I don’t know if this is helpful to others or just frustrating to read, but the way Charles and I cope with this time is to treat it as if it is how things are, to live in the now. We don’t plan for “after the pandemic” or “after the lockdown.” We try to find joy somehow in life as it is. And we have a lot of reasons to be joyful. We adapt to the changes we have had to make: wearing masks when we’re out, and Charles wearing masks on transit and at the office. We have some colourful and silly masks. We order most of our food via online services. I rarely go to any public spaces.
The Literary Blog of Amanda Earl
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Sunday, December 20, 2020
Coping: living in the now and counting my blessings
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Covid-19, Schools and the Need for Government Plans and Accountability
Dr. Shushiela Appavoo MD FRCP(C) Associate Clinical Professor, University of Alberta Co-chair, Canadian Association of Radiologists Breast Imaging Guidelines Working Group and member of the Masks4Canada group spoke today with Alan Neal on CBC’s All In A Day about whether it was necessary to shut down schools. Alas there isn’t a recording of that segment on the site yet, but if it is posted, I'll add it to this piece.
She made a valid point. She said that closing schools was only one tool in the arsenal. She talked about making schools safe by ensuring they follow Covid 19 protocols. She said that class sizes of 25-30 students was too large. In the press release there are a series of demands, including the enforcement of 2-metre distance as opposed to 1-metre which is currently the case.
Masks4Canada is a volunteer grassroots group made up of physicians, media, data scientists, marketing specialists, technologists, lawyers, engineers, students, teachers, parents, and advocates. Their goal is to raise awareness about the necessity of wearing masks.
Teacher and support staff unions have been up in arms since news of the planned opening about the lack of preparation, overcrowded classes, poor ventilation, over crowded buses, lack of teachers, lack of proper physical distancing recommendations. These issues are, in part, due to long term and systematic budgetary constraints of governments that have placed profit over people as a priority. I’m still looking for a resource with some kind of list of Ontario Education budgets and cuts over time, but in the meantime, take a look at this opinion piece by Ricardo Tranjan, in Education Action Toronto, which shows the effects of some of the Ford government’s recent cuts in education. Here’s a link to their editorial board and mission so you can check any possible biases, but it sounded straight-forward to me.
Meanwhile businesses and individuals are being called out with claims that they are disobeying protocols. And I’m sure some might be. Small businesses and individuals who have little or no money are being fined and shamed. I don’t know how this method is expected to result in an adherence to protocols or lead to a reduction in Covid-19 cases. It reads like a bad Victorian era morality poem. "I speak severely to my child, I beat her when she sneezes, she only does it to annoy, because she knows it teases."
Anecdotally only, I have heard of businesses who have not reported a member of their staff with Covid-19 because they can’t afford to shut down their workplaces for 14 days.
The only info I can find about Ottawa businesses and
Covid-19 is vague
about reporting requirements on this issue, so I am not sure of the veracity of
what I’ve heard; however I have heard this from several workers.
Once more, anecdotally only, I have heard of testing centres where the staff is simply too overworked to provide the codes necessary for the contact tracing application to be effective.
The system is broken and it’s broken because money is in short supply and governments don’t have a plan to deal with the issues, as we’re told by Dr. Joseph Gans, an economist with the Roterdam School of Management and the author of the book, The Pandemic Information Gap: The Brutal Economics of COVID-1 in a recent conversation with Rita Celli on CBC’s Ontario Today. Governments prefer to put the onus on business and individuals.
and we are able to trace sources of Covid-19 from large
gatherings, restaurants etc, when the only major change that has happened since
the surge in Northern Hemispheres began in late summer is the opening of
schools, doesn’t it make sense to at least consider the possibility?
Doesn’t it also make sense to make sure that schools are following health protocols to keep children and staff safe and to ensure that community transmission through the schools is minimized?
The science on transmission from children is not clear yet, but Ontario’s science advisory table has said it may play a bigger role than first thought.
"No known source means the person with a positive case was asked about risk factors and exposures, but "no source of exposure was able to be identified."
No information available means people who test positive "have not been asked about risk factors and exposures yet," and they haven't been identified as a close contact to another person with COVID-19." Priscilla Hwang, CBC News, October 13, 2020
You can take a look at the Covid 19 Canada School Case Tracker live map here.
I would rather not see schools closed; however, I would
also rather not see them remain open if there is even one possibility that
transmission is occurring via the schools where educators are not able to
follow protocols due to budget cuts.
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
getting the details right - a handy primer Amanda not Angela, Earl, not Earle etc
i just thought i'd do a roundup of stuff relating to me and to my activities as a publisher. i won't freak out if you get this stuff wrong, but here's a handy primer for those who might find it helpful.
it's Amanda, not Angela.
it's Earl, not Earle.
although i'm thinking of an alter ego named Angela Earle ;)
unless you are putting everyone else's name in lowercase, my name is not lowercased: Amanda Earl.
it's not Bywords or Bywords magazine or Bywords x or y, it's Bywords.ca (Month, Year).
we ran a monthly poetry magazine from 2003 to 2013 called the Bywords Quarterly Journal (BQJ). if you are published in that you would write Bywords Quarterly Journal (month, year).
it's AngelHousePress (one word)
it's Experiment-O Issue plus number (AngelHousePress, year)
it's NationalPoetryMonth.ca (AngelHousePress, year)
if you have an essay published online in the essay series it's published by AngelHousePress (month, year).
AngelHousePress chapbooks are published by AngelHousePress (year)
DevilHouse (also one word) was a prose imprint of AngelHousePress. Chapbooks published should be credited as published by DevilHouse (year).
i make all kinds of terrible typos and spelling errors for people's names etc. i wish i didn't. as i'm ageing this is happening increasingly. i don't fault anyone for making errors/typos. but i'm sharing this now, so that i can point it out if asked.
my pronouns are she/her.
i'm a cis-gendered pansexual polyamorous woman.
i'm a romantic non-monogamous slut.
i'm a feminist who is against fascism, racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia.
i'm married to Charles Earl (18 happy years and counting). we are in an open relationship.
i almost died in 2009. i am grateful to be alive.
i write poetry, visual poetry and prose (both fiction and nonfiction).
i am the managing editor of Bywords.ca and the (fallen) angel of AngelHousePress.
I host an art and literature podcast called the Small Machine Talks.
i hope you are coping somehow.
what can i do to help you when i'm capable?
Thursday, October 15, 2020
Ottawa, October 15, 2020: this is how my birthday went
polaroid photo from afternoon flowers series by Charles Earl |
Charles had the day off and we spent much of the day
snuggling and snoozing together. He made us bacon and eggs, nachos for lunch,
and we had some delicious Chinese food delivered with favourites, including
lemon chicken.
Marcus McCann, a dear friend shared an article he had written about cruising during the pandemic, the importance of advocating for harm reduction rather than abstinence, kindness over shaming. I read it aloud to Charles.
Charles and I watched one of my favourite movies, Where’d You Go Bernadette, starring Cate Blanchette, one of my favourite actresses. I love this movie because it addresses the issue of the importance of creativity for the artist and shows how important creativity can be to the world as well, even when it is often disregarded or given a low priority. It’s a movie about the love between a mother and a daughter and how precious life is.
On the weekend Charles will make his annual New York-style cheesecake, as he has been doing every year since my health crisis in 2009, when, after I came out of the hospital, he was trying so hard to find foods that I could keep down. He also roasted a turkey for the first time then too. Gentle, nurturing and decadent foods that offered both comfort and delight then and still do.
Tomorrow night I will attend a practice session for the John Newlove Poetry Award on Zoom with all of the participants. I am content. I am grateful to be alive. I am grateful for love, friendship and community. And now I am 57. Let the wild rumpus continue…
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Ottawa,October 14, 2020 c o p * / in ~ ! g Sort/ of _* ^
Some days I’m ok. I am focused, I can cross tasks off my
to-do list easily. Other days my brain is in a fog. I feel unsettled and
rattled. What does it take to set me off? This morning it was the news that
writer, R.M. Vaughn has been missing for two days and is being searched for in
Fredericton, New Brunswick. I am not close to him, but he’s a fellow writer, we’re
FB friends and we have interacted a bit here and there, if memory serves. I worry
for him and feel badly for his friends and loved ones.
I listened to a bit of the news, Ottawa is not doing so
great at dealing with the pandemic. At the same time there are increases in
fines as methods to curtail a lack of precautions toward it. I worry about that
too, about the vulnerable who can’t afford fines and what giving authority and
enforcement to individuals and organizations looks like these days, what it
might become.
I see lines being drawn: citizens, particularly the have
nots vs institutions. The institutions are always right. the Economy is
everything. I see absurd and obvious hypocrisy: going after family gatherings
while turning a blind eye to budget-strapped schools that can’t possibly follow
the same precautions that individuals are being fined for. Who do we fine in
that case? The politicians who were voted in by the right-wing because they
promised to keep taxes low?
Today I am unsettled and my fitness class helped a bit
but not enough. I can’t cross tasks off my to-do list right now. I feel bad
about that, but wait! It’s ok not to do these things right now. It’s ok to take
a break and do what I can do to get through this moment.
do work when I can
when I can’t, do something else and don’t beat myself up
about it
listen to hopeful and constructive activities and
philosophers via podcasts and radio shows
hug Charles
reach out to you and let you know that you are not alone
cry sometimes
hug Charles
repeat…
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Let’s not rush back to business as usual. A Call for Revolutionary Reform.
Covid-19 has shone a light on the terrible repercussions of inequality.
Radical reforms are required to forge a society that will
work for all”
https://www.ft.com/content/7eff769a-74dd-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca
I think that we have an opportunity for revolutionary
reform that could address social injustices and inequalities, improve accessibility,
decrease economic disparity, and amplify voices that have been erased in the arts,
while maintaining the necessary practices that will keep Covid-19 levels down
and perhaps even eradicate future pandemics.
In Ottawa I have already noticed increasing awareness and
attempts to address these issues. For example, there are now porta potties on
Bank Street and McNabb Community Centre has a respite centre:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/homeless-ottawa-covid-1.5544164
Community Gardens, which were initially closed have
opened up, in consideration of food shortages.
https://www.ottawamatters.com/local-news/ottawas-community-gardens-opening-for-the-season-2334950.
Need for Collective Based Approaches
“According to one analysis, as of April 23, a staggering 151 countries have planned, introduced, or adapted a total of 684 social protection measures in response to the pandemic.”
COVID-19: remaking the social contract
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30983-1/fulltext
The pandemic has driven home the point that our individual
actions affect others. You can easily see the connection between rise and
continued spikes in Covid-19 cases and laissez-faire economic and social
policies. The crisis means we must all work together. The priorities are clear.
Ahead of May Day, 500+ Groups Worldwide Demand Just and
Visionary Recovery From Covid-19
"This virus proves how interconnected we are. The
solutions we come up with now must ensure that no one is left behind."
Brett Fishman, 350.org
1. Put people's health first, no exceptions.
2. Provide economic relief directly to the people.
3. Help our workers and communities, not corporate
executives.
4. Create resilience for future crises.
5. Build solidarity and community across borders—do not
empower authoritarians.
Here are a few of the ways in which a revolution has
begun and some of the ways in which innovators, organizers and artists are using
their creativity and care to make necessary changes. I believe that the only
way we’re going to survive the pandemic and its ensuing economic downfall is to
to lead with love, to lead by example, to care for each other and with an
unwillingness to restore the same old white cis-het patriarchy that has gotten
us to where we are now.
END WHITE SUPREMACY
Health experts have finally started to communicate that
racism is a public health issue.
We’ve been facing a pandemic of racism. How can we stop
it?
https://theconversation.com/weve-been-facing-a-pandemic-of-racism-how-can-we-stop-it-140284
We Must Defund the Police. It Is the Only Option.
https://www.flare.com/identity/defund-the-police-toronto-black-lives-matter-canada/
PRIORITIZE MEDICAL INNOVATION RESEARCH AND SPENDING
How Scientists Could Stop the Next Pandemic Before It
Starts
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/magazine/pandemic-vaccine.html
These six Canadian initiatives just received $1 million
in funding to help fight COVID-19. The one-time innovation grant was split
between six Canadian physicians and health care teams who designed unique
solutions to the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://covidkindness.ca/news/these-six-canadian-initiatives-just-received-1-million-in-funding-to-help-fight-covid-19/
TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER
When the pandemic came to Ottawa, I was impressed by how
immediately FB groups sprung up to offer food, supplies and aid to those who
needed it.
What Is Caremongering? And Why Is It So Uniquely
Canadian?
https://nuvomagazine.com/daily-edit/what-is-caremongering
Why George Monbiot is fighting to build a 'politics of
belonging' to better our world
Monbiot argues creating communities of "mutual
concern, of mutual aid, where we support each other, as indeed many people have
been doing during the coronavirus pandemic" is key.
PRIORITIZE ACCESSIBILITY
Remote events, work and education have an accidental benefit
of making it possible for disabled people to take part. I say accidental because
accessibility has not been a priority at all, and this is just a side effect,
but now that it’s happening, I don’t think it can be turned back that easily. Much
more needs to be done, including making technology and the internet accessible
for all. Ableism continues to create barriers to much needed change.
Why coronavirus may make the world more accessible
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200513-why-the-coronavirus-can-make-the-world-more-accessible
DEVELOP A STRONG AND INCLUSIVE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT
https://www.equalitynow.org/defining_a_new_inclusive_future
The future of feminism
Five feminists explain where the movement needs to go
next.
By Jessica Machado and Karen Turner
https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/3/7/21163193/international-womens-day-2020
INNOVATE PERFORMANCE AND EXHIBITS
Over Headphones and in a Truck, the Philharmonic Stays
Alive
With indoor performances still far-off, the orchestra has
organized a “Soundwalk” in Central Park and outdoor pop-up concerts.
The Isolation Museum, a brand new virtual museum asks
people to submit artifacts that represent their isolation experience during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Artist and Carleton University student Kit Chokly came up
with the idea after they lost their job and their classes were moved online. via
CBC Sparks
In Berlin, the Art World Spreads Out to Stay Safe
The first major international art event since the
lockdown started took place at smaller venues around the city, rather than
under a single roof.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/14/arts/design/berlin-art-weekend.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimesarts
How to Birth a New American Theater – replacing the white
canon
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/11/theater/how-to-change-theater.html?smid=tw-nytimesarts&smtyp=cur
The Frankfurt Book Fair will be digital
PRIORITIZE A SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT
Take into account
the link between humans and the planet
Lockdown Let the Earth Breathe. What Do We Do Next?
COVID-19 could be a turning point in climate activism—but
only if we play it right
BY SARAH RATCHFORD
https://thewalrus.ca/lockdown-let-the-earth-breathe-what-do-we-do-next/
“Human wellness and planetary wellness are inextricably
linked, and that link must be taken into account in order to save us.”
FIND WAYS TO CONNECT TO ONE ANOTHER TO AVOID ISOLATION
Making Connections, Telling Stories: Dispatches from the
Empty Met
https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2020/met-closure-dispatch-met-stories
Solutions from Around the World: Tackling Loneliness and
Social Isolation During COVID-19
“A Norwegian company, No Isolation, developed a
“one-button computer” designed to help people with no experience using
smartphones or computers. With an internet connection and a power outlet, it
can stream photos, send or receive messages, and conduct video calls. Currently
the product is available in eight European countries.”
Beaded map of Canada creates 'a sense of community' among
Indigenous artists amid pandemic
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/beaded-map-canada-completion-1.5712673
MAINTAIN AND INCREASE REMOTE SOLUTIONS FOR EDUCATION
AND WORK
It’s not enough to just move classes online. We need
better access to digital solutions for all. We need free and universal
accessibility to technology.
Classes are moving online, but teaching methods still
need to catch up, says education expert
“I don't see why, in the long run, we shouldn't be able
to offer everything, so students can study in any way they wanted. The
important thing is the learning outcome should be the same, the exam should be
the same, but the students can get there through different routes, different
ways of learning.”
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/classes-are-moving-online-but-teaching-methods-still-need-to-catch-up-says-education-expert-1.5628502
After covid: 'Working from home' is long term ambition
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-54125620
ENSURE ECONOMIC STABILITY FOR ALL
120 Canadian CEOs And Business Owners Representing Over
$2.3b In Combined Annual Revenues Are In Support Of A Universal Basic Income In
Canada.
https://ceosforbasicincome.ca/
A Universal Basic Income would also help to eliminate
food insecurity issues.
Groups like Food Not Bombs in the USA is a free meal collective
that redistributes food to those who need it.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/food-not-bombs-history
In Canada, federal funding has been allocated to help provide
surplus food to the hungry from farms.
https://www.farms.com/ag-industry-news/surplus-food-distributed-to-canadians-in-need-288.aspx
The pandemic has illuminated the issues with gig working
and the need for basic worker rights.
This Pandemic Is a ‘Fork in the Road’ for Gig Worker
Benefits
As Covid-19 keeps people indoors, delivery and other
contract workers are more visible than ever—making this a pivotal time for them
to secure basic rights. Arielle Pardes
https://www.wired.com/story/gig-worker-benefits-covid-19-pandemic/
END HOUSING INSTABILITY
https://www.amo.on.ca/Advocacy/AddressingOntariosHousingCrisis
FIND NEW WAYS TO DELIVER HEALTH CARE
The virtual triage assessment centre connects residents
to health-care providers over phone or video chat
OTHER IDEAS
Meet Will Rondo, the man behind the NBA's bubble barber
shops
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/meet-will-rondo-the-man-behind-the-nba-s-bubble-barber-shops-1.5719799
Hate Social Media but Love Nature? There’s an App for
That
Facebook and Twitter can be sinkholes of rage and
despair. But virtual communities like iNaturalist might usher in the digital
utopia we were promised
BY EMILY URQUHART
https://thewalrus.ca/hate-social-media-but-love-nature-theres-an-app-for-that/
Conclusion
I don’t want to go back to business as usual. I want mindful
change and I will support and amplify visionaries calling for change, and social
justice movements in their attempts to ensure we have it. This isn’t a
short-term issue. The pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon and after it is over,
we are going to need to support one another more than ever.
4 Key Ways to Build Strong Social Justice Movements
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-activists-cope-emergency-pandemic
x
Tuesday, September 08, 2020
Anxiety, Wild Goose Chases, and Red Herrings Because It’s 2020
Ottawa, September 8, 2020
Today it’s cloudy. It seems like a switch went off at the end of August and autumn began. The darkness, yes, that was inevitable. I turn on the light now at 5:15 a.m. when I pad out to the kitchen to pour Charles’ coffee into his two big travelling mugs that will get him through the day. The coffee maker is programmable and during the times of Covid-19, I appreciate that feature very much. We never used it BC19. Before Covid-19.
It’s cool now in the mornings, often in the single digits. Dark comes earlier at night too, around 7 pm. So the days are shorter and shortening until December 21 when they begin to lengthen. I’ve seen a few trees on the turn already. On the turn, like traitors or spies. Things you can turn, change the mind of, convince. I love autumn. It is the season of my birth, Charles’ birth and our wedding anniversary. We got married on the day that summer turned to autumn in 2002, September 23. Can I still love autumn at this time?
This morning I had to pick up a book from the library and it was cool enough for me to don my autumn attire: a pair of green corduroy pants, an orange jacket with a queer button pinned into the lapel. Apparently I am queer only in the autumn, or so my jacket tells me.
After mailing post cards to dear friends, I wandered over to the library. Before using up some hand sanitizer and a fresh, clean mask, I went up to the door, but it was closed. Usually there’s a woman my age or older there with a mask on, inquiring as to the purpose of my visit. If it’s for holds, she waves me on through, reminding me to stay two meters away from others and to use the hand sanitizer, but today the automatic door is closed. It is about 10:30 a.m. The library opens at 10 a.m. on weekdays. There’s a big sign on the door with the hours reading 10 a.m. beneath all the days except Sunday. I google and discover that today the Main Branch doesn’t open until 1 p.m. Several fellow library users arrive, and I let them know. We are all flummoxed.
This is how things are now and will be for as long as it takes. I keep hearing folks say, “when things get back to normal…” but I’m not sure there will ever be a return to the way things were. At least for me. I’m expecting things to be tricky and uncomfortable for a while. I’m expecting everything that I took for granted to be different. So yes, the library is opening later. It’s not completely closed all the time, which is amazing in itself. I appreciate the library staff and the risk that they are taking so that I can take out books. I also feel guilty about that. I think all of these things while standing outside the library and watching several others come and go.
I have to remember to check hours of any place I have to go to in future. Especially the library.
I enjoyed walking outside. Yes, there were men wearing masks on their heads or around their ears. There were construction workers standing close together. I had to resist the urge to buy coffee from a local café.
Not only am I trying to spend as little as possible at this time, but since I am in control of only my own decisions, I let as little as possible fall into the control of someone else. This means avoiding in person contact with people as much as possible except for Charles.
I go to the post office once or twice a month, the library about the same and the pharmacy once in a while. That’s it. That’s what I’ve decided to do for now. I can’t guarantee what I will want or do in future. For now, this helps keep my anxiety at bay.
What are you doing to keep your own anxiety at bay?