Blood Orange, "Metamorphosis: III"

You know what’s going to be worse than this week? Every week after.

I have had the bad cold that’s going around for what seems like a month now and this weekend my body was finally all, “Fuck this, we’re shutting down until we get it figured out.” I spent most of my weekend asleep. This was depressing, because from my window it looked amazing out there and I was heartbroken to miss it, but being on the Internet this morning made me realize something: Sleep is the only sensible solution to dealing with how horrible everything is now. It is not even 9 A.M. as I write this and already everything makes me want to die or set fires; I can’t even imagine how awful it will be by the time you read it.

Everyone out there is telling themselves that once the election is over things will be better. They will not. As much as you wish it would all go away, at present the election is the only thing giving you hope: the hope that as soon as the election happens life will return to normal. First of all, whatever you remember as “normal” is a lie, because “normal” was all the bits and pieces that added up to where we are now. More importantly, once this sideshow is over and we have to face how actually fucked we are going forward you are going to wish we were back in an era where sexual assault and incitement to riot were the issues of the day.

I know it seems hard to conceive of in this moment, but come Thanksgiving you will look back at the election as some kind of dream where, no matter how terrible it seemed at the time, at least the sheer horror of what was about to come could be kicked down the road in your imagination. You think things are intolerable right now? Get ready to live in a world where there’s no avoiding the sheer nightmare of reality. It’s the same world we’re living in, except without the delusion that everything will be better after one thing or another happens. I will say it again so you can remember when you need it, and dear God, will you need it: Sleep is the only sensible solution to dealing with how horrible everything is.

Anyway, good morning. Happy Monday. Here, via Stereogum, is Devonté Hynes performing Philip Glass’ “Metamorphosis: III.” If you are in need this morning of something to distract you from the awfulness to come — and dear God, you are in need — this will certainly help for about six minutes. Enjoy.