Happy 2022*

Happy 2022*. Staying Home. Staying Stoned.

I truly thought 2020 was the worst year ever. I was optimistic when it ended. I thought things would be better in 2021. Here we are anyway.

Last Year’s New Year’s Message: Happy 2021 It Might Not Suck

2022. Pandemic year two. They say it will become endemic. That we will learn to live with COVID-19. Like the flu.

Fuck.

Some really great things have happened this year. Most of them have come with caveats and asterisks. Just like 2020. *Pandemic year. It’s easy to forget the little joys in the big hurt. Lots of hurt.

We moved to upstate NY this year. That was a good thing.

This overwhelming sadness is what I’ll remember most about these times. So much loss. My spirit feels beaten and bruised. PTSD seems the new norm, in a world where we must fear living among liars and idiots, who would profit or die by denial of the common sense measures to keep everyone well.

We lost Betty White on the last day of this piece of shit year, confirming it’s status as ‘worst year ever’. #RIPBetty

I don’t go anywhere that isn’t absolutely necessary anymore. Certainly not the crowded indoor areas where music and alcohol flow. The places we used to love to go. Where life stopped for a few short hours, and the only thing that mattered was how the music moved the crowd. Where we all came together, sometimes encroaching on each other’s personal space, if only because somebody lost their balance in the drunken, drug steeped swerve to a frenzied beat that infected the entire crowd. It was fun. It didn’t feel like a death threat, like now.

COVID killed businesses across the country in 2021.

If this is what ‘living with it’ will be like, I don’t think I’m ready for that. I’m not ready to go ANYWHERE without an N95 mask and a litre of hand sanitizer. I don’t see that changing because they start calling it an ENdemic instead of PANdemic. Call it whatever you want. I’m staying home.

So Happy 2022 from my house. Where I plan to spend the year, with the (vaccinated) ones I love most. ~jg

*Pandemic year three.

Jamie Gray | Musician and Writer. Pessimistic optimist.

Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.

Dear Anti-Maskers

If I drive down your street at 70mph, the residential street your kids play on, you’d probably be in favor of the State forcing me to slow down, wouldn’t you? For your kids safety? Because the Government has the right, and DUTY to protect the people. From reckless speeders and other dangerous people, such as anti-mask propagandists like you.

I don’t have the right to drive without regard for others safety. Likewise, I have the duty to protect others around me, including my children and yours. I listen to the science that says, driving slowly in densely populated areas with children playing is safer than speeding.

But you don’t listen to science. You disregard safety precautions that nearly all medical professionals agree are important, and claim the right to do so is ‘freedom’. Most horrifically, you’re willing to risk your children’s lives to prove your point, one that science says you’re completely wrong about.

If you think your children have the right to attend school without vaccine or mask during a global pandemic, you’re dead wrong. Children shouldn’t have to pay the ultimate price for your stupidity and your partisan, QAnon, MAGA, political propaganda. America’s children certainly don’t deserve to become victims of this deadly disease, because of the lies you promote and defend. Their Deaths Are Your fault. On your head. 99.9% Preventable.

Please Drink (and Drive) Responsibly

You may as well drink a fifth of vodka and drive 100mph through a school zone at 3:05pm, because that’s probably LESS dangerous than preventing schools from masking up during this pandemic. The Delta Variant is NOT your mama’s COVID…it’s much, MUCH worse. ~jg

The Shark – Jamie’s 2010 Challenger

Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.

Second Shot – Countdown to Immunity

Quarantine has been tough. I basically haven’t left the house for a year and a half. I’ve had a lot of time to think.
That’s not usually a good thing for me.
But I’ve also had a chance for reflection. Introspection is an art, and looking inward isn’t always easy to do. It’s necessary. Sure. But enough is e-fucking-nough.

COVID-19 Vaccines – Countdown to Immunity

I got my 2nd shot last week, and I am completely looking forward to freedom.

But it’s got me wondering…
What happens after you’re immune, and you get exposed to the Coronavirus? Say you breath in a big batch of spikey deathblobs. Do they stay inside you? Lurking. Waiting for your body to let your defenses down? Or does your body attack. Send out the hungry phagocytes and macrophages to gobble up all those yummy virus nuggets… or whatever.
I think it might be the last one. But don’t believe me. I’m a musician, not a damn Doctor.

10 Things Dr. McCoy is NOT
https://youtu.be/1OnfPJ37Myo
#StarTrek #Bones

Star Trek – Dr. McCoy “I’m a Doctor”

Flashback 2018 – Did I Say That?

It’s about the future, not the fear.

‘Life’s unexpected turns and twists are what make being human interesting. Don’t fear the unknown…plan for the future the best you can, and then run forward into it, with open eyes, mind and heart.’ ~jg

I don’t remember sharing this thought two years ago, but according to Facebook I did. It sounds like something I’d say, so I guess I believe it. I’m also a little too lazy to actually scroll back to check.

Anyway, it seems even more appropriate now, as we’re trying to vaccinate our way out of The 2020 Pandemic. COVID-19 has proven to be an unexpected twist like no other, an abrupt turn of events that literally brought our lives to a standstill. You can’t plan for these things. Or live in fear of the next one. You can only hope to survive. To stay safe and healthy. So you can run forward into another new day after this one, with hope for the future, however unexpected it may become.

I hope everyone stays safe and well. Wear a mask, even if you’ve gotten the shots. Wash your hands. Be kind. ~jg

#NoFear #WearAMask #COVID19

I #GotTheShot

First shot…looking forward to invincibility.

I got the first shot today. Looking forward to going out in the world and doing things again without fear of impending death lurking around each corner. The countdown to immunity begins…NOW.
#COVID19 #pandemic #vaccine #Moderna #GotTheShot