Hey, how are you? I’m doing okay, just trying to keep up with everything that’s going on these days, and a couple things jumped out. Unsurprisingly, they’re at two of the focal points for the study of comics in this country, and I doubt you’ll find either of them surprising. They’re taking somewhat opposing tacks on the whole downslope of the pandemic (if downslope it be — get your vaccine and then stay the hell home until a lot more people have their vaccine, too), and I’ll let you decide which is closer to the right of it.

• In the great heartland, you’ve got the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State (pardon me, the Ohio State), who have a whole slate of virtual events going on right now. The one that caught my eye features Mari Naomi (they of the queer, disabled, and of color cartoonist databases), to be featured in conversation with the Billy’s Associate Curator, Caitlin McGurk, as part of the ongoing efforts of Art+Feminism to close the information gap around gender, feminism, and the arts.

  The program will run 22 March from 2:00pm to 3:00pm on Zoom, and requires advanced registration. Naomi’s appearance is part of Art+Feminism’s 2021 Wikipedia Edit-a-thon, the Billy’s contribution to which will take place on 24 March from noon to 4:00pm (all times EDT). The live Zoom session again requires pre-registration. Both sessions allow for accommodations (like like captioning or interpretation), but you have to email libevents, which can be found at the Ohio State University, which is a dot-edu; for best results, email at least a week before the event.

  Oh, and if you happen to actually be in Columbus, Ohio, we’ve previously noted that the Billy is open for extremely limited visits — essentially, getting into the library (weekdays only) or museum (weekends only) is by appointment only, and will remain so for the duration.

• By contrast, this past weekend our friends at the Cartoon Art Musuem in San Francisco have reopened to the public, albeit with some controls:
  

  The Cartoon Art Museum will be open every Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 5pm starting immediately, with plans to build toward our full six-days-a-week schedule in 2021 in full compliance with the safety guidelines established by the city of San Francisco and the State of California.

  Masks or face coverings are mandatory for all visitors, who will be required to maintain social distance from other parties visiting the museum. Occupancy will be limited to 25% capacity for the safety of our visitors and staff.

  That from the email they sent to me; the full safety plan is here and includes capacity controls (no more than 33 folks on the premises, including staff), spaced entry (10 minutes between groups and no more than 11 people in any gallery), closure of interactive features, and reduced contact in the store¹. Oh, yes, and mandatory masking and distancing requirements because you’d be surprised how many people need to be told.

  Given that San Francisco is a hub for travel, given that we haven’t really gotten transmission rates down anywhere in the country yet, given that people are idiots, I’d personally have held off for another month or two before making this decision², but I’m not the one looking at the income statements and determining what keeps CAM as a going concern, so I’m not going to second-guess them.

  I’m also not going to be hanging out inside anyplace longer than it takes me to gather a to-go order anytime soon, and absolutely not going anywhere where people aren’t masked³ even though I’m a full month past shot #2 at this point. Rushing back to no controls is what’s going to give us Wave Number Three, and I won’t have any of those folks on my conscience.

Okay, that’s it for today. Just … stay home for a little longer, keep masking and distancing and washing your hands. If we’d done that a year ago (and demanded meaningful quarantine for arriving travellers), we’d be New Zealand by now.

Spam of the day:

Rapid Covid-19 Test Kits – Buy-Rapid-Tests

Oh yes, I am entirely going to trust my life to something sold by a sketchy parasitoid like you, “Graham”. Die in the most ironic manner possible, and in your last moments realize that it was your own hubris that brought about your demise.

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¹ Okay, you know how serious I take all of this, but they might be going a little overboard on this part. Stock handled in the store won’t be re-shelved for 24 hours, if you bring your own bag you can’t put it on the counter, thorough surface cleanings, and suchlike. We’ve known for a good while now that fomites aren’t a significant risk with COVID, but you know what? Not my museum and if you’re going to let people in, they’re erring on the side of caution.

² And if you’re going to be open two days a week, I’d probably have made it one weekend day, one midweek day, with a thorough airing-out in between. Aerosol concentration is the name of the game.

³ So basically, Texas.