This post is part of my Isolation Diaries. You can check the rest of them on the category page.
I lost most of my sense of smell in the morning. Things mostly didn’t get better health-wise.
What about Taste?
Contrary to popular belief, COVID19 does not attack your taste all that much. It affects your olfactory, or smell, receptors. However, our smell receptors are the primary component of our flavor perception. Taste is just the minor component. To test, pinch your nose and eat ‘fresh flavor’ gum. SARS-CoV-2 attacks your the muscles around our receptors, in the upper area of the nose. I do not have is You can check out more details in this video here.
The Afternoon
I finally managed to open the balcony screen door. It required a little outside help. Tried to read Umberto Eco’s Ur-Fascism essay, but it is behind a paywall. When will publications realize the value of media is the text, and the context, and not the publisher. There is no reason for me to subscribe the publication because I only want access to the one piece of text. They should be selling individual articles.
Upon insistence of a Medical Professional, I had to go out for an X-Ray. I took all the precautions; double mask, avoiding all surface, etc. I was responsible but I still feel guilty.
The Evening
Read a comic book after a while. Batman: White Knight is an alternate continuity story where the Joker recovers and becomes a successful reforming politician, showing the corrupt nature of Batman himself. It is written and drawn one of my favorite artist, Sean Murphy. It starts out a little rough, but it ends up being one of the most unique retelling of Batman mythos. Murphy uses the backdrop of BLM protests(the comic was published pre-George Floyd), to show how good intentions can lead to bad consequences. Batman is a great stand-in for the permeation of systemic inequality in a class-neutral system. It does so without turning Batman outright evil. I don’t know why this isn’t main ‘canon’, but it should be.
Night
Nights are ugly. Especially on the eve of my birthday. And I still couldn’t smell all that much. It was miserable. Until Midnight. I got a Happy Birthday text from my mother on the family group chat. And then my wife knocked on the door with a cake. It made me very happy. It was like a warm blanket in the cold darkness of isolation.
Next: Happy Birthday?