The first two days of this Mission Rabies vaccination drive, we worked “static clinics”. We drive to a place, set up our makeshift clinic, and people bring us their dogs. Today, we did “roaming clinics”. We drive through an assigned area announcing that we’re offering free rabies vaccinations to dogs and cats. When we see someone with a dog, we…
Today we were scheduled to vaccinate at two separate sites. We arrived at our first site around 8:15 and set up shop. A minute later, our team leader Lucy received a phone call informing us that a dog had been hit by a motorcycle on the road nearby. Courtnie and I grabbed our supplies and ran up the road, and saw…
A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a movie on Netflix that was “trending”. The film, Mank, was about Herman J. Mankiewicz, the screenwriter of the movie Citizen Kane. The movie went into great detail about the writing of the screenplay, and it depicted the studio heads, actors and politics of the time. I enjoyed the film, but all I…
Two years ago, the New York Public Library put together this anthology of articles from their archives to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. The book is broken into three sections: before Stonewall, the Stonewall uprising, and post-Stonewall. The articles consist of all types of writing, from historical accounts to personal diaries to poems and short stories. I…
Today is Mission Rabies Tanzania Workday 1, the first day we hit the road and start vaccinating. Didn’t sleep great last night. Still getting used to it being so quiet. I’m up early now, so I’ll start this blog post now and finish it tonight. Last night I packed my backpack with all of the items I think I’ll need…
This book takes you on a tour through fun, happening gay communities where you’d be least likely to expect them: in America’s red states. The author used to be a male Mormon missionary. Now, she’s a woman, married to another woman. As she takes us across the country, we meet some pretty amazing people – activists who are fighting for…
Mediocre night sleeping last night. It takes a little time to get used to a new bed, plus I’ve been drinking tons of water all day to ward off any potential kidney stones; this is something that I’m prone to in hot climates. I guess it’s working, because I got up to pee twice. After the second time I got…
This book has been sitting in my bookcase for years. I certainly understand why it’s a touchstone for so many people. Reading her life story, you really feel and understand the struggles she faced in the Jim Crow south. What starts out as a seemingly happy childhood turns pretty tragic, as she faces constant racism, poverty (at one point living…
I woke up today with a start when my iPhone alarm went off at 7:00 a.m. I usually awaken on my own around 6:30, but the very long travel day wore me out, and I slept like a zombie. My room was pretty nice. It’s very big and has a huge bed draped with mosquito netting. Had a very nice…
What is it about Homo sapiens that gave us an advantage over the other species of humans that came before us? According to this author, it was the trait of friendliness that allowed us to advance so far, leaving the other species in the dust. The author describes experiments in which wild animals were domesticated, and how they changed both…
Mike arrived in New York last night. His plane landed at Newark, and he took the train to Penn Station, and then walked to my apartment. He had a memorable flight, mainly because a passenger on his flight fainted in the aisle. Oh, I should mention that the passenger was … him! Apparently, a crappy night’s sleep, a very early…
This is the third book of Henry Carroll’s that I’ve read. They’re short books, but they’re packed with a lot of insight. The technical information (which is only a small part of his books) is really geared toward beginners and doesn’t contain much info that I haven’t already learned, but that’s fine; I always benefit from hearing it again. It’s…
So, after what seems like an interminable wait, the Mission Rabies Tanzania journey begins. My college buddy, Mike Rosen, is joining me on this trip, and he arrives here in New York in about 8 hours. He’ll stay overnight, and then we both depart from JFK airport tomorrow evening. In these times of Covid-19, planning this trip has been a…
Day 8 Today was very cold out, and I had a million things to do in preparation for my upcoming trip to Tanzania, so I didn’t get to go out today. As my fallback, I employed Glitter, my muse, in the service of this project and got a lovely portrait of her as she sat on my printer. Day 9…
This year, I pretty much kept pace with last year in terms of reading. The pandemic increased my time spent indoors, and reading was my primary way of passing the time. I read 67 books in 2020. Although I love good fiction, I usually end up reading non-fiction. Last year, I tried to remedy that by making a deliberate effort…