There’s no end in sight. Today is April 19.
Today was the day of my interview with the Columbia Missourian. From the time I woke up until when we had finished, that was the main topic on my mind. I wanted to look nice (but not too overdone), so I took a shower and shaved first thing after waking up. By washing up so early in the day, I gave my hair plenty of time to dry before the interview, which in turn resulted in it curling naturally in a way I liked.
For part of the time leading up to the journalist’s visit, I watched Criminal Minds and goofed off around the house. My mom is on a gardening kick, so from time to time she would interrupt whatever I was doing to share gardening facts and tell me about different pots and soils she will need for the small garden she is wanting to plant. I know better than to get in her way once she has made up her mind, so I suppose all I can do is sit back and see what happens.
About an hour before the journalist (Juliana Tornabene) arrived, I changed out of pajamas and into a nice outfit. I decided on wearing a blue, short-sleeve blouse with white, cuffed jeans and sandals. Nothing too fancy, but still classy enough to look professional on camera. I also decided to do some makeup because (vain as it may sound) I did care about how I looked, especially if this video would become public some day. I didn’t put on anything too heavy (mostly neutral tones and light touches here and there), and I was happy with the natural-looking end result.
Juliana showed up right on time. She wore a mask for the duration of her visit, and we never touched. I even wiped down the lapel microphone she asked me to wear before putting it on, and she cleaned it off again once we had finished. She decided to set up her equipment on my back porch, which has beautiful lighting. On the downside, there were wind chimes making noise in the background the whole interview, so I hope they don’t mess with the audio too much.
The interview took about an hour and a half in total. She asked me about seven questions, most of which centered around my thoughts on the coronavirus pandemic, how I feel about the strange end of the school year (both with functions that have been postponed and how the changes have affected my expectations for what the year would look like), what it’s like to be a senior right now and what inspired me to start writing these Pandemic Diaries. She switched lenses a couple times to get different shots as we were talking. I also read aloud excerpts from the diaries, my favorites from each day. My mouth kept getting dry, so I had to grab a bottle of water.
We ended up walking around my yard a little bit, and I showed her the spot where I read yesterday. I love where I live and all the nature surrounding it, so I hope she was able to capture some beautiful shots. When she was satisfied with her footage, we parted ways. She said there may potentially be a follow-up interview if her editors request one, though she is doubtful we’ll need to have one.
Overall, I enjoyed the experience. I’ve never done anything like this before, so being the one on the opposite side of the camera for once was odd. I am excited to see how the final video (and package) turns out. I love that there is another medium capturing my life during quarantine aside from these journals I’ve been keeping. I hope one day all of this documentation will be able to offer insight into what life was like during this strange, unsettling time.
For the rest of the day following the interview, I relaxed and spent time with my family. After dinner, my mom and I watched church together. I was feeling incredibly sleepy for some reason, so when it ended I flopped over on the couch and took a nap for about half an hour while my parents and brother watched TV downstairs. When I woke up, I headed downstairs to see if they wanted to play Spades. Following a close game that resulted in my team’s defeat, I was more than ready for a rematch.
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” ― Ralph Waldo Emmerson[TS_VCSC_Lightbox_Gallery content_images=”330749,330740,330741,330742,330743,330744,330745,330746,330748″ content_images_size=”full” content_images_titledata=”caption” content_title=”A glimpse into Bailey Stover’s 33rd day of social distancing” data_grid_preloader=”-1″ lightbox_title=”caption” lightbox_effect=”simpleSwitch”][/TS_VCSC_Lightbox_Gallery][penci_text_block block_title_align=”style-title-left” custom_markup_1=””]How did you spend your 33rd day of social distancing? Let us know in the comments below.[/penci_text_block]
