In the winter of 2020, I engaged in in-person* social interaction with the following people on the indicated number of days:

[*Includes extended FaceTime or Skype, upon the onset of COVID-19]

1. Shobhit—26

2. Laney—6

3. Uncle David—5

4. Mary Ann—5

5. Gabriel—4

6. Danielle—3

7. Karen—3

8. Lea—2

9. Dad–1

10. Sherri—1

11. Jennifer—1

12. Becca—1

13. Lynn—1

14. Evan—1

15. Mala—1

16. Vega—1

17. Zephyr—1

18. Jessica—1

19. Tyler—1

20. Samantha—1

21. Sachin—1

22. Ros—1

23. Matthew—1
24. Sam—1
25. Rachel—1
26. Aimee—1
27. Mia—1
28. Jordan—1

29. Darryl—1

30. Stephanie—1

31. Tess—1

32. Hope—1

33. Chase—1

34. Ian—1

35. Josh—1

35. Darren—1

36. Danny—1

Total days in the winter with in-person social interaction: 39 (42.9%, a -4.4 percentage point change from fall)

Well, here we are . . . my first Social Review since “social distancing” became in vogue—but only barely affected by it because it all came down at the end of this quarter. Shobhit's number of points catapulted up from 16 in the fall to 26 in the winter, entirely because of 15 days in a row on our trip to Australia—which we barely managed to finish under the wire before this global health crisis revealed its true severity within less than a week of our return. We got back to Seattle on Monday, March 9, and by the following Friday (March 13) I was already being asked to work from home. I have only three social "outings" logged after that, and in all three cases they were done via FaceTime or Skype: with Danielle, and with Gabriel (audio only, but I'm still counting it as we watched a comedy special together), and with Laney.

When I post the next Social Review in June, hopefully after the country—and in particular, the Pacific Northwest region—has endured the worst of all this, the social standings and the log of social activity is all but guaranteed to be radically altered in a way not seen since I started posting these quarterly upon the change of the seasons in 2002. The overall numbers will plummet, and even though in the past I insisted "social activity," with very few exceptions (which were very similar to how they are being excepted here), only counted if it was in person, a huge amount of the socializing will have had to be via some kind of screen time. It will likely be the defining characteristic of the Spring 2020 Social Review, and we can only hope that by Summer 2020, things will at least start to return to normal. There's just no knowing for sure right now, and for now at least, we are all finding ways to adapt.

For now, though, we look back at the past three months, the defining characteristic of those being the two weeks Shobhit and I spent in Australia, and the five of those days with Uncle David and Mary Ann collectively not only returning them to the social rankings, but placing them way up on the list, at #3 and #4, respectively. In fact, Laney only ranks above them due to a sort of a loophole in the way I track my social life, giving a point per day in which I socialized with someone. But, given that we actually stayed with Uncle David and Mary Ann and therefore spent nearly every waking moment with them for a full stretch of about four and a half days straight, the number of hours I spent with them would far outstrip those spent with Laney. On the other hand, the days I socialized with Laney were spread out over far wider a span of time than the single stretch with Uncle David and Mary Ann, and that counts for something too.

Other people's lower point counts, if not their actual rankings, were certainly affected by COVID-19 by the end. I may very well have spent at least one more day with Gabriel or Danielle, or maybe even Laney, if not for all this shit going on. The ranking for Karen was absolutely affected by it, as she canceled our last scheduled lunch because of it as she had just recovered from pneumonia the week before, and had also had to cancel another lunch just before I left for Australia just due to being too busy. She'd have been at least placed at #5 otherwise, but instead knocked down to #7 as a result. Of course, everyone but Shobhit and Laney was knocked down two more pegs than normal just by virtue of Uncle David and Mary Ann being on this quarter's list at all.

That leaves 28 people with no more than one point, stretching it out to a somewhat surprisingly long list by virtue of, of course, parties: Christmas Eve dinner with Dad, Sherri, Jennifer, Matthew and Jennifer's kids; New Year's Eve for a couple hours at Gabriel and Lea's apartment; Lynn's birthday party on January 11; the meetup with Mala and Vega January 22; the large family outing including Mary Ann's sister Ros and her partner and her son to Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary on March 8.

There aren’t going to be any parties for a while. Not unless we figure out a way to fashion a version on FaceTime or Skype, and even that's not going to happen a whole lot. Isolation is the way of life for the foreseeable future, and there's just no getting around it. Even having this Social Review, for the winter in 2020, look relatively normal is something achieved only barely. Moving forward is going to be interesting to say the very least.

In the meantime, let's check out who did what with whom where and when!

Sunday, December 22: with Laney, Gingerbread Village at The Sheraton Hotel; riding the Holiday Carousel at Westlake Park; "Teddy Bear Suite" at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel; and The Holiday Express Train display at the Volunteer Park Conservatory

Tuesday, December 24: with Gabriel, Lea, Tess, Stephanie, and Lea's dad, stepmother and uncle, brief visit for drinks at Gabriel and Lea's place

Tuesday, December 24: with Dad, Sherri, Jennifer, Matthew, Hope, Chase and Ian, out for dinner (Emperor's Palace)

Thursday, December 26: with Karen, out to lunch (Six-Seven at the Edgewater Hotel)

Tuesday, December 31: with Gabriel, Lea, Josh, Darren and more, game night at Gabriel and Lea's

Tuesday, December 31: with Shobhit, lame New Year's Eve / Space Needle laser light snow (fireworks canceled) at KOMO Plaza

Thursday, January 2: with Shobhit, Becca and Tyler, out for dinner (Avocados Mexican Restaurant in Everett)

Saturday, January 4: with Laney, Jessica, Evan and Sam, Braeburn Condos Double Feature (Batman Returns and The Dark Knight)

Tuesday, January 7: with Shobhit, to a movie (Knives Out)

Friday, January 10: with Laney, Happy Hour at Olmstead

Saturday, January 11: with Shobhit, Lynn, Zephyr, Samantha and more, Lynn's birthday party at AFK Tavern in Everett

Sunday, January 12: with Shobhit and Sachin, dinner at our place

Friday, January 17: with Karen, out to lunch (Six-Seven at the Edgewater Hotel)

Wednesday, January 22: with Shobhit, Mala, Vega and more, drinks with Mala and Vega at Daniel's Broiler

Thursday, January 23: with Karen, out to lunch (Six-Seven at the Edgewater Hotel)

Thursday, January 23: with Rachel, Aimee, Mia, Jordan and more, "Thirsty Thursday" drinks and apps at Queen Anne Beerhall

Saturday, January 25: with Shobhit, out for brunch (Maggie Bluffs)

Saturday, February 1: with Laney, double feature at my place (Blindspotting and The Last Black Man in San Francisco)

Sunday, February 2: with Shobhit, out for brunch (Tenth West)

Thursday, February 6: with Shobhit, chocolate and wine tasting at Total Wine & More

Friday, February 7: with Danielle, out for dinner (Palace Kitchen) to celebrate 20th anniversary of her move to Seattle; and sneaking into my old apartment building

Saturday, February 8: with Gabriel, brief visit at his place and short walk with Lady [Lea's dog] at Seward Park

Friday, February 14: with Shobhit, Valentine's Day breakfast at Mecca Café

Friday, February 14: with Laney, Happy Hour at Bill's Off Broadway

Saturday, February 15: with Danielle, hanging out at her place after my haircut and color in Renton

Sunday, February 16: with Shobhit, out for brunch (Smith)

Monday, February 24: with Shobhit, flying to San Franciso and Sydney

Tuesday, February 25: with Shobhit, flying to Sydney

Wednesday, February 26: with Shobhit, day in Sydney: Sydney Tower Eye; picnic lunch of Indian meal pouches and rice at Sydney Opera House; Parramatta River Ferry

Thursday, February 27: with Shobhit, day in Sydney: Sydney Harbour Bridge's "Pylon Lookout"; walking the Harbour Bridge; picnic lunch of Indian meal packets and rice at Cobblers Beach; to a play in Newtown (Angry Fags)

Friday, February 28: with Shobhit, day in Sydney: Hyde Park; Royal Botanic Garden

Friday, February 28: with Shobhit and Shailendra, out for drinks (Establishment Bar) and then out for drinks and appetizers (Blue Horizon Bar at Shangri-La Hotel)

Saturday, February 29: with Shobhit, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 2020

Sunday, March 1: with Shobhit, last day in Sydney: ferry to Watson Bay; Lady Bay Beach; ferry back to CBD

Monday, March 2: with Shobhit, train and bus trip Sydney to Melbourne; walk to St. Kilda Beach; out for dinner (29th Apartment)

Tuesday, March 3: with Shobhit, day in Melbourne: walk to St. Kilda Beach; Eureka Tower Skydeck; Queen Victoria Market; Melbourne Star Observation Wheel

Wednesday, March 4: with Shobhit, leaving Melbourne for Adelaide

Wednesday, March 4: with Shobhit, Uncle David and Mary Ann, dinner at Uncle Davi and Mary Ann's house

Thursday, March 5: with Shobhit, Uncle David and Mary Ann, day on Kangaroo Island: SeaLink Ferry; Seal Bay; stray koala; picnic at Vivonne Bay Beach; Kangaroo Islan Spirits

Thursday, March 5: with Mary Ann, Kingscote Cemetery

Friday, March 6: with Shobhit, Uncle David and Mary Ann: ay on Kangaroo Islan: Island Beehive; Kangaroo Island Ocean Safari; Boudin Beach; Dudley Wines; SeaLink Ferry; driving past hundreds of kangaroos in Mainland South Australia on the way back home; Shobhit-cooked dinner at Uncle David and Mary Ann's house

Saturday, March 7: with Shobhit, Uncle David and Mary Ann, day in Adelaide: Adelaide Oval (them on the Stadium Tor while I did the RoofClimb); Adelaide Botanic Garden; Adelaide Fringe ("Yabarra - Dreaming In Light"; "Choir of Man, and "Best of Adelaide Fringe" after eating dinner at the Adelaide Fruit and Produce Exchange building (EST Pizza))

Sunday, March 8: with Shobhit, Uncle David, Mary Ann, Ros, Darryl and Danny, Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary

Sunday, March 8: with Shobhit, Uncle David and Mary Ann, Shobhit-cooked dinner at Uncle David and Mary Ann's house

Monday, March 9: with Shobhit, Uncle David and Mary Ann, beach and city views on our way back to the Adelaide airport

Monday, March 9: with Shobhit, leaving Adelaide and flying home to Seattle via Sydney and San Francisco

Friday, March 13: with Danielle, three-hour FaceTime call

Tuesday, March 17: with Gabriel, watching Marc Maron comedy special together via FaceTime Audio

Friday, March 20: with Laney, Virtual Happy Hour on Skype