Social Distance

I’m making this page in March 2020, while the state of Illinois (among others) is under a shelter-in-place order due to the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. This includes the city of Chicago, where I currently live, which is located on the traditional homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. (Many other tribes such as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, and Fox also called this area home.) As I type this, it is Sunday, March 22nd. I have not left the immediate vicinity of my apartment since Friday, March 13th. Times are strange. My partner, Nic, has been holed up here with me since Sunday, March 15th. So far we both feel healthy, or we feel physically mostly as we usually do, which includes chronic illnesses. I was supposed to have major surgery a couple of days ago; it’s been postponed until August. I’m lucky to still be teaching — once SAIC gets “back” from Spring Break classes will resume in wholly virtual form — and to have Nic here to give me hugs and encouragement, and to have wonderful friends to video chat with, and projects to work on to distract myself. If you, too, are looking for distraction, I thought I’d put some recommendations here.

movies

I’ve been working on a list of my 100 favorite films as of right now, complete with notes on each and streaming links for some: https://letterboxd.com/sidbranca/list/sid-brancas-100-favorite-movies-march-2020/detail/

music

my gender is a playlist (an exploration of my experience of non-binary gender through music): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/72qCJVGdXxGNIL0hpdzOQV

Yee-Haunted (sad and lustful sad queer cowboy energy):
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5EhgS8OgyFnGOehLXmoVBa

when we refuse / six pieds sous terre (a recreation of a mix cd of songs that brought me solace when i felt sad in i think 2014):
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/049Kxnr0w5XL0PVnWxMTsB

and the sea will come to kiss me (a recreation of a mix cd about pining i made in… also 2014 i think?)
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5y4Sy6KfiTeEA8NO79MeZP

Sincerely, L. Cohen (my favorite Leonard Cohen songs): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1loHRcxZwK7OzHobz1eROC

The Wild Kindness (my favorite David Berman/Silver Jews songs):
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1RiHA9Axc15vqZAGyJFbLJ

My Daddy, the Boss (my favorite Bruce Springsteen songs):
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1MAPl5lPrQxgZiOX3pQ1T9