Hard but unfair...

Today, the Swiss government released their Corona timetable. It looks like proper schooling will gradually resume in the second week of May, starting with kindergarten and primary schools. Other schools are expected to follow later. I’m not sure if that’s exactly what our government will decide, but it’s safe to assume it will be similar in nature.

It seems like we’ll have to adapt to this situation for a little while longer. However, there’s some light at the end of the tunnel, and if things continue like this, we might return to some sense of normalcy by the fall—hopefully.

That said, there’s a part of me that’s worried. Once restrictions are lifted, will the infection rate skyrocket again? Let’s hope I’m wrong.

Yesterday, I looked back at some of my earlier Corona posts. One of the main reasons I’m writing these blog posts is to document my thoughts during this time, and it struck me how surreal the whole situation is. These are truly strange times, and I’m genuinely curious about what the new “normal” will look like—if there is one.

I hope we learn something from this and make meaningful changes. Then again, the human spirit is remarkably consistent when it comes to messing things up, and we rarely learn from our mistakes. So, it’ll probably be back to normal until the next big crisis hits.

Speaking of the next bad thing—how do you top a global pandemic? Asteroid? Let’s hope not!

I’m back from a short Easter hiatus, and if I counted correctly, it’s day 31—but who’s counting? Technically, I’m on school holiday at the moment, so I have time to focus on other things. The plan is to finally get some writing done. I managed about two hours on Monday, and today’s goal is at least an hour.

I know that once I get the momentum going (remember #momentum), I’ll be able to crank out a few pages over the next few days, but it’s tough to get into the right headspace right now. I’ll try anyway.

Over the weekend, I uploaded a new video essay that I’m quite happy with. This time, it’s about movies that grab you in the first few minutes. Very low viewer count, though… I’m probably going to take a short break this week and come back with two fun videos next week.

The Beverly Hills Cop movies are still enjoyable.

• That hot sauce challenge was a stupid idea.
• Revisiting some classics was a good idea.
• Next up: John McTiernan movies. For some reason, I feel the urge to revisit Medicine Man. Don’t ask me why. Or maybe I’ll finish Tony Scott’s oeuvre first.
• I can handle the hot sauce.
• None of my students is going to do any of those holiday assignments our department prepared today.
• Now I have the Axel F. theme stuck in my head.
• I have to conduct a proper exam with my students over the computer. That’s going to be fun. Actually, I might have figured that one out—I’m getting the hang of forms.
• That was such a stupid idea.

See you tomorrow!

Contrary to popular belief, I haven’t been watching movies all the time—I just haven’t been in the mood. I usually watch one movie each night, but most of the time, I end up falling asleep after a hard day at the office. (Yes, the days in the office are hard.)

I’m trying to change that now. Recently, I re-watched Mad Max: Fury Road and Gladiator, and I’ve decided to go back and revisit some old classics while filling a few gaps in my watchlist. For some reason, I’m in the mood for stupid action movies, so I’ll probably start with some 80s or 90s favorites. I’ve already started compiling a list of suitable candidates.

So, if I suddenly start using cheesy movie one-liners, now you know why. Thank goodness streaming services are full of silly old action movies. Don’t expect any detailed write-ups, though—I’m just trying to kill some time and have fun while doing it. Who knows? I might even get some inspiration to finally finish Alaska.

Tonight’s movie of choice: Beverly Hills Cop.

This blog entry was brought to you by “dictation.”

The weekend was quite uneventful. As I mentioned last week, my friends and I got together to play some Dungeons & Dragons online. The first half hour felt a little strange, but once everyone got used to the new setup, we actually had a good time.

Player interaction obviously isn’t as engaging as it is around a physical table, but it’s much better than not playing at all. I’m already looking forward to the next session. I think I can seriously reduce my prep time this time around. I’m also introducing some of my students to the game over the Easter holidays, so I’ll be prepping that game as well.

I’m kind of dreading the Easter break a little bit. The last few weeks have been weird but strangely structured, and I know I need to maintain that structure, even if I adjust it slightly. Instead of doing schoolwork every day, I plan to get some writing done daily. I’m not sure if I should set any strict goals, but it would be great to aim for at least two pages each day. My main focus will be Alaska, but I’ll see where creativity takes me.

One thing I’ve noticed—something that might make things a bit more interesting, and I hope you hadn’t noticed until now—is that I used the dictation feature to write this blog post. It required only minimal editing. It’s not that I’m faster than usual, but it’s interesting to use my voice instead of my fingers to create text.

I’m not entirely sure how feasible it would be to write a screenplay like this, but sometimes you have to mix it up. I have to admit I’m quite enjoying it—partly because it works so seamlessly. I’ll have to try German later, but UK English works really well.

That’s it for today. Stay healthy!

Had a light school day today. Most of my classes are hard at work, and there’s still some correcting to do, but I’ll probably handle that next week. I can’t believe another week has flown by. It’s so strange—on one hand, the days go by so quickly, yet on the other, it feels like ages since we had proper school.

I spent most of the day getting ready for a Dungeons & Dragons session tomorrow—our first time playing online. I’m curious to see how it will go. We’re using Roll20, and it looks like it will get the job done, but I feel like something will be missing compared to playing in person. Then again, who knows? Maybe we’ll enjoy it just as much. Prepping was a bit odd, though. I have no idea how fast we’ll progress, and I’m not sure if I’ve prepared enough encounters. I obviously want to have enough, but I don’t want to over-prepare since online play is different from live sessions.

I’ll keep you posted, but you’ll have to wait until Monday—I’m taking another weekend break. I’m actually quite happy with how my blogging and schoolwork are going, and you probably already know how proud I am of my videos.

One thing I do need to work on, though, is writing. I haven’t written a single page since this whole thing started. The plan is to focus on that during the Easter break when schoolwork winds down.

Okay, time to wind down for now. Stay healthy!