Sick Day Bulletin
Scenes from a day that I reached unprecedented couch-rot levels.
I’m currently recovering from COVID for the second (or possibly third) time.
I got sick on a recent weekend trip to Washington D.C., and I’m not convinced Joe Biden isn’t responsible for this.
After some encouragement from a coworker and my boss, I took three days off at my new job (more on that later). This is huge for me, a person who is famously bad at putting myself before my work, but I think I’m making strides. Taking three days off meant I was bored, but because of the brain fog, I didn’t find comfort in anything other than sleeping a lot. When I was awake, the only thing that soothed me was rewatching Modern Family and simultaneously playing Candy Crush on my phone. Racking up double-digit screen-time hours feels like a new low.
This time around, I fully lost my senses of taste and smell, which worried me to no end. I can’t properly describe what it’s like to eat or drink something and have it not even vaguely register with your taste buds — or how weird it is to walk through downtown Toronto on a hot summer’s day and not be overwhelmed by the horrifying smellscape of urine and garbage.
I made the mistake of consulting the internet about COVID-induced smell/taste loss and learned that it can take at least a month for those senses to recover. In some cases, people didn’t regain their smell/taste for over a year. Needless to say, it terrified me and sent me down an anxiety spiral.
A short list of things I will devour once I can fully taste food again:
Pav bhaji, homemade with lots of red onions, cilantro, and butter
Sour cream and onion Ruffles
A ”hot vod” pie from General Assembly (easier to procure than a vodka slice at Badiali, and pretty damn good)
Lychee rosewater ice cream from Bang Bang. Also perhaps cinnamon toast and campfire marshmallow ice cream, also from Bang Bang, an all-time flavour combo best consumed in a warm bubble waffle
Cold, sweet, crunchy green grapes
Nachos with lots of beans and jalapeños and homemade salsa
A caprese salad with a big fat burrata and crusty bread
Chana bhatura from an un-fancy Indian restaurant
Sweet corn on the cob, roasted and slathered in lime juice, salt, and chili powder
Last one is a smell thing: over the past few months, I’ve gotten used to a nighttime routine of brushing my teeth, washing my face, popping a magnesium pill, playing rain sounds, and turning on my diffuser with a lot of lavender oil in it before I get into bed. I miss falling asleep to that smell.
Let’s hope I can enjoy all these things soon. And hey, in the meantime, one up-side to having COVID is that it made me finally focus on updating my Substack again!
Work Update
I got a new job! In the last month, I’ve gone from working almost entirely in-person in the public sector to working remotely in the private sector. I have a work-from-home uniform: this Old Navy tank top in one of the many colours I purchased it in, and a pair of flowy, elastic-waist black pants.
At my new job, I get to write for a living. It’s in marketing, so I’m not writing about the things I write about here, but it’s keeping me in practice. The thing I love most about writing is the process — taking an idea and turning it into a story, doing the research, and teaching myself about new things along the way — so I’m very happy.
Working remotely means flexibility. It means stress-free mornings, homemade lunches, walks on breaks, and actually being able to go to the doctor. It’s a whole new world!
Music
It’s BRAT SUMMER in my house too, but here are a few other songs that are also on repeat:
I also have to mention that I got to see Granny and the Boys, a D.C. legend, play at a bar called Showtime last week. Came out of that show with the sickest t-shirt of all time.
Books
I’m currently reading quietly hostile by Samantha Irby, a funny and easy-to-read essay collection that is well-suited to my COVID brain fog. That’s not an insult to Irby — I’m grateful for a book that keeps my attention right now.
Earlier this year, I also read and enjoyed:
Luster — Raven Leilani
Everything I Know About Love — Dolly Alderton
My Year of Rest and Relaxation — Otessa Moshfegh
A Mind Spread Out on the Ground — Alicia Elliott
Come and Get It — Kiley Reid
The Paris Apartment — Lucy Foley
First Lie Wins — Ashley Elston
There were a few others, but these are the noteworthy ones. I clearly haven’t shaken my love for thrillers and books about depressed women.
Movies/TV
I don’t have a lot to share on this front, because once again, it’s just been a LOT of Modern Family on repeat around here, but I did watch:
Season 3 of The Bear. An overdose of Faks in a pretty plotless season, but episode 6, “Napkins,” was the standout, and getting hit with “Directed by Ayo Edebiri” after that episode was incredible. She can do no wrong.
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. I watched this whole show on my one day off between jobs. You cannot tell me that Kelli Finglass isn’t a scary woman; you also cannot tell me that Victoria did not have the story arc of a woman escaping a cult.
RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars season 9. I’m torn about whether or not the show should keep the non-elimination format reserved for all-winners seasons. On one hand, the queens spend a lot of money to be on the show, and getting eliminated early must be devastating. On the other hand, no eliminations means no stakes, so this season lost me about three episodes ago.
I Used To Be Funny. I saw this at TIFF after thinking my friend got us tickets for an entirely different movie (I didn’t have COVID then, so I can’t explain the brain fog behind that moment). I thought this was Rachel Sennott’s best performance in anything I’ve seen her in, and it was very fun getting to point out recognizable Toronto spots—though why was she writing at Pennies during the day like that’s a place people go to get work done???
That’s it from me for now. See you again soon (sooner than last time) and wishing you good health! 🩷
quietly hostile is a perfect recovery book! i snort laughed through it. also yes to victoria’s cult escape plot line 😖 congratulations on the new job and hope you get to enjoy food tastes again soon!