Today, I’d like to take a look at my current ideas, plans, and growth potential, in a way that doesn’t reflect on my New Year’s Resolutions and my typical end-of-month check in. It’s not so much a life-update, but a statement of intention.
With that, let us salute… to General Breakdown.
- COVID-19: More and more people are rebelling against the face mask… and more and more people are begging them to not. Most restaurants are operating, as is my gym, and movie theatres are planning on reopening next month across the country. Social distancing is being practiced, and wearing face masks are required in most places. I am hoping that people will be strict on the face mask policy. Spikes in cases are being seen with the reopening of society, but that’s too be expected. We can only hope that it doesn’t expand too much.
- Makeup Experiment: I’ve been working on the makeup, sharpening each look to make it look better with practice. I’ve had very positive results with contouring, lip reshaping, and better foundation coverage. Along with that, I tried one of the tutorials for eye makeup earlier this week and it was IMPRESSIVE. I am excited to see the end result!
- Fitness Goals: I’ve completed Couch25K, and I’ve continued to do a 5K twice a week. I’d like to bump it up to three. I discovered at the gym that running on a treadmill is so much different than running on the road. I am not good at running on a treadmill! I’d like to change that. On a similar note, I’d like to start reincorporating strength-training into my routine. I’d like to go to the gym to muscle train three to four days a week, at least the three days where I do my 5K runs. On the non-5K days, I want to do bodyweight strength training at home, and then start Couch25K on the treadmill at the gym. I think that will put me in even better shape!
- Quarantine Productivity: It’s been mostly non-productive, and here’s a kicker: I’m okay with that. I want to focus all my energy into two or three things, not ten. I do want to learn new languages, and new skills. That said, I set out to hit fifteen thousand steps a day while I’m twenty six (excluding sick days). At my pace, that’s about two and a half hours of stepping! This past week I managed to hit fifteen thousand steps by taking a walk almost every day after work. It was lovely! If I take an hour to enjoy dinner, do some chores and relax with Aaron, along with taking an hour long walk, that gives me about an hour and a half of free time. If I use that half hour to wash my face, that gives me an hour to kick back and enjoy some “me time.” That will really help my mental sanity. Maybe I’ll take another look at those goals if we have to go back into a hardcore lockdown. Never say never!
- American History: I just want to take this down for prosperity’s sake. The Black Lives Matter movement has gone full force. There are riots and protests and marches demanding justice and police reform. The police officer who killed George Floyd was charged with murder, but Breyona Taylor’s killers remain at large (one has been fired. For killing a woman. He was fired. Not arrested. Fired). That said, yesterday was June 19th, or “Juneteenth,” a day commemorating the day that slaves in Texas were told of their freedom, by way of the Emancipation Proclamation… two years prior. It’s looking like it might become a federal holiday! I would like to see that happen, in exchange for Columbus Day. Most people on the “left” side of the things are in opposition to our president, Donald Trump, and his handling of the demand for police reform. Many are eager to vote him out in November. The current frontrunner is Joe Biden, who was Barack Obama (our previous president)’s vice president. Joe Biden has a past of both being too handsy with female associates (even one going so far as to accuse him of assault), but was also an instrumental part of sexual and domestic violence reform as a senator. I’m interested to see how the coronavirus impacts the election season this year. I keep seeing a Biden ad when I pull up Youtube videos, and in the ad the subtitles say (I’m paraphrasing), “I am asking you to vote” when Biden clearly says “I am asking you for vote.” A lot of people say Biden is too old to be president, and that ad makes me concerned, too. Like… you didn’t want to get another take of that? That says more about Biden’s team than Biden, though. I want to see Biden’s sexual assault allegations addressed, and I want to see how President Trump evaluates his time as president the past four years, and how he wants the next four to play out with him continuing with a second term as president. We will see.
And that’s what you missed on “Glee!” OH, SHOOT. “GLEE.” Lea Michele, best known for playing Rachel Berry on “Glee,” was outright declared a “diva” and borderline racist. After tweeting out support for the BLM movement, a woman of color who was part of the supporting cast called her out for micro-aggressive behavior and bullying her on set. Two other women of color who co-starred with Lea subtweeted confirmations of witnessing this behavior. Lea apologized for previous actions, but other stories trickled out of occasions where she was unkind, condescending, or rude to other people in her line of work. A few weeks ago I shared how much I loved Rachel Berry’s wardrobe on “Glee,” and I always had a soft spot for Lea Michele. After hearing these stories, I am bummed. I figured that she would have some sort of superiority complex, for being the little girl with the big voice. A rightfully earned ego, like Mariah Carey. Being aware of her talent and expecting excellence at all times was something that would make sense. THIS out-pour of unkindness was not what I had expected. I hope she turns the other cheek!
That’s it for a check-in/life update. I’ll see how things progress!