Last night a friend called me late, expressing never-ending frustration. She said she's bored from being home so much. My friend (not mentioning her name: she wouldn't appreciate that) telecommutes full-time, but that's not enough to keep her occupied 24/7-- if she's not eating, sleeping, talking to friends, watching TV, or occasionally out and about.

When I'm not engaged in productive activity, I enjoy working out, reading, watching films, doing computer graphics, or meeting friends. This woman doesn't have hobbies and told me she couldn't concentrate long enough to watch a movie from beginning to end. So, where does that leave her?

For argument's sake, I'll call her Angie- Angie told me she's been spending lots of time on an app called Vonvon. I wasn't familiar with it, but Angie said you could find out things like who you were in past lives, who loves and misses you, how old you look from your photo, which celebrity you look like, choosing a rune to find out about your future, tips on what hair length suits you best, where your love life if going; so much more. 

You know, it's actually quite fun, even though I don't put much credence in it. I found out, according to Vonvon, that I was a princess in a past life (come on, everyone wants to be royalty) and most recently, a warrior. You can find out all sorts of things, like who you'll look like in the future or what animal you resemble right now! I didn't care for all the results I got, like saying I resemble a wolf in the plug-in for 'what animal do you look most like?' I couldn't see it. But I loved the function where you upload a photo, for how old you look, and I got back '29!' Loved that answer-- but come on?!

Distractions can be addictive. That's why bars, clubs, and casinos make money. But playing on this app is a cheap, more benign, and sort of fun way to fill a few minutes if you have a gap in the day. I would not advocate spending hours perusing this site, but it offers a little fantasy and distraction from these stressful times. I would rather spend more time involved in academic pursuits, but this is a bit of fun and not a bad thing in moderation--if you don't take it too seriously. 

Back to reality, I just saw a report from the respected U of WA Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation that said there might be an 'end' in sight to the intensity of the pandemic--a transition into the endemic phase. It's encouraging. But for now, I will make time to go walking with Angie weekly, so she has a real person to talk to. Oh, yes, and check out which famous person I was in a past life --so let's Vonvon!