Strange New Habits

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Wed Apr 15, 2020 12:53 pm

I've noticed that I am now washing, drying and reusing way more plastic bags than I used to. I used to keep only the really good ones, the ziplocs, but now even the flimsy degrading produce bags are getting saved. For what?

We've probably all been preppers to some degree for awhile now, but are you finding weird new little domestic adjustments like this? I love it. Straightening and resharpening an old nail found in the dust.

GARY-19 · Post by **GARY-19** » Wed Apr 15, 2020 12:57 pm

I save all previously used drywall screws in a used salsa jar that I also saved for this purpose.

yourfriendclaire · Post by **yourfriendclaire** » Wed Apr 15, 2020 1:03 pm

I melt old candle stumps & remnants in a double boiler and pour new candles

yourfriendclaire · Post by **yourfriendclaire** » Wed Apr 15, 2020 1:33 pm

I am also reusing deeper plastic bags. I found myself yesterday hunting for a specific perforated clear produce bag I've been re-using for months and I realized I'd developed a taste for the different plastic bags and their affordances. ALSO there is never a time I'm digging through the bag drawer that I am not also thinking of this Mr Show bit

https://youtu.be/6gdAJefPME4

ritchey · Post by **ritchey** » Wed Apr 15, 2020 4:06 pm

I also never dig through my bag drawer without thinking of that skit. “No shit!”

I’ve def always had mild prepper interests and they are being heightened right now. More intense food preservation planning than usual mostly but also getting more involved w local food networks (farms). Saving soap. I watched a bunch of videos about how to give Gary a haircut because he hasn’t had a chop since December but all the videos were super cute fancy salon boys showing you how to maintain a super tight fade and that is not the issue w/r/t Gary’s hair so I gave up but eventually we will have to cut each other’s hair Which is pretty prepper in a sense

yourfriendclaire · Post by **yourfriendclaire** » Wed Apr 15, 2020 5:21 pm

I’m so excited for us all to solidly enter into the home haircuts phase of quar! We will all look so cool!

infopetal · Post by **infopetal** » Wed Apr 15, 2020 5:53 pm

I'm quarantining solo, and I've already had my share of ill-fated self-administered haircuts, so instead my current plan is to invest in a bulk order of extra wide bobby pins and begin experimenting with elaborately pinned messy up-dos! There's a curator I know who always has her hair so elegantly swirled upon her head like the top of an ice cream cone, it's finally my time to master the swirl.

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Wed Apr 15, 2020 6:17 pm

But what if I’ve literally never been to a barber?

RCH · Post by **RCH** » Wed Apr 15, 2020 7:33 pm

If you have never been to a barber, you would have to go to the barber to create a new habit.

For some reason in high school, I became "person who can give haircuts" and that continued into my 20s. I gave many extremely amateur haircuts. Having a sh***y haircut was the style at the time.

m o l l y · Post by **m o l l y** » Thu Apr 16, 2020 1:03 am

Me too, RCH! God, think of those front porch salad days. A cigarette dangling from my lips. A spaghetti strap tank top, baggy pleated shorts and flip flops. A bottle of hard lemonade in one hand and a comb in the other. I'm not sure where the scissors should be. My hands and mouth seem pretty full.
I have cut my own hair for a very, very long time but it is more like pruning a hedge than anything else. Sometimes it turns out better than others. I found I do my best Dos when I'm listening to Mary Margaret O'Hara, if that helps.

ritchey · Post by **ritchey** » Thu Apr 16, 2020 2:55 am

I was always jealous of those who could cut their own hair in those golden olden times of yore on the porch. Aesthetically I very much wanted to be one of these people but somehow my hair couldn't pull it off. Is it too straight? Or, I lacked the panache required to make it look cool-shitty instead of just regular shitty. And now my hair is such a long mop that I have to get it THINNED, did you ever hear of such a thing?? And I cannot do that at home, I don't even understand what it is. They like pin up the top layer and then rake scissors down the bottom layer and a pound of hair falls out. "I never thought it would happen to me"

I used to cut Gary's hair and it looked awful. I'm fine with doing it again but we don't even have a pair of sharp scissors anymore! At some point I will have to chop it with a knife.

Here is a strange new habit I want to get into: KNIFE SHARPENING. I have tried to figure out how to do it but I somehow can't get the knack. Does anyone have tips? Phil this seems like something you probably do, tell me how. I have a whetstone.

Experimenting with up-dos is SUCH a good call!!!!!! If you find any good how-to YouTubes please share them.

m o l l y · Post by **m o l l y** » Thu Apr 16, 2020 3:41 am

I like to give my knives a quick sharpen on the bottom of a porcelain cup or bowl.

GARY-19 · Post by **GARY-19** » Thu Apr 16, 2020 3:44 am

Maybe I'll try an up-do, too

ritchey · Post by **ritchey** » Thu Apr 16, 2020 4:20 am

but HOW Molly??? What angle, what amount of force, what direction, etc.?? All the how-to videos I've watched have been confusing and intimidating but you make it sound like it's obvious and easy. I think I don't understand the basic principle. Please educate me

m o l l y · Post by **m o l l y** » Thu Apr 16, 2020 4:57 am

You're just trying to get the very edge of your knife to have less little unseeable knicks and bumps, so your angle should be kinda more or less similar to the very edge of your blade. Just sorta sweep it with gentle pressure. Be free of principle. You are the knife.

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:32 am

m o l l y wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 4:57 am You're just trying to get the very edge of your knife to have less little unseeable knicks and bumps, so your angle should be kinda more or less similar to the very edge of your blade. Just sorta sweep it with gentle pressure. Be free of principle. You are the knife.

This is so cool. Yes. I heard you can also use the edge of a halfway rolled down car window.

I got myself a whetstone from Japan, Bester #1000, kind of mid-fine. It’s synthetic. You soak it submerged for awhile before using it. I do it by the sink with a thin stream of cold water running. I watched a bunch of youtubes, but really it’s nothing to be intimidated about. Just dive in and grind. I’m probably doing it wrong but still it works and feels great. Can’t wait until you’re cutting Gary’s hair with a dagger.

ritchey · Post by **ritchey** » Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:36 am

Oh yeah I remember you talking about this Japanese whetstone! I just have some weird mass-market one I think I got off eBay. It very specifically says not to use water so I think I won't do that. These insights from you two are helpful, as all the how-tos I've encountered have been super uptight about how if you do it at even a micrometer off the correct angle you'll destroy your edge or whatever. I just want to cut a tomato! I will get into it and report back.

alexshred420 · Post by **alexshred420** » Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:59 am

@yourfriendclaire BAG HUTCH keeps coming up because New Seasons isn't allowing you to BYOB right now so we end up with so many paper bags. BAGS BAGS BAGS

ritchey · Post by **ritchey** » Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:21 am

HELP ME

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Thu Apr 16, 2020 12:51 pm

Just scored a basically perfect condition used peanut butter jar WITH LID. Just have to wash out some pb smears and I’ll be on my way to rusted drywall screw wealth, laughing my ass off.

GARY-19 · Post by **GARY-19** » Thu Apr 16, 2020 1:25 pm

Nice score, Phil!

ritchey · Post by **ritchey** » Fri Apr 17, 2020 8:01 am

I realized I have a "strange new habit" which is cleaning the house much more regularly/deeply than I ever have done before in my life. Like I look forward to Fridays, my big housecleaning day. I change the sheets and vacuum and mop and I literally take down the shower curtains and oxo-brite them and shit. I fucking DUST. I scrub the inside of the oven and the outside of the dishwasher. I clean the hardwoods. Things I usually have done perhaps twice a year I am now doing weekly. I don't know why. Only part of it can be explained by having more time on my hands, because my time-distribution isn't all that different now than what it normally is. Somehow I'm living in the home in a really different way. It's very very satisfying and intensely rewarding.

yourfriendclaire · Post by **yourfriendclaire** » Fri Apr 17, 2020 8:31 am

I feel this, Ritchey! I’m not cleaning to that extent (although we do the dishes constantly) but I do feel as though I’m using my house totally differently. Actually I feel like I’m “using” my house for the first time. We just rearranged all our living room furniture in order to maximize the function of different zones, and honestly I feel like it took being trapped at home for a month to realize exactly where the couch should go.

meadows · Post by **meadows** » Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:46 am

I...... am exercising. I truly avoid and hate enforced exercise and haven't done any in about a decade. Once you stop doing that shit it's really hard to start again. It feels like torture.

I've wanted to do this for a long time, for my health, and have struggled so much with motivation and logistics. All it took was being confined to my home during a pandemic, and look at me go! Doin a fuckin dance class in the living room in my bicycle shorts!

ritchey · Post by **ritchey** » Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:59 am

Not driving is another good strange new thing. When my campus shut down I had a big apocalypse-novel-fueled prepper day where I bought things like 10 pounds of onions etc. I also filled the car up w gas as that’s a classic thing you might wish you’d done in a number of dystopic scenarios. Anyway my point is that was on March 12 and we aren’t even down a quarter tank yet. The needle has barely moved.

meadows · Post by **meadows** » Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:50 am

I'm still exercising?! Three times a week?

I think that being homebound and having a large enough room to move around are the recipe for my success. I'm really loathe to go to or pay for a gym and have been feeling like I don't want to exercise around people at first because I'm so wildly de-conditioned. No one can see me flopping around the living room! No one can judge me! No one can charge me a monthly fee, or surround me with sweaty jocks, or not clean the dressing room!

I'm slowly improving in stamina and once I approach "normal" again I might even want to join in exercise group classes or something, after quarantine. This really feels momentous for me- I'm recovering from years of stress and inactivity (grad school etc) and some autoimmune stuff that makes me really tired, and I hadn't been able to manage more than a short walk. WHO IS THIS NEW PERSON??!!

yourfriendclaire · Post by **yourfriendclaire** » Mon Apr 20, 2020 11:12 am

This is inspiring!

meadows · Post by **meadows** » Mon Apr 20, 2020 11:17 am

thank you!
I'm mostly embarrassed of my weird body situation where I have the strength of an 80 year old woman, but this breakthrough made me want to share, in case anyone else feels like they can't find a way to exercise. I don't even hate it anymore? This is by far the biggest personal change I have maybe ever undergone, I cannot stress enough how much I have hated and feared dealing with this issue for the last several years! THANKS, RONA

m o l l y · Post by **m o l l y** » Mon Apr 20, 2020 11:36 am

Bravo! Living your best quar life!

ritchey · Post by **ritchey** » Mon Apr 20, 2020 12:23 pm

Good job Sally!

RCH · Post by **RCH** » Mon Apr 20, 2020 2:41 pm

I love this so much for you Dear Sally. Down with western Imperialist "exercise," up with indoor dancing.

RCH · Post by **RCH** » Sun Apr 26, 2020 5:42 pm

DIY haircut levels: cutting my hair by feel instead of sight (and it shows).

m o l l y · Post by **m o l l y** » Mon Apr 27, 2020 12:27 am

Hahaha

ritchey · Post by **ritchey** » Mon Apr 27, 2020 3:55 am

Still no cuts over here. Gary has to wear a hat every day lest he must fling his bangs off his face like a 90s heart throb every two seconds. I look like a witch in a stage production of Macbeth

yourfriendclaire · Post by **yourfriendclaire** » Mon Apr 27, 2020 9:31 am

I’ve just pronounced myself the David Foster Wallace of quarantine and am making a bandana a central part of my hairstyle

matthew · Post by **matthew** » Mon May 04, 2020 10:01 pm

I didn’t get a “real” haircut from until like 2012 and now I’m sad since all my haircut friends are hurting and closing down.

Did a DIY? haircut with my clippers from jr. high that came with a vhs instructional video and it kinda hurt but the uneveness looks better at week 2.5.

Post by **joni** » Mon May 04, 2020 11:10 pm

I've been cutting my hair a little bit here and there in lieu of combing it. If there's a section or strand that looks out of place: CHOP.

m o l l y · Post by **m o l l y** » Tue May 05, 2020 3:10 am

[mention]joni[/mention] Welcome to the peaceful art of zen haircutting.

[mention]pizza[/mention] it hurt???!?

ritchey · Post by **ritchey** » Tue May 05, 2020 4:49 am

I look like a New Yorker cartoon drawing of a castaway on a desert island

m o l l y · Post by **m o l l y** » Tue May 05, 2020 5:40 am

Draw it!

meadows · Post by **meadows** » Mon May 11, 2020 12:11 pm

stiiiiiiiilllll exercising, can I even believe it? sometimes it's still really hard but sometimes it's much easier, and that's exciting.

warm weather is a wrinkle- I don't function well in heat. yesterday did my exercises on a warm morning and it made me just about keel over. no real solution for this except very early mornings?

meadows · Post by **meadows** » Mon May 11, 2020 12:13 pm

my corona exercise endorsement: Dance Church!

donation-based live stream 2x a week, very silly and simple dancing and calisthenics to fun music.
you can sign up for the email links here: https://go.dancechurch.com/

i think [mention]willowowow[/mention] has been doing it too!

willowowow · Post by **willowowow** » Mon May 11, 2020 12:39 pm

Yeah I like it!! It's very loose and friendly. "Dance with your elbows!" "Get low!" "Face a new direction!" Lots of Lady Gaga songs etc. Did it start as a day rave? I feel like it must have..

meadows · Post by **meadows** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:45 am

I don't think so but the vibe is very much that- extreme high energy party

w0lf · Post by **w0lf** » Tue May 12, 2020 7:38 pm

started turning off my phone for days
doing a weekly guided 5K on nike run club. shout out coach bennett
making lots of pancakes (bittman's everyday recipe, but i get very experimental. made some super weird ones with gf ap flour, baking powder, egg replacer, flaxseed milk. they were sort of crepe-y. almost like a bread pudding / refused to cook or cohere)

yourfriendclaire · Post by **yourfriendclaire** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:25 pm

I am freezing food in new ways. I made sourdough pancakes last week and when I had extra batter, instead of washing out the bowl I just made a bunch of extra pancakes and froze them! We had them for breakfast yesterday and it felt like a gift from the universe

ritchey · Post by **ritchey** » Wed May 13, 2020 3:31 am

I love freezing. I LOVE IT. I love just being like "hmm how about....PESTO FROM LAST JULY for dinner" and amazing my household (i.e. mainly just me). I love making a pot of something and putting a quart of it in the freezer. Making pizza sauce and putting leftovers in freezer. Then next time you want to make pizza, just pop that jar out babe!

A couple of years ago we got a chest freezer and I filled it up with amazing things but then sort of didn't use the things as much as I was imagining I would. Then the chest freezer broke one day and by the time we realized everything was ruined. Pounds and pounds of blueberries and corn and like 12 pot pies. I was like fuck this, so now I just keep the normal freezer super well organized and stick with that.

I want to turn off my phone for days! I would worry about my parents needing me but maybe I could tell them to email me.

Been really missing landlines and landline culture

Been talking on the phone A LOT. Quar made everyone pick up the phone for a nice long chat and I like it. But I would rather be doing it on a big chunky touch-tone with a coiled cord

m o l l y · Post by **m o l l y** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:03 am

I think I would fear phone conversations less if the phone cradled itself more cozily in my neck-space. What the hell am I supposed to do with this flat thing? Slam my head to the side? Hold it against my ear with my hand? Hold it out in front of me and talk at it? NO THANK YOU.

ritchey · Post by **ritchey** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:16 am

yes exactly!

w0lf · Post by **w0lf** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:48 am

[mention]ritchey[/mention] i was compulsively checking my phone and just was like NOPE. i long for a chunky phone, but i usually gab using headphones (bose wireless if i'm at home / plane). i don't like having the phone to my head. it's kinda nice, i cook and clean and have hour longs convos.