Dr. Estrum offers Randi and Shane a revelatory solution to a painful problem.https://thesevensages.com/covid39CastDr. Estrum Melissa ThomasRandi Halle MillienShane. Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicNostalgia and DiscoveryThis Fight - Cinematic Piano - Part 1 by RealNorth of looperman.comThis Fight - Cinematic Piano Loop - Part 2 by RealNorth of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossarydrifting: a term used to describe when one is using the Q to communicate across its platforms.Q: slang for the quantumnet; a technology that uses discreet qubits of transitory particles to hold almost limitless amounts of data and transmit them at near light speed using the bones of the internet as infrastructure.Run: a nickname Shane uses for Run.tabs: all social media forms have been aggregated into a single hosting network that collates and slots their information into packets or tabs that have replaced likes and upvotes. Tabs, like their predecessors, can be monetized.This series is intended to be a companion to people experiencing what we are all experiencing on a daily basis but provide some levity and beauty and a sense that none of us are alone via narrative. Something you could listen to after being depressed by your daily news podcast, but abounding with a hope that is hard to see right now. We hope it provides inspiration, hope and a little distraction to our collective chronicles.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #qibi

Dr. Estrum offers Randi and Shane a revelatory solution to a painful problem.<a href="https://thesevensages.com/covid39" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://thesevensages.com/covid39</a>CastDr. Estrum Melissa ThomasRandi Halle MillienShane. Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicNostalgia and Discovery<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/210842/this-fight-cinematic-piano-part-1-115bpm-cinematic-piano-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">This Fight - Cinematic Piano - Part 1</a> by RealNorth of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a><a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/210843/this-fight-cinematic-piano-loop-part-2-115bpm-cinematic-piano-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">This Fight - Cinematic Piano Loop - Part 2</a> by RealNorth of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossarydrifting: a term used to describe when one is using the Q to communicate across its platforms.Q: slang for the quantumnet; a technology that uses discreet qubits of transitory particles to hold almost limitless amounts of data and transmit them at near light speed using the bones of the internet as infrastructure.Run: a nickname Shane uses for Run.tabs: all social media forms have been aggregated into a single hosting network that collates and slots their information into packets or tabs that have replaced likes and upvotes. Tabs, like their predecessors, can be monetized.This series is intended to be a companion to people experiencing what we are all experiencing on a daily basis but provide some levity and beauty and a sense that none of us are alone via narrative. Something you could listen to after being depressed by your daily news podcast, but abounding with a hope that is hard to see right now. We hope it provides inspiration, hope and a little distraction to our collective chronicles.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #qibi

COVID39 : Chapter 1

Randi and Shane listen to the first letter, from Shane’s father. The coronavirus is infecting and killing black Americans at an alarmingly high rateCastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgCheersMy bourbon by Me of MeMusicDesmond’s First LetterPG-Sunshining by PaulGuanez of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienSpecial thank you to Puppy Pals for keeping our eldest dead-eyed and limp enough for us to get this podcast out.GlossaryIRIS: Independent Retinal Immersive Scanner; a passive laser suite integrated into various bits of everyday tech that interprets your eye’s movements and translates them into digital action. Effective for drifting on the Q, inputing textual commands, communicating wordlessly and interacting with eleventh generation tech in an almost seamless way. It would appear like telepathy to people of today.vam: slang for videogram.Desmond’s First Letter:Shane. I’m sitting across from you feeling guilty. The TV, as I type this, has drained your soul away. You are a husk of your normal self, deadeyed and limp. I try not to take your surplus of energy for granted. I try to marvel, in every moment, the mechanics of your limbs, the buoyancy of your spirit. I’m practicing staying present. One of the many lifehacks I’ve adopted culled from emails, newsletters and instagram posts from the perpetually zen. But right now I’m so thankful for your stillness and silence that I’m giddy. These two tribes of beasts that have become our Quarantine children. I made you all peanut butter and jelly sandwiches today with that thick Trader Joe’s bread. We’re running out. Dr. Birx recommended that this week, these next two weeks in particular, that we should all stay home. We’ve been sheltering in place together with the Morgans for weeks now, but this was different. She said trips to the grocery store and pharmacy should only be taken in emergencies. We’ve been watching the rest of the world suffocate, praying for Italy and praying to not to become Italy and now it feels like it’s our turn to choke. The prime minister of Britain is in intensive care. Each day there are more people with masks when we take our walks, even here in Dallas. We politely cross the street half a block away from our neighbors who have become potential carriers, well meaning and innocent threats.  Your mom is doing better with it all than I am. At least I think she is. It’s hard to tell. She’s constantly moving. She has a job and she can do that job from home. Which would make us aristocrats in the new scheme of things but I don’t have a laptop job. I bought her three bottles of wine the last time I went out to the store. I peeled off the labels so that she could just enjoy whatever was in her glass without worrying about the price. It’s hardest for Helen, with Roderick gone all the time. I tasked you kids with picking her some flowers from the backyard. Flowering weeds, really. They’re dying in a plastic cup a couple of feet away from where I’m typing this. I don’t think she’s noticed them. Even here, it’s hard for me to talk about Roderick. I don’t know what to say except that when he’s gone the sun can’t quite reach beyond the panes and we wait for him in unwanted shade. There was a report today that said black people are being infected and dying disproportionately to other groups. At the beginning of this there was an internet rumor that metastasized  into colloquial pseudo wisdom that we were somehow immune. Seems like it was so long ago that we were so proud of being so stupid. Majority black counties are dying at six times the rate of majority white counties. And we are just at the beginning. Before you were born I tried to reconcile the dangers that would stalk you in your life. I thought that I had been adequately paranoid and thoughtful. I was wrong. I never considered this. I never knew to be terrified of this new thing, waiting for you to grow, so that it could strangle the life out of you or leave you without a community of elders to nurture and guide you. But I saw something amazing today Shane. There was an election today in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Another family, like ours, stood in a scattered line, under a sky that dumped rain and ice, for hours, so that they could vote. The only reason they were there, were because a group of cynical people gave them a choice. Vote or stay home, thinking that the less people turned out, the greater advantage it would give them. I don’t know how most of those people voted, just like I don’t know what tomorrow will bring into our home. But they risked their lives today and I’m hopeful that they did so in defiance of the cynics and not in support of them. I’m probably wrong, but for the sake of the world I want for you, I refuse to believe otherwise. I love you. #covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #qibi

Randi and Shane listen to the first letter, from Shane’s father. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/07/coronavirus-is-infecting-killing-black-americans-an-alarmingly-high-rate-post-analysis-shows/?arc404=true" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The coronavirus is infecting and killing black Americans at an alarmingly high rate</a>CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>CheersMy bourbon by Me of MeMusicDesmond’s First LetterPG-Sunshining by PaulGuanez of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienSpecial thank you to Puppy Pals for keeping our eldest dead-eyed and limp enough for us to get this podcast out.GlossaryIRIS: Independent Retinal Immersive Scanner; a passive laser suite integrated into various bits of everyday tech that interprets your eye’s movements and translates them into digital action. Effective for drifting on the Q, inputing textual commands, communicating wordlessly and interacting with eleventh generation tech in an almost seamless way. It would appear like telepathy to people of today.vam: slang for videogram.Desmond’s First Letter:Shane. I’m sitting across from you feeling guilty. The TV, as I type this, has drained your soul away. You are a husk of your normal self, deadeyed and limp. I try not to take your surplus of energy for granted. I try to marvel, in every moment, the mechanics of your limbs, the buoyancy of your spirit. I’m practicing staying present. One of the many lifehacks I’ve adopted culled from emails, newsletters and instagram posts from the perpetually zen. But right now I’m so thankful for your stillness and silence that I’m giddy. These two tribes of beasts that have become our Quarantine children. I made you all peanut butter and jelly sandwiches today with that thick Trader Joe’s bread. We’re running out. Dr. Birx recommended that this week, these next two weeks in particular, that we should all stay home. We’ve been sheltering in place together with the Morgans for weeks now, but this was different. She said trips to the grocery store and pharmacy should only be taken in emergencies. We’ve been watching the rest of the world suffocate, praying for Italy and praying to not to become Italy and now it feels like it’s our turn to choke. The prime minister of Britain is in intensive care. Each day there are more people with masks when we take our walks, even here in Dallas. We politely cross the street half a block away from our neighbors who have become potential carriers, well meaning and innocent threats. Your mom is doing better with it all than I am. At least I think she is. It’s hard to tell. She’s constantly moving. She has a job and she can do that job from home. Which would make us aristocrats in the new scheme of things but I don’t have a laptop job. I bought her three bottles of wine the last time I went out to the store. I peeled off the labels so that she could just enjoy whatever was in her glass without worrying about the price. It’s hardest for Helen, with Roderick gone all the time. I tasked you kids with picking her some flowers from the backyard. Flowering weeds, really. They’re dying in a plastic cup a couple of feet away from where I’m typing this. I don’t think she’s noticed them. Even here, it’s hard for me to talk about Roderick. I don’t know what to say except that when he’s gone the sun can’t quite reach beyond the panes and we wait for him in unwanted shade. There was a report today that said black people are being infected and dying disproportionately to other groups. At the beginning of this there was an internet rumor that metastasized into colloquial pseudo wisdom that we were somehow immune. Seems like it was so long ago that we were so proud of being so stupid. Majority black counties are dying at six times the rate of majority white counties. And we are just at the beginning. Before you were born I tried to reconcile the dangers that would stalk you in your life. I thought that I had been adequately paranoid and thoughtful. I was wrong. I never considered this. I never knew to be terrified of this new thing, waiting for you to grow, so that it could strangle the life out of you or leave you without a community of elders to nurture and guide you. But I saw something amazing today Shane. There was an election today in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Another family, like ours, stood in a scattered line, under a sky that dumped rain and ice, for hours, so that they could vote. The only reason they were there, were because a group of cynical people gave them a choice. Vote or stay home, thinking that the less people turned out, the greater advantage it would give them. I don’t know how most of those people voted, just like I don’t know what tomorrow will bring into our home. But they risked their lives today and I’m hopeful that they did so in defiance of the cynics and not in support of them. I’m probably wrong, but for the sake of the world I want for you, I refuse to believe otherwise. I love you. #covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #qibi

COVID39: Chapter 2

Randi reads a letter from her mother and confronts Shane about something he’s been hiding.Doctor’s PhotoCastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicHelen’s First LetterSad Boy by Sizeoff of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossary-American Political PartiesBlack Party the coalition that concerns the rights of people of color specifically.Condemnics an offshoot of the religious right who traffic in conspiracy theories concerning the what and how of COVID-19.Democrats the center-left establishment.Green Party environmentally centered and extremely powerful.Jurists an offshoot of the mainstream right that considers the rule of law to be sacrosanct with literal originalist dogma with no variation.Loyalists an offshoot of the GOP that considers the 45th president to be the greatest president in history and seek to emulate and venerate him in every way.Platonics an extreme left-wing group that demands socialism and observance of every cultural hegemony.Helen’s Letter:Dear Harrison, this will be a series of minor and major confessions which seem apt since we are all being punished. We decided that we would share these with you when you turn ten. For you, that’s just two short years away, but you’ll still be too young for all of this. You say you understand what’s happening and I believe that you do but I confess to you, that I do not understand what’s happening. Every morning I wake up knowing exactly what to expect. It’s been a series of unchanging yesterdays. How could that be? There should be something inherent in the DNA of a Monday that differentiates it from a Sunday. Something your circadian rhythm would pick up on and murmur to your subconscious. But to me it’s all a desert of time like an hourglass resting on its side. Second confession. I am not fond of the Phillips. Mara walks around like the queen of the vagabonds, tethered to so many things that are somehow still important. Desmond watches over you and the other children like he is competing for an award, or attention or maybe affection. Before we were abandoned in this place I had decided that I’d had my fill of these people so everyday is a new torment in tedium. A third confession. Part of it you know, so I’ll start there. Your father is a hero. Objectively. To his community. His city. America. Shit. The world. A cosmic savior. So powerful in his generosity that he has given his family to the people we share a wall with. Saint of saints. He is here less and less. I don’t know what to think of that. I don’t know how to feel about that. I confess that I hate him for it. I will confess that I can say things to you that I cannot face myself because the man that you will become can handle my weakness. You can forgive me for it. My sweet boy, I can ask that of you in a way that I can’t of your sister. She is too strong to forgive me for becoming this angry, petty person. So to you, my future son, I leave one last confession. I saw a post today of spouses who are doctors, who spend 18 hours out of every single day, fighting the virus. You couldn’t see any part of their skin in the post. They were covered head to toe in medical blue latex and plastic. They held one another, separated by their transparent face shields and the contagion that could be lying dormant in their breath or blood. It is the only contact they are allowed and it was clear that they cherished it. There was nothing routine about the need between them. I envy them so.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi

Randi reads a letter from her mother and confronts Shane about something he’s been hiding.<a href="https://twitter.com/hvgoenka/status/1247573669833932801?s=21" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Doctor’s Photo</a>CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicHelen’s First LetterSad Boy by Sizeoff of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossary-American Political PartiesBlack Party the coalition that concerns the rights of people of color specifically.Condemnics an offshoot of the religious right who traffic in conspiracy theories concerning the what and how of COVID-19.Democrats the center-left establishment.Green Party environmentally centered and extremely powerful.Jurists an offshoot of the mainstream right that considers the rule of law to be sacrosanct with literal originalist dogma with no variation.Loyalists an offshoot of the GOP that considers the 45th president to be the greatest president in history and seek to emulate and venerate him in every way.Platonics an extreme left-wing group that demands socialism and observance of every cultural hegemony.Helen’s Letter:Dear Harrison, this will be a series of minor and major confessions which seem apt since we are all being punished. We decided that we would share these with you when you turn ten. For you, that’s just two short years away, but you’ll still be too young for all of this. You say you understand what’s happening and I believe that you do but I confess to you, that I do not understand what’s happening. Every morning I wake up knowing exactly what to expect. It’s been a series of unchanging yesterdays. How could that be? There should be something inherent in the DNA of a Monday that differentiates it from a Sunday. Something your circadian rhythm would pick up on and murmur to your subconscious. But to me it’s all a desert of time like an hourglass resting on its side. Second confession. I am not fond of the Phillips. Mara walks around like the queen of the vagabonds, tethered to so many things that are somehow still important. Desmond watches over you and the other children like he is competing for an award, or attention or maybe affection. Before we were abandoned in this place I had decided that I’d had my fill of these people so everyday is a new torment in tedium. A third confession. Part of it you know, so I’ll start there. Your father is a hero. Objectively. To his community. His city. America. Shit. The world. A cosmic savior. So powerful in his generosity that he has given his family to the people we share a wall with. Saint of saints. He is here less and less. I don’t know what to think of that. I don’t know how to feel about that. I confess that I hate him for it. I will confess that I can say things to you that I cannot face myself because the man that you will become can handle my weakness. You can forgive me for it. My sweet boy, I can ask that of you in a way that I can’t of your sister. She is too strong to forgive me for becoming this angry, petty person. So to you, my future son, I leave one last confession. I saw a post today of spouses who are doctors, who spend 18 hours out of every single day, fighting the virus. You couldn’t see any part of their skin in the post. They were covered head to toe in medical blue latex and plastic. They held one another, separated by their transparent face shields and the contagion that could be lying dormant in their breath or blood. It is the only contact they are allowed and it was clear that they cherished it. There was nothing routine about the need between them. I envy them so.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi

COVID39: Chapter 3

Shane faces an unexpected reckoning.Philly MasksCastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicFrank’s LetterSelf Destruct Smooth Pitch Rise by MixxCustomSounds of looperman.comDillzedd Classic Boombap Drums 420 by DillzeddProd of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossarydings, nudges, hits or tinkles: social media communication jargon of the future, ya dig.spiked: salty, mad, pissed.Frank’s Letter:What up Fam! Oh man, this is such a cool idea. I’m blown right now. On some ol time capsule shit. So check it. I know that you all have turned out great. Your mommas and daddys are some of the best people I’ve ever known and they take the raising of y’all so serious. So much so, in fact, that I’m sure they started off with some real down and depressing shit about what’s going on right now. It’s not their fault. They aren’t like, negative people or anything. But they also got their hands full with y’all and they want to make sure that you know the real and blah blah blah, but yo! I’d be remiss if I didn’t share with you a couple of important things about the ‘Rona. One. I miss the shit out of y’all. It’s not like I would’ve necessarily been there right now anyway. My next trip to Dallas wasn’t planned until the summer. But the fact that I CAN’T get to y’all, and that the summer trip is now highly questionable, definitely has me feeling a kind a way. I love you all so much. Not having kids myself, I get to spoil y’all, and then leave your parents to deal with you. But truth is you’ve all always been such incredible kids. I don’t believe half the stories your parents tell me about y’all fucking up shit. I can say fucking up shit to you now cuz you grown. This is Incredible. Trippy shit man. So. Two. Gas prices are down. I don’t gotta drag my black ass into work. I’m collecting a check (allegedly, I aint seen no money yet), I’ve got all my bills and mortgage deferred, I’ve been catching up on all my Hulu and Netflix and Disney + like a champ. Rick and Morty is on hiatus. But watching the old episodes in my drawers in the middle of a weekday with some brown is a fucking great way to ease the time. Taking meetings in my drawers. Not having to change out of my drawers. All things drawers related have upticked. Three. Ya boy DJ Nice been killing the gram with his sets. I can now say I’ve sweated my ass off in the club with Michele Obama! What a world! My only emergencies have been running out of liquor. But I’ve got a fresh set of masks that I ordered from this joint in Philly so I’m always prepared to make my next run cuz that home delivery situation is cool and all but sometimes you run out and what am I gonna do, wait til tomorrow, when I still got daylight? That’s a no. Four. I ain’t got no kids! Five. Well. Huh. I will say that I miss sex. I wasn’t dating anybody serious when the apocalypse landed so when they shut this shit down I was solo. But honestly it’s not just the sex. It’s the contact. Like, I haven’t hugged anyone in weeks. Y’all know how I do. I bring it in. That part is tough, I can’t lie. But this flattening the curve shit is real. It’s showing results. Dumbasses are still out here dumbassing but it feels like if we can keep our heads this will be over and we might get basketball back! I’m not gonna spend a lot of time talking about it here cuz I wanna keep this positive but if the Rona robs my boy Bron of a chip, YO! Salty doesn’t begin to cover it. Anyway. I’ll leave you with this, my beautiful kings and queens. The world has thrown our people every sort of raggedy hand it could despite our royal lineage, and at every turn we rise. If your not up on your Maya Angelou, shame on you. Do that shit. So if you are ever down or not feeling at your best, remember who you are and where you come from. Your parents are Empresses and Emperors, fuck how much money they make. And they love y’all. I’ve known them, and you, since before any of you were born, know that. Your Uncle Frank won’t never lie to you. The next time I see you it’ll be all Star Wars and Sesame Street, but I’ll know that one day you’ll read this, and it’ll be like our own inside joke. I’m a say drawers, just out the blue, and someday you’ll know, that in that moment, I was talking to you then and now, at the same time. Cuz that’s what love is. And best believe, I love you.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi

Shane faces an unexpected reckoning.<a href="https://www.inquirer.com/life/coronavirus-face-mask-fashion-prints-instagram-20200410.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Philly Masks</a>CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicFrank’s Letter<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/163386/self-destruct-smooth-pitch-rise-150bpm-dubstep-brass-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Self Destruct Smooth Pitch Rise</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=MixxCustomSounds" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MixxCustomSounds</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a><a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/199001/dillzedd-classic-boombap-drums-420-91bpm-boom-bap-drum-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dillzedd Classic Boombap Drums 420</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=DillzeddProd" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DillzeddProd</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossarydings, nudges, hits or tinkles: social media communication jargon of the future, ya dig.spiked: salty, mad, pissed. Frank’s Letter:What up Fam! Oh man, this is such a cool idea. I’m blown right now. On some ol time capsule shit. So check it. I know that you all have turned out great. Your mommas and daddys are some of the best people I’ve ever known and they take the raising of y’all so serious. So much so, in fact, that I’m sure they started off with some real down and depressing shit about what’s going on right now. It’s not their fault. They aren’t like, negative people or anything. But they also got their hands full with y’all and they want to make sure that you know the real and blah blah blah, but yo! I’d be remiss if I didn’t share with you a couple of important things about the ‘Rona. One. I miss the shit out of y’all. It’s not like I would’ve necessarily been there right now anyway. My next trip to Dallas wasn’t planned until the summer. But the fact that I CAN’T get to y’all, and that the summer trip is now highly questionable, definitely has me feeling a kind a way. I love you all so much. Not having kids myself, I get to spoil y’all, and then leave your parents to deal with you. But truth is you’ve all always been such incredible kids. I don’t believe half the stories your parents tell me about y’all fucking up shit. I can say fucking up shit to you now cuz you grown. This is Incredible. Trippy shit man. So. Two. Gas prices are down. I don’t gotta drag my black ass into work. I’m collecting a check (allegedly, I aint seen no money yet), I’ve got all my bills and mortgage deferred, I’ve been catching up on all my Hulu and Netflix and Disney + like a champ. Rick and Morty is on hiatus. But watching the old episodes in my drawers in the middle of a weekday with some brown is a fucking great way to ease the time. Taking meetings in my drawers. Not having to change out of my drawers. All things drawers related have upticked. Three. Ya boy DJ Nice been killing the gram with his sets. I can now say I’ve sweated my ass off in the club with Michele Obama! What a world! My only emergencies have been running out of liquor. But I’ve got a fresh set of masks that I ordered from this joint in Philly so I’m always prepared to make my next run cuz that home delivery situation is cool and all but sometimes you run out and what am I gonna do, wait til tomorrow, when I still got daylight? That’s a no. Four. I ain’t got no kids! Five. Well. Huh. I will say that I miss sex. I wasn’t dating anybody serious when the apocalypse landed so when they shut this shit down I was solo. But honestly it’s not just the sex. It’s the contact. Like, I haven’t hugged anyone in weeks. Y’all know how I do. I bring it in. That part is tough, I can’t lie. But this flattening the curve shit is real. It’s showing results. Dumbasses are still out here dumbassing but it feels like if we can keep our heads this will be over and we might get basketball back! I’m not gonna spend a lot of time talking about it here cuz I wanna keep this positive but if the Rona robs my boy Bron of a chip, YO! Salty doesn’t begin to cover it. Anyway. I’ll leave you with this, my beautiful kings and queens. The world has thrown our people every sort of raggedy hand it could despite our royal lineage, and at every turn we rise. If your not up on your Maya Angelou, shame on you. Do that shit. So if you are ever down or not feeling at your best, remember who you are and where you come from. Your parents are Empresses and Emperors, fuck how much money they make. And they love y’all. I’ve known them, and you, since before any of you were born, know that. Your Uncle Frank won’t never lie to you. The next time I see you it’ll be all Star Wars and Sesame Street, but I’ll know that one day you’ll read this, and it’ll be like our own inside joke. I’m a say drawers, just out the blue, and someday you’ll know, that in that moment, I was talking to you then and now, at the same time. Cuz that’s what love is. And best believe, I love you.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi

COVID39: Chapter 4

Randi and Shane speak plainly about their inequities.The First EvergreensCastRandi Halle MillenShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query] Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.org Q Tone [Response] Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicMara’s LetterShooting Star - Emotional Loop by 8thdiamond of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossaryblue hour: the elderly, infirm or predisposed are allotted certain windows of activity typically during four a.m. and 7 a.m. in most cities. This can include the obese, smokers, chronic drinkers, those who do not log a certain amount of exercise, etc. There has been evidence of people of color being given blue designations without merit by medical professionals either engaging in bias or systemic discrimination. A blue found out during sequester is at risk of being detained or involuntarily quarantined.evergreen: a person who is considered genetically immune to historical pathogens due to vaccinations or novel ones due to inoculation. Evergreens typically only need to see a physician for a hazard status once a year or so. These individuals exist in a rarefied economic and social space in global culture.green hour: the time allotted for people who have been seen by a medical professional within the last thirty days and deemed free of any viral impediment. They are given sway to roam as they wish.haztag: an informal term for the irradiated tattoo that designates your sequester or evergreen status. It lasts for thirty days. The tattoo is embedded with a doctor’s signature code as well as an accompanying code that may allow someone travel dispensations during their sequester, typically tied to one’s employer.  Anyone detained without a tattoo is risking immediate quarantine and potential jail. M.I.C: Municipal Integrated Corpsman. Tasked and equipped with assessing the medical threat of a person or group of persons. They are equipped with field tests for a variety of pathogens, body armor, advanced first aid, and both lethal and non-lethal armaments. They are military medics that have been sanctioned to operate within local governments with a great degree of autonomy. Derogatively referred to as “zombies” or “mikes”. orange hour: the time of day when hazard level individuals are allowed out into society. In most cities, this is between midnight and four a.m. sequester: the color-coded system that calls for people of various health or age dynamics to cede social spaces to others. Being outdoors outside of your hours is reason enough to be stopped by the police and M.I.Cs. Sequester is broken up between blue, green and orange hours. Mara’s Letter: From the very beginning, no one has been taking this seriously enough. Macro or micro. The ineptitude of the national response is criminal. They just released that more people have died from the virus in the U.S. than in any other country in the world. More than India. More than China. And we had the benefit of warnings, guidelines, the world’s largest economy, most accomplished epidemiologists. Granted, you can’t trust the numbers coming out of China. But they are going back to work. Their athletes are competing again, broadcasting to the world that they’ve put the worst behind them while for us, that’s still coming. And yeah, they failed us. People should go to jail for this. But I’ve seen the same juvenile lack of acceptance here in our own home. I’ve made it a point to never speak ill of your father in your presence. That has had its own set of consequences. It’s hard for us to be in the same room these days. I look at him and I’m not proud of the thoughts I have, of the way I feel. The house, the cars, most of the credit cards, are all in my name. I’m the one responsible for everything. So when it came time to call everyone and tell them we can’t pay you, I had to make those calls. They won’t speak to him, even as an authorized user of the accounts. So that’s up to me too. And I still have to work. They cut my pay by 50%, and I’m working three days instead of five, but I still have to work. I try not to pester him about filing for unemployment. I see the news. The system is managed state to state but it’s down everywhere. It wasn’t designed to handle 16 million people filing claims in three weeks. Nothing was designed for this. Including our marriage. Your father is a good man. He isn’t lazy. I’ve seen him work to the point of exhaustion for other people’s dreams. Bartending mostly. He’s got a way with people. But I’ve never seen him pour that much of himself into making his own dreams come true. For him there is always a tomorrow. I look at him and I can’t comprehend how he doesn’t see that nothing is ever going to be the same. That his tomorrows have come due and he has nothing to show for them. How can I truly respect a man like that, even if I love him? In this whole house of adults, I’m the only one setting up a plan for the future. Helen is still shell shocked and who can blame her? Her husband is at least out there making a difference, making some real sacrifices. But what does she think all of her morose self indulgence is going to accomplish? Boys. There are a lot of things I want you to take from your father. But my hope for you in your manhood is that you fight for what you want. Be your own boss. Be passionate about your worth. Discipline is self love. I hope this doesn’t come across as selfish or self absorbed. My biggest worry about right now is that the time I’ve taken away from you will have you thinking that I was cold or aloof and babies, that scares me. Because I’m doing it all for you. And if I didn’t say it, take this time to tell you here, I’m scared that you’ll never know and that would be worse than no future to plan for.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi

Randi and Shane speak plainly about their inequities.The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/coronavirus-survivors.html?referringSource=articleShare" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">First Evergreens</a>CastRandi Halle MillenShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query] Tone 4.wav by patchen of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a> Q Tone [Response] Tone 3.wav by patchen of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicMara’s LetterShooting Star - Emotional Loop by 8thdiamond of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossaryblue hour: the elderly, infirm or predisposed are allotted certain windows of activity typically during four a.m. and 7 a.m. in most cities. This can include the obese, smokers, chronic drinkers, those who do not log a certain amount of exercise, etc. There has been evidence of people of color being given blue designations without merit by medical professionals either engaging in bias or systemic discrimination. A blue found out during sequester is at risk of being detained or involuntarily quarantined.evergreen: a person who is considered genetically immune to historical pathogens due to vaccinations or novel ones due to inoculation. Evergreens typically only need to see a physician for a hazard status once a year or so. These individuals exist in a rarefied economic and social space in global culture.green hour: the time allotted for people who have been seen by a medical professional within the last thirty days and deemed free of any viral impediment. They are given sway to roam as they wish.haztag: an informal term for the irradiated tattoo that designates your sequester or evergreen status. It lasts for thirty days. The tattoo is embedded with a doctor’s signature code as well as an accompanying code that may allow someone travel dispensations during their sequester, typically tied to one’s employer. Anyone detained without a tattoo is risking immediate quarantine and potential jail. M.I.C: Municipal Integrated Corpsman. Tasked and equipped with assessing the medical threat of a person or group of persons. They are equipped with field tests for a variety of pathogens, body armor, advanced first aid, and both lethal and non-lethal armaments. They are military medics that have been sanctioned to operate within local governments with a great degree of autonomy. Derogatively referred to as “zombies” or “mikes”. orange hour: the time of day when hazard level individuals are allowed out into society. In most cities, this is between midnight and four a.m. sequester: the color-coded system that calls for people of various health or age dynamics to cede social spaces to others. Being outdoors outside of your hours is reason enough to be stopped by the police and M.I.Cs. Sequester is broken up between blue, green and orange hours. Mara’s Letter: From the very beginning, no one has been taking this seriously enough. Macro or micro. The ineptitude of the national response is criminal. They just released that more people have died from the virus in the U.S. than in any other country in the world. More than India. More than China. And we had the benefit of warnings, guidelines, the world’s largest economy, most accomplished epidemiologists. Granted, you can’t trust the numbers coming out of China. But they are going back to work. Their athletes are competing again, broadcasting to the world that they’ve put the worst behind them while for us, that’s still coming. And yeah, they failed us. People should go to jail for this. But I’ve seen the same juvenile lack of acceptance here in our own home. I’ve made it a point to never speak ill of your father in your presence. That has had its own set of consequences. It’s hard for us to be in the same room these days. I look at him and I’m not proud of the thoughts I have, of the way I feel. The house, the cars, most of the credit cards, are all in my name. I’m the one responsible for everything. So when it came time to call everyone and tell them we can’t pay you, I had to make those calls. They won’t speak to him, even as an authorized user of the accounts. So that’s up to me too. And I still have to work. They cut my pay by 50%, and I’m working three days instead of five, but I still have to work. I try not to pester him about filing for unemployment. I see the news. The system is managed state to state but it’s down everywhere. It wasn’t designed to handle 16 million people filing claims in three weeks. Nothing was designed for this. Including our marriage. Your father is a good man. He isn’t lazy. I’ve seen him work to the point of exhaustion for other people’s dreams. Bartending mostly. He’s got a way with people. But I’ve never seen him pour that much of himself into making his own dreams come true. For him there is always a tomorrow. I look at him and I can’t comprehend how he doesn’t see that nothing is ever going to be the same. That his tomorrows have come due and he has nothing to show for them. How can I truly respect a man like that, even if I love him? In this whole house of adults, I’m the only one setting up a plan for the future. Helen is still shell shocked and who can blame her? Her husband is at least out there making a difference, making some real sacrifices. But what does she think all of her morose self indulgence is going to accomplish? Boys. There are a lot of things I want you to take from your father. But my hope for you in your manhood is that you fight for what you want. Be your own boss. Be passionate about your worth. Discipline is self love. I hope this doesn’t come across as selfish or self absorbed. My biggest worry about right now is that the time I’ve taken away from you will have you thinking that I was cold or aloof and babies, that scares me. Because I’m doing it all for you. And if I didn’t say it, take this time to tell you here, I’m scared that you’ll never know and that would be worse than no future to plan for.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi

COVID39: Chapter 5

Dr. Estrum offers something that changes everything.CastDr. Estrum Melissa ThomasRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicThe OfferSimple Trap Piano by AnxiousBeats of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienSpecial thanks to a therapist friend of mine for providing some mock therapy that constituted Dr. Estrum’s dialogue in this episode. He had some criticisms about episode one so I was like I got another therapy joint so why not put your feelings where your mouth at fool and he was like I aint doing shit so bet and it was kind of him to do so, so thank you, you can go back to playing rocket league with strangers online now. The quarantine looks different for each of us, I’m just saying. No judgment.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi

Dr. Estrum offers something that changes everything.CastDr. Estrum Melissa ThomasRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicThe Offer<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/212054/simple-trap-piano-140bpm-trap-piano-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Simple Trap Piano</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=AnxiousBeats" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AnxiousBeats</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienSpecial thanks to a therapist friend of mine for providing some mock therapy that constituted Dr. Estrum’s dialogue in this episode. He had some criticisms about episode one so I was like I got another therapy joint so why not put your feelings where your mouth at fool and he was like I aint doing shit so bet and it was kind of him to do so, so thank you, you can go back to playing rocket league with strangers online now. The quarantine looks different for each of us, I’m just saying. No judgment.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi

COVID39: Chapter 6

Randi and Shane share misgivings and Shane reveals family is in town.Young Gifted &amp; BlackBlack EnterpriseCastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicHelen’s Second LetterEpic Strings by Rowan30000 of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossaryJude Philips: Shane’s older brother, who would eventually wind up fostering Shane in high school.outers: slick silicate lined garments worn over normal clothes that are designed to repel liquids, oils and dirt as well as to be sterilized quickly in a residential or commercial sanitizer. Also called slickers.specs: slang for qnet spectators.Helen’s Letter:Easter came and went in barren churches and cathedrals throughout the world. We’ve never been particularly religious but the absence of performative devotion is profound. No pastel peacocks. No restaurants teeming with brunch drunk disciples. No crowds of any kind. Deserted sidewalks and vacant roads, like the world is in mourning, which it is, I suppose. We take walks everyday, all of us, except your father of course, but the rest of us typically make the pilgrimage to visit the mausoleum that our neighborhoods have become. A place where living used to happen but is artificially frozen in place. Restaurants and barbershops and nail salons and bikeshops arrayed like toys. They could all be open tomorrow, tonight, but most won’t ever see another customer. They won’t rise on the third day, just die like the rest of us. I said the sidewalks are vacant. They aren’t. I saw blocks and blocks of chalk art framed in the jagged squares of concrete slabs under our caravan’s feet, though the children who etched them had vanished. Each of them inspired hope or unity. Patience and fidelity. There were signs on powerline poles that said “I can’t hug you but I can tell you that I love you”. I felt like an archaeologist clumsily navigating a long hidden utopia. The leader of the free world did a lot of lying today but that just made the chain of days seem more infinite without notable distinction. Until I read an article, which prompted me to write this today, to you. It was about a scientist. Her name is Kizzmekia Corbett. She is leading a team that is at the forefront of a vaccine. She’s 34. As I read I thought about Nina Simone’s song, Young Gifted &amp; Black. Which made me think of you. That song was playing in the delivery room when you slid into the world greasy with afterbirth and wailing like an angel from Revelations. You’ve never found it hard to live up to such an auspicious first impression. This woman is equal parts genius and round the way girl. She clearly felt comfortable in the skins of her ambition and identity. I hope that you continue to foster that. There was something she said that really sticks out to me. “You understand that your work will have to be mighty so that it can do your speaking.” It might as well have been an incantation. I felt savage after reading it. My feet went kicking under the table as my arms shot up like one of those airblown advertising dummies. I startled you, siting across the table from me, the peanut butter jelly smear across your chin marring your perfect skin. Instead of reassuring you I lunged at you and trapped your cheeks between my hands, driving my eyes into yours like a madwoman. I told you “Speak that SHIT” but it came out more like a growl. It was a rare moment when we were alone. No one saw the madwoman grabbing and cursing her child. I don’t know what came over me. When the others came in from the backyard we were sitting quietly across from each other like the world hadn’t just tilted. No one knew, but us. I had soaked up the hope of the day and cycled it through the metabolism of my soul into something primal, inarticulate and unmistakable, like a screaming newborn. Like my firstborn daughter. I felt the hum of a subsiding hunger in me in that moment, that had drenched me but left me damp and wilted. But I pray that I left you with its fingers around your heart. I hope that I infected you. #covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #ninasimone #younggiftedandblack #speakyoshit #kizzmekiacorbett

Randi and Shane share misgivings and Shane reveals family is in town.<a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1181626" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Young Gifted &amp; Black</a><a href="https://youtu.be/dK3gxG9TKv0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Black Enterprise</a>CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicHelen’s Second Letter<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/208816/epic-strings-128bpm-orchestral-strings-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Epic Strings</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=Rowan30000" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rowan30000</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossaryJude Philips: Shane’s older brother, who would eventually wind up fostering Shane in high school.outers: slick silicate lined garments worn over normal clothes that are designed to repel liquids, oils and dirt as well as to be sterilized quickly in a residential or commercial sanitizer. Also called slickers.specs: slang for qnet spectators.Helen’s Letter:Easter came and went in barren churches and cathedrals throughout the world. We’ve never been particularly religious but the absence of performative devotion is profound. No pastel peacocks. No restaurants teeming with brunch drunk disciples. No crowds of any kind. Deserted sidewalks and vacant roads, like the world is in mourning, which it is, I suppose. We take walks everyday, all of us, except your father of course, but the rest of us typically make the pilgrimage to visit the mausoleum that our neighborhoods have become. A place where living used to happen but is artificially frozen in place. Restaurants and barbershops and nail salons and bikeshops arrayed like toys. They could all be open tomorrow, tonight, but most won’t ever see another customer. They won’t rise on the third day, just die like the rest of us. I said the sidewalks are vacant. They aren’t. I saw blocks and blocks of chalk art framed in the jagged squares of concrete slabs under our caravan’s feet, though the children who etched them had vanished. Each of them inspired hope or unity. Patience and fidelity. There were signs on powerline poles that said “I can’t hug you but I can tell you that I love you”. I felt like an archaeologist clumsily navigating a long hidden utopia. The leader of the free world did a lot of lying today but that just made the chain of days seem more infinite without notable distinction. Until I read an article, which prompted me to write this today, to you. It was about a scientist. Her name is Kizzmekia Corbett. She is leading a team that is at the forefront of a vaccine. She’s 34. As I read I thought about Nina Simone’s song, Young Gifted &amp; Black. Which made me think of you. That song was playing in the delivery room when you slid into the world greasy with afterbirth and wailing like an angel from Revelations. You’ve never found it hard to live up to such an auspicious first impression. This woman is equal parts genius and round the way girl. She clearly felt comfortable in the skins of her ambition and identity. I hope that you continue to foster that. There was something she said that really sticks out to me. “You understand that your work will have to be mighty so that it can do your speaking.” It might as well have been an incantation. I felt savage after reading it. My feet went kicking under the table as my arms shot up like one of those airblown advertising dummies. I startled you, siting across the table from me, the peanut butter jelly smear across your chin marring your perfect skin. Instead of reassuring you I lunged at you and trapped your cheeks between my hands, driving my eyes into yours like a madwoman. I told you “Speak that SHIT” but it came out more like a growl. It was a rare moment when we were alone. No one saw the madwoman grabbing and cursing her child. I don’t know what came over me. When the others came in from the backyard we were sitting quietly across from each other like the world hadn’t just tilted. No one knew, but us. I had soaked up the hope of the day and cycled it through the metabolism of my soul into something primal, inarticulate and unmistakable, like a screaming newborn. Like my firstborn daughter. I felt the hum of a subsiding hunger in me in that moment, that had drenched me but left me damp and wilted. But I pray that I left you with its fingers around your heart. I hope that I infected you. #covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #ninasimone #younggiftedandblack #speakyoshit #kizzmekiacorbett

COVID39: Chapter 7

There's a knock at the door.CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicDesmond’s LetterPlayground Strings Main by ChrisNeal of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossarychipwhich: an ice cream sandwich, with two chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream and chocolate chips in between. This is not an artifact of the near future. It is a thing of the now, but apparently not everyone calls them chipwhichs so consider yourself clarified.Desmond’s Letter:Hope felt like it was on the horizon today. On the one hand, information coming out of New York makes it sound like things are leveling off. Governors across the country are tentatively discussing plans to ease restrictions publicly. That election I told you about from last week ousted one of the judges who decided people should have to risk their health and lives to vote. Stimulus checks started going out this week. It won’t be enough to carry us, but it’ll keep us from worrying about whether or not we’ll have enough food. I find myself thankful that I’m spending this time with you, your mom and the Morgans. I haven’t gotten used to how eerie it all feels but I’m glad I don’t have to do it alone. We saw a movie the other day called A Serious Man on Netflix. It was a great experience for a couple of reasons. One, it’s a Coen Bros. movie so it’s got all that deft and quirky dialogue supported by memorable characters. It was a very Job like story. The main character’s world is falling apart and to cope with it he seeks the advice of a rabbi. Things get progressively worse and he gets shunted from one shitty rabbi to the next trying to earn an audience with the wisest of the wise, which never happens. Mostly I think I identified with his marital life. In all the ways that it was painfully familiar, it was also joyously different, and that reminded me of how lucky I am to have your mom as a partner. The other great thing was the party feature. You login and can watch the movie with your friends and a part of the screen on your laptop is dedicated to a chat thread. I’ve seen so many inventive ways to share in one another since this all started. It’s served as a good reminder of the things we’ve taken for granted. Like teachers. Or time. But a lot of it isn’t innovation. I talk to people now so much more than I used to via Zoom or Facetime and these were all accessible to me before, but the world was so busy that we didn’t make time for it. In truth I’m busier now than I’ve ever been, and yet I find the time to connect with people because nothing is frivolous anymore. Everything has weight because everything is ending. I don’t mean that in a morose way, it’s just that the way we used to live, it’s never coming back. Not like it was. It can’t. And that’s probably for the best. I’m optimistic that we’ll take the best of this time and plant it in the future that we’re growing, but I also know we’ll bring with us some of the worst. Some of the things that we keep trying to leave behind, but are too frail to bury. I love you boys.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #netflix #groupmoviewatch

There's a knock at the door.CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicDesmond’s Letter<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/57941/playground-strings-main-by-chrisneal-free-140bpm-cinematic-strings-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Playground Strings Main</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=ChrisNeal" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ChrisNeal</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossarychipwhich: an ice cream sandwich, with two chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream and chocolate chips in between. This is not an artifact of the near future. It is a thing of the now, but apparently not everyone calls them chipwhichs so consider yourself clarified.Desmond’s Letter:Hope felt like it was on the horizon today. On the one hand, information coming out of New York makes it sound like things are leveling off. Governors across the country are tentatively discussing plans to ease restrictions publicly. That election I told you about from last week ousted one of the judges who decided people should have to risk their health and lives to vote. Stimulus checks started going out this week. It won’t be enough to carry us, but it’ll keep us from worrying about whether or not we’ll have enough food. I find myself thankful that I’m spending this time with you, your mom and the Morgans. I haven’t gotten used to how eerie it all feels but I’m glad I don’t have to do it alone. We saw a movie the other day called A Serious Man on Netflix. It was a great experience for a couple of reasons. One, it’s a Coen Bros. movie so it’s got all that deft and quirky dialogue supported by memorable characters. It was a very Job like story. The main character’s world is falling apart and to cope with it he seeks the advice of a rabbi. Things get progressively worse and he gets shunted from one shitty rabbi to the next trying to earn an audience with the wisest of the wise, which never happens. Mostly I think I identified with his marital life. In all the ways that it was painfully familiar, it was also joyously different, and that reminded me of how lucky I am to have your mom as a partner. The other great thing was the party feature. You login and can watch the movie with your friends and a part of the screen on your laptop is dedicated to a chat thread. I’ve seen so many inventive ways to share in one another since this all started. It’s served as a good reminder of the things we’ve taken for granted. Like teachers. Or time. But a lot of it isn’t innovation. I talk to people now so much more than I used to via Zoom or Facetime and these were all accessible to me before, but the world was so busy that we didn’t make time for it. In truth I’m busier now than I’ve ever been, and yet I find the time to connect with people because nothing is frivolous anymore. Everything has weight because everything is ending. I don’t mean that in a morose way, it’s just that the way we used to live, it’s never coming back. Not like it was. It can’t. And that’s probably for the best. I’m optimistic that we’ll take the best of this time and plant it in the future that we’re growing, but I also know we’ll bring with us some of the worst. Some of the things that we keep trying to leave behind, but are too frail to bury. I love you boys.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #netflix #groupmoviewatch

COVID39: Chapter 8

Randi and Shane plot next steps after realizing they may be in danger.Freedom of the NihilistsCastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicMara’s Letter Theme:FallOut - 93cave Type Pad - Prod 93CAVE by 093cave of looperman.comPhotographer: Joshua A. Bickel @joshuabickelCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienThanks to Joshua A. Bickel of the Dispatch for providing such a striking image of our times at great risk to himself.Glossarypod: like an airbnb but suited to standards of sterility that make it considered safe for travelers to trust.undefended: has replaced the term unarmed in the vernacular.zeen: digital articles on the Q.zombie: a slang term for M.I.C.s, who are basically commando medics (more detailed description in a previous glossary).Mara’s Letter:There isn’t much in the way of hope these days. There are people in Michigan and Ohio today storming governor’s offices, demanding that their governments reopen. In Ohio, the pictures and interviews don’t seem real. They can’t be. Some guy going on about not being able to buy lawn fertilizer? A woman whining about not going to the hair salon? Michigan has the fourth most cases in the states, and the third highest death rate. 1,921 dead. That’s 57% of all the people that have died in China. Allegedly. And just as efforts to slow this thing down seem to be working, these people want to rush headlong into an unknown that could decimate them. They’re out here screaming for the freedom to die so that they can go back to the jobs that don’t pay them enough. For the freedom to kill others by carrying this contagion asymptomatically to their fathers and mothers, grandparents and the ailing. People keep dying and it doesn’t seem to matter. When children started getting slaughtered in schools routinely, we saw that they cared more about these freedoms than they did their own sons and daughters. I told myself then it was because they couldn’t imagine it happening to them. But as the bullets flew in classrooms all over the country and shooting drills became standard in daycare centers, that rationalization began to evaporate. It was only a couple of years ago that I learned it was against the law for the government to sponsor a study on statistical domestic gun deaths. The law was decades old. I understood then that none of this was an accident. That death wasn’t an antidote to greed. In some cases it was an accelerant. The Senate Intelligence Chairman sold more than a million dollars in stock after receiving briefings about the virus’ impact and then told the public that the country was more prepared than any other to deal with the threat. He made money off of every single person who died alone in a room full of masks and plastic. And yet, I am still surprised. It may be because I grew up pampered. We were poor growing up, but racism had ebbed into the subtlety of sledgehammers instead of the bloodlust tied to nooses. Redlining had refined itself into gerrymandering. But the police remained. Brutal and efficient. When you read this, I can think of only one thing that will carry my hopes with you in words tight enough to hold onto you. The world will not love you my sons, cops least of all. Trust them with nothing. Only money will set you free, and even then, it is a poor man’s freedom.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #supportlocaljournalism

Randi and Shane plot next steps after realizing they may be in danger.<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/michigan-governor-being-sued-over-stay-home-order-1497990" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Freedom of the Nihilists</a>CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicMara’s Letter Theme:<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/212604/fallout-93cave-type-pad-prod-93cave-by-093cave-free-85bpm-trap-pad-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">FallOut - 93cave Type Pad - Prod 93CAVE</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=093cave" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">093cave</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Photographer: Joshua A. Bickel @joshuabickelCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienThanks to Joshua A. Bickel of the Dispatch for providing such a striking image of our times at great risk to himself.Glossarypod: like an airbnb but suited to standards of sterility that make it considered safe for travelers to trust.undefended: has replaced the term unarmed in the vernacular.zeen: digital articles on the Q.zombie: a slang term for M.I.C.s, who are basically commando medics (more detailed description in a previous glossary).Mara’s Letter:There isn’t much in the way of hope these days. There are people in Michigan and Ohio today storming governor’s offices, demanding that their governments reopen. In Ohio, the pictures and interviews don’t seem real. They can’t be. Some guy going on about not being able to buy lawn fertilizer? A woman whining about not going to the hair salon? Michigan has the fourth most cases in the states, and the third highest death rate. 1,921 dead. That’s 57% of all the people that have died in China. Allegedly. And just as efforts to slow this thing down seem to be working, these people want to rush headlong into an unknown that could decimate them. They’re out here screaming for the freedom to die so that they can go back to the jobs that don’t pay them enough. For the freedom to kill others by carrying this contagion asymptomatically to their fathers and mothers, grandparents and the ailing. People keep dying and it doesn’t seem to matter. When children started getting slaughtered in schools routinely, we saw that they cared more about these freedoms than they did their own sons and daughters. I told myself then it was because they couldn’t imagine it happening to them. But as the bullets flew in classrooms all over the country and shooting drills became standard in daycare centers, that rationalization began to evaporate. It was only a couple of years ago that I learned it was against the law for the government to sponsor a study on statistical domestic gun deaths. The law was decades old. I understood then that none of this was an accident. That death wasn’t an antidote to greed. In some cases it was an accelerant. The Senate Intelligence Chairman sold more than a million dollars in stock after receiving briefings about the virus’ impact and then told the public that the country was more prepared than any other to deal with the threat. He made money off of every single person who died alone in a room full of masks and plastic. And yet, I am still surprised. It may be because I grew up pampered. We were poor growing up, but racism had ebbed into the subtlety of sledgehammers instead of the bloodlust tied to nooses. Redlining had refined itself into gerrymandering. But the police remained. Brutal and efficient. When you read this, I can think of only one thing that will carry my hopes with you in words tight enough to hold onto you. The world will not love you my sons, cops least of all. Trust them with nothing. Only money will set you free, and even then, it is a poor man’s freedom.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #supportlocaljournalism

COVID39 Chapter 9

Jude is missing and Shane isn’t waiting.Exploiting the Virus for HateOur Brothers and Sistershttps://www.instagram.com/p/B_EqdscJJIk/?igshid=184nmhjzy4cljCastRandi             Halle MillienShane            Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgVoice Cloak Q HackDroid Communications by LiamG_SFXMusicAuntie Tommy’s Letter ThemeMoonrocks And Pianos 145 Bpm by Wphil of looperman.comPart 2 Moonrock Pad 145 Bpm by Wphil of looperman.comPart 3 Moonrock Ambient Glockenspiel by Wphil of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienThank you to Stephen Senne of the AP and the combination of real people that are encapsulated in Auntie TOMMY (Keet, Bam and Toms).Glossarynilled: turned off.percoms: personal communication devices.Auntie Tommy’s Letter:Hey babies. Yo mamas and daddies told me about this archive shit and I was blown away. It’s not like me to trust the government to do much right, but hoarding information is something they have excelled at to an Olympic like level so let me be on the record for all of them MAGA fucks running the government right now...your days is numbered my G. Oh I wish I was recording this on November 4th. That should be a new holiday. As a matter of fact it should just replace the Fourth of July altogether. Raggedy ass racist ass holiday. Firework deez nutz. I’m not at all happy with the choice in front of us, but it’s a choice and as black people we have to be happy for that. I have no illusions that you will have to make similar choices. Your adulthood will inherit the fight that we inherited, but I hope you are more woke to the consequences of apathy and fatigue than my sisdren and breddren of today. I’d call them niggaz lazy if it wasn’t racist. Black people can be racist. Don’t forget that. You’ll hear that racism is a function of power, so at best black people can be prejudice. That’s true and not true at the same time. When it comes to other communities of color, black people can set the tone and frame the narrative for how those people are treated or at least enhance it exponentially. Right now we have a rise of Asian hate crimes going on because of the virus. It started in China so these dumbass rednecks thinks that means that Americans of Asian ancestry are plague carriers. Dumb shits. But dumb shits carry real consequences, as our current federal government puts on display for the world everyday. Joke I heard that I hope is less relevant when you read this. “What borders stupidity? Canada and Mexico.” Gotta laugh to keep from crying. Stupidity can be a pathway to power because ignorance is seductive. It removes responsibility, so anything becomes possible. In my worst nightmares I imagined a global threat with incompetence at its head, but I confess these mofos surprised me. What’s really clear to me though is the economic frustration nonsense. These people will be happy to die broke, as long as they can claim a win over all of the people they feel threatened by. The elites, which just mean people who have carved out a future for themselves that doesn’t include being buried where you were born. The coloreds, all the coloreds, because they aren’t real Americans. We’re just all people they’ve tolerated and should be thankful for what we have, no matter how little, because they were generous to share it with us in the first place. And lastly, the godless. I heard someone in a documentary say once that if the Bible told them that 2+2=5 then they would adjust their whole world view to support that. He meant it, with everything, and it helped me understand that these people can’t be reasoned with. You can only wait for their bones to become brittle and that their hate doesn’t fertilize a new crop of misanthropes. The FBI killed a man a few weeks ago who had been planning a mass kill event. He was linked to white supremacists who see the virus as a way to bring about the world they want to live in. He wasn’t choosy. Muslims, Jews, black children. Any “other” would do. But our Asian sisters and brothers, the model minority, are being targeted indiscriminately and the streets are as unkind to them as they have been to us for half a millennia. I want you to know, that I know, the future is no better. It can’t be. Because there are still people in it. So I want you to be careful. And to remember that before you commit yourself to anything, you remember how precious you are to so many and you owe those who love you careful judgment and heartbreaking consideration. I will always have your back. Fuck this corporate shit I do. You ever need me for any foul shit and you don’t call, Ima be offended. I don’t want you to be warriors. I would rather you be pharaohs. But our people will starve on the promise of fairy tales. We need manifestos. Oh, and the video of y’all reading A for Activist really hit me in a warm place that I needed right now. I hope I’ve given you something you needed in return. I love you, with everything.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #poc #humanrights #hatecrimes #militant

Jude is missing and Shane isn’t waiting.<a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/04/16/835343965/-a-perfect-storm-extremists-look-for-ways-to-exploit-coronavirus-pandemic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Exploiting the Virus for Hate</a><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/federal-agencies-are-doing-little-about-rise-anti-asian-hate-n1184766" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Our Brothers and Sisters</a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B_EqdscJJIk/?igshid=184nmhjzy4clj" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/p/B_EqdscJJIk/?igshid=184nmhjzy4clj</a>CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Voice Cloak Q Hack<a href="https://freesound.org/people/LiamG_SFX/sounds/334258/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Droid Communications</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/LiamG_SFX/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LiamG_SFX</a>MusicAuntie Tommy’s Letter Theme<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/208574/moonrocks-and-pianos-145-bpm-140bpm-hip-hop-piano-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Moonrocks And Pianos 145 Bpm</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=Wphil" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wphil</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a><a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/208656/part-2-moonrock-pad-145-bpm-145bpm-hip-hop-arpeggio-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Part 2 Moonrock Pad 145 Bpm</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=Wphil" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wphil</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a><a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/208657/part-3-moonrock-ambient-glockenspiel-145bpm-hip-hop-bells-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Part 3 Moonrock Ambient Glockenspiel</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=Wphil" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wphil</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienThank you to Stephen Senne of the AP and the combination of real people that are encapsulated in Auntie TOMMY (Keet, Bam and Toms).Glossarynilled: turned off.percoms: personal communication devices.Auntie Tommy’s Letter:Hey babies. Yo mamas and daddies told me about this archive shit and I was blown away. It’s not like me to trust the government to do much right, but hoarding information is something they have excelled at to an Olympic like level so let me be on the record for all of them MAGA fucks running the government right now...your days is numbered my G. Oh I wish I was recording this on November 4th. That should be a new holiday. As a matter of fact it should just replace the Fourth of July altogether. Raggedy ass racist ass holiday. Firework deez nutz. I’m not at all happy with the choice in front of us, but it’s a choice and as black people we have to be happy for that. I have no illusions that you will have to make similar choices. Your adulthood will inherit the fight that we inherited, but I hope you are more woke to the consequences of apathy and fatigue than my sisdren and breddren of today. I’d call them niggaz lazy if it wasn’t racist. Black people can be racist. Don’t forget that. You’ll hear that racism is a function of power, so at best black people can be prejudice. That’s true and not true at the same time. When it comes to other communities of color, black people can set the tone and frame the narrative for how those people are treated or at least enhance it exponentially. Right now we have a rise of Asian hate crimes going on because of the virus. It started in China so these dumbass rednecks thinks that means that Americans of Asian ancestry are plague carriers. Dumb shits. But dumb shits carry real consequences, as our current federal government puts on display for the world everyday. Joke I heard that I hope is less relevant when you read this. “What borders stupidity? Canada and Mexico.” Gotta laugh to keep from crying. Stupidity can be a pathway to power because ignorance is seductive. It removes responsibility, so anything becomes possible. In my worst nightmares I imagined a global threat with incompetence at its head, but I confess these mofos surprised me. What’s really clear to me though is the economic frustration nonsense. These people will be happy to die broke, as long as they can claim a win over all of the people they feel threatened by. The elites, which just mean people who have carved out a future for themselves that doesn’t include being buried where you were born. The coloreds, all the coloreds, because they aren’t real Americans. We’re just all people they’ve tolerated and should be thankful for what we have, no matter how little, because they were generous to share it with us in the first place. And lastly, the godless. I heard someone in a documentary say once that if the Bible told them that 2+2=5 then they would adjust their whole world view to support that. He meant it, with everything, and it helped me understand that these people can’t be reasoned with. You can only wait for their bones to become brittle and that their hate doesn’t fertilize a new crop of misanthropes. The FBI killed a man a few weeks ago who had been planning a mass kill event. He was linked to white supremacists who see the virus as a way to bring about the world they want to live in. He wasn’t choosy. Muslims, Jews, black children. Any “other” would do. But our Asian sisters and brothers, the model minority, are being targeted indiscriminately and the streets are as unkind to them as they have been to us for half a millennia. I want you to know, that I know, the future is no better. It can’t be. Because there are still people in it. So I want you to be careful. And to remember that before you commit yourself to anything, you remember how precious you are to so many and you owe those who love you careful judgment and heartbreaking consideration. I will always have your back. Fuck this corporate shit I do. You ever need me for any foul shit and you don’t call, Ima be offended. I don’t want you to be warriors. I would rather you be pharaohs. But our people will starve on the promise of fairy tales. We need manifestos. Oh, and the video of y’all reading A for Activist really hit me in a warm place that I needed right now. I hope I’ve given you something you needed in return. I love you, with everything.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #poc #humanrights #hatecrimes #militant

COVID39: Chapter 10

Twenty years after Covid-19 brought the world to a standstill, a man and a woman who were quarantined together as kids question the validity of their current romantic relationship. They salvage audio recordings left by their parents during the pandemic, our present, to come to terms with their trauma. This is a fictional audio drama that points out the humanity of our fateful present and examines the future we are helping to create for our children. 

This podcast is so important. It masterfully weaves current events with a sci-fi futuristic vision. I am so impressed with the story and the way it talks about so many themes at once. I hope it continues for a long time. Keep the episodes coming!

A much needed exploration

Bite size real time chronicles and future fiction.

Amazing.

Twenty years after Covid-19 brought the world to a standstill, a man and a woman who were quarantined together as kids question the validity of their current romantic relationship. They salvage audio recordings left by their parents during the pandemic, our present, to come to terms with their trauma. This is a fictional audio drama that points out the humanity of our fateful present and examines the future we are helping to create for our children.

COVID39

Randi and Shane deal with another disappearance in their lives.linksCastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienDr. Estrum Melissa ThomasSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicDesmond’s Letter Theme:Spanish Trap Guitar - Amado Carillo - Makalo Loop by MakaloCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienThank you to everyone out there making a difference at grocery stores, clinics, hospitals, pharmacies and gas stations. Thank you, thank you, thank you.Desmond’s Letter:There were a couple of nurses who stood in the crosswalk at an intersection, in protest of the protesters. It started out sounding like something really confrontational. Masked nurses staring down bare-faced gun-toting patriots like doomed students at Tiananmen Square. The reality was less dramatic. At red lights they would stand silent, arms crossed, as reminders to the signs and flags of what frontline soldiers look like in the land of COVID. Scrubs and gloves serving as the combat uniform of a nation under siege. Not just from a breeding virus. The fact that this isn’t happening anywhere else is telling. In Israel, there are protests going on against their prime minister and the allegations of corruption, leveled at him by his own government, as three elections have failed to unseat him and bring stability to a nation that has never known any lasting peace. And yet they did so in increments of six feet, with a soldier’s discipline. Here. Here it’s mobs pretending at militia. Science deniers calling upon biblical impetus for helping the pathogen spread into their homes and communities. These nurses weren’t hurling Molotov cocktails or climbing staged soapboxes. They didn’t need to. Helen has been really withdrawn this weekend. Moreso than usual. I overheard her arguing with Roderick. We all heard. The kids were sleeping next door, but the walls are too porous to absorb all that rage. He called me a little bit after the fight. I figured he would. We didn’t talk much about what he knew I must’ve heard. It’s not like any of us go anywhere. Mostly we talked about what we’d seen lately. When he got enough sleep, which was never and had some time to himself, which were scattered minutes cobbled out of pure human need, he would stream shows or movies in increments. It took him a week to finish an episode of Westworld. He still understood it better than I did. He mentioned something else though that was so him, so glass half full when all you’ve got is used solo cups. He told me that all of the animal shelters in Atlanta were empty. At first, I thought that he meant that there was some mass euthanization project due to a shortage of workers or supply chain issues with food. It wasn’t that at all. People in all of their need for companionship and love had gone out and offered their homes to every animal in the city, at a time when most of us don’t know where our next dollar is coming from. Now, truthfully, I’ve always had a bit of resentment to the PETA crowd. Prioritizing so many resources to animals when people all over the world are starving or worse, it has always smacked of, at best, warped sensibilities and at worst the type of racism that exists in the best of places. Maybe because he was the messenger, and he’d seen so much and felt so much from hearing about this, maybe because I knew he needed to hear something in me he wasn’t finding in the places he called home, but I found myself genuinely affected and happy to know that somewhere in America people weren’t being cruel, or ignorant. Maybe the nurses and the dogs and cats are the real world and the rabid protesters are a malignant outlier. I think he heard the hope in my voice and took it as a mirror. I don’t think it was an honest reflection, but I hope it was a lifeline.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #nurses #firstresponders #thebestofus

Randi and Shane deal with another disappearance in their lives.linksCastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienDr. Estrum Melissa ThomasSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicDesmond’s Letter Theme:<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/212658/spanish-trap-guitar-amado-carillo-makalo-loop-160bpm-trap-acoustic-guitar-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spanish Trap Guitar - Amado Carillo - Makalo Loop</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=Makalo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Makalo</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienThank you to everyone out there making a difference at grocery stores, clinics, hospitals, pharmacies and gas stations. Thank you, thank you, thank you.Desmond’s Letter:There were a couple of nurses who stood in the crosswalk at an intersection, in protest of the protesters. It started out sounding like something really confrontational. Masked nurses staring down bare-faced gun-toting patriots like doomed students at Tiananmen Square. The reality was less dramatic. At red lights they would stand silent, arms crossed, as reminders to the signs and flags of what frontline soldiers look like in the land of COVID. Scrubs and gloves serving as the combat uniform of a nation under siege. Not just from a breeding virus. The fact that this isn’t happening anywhere else is telling. In Israel, there are protests going on against their prime minister and the allegations of corruption, leveled at him by his own government, as three elections have failed to unseat him and bring stability to a nation that has never known any lasting peace. And yet they did so in increments of six feet, with a soldier’s discipline. Here. Here it’s mobs pretending at militia. Science deniers calling upon biblical impetus for helping the pathogen spread into their homes and communities. These nurses weren’t hurling Molotov cocktails or climbing staged soapboxes. They didn’t need to. Helen has been really withdrawn this weekend. Moreso than usual. I overheard her arguing with Roderick. We all heard. The kids were sleeping next door, but the walls are too porous to absorb all that rage. He called me a little bit after the fight. I figured he would. We didn’t talk much about what he knew I must’ve heard. It’s not like any of us go anywhere. Mostly we talked about what we’d seen lately. When he got enough sleep, which was never and had some time to himself, which were scattered minutes cobbled out of pure human need, he would stream shows or movies in increments. It took him a week to finish an episode of Westworld. He still understood it better than I did. He mentioned something else though that was so him, so glass half full when all you’ve got is used solo cups. He told me that all of the animal shelters in Atlanta were empty. At first, I thought that he meant that there was some mass euthanization project due to a shortage of workers or supply chain issues with food. It wasn’t that at all. People in all of their need for companionship and love had gone out and offered their homes to every animal in the city, at a time when most of us don’t know where our next dollar is coming from. Now, truthfully, I’ve always had a bit of resentment to the PETA crowd. Prioritizing so many resources to animals when people all over the world are starving or worse, it has always smacked of, at best, warped sensibilities and at worst the type of racism that exists in the best of places. Maybe because he was the messenger, and he’d seen so much and felt so much from hearing about this, maybe because I knew he needed to hear something in me he wasn’t finding in the places he called home, but I found myself genuinely affected and happy to know that somewhere in America people weren’t being cruel, or ignorant. Maybe the nurses and the dogs and cats are the real world and the rabid protesters are a malignant outlier. I think he heard the hope in my voice and took it as a mirror. I don’t think it was an honest reflection, but I hope it was a lifeline.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #nurses #firstresponders #thebestofus

COVID39: Chapter 11

Randi and Shane have a hard discussion about what they each want.CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicHelen’s Letter ThemeForgotten Bells - Gangs 2 by MINOR2GO of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienHelen’s Letter:Harrison. When I find you I am going to kill you. I know that we are going to find you. I know that you are scared because you heard me and your dad. I know that you will be so sorry when you realize how scared I am right now. But I know that we are going to find you safe. I know that you are okay because I know that there isn’t a version of me that could survive if you weren’t. Not one that I can conceive of, and because I cannot come to terms with that possibility I reject its existence in its entirety. I would blame Desmond if I was as worthless as I feel, as truly pathetic as the woman who’s voice I hear when I speak. The bulk of the homeschooling effort has been on him. He went to all the websites, indexed all the individual children’s interests, crafted an ad hoc Montessori curriculum, hoping he could keep you distracted enough from your boredom that he wouldn’t have to plug you in to any of the streaming services. Screentime is the new Satan. I grew up with the television as my nanny and look at how I turned out. A case study in accepted mediocrity. But you are not mediocre. You are special. Not because you are the beat of my heart and the pride of your father, but because you are empathetic. You will be so many things that I am not. You WILL BE. If I knew any voodoo I’d snatch the hair of a virgin and kiss the ass of a demon, oh god, I need you to be okay. I’m sorry I’m so consumed with my own shit that I haven’t given you what you need. I swear to you I will. I will. I will. I’m sorry about your dad. About what I said. I didn’t mean those things. Five weeks of quarantine has shown me things that I’m not proud of but I will make them all up to you. Since before I could walk, people have called me beautiful. Pretty. I am. It sits at the center of my identity. The world contours around me and I sit in its cushion. Having the pillows ripped out from under me has been, unsettling. I’m not making excuses. It’s long past the time for excuses. I just wanted you to know, after we find you, that I meant what I said. I wanted you to have proof that this is what made the difference. That you are how I define myself, you and your sister, from now on. God. From now on.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc

Randi and Shane have a hard discussion about what they each want.CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicHelen’s Letter Theme<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/213641/forgotten-bells-gangs-2-152bpm-trap-bells-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Forgotten Bells - Gangs 2</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=MINOR2GO" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MINOR2GO</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienHelen’s Letter:Harrison. When I find you I am going to kill you. I know that we are going to find you. I know that you are scared because you heard me and your dad. I know that you will be so sorry when you realize how scared I am right now. But I know that we are going to find you safe. I know that you are okay because I know that there isn’t a version of me that could survive if you weren’t. Not one that I can conceive of, and because I cannot come to terms with that possibility I reject its existence in its entirety. I would blame Desmond if I was as worthless as I feel, as truly pathetic as the woman who’s voice I hear when I speak. The bulk of the homeschooling effort has been on him. He went to all the websites, indexed all the individual children’s interests, crafted an ad hoc Montessori curriculum, hoping he could keep you distracted enough from your boredom that he wouldn’t have to plug you in to any of the streaming services. Screentime is the new Satan. I grew up with the television as my nanny and look at how I turned out. A case study in accepted mediocrity. But you are not mediocre. You are special. Not because you are the beat of my heart and the pride of your father, but because you are empathetic. You will be so many things that I am not. You WILL BE. If I knew any voodoo I’d snatch the hair of a virgin and kiss the ass of a demon, oh god, I need you to be okay. I’m sorry I’m so consumed with my own shit that I haven’t given you what you need. I swear to you I will. I will. I will. I’m sorry about your dad. About what I said. I didn’t mean those things. Five weeks of quarantine has shown me things that I’m not proud of but I will make them all up to you. Since before I could walk, people have called me beautiful. Pretty. I am. It sits at the center of my identity. The world contours around me and I sit in its cushion. Having the pillows ripped out from under me has been, unsettling. I’m not making excuses. It’s long past the time for excuses. I just wanted you to know, after we find you, that I meant what I said. I wanted you to have proof that this is what made the difference. That you are how I define myself, you and your sister, from now on. God. From now on.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc

COVID39: Chapter 12

Helen’s letter reveals something unseen.Drink While You CanCorona Viruses Taught Us How To Fight Climate ChangeData About the SystemsSystems ThinkingCastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicHelen’s Letter ThemeF A B L E by renegadeonthebeat of loooperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossaryharvest equity: a small systems bank.panacea: the first and largest global systems bank.systems banks: for profit organizations that analyze your lifestyle and build a model dictating what actions should be taken to create a net positive healing factor or put another way, a negative carbon footprint. Since interconnected dynamics are verifiable and quantitative these tangible changes for individuals or corporations create currency that can be banked, spent or credited against your lifestyle, business or other assets. The analytics are derived from a specific model established by ?????????? that incorporates intricacies of human behavior, organizational interconnectivity, institutional influences and market structures.Helen’s Letter:Ever since we found you I feel like life keeps presenting all of these possibilities. In China, for the first time in decades, they are living under clear skies. Milan has announced new initiatives in regulating daily transportation emissions based on the data they are seeing from the shelter in place mandates going on throughout the world. Today is Earth Day. The 50th anniversary. I don’t believe in coincidence, or karma, or anything, I guess, but this, for me, can’t mean nothing. Nitrogen dioxide is falling throughout the country. In Berlin they are reimagining urban planning to coincide with this moment, this moment! And you are home! Safe! I think this is it. A turning point for all of us. You know all those clichés. Well you don’t know them now, but you’ll know them by the time you read this. Always darkest before the dawn. Baby, I can smell the sun. It’s rising on all of us. All the things we’ve gone through, went through, it was all leading to this, to right now. Desmond and Mara think I’m drunk. I haven’t had a drink since we found you! Two days in quarantine and not a single wisp of alcohol has creased my lips. I can’t even regret who I was before this moment, because it took that for me to be here, right now, seeing clearly for the first time in what feels like years. Maybe my whole life. I am teeming in abundance! I’m so thankful, even for the virus. Because it brought us to this place where we had to reckon with our behavior. The consequences of our apathy, our greed. Until finally, after rockbottom, you have to sober up. You have to reassess everything, consider options that seemed impossible before, and create something beautiful from the ashes of your old life. I’m burning it all, my dear heart. Every part of me that clung to unfulfilling scenarios out of habit as opposed to happiness. Baby, thank you. Thank you for rejecting all of this bullshit. That’s what made you run away! I told you. You are special. Empathic. You could feel intuitively what none of us could see. And we followed you, and you’ve led us to this. A bright tomorrow. Thank you my sweet boy. I told you that I would change. I didn’t realize at the time that you were already changing everything. Thank you. Thank you.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #earthday #emissions #stayyourasshome #religion

Helen’s letter reveals something unseen.<a href="https://coolmaterial.com/food-drink/climate-change-whiskey-wine-beer/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Drink While You Can</a><a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/how-our-global-battle-against-coronavirus-could-help-us-fight-climate-change/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Corona Viruses Taught Us How To Fight Climate Change</a><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-pandemic-climate-change/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Data About the Systems</a><a href="https://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2013/12/09/systems-thinking-climate-change-lessons-action" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Systems Thinking</a>CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicHelen’s Letter Theme<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/212556/f-a-b-l-e-150bpm-trap-vocal-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">F A B L E</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=renegadeonthebeat" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">renegadeonthebeat</a> of <a href="http://loooperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">loooperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienGlossaryharvest equity: a small systems bank.panacea: the first and largest global systems bank.systems banks: for profit organizations that analyze your lifestyle and build a model dictating what actions should be taken to create a net positive healing factor or put another way, a negative carbon footprint. Since interconnected dynamics are verifiable and quantitative these tangible changes for individuals or corporations create currency that can be banked, spent or credited against your lifestyle, business or other assets. The analytics are derived from a specific model established by ?????????? that incorporates intricacies of human behavior, organizational interconnectivity, institutional influences and market structures.Helen’s Letter:Ever since we found you I feel like life keeps presenting all of these possibilities. In China, for the first time in decades, they are living under clear skies. Milan has announced new initiatives in regulating daily transportation emissions based on the data they are seeing from the shelter in place mandates going on throughout the world. Today is Earth Day. The 50th anniversary. I don’t believe in coincidence, or karma, or anything, I guess, but this, for me, can’t mean nothing. Nitrogen dioxide is falling throughout the country. In Berlin they are reimagining urban planning to coincide with this moment, this moment! And you are home! Safe! I think this is it. A turning point for all of us. You know all those clichés. Well you don’t know them now, but you’ll know them by the time you read this. Always darkest before the dawn. Baby, I can smell the sun. It’s rising on all of us. All the things we’ve gone through, went through, it was all leading to this, to right now. Desmond and Mara think I’m drunk. I haven’t had a drink since we found you! Two days in quarantine and not a single wisp of alcohol has creased my lips. I can’t even regret who I was before this moment, because it took that for me to be here, right now, seeing clearly for the first time in what feels like years. Maybe my whole life. I am teeming in abundance! I’m so thankful, even for the virus. Because it brought us to this place where we had to reckon with our behavior. The consequences of our apathy, our greed. Until finally, after rockbottom, you have to sober up. You have to reassess everything, consider options that seemed impossible before, and create something beautiful from the ashes of your old life. I’m burning it all, my dear heart. Every part of me that clung to unfulfilling scenarios out of habit as opposed to happiness. Baby, thank you. Thank you for rejecting all of this bullshit. That’s what made you run away! I told you. You are special. Empathic. You could feel intuitively what none of us could see. And we followed you, and you’ve led us to this. A bright tomorrow. Thank you my sweet boy. I told you that I would change. I didn’t realize at the time that you were already changing everything. Thank you. Thank you.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #earthday #emissions #stayyourasshome #religion

COVID39: Chapter 13

A letter from Randi’s father.CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienRoderick Brian Ashton Smith (Instagram @bashtons)SFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicEStrings Intro by Eendee of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienSpecial Thanks to my boy Brian who came through in the clutch. He’s an amazing performer and a better friend.Roderick’s Letter:Hi. Uh, hello. Hi. I’m already bad at this. I’m sorry. This is so unfair to you both. You may have heard your mother and I, the other night. My intentions may not matter, but I didn’t mean for it to escalate the way that it did. I always wonder afterwards when it was that I lost control, and, it’s hard to pinpoint. I don’t know what mistakes I’m making anymore. Every morning I try to decide what the right thing to do is and by the time the sun goes down I still have no idea if I’d spent the day making things worse or making them better. I don’t know what will matter most to you in however many years it will be until you hear this. It’s supposed to serve as a time capsule, so maybe you’ll be adults. Maybe you’ll already have kids of your own. I’d like to have that conversation with you one day, parent to parent. I’m hoping that my actions will seem justified then, because I can’t justify them now, to my two beautiful children. Your uncle Desmond and aunt Mara love you very much, they would do anything for you, but I know it’s not the same as having me there. When this is all over I’ll sit each of you on my lap and we’ll talk about why I was away. Why I left without saying goodbye. I was always happy with your mom. It was never a fairytale, but I was proud of our story. I always felt lucky that she would even talk to me. I’d never met anyone like her. We were friends first. I watched guys approach her, watch them struggle with the words, fumble maintaining eye contact. Eventually receding until forgotten, with a resumé spotlighting all their tiny failures. I studied their advances so that I wouldn’t make their mistakes, knowing I would inevitably make my own. The day I found the courage to test my thesis, I had rehearsed my approach like a TV host’s monologue. I knew where to pause for effect, for laughter, for thoughtful consideration. I’d practiced when to look away and when to absorb her in fullness, calibrating against creepy, fine tuning my stare into a gaze. My mirror must have been so sick of me. It was a Saturday morning in the Spring. We were meeting Desmond and Mara for daydrinks. Not just them. Your uncles Frank, Juan, Serge, Marcus, Josh, Joseph and Robert. Your aunts Jessica, Jolie, Patricia, Tommy, Lolo, Eve, Tika and Ebony. I thought there might be safety in numbers if things didn’t go as planned, but back then we were always together. We didn’t need an occasion. So different from now. We’ve all dispersed like dandelion threads on the wings of wishes. And even if we hadn’t, now we live in isolation. Normal feels so far away. I asked her a couple of days in advance if she could help me go buy a suit for a wedding that was coming up later in the summer. She liked to clown me about how I dressed so I thought it would come across like I was taking her “suggestions” seriously. I’d pick her up, we’d spend a few hours together while I tried on ties and shiny shoes. She could see me look my best but in a casual environment. I could cheat her imagination into perceiving me differently. After a morning of tailoring, I’d ask her if she could give me a supplemental course, graduate with honors, or something like that. I got there 30 minutes early with Dunkin Donuts vanilla coffee that I knew was her favorite. I would catch her off her game, unprepared, shields down. I really was confident when I walked up to her door, but when she opened it...it was like getting to the dragon’s lair after weeks of planning on how to get out alive. She wasn’t ready yet. Her hair was everywhere at once like a fuzzy star and too beautiful to stare at directly. She had on an oversized t shirt. That’s it. A baggy faded inconsequential t shirt that managed somehow to hang on her like an heirloom tapestry. She said hey. And then I knew. It was pretend casual in the same way I was poorly trying to imitate. She was all stealth and the word was a shuriken. I stood there bleeding from the heart and lungs, trying to form a sentence, a word, a thought. In a jumble, sensations came over me that my lizard brain translated. HI. WHAT. NICE. HOW. YOU. FINE. I. SORRY. COFFEE. SHOES. But my wound was mortal. My breath came out in short clips while my lungs drowned in shame. I had been a fool. I wasn’t a hunter. I was meat. And the dragon had been waiting. She put a hand on mine and I was so thankful for the mercy of a quick kill. I thought that I was an eskimo brother to all those fools I tried to leach victory from and then I remembered that we were the opposite of eskimo brothers but I didn’t know the word for that and I was the King of All Fools and then...she willed the cup of coffee from my hand like a magic trick and said, “So do I get to be your date for this wedding, because I never asked, but it only seems fair considering the work I have in front of me.” And somehow I managed a not too feeble sounding “That was the plan,” and watched those dice tumble off my lips heady with the stakes, waiting for her mouth to annihilate or vindicate. She said “Good. Come in, I’ll get dressed.” Sevens. My life was never the same after that. Desmond and I, when we were kids, had always talked about what it would be like to have kids of our own. We were both determined to be different than our fathers. I’m so proud of Desmond, but it pains me more than I can describe to know how far I have fallen short. I’m hoping in the years to come I will have made it all up to you. What I want you to understand about this moment is that...it felt like being called to war. The stories you hear about Vietnam, Korea, the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan, they were all muddy with questionable motivations and no clear goals. World War II was the last time this country seemed to have a purity in conflict. Our people were still being killed or degraded at the whims of white men, cheered on by white women, and shunned or spit upon by what are now People of Color, in unity, but then we were niggers and they weren’t and that was that. But the fight came to us and we responded. Black pilots and infantrymen distinguished themselves in battle against an enemy that was literally attempting to destroy all non Aryans and establish a master race. Despite the circumstances of our service, serve we did. With valor. And though our contribution was mostly ignored in the lifetimes of those who survived, our stories were told and they’ve become sacred. This moment feels like that to me. Our people are dying at a much greater rate than whites or POC, and so this virus has made us niggers again. Alone and vulnerable. And I have never been a nigger and my children were not born niggers and I want to do everything in my power to make sure that this remains the case. Because our story must be told. If we leave it for others to tell, there will be omissions. There will be faulty narratives. And there will be lies. I trained to be a nurse because I wanted to help people. Here in Dallas, right now, the virus is under control. But in New York, it’s like something out of a Black Mirror episode. I left last week to try and help make a difference. Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not a hero. I am no slayer of dragons. A hero would’ve had the courage to kiss my children on the head and tell them that everything would be all right. A hero would’ve held the love of his life in his arms and found a way to make her understand his choices and to heal the place in her that he had broken. I couldn’t do those things because I am a coward. I don’t have the strength to see any of you and leave in uncertainty. My optimism can only breathe in a space of limited consequences. Outside of that, I am as lost as anyone else, and my bravado has always been a watery illusion. Whatever I’ve said to you about why I did what I did in the past, I hope this clarifies it in some way that will be meaningful to you. If this is the last time you will hear my voice, then know that I regret it. I regret all of it.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent

A letter from Randi’s father.CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienRoderick Brian Ashton Smith (Instagram @bashtons)SFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Music<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/204999/estrings-intro-110bpm-cinematic-strings-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">EStrings Intro</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=Eendee" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eendee</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienSpecial Thanks to my boy Brian who came through in the clutch. He’s an amazing performer and a better friend.Roderick’s Letter:Hi. Uh, hello. Hi. I’m already bad at this. I’m sorry. This is so unfair to you both. You may have heard your mother and I, the other night. My intentions may not matter, but I didn’t mean for it to escalate the way that it did. I always wonder afterwards when it was that I lost control, and, it’s hard to pinpoint. I don’t know what mistakes I’m making anymore. Every morning I try to decide what the right thing to do is and by the time the sun goes down I still have no idea if I’d spent the day making things worse or making them better. I don’t know what will matter most to you in however many years it will be until you hear this. It’s supposed to serve as a time capsule, so maybe you’ll be adults. Maybe you’ll already have kids of your own. I’d like to have that conversation with you one day, parent to parent. I’m hoping that my actions will seem justified then, because I can’t justify them now, to my two beautiful children. Your uncle Desmond and aunt Mara love you very much, they would do anything for you, but I know it’s not the same as having me there. When this is all over I’ll sit each of you on my lap and we’ll talk about why I was away. Why I left without saying goodbye. I was always happy with your mom. It was never a fairytale, but I was proud of our story. I always felt lucky that she would even talk to me. I’d never met anyone like her. We were friends first. I watched guys approach her, watch them struggle with the words, fumble maintaining eye contact. Eventually receding until forgotten, with a resumé spotlighting all their tiny failures. I studied their advances so that I wouldn’t make their mistakes, knowing I would inevitably make my own. The day I found the courage to test my thesis, I had rehearsed my approach like a TV host’s monologue. I knew where to pause for effect, for laughter, for thoughtful consideration. I’d practiced when to look away and when to absorb her in fullness, calibrating against creepy, fine tuning my stare into a gaze. My mirror must have been so sick of me. It was a Saturday morning in the Spring. We were meeting Desmond and Mara for daydrinks. Not just them. Your uncles Frank, Juan, Serge, Marcus, Josh, Joseph and Robert. Your aunts Jessica, Jolie, Patricia, Tommy, Lolo, Eve, Tika and Ebony. I thought there might be safety in numbers if things didn’t go as planned, but back then we were always together. We didn’t need an occasion. So different from now. We’ve all dispersed like dandelion threads on the wings of wishes. And even if we hadn’t, now we live in isolation. Normal feels so far away. I asked her a couple of days in advance if she could help me go buy a suit for a wedding that was coming up later in the summer. She liked to clown me about how I dressed so I thought it would come across like I was taking her “suggestions” seriously. I’d pick her up, we’d spend a few hours together while I tried on ties and shiny shoes. She could see me look my best but in a casual environment. I could cheat her imagination into perceiving me differently. After a morning of tailoring, I’d ask her if she could give me a supplemental course, graduate with honors, or something like that. I got there 30 minutes early with Dunkin Donuts vanilla coffee that I knew was her favorite. I would catch her off her game, unprepared, shields down. I really was confident when I walked up to her door, but when she opened it...it was like getting to the dragon’s lair after weeks of planning on how to get out alive. She wasn’t ready yet. Her hair was everywhere at once like a fuzzy star and too beautiful to stare at directly. She had on an oversized t shirt. That’s it. A baggy faded inconsequential t shirt that managed somehow to hang on her like an heirloom tapestry. She said hey. And then I knew. It was pretend casual in the same way I was poorly trying to imitate. She was all stealth and the word was a shuriken. I stood there bleeding from the heart and lungs, trying to form a sentence, a word, a thought. In a jumble, sensations came over me that my lizard brain translated. HI. WHAT. NICE. HOW. YOU. FINE. I. SORRY. COFFEE. SHOES. But my wound was mortal. My breath came out in short clips while my lungs drowned in shame. I had been a fool. I wasn’t a hunter. I was meat. And the dragon had been waiting. She put a hand on mine and I was so thankful for the mercy of a quick kill. I thought that I was an eskimo brother to all those fools I tried to leach victory from and then I remembered that we were the opposite of eskimo brothers but I didn’t know the word for that and I was the King of All Fools and then...she willed the cup of coffee from my hand like a magic trick and said, “So do I get to be your date for this wedding, because I never asked, but it only seems fair considering the work I have in front of me.” And somehow I managed a not too feeble sounding “That was the plan,” and watched those dice tumble off my lips heady with the stakes, waiting for her mouth to annihilate or vindicate. She said “Good. Come in, I’ll get dressed.” Sevens. My life was never the same after that. Desmond and I, when we were kids, had always talked about what it would be like to have kids of our own. We were both determined to be different than our fathers. I’m so proud of Desmond, but it pains me more than I can describe to know how far I have fallen short. I’m hoping in the years to come I will have made it all up to you. What I want you to understand about this moment is that...it felt like being called to war. The stories you hear about Vietnam, Korea, the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan, they were all muddy with questionable motivations and no clear goals. World War II was the last time this country seemed to have a purity in conflict. Our people were still being killed or degraded at the whims of white men, cheered on by white women, and shunned or spit upon by what are now People of Color, in unity, but then we were niggers and they weren’t and that was that. But the fight came to us and we responded. Black pilots and infantrymen distinguished themselves in battle against an enemy that was literally attempting to destroy all non Aryans and establish a master race. Despite the circumstances of our service, serve we did. With valor. And though our contribution was mostly ignored in the lifetimes of those who survived, our stories were told and they’ve become sacred. This moment feels like that to me. Our people are dying at a much greater rate than whites or POC, and so this virus has made us niggers again. Alone and vulnerable. And I have never been a nigger and my children were not born niggers and I want to do everything in my power to make sure that this remains the case. Because our story must be told. If we leave it for others to tell, there will be omissions. There will be faulty narratives. And there will be lies. I trained to be a nurse because I wanted to help people. Here in Dallas, right now, the virus is under control. But in New York, it’s like something out of a Black Mirror episode. I left last week to try and help make a difference. Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not a hero. I am no slayer of dragons. A hero would’ve had the courage to kiss my children on the head and tell them that everything would be all right. A hero would’ve held the love of his life in his arms and found a way to make her understand his choices and to heal the place in her that he had broken. I couldn’t do those things because I am a coward. I don’t have the strength to see any of you and leave in uncertainty. My optimism can only breathe in a space of limited consequences. Outside of that, I am as lost as anyone else, and my bravado has always been a watery illusion. Whatever I’ve said to you about why I did what I did in the past, I hope this clarifies it in some way that will be meaningful to you. If this is the last time you will hear my voice, then know that I regret it. I regret all of it.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent

COVID39: Chapter 15

Randi and Shane read a letter from the past that predicts their present.CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicPathways Initiative Letter ThemeMeant 140BPM - Blend Beats by BlendBeats looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienPathways Initiative Letter:Randi Morgan and Shane Philips. I hope that when you read this, you are both as healthy and happy as can be expected in the Post Pandemic world. We expect that you are. I know that there have been many challenges that brought you here to this point. We at the Pathways Initiative regret whatever part we have played in producing those hardships. It must be hard for you to imagine the world as it exists today. In some ways we must seem like a decadent society. Gluttons, wanton, and reckless. Shane, you are skeptical of authority, institutions, and altruism. It will be particularly hard for you to reconcile your concepts of free will with what we have developed. You will spend an inordinate amount of time feeling like a pawn. It will give you little comfort, and potentially exacerbate potential harmful cascade effects in your behavior, but our data points alwasys suggested that you would become a king. Randi. Our data regarding your potential and terminal vectors are more...shadowed. You are the quintessential paradox. Everything in your genetic and mental profile define you as an apex paragon. But along with such dominant traits comes an inherent uncertainty that we have not, truthfully, been able to model with the same degree of confidence as 99.998% of the participating population. This requires us to form a negative data set that is informed by what is going on around you, what we call a halo effect, at a greater dynamic than we would feel comfortable with under more data driven parameters. We include this letter in this archive as a test positive for reasons that will become clear in the coming days and weeks. Randi and Shane, there is a 98.9% probability that you have been living together for 4-5 years. There is a 99.6% probability that your relationship is marred by your past trauma and you are currently trying to determine the best path forward. You are both committed to one another but neither of you know if it is because you are following a pre-ordained stumble into your own codependency or if it is rooted in genuine respect, admiration and love. The world you both live in present you with far less options than the one in which this is written so you have a good faith basis for this lingering doubt. At this time we will not share our data sets on how this will turn out. This letter is meant to focus your directions and energies to making these questions a priority in your relationship to accelerate the process you are already undertaking. If you find this to be manipulative, it is. That unfortunately, is the point. You each have impactful decisions to make in the immediate and longterm. Whatever you believe after reading this, we wish you well.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent

Randi and Shane read a letter from the past that predicts their present.CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicPathways Initiative Letter Theme<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/211959/meant-140bpm-blend-beats-140bpm-8bit-chiptune-arpeggio-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Meant 140BPM - Blend Beats</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=BlendBeats" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BlendBeats</a> <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienPathways Initiative Letter:Randi Morgan and Shane Philips. I hope that when you read this, you are both as healthy and happy as can be expected in the Post Pandemic world. We expect that you are. I know that there have been many challenges that brought you here to this point. We at the Pathways Initiative regret whatever part we have played in producing those hardships. It must be hard for you to imagine the world as it exists today. In some ways we must seem like a decadent society. Gluttons, wanton, and reckless. Shane, you are skeptical of authority, institutions, and altruism. It will be particularly hard for you to reconcile your concepts of free will with what we have developed. You will spend an inordinate amount of time feeling like a pawn. It will give you little comfort, and potentially exacerbate potential harmful cascade effects in your behavior, but our data points alwasys suggested that you would become a king. Randi. Our data regarding your potential and terminal vectors are more...shadowed. You are the quintessential paradox. Everything in your genetic and mental profile define you as an apex paragon. But along with such dominant traits comes an inherent uncertainty that we have not, truthfully, been able to model with the same degree of confidence as 99.998% of the participating population. This requires us to form a negative data set that is informed by what is going on around you, what we call a halo effect, at a greater dynamic than we would feel comfortable with under more data driven parameters. We include this letter in this archive as a test positive for reasons that will become clear in the coming days and weeks. Randi and Shane, there is a 98.9% probability that you have been living together for 4-5 years. There is a 99.6% probability that your relationship is marred by your past trauma and you are currently trying to determine the best path forward. You are both committed to one another but neither of you know if it is because you are following a pre-ordained stumble into your own codependency or if it is rooted in genuine respect, admiration and love. The world you both live in present you with far less options than the one in which this is written so you have a good faith basis for this lingering doubt. At this time we will not share our data sets on how this will turn out. This letter is meant to focus your directions and energies to making these questions a priority in your relationship to accelerate the process you are already undertaking. If you find this to be manipulative, it is. That unfortunately, is the point. You each have impactful decisions to make in the immediate and longterm. Whatever you believe after reading this, we wish you well.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent

COVID39: Chapter 14

Shane tries to talk Randi through shared demons and delusions.Phase One Doesn’t Consider Priority OneCastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicDesmond’s Letter ThemeSummer Lullaby by Nightingale of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienDesmond’s Letter:A security guard was shot and killed in Michigan. They have a mask mandate. This family, the daughter, didn’t have one on. The report says they got into a verbal altercation and then the security guard asked the cashier not to serve them, told them to go. They left. Twenty minutes later they come back, with another member of the family. Brother, husband, I’m not sure. But he shot the security guard in the head and he died. Half the states in the country reopened over the weekend and it doesn’t feel like any of us are any safer. It just feels like we are running out of options. Into madness. Most of the deferments that we were able to qualify for come due in July but we still aren’t making money. The stimulus check is supposedly a few days away but it won’t make the difference that we need it to. The guidelines everyone is working from is bullshit. It’s like they’re trying to design a class struggle between people with kids and people without them. I can’t leave them here with Mara. She can’t watch them the days she’s working Helen has been no help. I take that back. She’s become really focused on Harrison, but Randi, it’s like she’s disappeared as far as Helen’s concerned. I’m worried about Roderick. He called yesterday, but he only spoke to me and he didn’t want me to tell anyone. That’s not sustainable. He knows that, but he doesn’t know what to do about it. A car company based here said that anyone who didn’t show up May 1st had essentially quit. What’s the point of that? They want to lose experienced workers in the middle of the pandemic to replace them with people with more flexibility, who are desperate enough to risk their lives and in demand enough to go wherever this new mercenary economy will hire them? Is it just a way to quickly shed payroll under the auspices that they tried to offer their workforce a fair shot? I feel like the pictures of people flocking to beaches should be providing me with hope, but it’s a brand new type of dread on top of all the other solidifying shadows with sharp edges lurking at the periphery. It only occurred to me today, stupidly, that you all may be falling behind academically. That maybe what I’m doing isn’t enough. How could it be? I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. And will you suffer for it? Maybe the curve will adjust. If everyone is swimming in place, then won’t the expectations just shift? It’s a lie. I knew it was a lie before I typed it. This will be the same unequal bullshit on a whole new scale, widening gaps that were already chasms. I remember at the beginning of this feeling a sense of security because this was something that didn’t affect children. Then that beautiful little girl died and it shook another convenient lie. But now I see that whether she was an outlier or not, it didn’t matter. But the virus is coming for my children in another way. Instead of crippling their lungs, it will cripple your advancement, your ability to compete with an entire class of people that already had a head start. All the bills are coming due.GlossaryThe Atlanta Ospreys: a virtual league team that encompasses all the major VR sports (basketball, hockey, baseball, football and American football) under a single team with a single owner and employing hundreds of virtual athletes that compete in digital arenas for millions of specs.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent #phaseone

Shane tries to talk Randi through shared demons and delusions.<a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coronavirus-economy-parents-work-childcare-schools_n_5eac4289c5b6995f1400410f?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-huffpostwomen&amp;utm_content=later-6908590&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=instagram" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Phase One Doesn’t Consider Priority One</a>CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicDesmond’s Letter Theme<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/110349/summer-lullaby-by-nightingale-free-60bpm-cinematic-acoustic-guitar-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Summer Lullaby</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=Nightingale" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nightingale</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienDesmond’s Letter:A security guard was shot and killed in Michigan. They have a mask mandate. This family, the daughter, didn’t have one on. The report says they got into a verbal altercation and then the security guard asked the cashier not to serve them, told them to go. They left. Twenty minutes later they come back, with another member of the family. Brother, husband, I’m not sure. But he shot the security guard in the head and he died. Half the states in the country reopened over the weekend and it doesn’t feel like any of us are any safer. It just feels like we are running out of options. Into madness. Most of the deferments that we were able to qualify for come due in July but we still aren’t making money. The stimulus check is supposedly a few days away but it won’t make the difference that we need it to. The guidelines everyone is working from is bullshit. It’s like they’re trying to design a class struggle between people with kids and people without them. I can’t leave them here with Mara. She can’t watch them the days she’s working Helen has been no help. I take that back. She’s become really focused on Harrison, but Randi, it’s like she’s disappeared as far as Helen’s concerned. I’m worried about Roderick. He called yesterday, but he only spoke to me and he didn’t want me to tell anyone. That’s not sustainable. He knows that, but he doesn’t know what to do about it. A car company based here said that anyone who didn’t show up May 1st had essentially quit. What’s the point of that? They want to lose experienced workers in the middle of the pandemic to replace them with people with more flexibility, who are desperate enough to risk their lives and in demand enough to go wherever this new mercenary economy will hire them? Is it just a way to quickly shed payroll under the auspices that they tried to offer their workforce a fair shot? I feel like the pictures of people flocking to beaches should be providing me with hope, but it’s a brand new type of dread on top of all the other solidifying shadows with sharp edges lurking at the periphery. It only occurred to me today, stupidly, that you all may be falling behind academically. That maybe what I’m doing isn’t enough. How could it be? I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. And will you suffer for it? Maybe the curve will adjust. If everyone is swimming in place, then won’t the expectations just shift? It’s a lie. I knew it was a lie before I typed it. This will be the same unequal bullshit on a whole new scale, widening gaps that were already chasms. I remember at the beginning of this feeling a sense of security because this was something that didn’t affect children. Then that beautiful little girl died and it shook another convenient lie. But now I see that whether she was an outlier or not, it didn’t matter. But the virus is coming for my children in another way. Instead of crippling their lungs, it will cripple your advancement, your ability to compete with an entire class of people that already had a head start. All the bills are coming due.GlossaryThe Atlanta Ospreys: a virtual league team that encompasses all the major VR sports (basketball, hockey, baseball, football and American football) under a single team with a single owner and employing hundreds of virtual athletes that compete in digital arenas for millions of specs.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent #phaseone

COVID39: Chapter 21

Randi’s memories are detailed and dangerous.CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicRandi’s Letter ThemeChoirs Of Passion - Eternal Punishment 3 by MINOR2GO of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienRandi’s Letter:Hello. I need to talk to you. I know that I could call you, but if I did I don’t know if I’d say what I need to say. I heard you and mom fighting. She asked you if it was true that you were going to New York. You didn’t understand how she knew and she thought that meant you were trying to deny it. Things got bad quickly. This man came to the house, daddy. A few weeks ago. I didn’t like him. He was very tall. His hair is white like a polar bear and he has green eyes. He was the one that told mommy you were leaving. Is he a friend of yours? I don’t think he is. I think he’s the opposite of a friend. I think he told mom so that you two would get in a fight. When he came here he was talking to mom but it felt like he was talking to me. The man said some scary things, things that I don’t believe. The grownups are sending these letters to us when we are older. Uncle Desmond said not to play with his computer, at all. When the man was here, he made it seem like we weren’t going to see you again. So I wanted to send you a letter, for when you’re older, so that you would know that I didn’t believe the man. So you know that I know that I’m going to see you again. If I told you all of this now it wouldn’t mean the same. You’d think I was making up a story. But when you read this years from now you’ll know that I never believed the man. I know that you are in New York because you feel like they need you more than we do. It’s not because you don’t love me, or Harrison. It’s because you are a good man and you’re smart and you can fix people. I think you can fix you and mommy too. She loves you very much. Mommy says I shouldn’t call anyways since you’re so busy. When you read this could you send me a video saying so? You could send it to mommy’s phone or put it on youtube or something. I want you to know that I’m not scared. I know it’s all going to be okay. I just wish I knew when. I know Harrison really misses you. If you could come back soon it would mean a lot to him. Jude and Shane are lucky that their mom and dad are always around. Uncle Desmond and Auntie Mara never fight but they don’t really talk a lot either. Somehow that seems worse. I can’t explain it. Jude reads a lot and gives me good books but Shane just watches movies. Mom said he was going to O.D. on screen time. It think that means he’s going to die from watching so many. I don’t want you to worry about any of us. I’m taking good care of everyone. Please remember to take your vitamins. And to take your temperature everyday. And to wash your hands for twenty seconds. Rub them the whole time. I love you daddy.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent #memoriesareabitch

Randi’s memories are detailed and dangerous.CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicRandi’s Letter Theme<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/214140/choirs-of-passion-eternal-punishment-3-114bpm-trap-choir-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Choirs Of Passion - Eternal Punishment 3</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=MINOR2GO" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MINOR2GO</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienRandi’s Letter:Hello. I need to talk to you. I know that I could call you, but if I did I don’t know if I’d say what I need to say. I heard you and mom fighting. She asked you if it was true that you were going to New York. You didn’t understand how she knew and she thought that meant you were trying to deny it. Things got bad quickly. This man came to the house, daddy. A few weeks ago. I didn’t like him. He was very tall. His hair is white like a polar bear and he has green eyes. He was the one that told mommy you were leaving. Is he a friend of yours? I don’t think he is. I think he’s the opposite of a friend. I think he told mom so that you two would get in a fight. When he came here he was talking to mom but it felt like he was talking to me. The man said some scary things, things that I don’t believe. The grownups are sending these letters to us when we are older. Uncle Desmond said not to play with his computer, at all. When the man was here, he made it seem like we weren’t going to see you again. So I wanted to send you a letter, for when you’re older, so that you would know that I didn’t believe the man. So you know that I know that I’m going to see you again. If I told you all of this now it wouldn’t mean the same. You’d think I was making up a story. But when you read this years from now you’ll know that I never believed the man. I know that you are in New York because you feel like they need you more than we do. It’s not because you don’t love me, or Harrison. It’s because you are a good man and you’re smart and you can fix people. I think you can fix you and mommy too. She loves you very much. Mommy says I shouldn’t call anyways since you’re so busy. When you read this could you send me a video saying so? You could send it to mommy’s phone or put it on youtube or something. I want you to know that I’m not scared. I know it’s all going to be okay. I just wish I knew when. I know Harrison really misses you. If you could come back soon it would mean a lot to him. Jude and Shane are lucky that their mom and dad are always around. Uncle Desmond and Auntie Mara never fight but they don’t really talk a lot either. Somehow that seems worse. I can’t explain it. Jude reads a lot and gives me good books but Shane just watches movies. Mom said he was going to O.D. on screen time. It think that means he’s going to die from watching so many. I don’t want you to worry about any of us. I’m taking good care of everyone. Please remember to take your vitamins. And to take your temperature everyday. And to wash your hands for twenty seconds. Rub them the whole time. I love you daddy.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent #memoriesareabitch

COVID39: Chapter 20

Shane has reached a conclusion as Randi makes a revelation.“Protests”CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgMusicEdge Of Cool by Fredbau of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienAuntie Lolo’s Letter:Breakfast. Have you ever thought about that word? It’s kind of disguised because of how we pronounce it, but it literally means breaking your fast, the one you conducted while sleeping. Language mutates over time to suit the needs of whoever is speaking, but it loses some of itself along the way. There’s a new valediction taking hold. Stay safe. There is one world of people who offer it to anyone they come within six feet of as a way of saying don’t die, I hope your friends and loved ones don’t die, because so many people are dying and they may have no symptoms and you may have no symptoms so you may not know it yet, so do what you can with what you do not know to evade something that you cannot see, but will kill you all the same. There is a whole other world of people who are operating as if the dead are so far removed or inconsequential to the patriotism demanded of normalcy, that the living do not deserve any inconvenient precautions. They are using language differently. “Freedom over Tyranny,” or “My body my choice” or “Vaccines are for sick people” with a picture of Bill Gates. It’s confusing. The vast majority of Americans don’t want to rush the process, but this discontented few have chosen the language of militancy to battle policies designed to fight a pandemic. For some reason I’m reminded of Basheer Al Assad gassing his own people so that he could rule them. Not because they are the same thing, but because it seems rooted in a similar type of nihilistic narcissism. We try to explain so many things with words designed to explain something else. More people have died from COVID-19 in the last three months than in all of the Vietnam war. More than double, almost triple the deaths of any other nation. The president’s son in law called that a success story. White people armed with assault rifles and shotguns descended on the Michigan state capitol in Lansing and threatened lawamakers with violence in what was deemed a “protest”. I remember last summer I was in a Chic Fil A and a stranger said God bless you. I hadn’t sneezed, he just used as a way of greeting. I said thank you. He seemed dissatisfied somehow with my response. As he left he said, Merry Christmas. It was June. He was trying to mark out territory that I didn’t understand completely. But while I shelter at home and have time to think about the shape of words I think I have a more complete understanding of the threat he perceived to his way of life. He thought he was in a “safe” place, where his Christianity would be enthusiastically reciprocated. He needs a place like that wherever he goes, and if he winds up in a temple and doesn’t see enough heads bowed, he reminds them of where they are. Except we were only in a sacred place in his own mind and even if it had been hallowed ground, is this his best interpretation of the edicts captured in the Bible? It was my fault for being at a Chic Fil A in the first place. It’s just so damn delicious. And the customer service is unmatched. But I digress. Words matter is I guess what I really want to say. You are growing up in a really tricky world. It’s going to try to deceive you at every opportunity. Most people will reveal themselves to you despite their attempts to hustle you. Listen to their words. Their actions are important, but listen to the words they choose. They chose them for a reason. It isn’t arbitrary and it isn’t an accident. We are our words, even when we lie. Farewell.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent #covidprotests #merrychristmas #weareourwords

Shane has reached a conclusion as Randi makes a revelation.<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/signs-from-covid-19-reopen-protests-across" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Protests”</a>CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Music<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/116766/edge-of-cool-by-fredbau-free-100bpm-rock-bass-guitar-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Edge Of Cool</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=Fredbau" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fredbau</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienAuntie Lolo’s Letter:Breakfast. Have you ever thought about that word? It’s kind of disguised because of how we pronounce it, but it literally means breaking your fast, the one you conducted while sleeping. Language mutates over time to suit the needs of whoever is speaking, but it loses some of itself along the way. There’s a new valediction taking hold. Stay safe. There is one world of people who offer it to anyone they come within six feet of as a way of saying don’t die, I hope your friends and loved ones don’t die, because so many people are dying and they may have no symptoms and you may have no symptoms so you may not know it yet, so do what you can with what you do not know to evade something that you cannot see, but will kill you all the same. There is a whole other world of people who are operating as if the dead are so far removed or inconsequential to the patriotism demanded of normalcy, that the living do not deserve any inconvenient precautions. They are using language differently. “Freedom over Tyranny,” or “My body my choice” or “Vaccines are for sick people” with a picture of Bill Gates. It’s confusing. The vast majority of Americans don’t want to rush the process, but this discontented few have chosen the language of militancy to battle policies designed to fight a pandemic. For some reason I’m reminded of Basheer Al Assad gassing his own people so that he could rule them. Not because they are the same thing, but because it seems rooted in a similar type of nihilistic narcissism. We try to explain so many things with words designed to explain something else. More people have died from COVID-19 in the last three months than in all of the Vietnam war. More than double, almost triple the deaths of any other nation. The president’s son in law called that a success story. White people armed with assault rifles and shotguns descended on the Michigan state capitol in Lansing and threatened lawamakers with violence in what was deemed a “protest”. I remember last summer I was in a Chic Fil A and a stranger said God bless you. I hadn’t sneezed, he just used as a way of greeting. I said thank you. He seemed dissatisfied somehow with my response. As he left he said, Merry Christmas. It was June. He was trying to mark out territory that I didn’t understand completely. But while I shelter at home and have time to think about the shape of words I think I have a more complete understanding of the threat he perceived to his way of life. He thought he was in a “safe” place, where his Christianity would be enthusiastically reciprocated. He needs a place like that wherever he goes, and if he winds up in a temple and doesn’t see enough heads bowed, he reminds them of where they are. Except we were only in a sacred place in his own mind and even if it had been hallowed ground, is this his best interpretation of the edicts captured in the Bible? It was my fault for being at a Chic Fil A in the first place. It’s just so damn delicious. And the customer service is unmatched. But I digress. Words matter is I guess what I really want to say. You are growing up in a really tricky world. It’s going to try to deceive you at every opportunity. Most people will reveal themselves to you despite their attempts to hustle you. Listen to their words. Their actions are important, but listen to the words they choose. They chose them for a reason. It isn’t arbitrary and it isn’t an accident. We are our words, even when we lie. Farewell.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent #covidprotests #merrychristmas #weareourwords

COVID39: Chapter 19

There was no letter today.CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienAdditional Notes and Thank YousGlossarybloomin’ folk: a term to describe the hale and heartyclover: a derogatory slur aimed at evergreens or those with top rated medical hazard profiles.Crimea4: shorthand for a pandemic that killed 13 million people globally before a vaccine was created in 2023.H3N2-25: a strain of influenza that killed 20 minion people globally before a vaccine was created in 2027.s-kit: short for sterile kit, a set of specially fabricated garments worn by individuals who feel they may be in at risk areas or who themselves are at risk and want to convey a sense of social responsibility. A typical kit consists of an apron, elbow length gloves, a mask, hairnet, and high grade outers (see the glossary entry for episode 7). Often times called a “skit”. It carries a connotation of the wealthy or privileged consorting with normal folk and over emphasizing the risk in these interactions, so a full kit is rarely seen except in the case of non medical personnel in proximity to a severe outbreak of some kind.zombies: see Chapter 5 glossary entry.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent #pandemics

There was no letter today.CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark MillienSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienAdditional Notes and Thank YousGlossarybloomin’ folk: a term to describe the hale and heartyclover: a derogatory slur aimed at evergreens or those with top rated medical hazard profiles.Crimea4: shorthand for a pandemic that killed 13 million people globally before a vaccine was created in 2023.H3N2-25: a strain of influenza that killed 20 minion people globally before a vaccine was created in 2027.s-kit: short for sterile kit, a set of specially fabricated garments worn by individuals who feel they may be in at risk areas or who themselves are at risk and want to convey a sense of social responsibility. A typical kit consists of an apron, elbow length gloves, a mask, hairnet, and high grade outers (see the glossary entry for episode 7). Often times called a “skit”. It carries a connotation of the wealthy or privileged consorting with normal folk and over emphasizing the risk in these interactions, so a full kit is rarely seen except in the case of non medical personnel in proximity to a severe outbreak of some kind.zombies: see Chapter 5 glossary entry.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent #pandemics

COVID39: Chapter 18

An awkward reunion.CastRandi                         Halle MillienShane                        Mark MillienAll My Love Official VideoSFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]Tone 4.wav by patchen of freesound.orgQ Tone [Response]Tone 3.wav by patchen of freesound.orgTag ScannerTONE 100 Hz 44.1 16bit.wav by klangfabrik of freesound.orgMusicUncle Josh’s Letter ThemeHopeful Piano by itsredd of looperman.comCreated by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienUncle Josh’s Letter:This is one of those ideas that I should’ve had. Writing letters to your loved ones, to tell them how much they mean to you in the time before tney’ve gotten a chance to know you. This is a special thing, a very special thing. I’m honored to do it, especially for you guys. Jude and Shane, when your parents moved, we didn’t even know your mom was pregnant. They were being careful, didn’t want anyone to get too excited and then be let down. The first time was hard on them, hard on everyone. It seemed like we were all waiting to see which one of us would be the first grown ups. Helen and Rod had already moved to Dallas together but they weren’t married yet. Standing there in the hot sun in a tux, honestly all I could think about was getting to the open bar. But then, Harrison and Randi, your mom walked out and it felt like the wind had caught its breath. She glided out to K-ci and Jo-jo’s All My Life. Your uncle Serge was tickling the keys and they had these two dudes perform live. I don’t know where they found them. They were good, no shade, just doing the most. They were dressed up in the white gloves, white scarves, quarter length black jackets. It was so hot. I wanted to fight em cuz they were making me hot. But Helen. We all rose and paid tribute, and you could see Rod trying to hold it together. He was sharp too. It was their wedding when we all realized that a whole new era was upon us. We talked about it a little, made jokes, but because they’d already left, it didn’t hit home like Desmond and Mara’s wedding. They were still a part of the weekly crew. We were still sneaking into movies with bottles of Maker’s Mark and Subway sandwiches. We played Olympic level Taboo until four in the morning. We’d spend all day Sunday watching football. The one o clock game, the 4:15 game, the 7:30 game. The neighbors would complain. Now Des doesn’t even watch football anymore. Divorced them after Kaepernick. Des and Mara were our center. We all imagined what it would be like to help raise their kids. Des used to talk about making a spreadsheet so that everyone had a fair turn at watching you, so that no one could say they were playing favorites. Can you imagine? You were so loved that your parents had to design rows and columns so that we all wouldn’t fight over you. The hypothetical yous. By the time you’d actually come around our whole emotional core had up and migrated to Dallas. I gave moving there a lot of hard thought. I hope you remember me coming out to visit, us going to the zoo and feeding the giraffes. Hitting up that park in the middle of downtown with all the food trucks and sprinklers. Now must be pretty tough on you guys. All the things that you relied on for support is just all of a sudden, gone. That’s gotta be hard. But at least you all have each other. Quarantining with another family has got to have its pros and cons and I know the grass is always greener, but I really wish I had been visiting when this all went down and we’d all be together. Remember that your family extends past those brick walls, that historic district in South Dallas, that once a country never let you forget it state called Texas. Your family is everywhere and we love you, always.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent #kaepernick

An awkward reunion.CastRandi Halle MillienShane Mark Millien<a href="All My Love Official Video" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">All My Love Official Video</a>SFX and Music ContributorsSFXQ Tone [Query]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3518/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 4.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Q Tone [Response]<a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/sounds/3517/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tone 3.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/patchen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patchen</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>Tag Scanner<a href="https://freesound.org/people/klangfabrik/sounds/28638/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TONE 100 Hz 44.1 16bit.wav</a> by <a href="https://freesound.org/people/klangfabrik/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">klangfabrik</a> of <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>MusicUncle Josh’s Letter Theme<a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/208217/hopeful-piano-94bpm-acoustic-piano-loop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hopeful Piano</a> by <a href="https://www.looperman.com/loops?mid=itsredd" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">itsredd</a> of <a href="http://looperman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">looperman.com</a>Created by Mark and Halle MillienCover Art by Halle MillienWritten, Directed and Produced by Mark MillienUncle Josh’s Letter:This is one of those ideas that I should’ve had. Writing letters to your loved ones, to tell them how much they mean to you in the time before tney’ve gotten a chance to know you. This is a special thing, a very special thing. I’m honored to do it, especially for you guys. Jude and Shane, when your parents moved, we didn’t even know your mom was pregnant. They were being careful, didn’t want anyone to get too excited and then be let down. The first time was hard on them, hard on everyone. It seemed like we were all waiting to see which one of us would be the first grown ups. Helen and Rod had already moved to Dallas together but they weren’t married yet. Standing there in the hot sun in a tux, honestly all I could think about was getting to the open bar. But then, Harrison and Randi, your mom walked out and it felt like the wind had caught its breath. She glided out to K-ci and Jo-jo’s All My Life. Your uncle Serge was tickling the keys and they had these two dudes perform live. I don’t know where they found them. They were good, no shade, just doing the most. They were dressed up in the white gloves, white scarves, quarter length black jackets. It was so hot. I wanted to fight em cuz they were making me hot. But Helen. We all rose and paid tribute, and you could see Rod trying to hold it together. He was sharp too. It was their wedding when we all realized that a whole new era was upon us. We talked about it a little, made jokes, but because they’d already left, it didn’t hit home like Desmond and Mara’s wedding. They were still a part of the weekly crew. We were still sneaking into movies with bottles of Maker’s Mark and Subway sandwiches. We played Olympic level Taboo until four in the morning. We’d spend all day Sunday watching football. The one o clock game, the 4:15 game, the 7:30 game. The neighbors would complain. Now Des doesn’t even watch football anymore. Divorced them after Kaepernick. Des and Mara were our center. We all imagined what it would be like to help raise their kids. Des used to talk about making a spreadsheet so that everyone had a fair turn at watching you, so that no one could say they were playing favorites. Can you imagine? You were so loved that your parents had to design rows and columns so that we all wouldn’t fight over you. The hypothetical yous. By the time you’d actually come around our whole emotional core had up and migrated to Dallas. I gave moving there a lot of hard thought. I hope you remember me coming out to visit, us going to the zoo and feeding the giraffes. Hitting up that park in the middle of downtown with all the food trucks and sprinklers. Now must be pretty tough on you guys. All the things that you relied on for support is just all of a sudden, gone. That’s gotta be hard. But at least you all have each other. Quarantining with another family has got to have its pros and cons and I know the grass is always greener, but I really wish I had been visiting when this all went down and we’d all be together. Remember that your family extends past those brick walls, that historic district in South Dallas, that once a country never let you forget it state called Texas. Your family is everywhere and we love you, always.#covid39 #covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #rona #quarantinechronicles #covidchronicles #coronachronicles #quibi #generationc #flattenthecurve #stayathome #welcometowinnetkaheights #oakcliffdallas #atlanta #castleberyhill #theuninformedparent #kaepernick

COVID39: Chapter 17

The best podcast episodes of anyone with an interesting story. With famous guests like Obama, LeBron James, Drake, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, Michelle Obama, Serena Williams, to anyone who has a unique and interesting story to tell. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

Best Episodes: Personal Stories & Great Interviews

The best podcast episodes on Startups. For anyone working in a startup, or anyone interested in the incredible stories behind how people built companies like Instagram, and Facebook. Offering both practical advice and insights, as well as the stories for how many of the biggest startups got to where they are today. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!