I know it has been some months, but I am still occasionally surprised by something in our pandemic lifestyles. The new emphasis on drive-in events is one such surprise. Honking car horns are noisy and rude – they generally mean someone is impatient or angry with another driver. I have had difficulty translating that sound into cheerful clapping, eve...  Read this >>

I lost perspective last week. Months of worries, large and small, combined with missing my family and I gave in to self-pity. Of course, the act of whining itself probably helped me get back on the brighter side. There is nothing good about the virus itself. I can, however, see some advantages within our new pandemic lifestyles. I am fortunate to have a...  Read this >>

If I hear some version of the saying “we are tired of the virus, but the virus is not tired” again anytime soon, I won’t be held responsible for my behavior. I know the saying is true. I know the reasons it gets repeated over and over. I’ve even said it to others. I also know I’m suffering from “pandemic fatigue.&rdquo...  Read this >>

The pandemic’s empty grocery store shelves have disturbed me since the start. All out of proportion, really. Early on, shortages of fresh meat, milk, and eggs were inconveniences, not disasters, because I had other foodstuffs to choose from. I never even ran out of toilet paper. More products are in stock today, though paper goods and cleaning suppl...  Read this >>

            My university has passed mid-semester and things are going better than most feared, or even hoped. Florida’s governor threatened our funding if state universities did not reopen face-to-face (other budget cuts notwithstanding), and thus my school drafted its “re-opening bluepri...  Read this >>

            Recently, I experienced something many (millions of?) others must also be experiencing: a family member in the hospital. My dad did not have COVID-19 but was very much impacted by the pandemic.             Before, I would have immedia...  Read this >>

A short while ago, Trump announced that the Republican National Convention events planned for Jacksonville would be cancelled in the interests of public safety. No responses yet from state officials, and only one at the local level: the President of the Jacksonville City Council, who came out strongly last night against city legislation needed to move fo...  Read this >>

One day after Jacksonville’s Sheriff warned he could not guarantee security for the Republican National Convention, Mayor Lenny Curry held a press conference at which he said he accepted the Sheriff’s statement – and even agreed Jacksonville was not yet ready -- but emphasized that the Sheriff had said the city could be ready with adequa...  Read this >>

My latest installment in the continuing saga of the Republican National Convention, planned for in-person in Jacksonville, FL during late August: On Monday July 20, Jacksonville’s elected Sheriff Mike Williams announced that he cannot provide for community or convention safety, due to lack of time, money, and personnel. Williams stated that a $50 ...  Read this >>

Since Friday July 10 we have seen a number of developments in Jacksonville’s Republican National Convention plans: The State of Florida recorded over 15,000 new cases Sunday July 12, giving it more cases of COVID-19 than most countries in the world. As of July 13, Jacksonville/Duval County has 12,624 cases (per Florida Department of Health). Petti...  Read this >>

Back to chronicling pandemic politics in Jacksonville, Florida as it prepares for the Republican National Convention: On Monday July 6, over 80 clergy from churches in Jacksonville sent a letter to city leaders expressing concern about the city hosting the convention for reasons of public health, racial tensions, and economic anxiety. Also on Monday Jul...  Read this >>

            I needed an escape today, so I took a look at my DVR. I had fallen behind on several TV shows – all the way back to January on one. It never occurred to me that I was re-entering the “before time.”             The fi...  Read this >>

On July 3, Jacksonville’s COVID-19 positive rate is above 16%, as it becomes one of the top US cities seeing the fastest growth in cases, along with other cities in Florida and Texas. Local media is reporting a wide range of Republican National Convention-related rumors, as Vice President Mike Pence expresses enthusiasm about the RNC coming to Jack...  Read this >>

I find myself now chronicling pandemic politics in Jacksonville, Florida, USA as we prepare for the Republican National Convention . . . though it is not always easy to keep up. Infection rates and hospitalizations have been increasing in Jacksonville (nearly coterminous with Duval County), and according to local news the average age of those testing pos...  Read this >>

On June 16, I reported bars and restaurants in the beach communities of Jacksonville, FL, USA closing for cleaning and testing of staff after being identified as the source of clusters of COVID-19. (According to the local news, that was as a result of infected customers self-reporting to the businesses, not contract tracing.) Since then, at least 15 more ...  Read this >>

My 96-year-old uncle Johnny passed away last week, not from COVID-19. He served in the Navy in WWII, married my mom’s older sister Pat, ran a dairy farm and other dairy-related businesses, and had a great sense of fun. Yesterday, I watched the livestream of his Catholic funeral mass. I’ve read in recent months about Zoom funerals, memorials, ...  Read this >>

I live in Jacksonville, FL, USA. Bars were allowed to re-open on June 5. Roughly ten days later, three bars and two restuarants in the beach communities have closed due to clusters of cases centered in them, according to local news. One bar, Lynch's Irish Pub, had 7 employees test positive -- and reportedly at least 15 customers -- after a customer called...  Read this >>

            I started this series of entries with positive ways social media are being used during COVID-19, yet of course know is used for good and ill – intentionally, unintentionally, and all at the same time.             In my 31 May en...  Read this >>

Perhaps by virtue of being an academic, I find it easier to analyze than process emotions. Analysis sets me at something of a distance from what I’m feeling, which is generally more comfortable. Neither analysis of nor feeling my emotions is helping much right now, as the US is overtaken by racial protests and riots, with COVID-19 nearly an aftertho...  Read this >>

        Social media is currently used to communicate pandemic education, as I noted in 17 May entry. It is also being used to persuade individuals to alter their behavior regarding COVID-19. Some of the posts mentioned on 17 May serve both purposes. The mechanics of proper hand washing or announcements of government aid...  Read this >>

                What with trolls, bots, and presidential tweets, it is easy to overlook the positive – as opposed to obviously negative -- ways social media is being used during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media itself is a neutral tool, neither good nor bad but for the use...  Read this >>

            It is, of all things, a Burger King commercial that sums the idea up nicely: we should all become “couch po-ta-triots.” It is now our patriotic duty to #stay home/save lives. That perspective of patriotism is hypocritical and discouraging when the United States has, for at leas...  Read this >>

With their permission, I share below two student responses to the course activities mentioned in my April 26 entry Teaching the Pandemic We’re Living Through. Excerpt from a reflective essay on course content, with this section about studying global health governance and COVID-19: Even though we were actively living and learning about complicated,...  Read this >>

                Two events coincided on March 23, 2020: my university moved instruction online due to COVID-19 and I started a segment on global health governance in a course on International Law and Organization. The readings and case studies had been selected months earlier, yet ...  Read this >>

                I am sad for my students, especially the graduating seniors in my courses this semester. This is our last week of classes, and graduation ceremonies would have been next week. A semester that began for them with optimism, the usual anxieties, and/or senioritis is ...  Read this >>