From My Brain to Yours

Good morrow, dear readers (if readers there be)! I've now been stabbed one single time less than three. And while that this is over there's no guarantee, to have the vaccine takes a huge weight off me. But I do have a gripe with the old CDC, who's said those who have vaccines may wander mask-free. The vaccine won't transform you distinguishably, and so how can you tell the unstabbed from stab-ee? Of course, I, being stabbed, will live relatively untroubled for now, though still masked facially. The vaccine in my arm, I will frolic with glee and celebrate, gladly, but still cautiously.

It's Friday morning now, just over 48 hours since my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. I've been begging to be vaccinated for months now; I've been on multiple lists for weeks and weeks. I've watched friends get their first and then second doses, all the time wondering why on earth I've had to wait. I have asthma, so I've been pretty anxious all the time since the pandemic got serious. I don't trust my lungs to withstand the coronavirus. But finally last weekend, I received an email from Temple's Student Health Center informing me that I am eligible, whereupon I immediately registered for a vaccine appointment as early as I could make it. I walked up to that vaccine clinic (in an empty dorm building) at 10:00 in the morning, more than ready to be stabbed in the arm. This vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel! I'll be immune! And as the needle went into my shoulder, I smiled under my mask. Things are going to get better. I've been hearing ...

For some unknown reason, I have very loud joints that like to crack all the time. Here is a list of my joints that crack in order of most to least frequently: 1. Kneecaps  - pretty much every time I squat down, my knees pop very loudly, causing concern among the people around me. 2. Back - my back cracks a lot . I think it cracks more now than it used to, because I spend all day sitting down at a desk and I'm not as active as I once was. Recently, the cracking of my back has migrated downwards; it still cracks in the middle area like normal, but now the lower portion of my spine also cracks. Sometimes it feels like my lower spine is just clunking around down there. Also, sometimes I crack my back over the back of the chair I'm sitting in, and then it hurts and I can't sit back up for a few seconds without immense pain. As I wrote this, the top part of my spine also cracked. He didn't want to feel left out, I guess. 3. Hamstrings - I know these aren't joints, but the...

This Wednesday morning, I'll be getting vaccinated against COVID-19. I'm very excited, although I'm pretty sure my asthma should have qualified me to get it over a month ago. Better late than never! I think it's safe to say that I've had more shots in my life than the average person. For four years, I got four allergy shots (cats, dogs, mold, & tree pollen) at least once a month and at most twice a week. Pre-allergy shots, I was actually pretty uncomfortable with needles. I used to freak out at the thought of getting a shot; I insisted on getting the flu shot in the form of nose drops up until I was about fourteen years old. I'm sure that the stomach-drop the minute you hear your doctor say you need a shot is not a feeling unique to myself, but I'm proud to say I've pretty much conquered that fear. Now I get shots like an old pro. As long as they're in my right arm. I refuse to get needles in my left arm. It's my dominant hand, my prized poss...