Life Stories

Text reads: The future is unwritten but this blog post isn't. Background contains a pair of gloved hands holding a vial and syringe.

The future is unwritten but this blog post isn’t

Pharmacist: “Are you okay with needles?”

Me, internally: Yes, I remember getting vaccinations at school and they would tell us to count to 10 to take our minds off what was happening, but I would literally watch needles go into all the kids’ arms as I was counting ’cause I’m a sadistic biatch like that.

Me out loud: “Uh, yeah, they’re all right.”

It’s okay, you don’t have to keep me away from your children. Though if you do, I’ll understand. 😜

Anyway, I got my COVID booster a week ago. (Moderna after two doses of the Pfizer vax — figured I’d hedge my bets. 😉) I’d planned to get my booster ahead of the reopening of the WA border — which was supposed to be February 5, but has now been delayed indefinitely. I guess I’m both sad and relieved about that.

Sad because it means people will be separated for even longer if they can’t get an exemption, with no knowledge of when that will change. And relieved because the “let it rip” approach to living with the virus disproportionately kills vulnerable members of the community.

Like I said in my last post, I don’t know what the right balance is. But neither do all the armchair epidemiologists who barely scraped through high school science. At least I know what I don’t know.

We’ve lived mostly mask-free in WA during the pandemic but I think they’re probably here to stay now. I don’t mind… they’re not the most comfortable things to wear, especially in summer, but I feel the same way about bras and I’ve been wearing those for most of my life.

In the not-too-distant future, I’m hopeful of flying away, staying somewhere well ventilated where I can chill bra-less, going out and buy supplies from fully stocked shelves (probably with a bra and mask on), and coming home to Perth without infecting anyone or forcing my family into isolation or quarantine. Whew!

But until then… we’ll always have these nutty blog posts. 😉

Text reads: New year, same old. Background contains a wheelchair moving through an open plan building.

New year, same old

Well, it’s a brand new year and we’re now a good two years into the pandemic with no clear end in sight. During most of this time, I’ve been safely tucked up in my Western Australian bubble, but we’re set to open up to the world in less than a month and things are bound to change.

There’s a big part of me that’s super keen to open up. I want to hug people I haven’t seen in two or more years and see my favourite bands on tour. And I dunno, maybe roam about Salzburg wearing clothes made out of drapes. (Hey, I reference Star Trek and Star Wars a lot around here, so why not throw The Sound of Music into the mix?)

But I’m also aware that no jurisdiction has achieved the holy grail of no internal restrictions, no travel restrictions, a health system that is not overwhelmed and a strong economy. So it then becomes a question of which of those things you consider to be acceptable sacrifices. Different people have different values and priorities, which seems to be the source of most interpersonal conflicts.

I have mates working in the arts and entertainment who lose their income every time there’s a lockdown, capacity limits on venues or restrictions on events.

And I know people who didn’t choose their lot in life but are likely to die if they got COVID… and even if they were complete strangers to me, they’re still people, not just statistics with “underlying conditions”.

So I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know what the right balance might be.

But I do know this: Telling disabled, chronically ill and immunocompromised people that you’re sick of being inconvenienced and that they should just “not go out in public if they’re so scared” – as if they haven’t already been carrying the burden of society’s selfishness this entire time – is not an acceptable sacrifice to me.

If more people came to the same conclusion, maybe we’d get further in building an inclusive and accessible world that benefits everyone. I tend to be quite cynical and sarcastic, but I also want to believe that we can do better and be better than we are.

I’ve titled this post “New year, same old” but I would dearly love to be wrong in a good way.

Text reads: Something something something festive. Background contains glowing baubles, including one decorated with a ribbon.

Something something something festive

Obligatory festive season post coming up, just as mask mandates are reintroduced in Western Australia.

I could say “Merry Christmas” but obviously not everyone celebrates it, myself included. (I don’t care if you say Merry Christmas to me though. Neither does any other non-Christmas celebrator I’ve ever met.)

“Happy Holidays” is a nice catch-all, but not everyone gets holidays or has a happy time during them.

“Season’s greetings” seems to cover it all but feels unnecessarily formal for most occasions.

So I’m going with “Live long and prosper” and “May the Force be with you” – because it is possible to love both Star Trek and Star Wars, and you totally should. 😉

Anyway, it’s been a pretty significant year for me. I published my first novel in November, and while I prefer not to be the centre of attention as a person, I’m proud of that damn book. Hopefully there’s more to come. 🙂

(You can give Black and Blue all the attention in the world, by the way. It is a book – an inanimate object – and therefore does not experience awkwardness or embarrassment.)

Looking towards 2022, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit anxious about the not-too-distant future. I’ll be eligible for my third COVID shot shortly before WA’s borders are set to reopen, but it’s not really my own health I’m worried about. (I’ll get that third jab as soon as I can though, that’s how I roll.)

Meanwhile, I’m still looking for a hand sanitiser sponsorship in the New Year. I don’t drink alcohol, but I’ve been rubbing it on my hands since long before COVID… so come at me, hand sanitiser manufacturers! Yeah, I know it’s extremely unlikely but a girl can dream. 😛

This will probably be my last blog post for 2021 unless something particularly amazing/terrible happens before the end of the year. For now… Live long and prosper and may the Force be with you. And also with you.

Text reads: Choice and consequence. Background contains syringes of different sizes.

Choice and consequence

While I don’t think I’ve ever actually said so until now, it’s not a secret: I’m pro-vax. I think everybody should be vaccinated unless they genuinely can’t for medical reasons.

“But you’re vaccinated, right? So you’re safe, right? Or doesn’t your jibby jab actually work?”

Newsflash: We don’t just get the jab for ourselves, but thanks for confirming the inherent selfishness of anti-vaxxers.

I got vaccinated because I want to do everything I can to protect our community, which includes immunocompromised and vulnerable people. Because I believe “learning to live with the virus” should centre around helping the population reach herd immunity as safely as possible, not a bunch of ableist snotrags deciding who’s expendable.

If you choose not to get vaccinated in Australia, you may be restricted from certain venues and events, or have to find a different job. Inconvenient, but it’s still your choice.

If you choose to equate public health measures with apartheid, segregation or the Holocaust, possible consequences of that include being shunned by people who are rightfully disgusted by the disgusting comparison.

If you choose to spread misinformation about vaccines, either deliberately or because you inexplicably believe your amateur research is valid, possible consequences include being labelled an anti-vaxxer even if you insist you aren’t one.

If I choose to publish this blog post, possible consequences include certain people unfriending/unfollowing me on social media, sending me angry messages or refusing to buy my book. But that’s okay. Because getting vaccinated is bigger than just me.

I’m not being brave or edgy here. I actually had a lot more sympathy for vaccine hesitancy earlier in the year. But months of watching privileged people cry about oppression and wellness warriors act like martyrs is wearing thin. I’m just tired now.

And maybe a bit disappointed at the lack of noticeable improvement in my wi-fi. 😉

TL;DR – please just get vaccinated.

Text reads: A phaser to the heart. Background contains VHS tapes.

A phaser to the heart

As William Shatner said in an infamous Saturday Night Live skit, “it’s just a TV show, God dammit, it’s just a TV show!”

But it’s kind of more than that. It’s hard to explain how the crew of the Enterprise became my stand-in friends when my mental health was at its lowest point, or how Star Trek‘s heroes somehow gave me hope for the future even though their stories were set in a time when I’d be long gone.

An important aspect of Jade, the main character in Black and Blue, is that she actually talks to Deanna Troi – counsellor on the Enterprise-D – as if she’s a real person. I’ve never done this, but it’s a nod to how much Star Trek means to me. I don’t speak the Klingon language or recall every minute detail, but I know what’s in my heart.

Which brings me to Star Trek: Discovery. Since its launch, it’s been a CBS All Access/Paramount+ exclusive in the US – but in most countries around the world, it was distributed to Netflix. We were told that would continue to be the case for season four. The cast of Discovery believed this to be the case as they were promoting the upcoming season at the Destination Star Trek convention in London a week ago.

Then two flipping days before the season four premiere, ViacomCBS informed international fans that Star Trek would be pulled from Netflix. And no one outside the US and Canada will have any legal way to watch season four of Discovery until sometime in 2022. Maybe even longer — while plans to launch Paramount+ have been announced for Mexico and many South American and European countries, there’s been no word yet on if/when it’ll be available in Asia, Africa or Oceania (apart from Australia, which already has Paramount+ but still isn’t getting Discovery until next year).

Not to mention, international fans continue to see posts on Star Trek’s social media channels hyping the new season they can’t access… and it’s like a phaser to my heart. I feel a bit ridiculous getting worked up over a TV show. But like I said, it’s more than that to me. It’s more than that to a lot of people. It’s a show that celebrates diversity and inclusion, but I guess the powers that be missed that memo. And frankly, in 2021, it’s stupid not to have a same day, or at least same week release around the world. This is a show I’m actually invested in and willing to pay for… and they’re not letting me?

Argh. You are without honour, you filthy p’takh! (I only know a tiny bit of Klingon. 😛 )

Anyway, I’ll get over this… eventually… but right now, I’m annoyed and needed to get it off my chest.

Star Trek Convention “Get a life” skit – Saturday Night Live

Update (November 27, 2021):

After a lot of social media anger, the powers that be have since premiered Star Trek: Discovery in countries with Paramount+ or the ViacomCBS-owned Pluto TV. I think that’s still only about a third of the countries that had access to Discovery on Netflix though. I’ve now been able to watch the first two episodes of season four legally, but I really hope other fans have not been forgotten.