2020 Recap (Pandemic Edition)

I am one of those people that maintains obsessive lists chronicling what I did and watched and experienced over the year. Cliche, I know, but I am who I am. I don't think I need to tell you that this year in particular has been a strange one. Part of me wants to ramble on about it, but honestly it seems callous and out-of-touch to spend paragraph after paragraph whining when for so many, this year was simply a continuation of the pain and suffering they've faced their whole lives. So, I will try to walk the fine line between unfounded pessimism and toxic positivity and hopefully find some middle ground that you can find somewhat interesting... 

I "officially" started 2020 in Richmond, where I had been working for Virginia Repertory Theatre since September as an Archives intern and part-time house manager. In those first few months of the year, I got to spend time with some amazing people doing some amazing things: 

• Volunteered at the theatre's yard sale (shoutout to Kerri, Hayley, & Heidi)
• Ran projection slides at the Annual Gala
• Ran lines with one of the actors for their production of Fences (James, you're probably not reading this but I miss seeing you in person!)
• Experienced a trampoline park for the first time
• Took notes for the Pedestal Project Listening Tour
• Saw some co-workers in Twelfth Night at the Grace St Theatre (RVA Catholic Theatre)
• Attended a reading & talkback for The Consoling Mechanism in Cadence (hey Austin I miss you)
• House managed two stunning productions: Harriet Tubman at Willow Lawn and Fences at the November

In the two-week lull after wrapping our Christmas productions and between starting our runs of Harriet and Fences, we were given a short break during which I returned home to Fredericksburg to see my sister and help pack for our planned move in June--"planned" being the operative word (spoiler: we didn't move in June). I was also able to read a bunch of plays that I had been sitting on for a while. I've already written a post reviewing them here, but I wanted to include that list in this post anyway (partly because I somehow didn't read any real novels in 2020, so this makes me feel less bad about that lol). 

• David’s Redhaired Death by Sherry Kramer 
• Mother’s Day by Barbara McConagha
• Silence, Cunning, Exile by Stuart Greenman
• Playland by Athol Fugard
• I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Jacques Lamarre
• How I Learned To Drive by Paula Vogel
• Cry It Out by Molly Smith Metzler
• Legacy of Light by Karen Zacarias 
• 4 Women by Ariel Stess 
• Normal (also called Pretty to the Bone) by Yvonne Adrian, Cheryl Stern, and Tom Kochan
• Red by John Logan
• Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz
• Boleros for the Disenchanted by José Rivera
• Electricidad by Luis Alfaro

I returned to Richmond and was pretty busy with Fences and Harriet. I think it was in late March or early April that Richmond started to understand that the pandemic was a way more serious matter than previously thought...a few days after a bunch of us had attended The Consoling Mechanism, which was certainly a concerning and terrifying realization. All of the interns were sent back home for what we thought would be two weeks and what ended up being indefinitely. 

While I was sad to have my archiving work cut short, it was a relief to be with my sister again--I was worried about what would happen if one of us got sick while living alone. Even though my internship had been canceled, I still had freelancing work and she was still full-time at her job, which I know is a MASSIVE privilege and blessing. 

In the late spring/early summer, VARep offered me an 8-week contract to continue archiving remotely from Fredericksburg. Even though this meant going back to Richmond to pick up a ton of boxes of physical items to lug back with me, it felt like a safer option than moving back to Richmond and leaving my sister alone in Fredericksburg. Once that contract ended, I had a few weeks of only freelancing until August, when I was offered a third virtual contract, this one a year-long. I picked up some additional freelancing hours in the fall (congrats on the sweet baby, Amy!) and then started elf-ing for Virginia Rep's Virtual Santa Visits for 4 days a week (including both weekend days)...and that's how I ended up working a 60+ hour workweek since November, haha. William and Khadijah: you're probably not reading this either but I loved working with you guys! 

So yes, as stressed as I have been this year with working so much, I know I am also blessed to have the work opportunities that I do. In addition to paying all the bills on time, the increase in income has allowed me to give more generously to social justice groups and be more involved in community care. I do and always will support BLM and similar groups fighting for racial justice, and I am grateful that working multiple jobs has allowed me to do so in more impactful ways. One goal for 2021 is to look into how I can pay a land tax as a way to pay reparations to Native American on whose land I am living, so if anyone has any info on how to do that, please let me know! Another is to work towards a specific financial goal so that I can pay to offset my carbon emissions, which I am very hopeful about. 

My sister and I took and still do take the pandemic pretty seriously, which means we wear masks whenever we have to leave the house/have a maintenance man in the house to fix something and we don't go to social events like baby showers or weddings (we're sorry we missed you, Eilish & Kyle!), refrain from going out unless it's for food/essentials, and only get take-out or delivery instead of sitting in restaurants. Take-out/delivery from small or local businesses is one of the main ways we support our community, especially since the main population in Fredericksburg refuse to wear them, especially in grocery stores???. Here are some of our favorites that are all delicious, local, and have fantastic pandemic-friendly rules/regulations..all of whom we will miss deeply because we just moved to Charlottesville literally yesterday ): 

• VA Famous Teriyaki (4.5 ⭐️s)
• J’Angela’s (3 ⭐️s)
• Juan More Taco (4 ⭐️s)
• La Delizia Pizza (4 ⭐️s)
• Perfect Pollo (3 ⭐️s)
• Ichiban Ramen and Sushi (4 ⭐️s) - also where we got our first Thai iced teas! 
• Pupuseria Elisabeth (3.5 ⭐️s)

Even though Charlottesville is our home town, we also have tried two new places since we moved back here literally yesterday because, well, we didn't have electricity for the first two weeks and therefore we couldn't cook at home:

• Grit Coffee Shop (3.5 ⭐️s)
• Thai Cuisine (3.5 ⭐️s) - Literally 3 minutes from our apartment and the most strict we've seen so far with social distancing which we LOVE. 

So what do you do when you and your sister stay home all the time? How does one entertain themselves after work? Well...we did a lot of Sporcle quiz games. I somehow succeeded at posting one blog post every month. We started and sometimes completed writing projects. I made chicken stock from scratch. We took walks (masked, of course) and judged people's Christmas lights. We listened to music and found out that Alex knows all the lyrics by heart whereas I just say what I think I heard and that is not at all what the singer is saying. We played games. And...we watched TV. A lot. Like a LOT.  I know, I know. But we're massive movie talkers + we tend to have almost the exact same taste in media, so it's just easier to watch things together...and this year, we were basically together every single night and whenever we weren't working on the weekends. 

Does it make it less easy to judge that one of the things we watched was a virtual play? We really enjoyed UMW's Much Ado About Nothing via Zoom--so many of my friends were a part of it, and everyone did an incredible job! 

Oh, speaking of virtual plays, I was in one this past fall. I got to play Rosalind in Stage Door’s Zoom production of “As You Like It,” which was a huge learning experience. Thanks Britt and Jackson for putting up with me and being such gracious & forgiving scene partners. Also thanks to Alex, Megan, Michayla, Angel, and Lily for all the emotional support when my insecurities and imposter syndrome reared their ugly heads. Maybe it sounds dumb, but I'm still getting used to seeing myself as a 'leading lady'--I was rarely that person for the majority of my theatre training (from middle school all the way to college), so I'm still working on not convincing myself that being the most inexperienced actor in the room = being the worst actor in the room, haha. 

Okay, I'll stop stalling and put the TV/movies/webseries list below. More for myself than anyone else; since I like to look back on these lists and compare data and junk. As far as shows go, they're mostly Asian dramas--we finally added Korean and Thai dramas to the list this year. If you want specifics on which dramas were good, I've done two more detailed recommendations posts here and here. Almost every webseries on the list was really good, so if you have Youtube I would recommend those--Black Girl in a Big Dress and Represent were my top favorites. Movies are mostly romcoms, for which I will not apologize--I am a simple romantic with simple tastes. 

TV: 

• Jojo’s World (Twdrama)
• Fortune Feimster Comedy Special
• Well Intended Love 2 (Cdrama)
• Because This Is My First Life (our first Kdrama!)
• Queer Eye We’re in Japan!
• Tangled Adventures (Season 3) 
• Second 20’s (Kdrama)
• Schitt’s Creek (Seasons 5&6)
• Signal (Kdrama)
• A Love So Beautiful (Cdrama)
• Lucifer (Seasons 2-5)
• When the Camellia Blooms (Kdrama)
• Bring It On Ghost (Kdrama)
• Miraculous Ladybug & Cat Noir (Seasons 1-3)
• Romance is A Bonus Book (Kdrama)
• Hyena (Kdrama)
• Queer Eye (Season 5)
• My Secret Romance (Kdrama)
• Good Morning Call (Seasons 1&2, Jdrama)
• Kiss the Series (our first Thai drama!)
• The Judgement (Thai drama)
• Atelier (Jdrama)
• Say I Do: Surprise Wedding
• Put Your Head on My Shoulder (Cdrama) 
• Miss In Kiss (2016 Taiwanese adaptation)
• When I See You Again (Twdrama)
• Indian Matchmaking
• KPOP: Extreme Survival (Kdrama) 
• On My Block (3)
• It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (Kdrama)
• Twogether
• Triad Princess (Twdrama)
• Toradora (Anime) 
• The Victims’ Game (Twdrama)
• My Beautiful Tomboy (Thai drama)
• Love on the Spectrum 
• Miss Sherlock (Jdrama)
• Best Lover (Cdrama) 
• Stranger (Seasons 1&2, Kdrama) 
• British Baking Show (Seasons 7&8)
• Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun (Anime) 
• Never Have I Ever (Season 1)
• Love O2O (Cdrama)
• Switched (Jdrama)
• Suspicious Partner (Kdrama)
• Leah Remini Scientology: The Aftermath (Seasons 1-3)
• Oh My Ghost (Thai version) AT THE SAME TIME AS Oh My Ghost (Korean version)
• Ink Master (Seasons 1&2)
• Virgin River (Seasons 1&2)

WEBSERIES:

• Represent 
• Green Gables Fables (Seasons 1&2)
• Black Girl in a Big Dress (Season 2) 
• From Mansfield with Love Quarantine Special 
• Sam & Pat Are Depressed Quarantine Special 
• Ask a Slave (Seasons 1&2) 
• Fair is Foul 

MOVIES:

• Birds of Prey - The best superhero movie I have ever seen and you may quote me on that
• Lovejacked
• Faith, Hope, and Love
• Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears - NOT as good as the show, do not recommend 
• Holiday in the Wild
• The Half of It 
• Mansfield Park (1999) - I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BUT HOLY CREATIVE LIBERTIES BATMAN
• The Lovebirds 
• Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen - very very very good documentary 
• Let It Snow 
• Indiscreet 
• Ek Ladki Ko Dokha Toh Aisa Laga -my first Bollywood film, but not Alex's 
• Love, Guaranteed 
• Work It
• Falling Inn Love
• Four Sisters and a Wedding - our first Filipino movie! 
• Enola Holmes
• Bride to Rent (Filipino)
• Love O2O (Chinese, film version)
• Christmas with a View
• Cinderella Story: A Christmas Song
• A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby
• Christmas With a Prince
• Midnight at the Magnolia
• Klaus 
• Wonderwoman 1984 - Pretty problematic tbh
• Soul 

REWATCHED:

• Kim of Queens
• John Mulaney Comedy Special
• The Bachelor (Season 13) - Alex's first time watching the Bachelor ever after my constant badgering
• Your Lie in April (Anime) 
• The Knight Before Christmas 
• Pride & Prejudice (2005) - The superior version and I will hear no arguments 
• Better With You (webseries) 
• Set It Up 
• Stranger Than Fiction
• Paranorman 
• Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade

Now that I've fully exposed myself, let's move on. Most of you have read the life update I posted recently, but I guess I'll still do a quick review of where we've been lately. Thanks to our Fredericksburg landlord trying to raise rent to astronomical levels + extend a lease without telling us + the maintenance crew playing a fun game called "let's ignore your requests and then lie and say we fixed stuff when we actually made it worse" for MONTHS, Alex and I decided enough was enough and it was time to move. Miraculously, Alex got offered a job in our hometown of Charlottesville and both my jobs are virtual, so that's how we ended up back here. Is it weird? Absolutely. Was it difficult to move in a pandemic, during the Christmas season? A thousand times yes. But we're excited to be in an area with significantly fewer Trump flags and closer to family. A fresh start in a familiar town is still a fresh start, and we're looking forward to staying home + practicing social distancing in an apartment building where at least a few of our neighbors wear masks. (Looking at you, left-side neighbor with your "Don't Trust the Liberal Media" bumper sticker on the car you kept parking in our spot.)

Okay, now that this is a million years long, I guess I'll end it with this: please keep social distancing. Please wear your masks. Please take care of your health, both physical and mental. Please reach out to people who care about you and who you care about. If you are not a BIPOC, please do the work to unlearn the lies white supremacy has embedded in every aspect of our culture. 

Love you guys. Happy(?) New Year.