19 Comments
Dec 29, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

Children of Time is one of my favorite recent reads for so many reasons (that ending!), and I can't stop thinking about Don't Look Up.

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Dec 29, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

I also followed up my J&J with a Moderna booster. No side effects! I live in Minnesota and had to schedule my booster appointment - it was right when they had opened up vaccinations for 5 to 12, so it took a little bit of time, but considering my kids got their first shots, I was happy to wait.

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Dec 29, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

We live in western NC and because we are surrounded by Trump country, they are literally begging folks to get vaccinated. We went to our county health department, no appointment, on the day they opened vaccinations for 5-12 yr olds. Walked right in, and as we were filling out the paperwork for our child, they offered us booster shots. We were even given Visa gift cards to thank us for getting vaccinated. It’s bizarre how many folks are choosing not to get it.

We loved Don’t Look Up! It’s obvious satire, I enjoyed the take that it’s not that all Americans are gullible hicks, but that people in power have learned how to effectively manipulate the general populace in order to maintain power and wealth.

Finally, I would highly recommend the Scene on Radio podcast series. I believe there are 5-6 seasons now, but I have learned so much from each one (in response to your listening to the 1619 audiobook).

Happy new year!

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Dec 29, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

I got my Moderna booster about 2 weeks ago (I originally got Moderna for my 1st and 2nd doses). It's really easy to get a Pfizer booster where I live in upstate New York, but slightly harder to get an appointment for Moderna (no walk-ins and somewhat limited appointments). I had some slight side effects- chills for a couple of hours the night after the booster shot and felt achey/fatigued the next day (I took the day off from work). I feel like the people I know that aren't vaccinated have absolutely no desire to be vaccinated, and it's very frustrating. Very few parents, even those who got vaccinated themselves, are vaccinating their younger kids in my area. I teach 5th graders and a only know of a few that are vaccinated in the entire grade level.

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Dec 29, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

We may be in the minority, but my husband and I didn't like Yellowstone at all. We gave up midway through the first episode. It seemed like just another show where mean and powerful men are grinding others into submission. Maybe it develops into something more as the series progresses.

Here in Western Michigan, boosters require an appointment right now with an average of a week or less to wait. This appears to be only because of demand as most vax locations post that they accept walk-ins depending on availability of time slots. When we recently visited KY, my husband was able to get his booster and flu shot as a walk-in at Costco. I could have done the same a week or two earlier in MI, however it was two days before the age limit for boosters was initially lowered, and Costco was being a stickler about it. My husband stuck with Pfizer, and I mixed it up and got a Moderna booster after initial vaccinations of Pfizer. My side effects: one day of feeling punk and some ongoing headaches. Pfizer left me with gastrointestinal distress and a mild case of hives on my face and neck, which seemed worse overall. I'm so happy that all my siblings, children, and grandchildren are vaccinated!

Don't Look Up was a wonderful surprise, and I want to watch it again and discuss it with friends and family. Thanks for recommending Children of Time.

Thank you, also, for being open about hitting the Christmas wall. It's a real thing. Love to you and yours!

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Dec 29, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

My husband and I got our booster shots back in November with about one day out scheduling and our newly 16 yr old with two days out of scheduling this week at our local CVS. More people I know are watching Yellowstone or at least talking about it on social media. My husband is a native Montanan, so it is interesting to see how much is realistic (aside from the multiple murders). I only have the season finale for season 3 left for Succession to watch - I like it but in many ways it is as far from reality for me as Yellowstone is as well.

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Dec 30, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

I live in Melbourne, Australia. Covid vaccinations here are free. My GP offered me my booster only 4 months after my second dose, so I had that at the beginning of December. My (adult) kids will be due for their boosters in another 4 weeks. My understanding is there are plenty of Pfizer doses available for boosters, but the kids will need to make an appointment time at our GP clinic just to be sure the clinic is not overwhelmed by people wanting boosters on any given day. My 3 doses have all been Pfizer and I did not have any side effects apart from a bit of a sore arm after the first 2 doses. My husband's first 2 doses were Astra Zeneca. He felt unwell after his first dose, but okay after his second. His booster was Pfizer and he felt really unwell after that - upset tummy, aches and pains, headache etc- for a couple of days.

I began watching 'Don't Look Up' today after you mentioned it in your newsletter, but I don't think I will finish watching it. I found most of the main characters so irritating, materialistic, thoroughly unlikeable and wanted to bang their heads against a wall to get them to see sense and sort out their priorities. The behaviours of many characters in the movie are behaviours that greatly bother me in real life. I get the point of the movie, but real life is frustrating enough without watching such shallow people in a movie. And I don't find the movie funny at all.

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Dec 30, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

My spouse got the J and J back in Spring 2020 and was told to just revaccinate with one of the other shots. They got a Moderna “booster” and will get a second Moderna to be fully vaxxed. If you got the J and J you might check to see if you can just get vaccinated with either Moderna or Pfizer.

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Dec 30, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

I got my booster at the doctors office when I went in for my yearly physical. My husband had to make an appointment at a Walgreens and wait two weeks, despite being twelve years older than me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yellowstone is one of those things that makes me unnaturally angry. I am originally from Montana, and the fact that anyone would think Montana is actually that way is embarrassing. But people are moving there, based on just watching a crap TV show and actually impacting housing, jobs, and businesses. Based on something they watched on TV? I think the greater issue for me is that large swathes of America plan trips, moves, purchases, etc on things they watch on TV.

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Dec 30, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

I was able to walk into my local pharmacy in my small college town here in Pennsylvania and get a booster without an appointment. I could choose which one I wanted too. There was no one in line in front of me or behind me. It took five minutes. I know that this is not representative of other's vaccination experiences around the world. Wishing it was.

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Dec 30, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

Booster appointments around 5-7 days in advance in St. Louis. Testing demand through the roof this week. Yellowstone seems like a fan fiction Sopranos on a ranch. It supposes that people can just get thrown off a cliff to no notice in Montana and the female characters-yikes. If it was written well it would make a difference, but alas…

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I found Don't Look Up just so depressing. There is that scene towards the end of the film where a guy at a rally looks up and tells everyone that "they lied to us". That's the experience I want for my (very conservative) family but I find it so unlikely. It's just too real while the effects of a global pandemic, climate change, etc play out around us today. That weariness and ultimate futility of anyone speaking the truth makes me not want to get out of bed in the morning.

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Dec 30, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

Sadly we live in low vax community in Texas so you can get same day vaccine appointments pretty easily. We had our first county case of Omicron this week. I’m anticipating a rough January with increased Covid cases. I know of 2 families that lost loved ones to Covid this past week. It’s all so tragically preventable.

Yellowstone is gangster cowboy tv. I loved the beautiful scenery. I enjoyed the cowboy, Native American, and corporate developer conflicts. I stopped watching after season 2. The season ended with a child being traumatized, and it was hard for me to tune back in. I am curious about the new season since parts are filmed at the 6666 ranch. Maybe I’ll give it another try.

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Dec 30, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

RE: the Colorado trucker - it was a "traffic accident" that killed 4 people; after many opportunities to make safer choices with a truck he knew was experiencing brake problems. He drove with brakes that he realized were "going" from at least Berthoud Pass (St Rt 40 near Winter Park), over 50 miles on I-70, through very mountainous road, into Denver where the accident happened at the bottom of a long 7 mile downhill that is a dicey drive always. We live in Boulder and drive the route frequently. The sentence is ridiculous - and the whole construct of prison as a "consequence" doesn't work to affect human behavior. The question to me is, what will we choose as alternatives to the silly laws currently on the books, in response to humans who make choices that harm other humans. I appreciate your EVERYTHING and how you engage with folks - I was simply surprised to hear you describe this situation as a "traffic accident."

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Dec 30, 2021Liked by Gabrielle Blair

My husband and I got our boosters in late November. I was trying to make an appointment (they were several weeks out) and then a pop up clinic opened up and we got them same day. I had Moderna for all vaccinations and my husband had J & J the first time too and his Dr. recommended the Moderna booster. Our vaxx rate is pretty high in Seattle and I still know people refusing it. I’m a teacher and fortunately most of my 6-9 year old students were vaccinated right before Christmas break. Although I don’t think it is going to stop Omicron from sweeping through. My friend who is a nurse and was boosted just got it from her 11 year old daughter who was also vaccinated.

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Hello from Girona (Catalonia, Spain)! We recently moved back to our home town after living 8 years in beautiful California. We have 3 kids and it's really helpful and fun to follow your journey as you moved and settle in France with your family. My 6 and 10 year old kids got their first vaccine 3 weeks ago, and I am getting my Moderna booster next week! I can't wait! my second shot was in early April when we were still living in the US and I worry my immunity is probably really low...

We watched Don't Look Up yesterday with my 13 year old daughter, it was interesting to see her reaction to some of the scenes... we loved the movie even thought it's scary how close to reality it is... I can't stop thinking about the last sentence said by L.di Caprio: "we just had it all". So true.

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