16 May 2020 - Plague Journal Day 65

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?


Those of us of a certain age who read comic books when they cost 12¢ will be happy to know that today is National Sea Monkey Day. I miss the King and Queen and their whole court, don't you?

If you're somewhere that would allow you to swim, you should know that it's also National Learn To Swim Day, so it might be a nice thing to take your sea monkeys for a swim. Those little guys need exercise too!

On a totally unrelated topic, we watched the film Tolkein last night. It was actually a really good movie. If you have access to it - it's currently playing on HBO - I would recommend it. It's not a fantasy, it's not exactly a biopic, but it's really good.
You're welcome.


Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

15 May 2020 - Plague Journal Day 64

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

There are those who say the pun is the lowest form of humor. They are woefully mistaken.

The pun -  wordplay - is one of the more complex forms of language use. Perhaps the disdain in which they are held by so many is a result of those persons' linguistic incapacity. What, after all, could be more rewarding than hearing an audience groan at the revelation of one's pun? Frankly, I can think of nothing I'd rather hear than that brief, unbelieving silence followed by a groan of - dare I say it? - admiration.
Sad to say, I assume this won't actually be happening today, as every other event in the world has been canceled, but were things as they ought to be, today we would be celebrating O Henry Pun-Off Day.
 
If you'd like a look at the world of puns, I can heartily recommend The Pun Also Rises, by John Pollack. This is a fascinating and fun look at the world of wordplay and language.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

14 May 2020 - Plague Journal Day 63

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Thursday, which has been one of my two favorite days of the week for many years, largely because Thursdays are choir practice days at my church. Yesterday was cough drop day, and that makes me miss church choir even more than I already did. (You see, I learned to always have a few Hall's in my pocket by singing in choirs.)
All in all, I want to rage against the ending of the singing! (Yes, it's also International Dylan Thomas Day today.)

Even if we can't join together to sing, at least it's Dance Like A Chicken Day, so get out there and dance like a chicken!

Bonus: if you're not sure how to dance like a chicken, here's an instructional video, and if you don't want to dance like one, maybe you could scream like a chicken. Watch this classic bit, but be sure to watch to the end!



Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

13 May 2020 - Plague Journal Day 62

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today I have a real yearning to go to Calaveras County, but I'm pretty sure California is still off limits to normal people.
Why do I want to go there, of all places? Well simply because today is Frog Jumping Day!
If you still don't get it, try this link.


In contrast to that, there's another celebration that doesn't require interstate travel.
Yes, in addition to Frog Jumping Day, at last it's Root Canal Appreciation Day!
Many years ago I assisted at an emergency root canal, so if you're having troubles, you can call me. Legally, since I'm neither qualified nor licensed, I won't be able to help, but you can call me anyway.


Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

Bonus:
Once he's wrestled the current novel coronavirus outbreak to the ground, Boris Johnson has another nearly-Herculean task ahead of him. Surveys indicate that 7 out of every 5 Brits have trouble with maths. Because of that, today is National Numeracy Day in the UK. QED.

12 May 2020 - Plague Journal Day 61

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Limerick Day, and so, with no apologies to Edward Lear:

There once was a virus from China
whose impact was quite far from minor
     It made us all hide
     Whilst it waited outside
That horrible virus from China

Have a limerick of your own to share? Tag it with #PlagueJournal61 or #GrandTeutonPoetryChallenge.
We look forward to your contributions.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

11 May 2020 - Plague Journal Day 60

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

How appropriate: today is National Twilight Zone Day. If only some of this had been submitted for our approval.

As I said, we are (nearly) all still sheltering in place, but we're no longer doing what we were told we were going to do: flatten the curve to make sure we had hospital capacity. Now we're hiding until there's a cure, and nothing good can come from this. This will steal the lives and livelihoods of massive numbers of people. I'm not a doctor, but I have seen them on television, and it seems to me that this will also compromise otherwise healthy immune systems, simply from lack of exercise, as it were.

I hate to agree with Bill Maher, but he's right that we can't sanitize the universe, and we have to come out of hiding and live at some point.
Can we simply all hide forever? Clearly the answer to that is no.
So, when do we decide to bite the bullet and start living again? We really need to allow those who can to develop their immunity - get the virus and beat it - rather than try to hide until it goes away. It's not going away, folks. Coronaviruses are notoriously quick to mutate, so it's going to be at least as tough to develop vaccines over time as it has been to guess which flu strains will predominate each flu season.
Keep in mind, though, that mutations to the virus do not necessarily mean worse outcomes for humans. The most successful strains will be those that use humans effectively to reproduce - WITHOUT KILLING THE HOST. The longer the virus can use us the better from its survival standpoint; and, frankly, from ours as well. I'm not interested in being a casualty of viral reproduction, and I doubt you are either.

So, wash your hands with regular old soap. Stop using all the anti-bacterial and anti-biotic stuff when it's not absolutely necessary. There's no point in developing other things to be resistant to tools that don't work for this anyway.

Sadly, this is going to take a measure of common sense, and for that reason I almost despair.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

10 May 2020 - Plague Journal Day 59

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

It's Mother's Day, and those of us who can't visit our mothers are feeling bad about it. Still, just imagine how hard this is for those mothers who can't hug their children, who can't go visit them, who can't get a visit. This simply means we need to be even more intentional about expressing our love for the mothers in our lives.
Don't let today pass by without telling them you love them, but don't let any day pass by without letting those you love know that you do. Go ahead, put it into words, but put it into actions too.


Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.