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A (probably incomplete) list of shows I’ve watched during quarantine

favorites bolded

Avatar (this was a rewatch, when it came back to Netflix)

Korra (I’d seen season one and the very end, but this was so difficult to get a hold of when it first came out. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it)

Medium (I have one season left of this done, 9/25)

Covert Affairs (started this a while ago, finally watched the last season)

Ramy (part of the trend of shows that get to do interesting experimental things because they’re on a streaming service instead of a tv network.  Orange is the new black of course was one of the pioneers of this. And what a really really unlikable lead character, jeez.)

Monk (have one or two seasons left. Could’ve sworn I’d watched the whole things in the past, but I think it must’ve just been a lot of re-runs not the entire show. This show does a really interesting job with showing mental illness and giving a look into therapy )

Modern Love

In the dark [I would give the “favorites” claim to season one. Season two was good, but not quite one the same level] (watched new season 2)

Orange is the new black (I’d hit a wall with this a while ago, and finally finished the last few seasons)

One day at a time (have a few episodes left)

Private Practice (the even more ridiculously soapy spinoff from Grey’s Anatomy)

Little Fires Everywhere

The Bold Type (the most recent season, I’d watched the other ones before but I think I did a rewatch as well, love this show)

Sirens (a short-lived show about about ambulance workers)

caught up on the good doctor, still very mixed feelings. I’m never quite sure why I keep watching this

Killing Eve (caught up on new season)

might’ve been shortly before quarantine

This is Us

Good Trouble (the only show I can think of ever that represents a bi person dating guys and girls back and forth. Other shows with bi people usually have a storyline with them coming out, dating someone of the same gender, and then never going back to dating someone of another gender. Ex: a woman comes out and going forward only dates women, a guy comes out and only dates guys. I sort of get why shows do this [wanting to avoid people saying it was just a phase or they were just experimenting but actually straight] but I was startled that I couldn’t think of any other example of a tv show that represents a bisexual person in this way)

to watch (added 9/25)

Better Call Saul (I’m one season behind whatever’s on netflix)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (I think I started this a long time ago? But I keep hearing/seeing good things)

#quarantine shows #tv #Avatar the last airbender #atla #Korra #Legend of korra #Monk #In the dark #This is us #Good trouble #better call saul #the bold type #killing eve

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This is like, my ideal task. I’m one of those weirdos who generally kind of likes cleaning (very strong suspicion that this is in part because my mother is a slob and a bit of a hoarder, so that sort of mess and disorder stress me out).

Anyway, in non-covid times this would genuinely be a pleasant task for me, but alas I live in a completely different part of the US. Otherwise I would totally offer my help with this!

Hmm, as a person in the “likes to clean” camp, I have the bonus of not dreading the task of cleaning itself, and getting a sense of calm from having a clean environment. But aside from that, let me think about what else goes into maintaining a clean space

clean as you go, when you can. If I’m cooking, I try to wash things in between steps so I don’t have a sink full of dishes/pots/pans when I’m done. This also enforces an end to each cleaning task, breaking it up into chunks (ie: this thing is in the microwave for 5 minutes, so I’ll wash a few dishes and wipe down the counter. And then I’ll stop and eat). Additionally for kitchen stuff, if something is dirty but I don’t want to wash it right now, I’ll at least let it soak in soap and hot water so it doesn’t dry onto the dish and become hard to remove a day or two later

having a place for things. If I need to buy a new organizer to hold various office supplies then so be it. If I take a scissor into another room, it goes back to its place when I’m done (also helps prevent later issues like “where the heck did I leave the scissors?”). I’ve also done things like reorganize some of the kitchen cabinets so the stuff I use often is easy to reach, and the stuff that’s rarely used is out of the way on higher shelves. I’ll also experiment with were I keep stuff - shirts in drawers vs hanging up, something in this room or that room.

expanding on that, things I rarely use go somewhere out of the way so I can use more convenient spaces for daily stuff. I rotate my shorts and sweaters depending on the season, with one in my closet and the other in storage for the off season

within financial reason of course, I try to buy things that make cleaning more pleasant. I hate lugging out the big unwieldy vacuum for a tiny spot of mess, so I got a little handheld vacuum for about $30 and I love it. I’ve tried different ways of cleaning the shower (types of cleaning spray, sponge or scrubby brush). I keep a roll of paper towels upstairs and downstairs for convenience (in the bathroom and kitchen, respectively). In general I’m a big fan of little things that make life easier in some way or another (with school/work from home I just bought a laptop stand and it’s made my weekly hours of lectures more comfortable - before I was at weird angles that weren’t good for my neck or posture. It was a little more expensive than I would’ve liked but not unreasonably so, and I spend enough time using it every week that it was a super worthwhile addition - not cleaning related but just another example of little purchases that make life easier).

figure out what works best for you in terms of background noise - do you want music or silence? Maybe a tv show or podcast on in the background?

re: kitchen and food storage - keep things in specific places to help avoid hidden food expiring and getting gross, or overbuying something you didn’t realize you had five of. Ex - pasta goes on this shelf in storage, so I can look at it in a glance and see if I need to add it to my shopping list that week. In the fridge, leftovers go on this shelf, yogurt goes in this section, etc so hopefully something won’t get pushed to the back of the fridge hidden behind other stuff, getting old and growing mold (I live with a hoarding slob, this has happened way too often and it drives me up the wall)

little adjustments to prevent future mess? This is really on a case-by-case basis, but let me give an example. In my kitchen, the hand soap and dish soap live by the side of the sink, and over time the counter under this space gets wet and gross and it gets into the grout(?) around the sink which starts to disintegrate and it’s a whole thing. Basically, it creates a way bigger mess than it should. Recently, I put the hand soap and dish soap into their own plastic container next to the sink, so any water drips generally go into this container, which I can just clean seperately when need be. Similarly, I got this metal sponge holder that sticks to the inside of the kitchen sink with suction cups - this lets the sponge dry between uses, and prevents a puddle next to the sink where the sponge used to live. Oh, another kitchen example! A few years ago I got a microwave cover thing, which is just a big plastic lid that goes over a dish that might splatter in the microwave - and cleaning this plastic cover occasionally is better than scrubbing the actual microwave

multiples of things sometimes. My household has a bunch of kitchen towels in a cabinet, with two actively in use in the kitchen at one time. Once the two active towels are dirty, they go in the dirty towel pile next to the washing machine, and two new clean towels are put out. That way I don’t have to wash the same two towels every time I need clean ones, and eventually have a pile of towels to do as one big load of laundry

i don’t want to pay someone to clean my house i want to pay someone to come to my house and teach me how to clean it

#I feel like a lot of these suggestions overlap and this got very long! #but hopefully this was welcome and even slightly helpful

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It has taken exactly four weeks of virtual school for me to “go to class” laying in bed. Considering I don’t do mornings even at the best of times and I literally didn’t sleep last night, I don’t feel too bad about this (and this is a class where everyone has their camera off, I would never lay in bed for a class on video - although I’ve already seen some classmates do this)

#virtual school

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I need to start listening to all my podcasts again. It used to be part of my school routine, listening to a podcast or two on the long bus ride home. But it’s going to be a while before I get on a bus again and while I don’t miss the commute in the slightest, listening to my favorite shows was a nice part of my routine. And I really just stopped when I stopped commuting

#favs include #Reply All #Science Vs

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I have an important question: what’s your holy trinity from lover?

#I forgot that you existed #death by a thousand cuts #paper rings #maybe a hot take but I do really love the album opening track and feel like it doesn't get enough credit

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none of these are my comments, but some good talk about sexism and makeup (in short, the video was talking about math and had a brief clip of a girl asking a math question while putting on makeup)

#makeup #makeup thoughts #and absolutely - makeup is one of my interests/hobbies and yet it's one I rarely talk about #sexism #some interests/hobbies are definitely seen as more legitimate than others #vlogbrothers

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I could swear you used to be able to “reply” to a post, but a reblog was the closest I could find - I am the skate question person!

Hah, I love the enthusiam! I am indeed a long-time rollerblader - but I will say that just because I’ve been skating for a long time doesn’t mean I can do anything fancy. For years I’ve been going to roller rinks (but infrequently, unfortunately), and on the rare occasion I could drag a few friends along with me I remember their method of stopping being “run into the wall” as is common with most non-skaters.

Anyway! I’ve always personally used the heel brake attached to the skate, which was fine for indoors. But now that we’re in quarantine hell and I’m venturing outdoors, I find myself wanting to try out more techniques (not just for stopping, but backwards skating, etc). So while I’m quite used to wheels on my feet, I’m a beginner to certain techniques - I look forward to tackling the t-stop as well!

In my own search, I found this video which I really liked  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWrDAi3aZLs

As for the skates themselves, I ended up with a super basic pair from the “rollerblade” brand, in part because of budget and also the options for what was in stock were super limited (there was one particularly comical night where I saw the skates in stock, went to add them to my cart and they were already gone again). I only just got them in the mail, but I can totally report back on my progress with learning the t-stop if you’re interested.

And I totally get what you mean about facebook. I am super anti-social media and haven’t used it in years, but I might have to grit my teeth and do something similar (I love the idea of people posting smooth parking lots!)

Feel free to talk skate with me anytime!

Thanks for the skate review! I am actually already a rollerblader for years before quarantine but my old skates were too small and in the past I just went to the local sporting goods store to try them on. So this is my first time trying to buy online, plus in the past I'm primarily an indoor rink skater. It's been so long since I've had to shop for a new skate that I feel like I'm flying blind shopping online. None of my friends skate, so i'm jumping at any chance for skate talk!

2) And as much as I loathe the idea of online dating or making friends during quarantine, I'm kind of dying for some socially-distanced activity buddies. It was cool to find someone whose blog I was following happened to skate! I def don't live anywhere near you, but I'm here in skating spirit! As a challenge, I've also been trying to figure out quad skating during quarantine(which is a related but different beast). Even with the skate shortages, it's cool to see others picking up some wheels

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omg A REAL LIVE EXPERIENCED ROLLERBLADER!! can you teach me how to do a t-stop without falling flat on my ass?? lol. I have been watching all of those SkateFresh videos on YouTube and working diligently on balancing drills but I still cannot for the life of me figure out how to actually use my dragging skate to stop. if you do end up picking up a new pair online, i’d love to hear what you think of the brand! i kinda picked the k2s at random (i read a million reviews but still did not feel super equipped to make the decision) but i really like them.

re: quarantine buddies -- i deleted my facebook years ago but just created a new one SOLELY to join my city’s inline skating social group. it’s such a charmingly wholesome page! just people posting pictures of their skates + of smooth parking lots they’ve found around the city. it’s very charming and when it gets a little cooler i think i’ll try going to some of their socially distanced parking lot skates. hope you can find a group too!

#conversation #skate talk #rollerblades #rollerblading

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One

Wow, it has been a long time since I’ve been on tumblr.

I think there was a decline in use, and then I just started viewing blogs I liked without logging in. One day probably years later I wanted to log in, in part to see my old posts and posts I’d liked - and tumblr forced a password change that was send to your email, and I was locked out of that email account. So here we are

(also, what is going on with the dashboard?? I’m getting random garbage in my feed from people I’m not following. Is this like the downfall of Okcupid, getting bought out and everything goes to hell)

#meta tumblr musings