me, around age 10, in a dress my mom made, gifted a DIY headband kit
I have been staying in Lincoln for the past two weeks as we’re back in session in the Legislature and I don’t want to expose my family at home to whatever my openly, proudly unmasked colleagues are breathing out in proximity to me for 8-16 hours every day. Alone without my daughter, and continuing Not Leaving The House, and with about 500 pounds of added stress loaded onto my shoulders, I picked up two calming and productive new hobbies.
Needlepoint
Last month I saw needlepoint kits on The Strategist, where they said they were a favorite activity of actress Parker Posey. My grandmother, who has Parkinson’s, also enjoys needlepoint, and my great-grandmother famously made beautiful and intricate needlepoint Christmas stockings. For every new baby or marriage in the family, a Christmas stocking with their name and a unique winter scene was promptly made to welcome them as a bona fide member of the family.
Stitch n’ Zip cases are great. I made a coin purse with Mah Jongg design, and now I’m working on a cosmetic case. The cases come as a kit, with everything you need to complete the project except scissors.
It’s really nice to do something mindless but productive, to zone out, and to have a finished product that could make a nice gift.
This feels like one of those old-fashioned hobbies that is actually very very cool again.
Paint-By-Number
My mom has a modest collection of paint-by-number paintings from the 70s. I think they are perfect for bathrooms, because they are a little funny.
You can find quite a few nice ones on Amazon. I just finished a 16x20 floral still life and I need to get it framed up. I want to do one of fruit next. This one took me about 8 hours to complete over a few weeks.
Obviously also a great project for kids. A kit would make sort of an unconventional gift.
I like working on these while I am on conference calls or listening to seminars.
Things I’ve bought
This giant scrunchie, in ocean/peach. I own a few from this small business, Room Shop Vintage. I LOVE it. But how do I wear it?
A pulse oximeter. I thankfully got a negative COVID test back today, but here in Nebraska I am starting to know many many people testing positive and the anxiety is creeping in. It’s made its way here, folks. This Twitter thread from Karen Attiah convinced me to get one. Pulse oximeters are pretty affordable - I think everyone should consider having one at home.
A thousand pairs of these linen pants. They are perfect for work in warm months, and they hem them for free before they ship. These are the best-fitting pants I have ever worn—plenty of room for hips, with elastic in the back that prevents the waist from gaping. Size down.
An electric toothbrush. Aesthetically terrible, but feels much cleaner.
photo from a hearing on a bill to create a police oversight board, by Abiola Demo Kosoko
Besides that, how is session going?
Ummmmm, bad? Good? I don’t know what standard to judge this work against. The vibes are bad, though.
I just try to remind myself that I have no control over who my colleagues are, I alone cannot fix everything, and whether things go right or wrong, I cannot bear all the blame or take all the credit.
I also repeat my mantra: Success for me is doing what is available for me to do.
You can infer from this that my (our) efforts to appropriate federal relief funds for COVID-19 to things like evictions, unemployment, food insecurity, healthcare, racial impacts, childcare—anything that affects people in poverty—is going absolutely nowhere.
What else
I also started biking in a serious way. I bought a nice road bike on Craigslist, actual bike shorts, an extremely cool jersey that looks like the Nebraska state flag…anyway I am way into bike stuff now and this is like a whole new personality aspect for me. When we’re not in session, I have been biking around ten miles a day. Maybe I will say more about this later. The point is, I like to bike now.
Every system is perfectly designed to produce the results it gets.
More to come. If you know someone who would like this in their inbox, forward it to them and tell your friends to subscribe. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter, too, where you will find many many more political opinions. Cases in Nebraska are on the rise. Stay home, and stay safe.
Meg