The best thing about eggs is that they can be cooked in so many different ways. Sunny-side up, over easy, hard-boiled, the experience is different every time. Right now, things in this world are a bit messy and eggs may not be at the forefront of everyone’s mind. However, I’m going to show you how we can borrow some of that craziness from outside, and put it to good use in our kitchen. I call this egg recipe: The Pandemic Scramble.
Find Good Eggs
First things first, not all eggs are created equal. I believe that a happier chicken makes a happier egg, so buy those cage-free cartons when you can. There are a lot of cheap eggs out there, but why not treat yourself and spend an extra dollar for an “Eggs-qusite” taste. Think of your egg selection as the people you are choosing to spend your time with during these months. A good egg will crack its shell open for you and allow you to do the same. They have the protein and nutrition to support you during these tough times, and you will in turn protect them from breaking. Covid-19 may have limited the eggs that we have available to us, but just remember that good eggs back home are always a phone call away. I’m sure you can send eggs in the mail nowadays anyway.
Happy Chickens
2. Crack the Shell and Whisk it up
One has to be careful here, after all this is the most delicate part of the whole operation. Use a hard edge to crack the egg and then gently peel away the shell. Pour the yolk into a bowl and make sure none of the shell pieces fall in. Whisk up the eggs until the yolks have all been pierced and the mixture is a homogenous yellow.
Like the eggs, our lives are being scrambled up at the moment, but oftentimes this will reveal our true colors.
3. Slow-Cook
Use a non-stick fry pan because the Pandemic Scramble gets a little messy. Add some butter as a further measure to prevent the eggs from sticking. If you don’t have a non-stick frypan, use even more butter. Once you have a nice golden-brown coating, it is time to pour in your eggs. Immediately set your stovetop as Low as it can go. We want to cook the eggs slowly so we can get that desirable soft and creamy texture. Constantly stir during this process. Every 30 seconds or so, turn the heat up to a 3 or 4, just below medium, and continue to stir. Allow the eggs to cook at this temperature for no more than 10 seconds, then return back to Low. Continue altering between Low and Medium until the eggs begin to solidify.
This is a long process but it is necessary. Perhaps use the extra time to call a friend or family member. I’m sure they’d love to hear from you and learn about the Pandemic Scramble themselves.
After seven or eight minutes your eggs should finish solidifying and look something like this:
Delicious right? At this point in the recipe, you should have already connected with a loved one and made some killer scrambled eggs. Not a bad start to the morning.
4. Eat Papa, Eat!
Eat Papa, Eat
This is my favorite part of the experience. I personally like to add hot sauce, salt, and pepper but I would never judge anyone for doing otherwise. Hopefully, you have someone to share these eggs with, after all, they took some love to make. It’s important to remember that despite how scrambled our world is right now, the little things can still help makes our days “eggs-tra” special.
With the pandemic and the election and everything else that 2020 has thrown at us so far, it’s important to remain positive and hopeful. Even though the future is the biggest mystery of all right now, we can still daydream about what we’re going to do when we can be in gatherings of more than 5 people without masks on. One thing I’ve been daydreaming of these past few days is concerts! So, as we prepare for future adventures, here’s a guide to enjoy your first concert fresh out of the pandemic…
Set aside the entire day to have fun!
Although most concerts take place in the middle of the week and most people have work or school commitments, try to see if you can take some time off in the afternoon to prepare for your concert! It’s nice to not have a tight-schedule, and that way you can spend your time getting ready and excited.
Wear something fun!
Part of that prep time should be picking your outfit for the night! Even if you don’t like getting “dressed up,” make sure you wear something you’re comfortable and happy in. I personally enjoy wearing a variety of outfits – ranging from a nice top with sparkly shoes to a unicorn onesie and my old Converse. Artists love looking out into the crowd to see the fans embracing the night with themed costumes and/or coordinated outfits!
Make something!
In a big venue, I would suggest making your own poster with some play on words of your favorite song. In a smaller theatre, you can do the same thing but make it smaller, along the lines of an 8×11 piece of paper. Again, artists love looking out into the crowd to see people really appreciating them and their work, and they want to get to know all of their fans! Even making a sign that says it’s your first show is something that will make the artist so happy to see. Just be mindful of the people around you, so don’t hold it up during the whole show.
Travel lightly, but pack the essentials!
When you’re dancing the night away, you’re not going to want to worry about holding your bag. So, either rock the stylish fanny-pack or keep things in your coat pocket!
In your fanny-pack or pocket, you’ll need a few things. No matter how good your cell’s battery life is, bring an extra charger/power bank. The last thing you want is to be separated from your friends in downtown Denver with a dead phone, so just bring the charger! Also remember your wallet, and preferably bring cash. After having a fantastic night, you’ll probably want a t-shirt or poster to commemorate it all, and some merch booths only take cash.
The most essential item you should have on you seems obvious, but forgetting it happens. You’ll need your ticket! Whether that’s a screenshot of the QR code you received in an email, or a printed copy, your night is going to be cut short if you forget this key element.
Remember to put down the phone!
Yes, you’ll want to take pictures when the artist goes to the side of the stage closest to you. But just remember that those are just pictures, and you’re there for the memories! I usually record one song and take a few pictures, and then simply enjoy the rest of the night.
Now that you’ve learned the basics, you are ready for your first concert post-COVID! So, make sure to wear a mask and maintain social distancing so that this can happen in the near future!
Hey! I’m Zoe, a second year English major with a concentration in creative writing. I love reading and writing (but I guess that’s probably a bit obvious, huh) and I enjoy watching Netflix and hanging out with my English Bulldog, Huggsy. I’m really excited to be a part of this class and I’m looking forward to working with all of you!
I love to read when I travel, and travel when I read. I always look forward to my annual “book binge” in the summertime, the only actual part of the year I have time to enjoy dozens of books. However, there is nothing like traveling physically and traveling mentally at the same time. It’s extremely satisfying to buy a book at the airport, read it on the plane, and finish it while on a vacation. The book began the journey with you, and it became a part of the journey itself.
I recently got into “beach reads” while on a recent trip to Florida. These are usually romance novels taking place somewhere dreamy and warm. I usually go for psychological thrillers and murder mysteries, but this past summer I yearned for something a bit different. I noticed a contrast in how I viewed and experienced my vacation depending on what book I read… As aforementioned, I’m a big fan of mystery novels, the intensity, and twists make my blood pump and heart race, I love a book I can’t put it down. However, what I discovered in the stillness and satisfaction of a beach read–while on a beach, how perfect–is that I enjoyed every page as it came and every day as they passed. I was calm. I was still fully invested in the stories, as I would be in a thriller, but it was different, the “can’t-put-it-downess,” was similar but distinct. And my young traveler’s heart felt different as well.
Once I became invested in this specific author, Elin Hilderbrand, I couldn’t stop the rest of the summer. She writes the most amazing stories, the places and the characters are so detailed it feels like I am witnessing a whole world, a whole life, unfold in front of me. Even when I got home, far away from the beach, I still felt the soft calmness of the quiet ocean rushing up the sand to touch my toes, the kiss of the breeze and the sun on my nose. I was transported completely into the worlds Hilderbrand created. It was a blessing to have her books as an escape this year. COVID has prevented most, if not all, of us from fulfilling our wanderlust. But we can still travel, in a way, I can open a book and be on Nantucket or St. John. I can travel anywhere at any time, a global pandemic can never take that away.
I have never been to St. John, but it feels like I have. I am extremely grateful for the fated moment I picked up my first Elin Hilderbrand novel at an airport book store. 28 Summers is the only book that has ever made me cry, I may have started it in Florida and finished it back at home but the whole time my mind was on Nantucket, experiencing a life I couldn’t have experienced otherwise. I love to read when I travel, and the only traveling I can do right now is through books. My heart and soul are in St. John, a place I have never been to, but it’s an island I want to one-day call home solely because I saw an enticing cover at an airport bookstore. Since then, she’s all I’ve been reading. A new book of hers, the final to a trilogy, was recently delivered to my apartment, now I’m headed back to St. John.
This year, traveling has served as a shattered dream and somehow, also, my saving grace. This video holds footage and prose of what my hopes of traveling the world after graduation has become.
My mom, dad, and I at the Louvre, Labor Day weekend of 2002
In 2002 when I was 14 months old, my parents and I went to Germany to endure 2 weeks’ worth of hospital appointments when they were trying to diagnose me with what we now know as Spinal Muscular Atrophy. As a much-needed break, my parents decided we would spend Labor Day weekend in Paris, because why not?
I only know this based on stories they’ve told me, but the gist is that it was chaos from the beginning. Apparently, my dad booked the reservation at a hotel with an address of something like 1234 Paris St, Paris… spoiler alert: Paris St, Paris doesn’t actually exist and neither did that hotel. So, my poor parents were stuck walking around the streets of Paris with me, until they found an available hotel room.
The stroller they were borrowing from a friend fell apart within the first day we were there, so my parents had to take turns carrying me around the city. They set aside an entire day to visit the beautiful Louvre, but I guess I didn’t appreciate art back then, because I proceeded to scream at the top of my lungs while my parents rushed past the Mona Lisa and Venus di Milo to get me out of there.
Now, I’m 19 years old and I have regrets about how I spent my time abroad. Being physically disabled leads to some challenges in travelling across the country, and I can’t even imagine trying to go across seas. But now, with COVID-19, no one is travelling, and that has encouraged museums to go virtual – including the Louvre. So, I have taken full advantage of these resources being free at the moment, and decided to take a day to go “visit” some beautiful art.
***
I started my grand adventure with a simple Google search of “French cafes near me,” after all, I needed to get the full experience. I quickly found that La Belle Rosette was only a ten-minute walk from my dorm room, and I was off! I enjoyed their quaint little area that wasn’t too big, but I imagine it is nice and intimate when you can dine-in. I ordered the Rosaletta panini lunch combo, and my friend got the Mona Lisa panini combo – needless to say, we felt very French.
La Belle Rosette, taken on October 6th 2020
We carried our treats back to campus and ate outside the Beans café and enjoyed our delicious sandwiches. Then, the real adventure began. I easily found the Louvre’s website, and within a few clicks I had found their virtual galleries.
The galleries’ online experiences were all unique, some went full-on like a Google Earth street view, and some were simple panoramas that you could slide through. A lot of the pieces had zoom-in options and captions of what the name was, who created it, and brief descriptions of what the medium was and/or what they were symbolizing. The only unfortunate thing was that those captions were all in French for most pieces, so I would recommend having a translator at the ready.
A screenshot of the exhibit “The Body in Movement,” taken on October 11th 2020
You can view the art and filter search results by the room the art is in, or by the exhibit it is included in. I went by exhibit, since I didn’t have any art in mind, and I wanted to experience as much as possible.
There was an exhibit appropriately titled, “Founding Myths: From Hercules to Darth Vader,” that I instantly clicked to view more in-depth. It included sculptures and paintings depicting the Greek and Roman heroes and monsters, and more modern concepts. I couldn’t identify what in the exhibit had to do with Darth Vader or the Star Wars saga but I assumed they may have been mentioned in French or on a sign that was too small to view. I enjoyed the artwork nonetheless. There were even interactive pieces, which I found odd and exciting coming from this prestigious museum. The “What, Where, Who?” light game was really intriguing, as it invited guests to press buttons that controlled different lights to convey the power that color and shadow has on art. Unfortunately, that wasn’t part of the virtual experience, but there was a button explaining the concept.
As I clicked out of that section, I realized something; I apparently had seen the Mona Lisa when I was 14 months old, and I have no memory of it… I should look it up! Sounds simple, it’s bound to be in one of these exhibit links and I’ll be able to tell people, “Yeah, I’ve seen the Mona Lisa… virtually.”
I followed through the list of available virtual exhibits, including the “Remains of the Louvre’s Moat,” saw the Great Sphinx of Tanis and some animal mummies, glanced at some sculptures of Greek deities…
But there was no di Vinci!
I started overthinking it (as I’m prone to do) and convinced myself that maybe they exclude di Vinci’s work from the virtual tours, keeping them as a “hidden” gem only available in-person. Bummed, I started clicking random French buttons thinking I’d find the online giftshop so I could daydream about buying a t-shirt, and then I saw it. Clear as day, in an 8-point font at most, was a link titled, “Mona Lisa Beyond the Glass.” Huzzah! This whole “trip” was worth it!
I was soon enveloped in a 5-minute long video of the curators of the di Vinci exhibit explaining how they have created an exhibit exclusively for the Mona Lisa to be viewed on a virtual reality headset. They explained that every visitor wants to have their moment with the beautiful piece, but due to crowds, people only get an average of 30 seconds in front of her. So, they created a VR-experience that allows you to see the individual layers di Vinci had to use to create the depth and details. There’s even an app anyone can download on their smartphones (for free) that gives you the same exposure to the art. I didn’t install the app since the video was immersive, and instead I downloaded the free exhibit booklet, and learned that it took di Vinci from 1503-1519 to finish the masterpiece.
As a little treat, I perused the online giftshop, oohing and ahhing at all the pretty replicas that could be purchased at a range of €3.00 to €2,500! I considered purchasing a small notebook as a souvenir for this “once in a lifetime” experience, but after calculating shipping, I realized my small notebook was going to cost more than a new hardback novel from Barnes and Noble. So, I decided to simply bookmark the page to look back at and proceed to ooh and ahh at it.
My first and second visits to the Louvre were vastly different – for starters there were far less tears this time around! And even though this recent “trip” was quite unconventional to most, it was probably the best I am going to get, and I enjoyed it! Lately, a lot of people have been talking about what the “new normal” of the world is going to be, and I hope virtual tours are something that sticks around. Not only is it more physically accessible, but it allows people with economic issues to still experience the beauties of the world in an immersive way. After all, isn’t art one thing that everyone should have access to?
Hey! I’m Zoe, a second year English major with a concentration in creative writing. I love reading and writing (but I guess that’s probably a bit obvious, huh) and I enjoy watching Netflix and hanging out with my English Bulldog, Huggsy. I’m really excited to be a part of this class and I’m looking forward to working with all of you!
Downtown Chicago from above. Credit: Pin.it/1TDUhMg
I get Dunkin Donuts every time I go to the airport. I don’t think this is romantic, nor is it beneficial to my health, but tradition is tradition, so I grab my coffee once again.
In March, I sat alone on a near-empty plane to visit my mother. Masks on. I wasn’t quite allowed to travel then. I was terrified of it, actually. When I stepped off the plane into my mother’s silver Kia, I kept my mask on. We both used hand sanitizer. Walking through the doors of my childhood home, I stripped down and emptied the contents of my suitcase straight into the washing machine. To say I had no idea what would lie ahead in this Corona would be an understatement.
Its September now, and again, I sit on an airplane. It’s not so empty this time, yet this pandemic plagued world seems worse. On this airplane back in March, I knew who I was. I knew what I had to do. Six months later and I have done it. I came out. Now I am coming home, again. My dad is getting married, mid pandemic, matching masks and all, so he is sending me across the country. Normally I might be upset about his irresponsibility, bringing his 70-year-old parents into the world of illness and vulnerability simply to celebrate himself (selfish), however; I need my family now more than ever, so I will let it be (selfish of me, too).
When the plane descents into Chicago, I either listen to Lake Short Drive by Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah, or a lesser known Lake Michigan by Rogue Wave. I love being from a place that people write songs about. It only strengthens my air travel traditions. If you’re lucky, you’ll have chosen the correct side of the airplane, the one that lines up perfectly with the landing pattern, flashing the gorgeous Chicago skyline alongside Lake Michigan. I almost like the city better from above than below. From the sky she is all beauty. I can sit alone in my airplane row and enjoy all my dreamy misconceptions of who the city really is. On the ground I walk through an airport filled with Black Lives Matter masks and maskless folks in MAGA hats. I wonder how all these people can exist in this space. I wonder how a city has fostered such a sense of division. I wonder how the value of Black lives could somehow make American less great in the eyes of some. The answers to these questions go back generations, but people still refuse to know them. My stepbrother picks me up from the airport. His hat totes an American flag, one blue stripe. He scoffs at my Black Lives Matter mask. My dad tells me I am being too political with my clothing choices, yet there is no comment for my stepbrothers. That’s the thing about being from a place people write songs about– you think it’s all wonder, big bustling city, a cultural hub. These illusions hide the truth of the reality for those who live there. One of the most segregated cities in the country, thriving police brutality, and wealthy white folks who insist this is all fine.
Driving home down Cicero, I look at a building draped in Trump flags with a homeless man begging out front. As someone who came out three days ago, I find the division in this space to be overwhelming. In Denver, I feel safe, pride flags line shops and street corners. Back home, I am faced with the reality that my rights as a queer woman are on the line. I am struck with the realization that unless you are a white, cis, heterosexual, able-bodied, wealthy man, traveling can be overwhelmingly political. To the point where it is threatening. This is the place where my best friend got beat up for coming out as transgender, this is the place where a girl had her hijab ripped off at school because Trump was elected, this is the place where a swastika was painted on my high school parking lot during the Black Lives Matter protests, after all.
Sitting at my dad’s rehearsal dinner, my family members ask me if I will be coming home after graduation. Chicago absolutely is home to stunning scenery, infamous foods, iconic sports teams. It is without a doubt culturally rich. Yet I always say no. This space does not feel safe to me. Despite the fact that this is my hometown, I am no longer certain of the degree in which I am welcome here. The handling of a global pandemic, a civil rights movement, a life-threatening election– 2020 has unveiled many of Chicago’s shortcomings. Perhaps it is not quite the tourist’s dream location.
As I prepare to board my plane back to Denver, I sip my Dunkin Donuts coffee under my mask. I am still uncertain if this is appropriate pandemic behavior. I am truly uncertain about nearly every aspect of traveling in 2020. Yet here I am. This time, I will listen to Rocky Mountain High by John Denver when my plane begins to land as I contemplate the meaning of traveling to a new place in the midst of what the world looks like today.
