— चार हजार सात सौ तेतीस —

We pretty much just spent the evening last night watching streaming TV shows. What else is there these days, really? Every once in a while Shobhit does mention maybe going on a walk, knowing it will garner him a point on the next Social Review, but then it never happens. Instead, last night, we actually checked out three different new TV shows:

Upload, on Amazon, about a twentysomething guy in 2030s America getting in a rare self-driving car crash, dying, and getting his consciousness uploaded into a digital afterlife. A compelling concept for sure, with somewhat middling writing and a very blandly attractive cast. Even though it has no gay content, Shobhit was most interested because the young man who plays the lead is hot. I mean, I guess he is. The pilot episode did get a bit better as it went along, so I'll be interested in seeing more.

Hollywood is the new Ryan Murphy-produced limited series on Netflix, which is getting mixed reviews, and I can kind of see why—its fantasy of a revisionist history of 1940s Hollywood in which minorties, queer people and women all actually manage to get ahead has its merits, but I can already see from the pilot episode why so many of the reviews talk about how its inevitable happy endings kind of strips it of any real drama. Being a Ryan Murphy production, unsurprisingly, this one has a lot of gay content, fun actors who give performances that may justify the show's existence on their own, and pretty sleek production design, not to mention the existence of Patti LuPone. This show's lead is only slightly less bland in his attractiveness than the guy on Upload, however. I also want to continue with this one, but we'll see.

Never Have I Ever, on the other hand—also on Netflix—is the new show produced by Mindy Kaling and inspired by her own childhood, and it was the clear winner of the evening. Granted, its episodes are only half an hour long, but still, we watched three episodes, hooked from the first. Even Shobhit, who quite typically resisted at first, as he rarely goes out of his way to watch anything with any kind of pointed Indian-American flavor. Within the first episode, though, Shobhit was saying, "It's very well written." And he's right: I would actually say the actual acting performances of the teenagers is just okay at best, but the entire show is completely saved by pretty top-notch comedic writing. I would already recommend this one far sooner than I would either of the others.

In any case, that accounted for three and a half hours of TV watching after I finished working yesterday. Shobhit made a huge pot of a magi noodles dish while I was working (he had both yesterday and the day before off of work), and also made a pan of custard, his first stab at it. We ate custard first, and then had dinner. The TV watching took the bulk of our evening, after which I retired to the bedroom to dink around on social media while listening to the latest Fiona Apple album (side note: could there be any better release during quasi-quarantine than one called Fetch the Bolt Cutters?).

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— चार हजार सात सौ तेतीस —

I also realized last night that, kind of amazingly under the circumstances and now that my Birth Week is over, I actually have plans three evenings in a row, starting tonight. One of them even involves leaving the condo complex!

Now that I have a durable cloth mask I can wear, which Karen made for me, I texted Alexia to see if she wanted to walk with me to my office and back after work today. She was totally up for it. She actually texted me yesterday to say she was having "a work crisis" and would not be able to leave until at least 5:30, thinking the plan was for yesterday. Nope! I didn't even have time yesterday to work on any of the receiving paperwork I'll be taking back to the office, and will spend today on it, to keep my time open for other stuff I need to get done tomorrow. So, the walk is this evening.

Tomorrow is already my regularly-scheduled Virtual Happy Hour with Laney. I've been deliberately avoiding drinking any alcohol since last Sunday, which was the last of 10 days of at least one cocktail every day. Not the longest break between last Sunday and tomorrow—5 days—but hey, a break nonetheless! Maybe I'll try avoiding drinking the rest of this weekend as well.

And Saturday evening will also involve Laney, but also Hayley and Thayer in Wisconson. I went back and found an email I had sent them all back in 2016, suggesting we try this new thing called "Netflix Party." It never panned out back then, even though it struck me as a way we could all do something even when Thayer and Hayley were in Wisconsin. Well, now Netflix party is all the rage, so I suggested we actually do it. And we'll all be watching along in a group chat as we play Groundhog Day, starting at 7 pm Pacific and 9 pm Central, after Hayley's and Thayer's kids are in bed. I'm looking forward to it.

No plans on Sunday, though. Well, unless you count the requisite phone calls to both Mom and Sherri, since it's Mother's Day—which I nearly forgot; I barely got cards made and out in the mail yesterday for Wallace, Idaho and today for Olympia. I can't scan my cards on my Epson scanner anymore ever since the macOS update to Catalina, now I have to just take pictures of them. Photos retain the actual colors better anyway.

If we weren't dealing with a global pandemic with no end in sight, I'd of course be going to movies as constantly as I used to. It's funny how quickly you adapt to changes forced upon you. I'll go back probably just as often once it's safe to do so, but in the meantime, I don't even mind so much. What I hate more is being unable to spend any in-person time with friends or go to family gatherings. That part's the worst. Of course, I am going for a walk with Alexia today, but we're both wearing masks and will maintain social distancing between us. The masks are the most important part.

I saw on Facebook yesterday that Gina and Sherri both went to donate blood. It made me think that maybe I could donate blood for the first time in my life, after seeing headlines that in light of COVID-19 the FDA revised their stupid and prejudiced restriction against men who had sex with men within the past year. Well, guess what? I just dug into it further, and they still don't want your gay blood if you've had sex within the past 3 months. So, so much for that! Jesus fucking Christ.

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[posted 12:38 pm]