Covid-19

[content warnings for the word “cripple” reclaimed, mention of self-harm, and mention of school shooting.] There’s a lot of talk about the death count from COVID. That’s not my story to tell. My story to tell is about Long COVID. I am 17 years old, and because of corporate greed…

An essay by Sharon Astyk — First published on May 22, 2023. Today’s reminder is that COVID SCARED THE CRAP out of people in power. At first, like everyone else, they were scared of getting sick and dying, which is why we got to find out what we did. But pretty damned quick they were scared…

With my boy — Like so many people the Reign of Covid drove me crazy. Not just a turn-of-phrase-kinda-frustrated-crazy, but actually crazy resulting in time off work and prescribed medication. I’ve struggled on and off throughout my life with depression and low mood. That story’s not for now, but at the advent of the…

COVID-19 infection affects people very differently, even when factors such as age, sex and ethnicity are accounted for. Why are some people more likely to become very ill with COVID-19? Professor Richard Bucala at Yale University, USA, reveals that a particular gene’s expression may explain the tremendous variation in COVID-19…

It never really got back to the way things were. Yes, there were still the things we liked, places, activities, friends. Long ago assassinations murdered our innocence. Then the wars, wars that could not be won. So we ran away, but biology infected our escapes. Still though, ease, comfort and…

Introduction In these tumultuous times, the world was gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented global health crisis that turned our lives upside down. As the virus spread like wildfire, we scrambled to adapt, implementing stringent hygiene practices and social distancing measures. But as the months passed, a dangerous complacency settled…

Life, travel, reading…a bit of blarney — Hello, friends. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been here posting my “weekly” update. I doubt anyone noticed much, but I felt the need to write scratch insistently at the back of my brain while I took a much-needed break. This “column” has become, in my mind, an old-school…

On January 19, 2020, I was boarding a long awaited flight to visit my family in Nova Scotia over the Chinese New Year holiday. A high school principal at an international school, it was my fourth year living and working in China. I loved living in China. The people, my…