And now for something completely different.

Hm, let’s see when I last checked into this section of the website. 2015? Boy, that was only forever ago, huh? And yet, at the same time, it seems like just yesterday when I was bitching about how terrible 2014 was, and darn it, doesn’t that just seem hopelessly quaint right now. Science and reason still largely prevailed over nihilism, I had virtually no reason to spend any time on Twitter, and I was still blissfully going to movies and crowded bars. I mean, Prince was still alive, so how bad could the world have been?

I’ve tried not to let myself get too bogged down in the mire of the COVID-19 era, although obviously that’s a little tricky when my work increasingly revolves around pandemic research. And of course, as what passes for US civil society continues to erode, it can be increasingly hard to find things to be cheery about. But I managed to find one.

In April, we welcomed this strange but beautiful little creature into our home. It’s been a major adjustment — for a long time, I had assumed that I would most likely never have kids. But then at some point, and it’s hard to say when exactly, it suddenly became a real priority. And after a lot of effort (mainly on my wife’s part, obviously) it has now become a reality, and we are thrilled to have little Baby Z in our lives.

More than a month in, we’re still getting used to her and getting to know her. Honestly, in the first months of 2020, it seemed more than a little crazy to think about bringing a baby into such a chaotic and sometimes scary new reality. I started wondering how early I might have to train her to use a crossbow or make armor out of the bones of her enemies to protect her in the Barren Wastes. And who knows, it’s still only May.

But it’s reinvigorating to be able to disconnect after a day of mainlining despair from the news, and see this tiny bit of love and life and potential. She’s a sweet-natured charmer, and we can’t wait to see who she becomes. I know that I’m hoping that she’ll grow up in a far better world than where we are now — but even if not, I’m looking forward to arming her with the knowledge and power to help make the future a little less fucked up.

Comments are closed.