Saturday, November 5: Hotpot

Up by 11; fried egg, toast, coffee for breakfast. I did some home choirs, moving things up and down the apartment, doing dishes, etc. – it clears my mind too. Sent a long text to B; she got defensive. We argued for a while with no luck. I said I was too busy this week to think of us.

6pm hotpot with Leslie, his wife Melody, and David, Emmy, Tolly, Annie at Leslie's place in midtown. We boiled meat, tofu, veggies, and other strange things in the pots, then eating them slowly over a conversation. I discovered a new favorite hot pot thing – something like a fish ball with melted cheese inside. Leslie was busy hosting us, but he said we should enjoy the food and not talk too much – the way his parents ate hotpot. Melody is taking a class in Russian literature, reading Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, which she finds very deep. David is interviewing for HFT companies; he says the interview is all about LeetCode. Emmy got dissatisfied with economics and now studies CS. Tolly is considering joining the army – I thought he was joking, but he said it's the Israeli army, and he's supposed to serve as an Israeli citizen. He says it's not as dangerous as many people think. Annie is not worried about performance reviews because she can go become a DJ if she's laid off.

10pm I called B, asked if I can come by and talk. I went to her place in Sunnyside and tried to explain myself this week, that I was just too busy with things that I greatly care about and that sometimes I need to focus and forget about elementary things. Talking in person was better than texting this afternoon, and so we found some mutual understanding. She said her place was too messy, so we went to a local bar. I hugged B, and she said I don't hug her enough. 

B says her parents are still in lockdown (in China). Now the authorities locked down the entire city. They can't leave the building or do groceries, but the app for ordering delivery is overloaded, despite their five times inflated prices. So they basically eat whatever left home, but that's not a proper diet. They can't get their vitamins from the pharmacy. Someone in a nearby building jumped from their high floor apartment. So all this is happening in the environment of intense propaganda and strict social media control, and, surprise, people still support these policies. Propaganda is a powerful thing indeed. 

I went back to my place after 1am. The train took 15 minutes to arrive, but I was thinking how cool that I can even take the train well after midnight. There were quite some people on the train, everyone was happy, relaxed, chatting, everything looked like a happy weekend. Bed by 3am.