Author: ruthsilveira

Isolation Diary: Visitors today! Maggie, Adam, and Fig. Then dear friends Julie/Roxanne and Richard. Family entered the house, friends stayed outside in the yard. And then later a D&D session. And because of all this activity today, I was able to cheerfully accomplish some mundane tasks. Like laundry. Like cleaning the floors. If I have nothing but mundane tasks on my daily To Do list, in this corona virus world, I am likely to ignore them, be depressed by their low level necessity. I have bills to pay. There they are. Here I am. So? Also, it seems that on-line scammers are also trapped in their homes and eager to exercise their skills. After a long hiatus with no scams, I am beset by one (?) who writes with an old typewriter font, different name each time, and who has apparently hacked into my participation in porn websites. Hmm. That’s a give away right there. Another has offered me a job! Personal assistant but the duties can be provided from my home. Sounds perfect!

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Kathi C.
I got the porn email too. Honestly it was shocking how abusive it was. I’m still waiting to see my porn video released since I didn’t pay the ransom.

Ruth Silveira
Yes, the email was aggressively negative. I got three in a series with escalating threats and abuse. Then after a few days I got another, always a different name, that started at the beginning again. And even though it is all absurd and even laughable, still a shield needs to be placed between myself and the negative flowing from this email.

Heatherlynn N.G.
Evidently there are a lot of us who watch porn and didn’t realize it! I got the ransom email too!

Isolation Diary: I now have over 1000 unread emails. Most are political and end up asking for a donation. But first my opinion is solicited. Over and over and over again. And the initial sentence alternates between ‘horrible news’ and ‘great news’, although the ‘horrible news’ has an edge. And I don’t know what to believe. And I would really appreciate someone asking for my input without asking for money. I can’t judge what is real anymore. Is Katie Porter really starving for funds? Is the Post Office really going to close in June? Not sure. So I do nothing. Every day I delete a few emails and then just get discouraged and move on to something else. Please make this stop!!! In other news: I am sewing a sort of loose and long shirt for myself. I have made some choices I would like to take back but can’t. Have to work with them. Don’t expand this to be a cloaked statement about my life in general. In general, my few major decisions? I am happy with.

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Natasha P.
I hope you are able to put these diary entries into a printed book when this is all said and done. You are truly a wonderful writer, Ruth!

Isolation Diary: I have been without internet access for almost a day. I am cribbing off Jessie’s at the moment. I sort of wish I had missed this day entirely. Must have been a bad news day. I won’t have home wifi until Monday afternoon. And for some reason the Personal Hotspot that was functioning perfectly last month has disappeared. Hey, something to do tomorrow! So little or no FB or email until Monday, if all goes well. If you don’t hear from me by Tuesday night, somebody come knocking on my door, please. I may have dumped the pieces of 8 or 9 jigsaw puzzles on the floor in a mixed up heap and fallen asleep while trying to put the puzzles together.

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Susan J.
Well, maybe the Internet is highly overrated? Of course, that’s easy for me to say, since I’m connected. You’re a wildly creative woman. Just imagine you’re in a time capsule and have been catapulted back to, well, 1970. Or maybe 1670? Yeah! Turn off all electricity and light some candles and…okay. I’ll shut up. Even I’m annoying me!

Holly B.
Dear Ruth, My life has been a jigsaw puzzle. Wish I could come and knock on your door and share a story or two.

Walt K.
Ruthie, I read stay-in-placers pissing & moaning over their self–imposed confinement and the travails they “must endure.” But not you. You’ve shown it’s doable and have managed routines enough to keep you occupied with a daily fresh attitude while keeping your head above water. For myself, being disabled, I’ve been living in the same bed in the same nursing home going on seven years now and what with accepting fate, some judicious planning, meditation and friends, often I barely find sufficient hours in the day. It’s not all banquets and bicycles but there is hardly a justifiable alternative ~~ as you have shown. Your postings are much appreciated.

Henrietta C.
It might be a great opportunity…who knows…to return to Tai Chi and a direct relationship with the present, instead of a mediated one. But if this happened here…I’d feel exactly the same. Wait, it has happened here. But last year, because we had so many electrical outages in the deep woods, we actually got a generator. So we don’t lose the internet anymore. Although we maybe should…

Isolation Diary: Here I am again. Spectrum techie fiddled with the cable and switched out some hardware and …hello.

And none of the problem was my fault! In the 4 days I have been absent 2 nice things happened worth mentioning. One: the Saturday night D & D session was held with the 3 adventurers (me, Jessie, Duncan) at Jessie’s house as I had no internet, Maggie the DM at her house. Great fun having the adventurers all together. Second: On Saturday I took a walk to Larchmont Blvd. to pick up some pre-paid coffee beans from Peet’s. I left the house with just my little pocket sized bag for my phone, and I added my ID and a CC, you know, just in case. Just starting my walk I found my next door neighbors of many years out in front of their house. I hadn’t seen them in weeks. Actually I was getting concerned. So I was happy to see them and took out my phone to shut off the podcast I was listening to so we could have a chat. Done, all good, off to Larchmont, got the coffee, walked back. Gone maybe half an hour or 40 minutes. I live in a residential area, single family homes and multi-family buildings of various sizes all mixed up. Across the street from me is a Rosicrucian meeting house, usually only open on the weekends. On the next corner, a short block away is a library. So on the weekend there is significant sidewalk activity. But not now in covid times. So when I approached my house I found my credit card lying undisturbed on the sidewalk where it had fallen, I’m guessing, when I pulled my phone out of my little bag to silence it so I could talk to my neighbors. Totally inappropriate to thank covid19. Still, it is so nice when something that could have been bad doesn’t happen.

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Joyce H.
Joyce posted 20 pics of a Be Safe bee.

Isolation Diary: No outside contact today. Just me. And I am thinking that ultimately I will be ok. If I continue to stay at home and social distance. For the rest of my life. Or until there is a vaccine. But most people can’t hunker down for a year or 18 months. And the money being spent with much less coming in……what does that mean for the near future? Personally and statewide and nationally? I understand the urgent desire to get back to work and am also appalled at the nearly complete lack of support and plan for a rational response from the WH. And then I shift back to my family. Hey, help them! Get them right. Then back to me, my personal world has fewer connections, I have fewer interactions, and my experience is curtailed. And slowly slowly……I may not care anymore.

Isolation Diary: Such a contrast today. My own enjoyable experience with my Zoom Improv group and a visit from the family and then hearing and reading about the insane (to my mind) actions of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the House Republicans deciding they can’t support actions to lower drug prices because they are required by Trump to destroy the ACA, and the loss of Katie Hill’s former seat to a Rep. (I think). And now that I am receiving emails again I have a hundred new appeals for money. And so….I pour myself another glass of wine and sign off.

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Henrietta C.
With you every step of the way, leading inexorably to another glass of wine..

Isolation Diary: Not much to report. A friend with family came over to spend time in my backyard. Happy to be able to offer that. Two sewing projects finished. Now what? Hanging out at a bar was not a frequent choice for me, but now?………Would love an hour at The Plunge.

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Mars T.
Late night Ruth and her Late night Facebook brother in arms! ME!

Janet R.
Love the frankness of your blog posts Ruth, feeling similar things

Susan J.

Isolation Diary: So why do I feel so much better today than I did yesterday? Can’t say it was more sleep because I was up really late recording a voice message to a podcast, a story I won’t go into at the moment. Why did I record the message at 3 am? It was a should I should I not situation. At 3 am the ‘should’ prevailed. A perilous hour, 3 am. Not sure how many of you share my ‘I’ve got to say this. Egad, why did I say that?” syndrome. Experienced right here, right now, by me. Back to today. I did a practical thing. I fixed the working of the deadbolt on my side gate. Tools used were a screwdriver and various chisels. I have 3 sizes of chisels. I also have two wood planes and a sort of wood grater/scraper and a radial arm saw. What? Yes. I have a set of star screwdrivers. Wait…..I’m listing tools now? OMG. Shift gears: Fun D and D game tonight! I love this game!

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Aaron F.
This update feels like it could have been written by me.

Isolation Diary: For me this is still Saturday (even though it’s actually Sunday). Yesterday and the day before, that would be Thursday and Friday, (so difficult to keep track of the days) I realized today (that’s Saturday) that I hadn’t worn any earrings or adorned myself with eyeliner and mascara. The first steps down the slippery slope to pajamas all day. Corrected today (Saturday) even though I encountered absolutely no one. Besides myself in the mirror. My new best friend.

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Ronnie R.
I haven’t worn makeup in 2 months but I do put in earrings when I go shopping or teach but mostly so the holes don’t close up.

Susan J.
Makeup is highly overrated. Shine from the inside! (Hm. Did that sound convincing or just as corny as it felt?)

Jessie M.
At this point I feel like I’m dressing up if I take a shower.

Kathi C.
Jessie M. same

Nancy W.
Jessie—Ditto!

Isolation Diary: A day without input from the internet. Oh, yes, I opened my email, found nothing personal, just more messages I must delete. I now have over 1800 unread messages. Perhaps I will manage to coordinate the watching of an interesting film with mindless deletion of solicitations for money. I spent a delightful afternoon with the family, containing some D & D play and some time with Fig and playing other games. The small group of players are urging me for our next adventure to take on the role of DM. A challenge. I have been presented with a challenge. What is my history of response to a challenge in my rather narrow realm of experience? “Ok. Sure.” Hasn’t every role I’ve ever played begun that way? Of course I can do this. What? You want me to do this? Ack! How the heck am I going to do this? Take a step.

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Joyce H.
Hi Ruth, I miss you!! I can wait until we get back into the theater and mess around with all those props and costumes again. And for the day (night) we can see a show together!! Be well my friend, I love you and miss you much!!!!

Aaron F.
You would be a wonderful DM!I would suggest that for you, have a basic idea of story, locations and all of the NPCs sheets in case anybody tests or fights anybody, but you’re such a good improviser that you can spitball through most of the adventure just by staying in character and making stuff up.

Ruth Silveira
Maggie as DM is wonderful at playing all the characters we encounter.

Aaron F.
I’ll bet she is.

Jeff W.
Okay, I admit it — I don’t know what “D&D” is. It can’t be Dungeons and Dragons, can it?
I thought I could hang on until I got it through inference, but it looks like it’s not gonna happen — I give up.

Ruth Silveira
Yes! Dungeons and Dragons. My first foray. Learning. Having so much fun. DM is the Dungeon Master whose job is to unroll the story as the players advance in the adventure. And to play all the characters they encounter. And to explain the rules and possibilities. And to nudge when a nudge is needed. Some people do this professionally.

Jeff W.
Interesting!

Paul B.
I used to play, and was dungeon master for a small group of friends. I loved the game. I still have my books, dice, etc
Paul later joined our game for awhile playing a character I wrote in for him. He had to play on Zoom as he lives up north.