9/29/2020 ‒
The autoplay setting

It's a somewhat weird position to be in, watching something get popular way after you first liked it.

Take the video game Among Us. No, it's not me, of course, but Shalla. Got introduced to it by some colleagues of her, if I remember correctly. It was over a year ago when she posted fan art of the game, something that continued to attract attention until recently, when the game became popular everywhere else, with streamers spending hours on it and every illustrator in my periphery posting about it.

So, yeah, it's weird seeing people like something way after you first liked it. I think she stopped playing the game because she got tired of it. I'm not really sure. But we still watch the gamers, sometimes, when the mood calls for it.

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9/24/2020 ‒
We wouldn't think that far ahead

This is why I shouldn't leave the essays in my head for too long.

For months I've had this thought bubble about how this pandemic would affect the elections. Yes, it's still over a year away, but if this thing is going to last for as long as it wants to, we'll have to think about it.

I don't know about you, but my election precinct is a clusterfuck. Perhaps the biggest barangay in my home city come together in one elementary school - or so it seems, because it gets really crowded. It's difficult to find where exactly you'll cast your vote, and it's just as difficult to find your queue, and it's just as difficult to be in the queue yourself, because you can't see where you're walking (or standing), and you'll be dizzy if you're not armed with a fan. No wonder so many people find voting to be a chore. No wonder you really need your palms greased.

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9/12/2020 ‒
Seeing faces

I've spent the last three Saturdays having breakfast alone at the McDonald's nearest to the flat.

I mean, why not? Shalla's usually asleep by this time, and I'd be too lazy to make breakfast for myself, since it's, you know, Saturday. I know, usually I look forward to making breakfast on weekends, particularly when we had a French toast phase, one which will surely come back around in a couple of months or so. But since I've been doing most of the cooking, I guess I miss the days when I can wake up and not do much for the first hour, and maybe for the second or third, too.

Since I wake up at five in the morning most days now, this means not eating anything until roughly half past eight. I'd be watching something on the television, maybe drinking some Milo, all that time. Sweep the floor - it's not a big flat, so it's done in ten minutes, and maybe I'd squeezed in some mopping, too. Take a shower, get clothed, and head to the grocery. Along the way, the McDonald's. See. It makes sense.

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9/01/2020 ‒
Stasis

The lockdowns began in the middle of March. I remember not thinking of summer, even if it was going to begin at the time, because it was starting to be clear that nobody was going anywhere.

Well, it's been almost six months - I think six months in two weeks' time.

As I said yesterday, by now we've just gotten used to it. There's brooding frustration, and perhaps anger too, but not much has come out of it, because, well, why would we? Would it really be worth it? What else are we left to do? What else are we allowed to do?

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