Over the last month and change, people all over the world have been self-isolating and/or forced to stay in their homes to stem the tide of the coronavirus. Along with that came torrents of social media post proclaiming how bored people were now that they were confined to their homes.
To that I say… how?
I genuinely don’t understand. Last week I was on vacation, and like most, I spent almost all of that free time at home. However, I had so much going on to keep me busy that I didn’t even make time to write up any blog posts. There are dozens of other things on my to-do list that remain undone, because even when you aren’t losing a third of your day to work, there just isn’t enough time.
Of the more practical things that I wanted to get done during my vacation was a complete clean of my condo. I’m calling myself out here and saying that it’s been way too long, and lately I’ve been even more piggish than usual, so it had to get done. Spoiler: it didn’t. I did do a thorough clean of the bathroom, vacuumed, and tidied up a bunch, so it wasn’t a complete failure. But I really should have spent some more time cleaning the kitchen area. At the very least, the island and stove top need a good scrub.
I also made sure to get out for a walk every day of the week, even on Monday when it snowed. The rest of the week was beautiful though, and I made good use of the nice weather. Between walking, going out for my first run of the season, and just sitting on the balcony catching some rays, I spent a good chunk of time outside. I had hoped to finish a book during the week, but I found myself unable to concentrate on reading for more than a few pages at a time. It’s weird, but my tolerance for reading does sort of come and go like that.
Probably could have spent some more of that time playing my guitars, though. I did play on a few days, and even sat down and worked through some Rocksmith lessons. Try as I might, I just couldn’t manage to play the slide tutorial perfectly, and bends I think might be impossible because it seems like they don’t pick up reliably. I have been doing pretty well with the hammer-on/pull-off tutorial, but the mastery percentage is growing more slowly on that particular track for some reason. Will I be able to get it to 100%? I guess we’ll see?
Honestly, I think that of all things, if you have a musical hobby, you should never be bored. It’s one of those things where you can always improve, and there’s always something new to learn, and it should always be enjoyable. I suck at playing guitar, yet it’s probably the activity that makes me happiest. But maybe that’s just me.
I was hoping to watch the latest seasons of both BoJack Horseman and Castlevania over my week off, but that didn’t happen. I did get a few episodes into BoJack, but that was right at the tail end of the week. My Netflix time was instead spend watching the newly released The Midnight Gospel. I wasn’t sure about it while watching, but in retrospect, I think I loved it? If nothing else, the final episode alone is really worth the ride. And it’s only eight 22-ish-minute episodes, so it’s not a huge commitment. If my rare use of the L-word wasn’t enough to sell it, I’ve also subscribed to the podcast that the series is based on, so there’s that as well. I might actually need to write a whole thing about this one, because it sure did make me have a whole lot of thoughts and feelings.
Having recently come into possession of an Apple TV, I also took my first steps into the world of digital movie rental. I don’t really like it. clicking through still images and cold descriptions is so much less engaging than browsing shelves of actual movie cases, so carefully crafted to try to catch your attention in hopes of getting you to bring them home. And when a movie you want is rented out, sure it’s a little disappointing, but then you also get the thrill of the hunt! I miss having to chase down rare movies and albums and games. That was half the fun! Having everything readily available to download is so boring and hollow.
Oh, I rented Misdommer and The Blackcoat’s Daughter. Both were… fine. Neither stoked a fire of excitement in me, but both managed to hold my attention to the credit rolls. Midsommer was better by virtue of you never know what crazy thing is going to happen next. How The Blackcoat’s Daughter is going to unfold became very obvious about a third of the way in, but I still enjoyed the ride and it was also an hour shorter than Midsommer, which I appreciate. A 150-minute film is normally a no-sell for me, but I thought Hereditary was excellent, so Midsommer got a pass.
As a quick last note, I spent a lot of time during the week both watching the Corona Relief Done Quick marathon, both live while the event was on, and the VODs of runs I wasn’t able to catch. Personal highlights include a co-op run of Ocarina of Time Randomizer, a Turtles in Time race, a Super Mario Bros 3 100% run, and the Kingdom Hearts II finale. As with all GDQ events, my donation was not read on-air.
Oh and I played lots of video games, but you didn’t need me to tell you that.