Thirty-eighth Entry

Friday April 24, 2020

The United States (quite a misnomer) crossed over the line of 50,000 deaths from Covid-19.
Forty states have said schools will not reopen this school year.  

I gave myself a haircut, really I just cut some hairs off the sides and top of my head. Not the back. Even with good scissors, this was easier said than done. I went at it with the hairs in a few different rounds, as the task did not hold my attention. My skill improved slightly over the course of two days – total time was about twelve minutes. The principal difficulty was with the reversal of everything in the mirror. The struggle made me recall a non-reversing mirror that my father brought home, likely when I was in Junior High School. I have not seen one since.

My father had a flourish for investing in inventions. I am not sure that any of them panned out. As he got older, the gambles got bigger and definitely did not pan out. The non-reversing mirror magically turned your image around. The effect was as though you were looking directly at yourself, as someone else sees you. It worked—providing a rather peculiar and strangely unfamiliar experience. As I recall, the product design was not visually pleasing, too much off-white plastic; my mother did not think much of it either and women were probably the primary audience—for make-up. It seems we get used to how we look in reverse, just as we get used to so much. But for cutting my hair, it probably would have helped.   

If I lived in Georgia, I could have gone to a barbershop. Even as the death rate there continues to increase, the Governor has allowed the reopening of some businesses, including gyms, tattoo parlors, and bowling alleys.

On Monday, restaurants in Georgia will be allowed to have “eat-in” customers. President Trump, who yesterday nearly suggested drinking a Lysol cocktail to kill the virus, is not supporting the Republican governor. He is good at surprises.