I only read one book in April, so I’m not doing a whole post on that. Instead I’ll talk about that one book along with my May books in a few weeks. In the meantime, I want to chat with you all about my quarantine life.
In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past three months, the coronavirus has taken over the world, and no plucky sixteen-year-old heroine has risen up to save us yet.
Personally, I haven’t been in to work since March 13. The last time my writing group met in person was March 14, and we realized after the fact that we probably shouldn’t have done that. The last time I went to a barre class at my local studio was March 16. Aside from walks around the neighborhood to keep up Neutron’s training, I’ve been quarantining for sixty-eight days.
I recognize that I have been incredibly lucky. I’m safe and healthy. I still have a job. I have plenty of food and toilet paper. But I’m not going to pretend it hasn’t been hard. I’ve been happier in D.C. than I’ve been in a long time, and in a little less than a week, most of the things that made me really happy were gone. I’m hopeful that most everything will come back once it’s safe, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard right now.
At the start of all this, I heard a lot of people saying that you should journal about these times. I have successfully kept a journal exactly once in my life, during my year living in Italy, and even then I was pretty bad at it. But back in March, I thought I’d give journaling another try. These are, after all, extraordinary times, and I thought it would be cool to have my own record of them. But honestly I found that living March was so awful that I did not want to then write about it. I tried just writing down what I was doing each day, but even that was too much. And so, as the quarantine continued with no end in sight, I just started a list of things I was learning during this time. Things I was learning about myself, things I was learning to do, random little factoids that intrigued me.
Since we’re now two months into this, I thought it was time to share my list.
So here’s what I’ve learned in two months of quarantine:
How to make really good bread. Seriously I may never buy bread again.
- I hated telework before all this started. I have not learned to like it. No, I still definitely hate it.
I am happier when I have something to do. Having nothing to do makes me miserable and leads to excessive napping.
Having nothing to do also does not make me more productive at things like reading, exercising, blogging, playing the clarinet, or any of the many craft projects I have lying around my apartment. Remember what I said about only reading one book in April?
Don’t aggressively wipe down pasta boxes with disinfectant.
Pasta boxes also have directions on the back, and I should read them. Also red lentil pasta is only okay.
Routines are glorious things. I miss my routine. But it’s hard to motivate myself to keep a routine when there’s nothing to hold you accountable to it.
I miss dressing up in my professional clothes and going to work. The novelty of working in my pajamas has definitely worn off. But somehow it’s now a routine. Aaaahhhh!
How to actually use track changes in Word. I think I’ve been doing it wrong for years.
Even though it has a lower fat content than American ice cream, gelato has eggs in it.
You can make vegetable broth by boiling all your vegetable scraps.
Microwaving frozen vegetables is a sure path to spontaneously crying into your plate about how bad the world has gotten. Seriously sauté them with olive oil and a lot of spices and life will be much better. Still not as good as fresh vegetables but better than microwaving them. (I actually already knew this from my time studying for the bar last summer but it bears repeating.)
I love Wegman’s. I also already knew this but it also bears repeating.
The difference between something I need and something I want. Yes I needed that ice cream machine.
That a pandemic is still better than law school in a lot of ways. That’s just sad.
How to play backgammon. Also it’s spelled backgammon, not batgammon.
That brushing harissa onto one side of tofu is not equivalent to marinating the tofu.
Networking is an excellent thing. I should do it more and maybe be less terrified of it.
I am no longer afraid of the telephone. Who am I kidding? I’m a millennial. Of course I’m still afraid of the telephone.
How to make really good homemade ice cream.
On the flipside, don’t substitute frozen berries for fresh, half-and-half for cream, and maple syrup for sugar all in one batch of ice cream. You will get a quart-and-a-half sized popsicle.
As much as I complain about the D.C. metro, I miss the D.C. metro.
When you sneeze, your snot leaves your nose at a whopping 200 miles per hour. (This is why masks are important, people, and this coming from someone who is kind of terrified of masks.)
I’m really hoping that I don’t have to write a list of what I’ve learned in two more months of quarantine, but at the same time, I don’t want to venture out into the world if it’s not safe. I’ve already had the flu this year, and my sinuses still haven’t recovered from that for some reason. As much as I want life to go back to normal, it’s not worth it if it puts me, my family and friends, my dog, or anyone else I might come into contact with at risk.
I hope you’ve found this list at least a little enjoyable to read. I’ll be back in a few weeks to talk about what I’ve been reading in quarantine. And in the meantime, as one of my coworkers likes to say: Stay healthy, stay safe, stay sane.