rose_griffes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rose_griffes) wrote2020-11-25 02:19 pm
rose_griffes) wrote2020-11-25 02:19 pm
Entry tags:
"Oh, dear"
Low-key friending meme here. It even includes options for multiple platforms. Given that I'm off Tumblr and use twitter mostly for political news, this is my main base for, well, all the rest.
Speaking of news, though, or at least informed commentary about the news, I recommend Zeynep Tufekci's substack, Insight. She's a sociology professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her writings range widely, from the pandemic to politics to social media. Her work might already be familiar, given that she's written articles for The Atlantic and other outlets.
I started watching The Queen's Gambit on Netflix. So far very good, if a bit stressful. I'm waiting for the crash(es) in Beth Harmon's life.
The Crown has a new season available--I don't watch, but this video mocking it made me laugh out loud. I know enough of the actual drama from that time period that I understood most of the humor.
I'm not traveling for the Thanksgiving holidays, for obvious reasons. I've planned out a small menu with a few new dishes to try--which is fun when I have the time and inclination. A harvest festival is a good reason to indulge, yeah?
Anyway, one reason I'm thankful this year is that if--big if--I had COVID-19, I've been left with the mildest* of problems. An annoyance, yes, but not yet impacting me in significant ways that I've noticed.
That problem? I can't smell the main note in lavender. I noticed it in late September or early October when I was filling the bathtub for a nice, long soak. I put some drops of lavender oil in the water, but it didn't smell the same. The other essential oils were mostly normal--citrusy smells are a bit off from what they were before, but not as absent as the lavender. I decided, in a moment of ambitious hopefulness, that it was due to seasonal allergies, which were in full force at that time.
Well, allergy season is (temporarily) over. (My state has SO MANY things that can cause allergic reactions; "allergy season" can be any time of year.) And the scent of lavender is still missing. So after some back-and-forth communication with my doctor's office, I had blood drawn to check for COVID-19 antibodies. They'll have the results early next week.
*My expectation is that any current physical weirdness--such as, um, losing weight when I wasn't trying**, and occasional digestive woes--is due to MASSIVE STRESS FROM TEACHING DURING A PANDEMIC, and not from the virus itself. But that's another reason to check for antibodies and get it on record if I did have it. Because this virus causes some very unusual late-onset or ongoing problems. All the more reason to get my (overdue) annual physical, which I can't do until I get checked for antibodies.
**I can spare a few pounds. And anxiety/depression has led to weight loss before for me. It has also led to weight gain. ::throws hands in air, shrugs shoulders:: Bodies are weird, y'all.
Whew, that was a long explanation. But it's a strange problem, so.
Could be worse***. I have a student who had COVID-19 in June and she reports that things still don't taste as they did before to her. I haven't noticed any real shift in how things taste. (Lavender is, in fact, edible, but I've eaten exactly two lavender-flavored things in my whole life, so it's a factor that isn't particularly essential in my diet.)
Hm. Given that I'm planning to make a couple of cranberry recipes, I wonder if they'll taste different? Cranberry has some overlap in taste with citrus. I don't often eat citrus, because it bothers my stomach a bit, so I don't know if that has changed for me.
***Obviously, it could be MUCH worse, in so many ways.
27 Nov. - the test came back negative.
Edited to add: Just taking this moment to remind myself and anyone else in position to do so: food banks and other organizations could really use money donations.
Speaking of news, though, or at least informed commentary about the news, I recommend Zeynep Tufekci's substack, Insight. She's a sociology professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her writings range widely, from the pandemic to politics to social media. Her work might already be familiar, given that she's written articles for The Atlantic and other outlets.
I started watching The Queen's Gambit on Netflix. So far very good, if a bit stressful. I'm waiting for the crash(es) in Beth Harmon's life.
The Crown has a new season available--I don't watch, but this video mocking it made me laugh out loud. I know enough of the actual drama from that time period that I understood most of the humor.
I'm not traveling for the Thanksgiving holidays, for obvious reasons. I've planned out a small menu with a few new dishes to try--which is fun when I have the time and inclination. A harvest festival is a good reason to indulge, yeah?
Anyway, one reason I'm thankful this year is that if--big if--I had COVID-19, I've been left with the mildest* of problems. An annoyance, yes, but not yet impacting me in significant ways that I've noticed.
That problem? I can't smell the main note in lavender. I noticed it in late September or early October when I was filling the bathtub for a nice, long soak. I put some drops of lavender oil in the water, but it didn't smell the same. The other essential oils were mostly normal--citrusy smells are a bit off from what they were before, but not as absent as the lavender. I decided, in a moment of ambitious hopefulness, that it was due to seasonal allergies, which were in full force at that time.
Well, allergy season is (temporarily) over. (My state has SO MANY things that can cause allergic reactions; "allergy season" can be any time of year.) And the scent of lavender is still missing. So after some back-and-forth communication with my doctor's office, I had blood drawn to check for COVID-19 antibodies. They'll have the results early next week.
*My expectation is that any current physical weirdness--such as, um, losing weight when I wasn't trying**, and occasional digestive woes--is due to MASSIVE STRESS FROM TEACHING DURING A PANDEMIC, and not from the virus itself. But that's another reason to check for antibodies and get it on record if I did have it. Because this virus causes some very unusual late-onset or ongoing problems. All the more reason to get my (overdue) annual physical, which I can't do until I get checked for antibodies.
**I can spare a few pounds. And anxiety/depression has led to weight loss before for me. It has also led to weight gain. ::throws hands in air, shrugs shoulders:: Bodies are weird, y'all.
Whew, that was a long explanation. But it's a strange problem, so.
Could be worse***. I have a student who had COVID-19 in June and she reports that things still don't taste as they did before to her. I haven't noticed any real shift in how things taste. (Lavender is, in fact, edible, but I've eaten exactly two lavender-flavored things in my whole life, so it's a factor that isn't particularly essential in my diet.)
Hm. Given that I'm planning to make a couple of cranberry recipes, I wonder if they'll taste different? Cranberry has some overlap in taste with citrus. I don't often eat citrus, because it bothers my stomach a bit, so I don't know if that has changed for me.
***Obviously, it could be MUCH worse, in so many ways.
27 Nov. - the test came back negative.
Edited to add: Just taking this moment to remind myself and anyone else in position to do so: food banks and other organizations could really use money donations.
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Keeping my fingers crossed for you! I hope you have a nice celebration, even if by yourself :)
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But thanks for the well-wishes! I'm having fun with the cooking experiments so far. (Pumpkin soup today, made with fresh pumpkin.)
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(Not helping, I know.)
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