Miscellany

Greetings, friends! A little this, a little that today.

After almost 3 years, covid finally caught up with me and Andy a few weeks ago. We have been among the most cautious people we know—since March 2020 we haven't eaten in a restaurant, gone to a movie or play or concert, gone to a gathering of any size (not even just another couple), flown, etc. Really! We avoid going anywhere indoors and wear masks when we have to (doctor's appointment, grocery store, bank, etc.). So we have no idea how we got it. Andy got it first, and we tried sort of half-assedly to quarantine/isolate, but I got it 3 days later. We both took Paxlovid and were negative within 5 days. Thankfully, neither of us had any respiratory issues, nor that brutal cough so many have had. But we still had completely different symptoms, which was strange since we clearly had caught the same strain. He had fatigue (still has it, in fact), fever, body aches, etc., and I ... well, let's just say that I had a very phlegmatic experience and became a devotee of Mucinex. Anyhow, I'm counting on having at least a few weeks of immunity and am meeting a friend for lunch inside an actual restaurant this week!

A dozen or so of my editorial pals have still managed to stay covid-free, as have my in-laws, which feels miraculous because they are not as cautious as my friends! I had been planning to be a medical mystery, that one person who never caught covid, but now that that's off the books, I hope it will be one of those folks.

While I was housebound, I read an absolutely lovely book called Still Life by Sarah Winman. It moves along at a leisurely pace, but I never once tapped my foot with impatience while waiting for something to happen. It gave me the same warm feels as A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, which you know I adored. Winman writes beautifully and with great heart, and created characters that have stayed with me. The basic story line is a chance meeting in Italy during World War II between two Brits, a young soldier and a middle-aged art historian, and then goes on for decades as their lives move on and keep threatening to intersect again. We get to know all their friends and family, and it's a truly lovable, quirky bunch. The Washington Post says: "It’s that rare, affectionate novel that makes one feel grateful to have been carried along. Unfurling with no more hurry than a Saturday night among old friends, the story celebrates the myriad ways love is expressed and families are formed." Big thumbs up from me on this one!

While editing, I came across the phrase "ludic loop" and had to google it. Apparently it was first used to describe what happens when you play slot machines, but it can be applied to any similar activity where you just keep repeating the same thing for some reward, however tiny, that urges you to do it again, until you're sort of in a tranquil trance state. I imagine we've all done this with various games on our phones—"Oh, I'll just play one more time..." Most recently I discovered an app for a card game I learned about on TikTok last year called Idiot (aka Palace). You can play online here, but I downloaded the app (same website) to my phone and play, um, kind of a lot. During the day when I reach the end of a chapter I'm editing and want to take a little break from all the freaking words but still keep my brain in gear, I play a round. Or two. Or eight. You can play against the computer or against randos who happen to be online, which is fun. If you don't know how to play, the rules are at that website, and elsewhere all over the web (including YouTube, which I found helpful). It's a much better game to play in person and with more than two players, but we takes what we gets.

When I want to take a longer break, I am still doing my beloved nonograms. Recently I've started solving them without filling in any Xs, which is very tricky and extremely satisfying when I can finish—other times I get stuck and have to go back and add some Xs, and then the key magically appears and I do the forehead smack.

I'm still on Twitter and devote a few minutes every day to being pissed off at Elmo Sunk (anagram) for taking a perfectly good thing and ruining it just for his own ego. He doesn't seem to want it, certainly has no idea how to run it, and has driven away loads of users. I know people have had lots of problems with Twitter over the years, but I had curated a very pleasant experience, with a list of bright, interesting, warm, creative editors, journalists, Democrats, foodies, Bostonians, cat lovers, puzzlers, and other like-minded folks. Anyhow, as I said, I'm still there but am not holding my breath that it will last. I've also joined all the other likely suspects—Mastodon, CounterSocial, Post, Spoutible... (I'm "wisekaren" on all of them, although my main annoyance about Mastodon is that a username is not enough there; you need a server name—I'm here.) So far none of them really scratches that Twitter itch, but I'm feeling most optimistic about Spoutible. Stay tuned...

And finally, I have done very little cooking of late, but right before we got sick I made yet another terrific recipe from Budget Bytes—as usual, it was quick, easy, and tasty (nice photo at the link):

Cheesy Sausage Pasta

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
7 ounces smoked sausage, sliced into rounds (I used half a 13-ounce package of turkey kielbasa I had in the freezer.)
1 yellow onion, diced
1 (10-ounce) can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles (I got this, but you could certainly just use regular diced tomatoes.)
8 ounces penne or other short pasta shape (I used our fave, Barilla mezzi rigatoni.)
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups baby spinach
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 scallion, sliced

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook until well browned. If there is excess fat in the skillet, drain it off before moving on to the next step. (I didn’t need to do this, but you might if you use pork sausage.)

Add the onion and sauté until softened, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.

Add the tomatoes with their juices, uncooked pasta, and chicken broth and stir until combined. The pasta may not be fully submerged, but that’s okay.

Cover and bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer until the pasta is tender and only a small bit of liquid remains, about 10 minutes, stirring two or three times and re-covering the skillet each time.

Gently stir in the spinach just until it wilts.

Scatter the cheese over the top, cover again, and cook over low heat until the cheese is melted and creamy.

Sprinkle with the scallion and serve.

Comments

[Beth F]

Oh no on the COVID. So far we have avoided it. At least as far as we know. It's possible we were asymptomatic, but I don't think we've had it.

And you ruined made my life so much better by introducing me to nonograms. Now you have another game? ARGH. How am I ever going to get anything done. LOL

[Karen]

Yeah, I guess no one can ever know whether they had covid and were asymptomatic, although I feel like we (and you) were so very cautious that it's unlikely. And the few times we thought we were exposed we tested repeatedly, as I'm sure you did. May you be queened the Medical Mystery who never gets it!

[Margaret]

I haven't gotten Covid yet to my knowledge but probably will. I'm resigned to that fact. I'm still careful although I'm doing more activities and around more people than I used to be.

[Karen]

Yes, we all have to find the right "comfort zone." It's so hard because it's all uncharted territory!

[Deborah B]

My husband and I haven't had it yet, at least that we know. We've each had one cold in the last three years - last month - and both tested negative more than once. He's a professor and I'm a librarian, so it seems odd that we haven't even had the usual seasonal colds. I'm glad you're both mending!

I'm rereading a book for the first time in almost a decade - A Good American, by Alex George. I highly recommend it, and I'm already planning to seek out his other novels.

[Karen]

Oh, I'm so glad to hear of even more people who have escaped "the plague." May it continue!
And thanks for the book rec.