Tyler Weaver's Blog, page 3

TSR @ two

Today marks two years to the day since the launch of my little effort at socialization / shaking the rust off the interview skills, THE SOCIALIZED RECLUSE: along the way, I’ve gotten to talk with a lot of cool, inspiring people whom I've long admired – I’m eternally grateful to ALL of you, guests and listeners, for taking the time to chat and to listen, to educate me, and to inspire me. Here’s to the next two years of socializations and conversations; all current episodes live here.

Now available: RE/EMERGENCE0004

Featuring new music from Elizabeth Joan Kelly and new words from me, our latest collaboration, RE/EMERGENCE0004, is now available for a limited time. One word: ArtsNCraftsPunk.

Incoming: re/emergence0004

The fourth re/emergence story, the latest in an ongoing series of music and microfiction collaborations between the one and only Elizabeth Joan Kelly and myself, arrives this coming Wednesday, 29 September. Newsletter subscribers get early access tomorrow morning. You can sign up here if so inclined…

A brief message from my one and only sponsor, me:

Two things:

One, the next MacroParentheticals dispatch lands in subscribers' inboxes on Sunday morning. You can sign up here if so inclined.

Two, if, over the last 15 minutes or 15 years, you’ve found my work to be a worthwhile use of your time, I’d be honored if you’d consider supporting it via my Ko-Fi tip jar.

Carry on.

New TSR: Steve Niles

Horror comics maestro Steve Niles joins me on the latest episode of THE SOCIALIZED RECLUSE to geek out over the Universal Monsters films and, along the way, discuss writing, comics, Bernie Wrightson, marriage turning points, horror, comedy, the challenge of werewolves, typical workdays, and, most importantly, Gil. You can check out the full episode here, or via Apple Podcasts/your preferred podcast player.

The Story of Today’s COVID-Call

(13:39), The phone rings, not the Imperial Death March so I know it's not one of our elders.

Nurse: Your COVID test came back positive.

Me: Oh.

(Aside: Not surprising, really: my fully-vaxxed wife is back to teaching school in the only masked district in the county and I'm likewise vaxxed but idiots capable of breathing surround on all sides. Nonetheless, feel fine, all good. Running six miles a day. Same as every day.)

(Back to scene.)

Well, just keep doing what you're doing, you’re probably past quarantine stage anyhow so you don't need to be re-swabbed.

I wasn't swabbed. Ever.

Oh. But your test –

I wasn't swabbed.

Let met talk to Dr...

(Minutes, on hold.)

Dr: … yeah, you can't learn if you have COVID from a blood test. You're sure you weren't swabbed?

I know I wasn't swabbed.

Then... I need to figure out what's going on. Quite a way to start with a new doctor!

Yep.

How are you feeling?

Fine.

Ok, I'll call you back.

(Minutes):

Nurse: You're fine. There was some screwup with the lab.

So I'm fine.

You're fine.

Quite a Monday.

Quite a Monday.

(14:41.)

...

Kirby assists in watering the plants.

Booknotes

Trying out an experiment here of adding selected highlights from my readings as I make my way through each book. Starting with my current read, Stefan Zweig’s biography of Montaigne and my recent read, Megan Abbott’s THE TURNOUT, I’ll update each post (and add a tweet to the post’s thread) accordingly with passages from my manic read-bracketing (Zweig) and, sometimes, a quick review upon completion (Abbott). Want to make these reading posts a little more useful to me, a public record of things that fascinate within each reading…

Fair Day in Plaguesburg

'Tis "Fair Day" in the county, all schools off for the day so as to attend the maskless, throng-ridden multi-day superspreader event of goats and pigs and the “raising one of Ohio's largest flags," and "a ton of things on display like art and produce" (these being excerpts from the local paper – a paper where my father used to be the photographer and where my love of the smell of a darkroom and typewriters was inculcated –  which has, in recent years, become a metastasized cancer of poor editing, conservative ideology, and nostalgic, red-hat resentment for a time that existed only in the shitty local art on display in tourist trap hellholes).

Another favorite story, from last week: while I can't recall the headline, it was a lament over the lack of people willing to volunteer to man entrances and booths at the fair, told in that same "dignity of work" bollox-style of faux-outraged tone-deafness with which they bemoan the lack of people willing to work at area restaurants for shit wages and shittier benefits.

Thought it might be fun to include the COVID numbers reported for the area – and my wife's school building – every so often.

From the county's health department, from 29aug-04 sep: 469 new cases, up from 346 the week before and the seventh week in a row of an upwards trend, with a total to date of 10,659 in a county whose population is, as of 2019, 115,070 and where less than 50% of the residents eligible for vaccination are jabbed. There have been 500 hospitalizations and 230 deaths since the pandemic began; four hospitalizations (down from six) in the latest report, and zero deaths, (down from two). Test positivity rate is 13.23%, up from 12.64% the previous week.

For my wife's (mask-mandated) school: last updated 02sep (in spite of saying they will update the graphic weekly): 12 active cases, with one staff member and eleven students (lunchtime fun-fection) in various states of infection.

Reports over the next few weeks should be fun. The day awaits. `

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