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Obviously, I am not a medical doctor, and my only evidence here is anecdotal, but I believe my second dose of the vaccine triggered an autoimmune flareup, so if you have autoimmune problems, you might want to prepare for that.

I got the shot on Saturday morning, had my day of flu-like reaction on Sunday, and was much better on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, the front of my leg started going intermittently numb, and by Thursday, I was exhausted. I went to a student art show, and after standing for 45 minutes, I was in horrible pain and miserable. I haven't felt that bad since the worst part of the mono. I have continued to be really exhausted and weak, and I hope this flare passes quickly.

The Strange Bird: A Borne Story by Jeff VanderMeer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a story about the way the world continues even as we do our best to destroy it, and it's also about, perhaps, the power of human love and ingenuity even as we kill ourselves. It is, like so much of Vandermeer's writing, devastatingly beautiful.

In addition to what I believe Vandermeer is intending to say in this book, I am also having complicated feelings about reading it as a metaphor for chronic illness. Strange Bird finds in her diminishment, her winnowing down, a kind of exultation and hope, and I'm not ready to be hopeful yet. But this book makes me want to be.



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