Category: Personal

2020 Gratitude: Taskmaster

I learned about Taskmaster near the end of last year, with two friends giving the show glowing recommendations. They described the premise, including a play-by-play of the very first task, and I was sold! However, my problem at the time was that there was no straightforward way to watch it. There were episodes unofficially available on “sketchy” sites, but nowhere that was easily accessible.

However, the official YouTube account started uploading full episodes, and I spent most of this year devouring them. Over the course of quarantine, I’ve binged eight full seasons with my boyfriend! We’ve sat through most episodes together, talking through how we would do different tasks, judging contestant’s attempts, and have generally used the show as another way to bond with each other.

My favorite Taskmaster submission – TREE WIZARD!

Throughout the year, we also hosted and participated in our own little Taskmaster competitions among our friends. We had three sessions overall, one that we hosted and planned ourselves, and two others that were run by our friends, and they were all interesting little diversions from the otherwise boring day-to-day of quarantine life.

We did many different challenges, including “cook an egg,” “create a bouquet,” “make a Rube Goldberg machine,” and “recreate a classic painting.” You can see our attempt at the last challenge below!

These Taskmaster games were not only fun and creatively challenging, but they were also a great way to keep in touch with friends! We’d chat with the hosts about rules, with our friends about their attempts, and always had an in-person finale at the end where we’d get to see each other’s submissions and crown a winner. Any way to keep in touch over this quarantine is a plus for me! (Looking like fools in the process is just a cherry on top!)

2020 Gratitude: Ordering Take-Out

I was never really a take-out person in the “before times”. The closest that I would ever get to “take out” was grabbing a slice of pizza or a sandwich on the go or on the way to a friend’s place to hang out. Other than that, I would never order food delivery to my house. I was very put off by the extra costs and waiting time to have someone bring food to my house. If I wanted to eat out, I would go to a restaurant!

However, times have changed! Instead of eating at all of the delicious restaurants down the street on the main road, my boyfriend and I have taken to grabbing take out on a regular basis. After getting a car, we’ve also expanded our horizons to driving a little further than usual to eat at restaurants we normally wouldn’t have gone to before.

Though we both love cooking, because we’re home a lot more often than usual, cooking fatigue sets in a lot more often. Though we used to feel bad about ordering take-out because of the extra costs, we’ve forgiven ourselves for it in quarantine. We want our local businesses to stay afloat and are making a conscious effort to order from them whenever possible. I’ve even taken to tipping much more than I usually would, just to spread the love.

I don’t think I’ll continue doing this when we can go back to safely eating at restaurants – whenever that will be – but it’s been a fun experiment so far and I’m excited to try new restaurants and cuisines!

2020 Gratitude: Interior Design

I am not the only one who feels this way!

Little by little over quarantine, I have added little decorations to my apartment. In the “before times,” I would plop onto my couch for an hour or so every night, and therefore didn’t think too much about my surroundings. However, now that I am home literally all the time, I’ve invested more in the ambience and ergonomics of my living space – anything to make the days more bearable!

One of my favorite purchases of quarantine, as indicated by my tweet above, is a desk! I got it from Wayfair and it is perfect for my needs – it’s narrow and foldable, but still sturdy. I topped it all off with a laptop stand and a phone stand to keep things fairly sleek and organized (if you don’t look at my headphone cords).

Before getting a desk, I tried eking by with a lap desk, occasionally using one of our dressers as a standing desk. I tried making things more ergonomic – propping my computer up on the table with books, sitting on a stack of pillows, using a lumbar pillows – but, at the end of the day, having an actual desk with an actual chair has been the best thing for my body. My posture is better and, as a result, my joints and muscles feel better!

I’ve also invested in more art for the apartment! Researching different pieces and putting them up have been a big source of joy for me in quarantine. I’m actually surprised that we didn’t invest in art sooner because it’s been so nice to have the empty spaces in our home filled with things that make me happy!

Though I love all of our art, my two favorites are definitely the “Note to self” tapestry by Morgan Harper Nichols and the “Pilipinas” print by Bianca Austria. Like many others, I’ve become more conscious of how and where I spend my money, and am happy to support female POC artists who are making beautiful things!

My last favorite “thing” I’ve bought for the house in quarantine has been a floor pillow – but not just any floor pillow! A cat floor pillow! I was hesitant about the design, thinking that it was too cartoon-y to match with everything else in our apartment, but it ended up being love at first sight. It’s poofy and sturdy and very comfortable to sit on, and, as I’ve mentioned many different times, it’s another tiny pop of joy that has carried me through quarantine.

Look at those eyes! Tell me that they don’t make you happy!