Iso-life continues and I’ve honestly never cooked so much in my life. I’m not terrible at it, but I don’t love it. I’m moderately better at baking, unless meringue is involved, in which case it could really go either way – spectacular or spectacularly bad. The upside is how much our Uber Eats bill has been drastically reduced; I’m not as anxious these days opening my bank statement to see the majority of our earnings going to Din Tai Fung and Messina.
I’ve lost my patience for reading long-form. I like to blame this on Apple and social media, but in truth, I just need some flipping willpower. I have a dozen-plus books sitting on my bedside tables, most of which I’ve made it through one or two chapters and then given up. This is not okay. I am a lifelong lover of storytelling and I refuse to let this one go. I’ve taken to giving myself the ‘disappointed dad’ talk; “What has become of you? We used to be so proud….you’ve always been such a reader…”
I’m even a little fidgety watching Netflix. Gasp, right?! Who the hell gets bored with television. Sigh. This guy. I can’t even make it through the entire Tiger King documentary, which is absolutely ridiculous considering it has the makings of a masterpiece – exotic animals, gay redneck cowboys, gun-toting meth-heads and murder mystery mayhem.
I’ve rearranged the living room furniture, Marie Kondo-ed the kitchen and progressively lowered my allowed-to-have-a-glass-of-wine time (started at 6pm, then 5pm….I haven’t hit 3pm yet. Give it time). Every towel and sheet set in the house has been washed (I fixed the machine – yay!), I’ve re-potted all my indoor plants and answered actual phone-calls (this is HUGE for me). I may even resort to using this ridiculous HouseParty app thingy.
Who am I?
OK, but here is the guts of it – this is a long-winded way of me telling you that there are some other cool things out there that you can waste your time on whilst in iso. Of course, we know we can order Quarantini’s direct to our doors, knock out a jigsaw puzzle or five and suffer through Kayla Itsines virtual workouts, but what else is out there for Quaran-Queens (thanks JVN!) right now?
Try some of these kinda-hipster, still-pretty-awesome things to take your mind of The Rones:
- Each night (EDT) The Metropolitan Opera (New York) is streaming a free, pre-taped opera performance. This week is Wagner Week and this evening I’ll be
trying to understandwatching, “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.” I’m sure I won’t understand a word, but I will be cultured! Click here to take a peek.
- For a little more arty culture, check out The Broad Museum’s 15 minute Livestream of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Room from her The Souls of Millions of Light Years installation. It has been near impossible to get a ticket to visit this exhibition in person – now you can enjoy Kusama’s infamous piece virtually and set to some pretty trippy music. Be mesmerised here and here.
- As a writer, I will generally take any opportunity to tell a story, but it is oftentimes limited to the elite (of which I am not). The wonderful WomanKind magazine is offering it’s readers the chance to submit a 250-word-a-day diary piece titled Life in Lockdown. Women from around the globe are giving insight into their current iso-lives and sharing them with the Womankind community. If you would like to throw a piece out there, send your submission anytime to news@womankindmag.com or visit their Facebook page.
- Not exactly my cup of tea, but my musical theatre sister will yell at me if I don’t add this in (and hey, it might be your thing!)…you can now sign up to BroadwayHD for a free trial (moves to subscription after the first week), you will get access to both new and old Broadway shows as well as a selection of features from Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse Theatre.
- For those non-philistines who are still able to concentrate on a whole book (sigh), some of the best independent bookstores in Sydney are either delivering to your door or waiving all shipping fees. Northern Beaches babes (between Narrabeen and Palm Beach) can head to Bookoccino online and select home delivery, Newtown’s Better Read and Dead have their normal delivery options, now with free shipping and Gleebooks in Glebe are waiving postage for any resident of the Inner West or City of Sydney councils.
- I’ll stay on the book front, but add a dash of badass baking into the mix with the free download of Katherine Sabbath’s Greatest Hits cookbook through Google Books. Australia’s infamous Cake Queen gives us recipes such as the Upside-Down Ice-Cream cone cake among the 164 drool-worthy pages, although maybe set aside a couple of days to even attempt to get through it….these are not for the faint-hearted.
- For a little old-school art cool, check out edx’s Drawing Nature, Science and Culture Course for free – the University of Newcastle’s online learning platform. Spanning 6 weeks, covering 3-6 hours per week, learn how to illustrate the wonderful world of natural history 101; landscapes, insects, flora and fauna. This one takes a little more commitment, but the outcome will be worth it (if you’re any good lol).
- If you want want to add your own personal flair to some beautiful blank pages – and have it travel the world – then The Sketchbook Project is your bag! Order a blank A5 sketchbook from The Brooklyn Art Library and make it your own – whatever takes your fancy (theme guidelines enclosed)! Once finito, send it back to the Art Library and they will add it to their collective – visited by thousands daily (and online).
- Some of you social media addicts may have caught Ellen DeGeneres filming herself attempting a Lego Architecture piece last week – she (mock) failed big time, but the activity itself got a major leg-up. Build your own Guggenheim Museum, Capitol Building, Trafalgar Square and the Vegas Strip (amongst others) – I mean, who needs to travel, right?! Find at Amazon.
- There’s a lot of talk about learning a new language while isolating and sure, go right ahead and become fluent in Spanish, German, Italian (yawn). Or you can learn a new language that is also community-caring: sign language! Online Auslan with artist & blogger Asphyxia is a personal, hands-on journey into the world of learning to sign. Even better, learn with a friend via Zoom!
Iso is tough, but contracting covid-19 or watching a loved one suffer through the virus is tougher. With any luck, you can give some of these activities a crack or use them as inspiration to do your own thang.
Whatever you choose, please please please – stay the f*** home – and let’s get through this as best we can.
Lx
