2020 brought us many things: a pandemic, elections, upheavals, and... my pandemic journal, which continues here with my entries from December 2020 (and one from January 2021). I have also been collecting memes that amused me for the last month or so. Maybe some of them will amuse you, too. In any case, let's hope 2021 will be a better year!
Wed. 2 Dec. 2020
From an announcement on Canvas this morning: I don't normally have office hours during finals week, but this is not a normal semester.
Today the Community Control Coalition delivered over 6,000 signatures (we made our goal!) to the Hamilton County Election Commission. I’m glad I was able to be there. There was also a little press conference. (video here)
Hopefully that resolution will be on the ballot in March!
Fri. 4 Dec. 2020
My students’ finals are due next week, so I figured it was good to spend some time this week working on a project involving comparing Vasubandhu’s Twenty Verses with Descartes’s Meditations. This is for a volume that will be translated into French, so I will in effect be explaining Descartes to the French!
After thinking about it and going over stuff I’ve written before, I decided to just sit down and read the two texts. They have similar structures in terms of challenging ones pretheoretical beliefs about one’s experience. They both talk a lot about dreams and can be read as engaging with a type of external world skepticism.
But one thing that’s really obvious: if you read the Meditations directly after Twenty Verses, it’s obvious just how thoroughly Christian the Meditations is. And how this contrasts with how many philosophers teach the text today (at least in North America) as basically some sort of contextless exploration of purely rational topics.
This is a great example of a weirdly Eurocentric asymmetry in who gets to be a “purely rational philosopher” and who is a “religious thinker.”
Mon. 7 Dec. 2020
I had a nice restful weekend before the grading bonanza of this week. Okay, I didn’t get too much grading done today, but I have to ease into it (read: procrastinate).
There are many heartbreaking things of this pandemic, but a special kind of heartbreak is receiving emails from students who had to quarantine or even tested positive for COVID apologizing for causing me inconvenience by turning stuff in late. I feel terrible for them for obvious reasons, but also because this seems to indicate that some of their other professors are not being accommodating during a pandemic.
Last night I decided to start watching Christmas horror movies to write a companion to my Thanksgiving horror movie blog post… there are a lot of Christmas horror movies! Even a “12 Days of Christmas Horror Movies” list wouldn’t get through all of them. Weird. So far I’ve watched Christmas Evil (1980) and Black Christmas (the 2019 remake of the 1974 version I saw several years ago).
In reading news, I recently finished Against a Dark Background by Iain M. Banks and The Changeling by Victor LaValle. Next I need to read the next couple Earthsea books (Tehanu and Tales from Earthsea) to get ready for an online appearance on Dec. 19 in a discussion series called Worlds of Speculative Fiction by philosopher Greg Sadler. Should be a fun time.
Tues. 8 Dec. 2020
This pandemic is giving me a better sense of what people with serious anxiety feel (not perfect, of course). I’m not by nature a terribly anxious person (although some social situations can make me anxious). But today I went to the post office. It seemed fine. Just one other person in line. I grabbed a padded mailing envelope and started to fill it out at one of the little counters on the side. Then four people came in behind me and stood behind me so that I couldn’t get to the back of the line. I freaked out and rushed past them to get out of the building. Once I got out onto the sidewalk I realized I was still carrying the USPS envelope I had not paid for. So I went back and waited in the lobby until the line cleared out a bit. Then of course when I left there was only one person behind me. The rest of the place was empty. Figures.
Then I had to go put air in the car tires. I’ve wondered in recent years when this became such a difficult chore (I seem to remember air was easy to get—often even free—in the olden days). At one gas station the machine was not accepting cards or coins. So I went to drive to another. Due to a weird wrong turn I have taken 90% of the time I go that way (it’s poorly marked), I ended up on a highway and figured I’d go to one of the gas stations there. I needed one more quarter, so I went in to buy something. I opened the door and five feet in front of me there was a customer without a mask. I could see another unmasked customer behind him. I rushed past to seek solace in the candy aisle, muttering under my breath that they should “wear a fucking mask” (I don’t know if anyone heard me). After I picked up a Skor I noticed none of the employees were wearing masks, either. I threw the candy bar down and rushed out.
The next gas station down the road also had a coin operated machine. But there was nobody in the store except one employee, who was wearing a mask behind a large sheet of plastic. I got the air in the tires (weirdly each tire was about 7 psi low) and went on my way. Now I’m in my office on campus ready to do some grading. Ugh.
Aside from regular COVID anxiety (or what I assume to be regular, although the maskless people may not feel this), I feel bad that this has made me do things I would normally consider incredibly rude: rushing past people without saying “excuse me,” leaving the Post Office with unpaid merchandise, swearing at total strangers under my breath (okay, I do this while driving sometimes, but almost never if anyone can hear me).
What is this pandemic doing to us?
Later I found out we had over 400 cases and 12 deaths reported today in Hamilton country—the highest single-day death count since the pandemic began.
Fri. 11 Dec. 2020
Yesterday my latest media coverage was released!
Also, I found out that the Tennessee Attorney General had signed an amicus brief in favor of the Texas lawsuit to stop election results in four states that went for Biden. And then on Twitter I found out that the TN Secretary of State had supported this.
You may remember that I emailed him right after the election to ask him to issue a statement to count all the votes in other states. Surprisingly he responded to me personally. Unsurprisingly he declined to do what I asked.
Here’s the email I sent him yesterday:
Secretary Hargett,
I was quite alarmed to learn just now that your office has supported the Tennessee AG's support for the amicus brief regarding the recent Texas election lawsuit.
On Nov. 4 you told me, "I am not going to get involved in the counts of other states, and I would expect them not to get involved in ours."
Is this latest action of your office not getting involved in how other states count their votes in precisely the way you personally assured me several weeks ago that your office had no intention of doing? Does this lawsuit run the risk of creating a dangerous precedent for other states to get involved in Tennessee's elections in the future?
Take care,
Ethan Mills
Chattanooga
As of today, he has not responded.
Later I found out that my US Rep (Chuck Fleischmann) had also signed an amicus to this case. (Which reminds me to send him an email, too).
I don’t think the Supreme Court will hear that case. There’s no evidence presented of voter fraud; instead it claims that these states changed their voting procedures (which they did in light of the pandemic) to allow absentee voting that allegedly led to a greater possibility of fraud. There are also ridiculous specious and false arguments about how no candidate has won without winning FL and OH (which is just false), no candidate has won certain “bellweather counties” and failed to win the Presidency (So what? It’s not impossible!), and some bizarre connection to a suspicious election in Belarus (no, really; I couldn’t even follow that one).
So the lawsuit is garbage and a waste to time. But it is one more attempt to undermine democracy and faith in our election systems, an attempt many Republicans have gleefully agreed with.
In other news, the Hamilton County Election Commission threw out an unusual number of CCN signatures so it did not meet the threshold to get that on the ballot. We’re seeking a recount. I didn’t think they’d make this easy, but c’mon. I guess we’ll see what happens.
From one of my Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy papers: "How does Star Wars relate to Epictetus’s Handbook?" Clearly this student knows their audience!
Later: The Supreme Court rejected the Texas lawsuit. While this is a good (and expected) turn of events, I’m still deeply troubled by the whole thing.
Come to think of it, “deeply troubled by the whole thing” is a good slogan for 2020, if not the last five years. If not all of American history.
Sun. 13 Dec. 2020
Grades entered! I'm relieved (in the exhausted, resigned way of 2020) that the Fall 2020 semester is behind me. Most of the grades I entered will hopefully bring a bit of holiday cheer to my students!
Taking today off—a “sick day” without being sick, so to speak. A day to recharge and relax.
I stayed in my pajamas all day, did a few chores around the house, took a nap with the cats, watched two Christmas horror movies, took a break from social media (mostly), and finished Ursula Le Guin’s Tehanu (to get ready for the Worlds of Speculative Fiction event on Saturday). So I accomplished everything I set out to do today. But maybe I shouldn’t think of today in terms of accomplishing goals? Maybe that’s missing the point?
Tues. 15 Dec. 2020
Yesterday the Electoral College electors met at state capitols around the country and voted to elect Joe Biden the President of the United States. In a normal election year this routine performance would barely make the news, but this is far from a normal election year.
Also, Bill Barr (Trump’s controversial US Attorney General) resigned.
And the first COVID vaccines were given in the US yesterday after we officially surpassed 300,000 COVID deaths in the last couple days.
All this happened while I was at home in my pajamas, but such is the way of the pandemic, I guess.
Oh, and on Sunday the TN Secretary of State wrote me back and offered to speak with me on the phone. I probably won’t do so, but it was nice of him to write back even if he’s supporting bizarre lawsuits that undermine the credibility of the election.
The latest numbers….
Worldwide
Cases: 73,507,962
Deaths: 1,634,621
US
Cases: 16,977,012
Deaths: 308,750
Hamilton County, TN
Cases: 23,000
Deaths: 221
I last updated these numbers here on Nov. 25. It’s sobering to see where they are now, a little less than three weeks later (worldwide and US numbers here). Locally our hospitalizations, test positivity rates, etc. have been way up in the last few weeks (see here).
Fri. 18 Dec. 2020
Tomorrow I have an online appearance for the Worlds of Speculative Fiction series by Dr. Greg Sadler to discuss Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea books (details here).
I’ve mostly been a fan of her science fiction, but I started the Earthsea fantasy series a few years ago. This event gave me an excuse to move Tehanu and Tales from Earthsea to the top of my list. (I still have one last book to read: The Other Wind)
Anyway, I’m looking forward to this!
I got a little bit of work done this week: some recommendations, a few odds and ends, a start to my Descartes and Vasubandhu paper, etc. But yesterday afternoon I just felt like I couldn’t do any more. So my winter break officially started today. I had a few errands, but I spent a good chunk of the day finishing Tales from Earthsea. Beth and I also watched the season finale of The Mandalorian (aka, The Baby Yoda Show). Last night I watched the first episode of the new adaptation of The Stand (I liked it and will definitely keep watching).
I don’t think I’ve ever felt so much like I needed a good long winter break. I’ll be reading, watching movies, eating and drinking, doing a little bit of fun writing (this journal, book reviews, my blog, maybe even some fiction), hanging out with Beth and the cats, and taking some walks and lots and lots of naps.
Tues. 22 Dec. 2020
The event on Saturday was fun! It was a small, but dedicated group, and we had a nice discussion.
So far my break has been almost exactly what I hoped.
Yesterday and today I’m having some of that “Hey, you’re in your 40’s, so here’s some inexplicable back pain just for fun!” I’m not immobile or anything, but it’s annoying. Luckily it doesn’t disrupt much from my plan of watching movies (more Christmas horror) or reading (currently on a “McDune” book by Frank Herbert’s son… not sure why, but occasionally I get a hankering to read one even though they’re not that great, just as I get hankerings for Taco Bell. I should probably just re-read the original series again, although I do think some Dune fans are unnecessarily harsh on these books. Oh well. I’m enjoying it, and also ordered Taco Bell delivery for lunch. I guess it’s enjoying-stuff-that-it’s-really-that-good day.)
Fri. 25 Dec. 2020
It’s Christmas 2020. Actually for us, it’s not that different: a quiet day at home. Only this year I don’t feel guilty about not going to visit my family.
Mon. 28 Dec. 2020
Break is continuing to be restful. I’m not even finding much incentive to write here, much less interact with people on social media, although I did manage a few Zoom sessions with friends and family over the weekend. I’m reminded of an analogy from the Bhagavad Gītā of a tortoise pulling its limbs inside its shell: instead of withdrawing from the senses to dwell in the ātman, I’m withdrawing a bit from social interaction in an inward turn to introversion.
Today we got around to watching Wonder Woman 1984. While we were watching it, I had some soda and candy. I missed movie theaters more than I probably have since the pandemic began. I was glad that they released this simultaneously online and in theaters (improbably some theaters are still open), but movie theaters were struggling before the pandemic. I’m worried that movie theaters are doomed in a post-pandemic world. I’m hoping it may be safe to go back to theaters sometimes in 2021… if there are any theaters left. On the upside, maybe this will spark a resurgence in smaller, independent theaters. Who knows?
As for the movie itself, it was fine. People are complaining about it online, but I thought it made as much sense as any other superhero movie. Sometimes I wonder if the toxicity of Star Wars fandom has permeated geek culture more widely, but maybe people just didn’t like this one. Either way, I’m hesitant to argue about it with anyone, especially online (see my earlier tortoise analogy).
I finished the McDune book and now I’m reading Stephen King’s The Dark Half (as part of my quest to read most of his books). I’m liking the McDune book less the more I think about it, but it was interesting enough. I’m really loving The Dark Half. It’s exactly why I wanted to read a Stephen King book this week.
As for TV, there’s the new adaptation of The Stand (speaking of Stephen King), Star Trek: Discovery, and The Expanse. That’s more than enough to keep me busy for the moment as far as new TV.
I’m taking this week off, too. I realize I’m incredibly privileged to be able to do so, but I also feel like I need it. A larger issue with privilege? What do you do with privileges you can’t share? Unlike money (which I can give away), I can’t give anyone my ability to take this week off. I guess I could volunteer my time (there are a few ways I could do so, and I feel guilty about not doing those things), but then there’s also the issue of burnout. Rest is a thing human beings need (some of us more than others… I find myself needing more in my old age and with the pandemic and everything). Do I forego that out of solidarity?
Another recent example: Beth casually remarked a couple months ago that my habit of taking walks by myself at night without worrying about it is a male privilege. And she’s right, of course. I made a conscious decision about 25 years ago that walking by myself at night isn’t nearly as dangerous as the media led me to believe and I’ve never had any trouble, but as male of larger size who is usually left alone (people hardly even talk to me when I’m out) this is a personal decision arrived at through the prism of privilege. But does this mean I shouldn’t take walks at night by myself? I don’t know. I do find myself walking more during daylight hours lately.
I’m not trying to get anyone to feel sorry for me—poor privileged man! But it’s something I think about. I suppose one solution is to dedicate yourself to making a world where people can afford to take time off and feel safe in their neighborhoods. I do that to some extent, I guess, but that work is not going to be finished this week or before my next walk.
Only a few days left of 2020. I feel like I should write some sort of recap of the year, or at least something about where I’m at right now. And there are some book reviews and a piece on rereading the Dark Tower during the pandemic, but there’s also… going for walks? Napping? Doing nothing?
Wed. 30 Dec. 2020
One more day of 2020, I guess. I’m still enjoying my break, but some union stuff came up.
I finished The Dark Half and reviewed that and the McDune book. More D&D tonight. And then Beth and I watched The Fast and the Furious just to see what all the hype is about. I feel like I would need to know a lot more about cars to fully appreciate it, but it was okay.
I suppose I should write some sort of year-end wrap up. I decided to call it “2020 in Hindsight” (get it?). Maybe the spirit will move me tomorrow.
Thurs. 31 Dec. 2020
2020 in Hindsight: I turned this into a separate post.
"Happy New Year!" seems like an oddly dissonant thing to say in the cacophony of 2020. So maybe instead I'll say, "May 2021 be better for you and yours than 2020."
Fri. 1 Jan. 2021
12:10am: Chattanooga is bringing in 2021 with the smells of rain and gunpowder.
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