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Today marks 170 days of quarantining here in Pittsburgh. At first, I didn’t track this particular statistic, it would only be sad to watch the number climb. That was in March. By the time August rolled around, I wanted to be conscious of that number so I started posting to my Instagram daily, a photo […]
So today is already weird. Ledcat had to go into her office for an all-day training. She’s had to go in for bits and pieces before, but never before mimicking her before-pandemic schedule. Since March 17, she’s been home and in the kitchen doing her magic. I dropped her off at her usual spot. Traffic […]
There’s nothing particularly notable about 135 days or about 4.3 months. Four months made up a semester, give or take. It is longer than a season by one month. It is almost half a human pregnancy. The typical duration of Kennywood being open. It is the length of time it took for 4.59+ million Americans […]
Read Part One and Part Two Part Three Part Four Literature It was Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Masque of the Red Death that probably sparked my early fascination with epidemics. I remember checking it out of my elementary school’s library over and over. It both terrified and intrigued me. Prince Prospero is hiding in his […]
Read Part One and Part Two When a disease is ready to spread to humans, it will find a way, and, like rats, bacteria do not recognize international borders. It’s natural to want to find something to blame for a disease like this. But it shouldn’t be at the expense of already vulnerable populations, or […]
Part One can be read here. Part Two The Little Towns that Could (Quarantine) The bubonic plague made a large resurgence in Europe in the mid-1600s. Venice was one of the first ports of entry. Knowing their history, however, once it showed up, all boats were quarantined for a time outside of the harbor. If […]
I asked historian and chronicler of social justice history Anne E Lynch to help us understand the social justice implications of the COVID-19 pandemic – Sue. Part One Some of you may be seeing memes posted around social media of people in strange bird masks, wearing dark clothes and/or cloaks and carrying canes, and you […]
Content note: bipolar disorder, hypomania, alcohol, pandemic Saturday, I woke up very early again, struggling to breathe. Lots of fire pits roaring these nights so the air is heavy near our homes. I grab my inhaler and sore throat spray to quiet the coughing. I fall back asleep after lots of breathing exercises to keep […]
Content Note: bipolar disorder, trauma I woke up this morning around 9 AM with a start, as if I had been ripped from another time and place. I felt the blood coursing through my veins. It was almost thumping. My chest hurt, a fusion of despair and desperation to get going on some unspecified goal. […]
Total Lists Submitted: 10 Total Amount Raised for Food Pantry: $100.00 (out of $1,000.00 possible) This is our new project #ThingsToDo where we invite youth to create and share a list of things to occupy time and cope with boredom. You’ll fine the details at this link. Your young people are welcome to participate. Here’s the cool thing – in […]
