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Last month, an old friend was in town and we were reminiscing about our busy social lives — not those of two years ago, but rather 20 years ago.
I had recently unearthed some of my DayTimers from the ‘90s, along with a stack of calendars for the Royal Albert Arms and the Spectrum (now the Pyramid), which featured bands almost every night of the week, often for three-night stands. (Side note: these were designed by the lovely and talented Stu Reid, the man behind the posters for many a notable local gig. My colleague Alan Small wrote about his calendar project here.)
Supplied.
Flipping through the diaries, I was astounded by how many nights a week I went out. If it wasn’t a band at the Albert, it was a movie at Cinematheque or a social at the University of Winnipeg.
Of course, in recent years that pace had slowed, because A) I am older now and B) I have a lot of television to watch. But I also feel like the pandemic has also drained away my social impulses.
It’s not just an aversion to breathing in strangers’ air (although, boy oh boy, it is that). I’ve also built up a routine that I don’t feel quite ready to upend. It’s been keeping me safe and sane for the last many months, and tampering with it feels risky.
If I go to a late show, how will I wake up in time to do my Wordle, Quordle and Octordle puzzles before eating a healthy breakfast and going to the gym before work? What if I have a few drinks and forget my daily Duolingo French lesson, ruining my streak? Quel horreur!
These habits have become like talismans, little checkpoints guiding me through days that have been largely empty of other meaningful events. They’re life preservers, giving me structure and stability when the world has other plans.
But I’m shaking things up a bit, starting tonight, when I’m heading to Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre to see Calpurnia on the mainstage. Written by associate artistic director Audrey Dwyer, it’s the story of a Black writer who is attempting to pen a revised version of To Kill a Mockingbird, written from the perspective of the Finches’ maid, Calpurnia.
From left: Kwaku Adu-Poku as Mark Gordon, Rochelle Kives as Precy Cabigting, Arne MacPherson as James Thompson, Ellie Ellwand as Christine Charte and Ray Strachan as Lawrence Gordon in the play ’Calpurnia’. (Dylan Hewlett photos)
I’ve also got tickets for an upcoming much-cancelled-and-rebooked Dan Mangan show at the Park Theatre, and I really want to see the Mark Rylance film The Outfit on the big screen with a vat of popcorn.
We’ll see how I do. In the meantime, tell me what routines and distractions are getting you through the day, at jill.wilson@winnipegfreepress.com.
Jill Wilson
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