Dining Out Less?

As news about the tripledemic has been growing for a few weeks I've considered what changes I can/should make in my own routines. I can't mask up.... I've never actually masked down! All year I've continued to wear my mask in indoors public spaces. I'm one of the few still doing that, even here in politically progressive Silicon Valley. And I've continued to avoid crowded indoors spaces. I don't visit bars or clubs; I don't attend concerts, plays, or sports games. I try even to avoid restaurants when they're packed.

Restaurants are one place where I can further reduce my risk.... by going less often. But how often is less? Before the pandemic I dined out frequently, averaging maybe 13 times per week. When the pandemic officially became a thing in March 2020 I was able to pivot hard on that, not dining out at all, not even getting take-out food, for several weeks. Later in the year I started dining out again once a week, then twice, and so on. As the pandemic situation loosened up in May 2021 with vaccinations freely available and restrictions mostly gone, not to mention good weather meaning I could sit outside at many of my usual restaurants, I resumed dining out more frequently. I never went all the way back up to the 13/week level— which is perfectly fine, since eating at home is better in numerous ways— but I have kind of settled in at the level of 8-9/week.

So, yes, I can dine out less often than 8-9 times per week. I'm not switching to zero; that's too hard of a pivot. But I can drop by, say, 2-3 per week without feeling like I'm denying myself the pleasure of dining out.

Chernobyl: Those Accents, Tho

During my first watch-through of the HBO miniseries Chernobyl I found the actors' accents jarring. It's not that they're speaking English with Russian accents that are hard to understand; it's that they're not speaking with Russian accents. They're speaking with British and Irish accents. It's like watching Star Wars Game of Thrones! Plus, the senior party apparatchik in Pripyat is Maester Luwin from Winterfell.

In the episode 1 podcast showrunner Craig Mazin explains his deliberate choice not to have the actors speak with Russian accents. He notes that even professional actors tend to "act the accent". He didn't want actors subconsciously hamming up a Russian stereotype, turning the show into a self parody a la "Boris and Natasha". Moreover, he explained, he wanted the actors to be able to convey emotions clearly with their voices. It's harder to do that when they're struggling to portray foreign accents.

Mazin still wanted it to sound foreign to US audiences, though. He cast primarily English, Scottish, and Irish actors. By the third episode their accents stopped breaking me out of the moment... except for the few additional times actors used British idioms.

Keep reading: Open Wide, O Earth