Van Badham’s Postcards from Coronavirus: March 24, 2020

I had a dream last night that I ran into Elizabeth Warren in a large, empty hall. She told me that Joe Biden had asked her to be his VP. She’d done the deal, she said, she had a plan, and everything would be all right.

She said this holding my hands in hers. She had thin hands, but they were very strong and very soft.

My subconscious has literally no nuance. I wonder about the implications for my artistic career that I’m not conjuring up talking pyramids that shit lizards, or something.

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My boss has announced that she’s taking up videogaming. I’ve recommended she play Fallout 4. Because, yes, your character does wander around a radioactive landscape irreparably scarred from nuclear catastrophe, but at least you get meet people and hang around outside.

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Rather than give in to an urge for stockpiling food, I’ve been trying to use up all the crazy stuff lurking in the corners of my pantry and my freezer. Today, I decided to rationalise my supply of frozen turmeric and ginger root, and made a pot of jamu.

 Jamu is a “health tonic” drink that they serve you alongside the buffet breakfast in Balinese resort hotels. Adherents swear it has anti-inflammatory properties. Since I had to quit coffee, I drink it to keep me awake and alert.

 Ingredients:

½ cup chopped turmeric root

½ cup chopped ginger root

1 litre of water

1 tbs tamarind paste

2 tbs lime juice

3 tbs honey

Method:

1.     Put the chopped roots and water in a blender and blend until creamy and smooth.

2.     Put in a saucepan, add a tablespoon of tamarind paste and bring to a boil.

3.     Once the mixture boils, reduce heat to its lowest setting and simmer for 25 minutes.

4.     Take the pot off the heat, and strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve into bowl.

5.     Leave for 10 minutes, then add the lime juice and honey to the bowl.

6.     Bottle the mixture. It will keep in the fridge for two weeks. You can heat it up in a mug in the microwave, like tea. 

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My friend Jenni works for a theatre company, and all the theatres have closed down. She’s a naturally upbeat person, so I’ve been calling her a lot. She made the point that while the whole lockdown thing is a nightmare for human beings, it’s a Golden Age for Dogs. “Think about it,” she told me on the phone. “They have their whole family at home, all the time. They get cuddles whenever they want them. They’re not lonely anymore.”

Someone on Twitter reported that their dog was so happy about everyone being at home all of a sudden that the dog developed some kind of tail-based muscle sprain from wagging so much and they had to take him to the vet. 

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 Yesterday, my boyfriend had some carrot tops left over from a snack and started chasing me around the house, trying to shove them in my mouth and going “Be a pony! Be a pony!”.

Once he had me cornered in the kitchen, he suddenly stopped and said: “My god. It’s only been five days.”

Then, he added: “You can understand why the leadership of the Soviet Union went so bananas after the second world war. They spent a lot of time in bunkers, surrounded by total war. A lot of time.”

 We watched The Death of Stalin recently. Good movie. Would recommend.

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Queensland has closed its borders to deal with coronavirus. The writer John Birmingham – who is based in Brisbane – responded to the news on Twitter.

 “@JohnBirmingham: ALL QLD HAS BEEN WAITING FOR THIS WHILE YOU EFFETE SOUTHERN COSMOPOLITANS SIPPED AT YOUR FAIL LATTES AND NIBBLED ON SURRENDER LENTILS WE STUDIED THE BLADE! AND NOW OUR TIME IS COME!”

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My friend Johann – who is recovering from coronavirus - has been posting quotes from loneliness expert, Professor John Caccioppo, on his Facebook wall.

Caccioppo says:

“loneliness isn’t the physical absence of other people. It’s the sense you aren’t sharing anything meaningful with them.”

Johann uses the example of a relationship breakdown to illustrate the point. “You start to feel lonely,” he explains, “even though the other person is physically still around. The meaning between you is gone.” 

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