Not in Israel

Jul. 18th, 2025 12:55 pm
liv: In English: My fandom is text obsessed / In Hebrew: These are the words (words)
[personal profile] liv
It's been a full and emotional couple of months, friends. The main thing to report is that I was supposed to be in Israel as of a week ago, but Israel bombed Iran and Iran retaliated and the go/no-go date for my summer programme was right in the middle of the 11 days when Israel was in full lockdown due to lots of missile attacks, so they really had to cancel it. I have a whoooooole lot of emotions and thoughts about this, and I also have an unexpected summer month with almost no commitments.

rab student life in interesting times )

I will fully admit that I'm glad I didn't end up getting on a flight two days later. Intellectually it goes without saying that I would far rather Israel was in fact safe enough for me to be there, and that it had been consistently obvious it would be over the past couple of months. But personally, I am absolutely delighted to be at home. And have a chance to see my family and do fun summer things like go to concerts and have picnic dates and sort out practical things that I've let slip with the intensity of everything since Mum got sick. I even managed to overlap in London with [personal profile] redbird and her partners this week, which was an unexpected and wonderful bonus. Among many chill, non-urgent summer plans I am hoping to be a bit more present here.

Friday Five: Ick Edition

Jul. 13th, 2025 08:55 am
ofearthandstars: A painted tree, art by Natasha Westcoat (Default)
[personal profile] ofearthandstars
From [community profile] thefridayfive:
  1. What was the most sick that you've ever been?

    It would either be the time I had strep not long after having my Oldest kid, in which case I remember wondering if I might be dying as I couldn't leave the bed and had fever hallucinations, or when I contracted chicken pox as an adult in my late 20s because (surprise!) chicken pox vaccinations were not yet vogue when I was a little kid and I'd never been exposed (because maybe exposing your kid young was still vogue, but we moved around a lot and I was an awkward kid with few friends?). Anyway, if you have ever been covered head to toe in blisters (literally, I can remember crying while trying to find a way to lay my head on a pillow comfortably) while your vaccinated children run around in wildly energetic circles with only a tiny bump or two on their arm from the same illness, you will understand that chicken pox is not benign and actually VACCINES ARE GOOD.

  2. What disease are you afraid of getting?

    This has changed over time. Currently I think it's Alzheimer's. I live in my head a lot, and if my head becomes not my head, well then, who am I, exactly?

  3. Are you a big baby when it comes to taking medicine/shots for your illnesses?

    LOL, not at all. I give myself 5 shots a month to treat migraines and asthma/allergies. I used to be afraid of it, growing up with a Type 1 diabetic mother who gave herself shots all the time (when auto-injectors and retractable needles were not a thing). But that fear was also probably combined with watching a lot of weird daytime soaps/movies in the 80s in which someone was inevitably killed from an intravenous air bubble introduced by their jealous lover/son/etc. Young me understood that my mom needed the shot to live but also frequently worried if she might accidentally give herself a heart attack.

  4. Is going to the doctor really THAT bad?

    Only when they make notes about your dysphoric mood (*grumble grumble*).

  5. Would you have the flu twice a month if you were paid $1,000 for having it?

    Nope, nada, nopeapotamus. There's a reason we toast to our health!

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