Ways to Entertain and Distract Yourself During a Pandemic

I live in Seattle, where we have been on COVID-19 high alert for almost a month. But now we’re reaching the point where it isn’t just here, it isn’t just old people in nursing homes and sick people in the hospital, it’s everyone who is affected and needs to protect themselves and others. Schools are closed till the end of April, most businesses are closed or offering very limited services, and we’re all at home ALL. THE. TIME. We had a blizzard last February and this is like that, except it’s spring and it’s sunny and it’s dangerous to go out, but in a sometimes hard to comprehend way. As an immunocompromised person living in ground zero, please take care of yourself, and also me, by staying at home. But don’t fret, because I am an EXPERT at being stuck at home, bored out of your mind because of illness. Chronically ill people have been living, and preparing for, this FOREVER. Here are some things you might enjoy during your isolation period.

Audiobooks!

I’ve been listening to a lot of audiobooks lately. I like that I can “read” while I walk the dog, clean the house, make lunch…. just about anything. So far during self-isolation I’ve listened to Open Book by Jessica Simpson (mentioned here), Republic of Lies by Anna Merlan (which I heard about on The Dream), and Savage Appetites by Rachel Monroe. And I’ve only been self-isolating for a week! Hot tip: Your library has audiobooks available as part of their ebook catalog, and it’s super easy to just browse, pick a book, and download it right to your phone. ALL FOR FREE. Libraries: Continuing to be THE BEST THING.

TV and Movies!

If only there were someone who wrote about something to watch every week.. Oh wait that’s ME. You can go here for every Wear, Watch, Want I’ve ever done. And I’m at #139, so you can definitely find some things to get you through your quarantine. Occasionally I do a book or a podcast instead of a TV show or movie, but that’s relatively rare. I’ve also made suggestions for things to watch outside of my regular Saturday posts, such as…

I inadvertently made a whole post about feminist horror movies

A season of Love Island is like, 50 episodes. Great for when you’re stuck in your home for the foreseeable future.

I love Australian TV, and you should too.

Here’s a random assortment of recs, and another one, and here’s a third, except they’re all documentaries.

You can watch Contagion if you want. It’s a great movie that makes me stressed at the best of times, so I’ll be avoiding it. It is currently one of the most streamed movies (don’t say “going viral,” don’t say “going viral”), so I may be in the minority on that one.

Here are some Watch options that didn’t work in the regular Wear, Watch, Want format, but are still worth your time.

Podcasts!

Audiobook too much a of a time commitment? How about the somewhat more digestible audio entertainment, podcasts? I’ve written multiple podcast recommendation posts as well. Like these:

Six podcasts, from educational to body positive to celebrity gossip

This Had Oscar Buzz, a podcast I binge listened to recently until I caught up to real time and now I HATE having to wait a week for each episode.

I love American Girls Podcast and I love the hosts, Mary and Allison, who in my imagination are my bosom friends

There are now two seasons of The Dream for you to mainline.

And this podcast about NXIVM had me hooked right away.

Have you gotten obsessed with You’re Wrong About yet? If not, read about it here, along with three other podcasts that I love.

And here’s my favorite podcast app.

Books!

I love (LOVE) recommending books. I love recommending all kinds of things (that’s why this website exists) but I really love to recommend books. You can tell from all these posts:

If you asked me to recommend books to you RIGHT NOW, this is what I would give you.

Did you know you can get comic books, online, at any hour, FOR FREE, from your library?

I recommended Leni Zumas’s book Red Clocks multiple times (shows you how much I liked it!), and once was in this post about some of my favorite books I read in 2018.

And, if none of this suits you, I also made a list of my favorite “distractions” for when I’m in a flare up and feeling crappy and need, well, distractions. In this post you learn that one of my favorite things is to watch ride-though videos of theme park attractions, which I find incredibly soothing.

Have a pleasant quarantine, stay healthy, don’t touch your face, and I’ll see you on the other side.