Monkey's Dad's definitions

becoming real

Moving from a general concept to the inescapably specific.

Seeing a face he knew on the front page of The Times, the first nurse in New York to die of the virus, it was becoming real, no longer a statistic, and other faces would follow.

by Monkey's Dad March 27, 2020

shelter-in-place-ionship

A strenuous test of a couple's compatibility.

Forbidden to leave the house, they had shared every meal, slept, worked, read, watched videos and exercised side-by-side, hour after hour, every night and day for a very long time, and yet they were actually having a good time. She felt that if they survived this shelter-in-place-ionship they could survive anything.

by Monkey's Dad March 27, 2020

Sinovidphobia

Irrational fear that the Chinese deliberately sent Covid virus to America and other countries.

Calling Covid-19 "The Chinese Virus", Fox News sparked Sinovidphobia, resulting in a spate of random hate crimes against Chinese-Americans.

by Monkey's Dad March 27, 2020

The James Taylor Prophecy

The lyrics to his song "Her Town Too" have taken on a new edge in the age of coronavirus:
"She's been afraid to go out
She's afraid of the knock on her door"

Lying in bed, fearful of leaving her apartment, waiting for a stranger to deliver her dinner, the song came up.

'It's the James Taylor Prophecy', she thought, 'I'm afraid to go out, I'm afraid of the knock on my door, always a shade of a doubt, I can never be sure, who comes to call. Maybe the friend of a friend of a friend. Anyone at all. Anything but nothing again.'

by Monkey's Dad March 28, 2020

The New New York

An almost unrecognizable city, silent and still, filled with people yet seemingly abandoned.

From her balcony she looked down at the bizarrely empty streets of the New New York.

by Monkey's Dad March 28, 2020

retrotisserie

During a time of austerity and scarcity, the fond recalling of foods you once loved.

Having eaten meagerly for weeks, he tried to conjure the smell of retrotisserie, shared meals from the recent past, now a comforting and beautiful dream.

by Monkey's Dad March 28, 2020

Quaranteenager

A person coming of age in the coronaviral age, home-schooled, missing out on dating, beer, pot and every other rite of social passage.

Watching "Clueless", "Ladybird" and "Booksmart" while in lockdown, she yearned to experience the geeky teen years which were her birthright and hated-hated-hated being a dorky quaranteenager.

by Monkey's Dad March 28, 2020