3/25/20 JunHong Li PD1

Junhong Li                                                                                                               3/252020
Modern Mythology 2020                                                                                                    Pd 1
Blogger #17                                                                                                                 3rd Blog

Thoughts on the Reading:

Although we aren’t that far into the book, I already have a lot of questions. For starters, why this format? The story is written as part of an interview, instead of being just a story, meaning that events occurring outside of Louis’s story also matter. What is the significance of the boy? Perhaps, the boy’s reactions indicate details about the vampire that otherwise can’t be shown. What time period is this? Details of a truck passing by in the background indicate that the time period is somewhat modern, but the “boy”(indicating a young age) is smoking a cigarette, which means that the cigarette age restriction hasn’t been implemented(at least in their state). Then, the boy is recording using film instead of a digital camera. This means that digital cameras either aren’t around yet or haven’t been popularized yet. And this is just about the introduction of the story! A bit later we learn how Louis becomes a vampire and how he had to replace this body’s blood with vampiric blood by first getting himself drained, and then drinking Lestat’s blood. How does that work? Why is it that when Louis barely drinks a single man’s blood, he’s had too much, but then Lestat drinks several people’s blood and he’s fine? If not several people, we’ve at least seen him drain a person and a rat. Yet he has no stomach ache. More questions keep popping up as I continue reading…


Thoughts on Working from Home:

Working from home has been an experience to say the least. Every day feels like a Sunday. I finish my work during the day, play games and talk with friends until night, go to sleep knowing that tomorrow I have classes, and then I wake up and repeat this. This has really opened up my schedule and so I’ve been trying to find ways to entertain myself. And the best way to entertain one-self is to find an issue and fix it. Even games are no more fun now. I’ve spent some time cleaning my room and I’ve tried to upgrade my computer by adding in an extra stick of RAM. However, my computer repeatedly crashes after I’ve installed this RAM, so now I have something to keep me occupied.

Just this morning, on Wednesday (3/25/2020), the faucets inside of my house began giving off very little water. For a few minutes, water completely stopped. After a bit, the water returned to normal, so my family was relieved. However, this got me thinking- what would happen if we’d suddenly stop receiving water? As we don’t know what caused the water to lessen and then stop, I feel like my family should begin preparing just in case we actually lose tap water. That also got me thinking, what are some other essentials that we’ll need, just in case? As a Chinese family, we mainly eat rice and keep very little canned foods around. Just recently we’ve run out of spam and now it’s not a good idea to go out and buy more spam. Hopefully, the Coronavirus situation will die down and schools will resume by 4/20/2020, but from what I’ve heard, I don’t think it’s likely.


Thoughts on Current Events:

When people said “the 2020’s will be the Roaring 20’s again,” it was just a joke. Now? Well former Axis Powers are rebuilding and improving their military, America’s stock markets have crashed, and a virus is going around with a Spanish Flu-like symptoms wreaking havoc. And just like the Prohibition, the bars are closed.

 This is scary to say the least. However, there’s no need to buy gas masks and buy aisles of toilet paper. Just stay in doors and everything will be fine. Only go outside to buy groceries, and if you don’t want to, order online. Now would be a good time to buy and enjoy some fruits and tea. Fruits are great for vitamins, but won’t last too long. Seeing how this whole situation can last a couple of months, drinking certain teas can replace the vitamins you need from fruits. An important one is vitamin C, as it helps your wounds heal and keeps you in good health. No need to eat too many fruits or drink too much tea though. Fruits aren’t too filling and cost a lot, and tea, while costing a lot by itself, will cost even more when you pay for other drinks after you’ve become thirsty due to tannins found in tea. Buying some spam and other canned foods might help you in these times, and just in case even “essential” workers cannot go to work.

Drink water and eat large amounts of cheap filling foods. I recommend boiling tap water to drink instead of bottled water, to cut down on costs. I also recommend eating rice, as it is cheap and filling, since when you do eat it, it’s mostly water. Bread is fine, but when times get tough, bread might become hard to find (as it is now, most bread is sold out on the Costco Grocery site). Quick survival tip- rice can be used to produce makeshift glue. If you don’t like rice, buy flour. Flour can be made into hardtack and be stored for long amounts of time. Otherwise, flour is useful as it can be used to make glue like rice. It can also be used to make paper mache, as well as makeshift shampoo(hopefully things don’t get quite that terrible).

Don’t buy anything you don’t absolutely need however, since the economy is taking a huge hit. Businesses are closing, unemployment rates are rising, and the American economy has finally begun entering a recession since 2009. A good thing to do is to plan out your spending. Make a sheet, either digital or physical, and write down all your expenses and try to cut down on them. If you need some product, try to see if you can make the same product at home.  After all, now that going outside is a risk, staying home and learning a useful skill as a hobby is a good idea.

Maybe reading a book might alleviate boredom, or even writing one might help. Remember to do light exercises at home too, pushups and squats are great to keep your body in shape. Just 30 minutes a day should do the trick, if you’re really busy. To keep yourself social and connected, pick up online videogames or join an online community. Isolation for too long is not good for mental health. In this case, I’d recommend Minecraft as it can be a very relaxing game or it can be very competitive. It covers a wide range of social needs to keep your mental health in check. Don’t sleep too late, wake up earlier. Keep your body healthy, so that in case you are sick, you can recover quickly.