WHEN DID WE start using technological references to describe our moods? Bandwidth. Reboot. Recharge. I don't mind this very much, but I am curious to know when it began. The late 90s/early 2000s would be my guess. On the flip side, we use at least one human reference for computers: sleep.

My personal difference engine broke last week. I was draggy and cranky and at a certain point I just crawled into bed and there was nowhere else in the world I wanted to be. "I'm not getting out of bed until 47 is out of office," I told Chad. "Can't we just do a bed-in, like John and Yoko?" He didn't answer. Michaela accused me of "hibernating." I wish humans could do that. After twenty-four hours of this I had to get out of bed for a previously scheduled event and I found I had enough energy to stay on my feet for the whole day.

I inherited my dad's old computer when he got a new one, and I had to clear away his desktop and replace it with a new one. Mac calls this action a "factory reset." After a weekend of hibernating, I got my period, and quickly felt better. A factory reset. Sometimes you don't know exactly what is weighing you down until it goes away.

Passover starts today. It is a time to reflect on the exodus narrative. A wise rabbi once asked her congregation: what chains you down? What do you need liberation from? One congregant answered "screens." I might add "negative self-talk," which I have been doing a lot of lately.

Green things are starting to emerge from the earth. I plan on doing some gardening this weekend, planting some seeds. It is the season of renewal.

Three Things That Kept Me Going This Week

1. On Sunday we went to the newly opened National Public Housing Museum which are housed in the only remaining building from the Jane Addams Homes, the first federal housing project in the United States, which opened in 1938. We did the tour of the three apartments on view, each of which represents a different era, starting in 1938 and ending in 1975. There was an excellent video installation by Manual Cinema and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor explaining redlining. I would not recommend these tours for kids; they are content-heavy tours that would probably best be enjoyed by anyone over age 16. But the museum itself has a lot of great, kid-friendly exhibits. I'm working on a longer piece about the museum, to which I have a personal connection: my great-uncle Leo, his wife Helen, and their children Don and Marlene (hi Marlene!) lived in the Jane Addams Homes.
2. "I can't believe it's taken so long to make a show about this subject, since it's so common for women," I said to Chad a week ago, referring to Dying for Sex. "What, being horny all the time?" he asked. "No, having a friend die from cancer," I answered. This show is intense. Amazing, but intense.
3. On a lighter note, for a family watch, we're enjoying Around the World in 80 Days. In the parlance of today, it is a sensitive adaptation. Anachronistic, sure, but with a dose of necessary honesty about racist and sexist mores in Victorian England. Also, it is broadcast by PBS, which needs as much support as possible right now.

This Week in Mushroom News

Mushrooms in Space: Last week, astronauts aboard a SpaceX flight experimented with growing mushrooms while in orbit. Apparently they are the “perfect space crop.”

That's all from me this week. I hope you find your own path to liberation and renewal over the coming weeks.

Love,

Claire