By Maggie Aschmeyer | Deputy Editor
One of the only good things to come out of this coronavirus situation is that people are renewing their appreciation for my favorite film, Tangled, as they’re recognizing that its heroine, Rapunzel, is quite the quarantining pro. If you aren’t aware, Rapunzel sings a whole song about how she keeps herself busy while trapped in her tower; she bakes, paints, sews, reads, plays the guitar, beats her pet chameleon at chess, and even dabbles in paper mache and ventriloquy. Truly, my girl is quite the renaissance woman.
I have been stuck in my house for almost three months now, and I have unknowingly begun to take Rapunzel’s advice for how to keep yourself busy. My actions have been entirely subconscious, and although it is unclear to me if I am mimicking The Lost Princess because I, too, am blonde and bored or because I used to fall asleep to Tangled in middle-school and the film has imprinted itself upon my brain, the fact remains that I have followed in her bare footsteps (although much less gracefully). So, here is a list of the activities I’ve attempted and a ranking of how successful said attempts were.
1) Chores (started at 7AM and completed by 7:15AM)
I’ve been using my newly found spare time to do a lot of spring cleaning and organizing (I’ve reorganized my bookshelf three times now). While I’ve made great progress on improving the overall functionality of my space, it has taken me months to really make any dent in my mess, and I certainly did not complete it all in 15 minutes. So, after removing points for tardiness...
85% Successful
2) Read a book (or maybe two or three)
Since I was an English major, I had a bit of a head start as I was already reading for class. However, I haven’t read a new book since classes ended, which is not good.
In my defense, I’ve been watching Avatar: The Last Airbender.
75% Successful
3) Play guitar
Again, I had a bit of a head start since I already play guitar, but during quarantine I’ve taught myself how to play a few new blues riffs. Yet, I do think I should also lose points for spending a high percentage of my practice time playing the same Taylor Swift songs over and over again (Taylor’s a great songwriter, but she tends to use the same four chords). But what can I say? She’s a balm for the soul.
65% Successful
4) Cook
A couple years ago, I didn’t know how to make boxed mac-n-cheese that required you to heat up the cheese sauce in a pan (I only knew the microwave version), so you have an idea of how abysmal my cooking skills are. Last week, I managed to make quesadillas without spilling hot oil all over myself, and the week before that I flipped an omelet by tossing it in the air, so I’m basically Gordon Ramsey now.
80% Successful
5) Puzzles
This was more my mom’s idea than mine, but I did help her complete a puzzle that depicted sloths doing yoga. When I say help though, I mean that I occasionally walked into the room, stared at the puzzle for 10 minutes, and then left because I was bored. Apparently the age of endless distractions has affected my attention span and puzzles are just too much for me now.
Maybe I’ll be more interested once our Marauder's Map puzzle gets here…
20% Successful
6) Baking
I’m a bit better at baking than cooking (maybe because the sugary result makes me work harder) and last week I made a few things I hadn’t tried before: pumpkin bread and chocolate chip pound cake. The cake sunk a little bit (Paul Hollywood would probably tell me that I didn’t prove it enough), but it was still tasty, so I call that a win!
90% Successful
7) Ventriloquy
My cat and I have had some fascinating conversations recently.
100% Successful
8) Stretch
I bought a yoga mat, did about four youtube classes in February, and haven’t touched it since.
5% Successful
9) Sew a dress
Ok, I know she only completed a small garment for her pet chameleon, but how on earth did Rapunzel sew a dress in less than an hour? And by hand?!? I’ve been trying to sew a simple sundress using my newly purchased sewing machine for a week now and it is very, very hard. I mean, it’s also fun, but very hard. Who knew sewing in a straight line would be near impossible?
I have new found appreciation for Giselle from Enchanted, who created a beautiful floor-length gown out of curtains in the span of about 45 minutes. I’ve got about 12 hours logged on my dress and all I have is a skirt with an uneven hem. Oh, and several bloody fingers.
50% Successful
10) Reread the books
If I’m being honest with myself, probably the activity I’ve spent the most time on has been re-reading the Harry Potter books. And watching the movies. And listening to Harry Potter themed podcasts. And reading Harry Potter think pieces. And watching A Very Potter Musical three times in a row. And-
100% Successful (but is that a good thing?)
11) Brush and brush and brush and brush my hair
While I don’t have 70 feet of hair, my hair is also longer than it has been in five years because I haven’t gotten a haircut since January. Thing is, I’m not leaving the house, so what’s the point in brushing it? I’m impressed with Rapunzel for her dedication to personal appearance despite her isolation - I guess it’s the Disney princess thing.
10% Successful (I tried for graduation photos)
In conclusion, Rapunzel is an inspiration, as I have now learned from experience that actually being good at all of her hobbies is rather difficult. I haven’t even tried paper mache yet! (And I don’t think I will.)