tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54312033258930678072024-03-06T23:24:22.255-08:00Juan Alvarado ValdiviaGodless heathen. Cynical humanist. Book zealot. Crazy peruano. Fucking realist. Everyday survivor.Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.comBlogger157125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-53049976341968732722024-03-05T10:43:00.000-08:002024-03-06T23:23:49.606-08:00Notes After an Artist Residency<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokwNq0986di8Wq7D2DZDsP6Z06-ybZNQKmLRPXNNQLjuREVWSPIpppVRH0B7PYqiwAKE7hzPIcwFF4ZdtjZ5brccTJLjFl9LSHlCu7P6AX4qYUDUQZVJkHC3JpPOoNyXgqZiiBrEzVeAdTGyblqkyndW6dmS9-qgN61LTEsq1QPzvw9FH4JxJgoIhyphenhyphensg/s4592/P1130315.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3448" data-original-width="4592" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokwNq0986di8Wq7D2DZDsP6Z06-ybZNQKmLRPXNNQLjuREVWSPIpppVRH0B7PYqiwAKE7hzPIcwFF4ZdtjZ5brccTJLjFl9LSHlCu7P6AX4qYUDUQZVJkHC3JpPOoNyXgqZiiBrEzVeAdTGyblqkyndW6dmS9-qgN61LTEsq1QPzvw9FH4JxJgoIhyphenhyphensg/w640-h480/P1130315.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Summer Lake, February 2024<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p> </p><p>Over a week ago, I was lodging in a cabin that overlooked Summer Lake in remote southeastern Oregon. For ten full days, the only noises I typically heard outside was the howling wind over the high desert basin, a pair of Canadian geese squawking by day or night, the chirping of robins or other birds, muskrats splashing in the pond at the back of my cabin, coyotes yipping and barking, or an occasional vehicle zipping by along Highway 31. On the drive to <a href="https://playasummerlake.org/" target="_blank">PLAYA</a> through the Oregon Outback, I may have passed more cows than humans.</p><a name='more'></a> <p></p><p>During my time at this residency program, I attained a deep state of solitude. It felt like an altered state of consciousness. The marijuana helped; it made it easier to burrow further into my own mind. But a couple of other variables and decisions helped me to attain this level of solitude that I hope to replicate on a smaller scale in my everyday life. They include:<br /><br />① I didn’t have Internet access while writing.<br />② I hardly checked my social media accounts during my residency.<br />③ I didn’t read or listen to anything about the NBA.<br />④ I barely checked my email.<br /><br />Having no Internet access in my cabin was a bit annoying at times, but over the course of my time there, I came to appreciate it. Without the intoxicating power of such knowledge at my fingertips, I encountered less distractions, less potential rabbit holes that could pull me out of the writing spell I was trying to cast. As I wrote, I highlighted a number of words or passages in my manuscript to research or double-check later once I could access the Internet. Now when I have my designated writing times at home, I’m planning to turn off Wi-Fi on my laptop to excise one more distraction during the generative writing process.<br /> </p><p>Staying off of social media kept my mind and heart focused on my writing instead of the outside world. This was undoubtedly helpful. Our present-day world is teeming with atrocities and happenings that can easily consume my attention. I know myself all too well. On the day I have to myself to write, I am planning to not check my social media at all; and on the night before, I’m planning to stay away from social media so my mind can quiet.<br /> </p><p>In my everyday life I consume a bunch of podcasts, especially about the NBA and my beloved team, the Golden State Warriors. While I was at PLAYA, I thought of these podcasts as information and voices that I am willingly introducing into my brain from a pair of headphones. It’s more noise up there; more clutter; another distraction.<br /> </p><p>And I have a bad, bad habit of checking my email numerous times a day; I will check it on my computer or from an app on my smartphone. I don’t know why I do this. It’s an old habit. Most of the emails I receive are either junk mail or from newsletters I have or haven’t signed up for. None of them are urgent to read or respond to, so why do I check my inbox like I’m anxiously awaiting someone’s response? From now on, I’d like to limit how many times I check my email—like once in the morning, then once in the evening after my son is asleep.<br /> </p><p>While I’m writing this first draft of my novel-in-progress, I need to cut down the noise. That is the overarching takeaway from my residency. The solitude I enveloped myself in at PLAYA was invigorating. I know I won’t be able to find it in the midst of everyday life, but I like it when my mind feels more like a meandering stream than a ping-pong ball bouncing errantly from here to there and everywhere. It’s hard to expect myself to stick a landing and generate good work amidst such conditions.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCzkiCjuNsfZ53Lw2A-9leRhK1O5izM7vXV5Dz8QSyHAm0vieBwDtCkDjeARvEJGg8MGNvO3lvTreeV6XP4V3oqQVsr4uyyjC7RKtQvLFnra-leyOKQQ6VkowB53jqVszZcL8QQL9QaJsbusI94lmD87g9Yl1fvxveT-D-z033WdKm7Rs1Px-nrKmaDE4/s4032/IMG_4759.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCzkiCjuNsfZ53Lw2A-9leRhK1O5izM7vXV5Dz8QSyHAm0vieBwDtCkDjeARvEJGg8MGNvO3lvTreeV6XP4V3oqQVsr4uyyjC7RKtQvLFnra-leyOKQQ6VkowB53jqVszZcL8QQL9QaJsbusI94lmD87g9Yl1fvxveT-D-z033WdKm7Rs1Px-nrKmaDE4/w549-h412/IMG_4759.HEIC" width="549" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">where the magic happens<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-50702762233291534662024-01-07T23:39:00.000-08:002024-01-10T22:47:35.140-08:00Some Thoughts on the Warriors Roster<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguHaDktmbVHkIMXDtzhAMEYYm7gmP31VRkcGWbBhY2IdzS_KNCDCmMjaBUNJPEh2rBrB0mIQj5Q4iq5HndyxX0wjx8w9Y6Pyl0V0X9Wu4A6LQl1a39n1qGXdf1TRgK2NK6VlJRQPmPHomGb3EzBlKiMR2RS8WeQQT_JOQbt0IyMq_UEXLEUB4Eas9jaZ0/s707/Steph.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="707" height="507" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguHaDktmbVHkIMXDtzhAMEYYm7gmP31VRkcGWbBhY2IdzS_KNCDCmMjaBUNJPEh2rBrB0mIQj5Q4iq5HndyxX0wjx8w9Y6Pyl0V0X9Wu4A6LQl1a39n1qGXdf1TRgK2NK6VlJRQPmPHomGb3EzBlKiMR2RS8WeQQT_JOQbt0IyMq_UEXLEUB4Eas9jaZ0/w580-h507/Steph.jpg" width="580" /></a></div><p></p><p>Dang, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve written a sports-related blog post. The last time I wrote about my beloved Warriors, I correctly predicted that they would beat the Celtics <a href="https://juanalvaradovaldivia.blogspot.com/2022/06/warriors-celtics-nba-finals-preview-and.html" target="_blank">in six games</a> in the 2022 NBA Finals.<br /><br />It feels like we’re at a critical juncture for this franchise. The dynasty is over, and what a run we had: four chips and six Finals appearances in eight years; nine playoff appearances in the past eleven NBA seasons, and since the Steve Kerr era began in 2015, last season was the first time they failed to make it out of the Western Conference in the playoffs.<br /><br /><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p>When we started this season 6-2 and the vibes were all good, I began to entertain the idea that we just might be a title contender…and that quickly unraveled like all the big leads we’ve blown this season. At this juncture, there’s absolutely no realistic hope that we can hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2024. Shit, making the Play-in Tournament feels like it would be an accomplishment for this team. Nabbing the 5th or 6th seed in the Western Conference is the absolute ceiling for this roster as presently constructed.<br /><br />This season, I don’t think there’s a blockbuster trade that can catapult us into contention. With Steph still playing at a high level, I think the best we can realistically hope for is to dramatically remake the roster to compete for a title next season. It’s clear that we’re no longer in 2022 when we simply had to build the team correctly around the margins to give our team a chance to win it all.<br /><br />What should the Warriors do with their glut of average- to above-average scrubs? Here’s what I think.<br /><br /><b>Keepers</b>: <br /><br /><u>Guards</u>: Steph, Podziemski, GPII, Moody<br /><u>Forwards</u>: Šarić<br /><u>Centers</u>: TJD, Looney<br /><br /><u>Guards</u><br />At guard, obviously the team should keep Steph until the day he retires. Steph is a 6’3 version of Tim Duncan, the Big Fundamental; though he nearly left San Antonio for Orlando in 2000, the Spurs never let Timmy go. Selfless, all-time generational players who can elevate an entire franchise only come around so often.<br /><br />Podz is arguably the steal of the 2023 NBA Draft. A few weeks ago, Kevin O’Connor posited that Podziemski should probably go “<a href="https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1739387127220383978" target="_blank">as high as 3rd and not any lower than 7th</a>” if there was a re-draft today. For a twenty-year-old, he has uncanny basketball IQ and feel for the game. On a rookie contract for a player selected 19th, he is an incredible asset for the team. He has already shown that he can play with our old heads or our youthful second unit.<br /><br />Though Young Glove has missed more games than played games the past two seasons, dating back to his brief tenure in Portland, I think he’s too valuable to the Warriors if he can stay healthy. With his latest injury, his trade value is at rock bottom, so trading him now wouldn’t be worthwhile, IMHO. For vibes alone, GPII is a great person to have on our bench and in our locker room. When healthy, he’s still one of the best on-ball defenders in the NBA. We have no one on the team who can defend on the perimeter like him; in a conference with De’Aaron Fox and Ja Morant—to name just two quick, shifty point guards—it’s critical to have an elite perimeter defender on our roster. It’s a gamble to keep him and his +8 million dollar per year contract, but I think at this point it’s the best play for Warriors management.<br /><br />A few weeks back, a reader on The Athletic commented that Moses Moody could become the sixth best player on a championship team, but probably not on our team. I wholeheartedly agree. At 21, he has uncanny poise and maturity; he’s the opposite of Jordan Poole, who is currently dead last in +/- <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDunkCentral/status/1743682822538207242" target="_blank">with a -342</a>. Though Moody’s playing time has been sparse the past few weeks, he was recently <a href="https://x.com/ShaynaRubin/status/1610197867523878913?s=20" target="_blank">filmed practicing jump shots</a> well past midnight after a loss at home. This is the type of young role player we need to put around Steph. In the opening weeks of this season, his 3-point shot was butter. If he can regain it—and I believe he can—he can be a reliable two-way player this team desperately needs to get back into contention.<br /><br />Amongst guards, Klay is the wild card for me. If he’s willing to return to the team after this season on a reasonable contract—and my hunch is he will—I think he can still be of value to this team. Personally, I think his days of a being an automatic starter should be over because we can’t trot out a top-10 defense with two below-average defenders in our backcourt (and we have won four titles when we had an elite defense). If Klay is really willing to embody all the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w93XYJ8i-i8" target="_blank">exceptionally candid remarks</a> he recently made, then he could be a positive for this team and its next iteration.<br /><br /><u>Forwards</u> <br />Of the forwards on our roster, the only one I think the Warriors should absolutely retain for the rest of this season is Dario Šarić—unless he requests to be traded to a legit contender. As expected, he’s been a good fit for the Warriors motion offense. He’s been a good veteran presence for our team. If we traded him without his consent, it’d be poor form for Warriors management since he took less money to play for our team on a one-year deal. That would be detrimental toward signing future veteran free agents.<br /><br />As I’ve noted <a href="https://juanalvaradovaldivia.blogspot.com/2019/11/my-top-five-favorite-warriors-of-this_14.html" target="_blank">before on this blog</a>, Draymond Green has been one of my all-time favorite Warriors. At this moment, I don’t feel like I can step out of the house donning my Money Green T-shirt. I’d be too embarrassed. I couldn’t and wouldn’t want to defend this man, so that’s how I feel about him now.<br /><br />If the Lakers or another team aspiring for contention wants to trade for him, I’d be very open to that. How can anyone on this team—including management—trust him anymore? I wouldn’t. <br /><br />My guess is Warriors management won’t move him before the trade deadline; I think they’ll begrudgingly hope that he’ll play at a high level the rest of this season, keep out of trouble, recuperate his value and then they’ll trade him in the offseason. If they can’t swing a good trade for him before the deadline, that’s the dicey path I would take.<br /><br />As for Wiggs and Kuminga, it feels a bit like 2012 when Monta Ellis and Steph were competing for minutes at the point guard position. It feels like the time has come for the Warriors to make a decision on their long-term starter at the small forward position. It’s a tough decision because Wiggins trade value is kaput right now. What franchise would give up real assets to take a chance on him? The Warriors managed his extended absence last season in an exemplary fashion; on our team, he’s been perfectly cast as a high-level role player versus a franchise star. He found the ideal franchise so if he can’t succeed here, why would he play better elsewhere? To boot, Wiggins is turning 29 next month. He should still be in his prime, but he’s having the worst season of his career. Since December, his 3-point shooting percentage has creeped back up, and he shot a scorching 90.3% from the charity stripe in December, but we’re still far away from his beastly two-month run during the 2022 NBA Playoffs.<br /><br />Other than Steph, JKu is our most valuable asset. Raptors GM Masai Ujiri is rightly targeting him in a potential trade for Pascal Siakam, but the Warriors are rightly <a href="https://x.com/esidery/status/1743858896907714846?s=20" target="_blank">not willing to include him in such a trade</a>.<br /><br />As far as I’m concerned, the single most critical question the entire Warriors franchise must be asking itself is what kind of team does it want to be in the next 2-3 seasons? Do they want to try to contend for a championship, or would they rather aim to be a competitive team during that period? The answer to this question has a multitude of implications including:<br /><br />Do we re-sign Steve Kerr?<br /><br />Do we keep Draymond?<br /><br />If we keep Steve Kerr as our coach, I think that has implications for Jonathan Kuminga because the two of them seem incongruent; we now have a three-year sample, and I just don’t trust that Steve Kerr will ever maximize Kuminga’s potential. In 2024, with a sub-.500 record since we won the 2022 NBA title in June 2022, I think Kerr has shown that he’s more Phil Jackson than Gregg Popovich, who adapted his team’s style of play to capture a fifth title in 2014.<br /><br /><u>Centers</u> <br />Dunleavy nailed his first two draft picks as the Warriors new GM. With his size, energy, athleticism, and high basketball IQ, I think TJD has already supplanted Loon Dawg as the most dynamic center on our roster. As our beat writers have noted, Looney just inexplicably seems to be missing juice on D and in crashing the boards this season. He’s still pivotal to our team chemistry, which is partly why the Warriors value him far more than any other team, but TJD should be getting more minutes than him from now on. This team sorely needs his shot-blocking presence in the paint and the rim-rolling threat he provides on offense. With his team-friendly rookie contract, TJD is a valuable asset on a team that presently has five top-heavy contracts.<br /><br /><b>So what should the Warriors do? </b><br /><br />After this latest blowout loss at home, it’s clear there’s no way this team is contending for a title this season. And there’s no single solution to ail our problems because we have a multitude of issues on this team, including a dearth of leadership without Mike Brown, Andre Iguodala, and even Draymond on the court.<br /><br />In a way, I think we’re inhabiting terrain similar to the 2012-2013 season when Steph was a third-year player, Klay was a second-year player, and we had some talent on the roster but we were a long way from contention. We’re several moves away.<br /><br />If I were Warriors management, I wouldn’t make a rash, big trade before the trade deadline, like going after Pascal Siakam. Make a smaller move that gets the needle moving in the right direction and play the rest of this season out. Stopping playing Wiggins if he doesn’t earn the minutes! (He’s a negative <a href="https://twitter.com/bigkino217/status/1744485969368387766?s=20" target="_blank">playing alongside <i>anyone</i></a> on this fucking team.) </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOn0YINCxyF97rePxL6zLAhG03WPqDdbb5jKH_jXbgkETVtDCaWYJlMrDCHyRuRTQ6PcP5ciou5LbIyB_QC8EkPxasowbt7COwAbXWRc9awoSgKc093C_4lZ78ZhBghiXwAKEtP8TBBFDDafIGJPtZS6spdYP8al1SrD8DW7-fSGe-Lto0m27eyXzP2I/s958/Wiggins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="958" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOn0YINCxyF97rePxL6zLAhG03WPqDdbb5jKH_jXbgkETVtDCaWYJlMrDCHyRuRTQ6PcP5ciou5LbIyB_QC8EkPxasowbt7COwAbXWRc9awoSgKc093C_4lZ78ZhBghiXwAKEtP8TBBFDDafIGJPtZS6spdYP8al1SrD8DW7-fSGe-Lto0m27eyXzP2I/w493-h450/Wiggins.jpg" width="493" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snapshot provided on 1/8/2024 by <a href="https://x.com/bigkino217/status/1744485969368387766?s=20" target="_blank"><span><span class="css-1qaijid r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0 r-poiln3" style="text-overflow: unset;">@bigkino217</span></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p><p></p><p>Play the young guys to see what we’ve really got. See if a lineup with Steph, Kuminga, Draymond, TJD at the 5 and either Klay or Moody at shooting guard can stabilize our rotations. We’ll have more flexibility next season to make more moves: Klay and CP3’s contracts will be off the books, if we want to move on from them; if he recovers some value, we could trade Draymond in the offseason and probably get back more value. We could try to move on from Kerr and head in a different direction altogether.<br /><br />What’s the type of small move we can make that can get us going back in the right direction? Trade for someone who is taller than 6’5, for starters! Going back to last season, we need length and athleticism on this team. I like TJD, but after he got abused by Valančiūnas tonight and struggled to grab boards against fellow rookie Derek Lively (TJD had 6 rebounds in 29 minutes to Lively’s 14 rebounds in 35 minutes) about two weeks ago and then recently got manhandled by Denver’s frontcourt, I think it’s clear he’s not an optimal starting center in the NBA. We need a young center who can run up and down the court and swat and alter shots in the paint like Jarrett Allen or Nic Claxton. Getting a player like Allen or Claxton can help us build a competent defense without Draymond if management decides we’re done with him.<br /><br />We need two-way players! In our early dynastic years, that was one of our advantages: we usually had more two-way players than our opposition, and we oftentimes also had <i>better </i>two-way players. That’s not the case now and why Kerr is struggling to find a lineup that is a net positive. The Warriors need 3-and-D wings who can stay on the court and knock down open 3s like Dorian Finney-Smith. We need a selfless, swiss-army knife-type player who can defend multiple positions and help connect this team on offense like Otto Porter did for our last championship run. A player like Nicolas Batum would be perfect for a Kerr team, but we’ve swung and missed on him several seasons now, but that’s the type of player this team sorely misses. (And Kuminga seems reluctant to be this Shawn Marion-type of player.)<br /><br />This team has a lot of questions to answer. I think the best thing Dunleavy can do is sit tight, don't put all your chips in this season, and play this out. With more answers by the end of this season, we'll be in a better place to assess what needs to be done to get us back in contention.<br /></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-50753923389641836072023-12-29T10:57:00.000-08:002023-12-29T10:57:29.698-08:0020 Things I’ve Learned Over the Past Four Years<p> (My perspective is from living in the United States, the premier capitalist hellscape on Planet Earth):</p><p> </p><p>1. Most people are really selfish.<br /> </p><p>2. Most people don’t care about others, including family, friends, and colleagues.<br /> </p><p>3. Most parents don’t actually love and care for their children as much as they feign over social media. When people say they’ll do anything for their children, that’s bullshit.<br /></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p> </p><p>4. Most people are willing to risk their lives and their health and the lives and health of others rather than relinquish their privileges, such as dining at a restaurant to have other people serve them, or vacation or travel via airplane.<br /> </p><p>5. Individualist societies are indeed poorly positioned to respond to a pandemic driven by a highly-infectious virus.<br /> </p><p>6. A person’s level of education does not directly correlate to their ability to make sound decisions.<br /> </p><p>7. Most people seemingly lack a basic understanding of statistics and probabilities.<br /> </p><p>8. A lot more people are far more stupid than I previously thought, including esteemed professionals such as physicians, nurses, teachers, professors, journalists, and writers.<br /> </p><p>9. Public health is political. Its institutions exist to serve the capitalist system, not its people.<br /> </p><p>10. Gaslighting and propaganda are incredibly effective tools for controlling a populace, especially a constant deluge doled out over an extended period of time.<br /> </p><p>11. The need to conform is greater than our instinct for self-preservation. The majority of humans will conform to the norms around them, even if it jeopardizes their life and health.<br /> </p><p>12. Most people are infatuated with mediocrity and readily welcome it. For example, most people will put their life and health at risk to experience an inferior version of the life we lived in the Before Times.<br /> </p><p>13. Most people are incapable of taking a step back from a complex, societal-level predicament to foresee or consider a host of detrimental consequences stemming from decisions solely focused on the short run.<br /> </p><p>14. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has exacerbated problems that already existed, including those at the societal and personal level.<br /> </p><p>15. In a world where a Biosafety Level 3 pathogen freely circulates through our communities, the social contract no longer exists.<br /> </p><p>16. The overwhelming majority of people would rather be ignorant instead of informed of the severe problems we face.<br /> </p><p>17. Toxic positivity is like a form of faith, and most people will rely and function from it instead of what we collectively learn from science.<br /> </p><p>18. Man’s hubris is truly boundless.<br /> </p><p>19. The overwhelming majority of humans are reluctant or incapable of adapting to calamities unless presented with no other choice.<br /> </p><p>20. In terms of near-future climate change mitigation, we are absolutely positively fucking screwed as a species.<br /></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-6669480549573767772023-08-30T23:27:00.003-07:002023-10-22T14:04:54.566-07:00Biggest Regret<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_onUXTsjqsVKm4zDJZvGw2w38S9AHfc-Mxv1ouad6hq0Whjs5odc8zuFoxELyIoukMynQeOpmu3BG5rK6dLKndYwWzdKD_T3m0GNgpPQswufIKptMkrJBaggPk5mX9BkCVNqJsl5yTkM/s437/Cliff+Em+All.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="437" height="441" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_onUXTsjqsVKm4zDJZvGw2w38S9AHfc-Mxv1ouad6hq0Whjs5odc8zuFoxELyIoukMynQeOpmu3BG5rK6dLKndYwWzdKD_T3m0GNgpPQswufIKptMkrJBaggPk5mX9BkCVNqJsl5yTkM/w606-h441/Cliff+Em+All.png" width="606" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pride of Castro Valley: Cliff Burton<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>I have my regrets from this one life I will live; things I’ve done and said that I wish I could rewind and undo so they never happened. In this, the year of the Lord 2023, I feel like the biggest regret in my life is that I never really played in a band. Man, what a miss—and I feel like it’s too late at this point to aspire for, and playing in a band just isn’t the same thing it was in the Before Times (before, you know, that virus no one wants to talk about came into our lives).<br /></p><a name='more'></a><br />In the forty-four years I’ve been blessed and fortunate to live on this astounding planet we’ve thrown into disarray, I feel like music is the closest thing to actual magic I will ever witness. When I listen to an astounding song, I feel like I’m engaging with humanity at its finest. That’s how much I revere really fucking good music, the first artistic form I came to love.<br /><br />In my mid-20s, I saw a lot of bands when I lived in San Francisco. Back then, I wanted to be in a band. That desire has consistently existed within me since my teens when I putzed around and played electric bass in a band with friends from high school. During my quarterlife years, the three things that deterred me from starting up a band or joining one was: <br /><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>I had so many musical interests but I couldn’t determine one genre I could commit to playing (which is stupid because a bunch of musicians have side projects), </li><li>I was more interested in being a writer or a filmmaker and figured I wouldn’t be really good at any of them if I didn’t fully commit to one, and </li><li>I lacked the inner belief and determination needed to be a really good musician.</li></ol><p>It wasn’t until I turned thirty-six and my first book was published that my inner confidence rose to a level requisite to turn myself into a focused, driven musician. And then, only two years back did I figure out what kind of band I’d really like to play in: a proto-punk band à la The Stooges that could eventually evolve into a post-punk band like Killing Joke, which could then blossom in a number of delectable musical directions, like industrial metal, or an assortment of other metal genres. I could’ve been a bad motherfucker bassist with raucous backing vocals—something like John Paul Jones meets Jason Newsted circa 1989. A steady anchor for the band. A high-energy role player who would physically give his all at live gigs. <br /><br />That could’ve been me.<br /><br />I believe it now, but it’s too late.<br /><br />But it’s okay.<br /></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-18781710356061460112023-08-11T22:52:00.003-07:002023-08-11T23:04:01.245-07:00Today's Generation<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6ivzME-7VaeJvGlsNUejD6mjQn3do_mSTmqOBVTdh9PBgKhfQHK4o-fd28BmWBr7gPgFrPSbSR3RHNQGAs2gd73dDMMGlAKW_TJ1xBIfJMYWGLa2roc24X_8CWfqBhWgaBL8uN_2iJynB3RJZh3yRPSGAPWLCaOuEG_emgu2YNmcBx3GAoyBiVBWxvM/s3039/357375770_1fe8586162_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2014" data-original-width="3039" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6ivzME-7VaeJvGlsNUejD6mjQn3do_mSTmqOBVTdh9PBgKhfQHK4o-fd28BmWBr7gPgFrPSbSR3RHNQGAs2gd73dDMMGlAKW_TJ1xBIfJMYWGLa2roc24X_8CWfqBhWgaBL8uN_2iJynB3RJZh3yRPSGAPWLCaOuEG_emgu2YNmcBx3GAoyBiVBWxvM/w640-h424/357375770_1fe8586162_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sashomasho/" target="_blank">alex yosifov</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Born in 1979, I am a proud member of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xennials" target="_blank">Xennials</a>—or the Oregon Trail Generation—a micro-generation born between 1977 to 1983 that had “an analog childhood and digital young adulthood,” according to its Wikipedia entry. Since last year, I have periodically wondered what my son’s micro-generation will be dubbed. He was born less than three years before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic started in late 2019. He and other children born before or just after 2015 fleetingly experienced life without a Biosafety Level 3 virus actively circulating throughout the planet; they briefly inhabited a planet before catastrophes and weather anomalies resulting from climate change became a regular occurrence. <br /><br />Generation Doomed?<br /><br />Generation Fucked?<br /><br />Or, The Final Generation?<br /></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-64460834945829775692023-07-01T22:45:00.002-07:002023-07-01T22:49:58.722-07:00Kindergarten Graduation<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibThADVCPl3kwPwnqtDCT3sV9YcKbnjjnjIkUujrG2RAsS83ilLKejGuU-j2AL7knt6ZlPKR2I8R7PR361k7Z1QiKYZQ53AhtMHoxP30gL8Y6HA29fqNuZBTusH_Phz9SVtw7cIzGhDpEA3e5DL054XgwTMR1jN-tffMWwi0oCJOy1RzTdRuwu9gXiqtw/s4592/P1120718.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3448" data-original-width="4592" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibThADVCPl3kwPwnqtDCT3sV9YcKbnjjnjIkUujrG2RAsS83ilLKejGuU-j2AL7knt6ZlPKR2I8R7PR361k7Z1QiKYZQ53AhtMHoxP30gL8Y6HA29fqNuZBTusH_Phz9SVtw7cIzGhDpEA3e5DL054XgwTMR1jN-tffMWwi0oCJOy1RzTdRuwu9gXiqtw/w640-h480/P1120718.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Yesterday my six-year-old son graduated from kindergarten during the Age of SARS-CoV-2. Oh, man, what a school year. I can’t believe we made it through unscathed and evaded the virus practically everyone pretends doesn’t exist or affect us anymore.<br /></p><a name='more'></a>Back in August 2022, the day he was supposed to start at a public elementary school my wife had worked hard to get him enrolled into, I called their office to remove him from the school. The day before, his school had held an open house for incoming kindergarten students and their families. The school’s two kindergarten teachers were unmasked the entire time. In my son’s prospective classroom, none of the cheap air purifiers the school had purchased were turned on while 40-50 parents and children piled into the kindergarten classroom as though it was a royal rumble wrestling match. The classroom had ample windows they could have opened and not a single one had been opened. (The only mitigation tactic they employed was keeping the front and back doors open.) In a short period of time, it was abundantly clear that the school and my son’s prospective kindergarten teacher either had no idea how a highly-infectious airborne virus like SARS-CoV-2 readily transmits, and/or they had no interest in doing everything they could to prevent students and staff from getting infected. I knew if we kept our son in that school that he would get infected. To date, with absolutely no effective treatments for Long COVID, getting infected even once a year is not sustainable.<br /><br />Though I knew it would be hard, I was ready to pivot and tag-team homeschooling with my wife whilst keeping our full-time remote jobs. But then she scoped out a local Montessori school that at the time was conducting temperature checks of anyone who set foot into their school. Their school also had a mask mandate for all students. Their classrooms had air purifiers that they were actually using. The school also used an app for parents to sign their students in and out every school day, which allowed staff to screen students for any symptoms or recent exposures to people infected with COVID-19. The classroom teachers were vigilant about calling parents to pick up their kids if they displayed any symptoms of illness. To boot, the kindergarten teachers for my son’s classroom were both masking, and the school’s staff were also masking. From a safety standpoint, which was—as far as I’m concerned—the most critical aspect of an elementary school for my son, this school was a vast improvement over the public elementary school whose kindergarten classrooms were bound to become viral petri dishes.<br /><br />Not even a full week after our son started attending this private school, we received an exposure notice from the school that an individual in his classroom had tested positive for COVID-19, or was in isolation due to experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. From other parents, I had heard of these exposure notices, but it didn’t prepare my wife and I for how on edge it put us. Then, weeks after the school year started, the school removed its mask mandate in accordance with Alameda County mask mandate orders. 🙃<br /><br />I was ready to pull our son out of this school, but my wife was reluctant. Our seven-year-old niece had masked and made it through two school years without getting infected.<br /><br />Back in September 2022, after the school’s mask mandate was dropped, roughly half of the children and parents of this Montessori school in the San Francisco Bay Area were masking. And then, ten months later and at least six absence periods due to illness later (including one really bad illness that my wife and I suspect was RSV), my son graduated from his kindergarten class and he’s damn near the only motherfucker in the entire school—including staff—who is regularly masking. Even with my cynical nature, I could’ve never anticipated this would happen when my son first start at this school. Modern pandemic time is like early child development time: there’s so many changes in short periods of time.<br /><br />Our son is actually looking forward to his new Montessori school where he’ll attend school five days a week instead of three days a week for only three hours. Believe me, this is a certifiable evolution from ten months ago when we dropped him off at school to be cared for by people who were not family for the first time in his entire life. But like so many others nowadays, the school’s Director of Mental Health refers to the pandemic in the past tense (“Even after COVID,” she said to my wife and I during an introductory meeting with school staff). My wife and I also toured the school earlier this year and consistently saw that staff never opened windows throughout the school to promote more fresh air despite the pleasant spring weather. <br /><br />It's 2023. <br /><br />Everything continues to fall apart at a seemingly accelerated rate.<br /><br />I still don’t know what the fuck we’re doing sending our only child to a school.<p></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-8232575142868749162023-02-24T13:59:00.001-08:002023-02-24T14:00:56.100-08:00Life-altering Moments at Artist Residencies<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzP0VBlJ9k21GgW9Dgk5-2oQhqBUYn3M0UkmceMMdaRXTR9wF_YHNvLbbugTMI9bd4O-vlzfelYDXHhGFIufBgeERZOvsVw80wNMly_u7yM-15MKm0MQnv1jFu_mOcCHfELhJLVFS_g0Ck5V8kCgjPoayLQ_J0WhFynn8o5V4-O5xJ5X-ZTph2ry3-/s1600/God's%20Country.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzP0VBlJ9k21GgW9Dgk5-2oQhqBUYn3M0UkmceMMdaRXTR9wF_YHNvLbbugTMI9bd4O-vlzfelYDXHhGFIufBgeERZOvsVw80wNMly_u7yM-15MKm0MQnv1jFu_mOcCHfELhJLVFS_g0Ck5V8kCgjPoayLQ_J0WhFynn8o5V4-O5xJ5X-ZTph2ry3-/w528-h396/God's%20Country.JPG" width="528" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">northern New Mexico, 2011</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>In June 2010, three months after a PET scan showed no cancerous activity in my body, <a href="https://wurlitzerfoundation.org/" target="_blank">The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico</a> awarded me with my first artist residency. Then, on January 27, 2011, bulky luggage in hand, a guitar bag strapped around my shoulder, snowflakes fluttering through the night sky, I set foot in Taos for a six-week residency. I was living in San Francisco at the time, sharing a flat with three roommates. After ridding my body of Hodgkin lymphoma with over half a year of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, it was my first adventure away from the city where my body had manifested a blood cancer.<br /><br />The Wurlitzer Foundation provided me with a home: Casita 9n on quiet Burch Street. The tiny adobe home was nestled beneath cottonwood trees. The casita’s backdoor opened to a snow-covered field. Every day, scores of crows and magpies squawked and flew about the trees that had sprouted from this land. Albeit fleeting, it was the first home of my own. I was thirty-one years old.<br /><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>A few weeks after I had settled into the crisp wintry air and rhythms of the rural town, after I had plunged into the memoir I was writing, I rented a car to explore the high desert beyond Taos. Locals called that part of northern New Mexico “God’s Country.” As I drove north on Highway 64, I gazed upon the surrounding landscape: the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the unbelievably vast sky above, the sun glimmering through gray cloudscape. I teared up. I was alive. I was healthy. I had been graced with this opportunity to see and breathe in this immaculate landscape that felt like home to my very marrow.<br /><p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DySq7K2zRiufFzqOdYJqwNQACPV1KN0-eiww4ivOY8B1h-dCRSHs-W-ELa6zXOUakJy2zmTVHlRB-YteN7jLm14-lFWILTfNus3U2vGGCLjzZu76Jc6HKkdf_2ICJT1kMJ-GDkqxqxTQjQ-y9akCZkD9ARik7yB0tM2fDZDGGcblutZjs8KHwBsZ/s1600/typical%20morning.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DySq7K2zRiufFzqOdYJqwNQACPV1KN0-eiww4ivOY8B1h-dCRSHs-W-ELa6zXOUakJy2zmTVHlRB-YteN7jLm14-lFWILTfNus3U2vGGCLjzZu76Jc6HKkdf_2ICJT1kMJ-GDkqxqxTQjQ-y9akCZkD9ARik7yB0tM2fDZDGGcblutZjs8KHwBsZ/w400-h300/typical%20morning.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">self-portrait: typical morning at Casita 9n</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>My time at Casita 9n provided ample time to sit alone with myself. It provided the solitude needed to reflect on the ordeal I had weathered. My wounds were still fresh. I was in the long process of healing. Through my memoir, I was figuring out what to make of that tumultuous epoch and who I wanted to be in my rebirth.<br /><br />Once I left New Mexico and returned to San Francisco, I was changed. For some time, I had yearned to live on my own. The residency in Taos validated that the solitude and autonomy I had with a home of my own was exactly what I needed in that precarious juncture in my life. As a result, a few months later, I left San Francisco—a city I had loved and called home for seven years—and moved to the sunny side of the bay.<br /><br />Five years later, on the last day of a three-week winter residency at the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts in southern Wyoming, my wife texted to ask if I had read her last email. It wasn’t like her to be cryptic, so I immediately opened my inbox. I found a picture of a ClearBlue pregnancy test that read: PREGNANT. My jaw dropped. I rapidly blinked as though my eyelids were windshield wipers in a thunderstorm and leaned toward the laptop screen and squinted at the image to confirm what I thought it said (and meant). She was pregnant! HOLY SHIT! My immediate reaction was joy and excitement with a tinge of disbelief because a few months after I was declared cancer-free, I took a sperm test at the encouragement of my then-girlfriend and the sperm counts were low. I wasn’t quite sterile, but I wasn’t far from it. My first oncologist had told me that chemotherapy had a small chance of making me sterile. I took the risk and opted to not freeze my sperm before I began treatment. I placed the prolongment of my genetic seed in the hands of the cosmos. Years later, through a pixelated image I received in my Hotmail inbox, I received my answer.<br /><br />On our last night at Brush Creek’s artist camp, I sat on a log in a snow-covered field with many of the artists I had befriended. We hunched over a crackling fire, its light dancing on our faces. I shared my good news with them. They congratulated me. As I sat with them, staring into the flickering flames, I felt content, like I was exactly where I should be in that moment of my life. But I also felt a weight upon me. I figured it would be a while before I had an experience like this with another band of fellow artists.<br /><br />And I was right.<br /><br />Three and a half years later, in a remote corner of northern Wyoming, I met and joined another motley group of artists over a sumptuous dinner at the <a href="https://www.ucrossfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Ucross Foundation</a>. My wife and our rainbow child were thirteen-hundred miles away. Ever since he was born two years before, I had never been away from him for more than a day, so it was peculiar to be there by myself—a solitary unit, all of a sudden. It was weird to sleep in a room by myself. I had a hard time falling asleep without my son by my side, without the owl-shaped sound machine I didn’t realize until then that I had grown accustomed to.<br /><br />On my first sun-filled morning at Ucross, I felt so light and happy to cross paths and chat with a couple of the other artists. As always, it was exhilarating to have the opportunity to put my day job aside for a brief period of time to completely focus on what I love. It felt great to be among other creatives again. It was rejuvenating to have a chunk of time to myself to be just myself. Fatherhood had consumed me. For over two years, my artistic self had been mostly shelved. In large part, he had to stand past the curtains circling the stage. It was invigorating to welcome him back onstage. To be fully reunited with him.<br /><br />Amidst a group of ten fellow artists, I inevitably met other parents. They were much further along in their parental journeys; their children were already adults. But in short time, I found that I absolutely loved talking about my son when they would ask about him, or when something would come up in our chats that brought him to mind. It was a gift to be temporarily relieved of my everyday fatherly duties to concentrate on my writing, but it was useful to understand this didn’t mean I stopped being a dad just because my son wasn’t around. It feels a bit silly to say this, but I didn’t realize this distinction until I was there in Wyoming, far from him.<br /><br />Since 2019, our world has changed. My world has felt even smaller the past three years. I yearn to be back in the ephemeral and curious world of artist residencies amongst kindred creative spirits. It is an immense privilege to be a part of those spaces. I hunger to bring my artistic self back into the spotlight. I long for the next adventure.<br /><p></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-31693211681383553972022-12-28T22:14:00.003-08:002022-12-28T22:29:54.590-08:00End-of-the-Year Blues<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-J5fHglbth_w7aH3Jku9E3lXcFH7kanUlc5ycDKVf5WNwiU6jJXd4xVps6WSWwzQ37QRByzKq38jOcxIzu44czaNFOCjP_j3FviHwVvyvtenM2RCHt_Q8rL4mZR6aDvEgcVYboz8IqBvpWXVDyeYpU97F4G-XaKm_1XGVDdDXJioZGraMrqVp8HYO/s6000/50938991712_8cdd2c3e2a_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3826" data-original-width="6000" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-J5fHglbth_w7aH3Jku9E3lXcFH7kanUlc5ycDKVf5WNwiU6jJXd4xVps6WSWwzQ37QRByzKq38jOcxIzu44czaNFOCjP_j3FviHwVvyvtenM2RCHt_Q8rL4mZR6aDvEgcVYboz8IqBvpWXVDyeYpU97F4G-XaKm_1XGVDdDXJioZGraMrqVp8HYO/w640-h408/50938991712_8cdd2c3e2a_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winter chills by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wirral_dave/" target="_blank">dbolan_wir</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>During the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the last full week of the year is when I struggle the most as I naturally reflect on what happened and what may be coming. In 2020, a <a href="https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/work-environment/health-safety/disaster-preparedness/coronavirus/what-you-need-to-know/covid-19-vaccine-survey/" target="_blank">survey of the American Nurses Association</a>—the largest such association in the United States—provided demoralizing results in regards to their “nurses’ knowledge of and attitude toward COVID-19 vaccine development.” Only 34% of their nurses said they would voluntarily vaccinate themselves against COVID-19. Around that time, similar polls with disheartening results for long-term care facility workers were also being reported. A few articles had already been written about how we have never been able to gain durable immunity against a coronavirus. Then, on December 30, 2020, a then-record 125,220 hospitalizations and 3,903 COVID-19 deaths had been reported in the United States. Meanwhile, on my Instagram feed, many of my friends and family members were outwardly pumped and looking forward to getting past 2020 but I thought, for what? This coronavirus pandemic wouldn’t magically end at the turning of the calendar. Instead of optimism for the year to come, all these pandemic-related metrics just made me downright depressed.<br /><br /><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>At the end of 2020, with the rollout of Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines, there was a glimmer of hope that the pandemic could end. Herd immunity still seemed achievable. But by the end of 2021, with the Omicron variant generating a record number of infections globally—including reinfections at a far higher rate than previous iterations of the virus—it seemed clear to those who were paying attention to the pandemic instead of those who were buying a truckload of sand to bury their heads in that it would likely never end. Or at least not any time in the near future. <br /><br />As 2022 winds down, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that <a href="https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2022/11/07/COVID-Reinfections-And-Immunity/" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 infections deplete our immune system</a>. It’s becoming clearer and clearer that SARS-CoV-2 reinfections are <a href="https://www.webmd.com/covid/news/20221111/repeat-covid-infection-doubles-risk-of-death" target="_blank">detrimental to our overall health</a>. Each week and month, more and more ominous studies and papers about the devastating impacts of SARS-CoV-2 infections are being published in journals such as Nature Medicine, The Lancet, and Science. In year three of this pandemic, with an ever-growing number of people with multiple SARS-CoV-2 infections, I fear that the worst is yet to come—and coming soon. I fear many will be in for the rudest awakening in the coming two years. People are going to realize that the CDC and our government has purposely downplayed the detrimental effects of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Many will suffer from Long COVID after having too many infections. And I’m afraid we’re going to see an uptick in sudden deaths resulting from prior SARS-CoV-2 infections. Perhaps worst, I’m fearful many children and adolescents with multiple SARS-CoV-2 infections will suffer and be disabled from Long COVID—or flat out die from complications of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-021-00656-2" target="_blank">immune dysregulation</a> caused by SARS-CoV-2 infections.<br /><br />Next year, I fear we’ll have a Pandemic of Sudden Deaths. By 2024, the way we’re trending, we’ll have a Pandemic of Mass Disablement (and a pandemic of people saying, Oh Shit! It wasn’t mild!) and a Pandemic of Kids Dying from Common Childhood Illnesses.<br /><br />And then, a Pandemic of Regret.<br /><br /><p></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-72586430841414909812022-11-27T21:06:00.006-08:002022-12-26T15:04:51.087-08:00My Pandemic Experience as a Lymphoma Survivor<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJwlDhfwi-KNQOxktIvjXex8SxvjC9NSYxn-xYok6CJGYfnGu7WyVAgkHOIIutD0XT6nk7e3trL8xDc-eJqvLo_FmiBNKeEYCCceN17J1CwHbWrYGEgY_eqkqjMSiX9NvQ0SjA3cU-_mjZ1A571qXWd6DAQVPACsYxny5XQO22sMjtMU5_3-P4kRbn/s3680/101_1133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2760" data-original-width="3680" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJwlDhfwi-KNQOxktIvjXex8SxvjC9NSYxn-xYok6CJGYfnGu7WyVAgkHOIIutD0XT6nk7e3trL8xDc-eJqvLo_FmiBNKeEYCCceN17J1CwHbWrYGEgY_eqkqjMSiX9NvQ0SjA3cU-_mjZ1A571qXWd6DAQVPACsYxny5XQO22sMjtMU5_3-P4kRbn/w556-h417/101_1133.JPG" width="556" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">11th chemotherapy infusion, November 2009</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p>October 29, 2022 <br /></p><p>As I write this, my mother is far away in our homeland of Perú, visiting family for the first time since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic began. I felt emotional when I hugged her goodbye before her trip. I wish I could’ve gone with her. Since 2020, I have ached to return to my ancestral homeland. I want to see my extended family before it might be too late.<br /></p><p>Through social media and personal anecdotes, I can see that most of my family—my immediate family and the vast one in Perú—are exercising less precaution now from getting infected with this virus. I imagine many of them think I am excessive with my preventative behavior—if they knew about it. (i.e., not dining indoors; not hitting up the bars; avoiding air travel; avoiding elevators when possible; wearing high-quality respirator masks in any public indoor space; pissing outdoors to avoid public restrooms; utilizing a carbon dioxide monitor to assess indoor air quality.) I know my own mother thinks I am too extreme with my precaution—that I’m reading too much about SARS-CoV-2 and the multitude of effects it has caused in our societies. <br /></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>Since the beginning of this pandemic, my instinctual response has derived from my experience as a lymphoma survivor in my early thirties (which was a long-ass time ago). That’s what so many of my friends and family members without a personal history of personal illness are incapable of viscerally understanding. I was seriously ill for over a year. I know what it feels like to wake every day to that reality. I know what it’s like to endure months of treatment. I know what it’s like to feel like your body has betrayed you. I know what it’s like to have a single overwhelming desire in life, which is to simply be <i>normal</i> again—to be completely healthy. I know that desperation, all too well, which is why I’ve had no interest whatsofuckingever in revisiting it during this pandemic.<br /></p><p>Long COVID scares the shit out of me. On Twitter, I’ve read too many harrowing personal accounts and studies with troubling statistical rates concerning Long COVID and its detrimental effects. I’ve dealt with plantar fasciitis for nearly ten years. Recently, I’ve grappled with mild obstructive sleep apnea. An inflamed plantar fascia or frequent headaches and exhaustion from sleep apnea are enough to put me in a grumpy mood. If those symptoms last a few days, it can bring me down.</p><p>At age forty-three, I’m so blessed to have the physical ability to sprint and leap and play with our spirited toddler son. My dad didn’t have those abilities when I was a kid. I’ve never seen him run because he has multiple sclerosis. That’s why I’ve never taken my physical abilities for granted, like when I’m tearing around the house as my son gives chase, or when I’m darting around my in-laws’ backyard and crawling underneath tables to hide from my nieces. I would be broken if that was taken from us, or if my cognitive abilities slipped after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.<br /></p><p>Most people have forgotten we’re dealing with a novel virus. We’re only beginning to understand the long-term ramifications from SARS-CoV-2 infections. At this juncture, Long COVID may be incurable. I don’t understand why so many—including my friends and immediate family members—are so willing to risk that for remnants of the life we used to have.</p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-81094478872919715822022-11-20T20:45:00.004-08:002023-02-24T14:42:42.183-08:00Today's Distressful Thought - November 20, 2022<p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMsCQfQuAFVwWcdNa5fp44Lsrj2JknvYYUKP1YOVZwo7aw2wUAGi2EZaTK3mhdExqCH5IBcdhNjsIpUorXR3vXOiZzSTzVpWaH5pt1QzCRe6PvEDlBJQWL_t1GNb3_verWGtrGl1ewkRkTtKccy0khBSVfedVVBa9Jxl1X7h6odV2eVHFNh1w2Ofgm/s4334/P1120440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3254" data-original-width="4334" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMsCQfQuAFVwWcdNa5fp44Lsrj2JknvYYUKP1YOVZwo7aw2wUAGi2EZaTK3mhdExqCH5IBcdhNjsIpUorXR3vXOiZzSTzVpWaH5pt1QzCRe6PvEDlBJQWL_t1GNb3_verWGtrGl1ewkRkTtKccy0khBSVfedVVBa9Jxl1X7h6odV2eVHFNh1w2Ofgm/w423-h317/P1120440.JPG" width="423" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>My wife and I bought a new microwave today. Previous one lasted us ten years. Not sure which one's gonna last longer: us, or the microwave.<br /><br />That's where I'm at as this year comes to a close and our American society, by and large, has decided we liked the way of life we lived in 2019 so much that we are unwilling to adapt to this virus and we will accept all the consequences which we don't want to hear about because we want to pretend this pandemic is over.<br /></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-36944539312075324892022-07-27T22:48:00.001-07:002022-07-27T22:48:48.287-07:00Today’s Distressful Thought — July 7, 2022 edition<p>Went to Food Maxx today. On my way to the entrance, I walked past an employee: a tall, stocky, light-skinned Latino in his teens. Looked like he was going to fetch errant shopping carts in the parking lot. Figured it might be his first job, or definitely one of his first jobs. Made me think of my son and when he’d have his first job. For the life of me, I can’t imagine it. Simply can’t. Not sure if it’s because I can’t imagine him making it to that age or that I can’t imagine myself being alive to see him at that age. Or maybe both of us won’t make it to that year? I don’t know.</p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-50500501676449259802022-07-13T22:41:00.001-07:002022-12-16T16:24:17.238-08:00Perrito<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="false"
DefSemiHidden="false" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="376">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footer"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of figures"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope return"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="line number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="page number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of authorities"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="macro"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="toa heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Mention"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Smart Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hashtag"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Unresolved Mention"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Smart Link"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Baskerville Old Face",serif;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1moP4byt2hbSWmwAYDrXt1y_8-gRJS2LpYGYdasrCmBBQ5GxQauJ0XvNLlN8PG7OyIoJ2coaRSMKHtpjbKphKPCRemaRO1OVTTjmTl23iCLMvWidO_td6ZjwZ_IyCGjICb_HJXS-ueWQM2_cStYGhUl5VLfXq1Pwl127dEGaB5Ce2APTmafmg5UjV/s4592/P1120437%20(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3448" data-original-width="4592" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1moP4byt2hbSWmwAYDrXt1y_8-gRJS2LpYGYdasrCmBBQ5GxQauJ0XvNLlN8PG7OyIoJ2coaRSMKHtpjbKphKPCRemaRO1OVTTjmTl23iCLMvWidO_td6ZjwZ_IyCGjICb_HJXS-ueWQM2_cStYGhUl5VLfXq1Pwl127dEGaB5Ce2APTmafmg5UjV/w592-h444/P1120437%20(2).JPG" width="592" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I was asleep in my son’s bed when you started pawing at our
gate. I heard the lock rattle and clang against the gate latch. At first, in my
fuzzy-headed state, I thought it was a cat prowling along our fence, but the
rattling was too loud, so I got out of bed and stumbled through our dark
bedroom. It was two-thirty in the morning. Was someone trying to break into our
backyard? I grabbed a flashlight, then tiptoed past our kitchen to the
backdoor. A window by the door was cracked open and that’s when I heard you,
panting on the other side of the door. Oh, shit, I said aloud as my eyes flung open
like a pair of roller blinds. I immediately knew it was you. I knew you had
snuck into our backyard.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Two days before, my five-year-old son asked to see you and
your companion, Coco, a mangy <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Maltese</span>.
I lifted him up so he could see you both over the short fence that separates our
backyards. We saw you. You saw us. You were lying on the dirt. Coco was chilling
next to you, also staring back at us. You wagged your tail whenever I talked to
you in the sweet voice I reserve for furry animals and infants. I’ve known you
since you were a pup, when you were shorter than Coco. Now you’re a full-grown
pitbull mix. My son’s scared of you. He shrieked that time about a month before
when you escaped from your yard and visited us as my wife and son did yard work
on our driveway. He’s scared of any dog that is barely shorter than him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I opened the backdoor, you were standing on the back
step. I pointed the flashlight at you. I saw your eyes, like two beads of
light, glint back at me. I gasped when I saw the shadowy outline of your figure.
Holy shit, you’re a <i>big </i>dog. I’d never been so physically close to
you—and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I</i> was scared of you. Throughout
my life, I’ve met and befriended so many dogs but I had never petted or played
with a pitbull.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I turned off the flashlight because I didn’t want it to
blind your eyes. Thought its piercing light might not be hospitable. I talked
to you in my sweet voice and explained that it was okay that you were in our
backyard but I needed to go back to sleep. I gently closed the door and went
back to bed. I heard you prowling up and down along our fence. I heard you bark
into the night. The feral cats that live in the abandoned yard next to our
house must have brought you over. After a few minutes, I drifted back to sleep.
To my surprise, it was soothing to hear you bark at the cats to scare them off
our yard. I understood then how comforting it can be to have a bad motherfucker
of a dog like you as a protector.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But then, early in the morning, I was startled awake again
when I heard the lock rattle against the gate latch. This time, it sounded like
you or Coco were pawing and digging through the patch of dirt next to our
bedroom. I shot up in bed and raced out of the room, afraid you were trying to
dig a hole beneath our gate to escape. Before you came along, your owner, tu
dueño, owned a huge <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Irish wolfhound</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>that howled like a wolf. We heard the
dog had run away. I didn’t want you both to escape from our house. Not on my
watch.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This time, I grabbed a solar lantern instead of a flashlight.
I opened the backdoor and there you were, standing on the other side of our
screen door. Your homie, Coco, stood at the foot of the backsteps, turning his
head curiously at me, the white fur by his paws all covered in dirt.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">Okay, perrito, I said to you. I
just want to step out, okay. I just want to see what you two have been up to.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I tried to open the screen door, but you were standing right
next to it. I had my house slippers on. As I gently pushed the screen door
open, you stuck your snout beneath it to sniff at my slippers. I realized you
were smelling me. Trying to get acquainted. Our first contact. Over the past
three or so years, you had only seen me through the slits between the fence
boards, when I would climb a ladder to clean the gutters from the garage, or
when I would peek over the fence.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I held the screen door open and let you sniff my slippers.
Soon after, you took a few steps back. I carefully opened the door and stepped
out. There you were, sniffing at my hand as I held the lantern, bathing you in
its warm light. I spoke sweetly to you. Then I held a hand out so you could smell
it. After you sniffed me for a few seconds, I reached down to pet your back.
You tensed up for a second, but after I petted you, you started licking at my
hand. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Together we stepped down to the back patio. I walked over to
the gate. There was no hole in the patch of dirt by the fence. I was relieved.
You followed by my side, playfully nipping at my hand, as I led you and Coco to
the fence that separates us. As I suspected, the loose wooden board had been
pushed aside. Probably your work. You and Coco had slipped through the crack
into our backyard.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I grabbed the loose board and lifted it. I gestured with my
hand in an attempt to coax you and Coco back to your yard, but you both looked
at me like you had no clue what I was proposing. I just laughed and stepped
away. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By then, it was six-thirty in the morning. The sky was brightening.
You circled and hopped around me like I was your sun. It was a joy for me. And
validating. When my wife and our son walked around the block, or when we drove him
around in his push car, you would bark loudly at us through a hole in your back
fence. Your barking scared my son so we’d cross to the other side of that
street anytime we went around the block so you wouldn’t snap and bark at us. I
had told them, on a few occasions, that I thought you simply wanted attention.
Your owners—whoever they are—never play with you. We never see them pay
attention to you, and it’s always made my wife and I sad. They got you to
protect their backyard. You’re a guardian, not a companion to them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I tried so, so hard not to pet you. I wanted to, but I was
afraid that it would endear me to you. See, my parents and family have a
history of inadvertently stealing our neighbor’s pets by spoiling them with treats
and affection when we took care of them. I was afraid you’d want to squeak through
the fence or dig underneath it to be with us, so I tried not to pet you. But as
I was heading back inside, I petted you once and you responded by jumping on
me, your dirty paws on my chest. I smiled as you stood on your powerful hind
legs while I held you by your front legs. You stared back at me, I swear, like
you just wanted me to hold you. I’d never seen a dog do that. Usually, a dog
gets excited and jumps up like they’ve missed the hell out of me, but you just
wanted me to hold you. To claim you, so you could claim me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I let you go, and my heart was torn. Then you kept playfully
nipping at my hands, which scared me a teensy bit because your snout is so freaking
wide and your jaws are so unbelievably powerful. And then you rolled onto your
back so I could bend down and scratch your tummy. God, I wanted to scratch your
belly and laugh with glee, but I refrained because I didn’t want to kindle your
affection. You’re not my dog, as much as I wish you could be. Before long, I
managed to shuffle and distance myself from you and left you and Coco standing
in our back patio. I went back to bed. Soon after, I heard you whimper, and
that just broke my goddamn fucking heart.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Soon after, our alarm rang. Time to get ready for work. When
our son was not in earshot, I whispered to my wife that you and Coco had snuck
into our backyard. I made my way to our kitchen and peered out into the
backyard and saw that you and Coco were gone. I stepped out to the backyard. I
tiptoed to the fence and heard you bound up to it. I moved the loose board to
cover the opening, then covered it with another board and a few bricks. I could
see your snout, trying to wedge into the crack between the fence that separated
us. Then I said, I’m sorry, perrito, and hung my head and trudged back home.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">About a week later, I was pulling weeds and doing some
yardwork. I heard you in your backyard. I stepped over to the fence and peered over.
You were laying on the dirt. Psst, psst, I said, and I know you heard me. And I
know you heard me approach the fence as I stepped on dry crinkly leaves strewn on
our lawn, but you refused to turn to acknowledge me. It was like something a
cat would do, not a dog. But I understood, even though it saddened me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am certain that you will never read this, but I wish you
knew just how much I like you, perrito. </p><p class="MsoNormal">How much I wish I could take you into
our home. </p>
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">You are the companion I wish we had.</span><p></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-54189181499076070222022-06-01T22:31:00.007-07:002022-06-01T22:58:06.985-07:00Warriors-Celtics NBA Finals Preview (and Prediction)<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYZR8sigoE1qII8GEfJGVOpZKyIAfl18T6cbQGvdBc7On2oZ7ht7-6D2BtQyXe_IYm2q6IaZn8V9eesdUU_psQAhAKEXGrSkIC9O9YdeozuUE1FqOJlMtioupClZ6aFqNR2Y2cfSLebGAVSVIE1B18B6oEkE_zsu71FyFpD-ftEASwOq8hlCpCvpQ/s716/Jaylen.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvEBENxWG70BzfgFSbyji0AzwhUoaZ6Cb8e8FxVqMN4jXX_INW7tSo74pCGPOzrLagoPu45FtgF1kiU4-XbERjKzlHrRrW-CxsZOJHXuSHjKKcdQoQuEPD_yV0xp3Lfxo3ZaXKTFKKmA6U2ZFkCQbD51TToPkJPyWWgvOVU7H2PJ-id2ctV7cHzDVK/s1265/Steph%20Tatum.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="1265" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvEBENxWG70BzfgFSbyji0AzwhUoaZ6Cb8e8FxVqMN4jXX_INW7tSo74pCGPOzrLagoPu45FtgF1kiU4-XbERjKzlHrRrW-CxsZOJHXuSHjKKcdQoQuEPD_yV0xp3Lfxo3ZaXKTFKKmA6U2ZFkCQbD51TToPkJPyWWgvOVU7H2PJ-id2ctV7cHzDVK/w640-h330/Steph%20Tatum.png" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />Well, holy shit: my beloved Warriors are back in the Finals, four wins away from winning another chip. It’s wild. We’ve been so unbelievably spoiled: <i>6</i> Finals appearances in 8 seasons! We may never see an NBA team go on a run like this again.<br /><br />At the beginning of the season, I was cautiously optimistic about my Warriors. I thought our ceiling was nabbing a #3 to #6 seed in the depleted Western Conference with the Nuggets and Clippers both mired with injuries to a few of their star players. After we beat the Lakers in the season opener, I was all smiles because it never ever gets old beating the fucking Lakers or LeBron. At the time, most of us thought the Lakers would be title contenders, so I thought, one freaking game into the season, that finishing with a #3 to #6 seed was totally plausible. Back then, I thought a Western Conference Finals run, if lots of things went right, was in play, but I realistically didn’t think we’d be back in the Finals this season. I guess I wasn’t sure if we’d ever make it back to the Finals with Steph and Draymond aging and Klay coming back from two catastrophic injuries on the wrong side of thirty.<br /><br />So making it back is unbelievably sweet. Reminds me of that charmed feeling I felt when this championship core made their first Finals appearance back in 2015. <br /><br />The Warriors are a different team now. Back then, Steph, Klay, and Draymond were the youngsters trying to prove to themselves that they could be champions. Now we’re like the last Spurs title teams: the cagey, veteran team with abundant experience and championship poise you can’t fake. Now we’re trying to reclaim title glory, perhaps for a final time, while desperately trying to fend off a young, hungry, battle-tested, and supremely talented team.<br /><br />What a matchup.<br /><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Over the past month and a half, the Warriors and Celtics have been the two teams I’ve watched the most. The Warriors are my team, and the Celtics have been pitted against great and fascinating opponents throughout these playoffs, such as the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks and the pitiful mess that was the Brooklyn Nets. When the playoffs started, my good friend and I both thought that either the Suns or Warriors would emerge from the Western Conference while either the Bucks or Celtics would come out of the East. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOrah-_n_bgVq7nRfCduiKW5wZDuHWkFLjyrSazJw5sETnuExEagzB4pMtiEPEsrhhpx4MsM8zgkP3E5e0es93wSArkLSvZyzMAICvfC1Q0UX85y49K6pcpmpbNr9o6wksf3QylSAhABoUt-VbnDK738Pvmy7HwH5R4Vh-EwPflVyKDdTbvcGCXH0C/s1280/Steph%20Draymond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOrah-_n_bgVq7nRfCduiKW5wZDuHWkFLjyrSazJw5sETnuExEagzB4pMtiEPEsrhhpx4MsM8zgkP3E5e0es93wSArkLSvZyzMAICvfC1Q0UX85y49K6pcpmpbNr9o6wksf3QylSAhABoUt-VbnDK738Pvmy7HwH5R4Vh-EwPflVyKDdTbvcGCXH0C/w511-h288/Steph%20Draymond.jpg" width="511" /></a></div><br />On the Warriors side, I’m curious to see how tight or expansive Kerr’s rotation will ultimately be. Without a doubt, if healthy and available, I think Kerr will have a nine-man rotation with the starters—Steph, Klay, Wiggs, Draymond, and Looney (a.k.a. Loonajuwon, a.k.a. Mose Malooney)—with Poole, Porter, Gary Payton II (a.k.a. Young Glove; a.k.a. GPII), and Iguodala in the mix. Against the Celtics, I can see a few other possible rotation players: Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, and possibly Nemanja Bjelica (a.k.a. Beli). I would bet money Moody steps on the court in this series, but it’s probably unlikely that Kuminga and Bjelica will see any minutes. If J-Ku gets significant minutes in this series, it’s probably not a good sign for the Dubs; it probably means that our main rotation is struggling to match up with Boston’s length, youth, and athleticism, and struggling to score in the half-court. Boston has a terrific fleet of wings—the best collection the Warriors could possibly face—but they can struggle to contain a strong, physical wing like Kuminga, much like they struggled to contain Jimmy Butler in the Eastern Conference Finals.<br /><br />Like Warriors beat writer extraordinaire, Marcus Thompson II, opined on the <a href="https://theathletic.com/podcast/11-warriors-plus-minus/?episode=189" target="_blank">Warriors Plus-Minus podcast</a>, I think this is a series where our playoff rotation can expand, unlike our series against Memphis. Early on, I anticipate Kerr will likely rely on his veteran players, but as the series unfolds, I can see Kerr and his coaching staff turning to their rookies, Moody and Kuminga, to see if they’re ready for this stage, to see if they can change the calculus of this matchup.<br /><br />While the Celtics are built to suffocate modern NBA offenses, the Warriors should have a slate of perimeter defenders to make Jayson Tatum work for every bucket in this series. The Warriors will undoubtedly send Wiggins to defend him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we allow Looney to try to defend him on the perimeter. Against the Mavs, Loon showed he was capable of keeping in front of Dončić. Tatum’s a quicker, more athletic adversary, so we’ll see how much Looney can keep up with him, but I’m confident he can make Tatum work to get around him, or get separation out on the perimeter. Although it’s unlikely, Draymond might occasionally be tasked to defend Tatum one-on-one out at the 3-point line. Barring availability, Iggy and GPII also figure to be in the defensive mix against Tatum. In these 2022 NBA Playoffs, Tatum is averaging a league-high 4.3 turnovers per game amongst active players. This is Westbrick territory, folks, so GPII can be a critical defensive weapon against Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who is averaging 3 turnovers per game in these playoffs. Moody and J-Ku may also get some time defending the Celtics dynamic wing duo.<br /><br /><b><u>Warriors X-factors</u>: Otto Porter & Gary Payton II</b><br />The Warriors have so many possible X-factor players, including Klay and Jordan Poole, but I’m going to pick Otto Porter and GPII. Porter is a surprisingly critical player in this series for the Warriors because if he’s too banged up to be effective than the Warriors might be in trouble. If he’s out, Kerr may have no choice but to turn to Kuminga and Iguodala, who has been unavailable most of these playoffs. On an undersized team, Porter is a key 6’8” rugged defender in the interior and a guy who can impact the game with rebounding and hustle like he did in our series against the young, brash Memphis Grizzlies. Also, if his outside shots are dropping, the Warriors are a much tougher team to beat. <br /><br />GPII is another X-factor. He’s recovering from a broken left elbow in his shooting arm, so it’s very uncertain at this point just how much he will be able to contribute in this series. There’s no doubt he’ll be able to run around the court and fight off of screens to hound his matchup, but can he contribute on the offensive end to keep in the game? The Celtics will dare him to shoot from the outside. When the opportunity arises, will he be able to knock those shots down like he did in our opening series against the Denver Nuggets? If so, that’s a potentially huge boon for the Warriors because he is one of the best on-ball defenders in the entire NBA. This season, he led the NBA with <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2022_per_minute.html" target="_blank">2.8 steals per 36 minutes</a>. He is also amongst the leaders in deflections. The Celtics are among the league leaders in turnovers this postseason with Tatum and Brown as their primary culprits. GPII can make life hell for them if he can stay on the court in this series. Our optimal defensive lineup in this series undoubtedly includes GPII. If he can play around 20 minutes this series, that’s probably a really good sign for the Warriors.<br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQyWb7k5KBHNtDD7SfsLcUizDuRSiqb9eIiBjaed7nZKBSyZbd_I6dELltSMsfzsPbU3EJzSHWaWneLJVlXXGazBVlRp93VzEIgPWlDlZSeOwbvQGRbDxZqY-fKT1H-QqTIIZ1Dq0TwlMYpz1lrL4yPC2be4GXEYUXm2O2uoBvSYkTh--OuzQTUqm/s716/Jaylen.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="716" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQyWb7k5KBHNtDD7SfsLcUizDuRSiqb9eIiBjaed7nZKBSyZbd_I6dELltSMsfzsPbU3EJzSHWaWneLJVlXXGazBVlRp93VzEIgPWlDlZSeOwbvQGRbDxZqY-fKT1H-QqTIIZ1Dq0TwlMYpz1lrL4yPC2be4GXEYUXm2O2uoBvSYkTh--OuzQTUqm/w453-h305/Jaylen.png" width="453" /></a><br /></p><p>On the other side, for the Celtics to win, I think a number of facets and intangibles have to go their way, which they are very capable of pulling off. For them to win this series, my guess is:<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Jaylen Brown needs to have a great series, not just a good series.</li><li>Boston needs to win the turnover battle—and decisively in a couple of games.</li><li>Boston needs to muck up this series and grind out a few low-scoring games (like less than 100 points scored by the Warriors).</li><li>Boston needs to have a hot 3-point shooting night for at least 2 games, maybe even 3 games.</li><li>Timelord needs to stay on the court and be impactful on the defensive end. </li><li>Tatum needs to hit big buckets in 2 close games.</li><li>Grant Williams needs to be an impactful player for most games in this series.</li><li>Derrick White probably needs to keep up his hot 3-point shooting.</li><li>Boston probably needs to play Jordan Poole off the court (i.e., less than 20 minutes per game).<br /></li></ul><p><b><u>Celtics X-factor</u>: Jaylen Brown</b><br />Brown has been superb in these playoffs, unquestionably the Celtics 2nd best player behind All-NBA 1st teamer Jayson Tatum. His scoring average is just a shade below his regular season average, but his 48.5/38.6 2-point and 3-point shooting splits are a bit higher than his regular season percentages. Brown has been key in the 4th quarters this postseason, teaming with Tatum as their most reliable bucket-getters in the clutchiest of moments.<br /><br />The Celtics half-court offense is nothing to write home about. They struggled to score against a depleted Miami Heat team. Tatum has single-handedly raised the ceiling of this team by taking his offensive and defensive game to new levels this season, but they lack offensive punch outside of their All-Star duo. The Celtics have to shoot well from the outside in order to have high-scoring nights, and I think Brown’s outside shooting will be critical in this series. If he’s shooting above 40%, like he did in their epic series against the Bucks, the Celtics will have a better chance of beating the Warriors than if he’s shooting subpar from distance.<br /><br /><b>Prediction!</b><br />On paper, the Celtics have a more talented top-7 rotation, but I think our depth may be a factor in this series, especially since Boston is coming off of two straight 7-game series.<br /><br />The Warriors have more dynamic offensive players. We have more guys who can pop off on any given night for +20 points in a game (Steph, Klay, Wiggins, or Poole) whereas Boston only has Tatum and Brown who can reasonably provide that with probably one +20-point game from Smart in this series, and one from some other guys, like Horford and Grant Williams. <br /><br />I think this series is going a minimum of 6 games. I can realistically see how the Celtics could emerge in 6, or 7—and I can see that for the Warriors as well.<br /><br />In the end, I think the Warriors have more ways to win this series. We can punish the Celtics with offensive rebounding and second-chance points. For once, the Warriors can reasonably expect to win the turnover battle in at least 1-2 games in this series. If Iggy and GPII can play and stay on the court, we have a ton of guys to throw at Tatum and Brown to wear them down as the series draws out.<br /><br />On the other hand, when healthy, Boston’s defense is the best unit in these NBA playoffs.<br />The Celtics also have more two-way players than the Warriors. Back in 2015 and 2016, that was the Warriors key to success: we had more and better two-way players than our opponents.<br /><br />The Celtics are uniquely equipped to beat the Warriors. I think they’re the worst matchup for us, and this should be our biggest test in many years, dating back to the 2016 Western Conference Finals when we went down 3-1 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. (LeBron’s Cavs never stood a chance against us if we were healthy, and I would humbly say the same of the 2019 Toronto Raptors.)<br /><br />To boot, the Celtics are a lackluster home team in these playoffs. In their last two rounds, they are 3-4 playing on TD Garden’s parquet floor. Championship teams have to win on the road—and I expect both teams to win on the road in this series—but I think, more often than not, they should also be steadier at home than these Celtics.<br /><br />It should be a terrific matchup: the league’s best defense against the most unique offense in the NBA.<br /><br />Prediction: <b>Warriors in 6</b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPe4R5YtF7AKgWOPESlyazBi7dWJqMGPC3viSJw5Q7DlPEJdvNRiI3ukbwSnlsCH7vrfHyCBcIAsVlj5YmYXzqsNxan96boPczL6a-ScCiySMcgVw8urHMeFnUmbg3FYfs3Y9U686cEXfJZ9dBBbCCUG5HjDm-dVoDiODjsSh0bx7l9VNerdTQ5G4r/s1250/Loonajuwon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="933" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPe4R5YtF7AKgWOPESlyazBi7dWJqMGPC3viSJw5Q7DlPEJdvNRiI3ukbwSnlsCH7vrfHyCBcIAsVlj5YmYXzqsNxan96boPczL6a-ScCiySMcgVw8urHMeFnUmbg3FYfs3Y9U686cEXfJZ9dBBbCCUG5HjDm-dVoDiODjsSh0bx7l9VNerdTQ5G4r/w314-h420/Loonajuwon.jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loonajuwon</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b><br /></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-75900787671601681742022-04-19T22:06:00.007-07:002022-04-19T22:29:17.013-07:00A Fan’s Notes: Two Games into the Warriors 2022 Playoff Run<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLo7w4ETVfjec_4eKS7iaq1QYIJwDbgthbb0ZjuL-6gJU7K829JOdjp0tcNKvsxvEDBnqA_pF28E7af1o-Z80O_M-0oJygpV9Fcit48q0OKUgYBWhffAMDir9GMuPQTkIdAywP4H8am_mbYc7UMehjl6UXbpkYM5eMdCoWIcNiDSJFBhXiQufaW0yz/s1280/klay-thompson-jordan-poole-GETTY.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLo7w4ETVfjec_4eKS7iaq1QYIJwDbgthbb0ZjuL-6gJU7K829JOdjp0tcNKvsxvEDBnqA_pF28E7af1o-Z80O_M-0oJygpV9Fcit48q0OKUgYBWhffAMDir9GMuPQTkIdAywP4H8am_mbYc7UMehjl6UXbpkYM5eMdCoWIcNiDSJFBhXiQufaW0yz/w640-h360/klay-thompson-jordan-poole-GETTY.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>This season has been such a wild ride with exalted highs and depressing lows and it feels like this team might be cresting to its peak, good lord. After cruising to a dominant <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameId=401430247" target="_blank">126-106 win</a> in Game 2 of our series against the depleted Nuggets, us Warriors fans are riding high again. The 2022 iteration of our <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/warriors-embarrassing-splintering-nuggets-lethal-lineup" target="_blank">hallowed Death Lineup</a> is running the hapless Nuggets off the court. Before this series began, I, like many others, cautiously but pragmatically picked the Dubs to win in 6, but right now it’s looking like a gentleman’s sweep <i>at most</i>. There’s no reason we can’t whip out the brooms on the Nuggets. When Steph, Poole, Klay, Wiggins, and Draymond hit the court and <a href="https://tenor.com/bjs71.gif" target="_blank">go Voltron</a> against Denver, poor Nikola Jokić—probable two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić!—looks like Timofey Mozgov in the 2015 NBA Finals.<br /><br />The Nuggets are done. They have no counter. With injuries to their second and third-best players, they lack the personnel to make a move to stymie these 2022 Warriors. Our path to a fourth championship with our aging core is to play the least number of playoff games possible so we’re not putting any additional and unnecessary mileage on Steph, Klay, Draymond, and Iggy so we need to not fuck around and finish these Nuggets off.<br /><br />After a 33-32 first quarter against the Timberwolves, the Memphis Grizzlies took command and responded in Game 2 after stunningly losing their home opener. The Grizzlies are still the only team in the Western Conference I fear. I’ve seen Steph, Poole, Klay, Wiggins, and Draymond lay waste to the undermanned Nuggets, but I badly want to see that lineup pitted against stronger opposition, like the Grizz and the Suns. In 11 minutes of action, they have a <i>preposterous</i> offensive rating of 204.3 (meaning they would score 204 points in 100 possessions) with a defensive rating of 75.0:<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSgsJ2cDP1BvvLNf13B6T0oATIl-IJAIgO-0TyO-ceaEI5VyefaQOIg62Z7mEy9FJlju-qPNGrE6_09_u26UDhGatQK9UOwF7fuuCr8LMbWc0IawL1IH4Eh_G_wpBDXLLfTG-HOlTjlvt6RUH4pN35LyME_yqL0_Qs_xXaXbl7WpqWtnU99DnMue-Z/s702/Deathcon%205.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="616" height="503" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSgsJ2cDP1BvvLNf13B6T0oATIl-IJAIgO-0TyO-ceaEI5VyefaQOIg62Z7mEy9FJlju-qPNGrE6_09_u26UDhGatQK9UOwF7fuuCr8LMbWc0IawL1IH4Eh_G_wpBDXLLfTG-HOlTjlvt6RUH4pN35LyME_yqL0_Qs_xXaXbl7WpqWtnU99DnMue-Z/w442-h503/Deathcon%205.png" width="442" /></a></div><p></p><p>With Klay’s shooting basically back to classic Klay form, Steph already looking like himself in his second game back from injury (32 points in just 23 minutes in Game 2!), Draymond being Draymond, Jordan Poole looking <a href="https://twitter.com/forumbluegold/status/1516244927935483907" target="_blank">like Monta Ellis if Steph had mentored him</a>, and Wiggins—a former #1 overall pick—capably filling into the last spot, any team in the league is gonna have big problems trying to stop this five-man lineup. Memphis and Phoenix have the depth and talent to try to counter, but no team has had the unenviable task of trying to cover Steph, a Steph-like clone (in Poole), and one of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQaGX4-Sfvg" target="_blank">greatest NBA shooters of all time</a>. Yeah, good fucking luck with that.<br /><br />The 64-win Suns just <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401430222" target="_blank">dropped Game 2 to the Pelicans</a>, who squeaked into the playoffs courtesy of the NBA’s still-new play-in format, and a realistic path back to the Finals is looking better and better for the Dubs. I think the Grizz will prevail against the Wolves, and I think there’s no way the Warriors lose to the Suns if we get past the Grizzlies. Before the playoffs started, I had no fear of the Suns; less so now. If we’re mostly healthy, I think we can knock them off in a gentleman’s sweep. No disrespect meant to the Suns, but we’re a bad matchup for them. And man, it would be outrageously sweet to send CP3 packing so deep into the playoffs! Might very well be the last time he comes so close to winning a chip.<br /><br />I don’t want to get ahead of myself and look east to see how the playoff action might turn out there. We’ve still got a lot of games to play.<br /><br />But we’ve got 14 more wins to go.<br /></p><p><br /></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-63033032883895003922021-12-14T21:45:00.009-08:002022-05-30T21:38:21.026-07:00My Top Ten Favorite Children's Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjRZnhv7cfZCS-Cmp9nZW8-IhavBcGbfFR-sm5T7gZ6N8qxICtQ4DwGsWWMKVRFf2gK5OzwZVcH21wdJAye785n9JfBK0DkRYhykQHDaoSKZhEJHhzyd2HhVYgk0_ymtJ7_5-FnvrTqURkVRgnwqja3YnSKPp6ZC3WqHV9loWDUoRQpmbwMDXq-u1z6=s2375" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2375" data-original-width="2367" height="603" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjRZnhv7cfZCS-Cmp9nZW8-IhavBcGbfFR-sm5T7gZ6N8qxICtQ4DwGsWWMKVRFf2gK5OzwZVcH21wdJAye785n9JfBK0DkRYhykQHDaoSKZhEJHhzyd2HhVYgk0_ymtJ7_5-FnvrTqURkVRgnwqja3YnSKPp6ZC3WqHV9loWDUoRQpmbwMDXq-u1z6=w601-h603" width="601" /></a></span></span></div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In 2017, my wife, Maria and I welcomed our rainbow baby, Miguel, into this world. It would also serve as an introduction into the world of children’s books, particularly board books and picture books.<br /><br />Maria and I are lifelong readers. Not surprisingly, we’re picky about our reading material, including children’s books. I have found that we’re both sensitive to language and a book’s illustration style. We’ll pass on a book if either element is lackluster.<br /><br />As a parent, especially when your child becomes attached to a book, you will read it over and over and over and over again so my favorite children’s books have to be ones that are not nauseating to read. (It’s okay if one or two parts of a book are a bit cheesy, if you’re asking me.) They must also be aesthetically pleasing. And since you’ll read them, night after night after night, my favoritest children’s books tend to provide teeny visual details to point out and remark upon to enrich the reading experience, or have a number of characters that lends itself to reading them in playful voices. For me, it’s all about finding different wrinkles to keep the readings from becoming stale.<br /><br />Without further ado, here’s my top-10 list in chronological order from Miguelito’s infanthood to his present surly toddlerdom:<br /></span></span></p><p><span><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /><i><b>Good Night Baby! (To Baby, With Love)</b></i><br />illustrated by Sarah Ward</span></span><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjm9X4zGNPqWBJfD7oSkwF_f3Szip9H7DAkPKs2J_Nd9BktbjkK9neTBsCDb6tm0NEyBDNvnEUzJPD_zd5oiJdQ6oZzxbCZg3YUJd5g_32QXhYJK415607hK8KapKvrOKQhLB4EbyxdSLChRpt2aGv4TyM7nOR9AbuJ4JJVo4lCi-k8MH9Ylp--XKDI=s2249" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1872" data-original-width="2249" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjm9X4zGNPqWBJfD7oSkwF_f3Szip9H7DAkPKs2J_Nd9BktbjkK9neTBsCDb6tm0NEyBDNvnEUzJPD_zd5oiJdQ6oZzxbCZg3YUJd5g_32QXhYJK415607hK8KapKvrOKQhLB4EbyxdSLChRpt2aGv4TyM7nOR9AbuJ4JJVo4lCi-k8MH9Ylp--XKDI=w462-h385" width="462" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">T</span></span>his was one of the first books we ever read to our Miguelito. It’s only ten pages long and less than a two-minute read, even if you linger on Sarah Ward’s adorable illustrations. With the crinkly elephant ear on the front cover—which baby Miguelito wore out—this is peak infant reading material, IMHO.</div></span></span><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /><i><b>I am a Bunny</b></i><br />by Richard Scarry<br /><br />This was probably the first children’s book I came to love as a newfound father. Nicholas the bunny is a ridiculously cute little guy. Each page of illustrations is simply gorgeous and the prose is <i>perfect</i>. Oftentimes, with the children’s books I read aloud to Miguelito, I will cut out words or unnecessary clauses to improve the reading. There is not a single word I would cut from this book.<br /><br /><i><b>Little Fish and Mommy </b></i><br />by Lucy Cousins<br /><br />In our little family, this book has serious staying power. Maria and I have read it to Miguelito since he was a one-year-old and he still requests it for bedtime reading. With her Maisy books, Lucy Cousins is one of our favorite children’s book authors. I simply love her cheerful, child-like, and consistently playful illustration style. The story for this book is a sweet one. [more?]</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGDhQ5sdkaXVECrrh3HY-2Kvr20VTjWcdeYPmb5a3AJuu7i8N62H-VMX4UOeqVOJgmNlwUy0N-KmEAK8VssO7lwVOFqB84q8eSUQDanbMzWv-vt4mgiUDqWD50fxhMpO_AlM7SpWF8NpGWvNBGc1ARWD6Rt1dxE6eDbu5An6qylSKWGFlYL8WU9QOy=s1529" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1529" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGDhQ5sdkaXVECrrh3HY-2Kvr20VTjWcdeYPmb5a3AJuu7i8N62H-VMX4UOeqVOJgmNlwUy0N-KmEAK8VssO7lwVOFqB84q8eSUQDanbMzWv-vt4mgiUDqWD50fxhMpO_AlM7SpWF8NpGWvNBGc1ARWD6Rt1dxE6eDbu5An6qylSKWGFlYL8WU9QOy=w314-h400" width="314" /></a><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><b>A Friend for Dragon</b></i><br />by Dav Pilkey<br /><br />Before the pandemic, our trinity occasionally tried to sit in for children’s book readings at our beloved local bookstore. One time, this book was read aloud and we were rapt in its story. This book cracks my top-10 list because it’s a children’s book that openly discusses death, sadness, loneliness, and even the concept of rebirth. It’s fucking amazing what it pulls off in the span of forty-eight pages!<br /><br />This was the first long-ish children’s book we have regularly read for Miguelito. Soon after we bought this book, we got him another of Pilkey’s five Dragon books and eventually bought each one. They’re all fantastic (and proletariat-affordable!) <i>Dragon’s Fat Cat</i> is probably my favorite one but this one is special since it’s the first one we were introduced to.<br /><br /><i><b>Buster the Little Garbage Truck</b></i><br />by Marcia Berneger<br />illustrated by Kevin Zimmer<br /><br />Since he’s been a toddler, Miguelito—like many other kids, you may be surprised—has taken a shine to great big hulking garbage trucks and their automated grabber arms. His love and fascination of them forges on and Marcia Berneger’s book is a fun, engaging read featuring a family of three garbage trucks. Kevin Zimmer’s illustrations are neat and delightful and I love reading this book for Miguelito since it provides an opportunity to read a number of character voices, including Buster, his dad and mom, and the poor kitty when its in peril. (Spoiler alert!) To boot, since he was about two or so, Miguelito has oftentimes flashed a desire to be a bigger kid instead of our baby so little Buster’s quest to be a stronger, less fearful little garbage truck assuredly resonates with him.<br /><br /><i><b>William’s Winter Nap</b></i><br />by Linda Ashman<br />illustrated by Chuck Groenink<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Like <i>I Am a Bunny</i>, I think this book, in terms of its illustrations and prose, is just about perfect. Believe me, not everyone can pull off rhyming children’s book prose, but Ashman has a knack for it. Its prose allows <i>William’s Winter Nap</i> (a.k.a. <i>A Cozy Good Night</i>) to be a book we can read again and again and again without getting too tired of it. And Groenink’s illustrations are just fantastic. It takes this book, along with its sequel, <i>William Wakes Up</i>, to another level. The multitude of characters makes it a fun read since it readily provides an opportunity to read them with different tones and voices.</div> <br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><b>Mousie, I Will Read to You</b></i><br />by Rachael Cole<br />illustrated by Melissa Crowton<br /><br />In the past few months, this has been one of Miguelito’s favorite books, and it’s been one of my favorites to read to him. Cole’s prose throughout is splendid, conjuring a quiet, tender, and meditative tone. (I always read this book softly.) And Crowton’s illustrations are stunning. The larger book format serves them well since each page is rich with detail. <i>Mousie, I Will Read to You</i> is an ode to books and reading that also illustrates a beautiful nurturing relationship between a child and their mother which is another reason why I couldn’t keep this book off this list.<br /><i><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-sjJ2WdOPCUgy-U07KxO7QjYmgNxr_pDgdgMwzZLvwmewO6BwOVAUKZkjV1DSb4U0QRkWjursXQI2DdUaLa0dkDfkPKxonRGPI5v_jmoufR-1M2hWRAbta6ZHCKY2z9gymNYT_Ih0YulqoX7Wt8oPp6MANTiU4cYhfKQDFpIy239XEWVvGjQ6Yy6/s1826/Sloth.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1529" data-original-width="1826" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-sjJ2WdOPCUgy-U07KxO7QjYmgNxr_pDgdgMwzZLvwmewO6BwOVAUKZkjV1DSb4U0QRkWjursXQI2DdUaLa0dkDfkPKxonRGPI5v_jmoufR-1M2hWRAbta6ZHCKY2z9gymNYT_Ih0YulqoX7Wt8oPp6MANTiU4cYhfKQDFpIy239XEWVvGjQ6Yy6/s320/Sloth.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></b></i></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><b> </b></i></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><b>Hurry, Hurry Little Sloth</b></i><br />by Joe Rhatigan<br />illustrated by Jacqueline East</span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This is another gem of a book with fun, lively prose and super-cute illustrations that serve as a pitch perfect accompaniment. <i>Hurry, Hurry Little Sloth</i> cracks this list because I love the messaging it ends with. I humbly feel like it’s surprisingly deep for a children’s picture book.<br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /><i><b> </b></i></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><b> </b></i></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><b>Max and the Tag-Along Moon</b></i></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">by Floyd Cooper<b> </b> <br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Cooper’s book has recently become one of our favorites. The paintings—particularly those featuring Max and his grandpa—convey a beautiful, vivid sense of intimacy. The prose is clear and succinct throughout while evoking a childlike spirit; it also gorgeously pairs with the illustrations. This book captures the reverence and wonder a child can have for the Earth’s moon, that “magic ball of light” high up in the night sky. What makes this book memorable is how the moon is paired with Max’s love for his grandfather.</span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><b> </b></i></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><b>Paletero Man</b></i><br />by Lucky Díaz<br />illustrated by Micah Player<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoofN60XToX18dEOOmrKsM3bX5_GUe0hIRRMUCGmofmB3IL7tRpTPaQLxCk4AKxo84NPz9HW7epaFe_fzYdz44NvwChHT2ExyVaVTI5IvTTmxm6PYCR5cczFckHmthXn_FtfVvariV-cjgB7vtwtp9f5yS2xLjOzlv_5G0jOWGVDFuDWVuV2lWzlE8=s3300" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2550" data-original-width="3300" height="493" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoofN60XToX18dEOOmrKsM3bX5_GUe0hIRRMUCGmofmB3IL7tRpTPaQLxCk4AKxo84NPz9HW7epaFe_fzYdz44NvwChHT2ExyVaVTI5IvTTmxm6PYCR5cczFckHmthXn_FtfVvariV-cjgB7vtwtp9f5yS2xLjOzlv_5G0jOWGVDFuDWVuV2lWzlE8=w640-h493" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Maybe Maria and I haven’t been reading the right children’s books—which is entirely plausible—but this book is kind of a revelation with its delightful embrace of Spanglish. We’ve read a number of books that are bilingual, with prose in English and its Spanish equivalent, but this is the first children’s book I’ve read that unapologetically mixes English and Spanish within its story. It makes for a zestful read. To boot, <i>Paletero Man</i> weaves a beautiful message about community and gratitude and Micah Player’s vibrant illustrations are a righteous match for this modern tale.<br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /><u> </u></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><u>Honorable Mentions</u><br /><br /><i><b>Walk and See 1 2 3</b></i><br />Illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw<br /><i><b><br />I Love Daddy!</b></i><br />by Jillian Harker<br />illustrated by Kristina Stephenson<br /><i><b><br />William Wakes Up</b></i><br />by Linda Ashman<br />illustrated by Chuck Groenink<br /><br /><i><b>Dragon’s Fat Cat</b></i><br />by Dav Pilkey<br /><i><b><br />Little Kids First Big Book of Dinosaurs</b></i><br />by Catherine D. Hughes<br />illustrated by Franco Tempesta</span></span></div></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><b>Maisy Goes to Preschool</b></i><br />by Lucy Cousins</span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFO305bhDiZ4JtyLTSeToqptyRXH1n7XsjKYjZffWwCJst9zq-rBYyCbbxnxmU7iFlGFlc-M4xeqUEdhXJYQShYFCzavX4R61okAm1bubYTiDfraxiu3t83jteynbRgzXwKKP7Zrd4CxSQ-b3qaibJD6P8f97a1Jm_0yeg3Dv0ix5BtDqVnirfkM8K=s246" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="246" height="407" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFO305bhDiZ4JtyLTSeToqptyRXH1n7XsjKYjZffWwCJst9zq-rBYyCbbxnxmU7iFlGFlc-M4xeqUEdhXJYQShYFCzavX4R61okAm1bubYTiDfraxiu3t83jteynbRgzXwKKP7Zrd4CxSQ-b3qaibJD6P8f97a1Jm_0yeg3Dv0ix5BtDqVnirfkM8K=w415-h407" width="415" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-73229849201571086362021-11-11T22:13:00.010-08:002022-01-08T23:16:23.780-08:00Pandemic Recap (Thus Far) - Part Three<p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><h1><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>December 2020</span></span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">December 2, 2020, the U.S. reported 2,760 COVID-19 deaths.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://fas.org/expert/eric-feigl-ding/" target="_blank"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eric
Feigl-Ding</span></a><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, an epidemiologist and health economist and a Senior Fellow
at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington DC tweeted this image:</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yf437D620M4CRcIdL5S8L8Ir_YRfBpQVkbOsnoxEicxCbw41hiKrdPvV5Lvw6P3tX_980zUIPtgIK0BUBLc95xW9exRNl1O4zVZh3B7iXZebsOobTSTMPCjK2P-BiIpo24z0oPVPp6Y/s856/Feigl-Ding.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="856" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yf437D620M4CRcIdL5S8L8Ir_YRfBpQVkbOsnoxEicxCbw41hiKrdPvV5Lvw6P3tX_980zUIPtgIK0BUBLc95xW9exRNl1O4zVZh3B7iXZebsOobTSTMPCjK2P-BiIpo24z0oPVPp6Y/w496-h356/Feigl-Ding.png" width="496" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">An associate pastor from the Nawa megachurch in Fontana, CA </span><a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-03/megachurch-pastor-dies-of-covid-19-after-church-reopens-indoor-services" target="_blank"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">contracted
COVID-19 and eventually died</span></a><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> from medical complications stemming
from it.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">In the late hours of December 8, 2020, the
State of California changed its COVID-19 guidance </span></span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">to </span><a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/california/california-allows-playgrounds-to-open-under-stay-at-home-order/2419008/"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">allow outdoor
playgrounds to open</span></a><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> amidst stay-home orders.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: yellow none repeat scroll 0% 0%; mso-highlight: yellow;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Because I’m a sick person (and
a masochist), I had thought about rewatching <i>Contagion</i> since the
beginning of the pandemic. Well, I finally rented it from Amazon Prime, and what
a terrible decision it was.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>The first twenty minutes of
the film was <i>horrific</i>. A mere nine months of COVID-19 life had already
traumatized me. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>During the early part of
the film, I repeatedly turned to my wife and shook my head and whispered, “Why
am I doing this?”</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>The worst part was </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3040pmtelI" target="_blank"><span>when a sick man boarded a crowded bus</span></a><span> and coughed up a storm before staggering off of it.
Each cough made me squirm and grimace as I watched from our couch with wireless
headphones.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By early December, the B.1.1.7
variant was causing a </span><a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/mutant-coronavirus-united-kingdom-sets-alarms-its-importance-remains-unclear" target="_blank"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">surge of cases in southeastern England</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. Nowadays known as the “Alpha” variant, it is
significantly more infectious than the original <i><span>strain of SARS</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-<i><span>CoV</span></i>-</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></i><i><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In mid-December, South Africa’s
health department reported that it had identified a new COVID-19 variant known
as <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">B.1.351. Like B.1.1.7, the variant
was believed to be more transmissible </span>than the original <i><span>strain of SARS</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-<i><span>CoV</span></i>-</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></i><i><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.</span></i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Meanwhile, my younger sister, her
baby daddy, and their son were driving down to southern California to spend
Christmas and New Year’s with his family, as they did every year.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For our nephew’s sake, my older
sister implored our sister not to go, but I knew it was futile to try to convince
them to cancel their plans. My younger sister told us that they were all
getting COVID-19 tests before convening, but I knew that didn’t guarantee that
it would be safe for that many people to gather.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Los Angeles County, the
most populous county in the United States, was undergoing an ungodly surge of
COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. On December 29th, 2020, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Los Angeles Times </i>reported that L.A.
County hospitals were turning away ambulances and were forced to put patients
in their gift shop. Hospitals in surrounding counties were either at or above intensive
care unit (ICU) capacity.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>In late December, I
listened to a </span><a href="https://longform.org/posts/longform-podcast-423-ed-yong" target="_blank"><i><span>Longform</span></i><span>
podcast episode with science writer, Ed Yong</span></a><i><span>. </span></i><span>One
snippet from podcast host, Max Linsky, rang with great clarity: “One of the
things for me that has been so striking about this year, and what this virus
has done…if there was shit, it’s exposed it. Family life, friends, work, and
then much larger societal things.”</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>My wife and I had a video
call with my younger sister while they were in southern California so that our
sons could see one another. My sister walked around my future in-laws’ house
during the call. As expected, no one wore a mask.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>On December 30, 2020, the </span><a href="https://twitter.com/COVID19Tracking/status/1344443554546868226" target="_blank"><span>COVID-19 Tracking Project </span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">reported</span></a><span class="css-901oao"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
1.6 million tests, 226,000 cases, a record 125,220 hospitalizations, and a
record 3,903 COVID-19 deaths in the United States.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>A </span><a href="https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/work-environment/health-safety/disaster-preparedness/coronavirus/what-you-need-to-know/covid-19-vaccine-survey/" target="_blank"><span>survey of the American Nurses Association</span></a><span>, the largest such association in the United
States, reported some startling and demoralizing results in regards to their “nurses’
knowledge of and attitude toward COVID-19 vaccine development.” This particular
question and its results just absolutely fucking depressed me:</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnUdQYP5nzZaTsqWN4fe9vn2f05W_ThF8ZGQaRo47Rm0kZhnwoH46VvqPdpWzCoAsCHahcD2h9WXpw2BS6E-BHVlX8TdyvIA0xNyAb8vHLssIVe9zMiYrOPsGo0M65srBCW5rokbTM5ic/s615/AMA+survey.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="615" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnUdQYP5nzZaTsqWN4fe9vn2f05W_ThF8ZGQaRo47Rm0kZhnwoH46VvqPdpWzCoAsCHahcD2h9WXpw2BS6E-BHVlX8TdyvIA0xNyAb8vHLssIVe9zMiYrOPsGo0M65srBCW5rokbTM5ic/w448-h219/AMA+survey.png" width="448" /></a></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>On New Year’s Eve, I rode BART for the first time since March 2020. It was just a twelve-minute midday ride from Hayward to Fremont to meet up with my in-laws for dinner. My wife and I felt it was relatively safe as long as I wore a KN95 mask. <br /><br />I will always remember that the only other two people riding in the train car were sitting at the polar ends. In that train car, they could not have possibly sat any further away from one another.<br /> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>On Twitter and Instagram,
I saw a number of friends and family cheer about how we had survived 2020 and
how much they looked forward to 2021. But with the troubling virus mutations
and underwhelming polling numbers of health care professionals willing to get
vaccinated against COVID-19, I didn’t see a goddamn thing to be hopeful about
in the coming year.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Up until that point (I
know that sounds so lawyerly), the end of 2020 was my pandemic nadir.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvM5FZjBN977glIkkJkFT0Ug6hLZfQMkfiCTkvxM6ddRHESPNonGUPVysSdSkTKraLP_3bEBgbOj4WSoul0W3c5XbUqWwGe5Xg5A__8wdN8ib_OK88-wuZMXGu-5sDyiwz8bTYBpVALqs/s679/Snip20211111_1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="679" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvM5FZjBN977glIkkJkFT0Ug6hLZfQMkfiCTkvxM6ddRHESPNonGUPVysSdSkTKraLP_3bEBgbOj4WSoul0W3c5XbUqWwGe5Xg5A__8wdN8ib_OK88-wuZMXGu-5sDyiwz8bTYBpVALqs/w536-h236/Snip20211111_1.png" width="536" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: medium none; mso-border-insideh: none; mso-border-insidev: none; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 238.75pt;" valign="top" width="239"><br /></td><td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 228.75pt;" valign="top" width="229"><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>January 2021</span></span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>On January 4, 2021, it was
</span><a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/coronavirus/43-san-jose-kaiser-staff-members-test-positive-in-covid-outbreak/2435694/" target="_blank"><span>reported</span></a><span>
that a Kaiser Permanente San Jose staff member “wearing an air-powered costume
with a fan” briefly appeared in their emergency department on Christmas Day and
subsequently infected forty-four colleagues. The staff member was unknowingly infected
with COVID-19. One staff member subsequently died.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>When I first read about
this story, I was so bemused by the description of the “air-powered costume
with a fan.” Just what the hell did that mean?</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>This is the picture of the
staff member’s costume:</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrICaSlV3lA2pJ1ak7JGBpFeHbe01pZI7R6_ogXbwpJz10tm8QSwgkon2MeBcMQc16RKFmPo1g38CbPZyoN5cWl-RmP7NufKANEPXLTTpx8QruCdQ055fQVyjJe86QK5YiKqcn9T4e1RM/s522/Xmas+tree+costume.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="226" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrICaSlV3lA2pJ1ak7JGBpFeHbe01pZI7R6_ogXbwpJz10tm8QSwgkon2MeBcMQc16RKFmPo1g38CbPZyoN5cWl-RmP7NufKANEPXLTTpx8QruCdQ055fQVyjJe86QK5YiKqcn9T4e1RM/w161-h372/Xmas+tree+costume.png" width="161" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>If anyone had any doubt
that this coronavirus was airborne, I think that unbelievably sad story should squelch
any uncertainty.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>In early January 2021, the
P.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2, with three mutations to its spike protein, was </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/01/brazil-covid-variant-p1-britain" target="_blank"><span>first detected in Japan</span></a><span> among people who had travelled from Manaus, Brazil.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>January 6, 2021, outgoing
President Trump held a rally at a park in front of the White House just before
the House of Representatives and Senate convened to certify the 2020
presidential election. It sparked an </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWJVMoe7OY0" target="_blank"><span>insurrection at the U.S. Capitol</span></a><span> that would leave more than 150 U.S. Capitol police officers injured, </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/us/who-died-in-capitol-building-attack.html" target="_blank"><span>1 fatally wounded, and 4 others dead</span></a><span>.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Hours after the attempted insurrection,
the first time the U.S. Capitol had been </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/06/us-capitol-building-washington-history-breach" target="_blank"><span>breached since 1814</span></a><span>, </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/06/congress-certify-election-biden-republicans-object"><span>Congress certified the election</span></a><span>.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Of course, Senior Trump
aides </span><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/new-details-suggest-senior-trump-aides-knew-jan-6-rally-could-get-chaotic?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter" target="_blank"><span>knew that their actions to contest the election
result could fuel chaos</span></a><span>.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>On that first full week in
January 2021, my department received some surprising news: administrative staff
members like us—even though we did not interact with patients or the general
public—would soon be eligible to receive the Moderna vaccine.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>In a one-sentence e-mail,
the director of our Development department asked a medical assistant at our
Irvington Clinic to schedule us for our first vaccine appointment. Only then
did I realize I was 99% sure I wanted to receive an mRNA vaccine.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>In classic wasteful
American fashion, various media outlets were reporting that </span><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/thousands-covid-19-vaccines-wind-garbage-because-fed-state-guidelines-n1254364" target="_blank"><span>unused COVID-19 vaccine doses were being thrown
away</span></a><span> at hospitals and health care
facilities at the end of the day. Per federal and state guidelines on vaccine
distribution, these leftover, thawed-out doses of the Pfizer and Moderna
vaccines could <i>not</i> be administered to members of the general public.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>I did a deep dive on mRNA
vaccines. I read articles and </span><a href="https://twitter.com/wheatnoil/status/1339624815137722368?lang=en" target="_blank"><span>lengthy Twitter threads</span></a><span> about how they work; how the technology was
developed; and watched a couple of explanatory and educational </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTLYXmgG8DU" target="_blank"><span>YouTube videos about </span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span>them</span></span><span>.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>After reading multiple
articles and tweets about unused COVID-19 vaccines being thrown out at health
care facilities at the end of an inoculation day, even though I didn’t feel it
was fair whatsoever that I was getting a shot at the vaccine before many, many,
many others who more urgently needed it, I wasn’t about to let my vaccine dose
potentially go to waste. That seemed like a greater sin. And so, I subsequently
scheduled my first vaccination for January 14.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>This is what I tweeted
that morning:</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">“I got my 1st dose of the Moderna vaccine 45 minutes ago! So far, I'm
feeling some unusual tingly sensations on my left arm, where I got the shot.
It's subtle, fleeting. No pain. I've heard arm soreness is common. I feel a
little light-headed, but my morning coffee is kicking in.”</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">On January 16, 2020, then-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Los Angeles
Times</i> health reporter </span><a href="https://www.soumyak.com/" target="_blank"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Soumya Karlamangla</span></a><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> tweeted </span><a href="https://twitter.com/skarlamangla/status/1350689329870368768" target="_blank"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">this chart</span></a><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> of COVID-19 deaths in
California:</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmlZYm8gg6WQxOl623-cThBRE8aP4p4Jxu6lhkC0_nk8plkCvJVGAi7NEvRJ9K0AADc-NuXDTHky_1ojS7iZlXLlOVljfG7UtcbbTi0m81GFbssTNJwsGewKnhxNUMFbRuuW3lew5zZsE/s762/CA+deaths.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="762" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmlZYm8gg6WQxOl623-cThBRE8aP4p4Jxu6lhkC0_nk8plkCvJVGAi7NEvRJ9K0AADc-NuXDTHky_1ojS7iZlXLlOVljfG7UtcbbTi0m81GFbssTNJwsGewKnhxNUMFbRuuW3lew5zZsE/w579-h380/CA+deaths.png" width="579" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Throughout January, my
wife and I kept our distance from my immediate family after their holiday trip
to southern California. And things were quiet on their end as well.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>A few days later, my son
was scratching my beard, which he called “itchies.” “I want to grow itchies
someday when I bigger,” he said. “I want to match…with Daddy.” I chuckled and
kissed the top of his head. But as I did, I couldn’t help but think: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">well, I hope we get there someday, mijo</i>.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Shortly after January 18—MLK Jr. Day—my wife and I found out that our sister-in-law’s parents had tested positive for COVID-19. They took care of my sister-in-law’s daughter on Mondays and Fridays every week, then their baby was dropped off at my in-laws’ house Tuesday through Thursday. Because of the national holiday, my sister-in-law and her husband didn’t work so they took care of my infant niece instead of having her parents come over to take care of her. <br /><br />By sheer luck of the calendar, the MLK Jr. holiday spared our entire COVID bubble from potentially getting infected because my sister-in-law’s parents were infectious but not symptomatic on that holiday Monday when they normally took care of my niece. <br /><br />All along, I thought my infant niece coming to my in-laws’ house three times a week was the biggest vulnerability to our COVID bubble, and it nearly proved true. When I found out just how close we all came to getting infected, I had to clear my head and take a walk around the block.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>In mid-January, the
Amazonian city of Manaus—which had suffered a surge of COVID-19 cases in May
2020—</span><a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n394" target="_blank"><span>underwent an even larger wave of infections and
death attributed to the P.1 variant</span></a><span>.
The surge in cases and deaths suggested the variant was readily capable of
reinfection and seemed to push the herd immunity threshold even higher than
before.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In late December 2020 and January 2021, I read Frank M.
Snowden’s historical textbook, </span><a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300192216/epidemics-and-society" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present</span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. </span></i><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the book’s preface, which he wrote in early 2020 when the
pandemic was ramping up, Snowden wrote something that has never strayed far
from my mind when I think about the pandemic: “<span class="css-901oao">Microbes
that ignite pandemics are those who evolution has adapted them to fill the
ecological niches that we have prepared. COVID-19 flared up and spread because
it is suited to the society we have made. A world with nearly eight billion
people, the majority of whom live in densely crowded cities and all linked by
rapid air travel, creates innumerable opportunities for pulmonary
viruses."</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>On January 21<sup>st</sup>,
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New York Times</i> </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/well/live/covid-b117-variant-advice.html" target="_blank"><span>recommended upgrading from a standard cloth mask</span></a><span> to a high-grade mask when going into public spaces
in light of the new coronavirus variants.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>In late January, a </span><a href="https://barrie.ctvnews.ca/deadly-outbreak-at-roberta-place-in-barrie-ont-that-claimed-71-lives-declared-over-1.5314226" target="_blank"><span>long-term care home in Ontario</span></a><span> experienced an outbreak attributed to the B.1.1.7
variant. A total of 235 nursing home residents and staff members were infected.
71 ultimately died from the outbreak.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>On Saturday morning,
January 30<sup>th</sup>, less than an hour before we were supposed to meet up at
a park for a playdate we had planned for a number of days, my younger sister—out
of guilt—confessed that she and her baby daddy got COVID-19 from their
Christmas trip and subsequently infected my mom. Somehow or another, probably
because he keeps to himself, my father was spared. My nephew must have gotten
infected but was never symptomatic. They had all recovered from their mild infections.
(My sister, did, however, lose her sense of smell, which is a neurological
impairment.)</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>My sister and mother told
me they didn’t want to tell us they got infected because they didn’t want me to
worry about them. But, since my sister literally waited until the last minute
to tell me, I deduced that they were prepared to <i>not </i>ever tell me that
they had gotten sick.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>My sister swears that she
must have gotten infected from a public restroom on the long drive back to the
Bay Area after attending to a female emergency, but that can never be proven.
And it’s inconsequential. They brought the virus into my parents’ home.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>It didn’t feel right to
meet up for our playdate and just pretend everything’s all hunky-dory (which
is, historically speaking, my family’s M.O. for dealing with just about any
negativity). Initially, I was infuriated at my supposedly future brother-in-law
because I know he’s the one who pushed my sister to visit his family for the
holidays as though a motherfucking historic pandemic wasn’t happening. If I saw
him that day, I would’ve wanted to wring his neck.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>After this incident, I
lost a lot of trust in my sister. I think much less of her, and our
relationship just isn’t the same. (It had already been deteriorating for many,
many years, but this furthered it and unearthed all that decay we had ignored.)</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">February
2021</span></span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One Friday in early February, on my day off, Vicente
Fernández’s “Para Siempre” looped in my head. At lunchtime, I looked the song
up on YouTube and watched an </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fqPtmLAU3I" target="_blank"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">astounding live version</span></a><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. To my
surprise, I got a little worked up listening to it. Then, I listened to a
Spanish pop song my maternal grandmother once recorded on a mix tape for my
mom. Growing up, my mom played the tape a lot in our kitchen while she cooked
or cleaned. As I listened to the song in my kitchen, I remembered my family in
Perú—my beloved cousins, aunts and uncles, and my godmother who is in her
eighties now. I had not visited them in nine years. During the entire pandemic
I never once cried but I choked up and began to sob as I listened to the song
and thought of them. I ache to see them and breathe my homeland. In that moment,
I was scared that I might never see them again, or that some of them will be
dead by the time it’s as safe as it will ever be to visit them.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Journalist David Wallace-Wells, primarily known for his
writings on climate change, wrote an article published on February 5th titled “</span><a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/02/what-if-the-covid-pandemic-never-really-ends.html" target="_blank"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What If Herd Immunity Is Out of Reach?</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">” </span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I had already been thinking about that
a lot in the prior few weeks. With the B.1.1.7 and P.1 variants, I began to
feel like t<span class="css-901oao">he virus was inevitably a step or two ahead
of us, and with its high airborne transmissibility, it’s perfectly adapted to
exploit the vulnerabilities of the modern societies we've constructed.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>By this early juncture in
America’s vaccine rollout, a number of stories were being reported of people
cheating to cut in line for the vaccine. For example, </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/health/white-people-covid-vaccines-minorities.html" target="_blank"><span>wealthy individuals eligible for a vaccine would
travel to poorer neighborhoods</span></a><span>
where they knew vaccine skepticism would be higher and more appointment slots would
be available. In certain states and municipalities where documentation to prove
vaccine eligibility was not stringent, people would simply lie about their
profession (I’m an essential worker!) or about health comorbidities they didn’t
have (I have asthma!) in order to get a poke.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On February 23<sup>rd</sup>, my father and mother got their second
dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Around that time, my beloved in-laws—our
angels throughout this pandemic—received their first vaccine doses. Once they
got their first shots, I could feel a visceral sensation of relief between my
shoulders, a tension I had not known I’d been carrying. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In late February, I took mijo on a father-son grocery
shopping trip for the first time since March 2020. It was a fruit stand near
our home that's partially open air. Even though it’s a place I felt safe taking
him, I felt really anxious looking after him that first time back at a store. Even
though there were only a few people around us, my natural instinct is to quickly
get in and get out of a store. I snapped at him when he dropped a carrot I was
asking him to put into a plastic bag. I felt horrible about it immediately
afterwards. My poor son. After all this time shopping solo, I also wasn’t used
to our old tandem shopping.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">March
2021</span></span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In early March, I went to my parents’ house to visit them
and my sister and my nephew. In the kitchen, before I left, I held my nephew in
my arms. Since we were indoors, because I wasn’t fully vaccinated, I wore a
KN95 mask. “Hopefully someday soon I won’t have to wear this when I see you,” I
told him, and I would never share such a fragile sentiment unless I believed it
was possible.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="css-901oao"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One of the COVID-19-themed podcasts
I listened to passed on this incisive quote from Roderick E. McGrew, who wrote
a 1965 book titled </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Russia
and the <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Cholera</span>, 1823-1832</span></i><span class="css-901oao"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">:
"Epidemics do not create abnormal situations, but rather sharpen existing
behavior patterns which betray deeply rooted and continuing social
imbalances."</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>A CDC study released on
March 8<sup>th</sup> found that </span><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/08/covid-cdc-study-finds-roughly-78percent-of-people-hospitalized-were-overweight-or-obese.html" target="_blank"><span>78% of Americans who have been hospitalized from <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">Covid</span>-19 were overweight or obese</span></a><span>. The study drew upon 148,494 adults who had received
a <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">Covid</span>-19 diagnosis during an emergency
department or inpatient visit at 238 U.S. hospitals from March to December
2020. 71,491 of those adults were hospitalized. Of those who were admitted,
27.8% were overweight and 50.2% were obese.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>My sister, who has lived
at our parents’ house for over three years, lied and said she lived <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">at</i> an assisted care facility in order to
qualify for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that was being offered in our
community.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>This vaccine cheating was
so prevalent that my good friend began to question if he was a chump for
patiently waiting his turn for the vaccine. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Talk about first-world
problems: online vaccine appointments across the country were incredibly hard
to schedule. Available slots would get taken up right as you were trying to
book them. It was like trying to get tickets for a sold-out show via Ticketmaster.
</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>In short time, volunteers
known as “</span><a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/coronavirus/vaccine-hunters-help-you-find-covid-19-vaccine-appointment/2517627/" target="_blank"><span>vaccine hunters</span></a><span>” sprouted to help people—particularly elderly folks who were not
computer savvy—to help them find and schedule a vaccine appointment.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>My wife spent <i>weeks</i>
trying to book a vaccine appointment. Despite her periodic asthma problems, our
healthcare provider told her she was ineligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Around this time, my
sister-in-law took her son to the hospital for his adolescent booster shots.
The nurse asked her if she had received a COVID-19 vaccine. When my
sister-in-law told her she didn’t think she qualified, the nurse <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">advised</i> her to complete the vaccine
eligibility quiz and say she took care of kids in order to qualify. She
subsequently booked an appointment and advised my wife to follow the same steps.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>On March 31<sup>st</sup>,
my wife was scheduled to receive her first dose of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine.
We started the morning with a joyous hopping-hug dance.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>April 2021</span></span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On his weekly podcast and during
interviews with the press, Dr. Michael Osterholm repeatedly called the <span>SARS</span></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-<span>CoV</span>-</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2</span><i><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">variants “</span><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2021/04/04/biden-covid-official-warns-game-changing-variant-infects-kids-very-readily-and-could-spur-new-lockdowns/?sh=49d2ee6f6b9a" target="_blank"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">game changers</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.”</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://fxb.harvard.edu/leadership-faculty-staff-fellows/justin-feldman-scd/" target="_blank"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Justin Feldman</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">,
a Research Associate at the FXB Center for Health & Human Rights at Harvard
University and a social epidemiologist who researches racism and health
perfectly summed up the U.S. pandemic strategy in a single tweet:</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAwCWPOSTPydG7nNNUOOalheEEFVrh6M_Gv0PTYkOuYO_9cqfFw1gkOOEJI3RIEFUFaToHdCjmUa8xd9zyFA883idMWcmwVbT3AKf6IIuTrooS1_j5VdZeenXhghRGCoUuzP3XOkIB-_E/s888/Justin+Feldman.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="888" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAwCWPOSTPydG7nNNUOOalheEEFVrh6M_Gv0PTYkOuYO_9cqfFw1gkOOEJI3RIEFUFaToHdCjmUa8xd9zyFA883idMWcmwVbT3AKf6IIuTrooS1_j5VdZeenXhghRGCoUuzP3XOkIB-_E/w574-h154/Justin+Feldman.png" width="574" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>In early April, my
colleague who works at a different clinic site, told me a vendor stepped into
their office peddling 3D posters and other kitsch. Man, is there any surer sign
that 'Murica is back!? Pandemic? What pandemic! We slayed it!</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>On April 7th, CDC Director
Dr. Rochelle Walensky remarked that the </span><span class="css-901oao"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19 had </span></span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-whitehouse/uk-variant-of-covid-19-is-now-most-common-strain-in-united-states-cdc-idUSKBN2BU29X" target="_blank"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">become the dominant strain in the United States</span></a><span class="css-901oao"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The next day, I tuned into </span><span>a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
webinar discussing the American Rescue Plan Act that would provide </span><a href="https://bphc.hrsa.gov/program-opportunities/american-rescue-plan/awards" target="_blank"><span>$6 billion in one-time funding to our nation's
health centers</span></a><span> to “support and
expand COVID-19 vaccination, testing, and treatment for vulnerable populations.”
The moderator—a government employee, mind you—mentioned a
"post-COVID" world in his opening comments and I was like, what the
goddamn fuck are you talking about a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">post-COVID
world</i>?</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="css-901oao"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On
April 14<sup>th</sup>, </span></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">American political scientist</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span class="css-901oao"><span lang="EN">Ian Bremmer </span></span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/1382365734832115722" target="_blank"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">tweeted</span></a><span class="css-901oao"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">:</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="css-901oao"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8U2t3cNDzrplI___sksp0ZDZxXOYDYnK6qdfH7TKVw9Kc7vuZGIvJaITJnaTRmwOZIjQnrkMRBP1DlyQnQi2vhYvvBGEFDkx-RY_OhZeH1oRyYvS1iAgoXuan5oZUCyOJUCB17xHfQ8/s620/Ian+Bremmer.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="620" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8U2t3cNDzrplI___sksp0ZDZxXOYDYnK6qdfH7TKVw9Kc7vuZGIvJaITJnaTRmwOZIjQnrkMRBP1DlyQnQi2vhYvvBGEFDkx-RY_OhZeH1oRyYvS1iAgoXuan5oZUCyOJUCB17xHfQ8/w400-h288/Ian+Bremmer.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While vaccine hesitancy was slowly
declining, multiple polls showed that it was still prevalent. A </span><a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-04-29/poll-reveals-whos-most-vaccine-hesitant-in-america-and-why" target="_blank"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">March 2021 survey</span></a><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> of </span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">732,308 Americans, the <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Delphi Group</span> at Carnegie Mellon University found that </span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">More than one-third didn't think they needed the shot,
didn't trust the government, were waiting to see if the vaccine was safe or
didn't trust COVID-19 vaccines specifically. And 14.5% said they didn't like
vaccines in general.”</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On April 15<sup>th</sup>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lancet</i>, one of the most respected
medical journals in the world, published </span><span class="css-901oao"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span></span><a href="https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(21)00869-2/fulltext" target="_blank"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ten
scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2</span></a><span class="css-901oao"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">,”
which was co-authored by a number of heavy hitters in the world of science
including Jose-Luis Jimenez, Zeynep Tufekci, and Kimberly Prather. I figured it
would be worthwhile to note this in the recap because scientific experts of
their caliber <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">had</i> to write what was
so plainly obvious over a year into this global pandemic.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Renowned epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch shared a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Slate</i> article titled “</span><a href="https://slate.com/technology/2021/04/masks-outside-covid-risk-low.html" target="_blank"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s
About Time for Us to Stop Wearing Masks Outside</span></a><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">” on
Twitter and </span><a href="https://twitter.com/mlipsitch/status/1384232134475337736"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">said</span></a><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, “I must
agree. I am generally a hawk about maintaining rules with a clear benefit.
Outdoor masking has notable costs and really no evidence of benefits.”</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On April 20<sup>th</sup>, eleven months after he murdered
George Floyd, </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/20/us/derek-chauvin-trial-george-floyd-deliberations/index.html" target="_blank"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Derek
Chauvin was <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">convicted</span></span></a><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> of
second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree
manslaughter</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">According to my own calculations—which I did for work
purposes—as of April 25, 2021, 47% of Whites residing in Alameda County who do not
identify as Latines have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Asians were
44.3%, Blacks 28%, and Latines 25.6%. Vaccine inequities among racial/ethnic
groups was real.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May 2021</span></span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On May 2, 2021, CNN producer and math junkie, Ryan Struyk
(just check out his Twitter timeline) </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/1388920330979266568" target="_blank"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">tweeted</span></a><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, “The
total number of US coronavirus deaths (576,866) just surpassed the population
of the state of Wyoming (576,851).</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On May 9<sup>th</sup>, India recorded </span><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01274-7" target="_blank"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">over
400,000 new COVID-19 cases</span></a><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in a single day.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9haP9COUUAbbZi9pC6na7IeJCbDq1sFoEONtF5x_bSgy-3RhVHAeelxNhbk6Vd_pXwMjQbSAwPTVutLm-s2-p8-dG_p5FKQPu_dGWVk1rNpF3WyF9fEVrwrhzNEHKczfx0MH6qnLU6zw/s630/India.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="630" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9haP9COUUAbbZi9pC6na7IeJCbDq1sFoEONtF5x_bSgy-3RhVHAeelxNhbk6Vd_pXwMjQbSAwPTVutLm-s2-p8-dG_p5FKQPu_dGWVk1rNpF3WyF9fEVrwrhzNEHKczfx0MH6qnLU6zw/w429-h344/India.png" width="429" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Meanwhile, on Mother’s Day, with the adults in my immediate family
fully vaccinated, I casually walked into my parents' house from the backyard
without donning a mask. My father was lounging on the couch, without a mask,
watching TV. I greeted him in passing and he nonchalantly said hi back,
seemingly unaware of just how enormous this moment was for me since I had not
walked into their house without a mask in over a year. (In fact, I had only
walked into their house a handful of times up until that point in the
pandemic.) <span class="css-901oao">I almost teared up on my way to the kitchen.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="css-901oao"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="css-901oao"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On May 10, 2021, </span></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">the WHO </span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-designates-india-variant-being-global-concern-2021-05-10/" target="_blank"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">classified
the B.1.617 variant</span></a><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> first identified in India in late 2020 as a variant of
global concern.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May 14, 2021, in a decision it would rue in the coming
months, the CDC said </span><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/13/cdc-says-fully-vaccinated-people-dont-need-to-wear-face-masks-indoors-or-outdoors-in-most-settings.html" target="_blank"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">fully-vaccinated
people would no longer need to wear a face mask</span></a><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> or stay six
feet away from others in most settings, whether indoors or outdoors.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">June 2021</span></span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">On June 15<sup>th</sup>, the CDC declared the B.1.617
variant, now commonly known as the “Delta variant,” a variant of concern after
it torched India in April and May 2021.</span>
</span><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><style>@font-face
{font-family:Century;
panose-1:2 4 6 4 5 5 5 2 3 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;}@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face
{font-family:"Calibri Light";
panose-1:2 15 3 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 415 0;}@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;}h1
{mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-style-next:Normal;
margin-top:12.0pt;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan lines-together;
page-break-after:avoid;
mso-outline-level:1;
font-size:16.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:major-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:major-bidi;
color:#2E74B5;
mso-themecolor:accent1;
mso-themeshade:191;
mso-font-kerning:0pt;
font-weight:normal;}a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
mso-themecolor:hyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}span.Heading1Char
{mso-style-name:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-locked:yes;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1";
mso-ansi-font-size:16.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:16.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:major-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:major-bidi;
color:#2E74B5;
mso-themecolor:accent1;
mso-themeshade:191;}span.css-901oao
{mso-style-name:css-901oao;
mso-style-unhide:no;}.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Century;
mso-ascii-font-family:Century;
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Century;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}</style></span></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-17310350694093369292021-11-11T21:27:00.015-08:002022-01-08T23:06:48.158-08:00Pandemic Recap (Thus Far) - Part Two<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdhvGa3PpgBAXcBKLPKR1qsdGdDuP5fibg4sn722dqlsTF4SKBHTcbpga9jaN3U2qZoFOEbLZQm4aicGF9YHEiBjtont-BulYyfggA9pUnjMtF1wcWJCrcyVJWrgnJ3S8MIbdC1oIaDqM/s750/SARS-CoV-2-1-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="750" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdhvGa3PpgBAXcBKLPKR1qsdGdDuP5fibg4sn722dqlsTF4SKBHTcbpga9jaN3U2qZoFOEbLZQm4aicGF9YHEiBjtont-BulYyfggA9pUnjMtF1wcWJCrcyVJWrgnJ3S8MIbdC1oIaDqM/w640-h384/SARS-CoV-2-1-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span>
<p></p><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">June 2020</span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Before the pandemic, my three-year-old
son and I had time to ourselves during our weekly grocery store trips. That was
our thing, our dedicated time together. And I missed it terribly.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Before the pandemic
descended upon us, our son was already far more attached to my wife. But his
attachment to her became more extreme during the pandemic. If she wanted to run
an errand, she would have to sneak out of her parents’ house without him
noticing because he would otherwise cry and wail if he knew she was gone.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">During his early years, I
saw my son cry on many, many occasions. Early in the pandemic, when my wife
would try to leave the house to go to the store, he would wail with what felt
like fearful despair. He would stop as soon as she stepped back into the house.
It was a different type of crying. If we had tried to explain the pandemic to
him then, he couldn’t have comprehended what was happening, but he knew
something was terribly wrong. I have no doubt.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span></span></b></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Two and a half months into
the pandemic, my wife and I were not getting much time to ourselves. Since we
worked together, back to back in the same small bedroom converted into a home
office at her parents’ house, we were around each other 24/7 except on Fridays when
I had the day off and stayed home. I was fortunate to have that day to myself. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We</i> were fortunate that I had that day to
myself. Though it wasn’t much time, I would have suffocated without it. But I
felt awful we couldn’t give her time to herself because it wasn’t safe to take
our son to the grocery store and he didn’t want to go on hikes alone with me.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In early to mid-June,
multiple protests were held in the Bay Area to denounce police brutality. For
the first time in nearly a decade, I felt compelled to participate in such a
demonstration, especially in my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcKv6PjXMVE" target="_blank">beloved Oakland</a>, but I
saw photos of the protests and I was afraid they might be superspreader events,
so I sat them out. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instead, feeling like an
angry, caged tiger, I followed the uprising from home, doomscrolling on
Twitter.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On June 8<sup>th</sup>,
the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/08/upshot/when-epidemiologists-will-do-everyday-things-coronavirus.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage&fbclid=IwAR1sm7UA1MfzPyrXPhqOf-ccbRh0Fq8goXC7xXWDBDCXUTwL0YcvKDzYUC0" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New York
Times </i>polled <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">511 epidemiologists</span></a> on when they expected to
fly, hug, and do eighteen other everyday activities again. I studied the poll
results and essentially took the results as guidance on the riskiness of such
behaviors.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">President Trump <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/06/16/877778784/health-officials-worry-trumps-tulsa-rally-will-pose-covid-19-risks?utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews&fbclid=IwAR12JD0yJgCCbT-MKtwW8pA1C8DsoT-KQxaLFx1NsFqzfNYCApzngLU" target="_blank">planned to hold an indoor rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma</a>.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The sign-up page for
guests to register for Trump’s rally in Tulsa <a href="https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/attendees-of-president-trumps-tulsa-rally-must-agree-to-a-coronavirus-liability-waiver" target="_blank">contained a disclaimer</a> stating attendees “voluntarily assume all risks
related to exposure to COVID-19” and agree to not hold Trump’s campaign, the
venue, or any affiliates liable for any illness or injury:</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL9oYc-uOZ1Wqs16kFgY-bl_vLfYd6hDiAnxAJLbBzf1OQ-8vHvCbmCHpSKsLwujUg06LgAXrirgAHXDIbEcZWplTotmTG7EdAMsF0h3jlsf3xGkBLQk_eAZ6AB2sPxgsN41hilAeTw60/s466/Snip20210611_1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="466" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL9oYc-uOZ1Wqs16kFgY-bl_vLfYd6hDiAnxAJLbBzf1OQ-8vHvCbmCHpSKsLwujUg06LgAXrirgAHXDIbEcZWplTotmTG7EdAMsF0h3jlsf3xGkBLQk_eAZ6AB2sPxgsN41hilAeTw60/w476-h243/Snip20210611_1.png" width="476" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Like others, the novel
coronavirus confounded me. Why did some people become symptomatic while others experienced
asymptomatic infections? Back then, I wondered if it had anything to do with one’s
blood type.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In late June, I drove up
to Oakland to have a socially-distanced brown bag lunch with a friend in his
backyard. Since the pandemic began, it was the first time I saw any of my
friends in person. At first, the visit made me feel a bit nervous, but once I
left, without giving my friend a hug, I felt a bit lighter.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Our “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/27/what-is-a-covid-19-bubble-and-how-to-do-it-safely.html" target="_blank">COVID bubble</a>” significantly expanded when my brother-in-law began to drop off his adopted four-month-old daughter at my in-laws’ house thrice per week to care for her while he and his wife worked.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />The addition to our COVID bubble, and all the added risk, made my wife and I uneasy. I jotted down a diagram of our bubble then to help us assess all the risk we were taking working remotely every weekday from her parents’ house while they cared for our son.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicmydIj4IXTOVY8HTMzZ3AUYZ3hBtJxyOuoN7hBvpu_-YRYNBURJiplb5OcVf4h09KTf0MxWY-Jy4Brf4zu7_HDFMx5svdVPBUNrfxnGxjI7_UGG8TIEP5zTULJfPED4xdGIsOq3KpSy4u9eJHK8npqGYkJtlVo8zsQUN5Qd3oOFCE0lAHmjTDBS1Z=s2084" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2084" data-original-width="2083" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicmydIj4IXTOVY8HTMzZ3AUYZ3hBtJxyOuoN7hBvpu_-YRYNBURJiplb5OcVf4h09KTf0MxWY-Jy4Brf4zu7_HDFMx5svdVPBUNrfxnGxjI7_UGG8TIEP5zTULJfPED4xdGIsOq3KpSy4u9eJHK8npqGYkJtlVo8zsQUN5Qd3oOFCE0lAHmjTDBS1Z=w640-h640" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><br />My wife and I considered hiring a nanny to limit our exposure to other households through my in-laws’ house, but there would be risk with that alternative as well. In the end, every member of our bubble simply vowed to do what we could to be safe.<br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">July 2020</span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On July 6, 2020, <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-07-06/239-scientists-call-on-who-to-say-coronavirus-is-airborne" target="_blank">hundreds of renowned scientists called on the World Health Organization</a> to better
reflect COVID-19’s potential for airborne transmission.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In early July, I read a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-jumped-between-people-via-elevator-surfaces-study-2020-7" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Business
Insider</i> article</a> detailing a CDC study focused on an asymptomatic
carrier of COVID-19 in China who is believed to have contributed to the
infection of 71 people in the surrounding community. Although patient zero
quarantined in her apartment after having travelled from the United States, it
is believed she infected others in her apartment building by using their
communal elevator. The CDC believed fomite transmission occurred from the
elevator buttons and this scared the fucking shit out of me.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On July 9<sup>th</sup>, it
was reported that nearly <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/07/09/nearly-50-million-americans-have-filed-for-unemployment-heres-whats-really-happening/?sh=2cbb80d327d3" target="_blank">50 million Americans had filed for first-time unemployment benefits</a> over the past
16 weeks.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/how-fauci-5-other-health-specialists-deal-with-covid-19-risks-in-their-everyday-lives/2020/07/02/d4665ed6-b6fb-11ea-a510-55bf26485c93_story.html?fbclid=IwAR3Egiww1gGQDhPk7F5iid4ZldRXIoIPqu5v-d53pcCoOrFa3rrkHme" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Washington
Post</i> article asked Dr. Anthony
Fauci and four other health specialists</a> dealt with COVID-19-related risks in their everyday lives. They asked
them if they took any precautions with their mail or packages. Fauci said he simply
brought the mail in, washed his hands, and would not open it for a day or two.
That seemed like sound advice so I did the same, allowing our mail to pile
behind our couch for at least a day before I handled it.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A video of a
four-year-old-girl from Phoenix, AZ, crying and venting about the COVID-19 lockdown<span class="MsoHyperlink">,</span> went viral because so many of us—children or adults—could
relate.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6GSLy-k0heI" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
</span></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On July 15<sup>th</sup>,
it was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/us/politics/trump-cdc-coronavirus.html" target="_blank">reported</a>
that the <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Trump Administration was ordering
all hospitals to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and send
all <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">Covid</span>-19 patient information
to a central database in Washington. According to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New York Times</i>,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>“The
Health and Human Services database that will receive new information is not
open to the public, which could affect the work of scores of researchers,
modelers and health officials who rely on C.D.C. data to make projections and
crucial decisions.”</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On July 16<sup>th</sup>,
the United States reported a then-single-day record of 75,600 COVID-19 cases,
breaking a record it had set just a week before.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In late July, the world received
a ray of hope: pharmaceutical company <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/14/moderna-will-begin-late-stage-coronavirus-vaccine-trial-on-july-27.html" target="_blank">Moderna announced it would start a Phase 3 clinical trial</a> on July 27<sup>th</sup> for
its COVID-19 vaccine, which would include 30,000 participants across 87
locations. Pfizer also began its <a href="https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-conclude-phase-3-study-covid-19-vaccine" target="_blank">Phase 3 clinical trial</a> on July 27<sup>th</sup>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">August 2020</span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">One Saturday morning, my
wife, son, and I woke up early, had a quick bite to eat, and got dressed to
sneak out to a nearby playground. My wife had asked me if I thought it would be
safe if we allowed our son to play on the playground and I told her I thought
it was fairly safe, even though public health officials recommended their continued
closure.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We drove into the park,
which we had all to ourselves. The main playground was wrapped with yellow
caution tape that was easy to step over. My son climbed up to the top of the playground.
“Giant…slide!” he said as he knelt down to go down a steep slide that we loved
to ride with him. I stood at the bottom of the slide and filmed him and my wife
with my phone camera. Once he slid down, he peered at me and said “Giant slide,”
then smiled and zipped off as he uttered a few laughs brimming with glee as he
ran back up the playground to go down the slide again.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We stayed at the
playground for at least half an hour. My wife vigilantly sanitized our son’s hands
and we kept a watchful eye on him, fearful he might stick his mouth onto the
play structure. My wife periodically glanced around, afraid we would get busted
for breaking a public health order. “I don’t want to make a habit of this,” she
remembers I told her when we left. “Just once a month.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In early August, months
before the election, President Trump participated in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/04/donald-trump-interview-axios-covid-19-epstein-john-lewis" target="_blank">an interview with <i>Axios's </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Australian</span> reporter Jonathan Swan</a> about America’s pandemic response. Trump described
the pandemic as “under control.” “How?” Swan responded. “A thousand Americans
are dying a day.” “They are dying,” Trump replied. “That’s true. And you…<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM_YRUe_hLA" target="_blank">it is what it is</a>.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">From <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6947e1.htm" target="_blank">August 7 to 16, about 460,000 persons</a> from across the United States descended upon <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/10/17/sturgis-rally-spread/" target="_blank">Sturgis, North Dakota for a motorcycle rally</a>. Not surprisingly, many attendees—who are politically
conservative—chose to not wear masks at outdoor concerts or inside crowded bars
and restaurants. Within weeks of the gathering, rural states like the Dakotas,
Wyoming, and Montana led the nation in new coronavirus infections per capita. Ultimately,
more than 330 COVID-19 cases and one death were directly linked to the rally,
and this is, in all likelihood, a gross underestimate since it is difficult to
conduct accurate contact tracing for such a widely-attended event.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On August 16-17, intense
thunderstorms slammed into central and Northern California and resulted in more
than 15,000 lightning strikes, sparking fire after fire according to the <a href="https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/" target="_blank">California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection website</a>. On August 19th, Governor Gavin Newsom reported
that the state was battling 367 known fires. The state’s first giga-fire—the
August Complex—alone <a href="https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/07/california-fires-2020/" target="_blank">consumed one million acres in the northern Coast Range</a>.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Shortly after, the air
quality index in the Bay Area reached high, unhealthy levels. Not only were we
shuttered in from the pandemic, but the air outside was so bad that we couldn’t
spend much time in our backyard (A.K.A. our pandemic haven). In short time, the
three of us were cooped up inside, and it was a rough few weeks.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sometime in August, I
spoke with my mother over the phone and she told me that she had flown to Salt
Lake City in late May to celebrate my cousin’s marriage. She told me she kept
this from me because she knew I would not be okay with her risk-taking
behavior. I just laughed when she told me. What could I possibly do? </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On August 28, 2020, a
twenty-five-year-old man from Nevada became the first known case of COVID-19
reinfection in the United States. Previously, there had been <a href="https://www.ajmc.com/view/first-case-of-covid-19-reinfection-detected-in-the-us" target="_blank">four other reinfection cases</a> worldwide in Hong Kong, Belgium, the Netherlands,
and Ecuador.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">With these COVID-19
reinfections, it became virtually certain that herd immunity would be impossible
to attain against this coronavirus.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">September 2020</span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Pfizer Chief Executive
Officer Albert Bourla said the company could have results from its Phase 3
clinical trial <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/03/pfizer-ceo-confirms-coronavirus-vaccine-trial-may-have-results-in-october.html" target="_blank">as early as October 2020</a>.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On September 9<sup>th</sup>,
the San Francisco Bay Area had a <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/The-day-the-sun-didn-t-come-up-People-in-15554470.php" target="_blank">blood-orange apocalyptic sky</a> due to the smoke from surrounding wildfires. It
was absolutely jaw-dropping to witness. Something I will never forget.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">That morning, my son was
confused by the dark, sickly-yellow, seemingly overcast sky. “It’s nighttime,”
he kept saying, pointing or staring at our home office window with befuddlement.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Soon afterward—although my
wife didn’t connect the dots until a few weeks later—our son became
inexplicably scared of the dark.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On September 9<sup>th</sup>,
Bob Woodward—who is supposedly a journalist—disclosed in his upcoming book that
President Trump told him <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/10/911368698/trump-tells-woodward-he-deliberately-downplayed-coronavirus-threat" target="_blank">in February 2020</a> that he knew how deadly COVID-19 was, but he went on to purposely
play it down. Here’s a soundbite from that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70V3nI9fAG8" target="_blank">telephone interview</a>:</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It goes through air, Bob.
That's always tougher than the touch. You know, the touch…you don't have to
touch things, right? But the air, you just breathe the air. That's how it's
passed. And so that's a very tricky one. That's a very delicate one. It's also
more deadly than your…you know, your…even your strenuous flus.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On September 12<sup>th</sup>,
the <a href="https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/1304893661092642817?s=20" target="_blank">U.S. reported 1,224 deaths. Canada: 0</a>:</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4TOyFM8SEyxMXtron5cjyBtCZUPiB2RbPLtKEeRHMWqRdaaPOp-_cA5jOsPt2bxNGLT0-sPnSpzDCCsSlDfPgNvn5vw2KrLKBgFJnyLfmLe7uHadJt9-8wBhhC9AjeLyhBKWzp78jCao/s875/Jim+Acosta.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="875" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4TOyFM8SEyxMXtron5cjyBtCZUPiB2RbPLtKEeRHMWqRdaaPOp-_cA5jOsPt2bxNGLT0-sPnSpzDCCsSlDfPgNvn5vw2KrLKBgFJnyLfmLe7uHadJt9-8wBhhC9AjeLyhBKWzp78jCao/w640-h380/Jim+Acosta.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">At this juncture in the
pandemic, I theoretically knew our newspapers and news websites would someday <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> be filled with stories and headlines
about the coronavirus pandemic, but I couldn’t imagine when that would be, or
how our world could ever mirror the one we used to inhabit.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 6pt;"></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On Friday, September 18<sup>th</sup>,
the CDC posted updated guidance saying that <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/09/21/915351325/cdc-publishes-then-withdraws-guidance-on-aerosol-spread-of-coronavirus" target="_blank">aerosol transmission might be one of the "most common" ways the coronavirus is spreading</a>, but then they took down that guidance that following
Monday stating that it “posted in error to its website.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq3T_FUbx7CsVgPkjFW9KHdnlODdqjZkQlaLO2ZjNdymRF34EMotkOyyKKpVo1NwnJAF7lQgRWXnPrycio8vqfp89S-rzTNcJzJZtyAeJ_8xIObETj-4j0Wl7vsF4Dbb2AlQ_ntkogFKY/s704/Linsey+Marr.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="704" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq3T_FUbx7CsVgPkjFW9KHdnlODdqjZkQlaLO2ZjNdymRF34EMotkOyyKKpVo1NwnJAF7lQgRWXnPrycio8vqfp89S-rzTNcJzJZtyAeJ_8xIObETj-4j0Wl7vsF4Dbb2AlQ_ntkogFKY/w527-h436/Linsey+Marr.png" width="527" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On September 28, 2020, the
global total of deaths related to COVID-19—which is probably a gross
underestimate—surpassed one million.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On September 29<sup>th</sup>,
President Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden had their first
debate inside a pavilion in Cleveland, Ohio.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">October 2020</span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On October 1<sup>st</sup>,
it was announced that Hope Hicks, a senior aide and close adviser to President
Trump, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/01/us/politics/hope-hicks-coronavirus.html" target="_blank">had tested positive for COVID-19</a>. It was reported that she had recently traveled
with the president aboard Air Force One.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Once that news broke, my
good friend and I, along with many, many, many other Americans became feverishly
excited at the prospect that Donald Trump may be infected with the coronavirus.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The next day, to my great
delight, Donald Trump tweeted that he and his wife, Melania, had tested
positive for COVID-19. It quickly became <a href="https://www.axios.com/trump-tweet-coronavirus-positive-most-shared-e559d150-61a7-44fc-889a-f60ffbd5cc33.html" target="_blank">his most retweeted and liked tweet ever</a>. Later that day, he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/02/us/politics/trump-hospitalized-with-coronavirus.html" target="_blank">was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center</a>.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In total honesty, that
twenty-four-hour span between Hicks and Trump testing positive was one of my
high points during this entire pandemic.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I joked with my wife that
Trump’s treatment plan would undoubtedly include lots of McDonald’s hamburgers.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Out of curiosity, I looked
up the nearest McDonald’s to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center via
Google Maps. The closest one is 4.7 miles away on 7101 Democracy Blvd in
Bethesda, MD.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Although I greatly
disliked Joe Biden, I, along with many, many others who simply wanted to unseat
Trump from the presidency, became fearful that Biden may have been infected
with the virus during the first presidential debate.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Shortly after Trump’s
positive results for COVID-19, Biden continued to get tested every day. Many of
us felt relieved when his results continually came back negative.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On October 5<sup>th</sup>,
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tested positive for COVID-19.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On October 5<sup>th</sup>,
to the disappointment of countless people around the world, Donald Trump
emerged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and returned to the
White House via helicopter. But he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N4OvdibNiI" target="_blank">visibly gasped for breath</a>
upon the White House balcony, which gave me and several of my friends hope that
he may still die from COVID-19.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">But alas, he didn’t.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In mid-October, Dr. Fauci
spoke with the <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/covid19-fauci-vaccine-november-jefferson-masks-social-distance-20201015.html" target="_blank">medical community at Thomas Jefferson University</a> in Philadelphia and was asked about COVID-19
vaccines, herd immunity, and how much longer the American public would have to
wear masks. “You’re not going to have a profound degree of herd immunity for a
considerable period of time, maybe toward the end of 2021, into 2022,” he said.
“I feel very strongly that we’re going to need to have some degree of
public-health measures to continue. Maybe not as stringent as they are right now.
It’s not going to be the way it was with polio and measles, where you get a
vaccine, case closed, it’s done. It’s going to be public-health measures that
linger for months and months.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On October 16, 2020, I
tweeted: “These days, trying to be a rational, sensible human being has never
been so exhausting.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Soon afterward, my family
and I took a short break from the pandemic grind at a cute organic farm up in
the Santa Cruz Mountains. Our son loved the hayloft converted into a spacious
one-bedroom Airbnb space. He dubbed it “the beautiful house.” Although it was
just a weekend trip, it felt rejuvenating to go on an adventure near home.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A week later, on October
22<sup>nd</sup>, the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1244490" target="_blank">United States smashed its previous daily record</a> of new COVID-19 cases with 77,640. A day later,
the U.S. again broke its own record with 79,303 new COVID-19 cases. In spite of
this, President Trump continued to repeatedly and publicly state—as Election
Day neared—that the U.S. was “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/10/27/trump-said-us-was-rounding-the-final-turn-on-aug-31-and-on-39-of-the-57-days-since/?sh=3ca3144b3729" target="_blank">rounding the turn</a>” on the pandemic.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On October 26<sup>th</sup>,
after recovering from the coronavirus, President Trump held a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/us/politics/trump-barrett.html" target="_blank">nighttime ceremony on the White House lawn</a> to swear in Justice Amy Coney Barrett in a virtual
do-over of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/03/us/rose-garden-event-covid.html" target="_blank">superspreader event held in the Rose Garden</a> on September 26<sup>th</sup> that is believed to
be when Trump and several others in his inner circle contracted the virus.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">By the end of October, playgrounds
were reopened in Alameda County. And so, my wife and our son met up with my younger
sister and my nephew, who is a year younger than my son. From the parking lot,
we spotted four kids playing at the vast playground. My son allowed my wife to put
on his cloth mask but he refused to get out of the car. "I'm not
safe," he said, staring at the kids on the playground.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">November 2020</span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On November 1, 2020,
Australia <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-54768038" target="_blank">reported zero new COVID-19 cases</a> for the first time in five months.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A few days later, on November
4<sup>th</sup>, more than 100,000 new <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">Covid</span>-19
cases were recorded in the U.S., marking the latest single-day record high.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The following day, the
U.S. again broke the single-day record of new COVID-19 cases with 120,048. Up
until that date, Japan—a country that presumed the novel coronavirus was
primarily airborne since February 2020—had 103,838 COVID-19 cases <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkLevineNYC/status/1324549453005627394?s=20" target="_blank">over the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">entire</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>pandemic</a>.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SARS-CoV-2_Alpha_variant#Epidemiology" target="_blank">B.1.1.7 variant</a> of <i>SARS</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">-<i>CoV</i>-</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></i><i>2 was
first detected in the </i>United Kingdom<i> in early November </i>from a sample taken
in September.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On November 7<sup>th</sup>,
Joseph Biden <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/us/politics/biden-election.html" target="_blank">officially won the 2020 presidential race</a>. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">President Trump refused to
concede the race. In an <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2020-11-07/text-of-statement-from-president-donald-trump" target="_blank">official statement on the election result</a>, he said: “The simple fact is this election is far
from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let
alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or
states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could
determine the ultimate victor.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.scripps.edu/science-and-medicine/translational-institute/about/people/eric-topol/" target="_blank">Eric Topol</a>,
MD, Founder and Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and a
professor of molecular medicine tweeted:</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO88yL8kcQ5kTFqpZQosZ2C8oOu1M9_aAw9qis2yVPjzbi869hd-gBm1W8XeX_ffjhhPzv48CSEYHZAWCTHe9lEn-UADJt8lZ80qkoJ2knFbXoX0UWZUjj_B7wzfl63fb1ZJhF6qhunII/s875/Eric+Topol.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="875" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO88yL8kcQ5kTFqpZQosZ2C8oOu1M9_aAw9qis2yVPjzbi869hd-gBm1W8XeX_ffjhhPzv48CSEYHZAWCTHe9lEn-UADJt8lZ80qkoJ2knFbXoX0UWZUjj_B7wzfl63fb1ZJhF6qhunII/w544-h253/Eric+Topol.png" width="544" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On November 12<sup>th</sup>,
the Forest Service reported that the August Complex was completely contained. Ultimately,
in 2020, <a href="https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/07/california-fires-2020/" target="_blank">4.2 million acres burned in California</a>, which is equivalent to the entire area of Los
Angeles, Orange, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties combined.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In mid-November, I drove
to San Francisco, a city I once called home for seven years, to meet up with my
dear friend who was visiting from New York City. It was my first trip into San
Francisco in nearly nine months.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">My friend and I took a
long walk from Bernal Heights all the way to Dolores Park and back. Along the
way, practically everyone we saw wore facial coverings. Throughout their parks,
they had “I got you covered” or “Protect yourself. Protect others.” signs posted
to encourage folks to mask up. It was refreshing to see, and it was a far cry
from what I typically saw in the East Bay suburb I call home.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Newsom-attended-French-Laundry-party-with-more-15725393.php" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">San
Francisco Chronicle</i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>reported
that on November 6<sup>th</sup> Governor Gavin Newsom attended a birthday party
at the posh French Laundry to celebrate a longtime friend and political adviser.
At the time, California state guidelines limited gatherings and defined them as
“social situations that bring together people from different households at the
same time in a single space or place” to no more than three households.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On November 9th, <a href="https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-vaccine-candidate-against" target="_blank">Pfizer and BioNTech announced</a> that its “vaccine candidate <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">was found to be more than 90% effective in
preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2
infection” in their first interim efficacy analysis</span>. It was the most
encouraging thing I had read during the pandemic.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A few days later, <a href="https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/modernas-covid-19-vaccine-candidate-meets-its-primary-efficacy" target="_blank">Moderna announced</a> that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate had “a vaccine efficacy of 94.5%”
in its first interim analysis.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sometime in early or
mid-November, my mother texted to inform me that she was in Guadalajara,
Mexico, visiting my aunt and one of her other sisters who had flown from Perú
to reunite with them. She told me she didn’t want to tell me about her trip because
she knew it would upset me.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The CDC advised against
Thanksgiving travel. Public health figures implored the American public to not
convene for our typical large family gatherings to celebrate Thanksgiving. With
COVID-19 vaccines on the horizon, ones that yielded vaccine efficacy rates far
higher than expected, it was reasonable to believe public health experts when
they reasoned that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this </i>year’s holiday
season may be the only one that will be abnormal due to the pandemic.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yet, the Transportation
Security Administration said that it screened <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/thanksgiving-travel-volume-2020-pandemic/index.html" target="_blank">9.4 million people during the Thanksgiving 2020 window</a>, with the Sunday after
Thanksgiving as its busiest day of air travel since mid-March 2020.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">My sentiments about
Thanksgiving in the pandemic year of 2020 were perfectly captured with this
tweet from Nawat descendant and writer, Freddy Jesse Izaguirre:</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Mge_1Vi8h18QIlV_s8rOS74-tDHQHxpDfgXvlcfAJ-zFWtHurfOQIFNEnHaru29KbokaZyL1inOGQeK_jhoX8RqAL9-10tcOEMZiXVnWffeNJ1NPWOw1i7fjovjFqNeQwHoDdLvfWRc/s687/Freddy+Jesse.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="687" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Mge_1Vi8h18QIlV_s8rOS74-tDHQHxpDfgXvlcfAJ-zFWtHurfOQIFNEnHaru29KbokaZyL1inOGQeK_jhoX8RqAL9-10tcOEMZiXVnWffeNJ1NPWOw1i7fjovjFqNeQwHoDdLvfWRc/w436-h182/Freddy+Jesse.png" width="436" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Both of our families
cancelled their customary Thanksgiving gatherings.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yet, my mother, who
had just returned from Guadalajara a few days before, sat down for a
Thanksgiving meal with my eighty-one-year-old father, my sister (who has a
Master’s Degree), her college-educated boyfriend, and their infant son, which
means my mother <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">may </i>have quarantined
for a day or two at most before she—as the matron of their household—openly and
brazenly dismissed public health guidance during a historic pandemic.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background: yellow none repeat scroll 0% 0%;"></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The posed pictures my sister
and mother subsequently shared of their tiny Thanksgiving gathering, all of
them smiling for the camera, just induced <span class="css-901oao">a mixture
of pain, rage, hopelessness, and exhaustion within me.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p><style><span style="font-family: georgia;">@font-face
{font-family:Century;
panose-1:2 4 6 4 5 5 5 2 3 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;}@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;}h1
{mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-style-next:Normal;
margin-top:12.0pt;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan lines-together;
page-break-after:avoid;
mso-outline-level:1;
font-size:16.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:major-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:major-bidi;
color:#2E74B5;
mso-themecolor:accent1;
mso-themeshade:191;
mso-font-kerning:0pt;
font-weight:normal;}a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
mso-themecolor:hyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}span.Heading1Char
{mso-style-name:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-locked:yes;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1";
mso-ansi-font-size:16.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:16.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:major-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:major-bidi;
color:#2E74B5;
mso-themecolor:accent1;
mso-themeshade:191;}span.css-901oao
{mso-style-name:css-901oao;
mso-style-unhide:no;}.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Century;
mso-ascii-font-family:Century;
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Century;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}</span></style></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-8758644527930392652021-11-06T20:18:00.011-07:002021-11-11T21:59:17.144-08:00Pandemic Recap (Thus Far) - Part One<p>
</p><h1 style="margin-top: 0in;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQBouejjO7KFcjiRWvh9v7vj6VPBOe6hfrEElAjNfHhmDLZBu9LnyY703GUtwSIx-4hh_tNZHYolcdYfOBN0EMhqRcmco_21NI-N0oPeT4lf2Z6mVFFqooy-vvVP99Ca7fj3f5xhOUK4/s1346/Snip20211106_3.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="1346" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQBouejjO7KFcjiRWvh9v7vj6VPBOe6hfrEElAjNfHhmDLZBu9LnyY703GUtwSIx-4hh_tNZHYolcdYfOBN0EMhqRcmco_21NI-N0oPeT4lf2Z6mVFFqooy-vvVP99Ca7fj3f5xhOUK4/w640-h340/Snip20211106_3.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">January 2020</span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On January 10, 2020, the
first SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence was <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/01/chinese-researchers-reveal-draft-genome-virus-implicated-wuhan-pneumonia-outbreak" target="_blank">posted on an open internet depository by Chinese researchers</a>, confirming that the <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">pneumonia-like outbreak in Wuhan, China—reportedly
occurring since November 2019—</span>stemmed from a coronavirus. The Chinese
government denied the virus was spreading among humans <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/20/world/asia/coronavirus-china-symptoms.html" target="_blank">until January 19</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On January 21<sup>st</sup>,
a Washington state resident who had recently traveled to Wuhan became the first
person in the United States with <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/p0121-novel-coronavirus-travel-case.html" target="_blank">a confirmed case</a> of the novel coronavirus.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Two days later, the <a href="https://www.ajmc.com/view/a-timeline-of-covid19-developments-in-2020" target="_blank">Chinese government locked down Wuhan</a>, a major transportation hub and city with a
metropolitan population of 11 million people.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On January 31<sup>st</sup>,
the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I
live, was identified in Santa Clara County. It was a man who had recently
traveled to Wuhan. That same day, the World Health Organization (WHO), for only
the sixth time in its seventy-three-year existence, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/health/coronavirus-world-health-organization.html" target="_blank">declared a public health emergency</a> once the worldwide death toll from SARS-CoV-2
passed 200 and after an exponential jump to more than 9,800 cases.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">February 2020</span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A few days later, the
second confirmed COVID-19 case—unrelated to the first one—was identified in
Santa Clara County. She had also just returned home from Wuhan.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On February 6, 2020,
57-year-old Patricia Dowd—a resident of San Jose, CA—was the first known death
caused by COVID-19 in the United States. She had no foreign travel history.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">At the time, I worked at a
community health clinic in Fremont, a sprawling suburb bordering Santa Clara
County. A standing sign at the clinic’s main entrance posted information about
the novel coronavirus. It warned patients about the virus and noted that all
patients would be screened for any recent travel to China, or contact with
anyone who had recently returned from China.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span></span></b></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A few memorandums began to
circulate at work. The guidance provided to us by clinic management was in
adherence with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines in
preventing the spread of germs:</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">w</span>ash your hands often with soap
and water for at least 20 seconds, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer
that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are unavailable,</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">a</span>void touching your eyes, nose,
and mouth with unwashed hands,</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">a</span>void close contact with sick
people,</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">s</span>tay home when you feel ill,</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">c</span>over your mouth and nose with a
tissue when coughing or sneezing, then wash your hands after safely
disposing of the tissue, </span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">c</span>lean and disinfect frequently
touched objects and surfaces. <br /></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Memes making light of the
novel coronavirus were circulating throughout the interwebs (much like the
virus itself):</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn_sxwJ4FFkhuiaDiBWovPdRc8iUYcTO-wWgUVy7G_3YN6W4noiXoH0E6b-3M0nVBRfbDe0Gscil08BT4EcdalnhmhEu-SBwwpBrsz8fA0J1hf8W_qaxHKC9ENs-zLo5ZZw_SCLn10P1I/s757/Snip20210723_1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="653" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn_sxwJ4FFkhuiaDiBWovPdRc8iUYcTO-wWgUVy7G_3YN6W4noiXoH0E6b-3M0nVBRfbDe0Gscil08BT4EcdalnhmhEu-SBwwpBrsz8fA0J1hf8W_qaxHKC9ENs-zLo5ZZw_SCLn10P1I/w368-h427/Snip20210723_1.png" width="368" /></a></div><br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On February 26<sup>th</sup>,
<a href="https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/02/27/coronavirus-first-case-unknown-origin-sacramento-uc-davis-solano-county/" target="_blank">the first COVID-19 case of unknown origin in the United States</a> was confirmed from a
Solano County resident, a county just north of the Bay Area. Back then, all
COVID-19 testing was conducted solely through the CDC. They initially refused
to test the person since they had no known exposure to the virus via travel or
close contact with a known infected individual. Eventually, they caved and
tested the individual and then revised—broadened, basically—their testing criteria.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The term “<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/s0226-Covid-19-spread.html" target="_blank">community spread</a>,” which <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">the CDC defines as
the</span> spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown,
became commonly known.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">With the first U.S. case
of COVID-19 via community spread, <i>the invisible virus became like a
mysterious boogieman lurking out there. This is when fear began to set in for
me.</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i> </i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then, on February 27<sup>th</sup>, President Donald Trump had
this to say about <i>SARS</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">-<i>CoV</i>-</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></i><i>2</i>: “It’s
going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.” <br /></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">March 2020</span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">My wife and I continued to
commute from Hayward to Fremont with our two-year-old son via BART, the Bay
Area’s light rail transit system. Our train ride was typically fifteen minutes
in duration. It was a reverse commute so our morning train was never crowded,
unlike the ones rumbling north into downtown Oakland or San Francisco.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">With the specter of
COVID-19 descending upon our region, the three adjustments we made to our
commute was to ① keep our son strapped in
his stroller so he wouldn’t sit or crawl on the train seats, ② keep ourselves from touching <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">any</i> surfaces as much as possible, and ③ sanitize
our hands immediately after exiting the station.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Steven
Soderbergh’s 2011 <i>Contagion, </i>a film that attempted to realistically
depict a global pandemic, <a href="http://Steven%20Soderbergh%E2%80%99s%202011%20Contagion%20was%20trending%20on%20streaming%20platforms." target="_blank">was trending on streaming platforms</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Over the first three
months of 2020, Netflix <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52376022" target="_blank">added nearly 16 million new subscribers</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On March 9<sup>th</sup>,
Santa Clara County <a href="https://www.sccgov.org/sites/phd/news/Pages/first-covid-19-death.aspx" target="_blank">announced its first death from COVID-19</a>. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">That week, Maria and I saw
a noticeable decline in BART ridership. But we continued to ride even though we
were beginning to feel like it was risky to ride public transportation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Two of my colleagues,
including my manager, told me their morning commutes were all of a sudden
significantly shorter with less traffic on the highways. A typical hour-long
commute dwindled to a manageable twenty-minute drive.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On March 10<sup>th</sup>,
University of California, San Francisco, one of the most renowned medical
facilities in the nation, convened a panel of experts to discuss COVID-19.
According to an internist who attended the panel, experts predicted that
between <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-150-million-americans-may-get-infected-2020-3" target="_blank">40 and 70% of Americans could become infected within the next 18 months</a>.
Assuming a 1% mortality rate from the novel coronavirus, and 50% of the U.S.
population becoming infected, they predicted 1.5 million Americans could die <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">if no effective drug or treatment regimen was
found.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">At work, I began to wash
or sanitize my hands whenever I touched any communal surface, like the bathroom
door handle, or a handle from the break room faucet.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">And then, one day, a
colleague from the Finance department didn’t come into work. She ended up
missing a few days. Soon after, it was rumored that she was in quarantine after
her husband, who works at an airport, may have been exposed to someone infected
with the virus.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I began to use the bottom
of my shoe to flush the toilet in the employee restroom. I was paranoid about
handling <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">any</i> common surface, like the
sliding lock on stall doors. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I began to use one or two
fingers to open and close doors. I also began to use my foot to open the
swinging bathroom door at the clinic office.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In short time, my knuckles
became raw from excessive handwashing and sanitizing.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">At work—the only public indoor
space I frequented then—my objective was to decrease the usage of my hands to
navigate the office. It became a game—what new inventive ways could I devise to
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>use my bare hands.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On Wednesday, March 11,
2020, everything went to hell: the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic and Utah
Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 and the National
Basketball Association—the premier basketball league on Planet Earth—suspended
its season. For many of us in this country, this was when shit got real.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The rest of that week, my
manager and I continued to come into the office, just like everyone else at our
clinic. But then we learned members of our IT staff were beginning to work from
home.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I began to avoid our break
room altogether. I ate lunch at my desk or I would dine out by myself at
infrequently visited nearby cafes and restaurants.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On March 13, 2020—though
it wasn’t widely reported then— 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html" target="_blank">murdered in her apartment by Louisville police</a> in search of signs of drug trafficking while
investigating her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I began to obsessively
read about <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">anything</span> related to
the pandemic. I combed through the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New
York Times</i> using my app. I read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vox</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Atlantic’s </i>coverage of the
pandemic. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">At home, I was a building
cloud of fear and worry.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">One day, my manager and I
had a regular half-hour check-in. She was also keeping up on the news about the
pandemic. We were both wary about meeting in her small office, even if we kept
six feet from one another. Instead, I stepped into an unoccupied office next to
her office where we both spoke over the phone for our check-in.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We were both concerned
about our organization’s seemingly nonchalant response to this looming health
crisis.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">She told me one of the
clinic’s senior management leaders shamed her when she expressed apprehension
in having an hour-long meeting inside a small conference room with six to seven
other staff members.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The signage at the main
entrance to our clinic changed. As the coronavirus began to spread throughout
Europe, the sign noted that COVID-19 screening would no longer be limited to
people who had recently traveled to and from China, or come into contact with
anyone from China.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A few days before my son’s
third birthday, I watched renowned epidemiologist, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3URhJx0NSw&t=4758s" target="_blank">Michael Osterholm, on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Joe Rogan Experience</i></a>.
I remember Dr. Osterholm basically told Rogan that the virus could infect
people via airborne transmission, and he also noted that the CDC guidelines
were mostly useless in preventing the spread of this virus.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">My anxiety spiked. And my
wife and I had been planning a birthday party for our son.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The day before the
birthday party, I snapped. I wanted to cancel the party. Our parents were
coming. What if someone infected with the virus came to the party and got our
parents sick and what if they ended up dying from it? How could I ever live
with myself afterwards?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Despite my apprehension,
we forged ahead and held the party at our small two-bedroom house. This is the
text message I sent to our guests the day before:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Hi
everyone,</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>This
is our COVID-19 update concerning Miguelito’s party tomorrow. This morning,
Maria and I have strongly considered cancelling the party but we think we can
go ahead with it with these precautions:</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></i><i>For
everyone’s safety, we’re going to discourage hand shaking, hugging, and kissing
on the cheeks.</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></i><i>We’re
going to ask everyone to wash or sanitize their hands when they first come in,
please. We’ll have hand sanitizers throughout the house. Feel free to bring
yours.</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></i><i>We’re
sanitizing the crap out of our house today and tomorrow.</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></i><i>Food
will be served by 1-2 folks, not buffet style. We already have volunteers for
this.</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></i><i>Even if
it rains, we’ll try to have everyone relatively spread out in and around the
house. At most, we’re expecting about 20 people, which includes everyone (i.e.
the kids, Maria and me).</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></i><i>If
you’re feeling ANY symptoms of illness, please do not come.</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></i><i>All
this said, if you feel uncomfortable and decide not to come, we are totally,
totally understanding.</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>All
these precautions are really meant to protect our most vulnerable family
members. That’s what this is about. This virus is out there and experts in
virology and epidemiology believe it is already to </i>[sic]<i> late to contain this virus in our country.</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Thank
you very much for hearing me out. If you have any questions or concerns, please
call or text me.</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Love,</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Juan(ito)</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Most of our guests came.
My then-eighty-one-year-old father was the only one who stayed home.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the end, thankfully, no
one got infected from attending our party. In retrospect, we shouldn’t have
held it. That’s a no-brainer.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As the party was
happening, with dark rain clouds up above, it felt like many of us knew it
might be the last time we would have such a gathering for some time.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">And then, on Monday, March
16, 2020, six of the regional public health departments <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/Bay-Area-must-shelter-in-place-Only-15135014.php" target="_blank">jointly declared a shelter-in-place order</a>. The first such directive in the United States in
response to this pandemic. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On that day, my wife and I
drove to Fremont with our son for our morning commute.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Later that day, my
department received unexpected good news: management was going to allow us to
work remotely from home. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Paperwork was haphazardly
signed. Soft files from our shared drive were hastily copied to a personal thumb
drive. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, my then-employer had no telecommuting
policies. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">There were no
work-provided laptops available for me to take home, but I didn’t care. I had a
personal laptop. I would find a way to make it work. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I felt like we were
getting bailed. Spared.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">But I felt awful, AWFUL,
and guilt-ridden that other administrative coworkers—like my open office
neighbors, the ladies from the Billing department—weren’t permitted to work
from home.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Our collective sense of
time was warped. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Everyday life was
abundantly focused on the present.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">During those first few
weeks of pandemic lockdown, I had some exceptionally intense and vivid dreams.
I couldn’t recall them later that day, but their weightiness sat with me after
I arose—and I know I wasn’t the only person experiencing this uptick in vivid
dreams.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">According to a <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/coronavirus-pandemic-is-giving-people-vivid-unusual-dreams-here-is-why" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">National
Geographic</i> article</a> about what they called “pandemic
dreams,” they were “colored by stress, isolation, and changes in sleep
patterns—a swirl of negative emotions that set them apart from typical
dreaming.” I personally believed it was evidence of Jung’s <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-jung.html" target="_blank">collective unconscious</a>, which
is “a universal version of the personal unconscious, holding mental patterns,
or memory traces, which are shared with other members of human species.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Before the pandemic, I
typically went out each week to buy groceries with my son.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">At the time, due to a fear
of shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for our healthcare workers,
the CDC advised the public to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>purchase
PPE, such as surgical masks or N95 respirator masks if we weren’t sick. But, my
family had unused N95 masks from dealing with last year’s wild fires. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">After I started a thread
on Facebook with trusted friends, I concluded that people <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should</i> ideally be wearing facial masks in public to prevent the
spread of this highly-infectious virus. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Our venerable public
health institutions didn’t provide this crucial guidance. And in retrospect,
this would be emblematic of what would come in the United States.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">During those first weeks
of the pandemic, my trips to the grocery store became a source of great anxiety.
All of a sudden, mundane trips to the supermarket took on a life or death feel.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I would nervously cough
while I got dressed and ready to go to Safeway. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On that first trip to the
supermarket after the shelter-in-place order was set, I wore an N95 mask and disposable
gloves. After I slipped on the gloves, I used a Clorox disinfecting wipe to clean
the shopping cart’s handlebar and shopping cart seat. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Prior to the pandemic, if
I went alone to the store to buy our groceries, I often listened to podcasts or
music through headphones to drown out the god-awful music that often played at
the supermarket. But when the pandemic first hit us, I left the headphones
home. I figured I should have all my senses at full disposal. If I heard <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anyone</i> sneeze or cough in a nearby
aisle, I should be attentive and avoid them.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The rumors were true:
people were hoarding toilet paper, bottled water, and sanitizing supplies.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS4Z6ofnnsLcwVosB-1W3jtNOWhzZ7pQG3NKvTjVnQy5QJ9DkL4z8BotyEDQl4w-SjPtFR7QBj5ck_yQjjxsZmkWWcCgGsz_qW8jhnMW20f9gCK32xgoeMO9tScxty2IDCSy-CG95mANM/s771/Snip20211106_1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="771" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS4Z6ofnnsLcwVosB-1W3jtNOWhzZ7pQG3NKvTjVnQy5QJ9DkL4z8BotyEDQl4w-SjPtFR7QBj5ck_yQjjxsZmkWWcCgGsz_qW8jhnMW20f9gCK32xgoeMO9tScxty2IDCSy-CG95mANM/w425-h392/Snip20211106_1.png" width="425" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I was aghast when I first
saw an entire aisle with shelves cleared of toilet paper. Some frozen goods
were getting wiped out too.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In terms of natural
disasters, the San Francisco Bay Area is earthquake country. It’s not an active
war zone, nor a hurricane region, so I had <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">never</i>
seen anything like this in my entire life.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">When I finished buying my
groceries, I tossed the damp, oftentimes torn disposable gloves in the trash,
then loaded my grocery bags in the car. After I carefully took off my mask
using the earloops, making sure to <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">not</span>
touch the mask itself, I used hand sanitizer to clean my hands.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Once I came home, I drove
up our long driveway. I entered through the back door. I would take off my
shoes before entering the house, put my used N95 mask on top of our dryer,
which was high enough to be past our son’s reach. Like a good boy, I’d wash my
hands with hand soap and water for twenty seconds before I would put our food
items away.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">To avoid weekend crowds,
one Monday morning, I woke early to go to our nearby Costco Business branch
when they first opened at 7 a.m. I arrived at 7:03 a.m., and there was a long, U-shaped
line of shoppers formed in the parking lot to enter the store.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Costco was limiting the
number of shoppers who entered their warehouse.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">One employee was assigned
to sanitize handlebars on shopping carts in the parking lot. I waited half an
hour to get to the entrance.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">They had a large dry erase
board at the front of the store that noted what items were currently out of
stock. The list included toilet paper, paper towel rolls, sanitizing wipes, and
hand sanitizers.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In our region, Costco was
one of the first stores that required customers to wear face masks. I also
remember they were the first store I shopped at that allowed (or encouraged)
their employees to wear face masks.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Management from grocery
chains like Trader Joe’s and Safeway were initially reluctant to allow their
employees to wear PPE. Their excuse, or corporate logic—whichever one you wish
to call it—was that they didn’t want their customers to feel alarmed when
shopping at their stores.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Costco was also the first major
retailer in our area to adjust their checkout line setup and procedure: they put
stickers on the floor to space customers six feet apart and asked customers <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>to handle and place items for
purchase on the checkout conveyor belt. They also erected plexiglass sneeze
guards to protect their checkers.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the coming weeks,
Safeway and other supermarkets followed suit by mounting plexiglass sneeze
guards at their register area.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meanwhile, in Western Europe,
the novel coronavirus was ravaging Spain and the Lombardy region in Italy.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On March 21<sup>, </sup>2020,
it was reported that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-italy-again-sets-single-day-death-toll-record-793-2020-3" target="_blank">793 people had died in one day from COVID-19 in Italy</a>. At the time, it was a
devastating and frightening total to fathom. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the United States, it
was widely reported that hospital beds and ventilators in the Lombardy region were
at full capacity and their hospital staff were oftentimes forced to decide <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">who</i> got to live—who would have access to
a ventilator.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Many of us feared that
this is what we would soon face in the United States.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Words and terms that
entered our daily vernacular included: “essential worker,” “PPE,” “asymptomatic,”
and “flattening the curve.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the news, it was
reported that the virus could survive on hard surfaces, such as plastic and
stainless steel for <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/14/811609026/the-new-coronavirus-can-live-on-surfaces-for-2-3-days-heres-how-to-clean-them" target="_blank">up to 72 hours</a> and cardboard for up to 24 hours. This scared the shit out of me.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Naturally, if the virus
could live on surfaces for days or hours on end, people (like me) began to
worry about how we should handle groceries brought home.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I read two online articles
that recommended washing your produce. At the time, when the virus was new and
we collectively weren’t familiar with it, this guidance seemed sensible. From
picking the fruit and vegetables to transporting them to a warehouse to
distributing them to stores, how many people handled the produce we purchase?
If one of those people was infected and didn’t practice sound hygiene, the
virus could be on the produce.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">After I’d shop at the
supermarket, I began to come into our house through the back gate and back
door. I would remove my shoes and leave them outside, then step in and
carefully set my used N95 mask in a paper bag on our dryer to rotate with
another used N95 mask. (Before I implemented this practice, I tried to
disinfect a used N95 mask one time by sticking it into the oven at a low
temperature. I followed the guidelines I had read in an online article and
ended up scorching the mask so I didn’t try that again.) I didn’t do it all the
time, but sometimes I would take off my shirt and immediately toss it into the laundry
basket.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On at least two occasions,
I lightly washed our produce—like apples, oranges, and bananas—with a minute solution
of dish soap and water as recommended in one of the articles I read. I would
leave the dry goods in a shopping bag for at least a day before I would tuck them
away in our cupboards.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">What <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i> scared the shit out of me was the first-hand stories I would
read online of people who masked up and washed their hands and swore they took precautions
when out in public and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">still</i> caught the
virus.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">During the first
shelter-in-place order, I rode my bike into our downtown area. I had bought a
cloth mask, which I had tucked into my pocket. A block from our house, I turned
a corner and saw a destitute woman sitting on the pavement against a church.
She coughed as I passed by along the sidewalk. I was at least six feet from
her, but I was scared if it was possible to catch the virus if she had been infected
and if I had cycled directly into the area where she had coughed.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">By the fourth week of
March 2020, <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/BART-ridership-dips-92-due-to-coronavirus-15159958.php" target="_blank">BART ridership had plunged 92%</a>.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">BART’s Board Vice
President <a href="https://twitter.com/RebeccaForBART/status/1243224900975771648?s=20" target="_blank">tweeted</a>:
“BART
estimates fare & tax impacts of coronavirus could lead to between $286-442
mil revenue loss this fiscal year.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In Murcia, Spain, a man left his house <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-covid19-spain-murcia-police-dinosaur-outfit-viral-video-twitter-1492654" target="_blank">wearing a Tyrannosaurus Rex costume</a>, broke their COVID-19 lockdown
orders and subsequently encountered local police.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In Spain, in cities like <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-spain-pianist/barcelona-resident-happy-his-serenade-helped-people-forget-coronavirus-idUSKBN21E2MD" target="_blank">Barcelona</a>
and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kReolYVR3z4" target="_blank">Madrid</a>,
multiple video recordings of musicians—seasoned musicians and half-assed
ones—singing and playing from their balconies during lockdowns were going
viral.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Late Sunday morning on the
first weekend under shelter-in-place orders, my family and I drove south on
Highway 880 to hike at one of our regional parks. At one point, I saw a handful
of cars in front <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">or</i> behind us. The
nearest cars were about a quarter of a mile away. I have grown up in the San
Francisco Bay Area since 1986, and my wife has also lived here most of her
life, and we had <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">never</i> seen that
heavily-trafficked highway so sparsely traveled during daylight. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">With the right timing, a
person could have safely strolled across all four lanes.</span> <br /></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9h9MnmgGOZujXm9x6x9tYFbqTQyIIZhawq_E7juuQbmMjRE3fwOsvOSbHpopelmlhSEfcskIsutZiqCCSHv5m5Ou_TC-GWYkW4ubSWf3zBLE3E9cytuVzmcso7WNR-0gQ4iyo9SVfCqo/s708/March+22%252C+2020.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="708" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9h9MnmgGOZujXm9x6x9tYFbqTQyIIZhawq_E7juuQbmMjRE3fwOsvOSbHpopelmlhSEfcskIsutZiqCCSHv5m5Ou_TC-GWYkW4ubSWf3zBLE3E9cytuVzmcso7WNR-0gQ4iyo9SVfCqo/w463-h339/March+22%252C+2020.png" width="463" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">March 22, 2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="break-after: avoid; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p align="center" class="MsoCaption" style="text-align: center;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It was eerie and startling
to see the highway so barren. It reminded me of Octavia Butler’s 1993 dystopian
sci-fi novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Parable of the Sower</i>,
where California’s highways turned into dangerous throughways for people to traverse.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On March 24th, Trump went on
Fox and said he "<a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/03/24/820774378/trump-id-love-for-u-s-to-be-opened-up-by-easter-amidst-pandemic-response" target="_blank">would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter</a>."</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Out on the East Coast, New
York City—a global tourist destination and a major transportation hub—was brutally
hit by the pandemic. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Newspapers reported PPE
shortages at our nation’s hospitals.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">At Mount Sinai Hospital in
Manhattan, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kious-kelly-hospital-nurse-dies-trash-bags-2020-3" target="_blank">some nurses were using Hefty-brand garbage bags</a> as stand-ins for protective medical gowns that
were in short supply.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Early in the pandemic, directions
and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etZK-GrUYgM" target="_blank">instructive videos</a> on how to properly remove surgical masks were
circulating through social media. The critical step was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> grabbing the front of the mask, but pulling it off from the earloops.
It was a big deal then, I suppose, for people like myself who wanted to make
sure it was being worn and removed correctly. But, then practically everywhere
you went, you would</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> inevitably run into people
who wore masks over their mouths but didn’t cover their noses, or the
ever-popular “chin mask”:</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf46rLpymtyiATn74xSqzVHvE-z3cObeJWUu0cCyIGePFGwGtRedw16OrAlKlE6CiM2qTTo6GbLlozUerh5_1CR2ic89tnIV3PxHNm5ey7-SywEEJh3HdXbk6nodFqlmHIirYmIyavCrM/s608/chin+mask.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="608" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf46rLpymtyiATn74xSqzVHvE-z3cObeJWUu0cCyIGePFGwGtRedw16OrAlKlE6CiM2qTTo6GbLlozUerh5_1CR2ic89tnIV3PxHNm5ey7-SywEEJh3HdXbk6nodFqlmHIirYmIyavCrM/w458-h324/chin+mask.png" width="458" /></a></div><br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I read articles about
doctors and nurses who would come home after their hospital shifts and take off
every garment either before or immediately after stepping into their home, and
then shower. As much as they wanted to, they <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/16/us-medical-workers-lives-upended-coronavirus" target="_blank">couldn’t hug their own children</a> for fear of infecting them.</span></p><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.investopedia.com/historical-timeline-of-covid-19-in-new-york-city-5071986" target="_blank">On March 27, 2020, the U.S. reached the most COVID-19 cases in the world</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On March 31<sup>st</sup>,
New York City alone surpassed 1,000 total COVID-19-related deaths. The dead
were piling up in hospitals in Brooklyn and Queens, which were especially hard
hit. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) sent refrigerated trucks to New York City to serve as
makeshift morgues. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I watched a viral
recording of a Facebook live video from John Lee, a Brooklyn, NY resident as he
<a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgq35w/video-appears-to-show-brooklyn-hospital-loading-dead-bodies-into-refrigerated-morgue-trucks" target="_blank">filmed a forklift raise a dead body</a> into a makeshift morgue parked outside a hospital.
“This is for real, this is Brooklyn, y’all,” Lee said. “This is for real,
y’all,” he repeatedly said, and his quivering, tearful voice and shaky phone camera
was seared into my memory, where it will probably always remain.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Mr. Lee’s comment on his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100000943826281/videos/3643474242360667/?t=87" target="_blank">Facebook live video</a> reads: “<span class="d2edcug0">PLEASE!!! WAKE UP BEFORE YOU DIE!!” 36 liked his comment,
15 loved it, 5 people laughed at it, and 2 users responded with Facebook’s sad emoji.
</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">My friend, Justin, lived
in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. He lived four blocks from a hospital. He
told me he heard an ambulance siren all day and all night through April and May.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">April 2020</span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Atlantic’s</i> May 2021 issue, writer Melissa Fay Greene penned <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/05/how-will-we-remember-covid-19-pandemic/618397/" target="_blank">an article</a>
focused on what we will remember about the pandemic. She wrote: “T<span class="smallcaps">hough
we may </span>vividly recall ‘how it began,’ many of our pandemic memories
will be hazier.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On one of my grocery store
runs, I saw a kid sitting in a grocery cart, donning a surgical mask. It broke
my fucking heart.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Novelist Arundhati
Roy
wrote an <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca" target="_blank">article about the pandemic</a> in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Financial
Times</i> that was widely circulated<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i>She
wrote: </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“Historically,
pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world
anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and
the next.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We can
choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred,
our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies
behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to
imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="d2edcug0"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="d2edcug0">Writer Rebecca Solnit was </span><a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/4/14/21209727/coronavirus-covid-19-america-rebecca-solnit?fbclid=IwAR2h53BJX7rxX6UoCCs7UzJp0PgJgLylIl9a160SYlidF6qPNMHswol5Gqw" target="_blank">interviewed
by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vox</i></a><span class="d2edcug0"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></span><span class="d2edcug0">
They asked her to imagine life after this pandemic. She said, “</span>And so
you’ll always have the winners of the old system pushing hard to reassemble it
after it’s shattered in front of our eyes. But the status quo is dead. And the
rest of us are saying, ‘Let’s go forward. Let’s not go back. Let’s go another
way.’”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="d2edcug0"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="d2edcug0">Here’s another noteworthy snippet
from her interview: "Going forward, a lot of what happens in terms of
transforming societies depends on transforming governmental systems and that
depends on how we tell the story of what happened."</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Despite all the fear and
dread produced by the pandemic, I felt a fleeting sense of excitement—that
thoughtfulness and inventiveness <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">would</i>
be needed to survive, to make the best of this challenge to our species.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I was so naïve to believe
that in the aftermath of this pandemic our nation would change for the better.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">During that time, I saw a
video from Taiwan of an infrared temperature scanner installed at the toll gate
of one of their metro stations. They also had a young station attendant
standing at the toll gate kindly asking passengers to adjust their face masks
to cover their mouth and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>nose. It was
clear to me then that this level of proactive health measures and compliance
from their public would be crucial in controlling this pandemic.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;">Early on, I feared America’s rugged individualist ideals would have a detrimental
impact on our nation’s pandemic response.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;">In short time, the usage of facial coverings gradually and noticeably
increased. About three weeks after the shelter-in-place order was placed, I
noticed that at least half of the customers at our local Safeway were using
face masks.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;">On April 3<sup>rd</sup>, the </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/03/826219824/president-trump-says-cdc-now-recommends-americans-wear-cloth-masks-in-public" target="_blank">CDC recommended that people wear cloth or fabricface coverings</a><span style="color: black;"> when entering public spaces.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On April 10<sup>th</sup>, New
York recorded more COVID-19 cases than any other country besides the United
States.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Iowa’s meatpacking plants
experienced a number of COVID-19 outbreaks. Hundreds of Tyson employees at
their Waterloo pork processing plant <a href="https://wcfcourier.com/business/local/tyson-workers-say-they-work-sick-clinic-seeing-tons-of-covid-19/article_965e046b-f4e8-5c57-99dd-2b9938734909.html" target="_blank">refused to work</a>, alleging their employer was covering up the
presence of COVID-19 and allowing sick people to keep working. Governor Kim
Reynolds, a Republican, did not intend to force Tyson to shut down its plant.
Ultimately, <a href="https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/timeline-key-moments-in-iowas-covid-19-outbreaks-at-meatpacking-plants/article_d0b1bcf1-683f-53fd-bf52-6adf2f3965da.html" target="_blank">more than 180 workers from that plant tested positive</a> for COVID-19.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Across America, this great
country founded on genocide and slavery, it didn’t take long for flag-waving,
freedom-loving Americans to complain about barbershops and hair salons being
shut down because they wanted to get their hair trimmed.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC6tH02vLdPtZApKZC45S65WCa9GGzvDvh-63a2cBqK1bMc-EkBqvL5f-8jont3Y1GVMOS5pva8BY0LqCIvvUzMWQzY8CPpYIiPlXghUbs_b6myaI1BTWU93yf5o1vd4HH80g9e972jDg/s508/I+Need+a+Haircut.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="435" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC6tH02vLdPtZApKZC45S65WCa9GGzvDvh-63a2cBqK1bMc-EkBqvL5f-8jont3Y1GVMOS5pva8BY0LqCIvvUzMWQzY8CPpYIiPlXghUbs_b6myaI1BTWU93yf5o1vd4HH80g9e972jDg/w343-h400/I+Need+a+Haircut.png" width="343" /></a></div><br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">While many supermarkets
and retail stores were perpetually wiped out of toilet paper, paper towels,
disinfecting products, and water, our nation’s truck drivers, grocery store
employees, and farmworkers were rightly elevated to the status of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">essential workers.</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meanwhile, remote workers
and schools across the country quickly pivoted to the video teleconferencing
software program, Zoom, to facilitate business meetings and virtual instruction.
The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/29/sunday-review/zoom-video-conference.html?fbclid=IwAR2RXvlSQfeCOFCUKXoDjJLN7-OpMT80h--Nh_XySio9JvBqUzYb8U5E1YM" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New York
Times </i>reported</a> that global downloads of the Zoom, Houseparty, and
Skype apps increased <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/infographic-apps-pandemic-technology-data-coronavirus-covid19-tech/" target="_blank">more than 100 percent</a> in April 2020.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiL2oklSatm4gAJdmxXVtoEwj4i-w1fqP0g8b5YZw-xQFNThnQG-tepzNC0_Jlp2JF1a4hZDjr4ocV4j-j5Hhjfo6gFDCdKPBlm5GTFlm2fYr91536GrGtNsIizLs6PgMxiYxg9Urf18/s679/Last+Supper+-+Zoom+life.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="679" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiL2oklSatm4gAJdmxXVtoEwj4i-w1fqP0g8b5YZw-xQFNThnQG-tepzNC0_Jlp2JF1a4hZDjr4ocV4j-j5Hhjfo6gFDCdKPBlm5GTFlm2fYr91536GrGtNsIizLs6PgMxiYxg9Urf18/w464-h318/Last+Supper+-+Zoom+life.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In a startlingly short
amount of time, “<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/coronavirus-zoom-fatigue-is-taxing-the-brain-here-is-why-that-happens" target="_blank">Zoom fatigue</a>” became a phenomenon and thusly entered the public lexicon.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Playgrounds were closed. At
our nearest playground, swings were tied around the support bar to prevent
people from using them.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rims from communal
basketball courts were also removed.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It felt like this virus
was taking all the joy from our lives.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On April 23, 2020, President
Trump held a <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1253448500676898818" target="_blank">White House press briefing</a> in which he suggested that shining white light directly
into the body and injecting disinfectant could treat coronavirus. If any American
of sound mind had <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">any</i> lingering doubt
about his aptitude to lead our federal pandemic response, this was the precise
moment we unequivocally knew we were absolutely shittastically fucking screwed.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As my family and I
primarily shuttered indoors, I began to listen to podcasts devoted to the
COVID-19 pandemic, like The Atlantic’s <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/socialdistance/" target="_blank"><i>Social Distance</i></a> and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and
Policy’s (CIDRAP) <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/podcasts-webinars" target="_blank"><i>The Osterholm Update</i></a>, which I zealously listened to every week.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I listened to a <a href="https://radioambulante.org/en/audio-en/together-from-afar" target="_blank"><i>Radio Ambulante</i> podcast episode</a> about a
family in Madrid where half of the household got sick with the virus while the family
members living in the other wing of the house tried to take care of them <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> not get infected. I studiously listened
to it, dreading that the learnings I gleaned from it would someday help me and
my family.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On April 29<sup>th</sup>,
the Pentagon officially released videos of "<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/27/politics/pentagon-ufo-videos/index.html" target="_blank">unidentified aerial phenomena</a>."</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><h1><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">May 2020</span></span></h1><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">My wife and I remotely
worked from her parents’ house in Fremont while they graciously took care of
our son. My mom’s best friend happens to live next door, so we occasionally saw
my mother in passing during the week. One time, my wife saw my mom drive her
friend in her car along with another elderly woman and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">none </i>of them wore masks, and they didn’t roll down the car windows.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In early May, 2020 struck
again: Asian giant hornets (a.k.a. “murder hornets”) were <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/03/us/washington-giant-murder-hornets/index.html" target="_blank">spotted in the United States for the first time</a>. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">People on Twitter and
social media blew up: first UFOs in April 2020, then murder hornets in May.
What the fuck are we getting in June?</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On May 8<sup>th</sup>, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/coronavirus-california-reopen-church-service-gov-newsom-pastors?fbclid=IwAR3mJBT8Fcj-D9m9FVpMhwL4Rbgt4mosVQI-N6fokVGTzraCnwHSlyUuF50" target="_blank">a network of 3,000 churches in California</a> announced that they planned to defy Governor Gavin
Newsom’s state health orders and reopen in-person services in the coming weeks.
In true American fashion, the announcement was made in front of the Water of
Life Community Church, a megachurch in Fontana, CA with a 3,300-<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">seat</span> auditorium that cost <a href="https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/water-of-life-church-holds-groundbreaking-ceremony-for-new-worship-center-in-fontana/article_814d7fce-6bdf-596e-b6ba-b6730029381c.html" target="_blank">about $20 million</a> to build.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I continued to obsessively
read newspaper articles from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New York
Times, Washington Post, </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Los
Angeles Times </i>in which <a href="https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-05-16/so-you-really-want-to-see-your-friends-heres-how-to-assess-the-risk?fbclid=IwAR1a7fnyq8YZ1orPL9zZpBX1Qp9iT5uiQA5-7eUPMRQLDD44j4TJTOOwWXI" target="_blank">infectious disease experts weighed in on the risk of social activities</a>. In earnest,
it seemed like better guidance than what the CDC was providing.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In mid-May, Iowa Governor
Kim Reynolds announced that she was planning to reopen their economy and <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2021/05/11/iowa-gov-kim-reynolds-announces-unemployment-benefit-cuts-pua-peuc-covid-19-pandemic-jobs/5035465001/" target="_blank">end Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation payments</a> that all of the state’s unemployed
workers were originally scheduled to receive until September 2020. Reynolds was
joined by Republican governors in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri,
Montana, South Carolina and Tennessee in ending the federal programs. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Early on in the pandemic,
this was a telltale sign that the continued production of capital was far more
important to our political leaders than the health and safety of its citizens.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/nyregion/coronavirus-victims-immunity.html" target="_blank">COVID-19 survivors were oftentimes ostracized by friends and family</a> who were afraid
of catching the novel coronavirus from them.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On May 12<sup>th</sup>,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>a little more than three months after
the first U.S. death from coronavirus,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>the
U.S. death toll from COVID-19 passed 80,000.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As if real life wasn’t
perilous enough, the media began to warn its citizenry that <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hand-sanitizer-hot-vehicles-explode/" target="_blank">hand sanitizers in cars could explode</a> from high heat or direct sunlight.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">If you ask me, the
highlight of the pandemic occurred on May 15, 2020 when pictures of Father
Timothy Pelc <a href="https://twitter.com/tripgore/status/1261378270190133249?s=20&fbclid=IwAR1ZatXAkdwixcWId_V14t0AJVRCxJw_FstjcQexG2PLVFFfZMgRB-xEXHI" target="_blank">using a squirt gun loaded with holy water</a> to provide drive-thru blessings at St. Ambrose
Parish in Detroit went viral on social media.</span> </p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Throughout the month of
May, my older sister—who lives in San Francisco—frequently posted on Facebook
pictures of herself socializing with other people without keeping a physical distance.
I saw a selfie of her riding in the back of a rideshare car with her
middle-aged husband and fellow party-going friend. They wore cloth masks in the
car, but my sister—who graduated from a respected private Jesuit university—somehow
or another thought this constituted “being safe.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Between my partying middle-aged
sister and my sixty-five-year-old mother who seems to think—like many other
Latines—que <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nada va pasar</i> (that
nothing bad will happen to her), I became filled with dread that one of them would
inevitably catch the virus and die.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Erin Bromage, a comparative
immunologist and professor of biology from the University of Massachusetts,
Dartmouth wrote an <a href="https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them" target="_blank">informative blog post about the risks of contracting COVID-19</a> that got
millions of views.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On May 22<sup>nd</sup>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/health/cdc-coronavirus-touching-surfaces.html" target="_blank">CDC guidelines were updated</a> to reflect that the novel coronavirus primarily spreads
from person to person instead of fomite transmission (when a virus is passed
via contaminated surfaces).</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On May 25, 2020, George
Floyd—a forty-six-year-old Black man—was murdered by Derek Chauvin and three
other Minneapolis Police Department officers for allegedly using a counterfeit
twenty-dollar bill at a convenience store. Seventeen-year-old Darnella
Frazier’s cell phone video of Floyd’s murder was widely shared on social media
the following day.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Protests of George Floyd’s
murder <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd-protests-timeline.html" target="_blank">erupted across the United States</a>.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On May 28<sup>th</sup>,
Minneapolis’s <a href="https://www.apmreports.org/story/2020/06/30/what-happened-at-minneapolis-3rd-precinct" target="_blank">3rd Precinct police station was torched</a> in the George Floyd uprising. Not coincidentally,
the next day, Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged in George Floyd’s murder.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">My parents held a barbecue
on Memorial Day weekend. I had read Erin Bromage’s “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/well/live/coronavirus-pandemic-memorial-day-picnics-bbqs.html" target="_blank">How to Have a Safer Pandemic Memorial Day</a>” article and I had no confidence that my mom would adhere to any tips to
make such gatherings safer. But more importantly, my older sister was supposed
to attend the barbecue and my wife and I thought it was best to avoid her.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Man’s best friend indeed!:
a pilot study at the University of Helsinki showed that <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/dogs-can-sniff-out-covid-19/a-53582252" target="_blank">dogs trained as medical diagnostic assistants couldrecognize the previously unknown odor signature of the COVID-19 disease</a> after only a few weeks of training. The dogs were
“able to accurately distinguish urine samples from COVID-19 patients from urine
samples of healthy individuals.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>May 28<sup>th</sup><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">, </b>the
U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 100,000.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p><style><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">@font-face
{font-family:Century;
panose-1:2 4 6 4 5 5 5 2 3 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;}@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;}h1
{mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-style-next:Normal;
margin-top:12.0pt;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan lines-together;
page-break-after:avoid;
mso-outline-level:1;
font-size:16.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:major-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:major-bidi;
color:#2E74B5;
mso-themecolor:accent1;
mso-themeshade:191;
mso-font-kerning:0pt;
font-weight:normal;}h2
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-link:"Heading 2 Char";
mso-style-next:Normal;
margin-top:2.0pt;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan lines-together;
page-break-after:avoid;
mso-outline-level:2;
font-size:13.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:major-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:major-bidi;
color:#2E74B5;
mso-themecolor:accent1;
mso-themeshade:191;
font-weight:normal;}p.MsoFootnoteText, li.MsoFootnoteText, div.MsoFootnoteText
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Footnote Text Char";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;}p.MsoFooter, li.MsoFooter, div.MsoFooter
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Footer Char";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
tab-stops:center 3.25in right 6.5in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;}p.MsoCaption, li.MsoCaption, div.MsoCaption
{mso-style-priority:35;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-next:Normal;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:10.0pt;
margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
color:#44546A;
mso-themecolor:text2;
font-style:italic;}span.MsoFootnoteReference
{mso-style-priority:99;
vertical-align:super;}a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
mso-themecolor:hyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}p.MsoDocumentMap, li.MsoDocumentMap, div.MsoDocumentMap
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Document Map Char";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;}p.MsoRMPane, li.MsoRMPane, div.MsoRMPane
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;}p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph
{mso-style-priority:34;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;}p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst
{mso-style-priority:34;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-type:export-only;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;}p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle
{mso-style-priority:34;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-type:export-only;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;}p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast
{mso-style-priority:34;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-type:export-only;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;}span.Heading1Char
{mso-style-name:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-locked:yes;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1";
mso-ansi-font-size:16.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:16.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:major-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:major-bidi;
color:#2E74B5;
mso-themecolor:accent1;
mso-themeshade:191;}span.Heading2Char
{mso-style-name:"Heading 2 Char";
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-locked:yes;
mso-style-link:"Heading 2";
mso-ansi-font-size:13.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:13.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:major-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:"Calibri Light";
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:major-bidi;
color:#2E74B5;
mso-themecolor:accent1;
mso-themeshade:191;}span.DocumentMapChar
{mso-style-name:"Document Map Char";
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-locked:yes;
mso-style-link:"Document Map";
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-hansi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}span.d2edcug0
{mso-style-name:d2edcug0;
mso-style-unhide:no;}span.FooterChar
{mso-style-name:"Footer Char";
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-locked:yes;
mso-style-link:Footer;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-hansi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}span.smallcaps
{mso-style-name:smallcaps;
mso-style-unhide:no;}span.css-901oao
{mso-style-name:css-901oao;
mso-style-unhide:no;}span.UnresolvedMention1
{mso-style-name:"Unresolved Mention1";
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-unhide:no;
color:#605E5C;
background:#E1DFDD;}span.UnresolvedMention2
{mso-style-name:"Unresolved Mention2";
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-unhide:no;
color:#605E5C;
background:#E1DFDD;}span.FootnoteTextChar
{mso-style-name:"Footnote Text Char";
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-locked:yes;
mso-style-link:"Footnote Text";
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-hansi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}span.UnresolvedMention
{mso-style-name:"Unresolved Mention";
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-unhide:no;
color:#605E5C;
background:#E1DFDD;}.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Century;
mso-ascii-font-family:Century;
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Century;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}</span></span></style></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-78212609905227968232021-10-11T21:14:00.004-07:002021-10-15T14:36:11.004-07:00 Little Charlie’s Travels<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZ84PtAI-VPj6KtogFBaCSVJiH5048QVJEaco4Tm5dxTwoMvCNJxfhVRerj6djU6KlrgEuULe9OhPDAPu2ye8N7dM7BMCFQrtasDzSV3POjf9-0VSJ2jjue6O5M_4TDcf_eR7rWZ7ZC4/s2048/IMG_3140.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZ84PtAI-VPj6KtogFBaCSVJiH5048QVJEaco4Tm5dxTwoMvCNJxfhVRerj6djU6KlrgEuULe9OhPDAPu2ye8N7dM7BMCFQrtasDzSV3POjf9-0VSJ2jjue6O5M_4TDcf_eR7rWZ7ZC4/w640-h480/IMG_3140.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>Before my wife and I brought a child into this world, we had Little Charlie.<br /><br />Little Charlie is a small teddy bear. He appears to be of the <i>Ursus maritimus</i> species. My wife, Maria, nicked him in 2011 at a fiber optics convention she attended for work. He was one of the free giveaways at the General Photonics booth, which is embroidered on Little Charlie’s fuzzy chest. She feigned interest in their products just so she could get him. Maria brought him home around the time we started dating. She named him after Charlie Chaplin because she imagined him to be a rambunctious scamp. This is all noted in a short story I got published in <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/41571" target="_blank"><i>Prairie Schooner</i></a>.<br /><br />For years, Little Charlie was like our pretend kid. Under the guise of our spirited little rascal, Maria would write me cutesy goofy notes and leave them on my backpack when I would wake up at her apartment before I would head home. In turn, I would slip notes from Little Charlie under the bathroom door when Maria was taking care of her business. I don’t know who started that, but it was a thing we did, and all the notes were in Little Charlie’s child-like scrawl with backwards Rs and misspellings (like “pikturs”). In our teddy bear epistolary, Maria was “mama” and I was “papa.”</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Naturally, once Maria and I began taking trips together, we brought Little Charlie along on our adventures. If it wasn’t Charlie, we’d bring Chepita, the stuffed animal lamb my sisters gave me in 2009 before I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. Before we knew it, Little Charlie became an <i>integral</i> part of our trips. Throughout our relationship, I’ve primarily been our visual chronicler, so I would pose Little Charlie or Chepita for panoramic pictures or goofy portraits. It brought joy and a healthy dose of absurdity to the travels we were fortunate to have.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8Ie9OiIzp6LVm6a3SzQPrkpjrKa-cXlHa5TAoP0njLEZdXYNfbAOUgaf6qRBl6WBI5mjMi4t7TsNMp_QfOStsWlqTmKv3PlNrLNwbBW4DgeOhHV474xEXo4f1RZcooFhYT4JHgpcPJQ/s2048/IMG_2919.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8Ie9OiIzp6LVm6a3SzQPrkpjrKa-cXlHa5TAoP0njLEZdXYNfbAOUgaf6qRBl6WBI5mjMi4t7TsNMp_QfOStsWlqTmKv3PlNrLNwbBW4DgeOhHV474xEXo4f1RZcooFhYT4JHgpcPJQ/w400-h300/IMG_2919.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>In 2014, the year we got hitched, Maria and I brought Little Charlie along for our honeymoon. And so, I snapped pictures of Little Charlie sitting by a tree in Amsterdam’s gorgeous Vondelpark, strolling beside pedestrians in a promotional print of a Vincent Van Gogh painting, sitting atop Het Zinneke, the peeing dog statue in Brussels, and at various iconic locales in the City of Lights. In short time, coupled with trips to Seattle, Big Sur, and New Mexico, we had accrued a dazzling portfolio of pictures of a promotional toy giveaway from his progenitor, General Photonics. And then, one day I got an idea: what if we printed these pictures and anonymously mailed one each month to their company headquarters?<br /><br />Like clockwork, at the beginning of each month for one year, the home office of General Photonics in Chino, CA received an envelope from us with a picture of Little Charlie seemingly traveling around this vast and beautiful planet. With the final mailing, I broke protocol and included not one, not two but three pictures of Little Charlie. In the final picture, a self-portrait, we unveiled ourselves sitting on a bench in Père Lachaise with Little Charlie between us.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDPKrv-HGVfRQKbQmvTVsVhepggBjm5CjurcGc4sEgGL6d5MLVZ6VJief3xz0YOSQtyyq-1lD8EacDpH62E5PMnQniFh-qG2VcV-4l1hUkaJ16msYcppMT55spNhY31nxFGPmJWmRhDak/s2048/IMG_3120+%25282%2529.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDPKrv-HGVfRQKbQmvTVsVhepggBjm5CjurcGc4sEgGL6d5MLVZ6VJief3xz0YOSQtyyq-1lD8EacDpH62E5PMnQniFh-qG2VcV-4l1hUkaJ16msYcppMT55spNhY31nxFGPmJWmRhDak/w444-h333/IMG_3120+%25282%2529.JPG" width="444" /></a></div>With that mailing, Maria and I playfully included our first names and return address, but we never heard from General Photonics, which—although expected—was nevertheless a petite bummer (or, as the French would say, une petite deception). Maria and I have no idea what they did with the pictures we sent them. In our most excellent and righteous vision, we imagined some poor underpaid receptionist opening the envelopes, quickly deducing the pattern (look, another picture of that weird bear!), then collecting and tacking the pictures on a corkboard over their dispiriting desk. In all likelihood, they were tossed in the trash, which is fine, of course. What matters is our intention and the effort we put forth!<br /><br />In 2017, Maria and I welcomed our son into this world. Thus far, we’ve only taken one family trip past the greater Bay Area. Until we can give our four-year-old son the opportunity to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, we’re not boarding a plane with him.<br /><br />And so, our travels have literally been grounded. Little Charlie hasn’t boarded an airplane in over five years. With the plights and grave challenges we collectively face, I know this isn’t something to genuinely grieve, but I am eager to see what adventures the future may hold for my trinity and our globe-trotting teddy bear.<br /><p></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-57256927301075309672021-09-29T14:48:00.000-07:002021-09-29T14:48:12.752-07:00The Barber (flash fiction)<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefZ-nOsFL3aTsIlMAVuf1dSKOVnHB1twE13qFESlCZ-0S9l_atX0wc0pWV7dUOoNsGcKKjwiDvGwHiixfLhtwiDhg2zZ8W3xJ0j6RWlnQ7AhZ8vMpVAaMvvZKreJf7GX6OETCjrgwgkY/s2048/50722001273_c738530ed9_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="441" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefZ-nOsFL3aTsIlMAVuf1dSKOVnHB1twE13qFESlCZ-0S9l_atX0wc0pWV7dUOoNsGcKKjwiDvGwHiixfLhtwiDhg2zZ8W3xJ0j6RWlnQ7AhZ8vMpVAaMvvZKreJf7GX6OETCjrgwgkY/w331-h441/50722001273_c738530ed9_o.jpg" width="331" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/southbeachcars/" target="_blank">Phillip Pessar</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">It’s been three days since I’ve been sleeping on the floor of my barbershop. Laid out a sleeping bag and my pillow from home over the rubber mat I used to stand on all day. Never fucking thought I’d ever use it like a mattress. Or that I’d see the sun rise from my shop.<br /><br />Janet kicked me out. Told me she <i>doesn’t feel safe</i> around me ‘cause of my boozing. All I’m doin’ is drinking and watching more TV than I probably should. It’s not like I’m getting tanked and goin’ out for a spin. Where the fuck could I even go? Everything’s closed up. Think she got tired of betting on me and seeing I’m not gonna pay out. Figured it’s time to cut her losses.<br /><br />Few years back, the shop was doing good. I was raking in three hundred bucks whenever I opened. Got a nice leather armchair for the lobby and new checkerboard flooring to give it a vintage feel. In 2018, the local paper voted me the best barbershop in town. Almost all my clients were repeat customers. Everything was smooth going, but then my back gave out. Sciatica. All those years of working construction, going all out ‘cause I could back then. Now sometimes I can hardly walk or stand without pain shooting up my leg. Had to close up my shop until I got better. That’s when I lost a lot of customers.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">Shit was starting to pick back up and then this coronavirus came. The county told me I had to close up, said nail salons and barbershops were public health hazards or some cockamamie bullshit like that. Meanwhile, the fucking Wienerschnitzel down the street and restaurants in downtown could keep their doors open because they’re <i>essential businesses</i>. The bookstore around the block can open but I can’t? Like people don’t need to get their hair cut.<br /><br />Across the street every morning I see a bunch of johns sneak into the sex shop before they head into work. I covered up the windows with butcher paper and keep the lights off so no one can see me sitting on a chair looking out. Most of them drive nice cars: Beamers, Escalades, Teslas. It pisses me off. They got a home to go back to. A steady income. The governor isn’t shutting their businesses down and I’m supposed to be grateful that the city put a moratorium on evictions for business owners like me?<br /><br />Yesterday I picked up some rum at the liquor store over on the corner. Been going there ever since I opened the shop seven years ago. The owners are from Pakistan, an old couple named Yazan and Azari. He looked at me and asked if I was all right. I hadn’t showered in two days. Been sleeping like shit. He’s never asked me that before, so I ain’t goin’ back there. Not if he looks at me like that again.<br /><br />I haven’t paid the rent in months but the landlord hasn’t cut off the water or electricity so at least I can take a deuce like a decent person and splash some water on my face and wash my pits. I stocked up on canned food so I’m just nuking everything in the microwave. The cable got cut off so I can’t watch TV but I’m using the Wi-Fi from my upstairs neighbor, Claire. I’ve seen her taking Rusty out for a walk after she gets back from work. She doesn’t know I’m in here. I’ve seen her walk past the shop like it’s a blank wall. Like it doesn’t exist.<br /><br />I’m too old and rundown to pick up another trade. Janet told me I should shut down the shop. Said I can just cut hair outside at my clients’ houses, but I’m not gonna show up like some fucking pizza delivery boy. Then she told me I should apply for disability so I can live out my days like some gimp. The thing is, I was starting to get out of the hole. Went two straight months paying more than the minimum on my credit cards. I just needed to keep right and bring my customers back. Cutting hair’s the only thing I’ve ever been good at. I was a craftsman. Any man could walk into my shop and step out looking and feeling better about himself. They could tell me shit they’d never say in front of their kids or their old lady. There was no bullshitting here. She doesn’t understand that my shop was a place we could let it hang, but now we can’t. ‘Cause of this coronavirus.<br /><br />I look out the door past my barber pole and see a few cars pass by. Some stragglers too, but not like before. I don’t know when this shit’s gonna end, or if I’m gonna make it. It’s like a ghost town. We’re all tourists of the lives we used to have.<span></span></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-43322719468596724852021-08-18T23:59:00.008-07:002021-08-23T23:22:25.730-07:00(Nice Dream)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9YIwBbU8rtFiwezPlHbUAhnSaOqIWsww83sWNv6Vg3hUxW-TL9XEGXcQ_WKZ5xoTYrXiNWeVUhG1j9hg2vNyv0a42h8GdFuiNrgfQ8Fn7zFXdVWXgv5kDsPWmItyF2c_I8nzYH4EnNw/s800/5214633970_37a575b88f_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9YIwBbU8rtFiwezPlHbUAhnSaOqIWsww83sWNv6Vg3hUxW-TL9XEGXcQ_WKZ5xoTYrXiNWeVUhG1j9hg2vNyv0a42h8GdFuiNrgfQ8Fn7zFXdVWXgv5kDsPWmItyF2c_I8nzYH4EnNw/w640-h426/5214633970_37a575b88f_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chez Janou (Paris) by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/guillermofdez/" target="_blank">Guillermo Fdez</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">This morning I had a vision I didn’t want to wake from. I dreamt I stepped into a hipster-y Bay Area pizzeria for lunch. My subconscious applied the coronavirus filter: when I stepped into the small restaurant, I immediately peered around to see how many people were inside, how large the space was, and if people were wearing facial masks. And when the seater approached, I asked for a table and knew that I shouldn’t be in there because I have an unvaccinated child back home.</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">No one—including the wait staff—wore facial masks, but I still sat down at a table for two beside a counter where pizzas were prepared before going into a brick oven. This was unlike other anxiety dreams I’ve had throughout the pandemic in which I have dreamt of inhabiting an unfamiliar house that is descended upon by a horde of unmasked people, or walking through a public space where others aren’t masked. Those dreams ended shortly after I would be immersed in a crowd of unmasked folks, and I would awaken with a sense of fear and dread. This dream was different because I willingly stayed </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">in the public space, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">unmasked</span></span>.<br /><br />I felt a mixture of emotions as I sat at the table and glanced at their tabletop menu: glee, excitement, uncertainty, a tinge of anxiety, and an overwhelming sense of reprieve. The sun gleamed through the entrance, the door kept ajar. I felt peaceably awash in the sea of chatter from fellow diners. During the entire pandemic, I have eaten inside a restaurant only once, this past June, when </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">summer was in full swing </span>here in the Bay Area and it undoubtedly felt like the worst had passed us. But with B.1.617.2 circulating throughout our region, this country, and our beloved planet, I don’t feel safe doing that again. Not while my son doesn’t have the opportunity to get vaccinated.<br /><br />Since last year, an annus horribilis, I've told a few folks that this pandemic will be over for me when I feel safe going into a karaoke bar without a mask. At this juncture, I doubt that will ever feel 100% safe again. I’d just love to be able to go back into restaurants to eat and converse with friends and loved ones in the company of others. </span><br /><p></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-17343499720708065062021-05-21T23:16:00.012-07:002021-05-21T23:30:43.786-07:002021 First-Round NBA Playoff Predictions<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkuFkbLTGHnHqW2QaCTnFDvMoZs0agoCLNbhCEXri1sZv8WetlENq7LmS3q2CCAwWlJsdAKWhD47NoxE_YeWXNcs-yLmwfW3lI597GMykXJ42fj7zVstVSuKUi2xDRuJV2c_nIv8F9Qs/s1800/Giannis+Bam.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1278" data-original-width="1800" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkuFkbLTGHnHqW2QaCTnFDvMoZs0agoCLNbhCEXri1sZv8WetlENq7LmS3q2CCAwWlJsdAKWhD47NoxE_YeWXNcs-yLmwfW3lI597GMykXJ42fj7zVstVSuKUi2xDRuJV2c_nIv8F9Qs/w602-h427/Giannis+Bam.jpg" width="602" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Holy shit, the
final game in the NBA’s new play-in tournament just went down at Chase Center, conjuring painful memories of another elimination game loss at home for my beloved
Warriors, but now the NBA playoffs are upon us. This time around, I’m stealing a
page from <a href="http://www.espn.com/espnradio/podcast/archive/_/id/10528553" target="_blank">Zach Lowe’s excellent first-round playoff breakdown</a> and grouping these series
predictions by my level of interest starting with the series I am most excited
about followed by the ones I don’t really give a shit about.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">So let’s go.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Fire!</u></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3. Milwaukee Bucks vs. 6. Miami Heat</b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the</i> opening round series to watch. Last
season—though there is no online proof to substantiate it—I called the upset
and predicted the Heat would knock off the Bucks in the 2<sup>nd</sup> round.
My reasoning was fairly simple: the Heat were a veteran team with a great coach
and they were 2<sup>nd</sup> in the league last season in 3-point shooting
accuracy. I thought that could be a deadly combination against a Mike Budenholzer-coached
team that is designed to deter buckets in the paint while daring teams to beat
them from deep. I also believed the Bucks were too reliant on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s
limited offensive abilities.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For the Bucks,
their entire 2020 offseason and in-season retooling is ALL ABOUT this moment.
Few teams have as much pressure on them in these playoffs than Budenholzer and
his squad so those stakes alone make this an intense matchup. In last year’s NBA
playoff bubble, the Heat eliminated them in five games, so can the Bucks with
two-way stalwart Jrue Holiday have enough now to get past the Heat? The Heat
have struggled all season to consistently win, but in the past 25 games they
have sported the 5<sup>th</sup> best offense in the league, which has been
their primary problem this season. For a second year in a row, they appear to
be coming together at the most opportune time.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the end, I
still don’t trust Giannis—the Bucks unquestioned leader and superstar player—to
make key free throws and consistently hit jump shots in the 4<sup>th</sup>
quarter or crunch time, and I doubt the Bucks will change up their midcourt
attack enough to get better looks for their other star and role players.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prediction: Heat in 7</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Pass the Popcorn I’m Tuning In</u></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3. Denver Nuggets vs. 6. Portland
Trailblazers</b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jokić vs. Dame. Jokić
pitted up against his former teammate, Jusuf Nurkić (a.k.a. the Bosnian Bear),
who the Nuggets passed on and traded because they chose Jokić instead. Michael
Porter Jr.’s second playoff go-around and his first real chance to take a
superstar leap on the biggest stage.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Before Jamal
Murray went down with a devastating ACL injury, the Nuggets were rolling. Years
of careful team-building and brilliant midseason trades for Aaron Gordon and
JaVale McGee had them positioned for a legit shot at winning the title. There’s
no way I can see them making that run now, but they’re still a gritty, talented
team with probable and deserving 2020-2021 MVP.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the other
side, the Blazers finished with <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2021_ratings.html" target="_blank">the second best offensive rating this season</a>. With Nurkić and CJ McCollum back
in the lineup and joined by the rugged and athletic Norman Powell, the Blazers
have a lot of juice on offense and their defense has been improved down the
stretch. They’re a low seed with no one outside of Rip City picking them as a
title contender, but Terry Stotts and the team have a lot of pressure to not
flame out early this postseason. If they do, it could translate to some major
moves in the offseason especially since Dame is undoubtedly entering the prime
of his playing career.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This should be a
tightly-contested series coming down to the center matchup and if Porter Jr. can
become an unstoppable flamethrower.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prediction: Blazers in 6</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2. Phoenix Suns vs. 7. Los
Angeles Lakers </b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Everyone knew if
Chris Paul stayed healthy that the Suns would be vastly improved over last
season, but by finishing 2<sup>nd</sup> in the Western Conference I think they
exceeded even their highest expectations. But, their defense since the All-Star
break has been substandard and I think this is a bad matchup for them. Less
than two weeks ago, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">without</i> LeBron in
the lineup, Anthony Davis exploded for 42 points and 12 rebounds at home
against the Suns who were at full strength. Deandre Ayton is the only
legitimate big on the Suns roster and they’re going to have to heavily lean on the
youngster, playing in his first postseason, to contend against a massive veteran
Lakers frontcourt featuring LeBron, AD, Andre Drummond, Montrezl Harrell, Marc
Gasol, and Markieff Morris.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ayton’s stat
line in that <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401307832" target="_blank">123-110 loss on May 9<sup>th</sup></a>: 6 pts and 6 rebounds in 33
minutes. The Lakers had 14 offensive rebounds to 3 from the Suns.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Good luck with
that.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Suns only
hope for winning this series is for LeBron to be seriously compromised or
injured with the high ankle sprain he’s nursing.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prediction: Lakers in 6</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiorC8cOHUBhow3KeSEk8bboP2NNlWvW5qp23i2oRy1qKzAuHFj0F2NXOBrn02HkoNtHaP7fUSY-_0IJyy5Xjoo4bht4egNjzxMR3XGLvzyf-29SnMATFNBemFdJvsa5uVTFD5KVoxnu3k/s2048/LeBron.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiorC8cOHUBhow3KeSEk8bboP2NNlWvW5qp23i2oRy1qKzAuHFj0F2NXOBrn02HkoNtHaP7fUSY-_0IJyy5Xjoo4bht4egNjzxMR3XGLvzyf-29SnMATFNBemFdJvsa5uVTFD5KVoxnu3k/w599-h399/LeBron.jpg" width="599" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>I’ll Keep An Eye on These Series</u></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. New York Knicks vs. 5.
Atlanta Hawks</b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I haven’t
watched either team play one minute this season, but it has the potential to go
down as one of the best series in the first round.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Tom Thibodeau
Knicks are a hustling, defensive-minded team led by Julius Randle (taking an
all-NBA turn!) while the Hawks are a more talented team, especially on offense.
This should be an excellent matchup in terms of style. I’m picking the grittier
team that finished the season allowing the <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/stats/team/_/view/opponent/table/offensive/sort/avgPoints/dir/asc" target="_blank">least points scored per game at 104.7</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prediction: Knicks in 7</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. Los Angeles Clippers vs.
5. Dallas Mavericks</b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Clippers
clearly overmatch the Mavs with talent so this shouldn’t be much of a series
even though the Mavs have the best player in Luka Dončić. I am curious to see
if they come out and play with intensity and tenacity instead of the
we-just-have-to-walk-on-the-court-and-we-win(-though-we-haven’t-won-a-goddamn-thing)
arrogance they carried last year before they spiraled into the biggest choke
job in NBA playoff history. On paper, they made some moves around the margins,
like adding Nicolas Batum, Luke Kennard, and Rajon “Playoff” Rondo and excising
the remnants of their plucky 2018-2019 roster, to change their team DNA. With
Tyronn Lue’s stewardship, is it enough to metamorphisize them into a
championship team? This series should begin to answer that question.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prediction: Clippers in 6</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>I Don’t Give a Shit</u></b></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></span></u></b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1. Utah Jazz vs. 8. Memphis
Grizzlies</b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Jazz beat
the Grizz three times within the span of six days in late March without Donovan
Mitchell in their last matchup in Memphis. Ja Morant scored 32 and 36 points in
the two of those losses, so he can get cooking against the Jazz, but the talent
disparity is too great. The Grizzlies are tenacious, as I just watched them
outplay my Warriors so I’ll be charitable and give them one win to
squeak out, but that’s it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prediction: Jazz in 5</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1. Philadelphia 76ers vs. 8. Washington
Wizards</b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I just have no
interest in either team. Despite their elite defense and top seed in the weaker
conference, I’m with Logan Murdock and think the Sixers <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyQV7qU6juI" target="_blank">are a fake contender</a>,
and the Wizards are a conglomeration of poorly-coached garbage outside of Russ,
Beal, and Rui Hachimura (with occasional splashy playmaking cameos from Ish
Smith). The only thing I’d be interested in seeing is highlights of Russell
Westbrook turning the ball over at least six times in a game while putting up a 5
for 25 shooting line as he’s harassed all over the court by the league’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWozzO5VALs" target="_blank">most disruptive wing defender</a>, Matisse Thybulle, until he barks and whines at the refs or his
teammates like the perennial loser he is.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prediction: Sixers in 5</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2. Brooklyn Nets vs. 7. Boston
Celtics</b></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The short-handed
Celtics looked abysmal in their play-in game against the Wizards. They’re
first-round roadkill for the Nets. Jayson Tatum could average 40 points in this series
and they’re still losing every game. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As far as I’m
concerned, the one intriguing aspect of this series is the Nets’ Big Three;
they’re finally healthy and have an opportunity to play together with some
stakes on the line. How will they look? If they can keep healthy and dominate
and play average defense, the entire league will be on notice. It will be like
a leviathan emerging from the East River.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prediction: Nets in 4</i></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p><style><span style="font-family: georgia;">@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:1;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;}@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;}@font-face
{font-family:Didot;
panose-1:2 0 5 3 0 0 0 2 0 3;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-2147483545 0 0 0 507 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Didot;
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
mso-themecolor:hyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Didot;
mso-ascii-font-family:Didot;
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Didot;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}</span></style></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-26283447186963934812021-05-17T22:24:00.013-07:002021-10-09T23:42:06.991-07:00Long Time Coming: My Top 10 Soundgarden songs <p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="false"
DefSemiHidden="false" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="376">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footer"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of figures"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope return"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="line number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="page number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of authorities"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="macro"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="toa heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Mention"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Smart Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hashtag"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Unresolved Mention"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Smart Link"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Didot;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkmESNGQLOyGIogioPAGXRVNNwhAxIH5rgW0yvZvwpOds_gcx-v7vHKW6gNOREGLzzZ4XzdjY2AthBrVYtzCNwrthReIWR-P-SQU2uBDVhjm1cWJgPQ-SwjeNWa3ZoFJM5rlAm0i1J0x8/s1274/soundgarden.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="704" data-original-width="1274" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkmESNGQLOyGIogioPAGXRVNNwhAxIH5rgW0yvZvwpOds_gcx-v7vHKW6gNOREGLzzZ4XzdjY2AthBrVYtzCNwrthReIWR-P-SQU2uBDVhjm1cWJgPQ-SwjeNWa3ZoFJM5rlAm0i1J0x8/w640-h354/soundgarden.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since mid-March of the heinous year of 2020, I’ve been
driving nearly every weekday with my wife and son to a home office at my
in-laws’ house. As a result of this commute, we’re listening to the radio more
often. When I have it tuned to the local hard rock
station, songs from our high school epoch occasionally play, including classic
hits from Soundgarden. When “Black Hole Sun,” “Fell on Black Days,” or
“Outshined” plays, I still occasionally feel surprised to realize that I’m
listening to a dead man. Chris Cornell was fifty-two when he died on May 18,
2017. He had outlived his troubled peers from that musical era, like Kurt
Cobain, Layne Staley, and Scott Weiland. I guess his sudden death in a hotel
room in Detroit right after a show still stuns me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I saw Soundgarden headline for Metallica at Lollapalooza in
1996. The band was promoting <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Down on the
Upside, </i>their final studio album before their 1997 breakup<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i>At age seventeen, I was still in the
infancy of my love for rock. I was familiar with their music—namely <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superunknown</i>—but I was incapable of
grasping just how fucking awesome they were. I hadn’t lived enough, nor
listened to enough other bands and musicians to understand what might and
virtuosity they contained with guitarist Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron,
bassist Ben Shepherd, and singer and songwriter Chris Cornell.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As I’ve become more grizzled, my appreciation for them, and
Cornell, has only grown. He was one of the greatest hard rock vocalists ever.
This is<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">indisputable</span></i>, which was probably only cemented by his
untimely death.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Through songs like Audioslave’s
“Show Me How to Live” or improbable covers like Whitney Houston’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TavB7YT5nTA" target="_blank">I Will Always Love You</a>” (sung
a few days after her death), the man was a living legend.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It would be overwhelming and downright challenging to pick
my top 10 favorite Chris Cornell studio album recordings, ranging from his body
of work with Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog, or his solo career, so
I’m giving myself a break and keeping it focused to one of my favorite Seattle
bands. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><u>Honorable Mentions</u></span>:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Room a Thousand Years Wide</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Outshined</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Head Down</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Limo Wreck</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">An Unkind <br /></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">10. Jesus Christ Pose</b>
(from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Badmotorfinger</i>)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Apparently, no matter how old I get, I am still magnetically
drawn to well-executed angsty music, and “Jesus Christ Pose” is just that. The
chunky, driving bass propels this song but Cornell’s wailing, coupled with the
busy drums and nasty guitars creates a beautiful, at times discordant jumble of
sound. It’s impossible not to thrash your head to the song’s climatic chorus. Thayil
is <a href="https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-the-song-jesus-christ-pose-by-soundgarden" target="_blank">on record</a> for saying this is still one of his favorite Soundgarden songs,
which says a lot.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/14r7y6rM6zA" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">9. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arsl19igduU" target="_blank">Fresh Tendrils</a></b>
(from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superunknown</i>)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superunknown </i>has
basically become one of my all-time favorite albums. If I were stranded on a remote
desert island for the rest of my existence and I could only bring ten albums to
keep me company, it would be pretty hard to pass on it. That’s how much I love
this album (sans “Spoonman,” which I find obnoxious in part because it was
played out in its heyday). Honestly, I could’ve picked my favorite ten songs
from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superunknown</i> and called it a
day.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Fresh Tendrils” is an outstanding song—and I can’t quite
explain why it resonates so strongly with me. There’s something about Cornell
howling “<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Give me little
bits of more than I can take” in the chorus that feels like it’s coming from my
very core whenever I hear it. His singing is astounding in this song: mighty,
defiant, and urgent yet grounded and unwavering like a mountain. When I was
younger, this song towards the end of </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superunknown </i>didn’t even blip on my radar, but as I got older, god,
this song almost feels like a personal anthem. It’s otherworldly in how mellow
yet powerful it is. It’s also <a href="https://www.spin.com/2014/06/oral-history-soundgarden-superunknown-anniversary-reissue/" target="_blank">Ben
Shepherd’s favorite song from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superunknown</i></a>,
so I’m onto something.<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">8. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySzrJ4GRF7s" target="_blank">Fell On Black Days</a></b>
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superunknown</i>)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I don’t like to sing along to many Soundgarden songs, but
this is my favorite one to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">try</i> to
sing with, which gets it on this list. Probably one of the catchiest rock songs
that will ever be written about severe depression. Thayil’s soaring solo
accompanying Cornell’s howls at the song’s apex is pure ecstasy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">7. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwdjreJKggg" target="_blank">Superunknown</a></b> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superunknown</i>)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is a rocking good song. The main riff is just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so</i> tasty. Thayil’s lead fills and solo
just take it to another level. “Superunknown” is at the very top of my list of
songs I would want to blast if I could soar through a tunnel.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">6. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l22_JYzfunk" target="_blank">Overfloater</a></b> (from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Down on the Upside</i>)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A gorgeous and powerful song. Singsong lyrics like “Close
the door and pull the shades | And climb the walls” gives “Overfloater” a lush,
lilting, airy feel. Like “Tighter & Tighter,” it is a song that slowly
builds to a soaring, cathartic crescendo. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This feels like one of Cornell’s most personal songs, which
is about depression, drug abuse, and shame. And those five words, “I wanna make
it right,” sung again and again throughout is a raw sentiment I have often
related with.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5a8zXaKapc" target="_blank">Tighter &
Tighter</a></b> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Down on the Upside</i>)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Akin to “Fresh Tendrils,” “Tighter & Tighter” is a
mellow, mid-tempo but goddamn <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">mighty</span>
song. With the occasional piercing distorted vocals, and its lyrics (“Cause I
feel I’m going | “Feel I’m slowing down”), it’s a more desperate and urgent
song than “Fresh Tendrils.” And Jesus god almighty, the first 4 minutes and 48
seconds of this song feels like a slow swell up to the emotional bombastic
outro chorus that gives me the chills when I’m really locked in and listening
to this song. As I grow older, “Tighter and Tighter” is a song that I just feel
more and more like.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2rTGDVRJ3AoQpHITNCXaVM9ujJfiO76YHcNJ0GVQU4FWdAE4BUHv2u60uY4Qipg_iPauVzquUoZWMufgEB0B75adLAJTJQxKwUZFBxIDnsHMjH2u61b_kEs2xB34NGtoIS4iilL35LY/s2048/50325666737_132aee1ac9_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2rTGDVRJ3AoQpHITNCXaVM9ujJfiO76YHcNJ0GVQU4FWdAE4BUHv2u60uY4Qipg_iPauVzquUoZWMufgEB0B75adLAJTJQxKwUZFBxIDnsHMjH2u61b_kEs2xB34NGtoIS4iilL35LY/w550-h366/50325666737_132aee1ac9_o.jpg" width="550" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">San Francisco Bay at noon on 9/9 by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/amaizlish/" target="_blank">Aaron Maizlish</a></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qjo3EXhLmA" target="_blank">4<sup>th</sup> of
July</a></b> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superunknown</i>)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“4<sup>th</sup> of July” is a composition Cornell wrote to
imagine the catastrophic end of this world—and I have found that he succeeded.
Last September, when the San Francisco Bay Area sky turned blood orange from
the region’s wildfires, this song was playing in my head as we all saw a horrific,
nightmare vision we had never witnessed. Whenever I come across a news headline
about an ice shelf cracking or crumbling off of Antarctica, this song pops in
my head. This is absolutely true. By now, I’ve conditioned myself to associate
this song with such doom.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The song’s low, sludgy, and filthy opening guitar notes are
simple, direct, yet so perfect (and it’s all I ever needed to hear to
understand the benefits of drop D guitar tuning). Shepherd’s droning bass notes
beautifully texture it. Cameron’s drum play is understated but powerful. Cornell’s
singing is hauntingly pitch perfect throughout, and the final fading discordant
guitar notes: there’s just no other way this song should end.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBZs_Py-1_0" target="_blank">Rusty Cage</a></b> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Badmotorfinger</i>)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Rusty Cage” is a rollicking ride with its frenetic opening
riff and pulsating bass lines before it morphs into a ridiculously filthy and
heavy song down the homestretch. Easily my favorite Soundgarden song for
headbanging. And it’s a gnarly song to speed to.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2. Mailman</b> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superunknown</i>)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The second Matt Cameron song on this hallowed list. (He is
also responsible for writing the music for “Fresh Tendrils.”) With our
country’s propensity for producing mass shootings, “Mailman”—which is about the
rash of postal shootings in the 1990s—is a quintessentially American song. It’s
a <i>dark, </i>dark song, and an excellent display of Cornell’s growth as a
lyricist since <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Badmotorfinger</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">. The chorus lyrics are so plain, slightly
hypnotic in cadence, yet so downright chilling:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I know I’m headed for
the bottom</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But I’m riding you all
the way</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">And the final verse
is just a thing of beauty. Cornell’s lyrics and delivery are stunning. And this
live performance manages to be </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">significantly
</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">better than the magnificent studio
version:</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/amC1kdPFfC8" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">I don’t listen to
this version often, but when I do, the hairs on my arms almost always stand
endwise. I usually have to put aside whatever I’m doing to listen and watch
with complete jaw-dropping awe, and I sometimes tear up because the
power and beauty and genius is just so overwhelming to behold.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5HLS_8Dw7Q" target="_blank">Black Hole Sun</a></b>
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superunknown</i>)</p>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Chris Cornell said he <a href="https://culture.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Hole_Sun" target="_blank">wrote this song in fifteen minutes</a>, which is truly remarkable. Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”
is like Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing”; it’s a fantastical, gorgeous departure
from the band’s previous song catalog, a composition that feels like it was
beamed directly from the outermost cosmos. The verses are catchy and Beatlesque
indeed while the chorus is a swirling tsunami of hypnotic might and beauty.
Thayil’s searing solo manages to raise this song to a greater peak and the
backing vocals (<i>Black Hole Sun! Black Hole Sun!) </i>feel like a
chant and a plea. And Cameron's drumming is perfect throughout, especially during the song's climax when his crashing cymbals push and beckon his bandmates to new heights. Five minutes and eighteen seconds of godly magic. If I could
die to a Soundgarden song, hands down, no hesitation, this is my choice.</span></span>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-52835340128525406462021-03-08T23:10:00.003-08:002021-04-19T22:30:23.106-07:00Pandemic Ride<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyUmbeGzUJetrTLpWsDd6uWziEpvnoT8mId9adawkzOIDZanz4N_zrNhlIgHG62L5N5wqLh3OaHKYPMMwA9aH1YL7nxGcYdFn2eBlK-YCf2W1pZaZZ143JqGBP_Sv9ZSLIgQV9MXJyAg/s1280/pandemic+ride.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyUmbeGzUJetrTLpWsDd6uWziEpvnoT8mId9adawkzOIDZanz4N_zrNhlIgHG62L5N5wqLh3OaHKYPMMwA9aH1YL7nxGcYdFn2eBlK-YCf2W1pZaZZ143JqGBP_Sv9ZSLIgQV9MXJyAg/w640-h480/pandemic+ride.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p>There I was, standing in my closet, picking out a clean shirt and digging into a tote bag to find swim goggles for my first ride on public transportation since March. It was New Year’s Eve, 2020. My beloved in-laws—my angels throughout this pandemic—were grilling up steaks and chicken wings to mark the passing of this dreadful calendar year. Instead of staying home and waiting for my wife, Maria, and our son to return with leftovers, I thought it would be a righteous note to end the year by dining with them. No one else was coming to their house, and we were in each other’s COVID-19 bubble.<br /><br />While I got dressed and ready, I had to pee twice. I also started to involuntarily cough. It had been a while since my nervous cough surfaced: the first weeks of the pandemic back in late March whenever I got ready for a weekly solo supermarket shopping trip.</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Out on the suburban streets of Hayward, I forged down the sidewalk with the level of determination I had when I stomped to the hospital for my chemotherapy treatments when I was thirty. It was my attempt to overcome the anxiousness I felt in boarding a BART train for the first time in over nine months. Since mid-March, Maria and I and our three-year-old son drove every weekday to Fremont from Hayward to work remotely from her parents’ house. On a number of occasions, we had driven past the Fremont BART station we used to commute to. Each time, the vast parking lots were barren. It was startling to witness. A vision straight out of a dystopian film. I have ridden on BART to and from the Fremont station since 1999 and we had never seen that parking lot so desolate.<br /><br />As I neared Hayward City Hall, I heard a train arrive at the station. Given how barren their parking lots and garages have been throughout the pandemic, a surprising number of people strode out of the Hayward station. Just about all of them wore masks, which comforted me. I slipped on my cloth mask.<br /><br />Past the tollgate, I turned to the stairwell on my right without hesitation. I stomped up the familiar steps. Once on the platform, I stared at one of the overhead monitors. A train for Berryessa was arriving in four minutes. My eyebrows furrowed. I slowed and glanced at the opposite platform. Was I on the wrong one? Then I exhaled once I realized that Berryessa referred to the new stop in San José that opened during the pandemic.<br /><br />Out of nostalgia, I stepped past the elevator to the bench where Maria and our son and I used to wait for our morning train. A young couple sat on it. I stood nearby and pulled a book out from my tote bag, rehashing my typical BART-riding routine from pre-pandemic times. I glanced again across the platform and saw about five people waiting for a train. A couple with disheveled hair and an unkempt appearance sat on a bench. They appeared to be homeless. In early December, on one of my afternoons off, I drove through the Hayward parking garage to see just how empty it would be. I passed about a total of seven cars. While I stood on the platform, I realized a small band of people were still riding BART because they lacked reliable transportation.<br /><br />Before long, my train approached. I slipped off my cloth mask and put on an N95 respirator mask. Another man stood nearby on the platform. As the train rolled into the station, we moved further along the platform to avoid the cars in the middle of the train, which were typically the most crowded. Once the train stopped, the man stepped into a car and I scurried into the next one to avoid riding the same one. The doors closed behind me. Suddenly, I felt as though I had just downed a potent shot of coffee. I could feel my breathing pick up within my mask. Two people sat in the long train car. They wore masks and sat on the last rows at the opposite ends of the train car. As the train left the station, I stood in the middle in the car, a few feet from the sliding doors. My objective was simple: don’t sit and don’t grab anything inside the train. It was a fourteen-minute ride, and Maria and I both felt a ride of such short duration would be fairly safe.<br /><br />As the train rolled along, I tried to nonchalantly read my book like it was any other ride. I could feel my breath ease. After all this time not riding a BART train, I wasn’t sure how I would react once I was inside one. That’s why I packed swim goggles—in case I freaked out about my safety and felt I needed to further protect myself from possible infection. I had recently seen <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUP4U6El4-A" target="_blank">an educational video</a> from a renowned aerosol scientist who succinctly explained that the virus could infect you through your eyes, nose, or mouth.<br /><br />At first, I had difficulty concentrating on my book. For so long, I had been curious to see what the trains were like during the pandemic, but I couldn’t allow myself to board one because it was an unnecessary risk to my family and in-laws. Riding the train felt peculiar since it felt eerily new yet wholly familiar. I peeked above my book at the digital monitor near the entry doors. I was curious to see if any of their new public messaging acknowledged the pandemic, or offered guidance on how to lessen viral transmission. Other than the dearth of riders, and the masks we wore, the only outward sign of the pandemic was a poster that noted face coverings are required on BART.<br /><br />Soon after, we approached the South Hayward station. To my relief, no one boarded our train car. Then came the Union City stop. After we left the station, the passing verdant landscape from Quarry Lakes caught my eye. I looked up. A veil of golden sunlight streamed through the windows. I closed my book and stared out in awe. The water from the lakes glistened beneath the late afternoon sun. Here and there, a few ducks and geese waded in the still water. A great egret stood on the bank of one lake. I had forgotten just how beautiful it was to see the lakes pass by aboard the train.<br /><br />The Fremont station approached. Steadying my feet as the train jostled along the tracks, I turned to look out over the vast parking lot along Mowry Avenue. It was a gray sea of pavement barren of cars. Although I anticipated this, it was still an astonishing sight, like when I saw toilet paper, water, and diapers wiped off the shelves at our local grocery stores during the pandemic. Back in 2003, I rode out of the Fremont station to downtown Oakland every weekday for work and that entire parking lot—which was about the size of five football fields put next together—would be completely full by 8 a.m. Instead of that profusion of vehicles, I saw two Indian children casually riding their bicycles through the empty parking lot with their parents in tow.</p><p>Once I stepped off the train, I felt a wave of relief to be outdoors again. I stood alone on the platform, staring out over the empty parking lots. I took out my smartphone and snapped two pictures to document this moment. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-05h7W4Qugchk5W_aamAEP0O_nmbqW7teST334qRIw-PwCHNGnAJmW8P3v3lm-xT6VNCO4kWFBL_nUZJa2Eu728o-ycHw0WoPFLoRAC3uBmxfBWieuLfB8l4aTr-3GbQ1hOAboCtT3Sc/s2048/BART.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-05h7W4Qugchk5W_aamAEP0O_nmbqW7teST334qRIw-PwCHNGnAJmW8P3v3lm-xT6VNCO4kWFBL_nUZJa2Eu728o-ycHw0WoPFLoRAC3uBmxfBWieuLfB8l4aTr-3GbQ1hOAboCtT3Sc/w400-h300/BART.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>As I wandered toward the escalator, a recorded message blared from the station’s loudspeakers to remind riders that they must wear facial coverings at all times on the BART system. The words seemed to echo into the wind.<br /><br />On my way past the tollgate, I noticed the familiar station attendant safely enclosed within their glass booth. It was like seeing an old classmate. I then strode out to the pick-up curb where Maria had parked our COVID car.<br /><br />“Daddy!” I heard as I opened the passenger door. I peered in and saw our son, Miguel, sitting in his car seat in the back.<br /><br />“Miguelito!” I said, pulling off my N95 less delicately than I should have before I doused hand sanitizer on my hands.<br /><br />“Daddy, I want to go on the train with you.”<br /><br />Though I was turned away from him, my face morphed into a pained smirk that had become more commonplace during the pandemic. On our old train rides, I used to read to him while he sat in his stroller. Sometimes Maria and I sat him on our laps so he could stare at the train cars in their service yard as we whooshed past. And when our train car was empty, I would oftentimes duck behind a row of seats so he could laugh while we played peekaboo.<br /><br />“Oh, Miguelito,” I said, “I do too.”</p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431203325893067807.post-64294648215844971892020-12-25T23:14:00.003-08:002020-12-26T22:57:16.115-08:00What I Still Miss About My Pre-Covid-19 Life<p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_owxJ8Pue2JF_iCWihAA0MMF78l8Q3ty3ygvnYge3gsmIOxATzq_kmFgOW44ZmkfPV4DmttaROSR9eEgvkepGxuLcF9W02rMJemKTp53AoWXqmnZ4B4RRzKtyMiQ3alpFD2FAr8U4Us/s2048/4421842388_f33dfa782f_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1371" data-original-width="2048" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_owxJ8Pue2JF_iCWihAA0MMF78l8Q3ty3ygvnYge3gsmIOxATzq_kmFgOW44ZmkfPV4DmttaROSR9eEgvkepGxuLcF9W02rMJemKTp53AoWXqmnZ4B4RRzKtyMiQ3alpFD2FAr8U4Us/w640-h428/4421842388_f33dfa782f_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Dark Journey by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/craigcloutier/" target="_blank">Craig Cloutier</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I still miss going to Sulphur Creek Nature Center with my wife, Maria, and our son, Miguelito.<br /><br />I still miss our weekly father-and-son grocery store shopping trips.<br /><br />I miss having father-and-son time because it rarely happens now that he’s become even more attached to my wife during this pandemic.<br /><br />I still miss our libraries.<br /><br />I miss seeing my nephew smile when I come over for a visit.<br /></span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">I miss going into my parents’ house to visit in the carefree manner we had before the pandemic. Now when I visit, and we all have to mask up, I feel like such an outsider.<br /><br />I still miss our regular commute—even the cold morning bike rides.<br /><br />I miss having those twenty-minute train rides home by myself.<br /><br />I still miss riding BART to meet up with friends in Oakland or San Francisco.<br /><br />I miss dining out with my friends.<br /><br />I miss eating at Popeye’s with Maria and Miguelito because that was our singular dining-out experience.<br /><br />I still miss going out for lunch during the workweek.<br /><br />I still miss swimming at the local pool.<br /><br />I miss going to indoor playgrounds with my little family.<br /><br />I miss watching sporting events with crowds.<br /><br />I miss having drinks in a bar with my closest friends.<br /><br />I miss watching TV with my parents (because that’s basically our quality time together).<br /><br />I still miss hugging my parents and friends without it being awkward.<br /></span><p></p>Juanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570244522911750698noreply@blogger.com0