Being socially distant is probably for the best the last day or two. We’ve hit that part of the quarantine time cycle where I am very quick to snap at anybody and everything that impedes my ability to get my work done, go to the bathroom on my schedule, or simply gets in the way of me taking care of the things I need to take care of.

I am, for the most part, hiding in my bedroom/home office with the white cats (because unlike the rest of them, they aren’t ill-behaved monsters at the moment), staying out of everyone’s way and cursing the people on the other end of the email and collaboration apps, because they are legitimately being a pain in my ass.

Luckily, this emotional state didn’t really start hitting until late Wednesday, after I found myself unexpectedly briefing the deputy head (the Riker to the org’s Picard) of my particular public sector organization on Wednesday morning, and he was asking a lot of questions that indicated that he hadn’t read the pre-brief at all. Oh well, I got my program funded for next year well before this saltiness started; and that’s definitely for the best.

I know the others in my home aren’t being purposely provocative (I can’t say the same about the office people; some of them are unqualified assholes), but emotionally, every closed bathroom door in the ten minutes between conference calls or dirty dish or littler box stink bomb or cake mix package not thrown away after the cake has long been baked and partially consumed is just another poke with a sharp stick.

It is, however Friday (even if it felt it it should have been so by mid-morning Tuesday), and my work calendar is, so far, empty. I put in a few long days earlier this week (last minute special project, because I don’t have enough on my plate already), so I expect I’ll knock off after lunch, because I don’t get overtime, and I’ve honestly finished everything I need to already.

The weekend? I dunno. Being a payday week, I need to do some shopping Saturday morning to fill the pantry, Saturday night is my friend’s virtual wedding shower/party/thing, Mikey’s doing a record release party tonight on twitch, and I have bunch of local craft beer in the fridge just sitting there promising to numb my feelings of woe.

That’s quarantine, baby.

So, tunes. Lots of 80s/90s indie pop rock there at the beginning, before swinging pretty solid into riot grrl in the back half. Just the kind of crunchy, stress-purging noise I needed, quite honestly.

1. “Death or Glory” – Shovels & Rope
2. “Blue Flower” – Mazzy Star
3. “Oogum Boogum” – Alex Chilton
4. “The Ghost In You” – Robyn Hitchcock
5. “The Weakest Shade of Blue” – Pernice Brothers
6. “Eternity Leave” – Cheekface
7. “Dig Me Out” – Sleater-Kinney
8. “Gepetto” – Belly
9. “Hawthorne” – that dog.
10. “Awful” – Hole
11. “Marry” – Magnapop
12. “Seether” – Veruca Salt
13. “Sorry Again” – Velocity Girl
14. “You Can’t Fire Me, I Quit” – Tacocat
15. “Indian Summer” – Best Happening