Socially Distanced Diaries

Days since quarantine: 22 Lunch: more xôi khúc. I'm finally getting very tired of eating this but D. told me it was his favourite thing I made last week.  Dinner: noodle salad with roasted salmon. Originally conceived as lettuce wraps before D. pointed out out to me that such a handsy method of food consumption might not be the best idea in this moment. Blueberry crumb cake that I overbaked for dessert. We broke quarantine and went over to D.'s parents for dinner. I made food and we ate with the sun shining on us almost the entire time.  Mood: good. I think D.'s mood is also better today, as it often is after we are done at his parents. With three weeks (!) of social isolation behind us, it was really nice to have some contact with other people. I know it wasn't the best thing to do, but it was almost necessary, in a way. D. was in a bad mood almost all last week and I was just feeling adrift. We anchor ourselves in the presence of others, even hardcore loners like us, ...

Days since quarantine: 20 Lunch: lentil chili soupy thing.  Dinner: brown butter couscous with spring vegetable stew. Low effort but high impact – fresh and comforting at the same time.  Mood: indifferent. Did a few GA things, managed to renew my SketchUp subscription. Emailed people about the Andries Deinum thing, emailed Ned again. All in all a pretty insignificant day. It's hard for me to care much about anything right now. 

Days since quarantine: 19 Lunch: leftover braised egg and tofu. Had a bunch of snacks in between meals as well: seaweed, tea biscuits, chocopies. The snacking situation is completely out. Of. Control.  Dinner: chicken salad with Wheat Thins.  Mood: sleepy. Not sure why but I haven't been able to sleep very well at night lately, which has caused me to be very drowsy during the day. I feel like I'm always on the cusp of (and frequently am) falling asleep. I'm also getting a pretty terrible headache everyday now, in the morning especially. 

Days since quarantine: 18 First breakfast: a square of buttered cornbread Second breakfast: xôi khúc. Truly the gift that keeps on giving.  First lunch: peanut butter with banana and honey on toast.  Second lunch: a fried egg on toast.  Dinner: leftover meatloaf.  Mood: generally unproductive. Took a long nap and the only thing I did outside of my GA job was putting up thesis drawings on Conceptboard and emailed Barbara. It feels like it's been forever since I made any progress on thesis. I need to start moving forward somehow. Gah.  Cleaned out the dead plants, organized my desk and closet today. Now that I'm home more, it's nice to start taking care of my space again. Still back and forth on buying a printer/scanner to help the workflow at home. Now I just need to actually sit down and do some real work. 

Days since quarantine: 18. Don't know why I'm continually surprised that this number goes up everyday.  Lunch: more xôi khúc.  Snack: seaweed. Tea. Tea biscuits. Half a very, very stale donut. Grass jelly. In all honesty the snacking is getting out of hand.  Dinner: dumped a bunch of leftovers and expired pantry stuff into the Instant Pot and what emerged is a chili-esque kind of lentil soup. D. ran out to get cornbread mix and it wasn't half bad altogether.  Mood: so-so. Spent most of the day on GA nonsense. Had class with Ned, which is what it is. Watched a HBO documentary on Robert Mapplethorpe which really ignited in me the desire to start taking photos again. Learned from the movie that he loved Weston, as do I. Well, who wouldn't? I really need to start taking photos again. 

Days since quarantine: 17. (Holy shit!) Lunch: half a jelly donut, half a cinnamon donut. Xôi khúc that I spent all day yesterday making. This was so good! Sent my mother a picture and even she commented that it looks good, and my mother never compliments anything (that I do). Dinner: pork crackling bits that failed to crisp up, caramelized in a fish sauce braise. This was also excellent.  Mood: good. First day of class. All done over Zoom but things went off without a hitch. It was good to be busy again, though I know I'll soon eat my own words. GA job is good, lots of things to set up at the beginning of a course but I love doing this stuff, honestly. Tomorrow is my class with Ned, we'll see how that goes. 

Days since quarantine: 16. Lunch: half of an apple fritter, half of a maple bar. Leftover braised tofu and garlic green beans.  Dinner: meatloaf, mash potato and glazed carrots. Eating this on a Sunday evening makes me feel positively American, even if I also spent the entire day making bánh khúc for lunches and breakfasts later on this week.  Mood: anxious. Had a couple of dreams that. . . weren't bad, per se. They just had a sense of unease about them. I'm also anxious about classes starting tomorrow, how it's all going to go this term in this ongoing pandemic. But at least I can stay home, and D. is around all the time. As far as crises go, this one's not all bad, I guess.  True to yesterday's promise, I took a break from the tretinoin tonight and opted for a sheet mask instead, which led to a moment of comic relief for the both of us as I fumbled around, unable to move my head or face very much. 

Days since quarantine: 15. Grocery day today. Made our usual tour of Fubonn and then Safeway, which we prefer to New Seasons because they still haven't implemented any measures to prevent spreading of the virus (read: faster shopping). Living dangerously, I know. Maybe I'm just naive but we buy so. Much. Food. Especially now when every trip to the store is tinged with a hint of panic consumerism. Also, before both D. and I started staying home all day, we'd shop for a couple of meals at a time – I'd eat out a lot when I work late in studio and he'd survive on the leftovers. These past couple of weeks, we've been buying enough food to feed two adult humans every daily meal from breakfast to dinner, plus all the bored/emotional eating in between (which, admittedly, there has been plenty of). All that food, acquired in one go, is a pretty hefty lump. And expensive too. We talked to our cashier today at Safeway. He got laid off from a manager position at a Buffalo W...

Days since quarantine: 14 First lunch: omelet sandwich. I learned a trick a while ago to mix a little cornstarch slurry in with the beaten egg mixture, making it less likely to tear. This was meant for making the very thin egg crepes used in various Chinese and Vietnamese dishes, but I learned that it works particularly well for omelet sandwiches – the eggs are fluffly and and they don't break apart, ideal for wedging between two slices of toasted bread.  Second lunch: peanut butter on toast with sliced banana, honey and some Maldon. On our last grocery trip, D. asked me if we had any peanut butter left and I told him we had run out, prompting him to get a jar of Adams despite my lobbying for something junkier like Skippy. Then I saw that we still have a third of a jar of Justin's honey peanut butter at home and felt momentary guilt which quickly turned into relief that I don't have to share the good stuff . Ah, the intricacies of love.  Dinner: poke bowls from ...