![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mallorys_cameraI’m in the Bite Me, Bitch! phase of pandemic coping.
The least said about that, the better, I suppose.
Still.
Nothing about what’s going on right now makes the least bit of sense to me.
The lockdown was initially sold to us as a means of “flattening the curve” so that covid-19 victims could be killed by a ventilator instead of a virus.
Now, the usual suspects are telling us it's really about reducing the new case rates so that potential outbreaks can be traced. Can you say “surveillance society?” Mister Rogers thought you could!
I am quite certain that when the smoke clears, two or three years from now, at least three million people in the U.S. will be dead from covid-19 anyway. Mandatory lockdown will not have achieved any damping of the actual fatality percentages; it will merely have spread those fatalities across a longer period of time. So we can do—what, exactly? Pretend we’re living through the blitz in WWII-era London?
And, of course, its main accomplishment will be the complete dismantling of an economic system—not necessarily a bad thing, of course, though tough on us ants on the ground.
It is what it is, I suppose.
And all one can do is go with the flow. Try not to get one’s hair or panties twisted.
###
Meanwhile, some time last night, it occurred to me that never again will I be able to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Despite the museum’s $3-billion endowment, it’s been running for the past few years at a $10-million deficit. The Met survives financially by packing in tourists at approximately 25 bucks per head.
It won’t be able to do that anymore. So, how does it survive?
At least I have Art Photos!
This one’s from the museum’s fabulous 2015 exhibition on the effect of orientalism on fashion:
Like many of us moderns, Henry VIII kept various sizes in his closets. Skinny armor on the left; fat armor on the right:
One from Monet’s Rouen Cathedral series:
It’s amazing to me that what look like random swirls and dabs of oil paint when you look close up can coalesce into an architectural rendering when you step back a couple of feet:
How did he do that?
I prefer Monet’s Rouen Cathedral series to his water lilies. I suppose that’s because I’m a Madam Bovary fan.
But, of course, there’s really no reason to compare the two.
Special bonus Art Photo: New York, City of Dreams! Taken by somebody who is Not Me:
The least said about that, the better, I suppose.
Still.
Nothing about what’s going on right now makes the least bit of sense to me.
The lockdown was initially sold to us as a means of “flattening the curve” so that covid-19 victims could be killed by a ventilator instead of a virus.
Now, the usual suspects are telling us it's really about reducing the new case rates so that potential outbreaks can be traced. Can you say “surveillance society?” Mister Rogers thought you could!
I am quite certain that when the smoke clears, two or three years from now, at least three million people in the U.S. will be dead from covid-19 anyway. Mandatory lockdown will not have achieved any damping of the actual fatality percentages; it will merely have spread those fatalities across a longer period of time. So we can do—what, exactly? Pretend we’re living through the blitz in WWII-era London?
And, of course, its main accomplishment will be the complete dismantling of an economic system—not necessarily a bad thing, of course, though tough on us ants on the ground.
It is what it is, I suppose.
And all one can do is go with the flow. Try not to get one’s hair or panties twisted.
###
Meanwhile, some time last night, it occurred to me that never again will I be able to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Despite the museum’s $3-billion endowment, it’s been running for the past few years at a $10-million deficit. The Met survives financially by packing in tourists at approximately 25 bucks per head.
It won’t be able to do that anymore. So, how does it survive?
At least I have Art Photos!
This one’s from the museum’s fabulous 2015 exhibition on the effect of orientalism on fashion:
Like many of us moderns, Henry VIII kept various sizes in his closets. Skinny armor on the left; fat armor on the right:
One from Monet’s Rouen Cathedral series:
It’s amazing to me that what look like random swirls and dabs of oil paint when you look close up can coalesce into an architectural rendering when you step back a couple of feet:
How did he do that?
I prefer Monet’s Rouen Cathedral series to his water lilies. I suppose that’s because I’m a Madam Bovary fan.
But, of course, there’s really no reason to compare the two.
Special bonus Art Photo: New York, City of Dreams! Taken by somebody who is Not Me:
no subject
Date: 2020-05-03 05:35 pm (UTC)You can use it to zoom in on The Girl with the Pearl Earring. Extremely up close it becomes an abstract moonscape.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-03 07:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-03 05:40 pm (UTC)But guess what? (I know the suspense is killing.) I found that I LOVED the Impressionists and especially Monet's "Rouen Cathedral Cathedral in the Mist."
Hope you have a GREAT day, it's sunny in Tha 'Cuse...
no subject
Date: 2020-05-03 07:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-05 11:16 am (UTC)‘Try not to get one’s hair or panties twisted.‘
...especially don’t get the hair _in_ your panties into a twist!
Hee! :-D
no subject
Date: 2020-05-05 11:29 am (UTC)So many naughty responses to that quip, my dear! 😀