Updates from Quarantimes

[dorchadas]

It's been five days and I feel fine, and I haven't heard about my parents or sister coming down sick either, which means that helping my sister move was retroactively a good idea. And that's the last I'll say about that topic.

Well, and I found this very relevant Tumblr post that is, as the kids say, a Mood.

britshlez stopped by on Tuesday to drop off some cookies she made and I had a FaceTime conversation with lisekatevans and luke.beasley.262 that evening, and I got on a video call with smtemp, seloy, and bret.thomas.391 tonight, I but otherwise I've been hanging out in my home, cleaning and reading and playing video games. My home is probably the cleanest it's ever been now, and other than the path I'm wearing in the floor from pacing back and forth so I can get enough exercise while cooped up indoors, there's no real wear-and-tear. Except on my iPad and my books, which are both getting a workout.

I've been digging into my stock of amazake, a kind of sweetened partially-fermented rice drink, after seeing an article in the BBC about it that reminded me I have a bunch of freeze-dried amazake mix. So I've been mixing it up, adding ginger to it, and drinking it by the window. I had stopped making it because I thought the mix was just bad, but it turned out the problem was with me. Much like my first attempts at making matcha, I ignored the directions on how much water to use and used far to much, with the result that, much like the matcha, it tasted like watered-down nothing. Once I stopped trying to cram 200ml of water into enough freeze-dried amazake for 100ml worth of flavor, all of my problems were solved. It's sweet and ricey and delicious and it's exactly what I need when I'm stuck inside and the weather is cold, on a day like today when I sat by the window all day and I don't know that it was ever sunny.

Here's a true fact about me--the reason nigorizake is my favorite kind of sake is because it's so similar to amazake.

Now that I beat Quest for Glory IV, I've moved on to playing Project Warlock, a retro FPS in the style of Doom. I'm still in the middle of both the Link's Awakening Remake and Suikoden, and have been since...September... but I don't want to pick them back up quite yet. They're both in Japanese and especially since I'm not meeting with my Japanese tutor right now I do need more practice, but I wanted something light and fluffy to play in the meantime. So I'm running around and firing a shotgun and throwing dynamite at succubi, spiders, and robot demons. And casting spells on them. Now that I think about it, it reminds me a bit of Simon's Destiny, that Castlevania-themed Doom mod I played last year. It's not an amazing game, but I got it for 50% off and it's definitely worth the $6 I paid for it. Further thoughts when I beat it, which I can't imagine will be that long.

I've also been going to a lot of Mishkan events, all of which have moved online. Every weekday morning there's a morning minyan (prayer group), and sometimes it's more religious and sometimes it's more like a meditation session, but I've gone a few times since they started a couple weeks ago and I find it really helpful. They're going to be live-streaming Shabbat services tomorrow, and I'm probably going to go. One other thing I'm considering is a bit unorthodox. Someone posted in the Mishkan Community Facebook group with what is basically a שדוך shidduch system they're calling "Quarantine Bae." You put in your information, the matchmakers look it over, and then they match you with someone. You have a phone call, if you both agree the matchmakers send each other your pictures, and then you can do what you like. I figure at worst it'll be an awkward conversation, but it's also designed for people 25-36, and while they said they had people outside that range, I'm not sure how the matchmakers will take it. Still, I'm strongly considering it. What can go wrong?

And finally, that song in the Listening section is my new listen-to-dozens-of-times-in-a-row song. I was listening to a Spotify melodic dubstep playlist when a far more wub-filled version of it came up, and I thought that it sounded good but would sound better without the wubs, so I went out and found the non-remix version. I sent it to lisekatevans and she said it was great and then asked me where it was from before it hit her. It's that kind of song.

Alright, back to reading.