the lyrics) which sound like they do. And voilà … a playlist is born. And in keeping with the whole COVID-19 thing, it seemed fitting to have 19 tracks. Admittedly, some my choices may be deemed a bit a marginal. But it’s my list, which I reserve the right to alter at any point. And, in keeping with Corona Virus Disease 2019 (aka. COVID-19), I’ve unoriginally named said list “Corona Virus Playlist 2019” (aka. COVIP-19, although, given that I just made this list I guess technically it should be COVIP-20 … but that kind of confuses things). Either way, here it is (I’ve never posted a playlist so hopefully this actually works):

I have to say, I was greatly torn as to which version of “We’ll Meet Again” to use. In the end, I went with Los Lobos’ version (of which I just heard the other day) because the tone seemed to match the theme better … but I’m also a fan of the original by Vera Lynn:

And yes, I’ll likely compile a playlist for when all this silliness is over. Some day. I mean, why not? Maybe it’ll start with Vera Lynn’s version.

Oh, and speaking of dogs (yeah, I know … we weren’t, but I’m out of segues), my favourite dog ever (aka. Jack) posted a very “Jack” photo to his Instagram account the other day. Since it’s in keeping with the “Other Silliness” theme of this post, I thought I’d include it here. Granted, my amusement from this photo could be greatly swayed by my opinion of the aforementioned dog.