MEDIUM RARE

Our Favorite Stories About Finding New Ways to Pass the Time

Writers in the Medium universe are getting creative under quarantine

Each week on Medium Rare, I’ll be sharing stories you might have missed that are definitely worth a second look. Got a suggestion for a piece we should feature? Pop it in the responses below!

• I, very sadly, don’t have a cat. But I will enthusiastically learn how to crochet just so I can make one of these absurd tiny couches my fantasy future cat will one day enjoy.

Now Everyone Is Crocheting Tiny Couches for Their Cats

• Sarah Cassidy put in the work to plan out your next Zoom call with friends or family. Give up the awkward dance of asking how others are doing, and instead fill the time with turning your loved ones into gamers.

How to invite your friends to online board game nights during the quarantine

• If Zoom fatigue is already setting in for people you actively want to spend time with, imagine scheduling meetups with virtual strangers. Ariana Bindman bravely ventured into the awkward world of online speed dating, where it’s truly a heroic feat to find any topic of small talk that doesn’t revolve around global sickness and death (lol, sigh).

Well, I Went Virtual Speed Dating

• To save herself the embarrassment of not knowing whether a song playing on shuffle is by the real Slim Shady — and not some other white rapper — Selina Veng set up a voice recognition model that’s trained to light up every time it hears Eminem.