• Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • Explore Chicago
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

The Local Tourist

Experience the fascination of a tourist; Feel the comfort of the local

  • Travel the U.S.A.
    • The Midwest
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Iowa
      • Kansas
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Missouri
      • Nebraska
      • South Dakota
      • Wisconsin
    • The South
      • Arkansas
      • Mississippi
      • North Carolina
      • Oklahoma
      • Texas
    • The West
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Montana
      • Nevada
      • New Mexico
      • Utah
      • Wyoming
  • Travel Tips
    • Travel Now
  • Road Trips
    • Two Lane Gems
  • Cultural Travel
    • Arts and Culture
    • Attractions
    • Food and Drink
    • History
    • People
    • Roadside Attractions
  • Great Outdoors
    • Camping
    • Hiking and Active Travel
    • U.S. National Parks
  • Shop TLT
    • Travel Two Lane Gems
  • Travel the U.S.A.
    • The Midwest
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Iowa
      • Kansas
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Missouri
      • Nebraska
      • South Dakota
      • Wisconsin
    • The South
      • Arkansas
      • Mississippi
      • North Carolina
      • Oklahoma
      • Texas
    • The West
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Montana
      • Nevada
      • New Mexico
      • Utah
      • Wyoming
  • Travel Tips
    • Travel Now
  • Road Trips
    • Two Lane Gems
  • Cultural Travel
    • Arts and Culture
    • Attractions
    • Food and Drink
    • History
    • People
    • Roadside Attractions
  • Great Outdoors
    • Camping
    • Hiking and Active Travel
    • U.S. National Parks
  • Shop TLT
    • Travel Two Lane Gems
  • Contact
  • Work with TLT
  • Travel Writing

Sparkling Isolation – Day 18

April 4, 2020 //  by Tommy Hensel//  Leave a Comment

8shares

Not much to say

After my massive epiphany of yesterday, I feel rather awkward posting something so mundane, but today was essentially a boring day. It’s not that I am ignoring the insights I had yesterday, but today I had a singular focus: finish up the final projects for the online class I am taking. The final deadline is tomorrow night at midnight, and since I’m the King of all procrastinators, I wanted to see if I could kick my own butt into gear and just get things done.

I did it!

At 2 p.m. today I submitted my final project for the class. Done! Then, of course, I found myself with nothing to do. The weather was dodgy – cold and damp with occasional sun – so going out for a walk was not alluring.

So today was the first day in a long while that I have stayed entirely in my apartment, never even venturing outside. After completing my online class assignments, I found myself at rather a loss for what to do. I don’t need to cook anything since I have plenty of leftovers from the past few days. Most of my friends seemed to be occupied with other things today, and I had no pre-set meeting planned.

So today has been a rather quiet and uneventful day. I managed to stick to my “only 10 minutes a day” schedule of checking news, and that helps keep me from losing my mind. So here I am, just doing a bit of ‘stream of consciousness’ into this post.

As I think about it, this was actually a pretty good day. I mean, I did not have an emotional meltdown. I didn’t get stressed about the world situation since it’s entirely beyond my control. I did not read much news, nor did I dive into social media posts so I managed to stay in a nice state of equanimity most of the day.

Tonight, I think I will mix up a nice batch of cocktails and find something funny and diverting to watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime (the two services I have available to me). I haven’t owned a television since 2005, so anything that is not available for streaming on one of those two services is not going to be on my radar – and positive upside of not having TV is that I never have to accidentally see the news or a press conference or anything that upsets me. Any news consumption is 100% by choice.

So I guess today’s post is not profound nor is it evidence of any epiphany. It’s just a rather mundane ‘report of my day.’

Honestly, I kind of hope that tomorrow is similar. It’s nice to have just a ‘normal’ day once in a while lately.

It’s only Quarantine if it comes from the Quarante province of France. Otherwise, it’s just Sparkling Isolation.

8shares

Category: ThoughtsTag: Sparkling Isolation

About Tommy Hensel

Tommy Hensel is the Director of the Fine and Performing Arts Center at Moraine Valley Community College (www.morainevalley.edu/fpac), a position he has held since January 2008. A native of Columbia, South Carolina, he has worked for more than 35 years as a professional actor, singer, stage manager, director, and arts presenter. He holds a B.A. in music and a B.A. in communication from Florida State University and an M.A. in theater from the University of South Carolina. He currently serves as Chair of the Illinois Presenters Network and is a board member of NAPAMA. He served as co-chair of the 2018 Arts Midwest Conference and currently sits on the professional development committees of both NAPAMA and Arts Midwest.

Prior to his move to Chicago, Tommy was an 11-year resident of the Seacoast region of New Hampshire where he served as Executive Director of the Rochester Opera House and sat on several non-profit arts boards. He has served on grant review panels for the New England Foundation for the Arts, New Hampshire Arts Council, Vermont Arts Council, and Illinois Arts Council. During his years as an arts presenter, he has also served on the juried showcase panels for the Arts Midwest Conference and Performing Arts Exchange.

Among his many theater credits, Hensel was the founding artistic director of the Harrisburg Shakespeare Festival (now part of the Gamut Theatre Group in PA). He has over 50 professional directing credits to his name and an extensive resumé as a theatrical performer and cabaret singer. In Chicago, he has a side "gig" as a restaurant reviewer for The Local Tourist website (http://chicago.thelocaltourist.com) and blogs about travel and food at https://www.tableforoneplease.com.

Related Stories

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 248

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Days 151 through 247

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Days 144 through 150

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Days 136 through 143

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 135

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 134

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 133

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 132

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 131

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 130

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 129

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 128

Previous Post: «Castle Dome Mine Museum Two Lane Gems, Vol. 1: Chapter 21 – Sunny and Dry My…
Next Post: Two Lane Gems, Vol. 1: Chapter 22 – All in the Family Lutes Casino in Yuma Arizona»

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Your Cart

  • Contact
  • Work with TLT
  • Travel Writing

Site Footer

Disclosure

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Privacy Policy

© 2021 · The Local Tourist · Experience the fascination of a tourist; feel the comfort of the local