Hello. Only because I feel close to you all in this time of awfulness&crazy am I including the above snapshot, which is quite possibly—I feel—the least-flattering photo of me ever, second only to the one below from my youth where, to be fair, that yellow-cast to my skin either has to do with the aging of the photo or the fact that I’d been a vegetarian for a minute and might have been slightly anemic (or I was channeling Jimmy Page). But whatever the case…

…the one taken just last week has reminded me how funny personal presentation during these pandemic times has gotten. Yes, I’ve still got my specs on because my eye is still being pesky. My hair is pulled back because it’s easier that way. Makeup? What’s that? And yet, seeing friends on my screen of life makes me so happy. Sure, if we were cocktail-houring in person, I’d actually do something with my presentation. But here we are, lovin’ each other from a’far and this is what it looks like (at least on my end. I naturally think everyone else looks gorgeous). I’m also going to start insisting that I practice self-distancing from the lens. Six feet might be too extreme, but in no universe do I need to be six inches from the camera, as I apparently have been. It’s been entertaining to hear all the stories of folks leaning in or backing up (or actually just leaving the space) during Face and Zoom time. Talking to someone’s forehead or left eye or shouting because they appear to be in the next room rather that in front of the camera just makes it all much more fun. And there’s no doubt that I’m so happy to see and hear all the people I care about whether vox to vox or face to face. (And quick caveat on that: I still toggle between looking forward to phone dates and feeling really happy not speaking to anyone for days while disappearing down the rabbit hole of writing, a thing I actually crave to do more of and haven’t, but that’s a topic for another time.)

Another funny thing is wardrobe. I think I mentioned last week how I usually fold laundry and muse on what I was doing while wearing whatever piece I’m holding. This morning as I looked at my collection of jumpsuits, I thought yeah, right, i’ll just pop into one of these. This train was quickly followed by hold on, tomorrow dad’s coming over and we’re doing a little at-home aerobics, so I’ll want to just slip on a jumpsuit over my workout gear when we’re done. Then I realized, it makes not one shred of actual difference if I wear a jumpsuit two days in a row. (Good lord, I wore a battalion of them crossing the country. See Jumpsuits Across America.) But regardless, this thought passing through my brain reminded me that I haven’t at all stopped thinking about the look-style thing.

And right now, any leaving-the-house look involves a mask, and while my bra creation has been a stalwart companion, I got to thinking about what else might be out there. Short of roaming the apartment with a pair of scissors, which, by-the-by, I am currently doing (I made the hannibal-lecter-like creation below for Dennis out of a Tommie Copper knee sleeve, so, you know, respectively we’re wearing a brassiere and a running-compression knee sleeve on our faces in public. This is what it’s come to.)

Of course in looking for other styles I found a whole community of Etsy artisans hard at work. The artist who most appealed was Cheri, who not only has very cool designs, but also says this: “I’ve been making these masks and donating them to local hospitals, medical workers, service industry workers and retirement homes since they reached out to the public asking for them. For each one sold I will continue to be able to make many more for these places/people.” She had me at hello. They came today and I’m looking forward to giving the one below to my dad for any of his outings now and in future to swap in with the heavy-duty one he already has.

and the ones below for when Dennis and I need a change of pace in the few forays we take into the world.

So it’s the small things right now that are moving me forward. What is it that is bringing you the smiles or nods?