Covid Mention - Tumblr Posts

I’m talking about the vaccine here. Please be nice if you do read this

Okay I’m really hesitant/embarrassed/guilty about saying this, but I’m not vaccinated yet. It’s not because I’m against it or anything like that and I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses, but I haven’t had a good time. I don’t hardly leave my house because of anxiety and other stuff, and if I do, I always wear a mask which I know is not enough. Nobody around me wants to get vaccinated and if we talk about it it’s always talk about how it’s a hoax and skepticism about the whole thing. It makes me upset. Currently in my state, it’s illegal for employers to mandate a vaccine but with the new presidential mandate, it might change. I need to get on my feet and get a job and I don’t want me not being vaccinated to be a problem. Plus I just want to be safe in general. I’m really thinking about sucking it up and getting vaccinated after the holidays. I’m just really scared. I’m really anxious about side effects. I’m okay with fevers, but it’s the nausea I’m worried about. It makes me really anxious when I am, and anxiety makes it worse. Side effects are my main hinderance. I’m also just kinda weird about shots. I’m trying to just suck it up and get it over with because I know there are people who can’t even get vaccines and so many people have suffered from Covid; it’s ignorant for me not to have it just because I’m anxious. I feel guilty about it. I’m emotional writing this. Anyways, I guess I’m asking about other people experiences and how to cope with it.

Please be nice if you do say anything. I understand the problem with not being vaccinated, and I’m really looking to fix it. I’m just looking for some comforting words I guess.

Anyone else totally desensitized to the delta variant with a side of futility or is it just me. Im wearing my mask and stuff but the scale of the horror of it is just lost on me now

So let's talk about the Lost Generation.

This is the generation that came of age during WWI and the 1918 flu pandemic. They witnessed their world collapse in the first war that spread around the globe, and they -- in retrospect, optimistically -- called it the "war to end all wars". And that war was a quagmire. The trenches on the Western Front were notoriously awful, unsanitary and cold and wet and teeming with sickness, and bloody battles were fought to gain or lose a few feet of territory, and all because a series of alliances caused one assassination in one unstable area to spiral into a brutal large-scale war fought on the ground by people who mostly had no personal stake in the outcomes and gained nothing from winning.

On some of the worst-hit battlefields, the land is still too toxic for plant growth.

And on the heels of this horrific war, a pandemic struck. It's often referred to as "the Spanish flu" because Spain was neutral in the war, and so was the first country to admit that their people were dropping like flies. By the time the warring countries were willing to face the disease, it was far too late to contain it.

Anywhere from 50 to 100 million people worldwide would die from it. 675,000 were in the US.

But once it was finally contained -- anywhere from a year to a year and a half later -- the 20s had begun, and they began roaring.

Hedonism abounded. Alcohol flowed like water in spite of Prohibition. Music and dance and art fluorished. It was the age of Dadaism, an artistic movement of surrealism, absurdism, and abstraction. Women's skirts rose and haircuts shortened in a flamboyant rejection of the social norms of the previous decades. It was a time of glitter and glamour and jazz and flash, and (save for the art that was made) it was mostly skin deep.

Everyone stumbled out of the war and pandemic desperate to forget the horrific things they'd seen and done and all that they'd lost, and lost for nothing.

Reality seemed so pointless. It's not a coincidence that the two codifiers of the fantasy genre -- J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis -- both fought in WWI. In fact, they were school friends before the war, and were the only two of their group to return home. Tolkein wanted to rewrite the history of Europe, while Lewis wanted to rebuild faith in the escape from the world.

(There's a reason Frodo goes into the West: physically, he returned to the Shire, but mentally, he never came back from Mordor, and he couldn't live his whole life there. There's a reason three of the Pevensies can never let go of Narnia: in Narnia, unlike reality, the things they did and fought for and believed in actually mattered, were actually worth the price they paid.)

It's also no coincidence that many of the famous artists of the time either killed themselves outright or let their vices do them in. The 20s roared both in spite of and because of the despair of the Lost Generation.

It was also the era of the Harlem Renaissance, which came to the feelings of alienation and disillusionment from a different direction: there was a large migration of Black people from the South, many of whom moved to the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Obviously, the sense of alienation wasn't new to Black people in America, but the cultural shift allowed for them to publicly express it in the arts and literature in ways that hadn't been open to them before.

There was also horrific -- and state-sanctioned -- violence perpetrated against Black communities in this time, furthering the anger and despair and sense that society had not only failed them but had never even given them a chance. The term at the time was shell-shock, but now we know it as PTSD, and the vast majority of the people who came of age between 1910 and 1920 suffered from it, from one source or another.

It was an entire generation of trauma, and then the stock market crashed in 1929. Helpless, angry, impotent in the face of all that had seemingly destroyed the world for them, on the verge of utter despair, it was also a generation vulnerable to despotism. In the wake of all this chaos -- god, please, someone just take control of all this mess and set it right.

Sometimes the person who took over was decent and played by the rules and at least attempted to do the right thing. Other times, they were self-serving and hateful and committed to subjugating anyone who didn't fit their mold.

There are a lot of parallels to now, but we have something they didn't, and that's the fact that they did it first.

We know what their mistakes and sins were. We have the gift of history to see the whole picture and what worked and what failed. We as a species have walked this road before, and we weren't any happier or stronger or smarter about it the first time.

I think I want to reiterate that point: the Lost Generation were no stronger or weaker than Millennials and Gen Z are today. Plenty of both have risen up and fought back, and plenty have stumbled and been crushed under the weight. Plenty have been horribly abused by the people who were supposed to lead them, and plenty have done the abusing. Plenty of great art has been made by both, and plenty of it is escapist fantasy or scathing criticism or inspiring optimism or despairing pessimism.

We find humor in much the same things, because when reality is a mess, both the absurd and the self-deprecating become hilarious in comparison. There's a reason modern audiences don't find Seinfeld as funny as Gen X does, and many older audiences find modern comedy impenetrable and baffling -- they're different kinds of humor from different realities.

I think my point accumulates into this: in spite of how awful and hopeless and pointless everything feels, we do have a guide. We've been through this before, as a culture, and even though all of them are gone now, we have their words and art and memory to help us. We know now what they didn't then: there is a future.

The path forward is a hard one, and the only thing that makes it easier is human connection. Art -- in the most base sense, anything that is an expression of emotion and thought into a medium that allows it to be shared -- is the best and most enduring vehicle for that connection, to reach not just loved ones but people a thousand miles or a hundred years away.

So don't bottle it up. Don't pretend to be okay when you're not. Paint it, sculpt it, write it, play it, sing it, scream it, hell, you can even meme it out into the void. Whatever it takes to reach someone else -- not just for yourself but for others, both present and future.

Because, to quote the inimitable Terry Pratchett, "in a hundred years we'll all be dead, but here and now, we are alive."

I spent time with my extended family over the weekend, and it just highlighted how much we've all changed, for better and worse, in lockdown.

After a few days, I'm now back up to full spoons. I can finally get back into my lockdown routine. I don't know if it's just me, is everyone feeling this way to varying degrees?

I’m genuinely worried that I’m going to get covid because I work in a retail job and they’re making us stay open for Black Friday with extended hours. If I don’t get sick I’m going to be repeatedly screamed at because we can only allow a certain number of people in the store at once. I’m genuinely afraid for my and my roommates safety (they also work retail jobs)

Tip for anyone with sensory sensitivities regarding face masks: Mask Brackets!

Hey everyone! I haven't seen any mention of these things regarding sensory processing issues, and they help me a lot so I figured I'd make a post about them!

These are mask brackets! They're worn inside face masks, and their intended purpose is to keep the fabric of the mask away from the nose and mouth (similarly to how a N95 mask is molded).

I personally struggle with face masks because the feeling of fabric on my face irritates me a lot (I can't wear hats or scarves either) and it often feels unsanitary because the irritation makes my nose very runny. I also encounter the common problem of my brain tricking itself into thinking I can't breathe (even though the mask doesn't inhibit breathing at all) and as a result I get out of breath and nauseous. I've seen a few articles aimed at helping neurodivergent people wear masks, but most of them are aimed at children and are more aimed at the discomfort of wearing them over ears (which I get as well, but I've found much easier solutions for that).

But recently, I discovered mask brackets! Since they keep the fabric away from your nose and mouth, and they're pretty darn cheap off of Amazon, I decided to try them out after a bit of research, and I'm glad I did! They've improved my sensory issues a lot!

This is what mine look like. I ordered ten off of Amazon for around ten U.S. dollars. There are a few different styles available, the most common being the ones like these, with a cross in the middle

I chose the style I did because I was worried about the other styles like the one above coming too far of the face. If the bracket causes the edge of the mask to have gaps and not touch the face, it could defeat the purpose of the mask, which isn't what I want. I don't know if the deeper brackets would actually do that, but I got the more shallow type just in case.

The brackets themselves are made out of a thick, but still mildly flexible plastic. They say they're made out of silicone but I'm pretty sure it's actually a blend of silicone and something else because it's not as soft and flexible as silicone. They don't scratch my face, though you can definitely feel that's it's there. It's much better of a feeling than the mask, though!

The benefits- It keeps the mask from irritating my nose, so it doesn't get runny and gross ten minutes into wearing it. Since it stays away from my mouth, it's much easier to talk, and my voice is much less muffled which is good for when I'm in school. I haven't felt nauseous while wearing it either, which was a common problem for me without it for some reason.

The downsides- They often need to be adjusted since they can move around in the mask; Mine tend to slide down into my chin, especially if I yawn or sneeze. I believe they are meant more for pleated face masks unlike the Olsen style I usually wear, so this could be part of the problem. They also could irritate your face if you have sensitive skin or are allergic to the plastic, so I'd recommend you test them out at home before you go out wearing one. The last downside is that the only places I can find them for a good price is on Amazon, and I haven't seen any in physical stores at all.

Overall, these really help me! I'm going to keep looking for other styles and maybe try to figure out a DIY version that does the same thing. If you want to try these out, make sure you do your research and look at different styles to find one that doesn't make the mask defective and works for you!

Marks and Rec: Misc #2378

("Except that the internet is real, of course.") (Dialogue from tumblr.)

I can't donate anything myself, but to those who can, even the smallest amount helps! Thank you all so much and please stay safe!!

since i haven’t seen this floating around tumblr i figured i’d post it!! the link on the tweet is broken but this one works too

and as a reminder to the lovely gringos who follow me

(that’s a british pound my google is in portuguese srry)

your money is worth a lot here

I don’t know if it’s a meme/intentional joke or whatever, but I’ve seen a couple posts talking about things people want to do after being vaccinated that are things people miss doing from before covid, and I need to make sure people understand that:

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine requires two doses

We do NOT know right now whether vaccinated people will still be able to be carriers of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19). We know from testing that it is over 94% effective at preventing people from having the symptoms of COVID-19, but even vaccinated people might still risk spreading it to people in their community who don’t have the vaccine.

There is no current vaccine for children. It is being developed, but we probably shouldn’t expect it until summer.

We do NOT know right now whether the vaccine will work on the new strains. Experts think it will, but we don’t know, because it wasn’t tested on the new strains.

We do NOT know how long the vaccine’s immunity lasts. They are currently doing testing on that and will be for the next two years. (We also don’t know how long natural immunity lasts, so even if you’ve had COVID-19 before and recovered, you could still potentially get sick again.)

You need to keep wearing a mask, social distancing, limiting time indoors with other people, making sure you have good ventilation, and washing your hands thoroughly and frequently even after you’ve been vaccinated.

Keep reading

Hey! Californian here! Please do not come here for VidCon.

Please. The number of Covid cases here has spiked with kids going back to school, and the Delta variant is hitting us hard. Conventions like VidCon are not worth it. Simply not. To see your favorite streamer IRL is not worth the huge risk to yourself and other people.

Theres Youtube videos, there’s Twitch vods, there’s other ways to see your favorite streamer and to get their content that are so much safer than coming to this huge convention just to see them in 3-D. It’s just not worth it. Conventions like this are not safe to be having while still in the midst of a Global Pandemic. It’s a superspreader event, and people will inevitably get sick.

It is so irresponsible of people to even be letting the convention happen this year. Even if you are vaccinated, even if you think you’re safe, it’s not worth it. If not for yourself, think of all the other people. All the other people who could get sick, all the people who could be carrying and spreading this virus, or the (more contagious!!) Delta variant.

Please. Do not come to VidCon. Do not encourage your friends to come. There will be other opportunities to see content creators when it is safer, and when there are not thousands of lives at risk.

I know I’ve said it a bunch, but I cannot emphasize it enough: VidCon is not worth it.

Please stay safe.

remember when we were calling covid “rona” cause we thought it sounded cool

so i have COVID, and my mother came into my room today and said, “i see a little more life in your eyes today” so now i’m trying to kill that life so she doesn’t make me do stuff