Obligatory COVID-19 post

For those of us under shelter in place, it is HARD. We all have different reasons for struggling with this and THAT’S OK.  One of the ways to deal with the insanity of change is to talk about all the newness. Sometimes, this newness can actually cause people to remember long buried memories. It happened to me this afternoon.

There I was gaming online ,when I decided to turn on my Spotify playlist.  (Background info: as a school based counselor I made a Spotify playlist of kid appropriate songs includingL Disney, 90’s pop, 90’s rock, musical/movie soundtracks) As I’m rocking out to some Lenny Kravitz, followed by Smash Mouth I am overcome with a realization: This could have been my life in the late 90’s/early 2000’s except for one thing: I am expected to adhere to mainstream female standard. So that meant: 1) can’t be too nerdy (have to be able to fit in with mainstream people well enough to converse about currently popular media but if you’re “too into a thing” it is looked down upon.) which has a clause of a) brown people who are nerdy are seen as “soft” or “white” and 2) can’t have too many interests in the “masculine” realm. So, given that I had already expressed my interest in motorcycles (Thanks Jessica Alba/Dark Angel!) I couldn’t afford ANOTHER interest that set me apart from the gender conforming female I was surrounded with…

Having this realization strike me after 3 whole decades of living, while definitely useful was also jarring. How did I not see this earlier? Why does this seem to be a universal “outsider” experience? A flood of questions drown me then I remember: everything is different now. It has been for a while and we are still finding ways to deal and finding out more about ourselves (our coping mechanisms, frequency of certain thoughts etc.). AND IT IS COMPLETELY NORMAL. Yeah, it might require some extra support to process this newly discovered information but hey, we have time. We have to learn to be gentle with ourselves and relearn this curiosity we had as kids, except this time apply it to ourselves.

BUT IF ALL YOU’RE DOING IS SURVIVING DURING THESE TRYING TIMES: THAT IS OKAY!

Bubonic Chronic

I LOVE 90’s rap hip-hop and r&b. I am particularly fond of Tupac, Snoop, Dre, Nate Dogg, Missy Elliot, Biggie, TLC and Bone Thugs N Harmony. As I was listening to Gin and Juice for the 1 millionth time it occurred to me that the “bubonic chronic” that made Snoop “back up off it” must have been bomb for the time but how would it compare now? Of course this results in me thinking about the fact that Tupac was one of those that was alive to experience Dre’s bubonic chronic and never got to experience today’s version of bubonic chronic. I then wonder what Snoop himself thinks of the current state of the cannabis industry-not from a business perspective but from a neurotypical adult human perspective. We all think of alcohol prohibition as an absurd attempt by conservatives “long ago” to control behavior yet many people don’t realize this is the same thing that is happening to cannabis. What are Snoop’s(and other current icons who have been in the cannabis lifestyle for 20+ years) thoughts on the evolution of the acceptance of cannabis. Is it purely recreational for them or do they realize the difference cannabis can make for the health of all people? What do they know about the endocannabinoid system? Do they care? I am a nerd so obviously I care. I would love to know what other famous people are nerd like myself when it comes to cannabis. I love mixing nerd and hip hop culture.