So, it happened. I turned yet another year older last week.
As some of you may know, it has long been a tradition of mine to Google the sentence “-year-old woman” with my new number typed in at the start, and to share the results here.
Frankly, though, given the fact that we’re experiencing an actual pandemic, there are enough scary headlines on the web right now without having to freak myself out about my advancing age.
This coronavirus is turning out to be no joke, and to be perfectly honest, it’s hard not to feel a bit frightened about where it might go.
The only comforting piece of information I can find to cling to is that I was already practicing what the scientists are now calling “social distancing,” way before COVID-19 was a thing.
Aside from work and the far-too-frequent trips to Kroger that my bad meal planning requires, I don’t do a whole lot of interacting even under the healthiest of circumstances.
It’s as though I’ve been preparing for this medical advice my entire life.
Or at least since my slide into hermit-town started around 2017.
Now that we’re being asked to avoid others, all these columns recommending good binge-watches and awesome podcasts don’t seem so bad, do they?
Why, it’s almost like I’m providing a public service in the face of this outbreak.
Just consider me your professional social distancing coach.
Depending on how long it takes to contain the corona problem, this could become a pretty in demand service.
So it’s actually quite generous of me to just give away another suggestion this week. (You can find the others in past columns, at dominionpost.com.)
Here goes:
— “The Outsider,” HBO. If you didn’t watch this series yet, now is the perfect time, as the final episode aired last Sunday. Which means they’re all right there, ready to watch back-to-back, instead of having to wait a full week in between them like I was forced to do. Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, this project features a stellar cast, including Jason Bateman, Ben Mendelsohn, Mare Winningham and Cynthia Erivo. And, of course, given the source material, there’s a nice dose of the supernatural. If you’re jonesing for a King fix, it’s a far less terrifying choice than, say, re-reading “The Stand,” given the current climate.
I certainly hope that sooner, rather than later, you won’t be needing my isolation tips, and we’ll have gotten a handle on this threat, allowing you all to roam freely amongst others again.
I know I’m looking forward to the day when the world goes back to normal, and the absolute most horrifying headline on the internet is “46-Year-Old Woman Gives Birth a Day After Finding Out She’s Pregnant.”
Katie McDowell is the enterprise editor and a lifestyles columnist for The Dominion Post who desperately wants everyone to stay well. Email her at kmcdowell@dominionpost.com.
