CoViD-19: 50% of Adults Have At Least 1 Jab | Excess Deaths Far Underestimated | Shooting Rampages Overwhelm| US-China Issue Joint Statement on Climate |

Gorilla at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Just Because (Taken 3.24.21)

Today Darren and a friend went biking for a few hours, so Nova and I finally caught the end of The Real World: Homecoming. I cannot imagine how frustrated Kevin must've been after the conversation he had with Becky. She's so full of white privilege verbal vomit. And we watched after I'd finished the Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar book which is an entire book chock full of racist interactions in the world, written in a comedic way, but no less disturbing and enraging. 

There was not much else going on for us today. Mostly just sheltering in place in the dark with the air conditioner on. Did some online shopping, watched some TV, made chilaquiles, and generally lounged. Now everyone else is in bed and I'm about to dive into a show I watched ages ago that I now see has two more seasons that I never watched. 

Today many churches returned to full capacity with no mask requirements because of that supreme court ruling, so just remember those same people who disregard common sense and health recommendations will be out in the community, eating at restaurants and shopping at the same stores you do. Protect yourself. Stay safe out there.

CoViD-19: Get Vaccinated | Worldwide Deaths Surpass Three Million |

At Helix High Lacrosse Game (Taken by Josh Krimston, 4.17.21)

Today I'm feeling blissfully unaware of the news. Me and Darren had a late night in the speakeasy, I slept in, Darren cooked us an awesome dinner, and then we went to see Helix High's lacrosse team and hang out with pals. I haven't even looked at email today. So I'm just going to enjoy it for the night and I'll catch up tomorrow. Get vaccinated. If you need help getting an appointment, please reach out and I can help you. Stay safe out there. 

CoViD-19: More Evidence It's Airborne | The Disease Is Far Worse Than The Vax | Gun Epidemic: "It's A National Embarrassment" | Gloria's Budget |

I love this puppy. (Taken 4.16.21)

We live on a busy street in Normal Heights. Our street is the access street to all the rest of Normal Heights, so hundreds, maybe thousands of cars pass by every day, usually speeding though the City did install a 25MPH sign after I requested it a few years back. Today the new construction had to cut into the street to connect to the sewer line, leaving steel plates across the roadway that are unavoidable. So now every time a car drives by, the steel hits the asphalt and makes a noise so now my dog is on high alert because the sound resembles a knock on the door. And of course, they stopped working for the weekend, so we get this awesome noise every light cycle for the remainder of the weekend. Super fun. 

It's probably really annoying that I'm always talking about my sleep but I feel so exuberant when I actually fall asleep when I try, and so today was a lovely day. I woke up early, made myself some amazing chilaquiles, watched my press briefings, read my book, got through my email, and now I'm at my parents' house for a little birthday celebration for my sister. So I'm gonna cut. Stay safe out there. 

CoViD-19: Breakthrough Virus | Brazilians Suffer Under Bolsinaro | US "Holding Russia To Account" | San Diego Emergency Services To Move To Falck |

Happy Birthday To My Sister (Taken 5.1.2020)

I've been thinking a lot about the past year: what's changed, what we learned, new routines, old and new habits, and all that kinda stuff in general. There are still so many projects and things I thought I'd do if ever given a year off that I haven't even touched. One of the things I'm thinking about is email. Do I keep subscribing to all these newsletters and how do I plan a transition back to music and stuff, and honestly, I don't know that I will go back the way it was before. I'm already getting requests and stuff for calendar listings and I still cringe. I'm not ready.

In the meantime, I get all these COVID and health related newsletters and one I really like comes from Kaiser Health News, which sends a daily recap of the news topics and a grip of articles related to that topic. But sometimes its infuriating. Like I swear there are links to like twenty articles --in one day--about vaccine hesitancy in rural, white, evangelical communities, especially in light of the pause of the J&J vaccine. I understand it is topical but sometimes the amplification itself is the problem. There's a reason Facebook makes so much money off sharing false and bad information. I know I'm isolated and live in a liberal bubble, but I have not met one single person who doesn't want to get vaccinated. So while the news loves the extremes--the lack of vaccines and appointments, and then endless stories about vaccine hesitancy, my head might explode. So I'm gonna cut out early and call it a night. By the way, I'm currently reading “You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism,” by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar and it's a quick read but they're so funny and the stories are both unbelievable and sadly totally true and believable. 

Lots of news today on Russia, vaccine eligibility expanded to all Californians 16 and up, CDC released breakthrough virus numbers and ore

CoViD-19: State Poised to Expand Vaccine Eligibility To All 16+; Expands Orange Tier Activities | Home Casino Busts | San Diego County Fair Announces Home*Grown*Fun |

 

Hummingbird Pollinating at San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Taken 4.13.21)

My cousin is a crazy successful fashion buyer in LA and her company was getting ready for a sample sale, but she hooked me up with some of the stuff. It's super high-end designer stuff...one of the tags for a blouse is $398! My sister visited her over the weekend, so she was dropping off the stuff after my nieces' soccer practice, so we surprised her with a cake for her birthday, which is tomorrow. It's so infrequent we have visitors that it it really is a nice treat to have them over. Plus, who doesn't love cake and an excuse to eat it?

That was pretty much the whole day. We had this gnarly smell emanating from the kitchen so Darren pretty much turned the kitchen upside down trying to find where it was coming from. Turns out it was a jar of spent butter that had been used to cook shrimp. Nasty, but glad he was finally able to figure that out. 

Today's media briefings were interesting. Today's Psaki-bomb was when she shut down the guy from some Catholic newspaper who always asks the same questions about why pro-life people should pay for abortions in other countries. After shutting that down, he tried to ask again. "I think I've answered your question." She is such a badass. Fletcher shut down KUSI much in the same way. There are definitely some ding-dongs in media. 

Today was an interesting news day. I started listening to a podcast about Kristin Smart just yesterday, and today her suspected murderer was arrested. President Biden announced that the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan will happen on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. SDPD had some crazy bust of "gambling dens" all over City Heights which had my jaw on the floor because who even knew such a thing existed? There was one like two blocks from my house! Anyway, I think I'm done laptopping for the night. Stay safe out there. 

CoViD-19 J&J "Paused" By FDA & CDC; Clots "Extremely Rare" 6 cases/6.85M Administered | Young Continue Driving Transmission | Standoff Suspect Killed By SDPD SWAT | Photos: San Diego Zoo Safari Park |

Darren & Nova in the Succulent Garden at San Diego Zoo Safari Park

You'll never believe what I did. I went to bed at the same time as Nova last night, which was like 10pm, and it was a miracle. I did wake up around 1am but forced myself back to sleep, which meant I was up early to see Nova off for her first in-person day back in school. Her school is a public charter, so they're kind of under SDUSD and kind of on their own with a cluster of charters in LA, so they're in cohorts with 2 days of in-person learning and 2 days of async. She's still done before 1pm, so after catching up on the Psaki media briefing, news, and all the J&J reports, she was pretty much already back home. She and Darren made us pizzas for lunch to celebrate the first day. 

Since I'd wanted to go so bad last week, we ended up going to San Diego Zoo Safari Park. It was gray and gloomy, which is the perfect weather for up there. We haven't made a trek out to Anza-Borrego in two years (!), so we made sure to spend a lot of time in the succulent and world gardens, without even realizing today is Plant Appreciation Day. (Check out this super cool 'when to plant' guide for gardeners.) For the occasion, I included cell phone and photos from my Canon. I also took a lot of time with the kangaroos and wallabies, with the tree kangaroo, and with the tigers. Then we made our way to the lower park for some rhino and elephant time, but the waterbuck had taken over our favorite part at Kilima Point instead to show off their babies and eat the giraffe food. 

I don't really need to go into all the news today, but I did want to make a note that San Diego was technically in the Red Tier today. Last week we were close, but any uptick isn't good. But for businesses, it doesn't really matter, because last week's announcements mean that counties won't slip back in tiers even if case rates and testing positivity increase unless those rises coincide with hospitalizations and ICUs. I think the point of that is that lots of places are doing regular testing, like schools, sports, and others, where positive cases may be in more asymptomatic carriers, so higher cases and positivity, while bad for the spread, are less likely to affect vulnerable people who should already be vaccinated by now. I should note I was worried about the R-eff the other day, and while ours is still below 1, it is above 1 in multiple counties in the state, so if everyone is only gonna look out for themselves anymore, then you gotta be the one that takes care of you. Stay safe out there. 

CoViD-19: Vaccines Don't End Need For Masks & Mitigation | About Breakthrough Infections | Mayor Gloria Announces Empowerment Policy Plan For Black Community | PPE Pollution |

Celebrating Nova on Only Child Day (Taken 4.9.21)

The Michigan situation is really irritating to me. Yes, the UK variant is a problem, but if a state's legislature hamstrings their governor to shut things down when needed, why should other states have to lose their vaccine supply to compensate? And remember when the mayor of Detroit refused J&J vaccines? And why hasn't the CDC emphasized aerosolization as the main driver of infection? And why would they make a general statement about "youth sports" when evidence is showing that specifically hockey is a driver of this (look at Canada) and other indoor sports where a locker room is involved? I was so mad when California had our crazy December and January surge, and I don't really understand why this is still happening. What am I missing?

Then we've got Minnesota with yesterday's shooting of Daunte Wright and the protests, the continuing trial of Derek Chauvin and it should be noted that they've issued a curfew which is a problem for Muslims who have started celebrating Ramadan. And there was a school shooting in Knoxville, though it didn't qualify as a 'mass shooting' so news didn't necessarily break away to cover it. Ugh. It's all too much sometimes. 

It's gonna be a little gloomy this week. It's too bad we're not expected to see more than a drizzle, but I kinda like it. I wanted to go to La Jolla Cove this afternoon but I got sleepy and kinda lost motivation and then Nova had piano and well...here I am parked in front of the TV. Stay safe out there. 
**Note: As of 6:30pm, the County still hasn't updated all of today's case, vaccination, and death numbers. I will update these blanks as soon as they do. 

CoViD-19: Pfizer Requests EUA For Teens; Less Effective On SA Variant | Another Cop Kills Another Black Man | San Diego Restaurant Week Kicks Off | Photos: San Diego Zoo |

Shaba The Good Elephant at San Diego Zoo (Taken 4.11.21)

People were already reeling from the insane video of the cops pepper spraying Lt. Caron Nazario in the face in Virginia, and today another Minnesota cop killed another black man who was pulled over for having a dangling air freshener from his rear view mirror. It's hardly news anymore when these things happen because they happen so frequently. If you didn't read this article the last time I posted it, I highly recommend the read from GQ from December: "Visible Men: Black Fathers Talk About Losing Sons to Police Brutality" Police reform cannot come soon enough. These men, because it's almost always men though in this case it was a woman, should have their badges taken, should be unable to join any other law enforcement agency, and should lose all benefits. I've included a petition to sign below that addresses racism and extremism in law enforcement. Also, the cops are now claiming that they pulled Daunte Wright over because of his outstanding warrant, but they initially called it in as a traffic stop as confirmed by Wright's mom who was on the phone with him during the police encounter.

We had a really quiet weekend around here. Darren and I tied one on in the speakeasy and we went to the last day of the San Diego Zoo's extended hours. Nova goes back to in-person school Tuesday for two days a week. Her best pal isn't going back, so her excitement is somewhat muted, though I know she's really looking forward to high school in the fall. She's been reading Hoover's website extensively and decided she wants to try lacrosse, so this weekend she and Darren picked up some sticks and have been playing catch in the yard. My guess is this is her way of differentiating from me and Darren, playing a sport neither of us have played. Probably helps that we went to a handful of Seals games in the before-times. 

I'm watching the news but it is so annoying. The chyron says, "will vaccine supply meet new demand?" NO. No it won't. If it did, we would already be done vaccinating all Americans. Stop it with the ridiculousness already. 187k+ doses have been administered nationwide. On Saturday alone, 4.63 doses were administered. Everybody will get a turn. And then we'll all be ready for boosters if they're necessary. But is it going to all happen at once? No. The news needs to stop playing to the lowest common denominator and be better. Last week, the state of California got nearly 4 million shots. We'll get there, slowly but surely. 

Stay safe out there. 

CoViD-19: J&J Shortage | Vax Distribution Debate | Disneyland Preps For Reopening | Supreme Court Justices Don't Care If You Die For God | SD AAPI Safety Symposium | DOD Attempts To Combat Military Extremism |

My Sister and Niece for Sibling Day (Taken 12.25.2020)

I'm gonna keep it short today because I've given myself shoulder and neck pain from being online all day every day. There's some interesting things to note, however. That J&J factory mistake is rearing its head this week as distribution will see shortages. Michigan is still begging for more vaccine supply when it seems they need to be giving more therapeutics for those testing positive. Meanwhile in San Diego, we're a week past opening day and six days out from Easter and our cases have increased slightly, but I'm more concerned with our R-effective approaching 1 again, after we were down to like .67 a few weeks ago. If that gets over 1, we could get back into trouble, and no thanks to the Supreme Court majority, States will be completely hamstrung if things trigger back to worse or we face another pandemic down the line or if this one evolves and mushrooms again with variants and such. Disneyland is setting to reopen at the end of the month and let's just say we'll be continuing our mostly isolation for some time. I also included a link to steps the Pentagon is taking to counter extremism in the military, and think it should also be implemented across all federal agencies like ICE, Customs & Border Patrol, and across state and local police, sheriff, and other law enforcement agencies. And lastly, I included a link to donate to San Diego River Foundation who are getting a matched grant to create the enrichment centers and parks along the river.

I'm gonna go wrestle one of the cats for the heating pad to put on my neck while I watch the rest of Real World Homecoming on Paramount+. Stay safe out there. 

CoViD-19: Schools Projected To Fully Reopen This Fall | Biden Creates Supreme Court Commission | Bowen Bikes SD | SD Local Musgrove Throws Padres First Ever No Hitter |

Amur Leopard (Taken 3.19.21)

Thursday was "Zoo Lovers Day" and we didn't make it to the San Diego Zoo. As I shared last night, Darren and I went to the Casbah opening and then had a fun night in the speakeasy. That made for a super lazy day around the house and Darren picking up Yak N Yeti for dinner, which was our first time having it since before the pandemic. I attempted my own saag paneer a few times over the course of the last year, but it's just not the same as getting it from people who know what they're doing. So yum. 

Today felt like a good news day overall. Dr. Walensky said she expects schools to be fully in-person this fall and predicted what I've been hoping all week, which is that 12-15 year olds could begin getting vaccinated as early as mid-May. Meanwhile, Jeff Zients said they're not changing vaccine distribution strategies despite new hotspots in the country, which is kinda like saying maybe y'all should've kept mask mandates and mitigation measures and the administration isn't gonna punish states who've been doing the right thing because the ones who reopened too early are now seeing spikes. And then Biden spoke and he's authorized a commission to look into the Supreme Court, which to me is just kinda putting McConnell on notice that we're coming for his decade of obstructionism. Finally, I'm not gonna act like I care much about Major League Baseball though I've been to my share of Padres games, but it is pretty cool that a homegrown pitcher threw the franchise's first ever no-hitter. Especially against Texas. Very satisfying. 

The Casbah was featured again on the news, this time on News8, so I'll throw up the link if they make it shareable. In the meantime, stay safe out there and have a great weekend.