july update
Jul. 26th, 2022 10:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davemerrillSo that happened! "That" being June and July. This past week has been the first time since May I've been able to sort of gear back and not be so busy. Let's see, what happened?
June 17-19 was TCAF and that meant June 17 we went down late at night and set up our table. Went home and did not sleep. Anxiety, my schedule being thrown off, you name it. Saturday and Sunday Shain and I traded time at the table, pitching comics to strangers, listening to the pitches of our table neighbors, doing the TCAF thing. I enjoyed it and we sold quite a few comics - people either bought my comics, or bought Shain's comics, they did not buy both. Everybody was masked and the vendors all had to show vax certifications. We didn't make enough to cover the table fee, but whatever. Anyway Shain had been riding her bike down to meet me and on Sunday her bike got stolen right in front of the library in the middle of the crowds of that library's busiest weekend of the year. So there's that. She got a new bike, she likes the new one a lot, it's a better bike, but still. It's a pain.
The next weekend I flew to Atlanta for my mom's memorial. The travel to and from was a nightmare of delayed flights and sitting on runways for hours, but the memorial itself went about as well as these things can go. A lot of friends and relatives showed up, neighbors brought food, after the service we had a lot of people over to the house and there was a lot of catching up and reminiscing. I spoke at the service and got through my prepared remarks without breaking. Most of what I said was lifted from my sister's obituary. Not a lot of masking going on in the church or at home or in restaurants, but I guess we all got out of it OK - nobody reported any illness after the service.
Two weeks later it was Anime North time. That two weeks I spent putting together Anime Hell and a panel about 1982 and a panel about the fan conventions in Toronto that happened before Anime North. Research on that last one was difficult - how a literary SF convention can last for 20+ years and barely leave a historical mark is fascinating in a "what are they trying to hide" sort of way - but the panel went well, with a larger audience than I thought would show up, all seemingly interested in how the Delta hotel they were currently in used to be called the Skyline and how it hosted Star Trek conventions back in the 90s.
Everybody at AN was vaxxed and masking was observed fairly faithfully. In the run up to the show, and after the show, I had a few social media friends get a little confrontational about how we shouldn't be having any conventions right now because of COVID. I agree, somewhat. Right now we're in another wave - the positivity rate seems to be climbing, while the wastewater signal is levelling off, so who knows - and this BA strain is really contagious. Obviously it's wise to avoid groups.
At the same time, it's 2022. Most of us have had three doses, we know good masks work to prevent infection, and we're past the point where force majure is going to get organizations out of being liable for deposits and reservations if shows are cancelled. Right now, either Anime North has a convention with its vax and mask policies, which are above and beyond the province's rules and above and beyond the rules of any of the other immense events happening in Toronto right now (sports events, concerts, gatherings of every kind), or Anime North cancels, refunds everybody's tickets, kisses one hundred and eighty thousand dollars in deposits goodbye, declares bankruptcy, and never has another convention again. That's the choice facing Anime North, and they chose to have a show.
Nine days after Anime North wrapped, it looks like we dodged whatever bullets were flying; so far I've heard of two people getting COVID from the show (one person whose food was sneezed on in the Harveys and another who got dragooned into doing line work all day in the poor ventilation of TCC South). I've tested negative, my pal Neil, with whom I put together a classic anime room for Sunday of the show, has been testing negative, nobody among my circle has reported feeling bad at all. Tired, yes. Bad, no.
I have seen so far two interesting reports of CO2 levels at the show and it seems the TCC South building was the worst, with levels getting into the 3000ppm+ range. Which is bad. So there's that. Mask up kids, Covid ain't done with us yet.
Since AN, there's been one weekend. That Saturday we went to a beach on Lake Erie and beached out for a day, and that Sunday I worked. This coming up weekend is a long weekend and we might go to Niagara and maybe into Buffalo for some cross border shopping. But first, coming up is our 20th wedding anniversary, which is Wednesday. By all rights we should be in Japan for this anniversary, but life has its own plans. Anyway, I have dinner reservations here.
June 17-19 was TCAF and that meant June 17 we went down late at night and set up our table. Went home and did not sleep. Anxiety, my schedule being thrown off, you name it. Saturday and Sunday Shain and I traded time at the table, pitching comics to strangers, listening to the pitches of our table neighbors, doing the TCAF thing. I enjoyed it and we sold quite a few comics - people either bought my comics, or bought Shain's comics, they did not buy both. Everybody was masked and the vendors all had to show vax certifications. We didn't make enough to cover the table fee, but whatever. Anyway Shain had been riding her bike down to meet me and on Sunday her bike got stolen right in front of the library in the middle of the crowds of that library's busiest weekend of the year. So there's that. She got a new bike, she likes the new one a lot, it's a better bike, but still. It's a pain.
The next weekend I flew to Atlanta for my mom's memorial. The travel to and from was a nightmare of delayed flights and sitting on runways for hours, but the memorial itself went about as well as these things can go. A lot of friends and relatives showed up, neighbors brought food, after the service we had a lot of people over to the house and there was a lot of catching up and reminiscing. I spoke at the service and got through my prepared remarks without breaking. Most of what I said was lifted from my sister's obituary. Not a lot of masking going on in the church or at home or in restaurants, but I guess we all got out of it OK - nobody reported any illness after the service.
Two weeks later it was Anime North time. That two weeks I spent putting together Anime Hell and a panel about 1982 and a panel about the fan conventions in Toronto that happened before Anime North. Research on that last one was difficult - how a literary SF convention can last for 20+ years and barely leave a historical mark is fascinating in a "what are they trying to hide" sort of way - but the panel went well, with a larger audience than I thought would show up, all seemingly interested in how the Delta hotel they were currently in used to be called the Skyline and how it hosted Star Trek conventions back in the 90s.
Everybody at AN was vaxxed and masking was observed fairly faithfully. In the run up to the show, and after the show, I had a few social media friends get a little confrontational about how we shouldn't be having any conventions right now because of COVID. I agree, somewhat. Right now we're in another wave - the positivity rate seems to be climbing, while the wastewater signal is levelling off, so who knows - and this BA strain is really contagious. Obviously it's wise to avoid groups.
At the same time, it's 2022. Most of us have had three doses, we know good masks work to prevent infection, and we're past the point where force majure is going to get organizations out of being liable for deposits and reservations if shows are cancelled. Right now, either Anime North has a convention with its vax and mask policies, which are above and beyond the province's rules and above and beyond the rules of any of the other immense events happening in Toronto right now (sports events, concerts, gatherings of every kind), or Anime North cancels, refunds everybody's tickets, kisses one hundred and eighty thousand dollars in deposits goodbye, declares bankruptcy, and never has another convention again. That's the choice facing Anime North, and they chose to have a show.
Nine days after Anime North wrapped, it looks like we dodged whatever bullets were flying; so far I've heard of two people getting COVID from the show (one person whose food was sneezed on in the Harveys and another who got dragooned into doing line work all day in the poor ventilation of TCC South). I've tested negative, my pal Neil, with whom I put together a classic anime room for Sunday of the show, has been testing negative, nobody among my circle has reported feeling bad at all. Tired, yes. Bad, no.
I have seen so far two interesting reports of CO2 levels at the show and it seems the TCC South building was the worst, with levels getting into the 3000ppm+ range. Which is bad. So there's that. Mask up kids, Covid ain't done with us yet.
Since AN, there's been one weekend. That Saturday we went to a beach on Lake Erie and beached out for a day, and that Sunday I worked. This coming up weekend is a long weekend and we might go to Niagara and maybe into Buffalo for some cross border shopping. But first, coming up is our 20th wedding anniversary, which is Wednesday. By all rights we should be in Japan for this anniversary, but life has its own plans. Anyway, I have dinner reservations here.
