Our (Quarantine) Routine - Oh My Rockness

Random Rockness

Our (Quarantine) Routine

When the concerts go away, here's how Oh My Rockness spends their day.

May 14, 2020

Written by Patrick McNamara

Claire and I run Oh My Rockness together, an independent website on the Internet that lists some of your favorite upcoming concerts. We're also married. (Apologies to our 13 regular readers for starting this with stuff you already knew.)

So what happens when all the shows get cancelled for the foreseeable future? What's a concert blob to do with their days? Here's a breakdown of our typical quarantine routine.

In the morning, we wake and add a big checkmark to the win column just for doing so. We'll then spend some time looking at the news on our phone which leads us to seriously consider erasing the checkmark from the win column. But after standing and stretching and drinking some hot liquid and eating food (oatmeal, you my only friend) we let the checkmark be.

Soon after, we'll retire to our separate "offices." Claire to hers, which is also our coat closet and mudroom. Myself, to my command console that's conveniently located next to my bed. We will then do some music blobbing, our bread and butter.

During blob time, Claire handles the business side of things (you know, strategic partnerships and financial ruin and whatnot) while I devote my energies to listing livestream shows for the same 17 bands and looking for good new artists to help get us through. We also make sure Oh My Rockness' calendar for all three cities we cover (NYC, CHI, LA) has the correct information posted for all the postponed shows of the past that have been rescheduled for the future, while making a mental note that we will inevitably have to reschedule these rescheduled shows. So it goes.

And then we'll check Google Analytics and sigh for the next ten minutes to two hours.

*LOL

We'll also try to make some time for our community; sharing fundraisers and encouraging political action to support artists and our imperiled music venues, many independently owned and operated just like us. I also like to spend part of this workday period feeling sad that nobody asks us on social media if we know set times anymore.

We'll then take a few minutes away from Oh My Rocky and make sure our two school-aged children are e-learning their stuff from their e-corner of the apartment. We'll quickly point out all of the e-gregious e-rrors they made (on fractions and triangles and whatnot) during this e-ntirely new way of learning, and they'll correct them, assuming they're not in the middle of fighting or baking cookies. Sometimes, we'll also throw them an extra essay assignment or two so they can become real good riders likethere dad! Sic

Next, we'll mask-up the kids and take them on a short walk after lunch. As we stroll, avoiding people, we'll discuss "The Last Dance;" the Michael Jordan of all documentaries. We'll also try to time our stride so we hit all the walk lights and when we really want to blow up the normal routine, we'll try to guess how many steps it will take until we get home. I always overestimate by hundreds.

*__ steps to go!

Later in the afternoon, after supervising our children's successful transition from fractions to Fortnight, and after more staring and sighing at our screens, we try and leave room for a little exercise. I like to lift reusable shopping bags full of heavy books in our living room. Encyclopedia of New York for the right gun. MoMA's 20th Century Art Book for the left gun.

We also like to run outside with fabric covering our faces (as a safe courtesy to others, and as a new challenge for us because running was already so easy!) Usually, I'll run to a playlist of songs whose melodies suggest things might be OK someday. Something like old-school instrumental math-rock, say, or "One Day More" from Les Miserables. Occasionally, when there's not another person around as far as the eye can see, I slip down my mask and breathe the air and make a promise right then and there to oxygen that I will never ever take it for granted again. I will breathe it every minute of every day for the rest of my life, so help me God.

*body by baggu

After getting in our cardio or getting jacked courtesy the American Heritage Dictionary, we'll return to staring at our screens and sighing for old time's sake until dinner. Sometimes, I'll whip up some homemade bread to go with whatever we're having because I saw other people from the Internet were doing it and nothing gets my competitive juices flowing like strangers bragging about carbs they made from home. Pictures of my loaves available upon request.

We'll then block off a couple hours post-dinner for streaming entertainment. Occasionally, I'll multi-task during this time and return to my social media responsibilities to, say, let our followers know that "Better Call Saul" is a better show than "Breaking Bad."

Finally, after getting the kids to bed (FINALLY) we'll wrap a typical Rockness night by returning to our work screens (listing more livestreams and whatnot) until we have no more sighs left to give. We'll then hit the lights and find a comfortable position in bed to worry in the dark, while also knowing it could be much worse and that we are NOT alone. Luckily, worry mixed with gratitude always makes me fall fast asleep.

And in the morning, we get up, add a checkmark to the win column, and do it all again. ☮️❤️💪

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done." (Oh My Rocky)

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