A LIST:
- Sewed a set of curtains! Still on my forgiving baby sewing projects in year... 2? 3? of owning a sewing machine. But I sort of loved this, as janky as they turned out, and am excited to do more.
- Went on lots of physically-distanced walks.
- Cooked a seafood risotto! I've had frozen crab shells in my freezer ever since a pasta thing I did at new year's and finally made a shellfish stock with 'em, and then risotto with that. It was... basically fine? Next time, perhaps, a recipe.
- Cooked a Tuscan bean... pile. My friend Kathryn hooked me on Rancho Gordo beans over the holidays, so I got a big box of beans like a month before they became Necessary To Have. I'm getting better at figuring out the quantities that make sense to prepare at a time, but probably the best outcome so far was a very simple thin-skinned Italian bean cooked to maximal tenderness, piled on some rustic bread, drizzled with olive oil and topped with shaved parm.
- Started redesigning this here website, though that won't roll out for a while as there are lots of moving pieces and I don't know exactly what I'm doing.
- Played Stardew Valley for 8+ hours in a row in a fugue state on day 2 of not having coffee (accidentally). This was the low point so far.
- Had a game night with some friends over Zoom. I hate Zoom. But this was good.
- Had a group hangout with my UK friends over Zoom. SEE ABOVE.
- Kicked caffeine. Started to feel human without it and only miss the ritual. Considering using this period as a kind of reset for sugar as well, but also ordered cooca powder for double-chocolate cookie baking purposes, so I remain a contradictory wildflower.
- Recognized and named my depressive dip, enjoying a brief return from its grad school heyday during a new era of shut-in undersocialization (and, like, lack of sunlight).
- Started the walks up again; mood IMPROVED.
- Debated birthday takeout from Alinea ($40!) but decided against it
- Got real mad online. (Fascists suck at all times, but our specific fascist party is sucking very noisily and aggressively right now and I just hope a lot of people are noticing!)
- Started recording music again
- Did an online reading of a friend's play with some brilliant actors who are also wonderful pals.
- Recorded two auditions, making this quarantine a more theatre-productive period of time than the several months previous.
- Yogaaaaaa, baby. My friend/ex/person-who-got-me-my-apartment has been hosting free online yoga sessions in addition to her paywalled studio's work, and I am very grateful for how this has put me back in my body. Allison: just the best.
- Reading! In addition to finishing the absolute must-read masterpiece Girl, Woman, Other, have been plonking into Pictures at a Revolution and (ironically) Bowling Alone, all about the disappearance/reappearance of social clubs in America.
- Movie-watching: finally catching up on some Criterion channel titles that I've long known I need to watch, a few classics I've waited literally over a decade to see (3 Women woof howl honk) and some predictable comfort food classics.
- Put The Muppet Show on in the background while doing some day job work
And, you know, a lot more besides (oh the amount of shuffling from room to room I've done! to say nothing of the watering of plants or reorganization of kitchen cupboards!) but uhhh this is the highlights reel, such as it is.
Hope you're all staying safe, staying inside, and finding ways to stay sane while forgiving yourself when you can't. These aren't normal times, and they call for abnormal mindsets!!!
Big hugs and more travelogue escapist fun soon!
