Long COVID?

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

I swear I’ll get back to writing about writing and how cute my kids are soon.

Two years ago, my family and I went to Disney World. Baby Pegasus, at 7 months, got sick. He had a moderate fever and we were leaving that day.

As I was playing with him, he sneezed into my mouth. Parenting is sooo glamorous.

Sick baby Pegasus lying on the floor asleep

We did what we thought was best and took him home as fast as I we could. At the airport, we gave him crushed up tylenol and hoped for the best.

I started feeling off on the plane. By the time we got home, I had chills, aches, and a fever too. We visited the clinic and the doctor said that both of our lungs were clear and to keep an eye out for trouble breathing. She said, “Even if it’s the new virus, we don’t have the testing to check.”

Jen and Dragon had mild fevers, but nothing else.

The next few days were a blur of pain and half sleep. I couldn’t stand, I couldn’t have the kids snuggle me without pain in my chest. Everything hurt like I’d sprained it. Nothing I’ve ever experienced compared to the amount of constant pain. (Keep in mind that I once needed to have my throat lanced from a blister caused by strep throat.)

I was so weak that I couldn’t make coffee. That sounds like a joke, but I have a point. When I recovered enough to try and restart my normal routine, I started making myself coffee. I didn’t like the taste. It was warm and mildly sweet, but there was nothing else there. I tried to make it stronger and couldn’t tell.

In retrospect, I should have come to the conclusion that I’d caught COVID, but things were stressful and I was going back to work after my parental leave. I assumed I just needed to get my taste for it back. I also remember at that time, that I only really enjoyed salty or spicy food because it was all I could taste.

Father and son knocked out and feeling terrible.

Over the past two years I’ve noticed a few things about myself:

  • I am easily irritable
  • It’s harder to catch my breath
  • I started having trouble sleeping even when exhausted
  • I’m always tired
  • I’m always fatigued
  • I have a harder time concentrating
  • I forget stuff
  • I constantly have a headache

I thought it was the baby not sleeping, the stress of a worldwide pandemic, or returning to work.

Looking back through I see that some of those things have been getting better. I can now taste coffee although it does taste different. Even though it smells the same, it feels like weird Berenstain Bears Effect. The fatigue is getting better. I used to be able to do one thing a day and I’d be wiped. Showering would destroy all my energy and now it’s back to making me feel better.

I still have a lot of the other issues, the fatigue combined with insomnia is hardest to deal with. It makes me hate going to sleep. I also wake up in all kinds of pain.

So… I guess I have long COVID, and according to my doctor, there’s nothing I can do about it. Thankfully I work from home and have an amazing family.

My big worry is if it affected the kids. How the hell do you tell if it affected a 3yo or 7mo? They’ve changed so much that there’s no real way to tell. It seems like they’re fine and I really hope they don’t suffer any long-term effects.

Hopefully, with full vaccination and some common sense we can avoid this happening to them because I’m telling you, it sucks. I feel like I’ve aged twenty years.

Very serious faces from father and Pegasus

When someone tells you, “It’s just a cold” or “We should just get it over with,” they’re wrong. Get vaccinated, wash your hands, wear a mask, and don’t get it if you can avoid it.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

This was my favourite film of 2018.

Story

I’m not sure there is a better done origin story for a superhero. The combination of dark themes with the lighter elements are perfectly balanced. The audience always has just enough time to process what’s going on before they’re treated to another action or drama point.

Score: 1

Characters

Miles’s narrative arc is a perfect hero’s call to arms and we get to see him grow so much from the beginning to the end. He’s also both brilliant and artistic which is a nice combination.

The rest of the cast are extremely well developed in a short time.

Fisk’s story is both heartbreaking and terrifying at the same time; making you feel for the villain while hating his methods.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Everything from the internal monologues, to the character’s backstories, to the interactions between people feels real while still being honed to perfect quippiness.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The animation style wasn’t new, but the way they used it was groundbreaking. It’s a way of making 3D animated movies into a more paper/comic look. The ink-dot style that mimics old comics was wonderful.

The music was great. The score was obviously inspired by previous Spider-man movies, but with a fresh spin. The song choices were masterfully done and integrated with the animation.

Score: 1

Fun

The themes were complex, but the plot was fairly easy for my kids to follow. The reveal of who the Prowler is had my five year old gasping in surprise and my two year old just loved seeing all the Spider-people.

Score: 1

Overall

By far my favourite Spider-man movie and possibly my favourite superhero film of all time. The movie weaves a near perfect coming-of-age story and hero’s journey, while being funny and heartwarming at the same time.

If you haven’t seen this, you should.

Final Score: 5* stars out of 5

*A 5 star review doesn’t mean the movie was perfect nor that it is perfect for everyone but it is a movie I believe is as close to perfect as possible.

Guitar Lessons Part 26

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Nov 29: The wedding song

I practiced the songs I’ve been working on in the learning app; some got better some got worse. It’s a very picky app (pun not intended).

I played Get to Know You next. I’m still really happy with it.

Then I played the wedding song again. I am quite happy with it, but it’s not quite right. Hopefully my music mentor can point me in the right direction.

I fiddled with some of the chords today, trying the 7th versions of them (C7 instead of C, for example) for the final chorus. I’m not sure I like it.

The wedding song is much longer than the first song. It’s got 4 verses, rather than two. And the chorus is repeated four times, with the second line changing each time. There’s a bridge, too.

Funny story, but I was really nervous about putting music to these lyrics. I had asked another music mentor (my music mentor’s wife, actually) to help me tighten up the lyrics back in October or November, and then I kinda just… Let it sit?

And then yesterday, I strapped my capo on the third fret and worked through the chord progression for the entire song in less than twenty minutes. 👀

It needs to be tightened up, but the base is there.

Nov 30: Practicing

I am super happy with the chord progression for the wedding song.

I definitely need to practice it though. I’m not very quick changing to D. I figure I have plenty of time to get it down, since the book this song is in probably won’t be published until 2025 at the earliest.

Jeepers, that sounds so far away.

Hopefully I’ll be more used to playing in front of an audience by then.

Dec 1: Gold stars

I got gold stars on one of the parts of the Nutcracker Suite in my learning app!! It’s the first time I’ve managed that and I’m so ridiculously proud of myself.

I played both of my songs as well. The wedding song is almost two times longer than Get to Know You. I’m still working on changing to the D chord faster.

Dec 2: Minor changes

Pun intended.

My music mentor got back to me today. He suggested I add an Am in between the chorus and the verse. I tried it during my practice session and it sounds really nice.

I’m so proud of myself for managing to write the music for this song.

For Get to Know You, I was so overwhelmed and had no idea how to put music to my lyrics. I barely knew three chords and couldn’t strum more than a basic single strum down. I also didn’t understand how to harmonize the guitar to my voice.

I have learned so much since then. From the beginning of August to the beginning of December. I’m very happy with my progress.

Dec 3: New Christmas books

My husband ordered Christmas books, both guitar and ukulele with chords and lyrics and everything. So I played the guitar one today. The chords sounded great and I’m very happy with them.

I also played both of the songs I wrote. It still boggles my mind that they came from my brain.

Dec 4: Saturdays

Saturdays seem to be super busy in our house. I did not play today.

So I’m going to spend a few minutes trying to memorize the wedding song.

Judged by the people you surround yourself with

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Hi World,

I saw this video and it made me think about the people we surround ourselves with.

My mother, now gone 14 years, always told me that no matter how innocent I was, I’d be judged by the friends I have. I think she was worried about me getting involved with a gang or something. As the poor kid in a town with no minorities I was the most likely to become the scapegoat.

I’ve tried to make sure I was friends with good people and to avoid situations where I would be associated with bigots, racists, etc.

I miss my mom, but with her health for her last decade, I am sort of relieved she didn’t have to live through Covid. I’m also happy that she hasn’t seen the people her family and friends have associated themselves with.

I’ve given the Freedom Convoy more attention than I should, but it’s directly affecting many of my friends and my city.

Antihate canada is a non-profit organization that studies hate groups and they have some interesting things to say about the organizers of the convoy: Tamara Lich, Benjamin “BJ” Dichter, and Ben King. THE ‘FREEDOM CONVOY’ IS NOTHING BUT A VEHICLE FOR THE FAR RIGHT

The movement is also supported by several American celebrities and prominent anti-vaxx advocates and hate mongers. The Citizen wrote an article about this support: ‘The Canadian revolution’: How foreign anti-mandate sympathizers are framing the trucker convoy.

Now I can hear all the deniers saying how they don’t trust the MSM… so how about straight from the source:

or how about this:

There have been reports of fires, looting, blocking emergency vehicles, and many other reprehensible things.

I’ve seen a lot of people sharing an image that says, “Proud Member of a Small Fringe Minority with Unacceptable Views.” Do they share the views of the organizers? Or how about the supporters?

It’s sad to see so many people who are willing to disregard the founding and actions of this protest just because they dislike the prime minister or agree with one or two parts of the protests ideas.

At this point I only see two ends to this; violence or the protesters going home unhappy.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Horsefeathers and Freedom

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

Currently there’s a large caravan of truckers going to protest on Parliament Hill. This vocal minority (I mean that. The trucker’s union and the vast majority of truckers don’t agree with them) is also associated with with some scary right wing activists, some of whom are calling for violence.

They are protesting because they believe it’s their right to not be vaccinated and not follow public health recommendations. Basically they are anti-vaxx, anti-mask, and anti-passport.

Images with words that read, “A convoy of nurses, doctors and health care workers are going to work and they have been every day. Support that!”

They are calling this a Freedom Protest.

I want my freedom back.

The freedom to go grocery shopping without worrying that some asshat will spread a deadly virus.

The freedom to send my child to school with proper health measures, ventilation, and knowing that their classmates will be protected by medical science.

The freedom to not worry about my friends and family who are already sick getting something that could kill them.

The freedom to not worry about getting hurt and not being seen at the hospital because the medical community is understaffed, underpaid, overworked, and swamped by chucklefucks who refuse a completely safe vaccine.

The freedom to fly and travel without being needlessly exposed to diseases.

I am so fucking tired of explaining that it’s not normal that we’ve lost THOUSANDS of people to this virus, that the vaccine is safe, and that the effects of long covid are devastating.

I am tired of explaining to entitled, whiny, and selfish people that we live in a society and it’s all our responsibilities to take care of each other. Those that can’t be vaccinated or who could die from this disease because they are already sick are NOT expendable.

There is hope. For every loud-mouthed schnook there are hundreds or thousands of reasonable people. It may seem that as a society are are more and more polarized, but it’s mostly the small minority of angry loudmouths who are “full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.”

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Eternals – JenEric Movie Review

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How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2021 film Eternals.

Story

The epic scale and complexity of characters wasn’t well served in the format of a movie. I think it would have worked better as a miniseries. I think some of the characters didn’t get enough screen time to show their motivations and evolution. That being said, I really enjoyed the non-linear aspects combined with the fascinating weaving into history.

Score: 0.5

Characters

There wasn’t enough time for all the characters and because of that, they seemed underdeveloped. They were very well acted and directed.

I think you were supposed to sympathise with all of them, but there were three that I didn’t like even before the twist. Maybe that’s a sign of a complex character.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The humour was extremely well-placed to balance the epic drama that was unfolding and even the info-dumps were very well placed.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

Even with our state of the art 4K television, there were a lot of very dark scenes. It ruined the beautiful scenery and shots by forcing us to squint for no reason.

Beyond that, the cinematography was absolutely amazing and the amount of background detail is completely worth a rewatch.

The music was suitably epic and felt coherent with the MCU.

Score: 0.5

Fun

I’m surprised that the kids sat through the entire movie. It was fascinating, but not always action packed or accessible for kids.

I enjoyed it, but it was long. Oddly enough, I do think it would hold up better as 6 episodes. I was never bored though.

Score: 1

Overall

An extremely strong attempt at bringing the epicness of Lord of the Rings to the Marvel Universe. Too many characters and too little time for them to shine hurts the movie, but a brilliant script and excellent acting make it more than worth watching.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5

Guitar Lessons Part 25

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Nov 23: Melodies

I feel like I’m taking a crash course in learning what notes are where on the treble clef and where they are on the guitar.

I’m still super slow, but I could hear the tunes well enough today. I played Christmas music.

I should pull out my flute music and try playing it next time. That would be nice to hear it again.

Nov 24: Not much to report

I enjoyed playing today. I did the learning app songs first and then played songs with chords.

My kids seem to have gotten used to me playing and they spent most of my practice time upstairs in my daughter’s room playing with puzzles.

I guess I’m not interesting anymore. 🤣

Nov 25: Greensleeves

The challenge for the week in my learning app is a level 4 chord version of Greensleeves.

It’s so super fast and doesn’t sound like Greensleeves at all to me. And it has the dreaded F chord in it.

But I passed it on the first try, which I consider quite an accomplishment, tbh.

I didn’t have much time to play today, so I mostly played songs from the learning app and then Get to Know You.

Nov 26: Piano music

Today I brought up my Fellowship of the Rings piano music book. I have it because I would play the melody on the flute, way back when I was playing flute.

I very slowly played several of the songs. I feel like it’s getting a little easier to read both the music and the fret board.

I also played Get to Know You. Because of course I did.

Nov 27: Christmas ukulele

I forgot to play during the day today, so I grabbed the soprano uke after dinner tonight, and my husband grabbed our tenor, and we played some Christmas songs from our ukulele app together for about twenty minutes.

It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it.

Nov 28: I wrote the chords!

I decided that bringing the guitar to my parent’s tonight involved too many spoons, so I played it before we left instead.

I started off with the learning app before played a few Christmas songs from the ukulele app.

I played Get to Know You twice and then I mustered up the courage to try to figure out the chords for the wedding song.

And omg I did it!!

I sent it off to my music mentor to take a look at, but omg it sounded so nice. I think. I recorded it once, but I haven’t listened to it, and no, you don’t get to listen to it either because I made a lot of mistakes.

But soon, hopefully!

The Community of Tomorrow – Proof of Concept

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Hello,

Book and story ideas pop into my head more often than is comfortable. When one really sticks it’s like a piece of popcorn in my teeth and I don’t get full relief until I get it out on paper.

A Proof of Concept is kind of like a trial run. It’s me wiggling the popcorn (story) with my tongue.

This would be the third in my LGBT+ Romance / Northern Ontario Horror novels, along with Copper Tarnish and Parabiosis which I think will need a new name.

“Why the hell do you smell like antiseptic?” screamed my mother. I didn’t wait for my dad’s reply and closed my door. It was an open secret that Mr. Zelan had built himself a still and was selling alcohol from the back of the pharmacy.

It had been less then a month since we’d moved here. Somehow my parents thought that after ten years of fighting, cheating, and just generally being bad at being married; that moving into an experimental green community in the middle of nowhere would save their marriage.

I was extra pissed because I’d believed them and instead of doing my first year of university at Western or U of T like I wanted, I was stuck two hours northwest of Big Falls Ontario.

Aeter Aerospace had been around since they broke off from Door Technologies in 2004. It had since made a name for itself in every aspect of space travel technology. It created everything for both space missions and consumers. Because everyone needs space-worthy airfiltraion and aeroponics.

Aeter had decided that it needed a testing and development facility. So came the idea of creating The Community of Tomorrow. Build an approximation of what you’d need on Mars or the Moon and then fill it with two-thousand of the brightest, most gullible minds and their kids.

If the first month of this place was any indication, it was a damn good thing they didn’t try it in antarctica or actual space. There has so far been a murder suicide, two people escaping into the wild, and history’s lamest black market.

Not to mention the power outages.

I could hear my parents yelling even through the thick ‘space’ door. Everything here was space or tech or something that sounded like it was named by a middlegrader. The power went out and they didn’t stop fighting. If anything, it got worse.

I stormed out of my room. I’m not sure what I was going to do; yell, scream, tell them to get a divorce? Any thought I had left my mind when I saw them. Standing there yelling, but not moving, just standing with their arms at their sides, no emotion on their faces. Nothing was moving, but their lips.

That’s when I saw the thing for the first time. It unfolded itself from the shadows with a series of cracking noises that sounded wet. Its legs and arms were too long and it looked like it didn’t have any skin. What still keeps me up at night was its face. It looked like a skull with silly string oozing all over it and teeth in every hole.

It’s teeth chittered at me like a squirrel run through an autotune and then the power came back on and my parents started moving normally.

Okay. I’m liking this one. No idea when I’ll write it, but I look forward to it.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric