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Talk about whatever else is on your mind today.
The Election! We stayed up way too late on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, following this. I am still on pins and needles waiting for the outcome of this. I found a recipe for an Election Cake - pictured above - in the NYT's on Tuesday, and made it while watching the returns on Tuesday night. Baking this cake, concentrating on the directions, reading about its history, etc, helped me to manage my anxiety last night. Fortunately it is delicious - like a sweet cinnamon raisin bread. A new Election tradition in our house! I must admit that I am also shocked that the president has done so well. Given how poorly he has handled the pandemic, not to mention so many other things, I figured he wouldn't come close to winning. I truly hope that Biden wins. However, whatever the outcome - Biden, please!! - we need to reflect as a country on what all of the votes for the president mean.
November 5, 2020
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How has the coronavirus pandemic affected how you feel about yourself, others, or the world?
As a researcher who is interested in how people understand health risks and make decisions about their own behavior, I'm fascinated by the parallels between Covid and the AIDS epidemic, particularly the stigma and the denialism. An acquaintance is a professional runner and Olympic hopeful who wrote an op-ed for Runner's World magazine about why she hasn't raced during the pandemic. She holds a master of public health degree and has felt that racing is too risky. A number of the comments on her article called her "paranoid" and "self-righteous," and these commenters felt she was giving into fear and propaganda. I remain extremely angry at the lack of presidential leadership that has sowed misinformation and distrust of scientists from the start of the pandemic. How many more thousands must die because of ignorance?
January 2, 2021