All posts by Eric Robert Nolan

Eric Robert Nolan graduated from Mary Washington College in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He spent several years a news reporter and editorial writer for the Culpeper Star Exponent in Culpeper, Virginia. His work has also appeared on the front pages of numerous newspapers in Virginia, including The Free Lance – Star and The Daily Progress. Eric entered the field of philanthropy in 1996, as a grant writer for nonprofit healthcare organizations. Eric’s poetry has been featured by Dead Beats Literary Blog, Dagda Publishing, The International War Veterans’ Poetry Archive, and elsewhere. His poetry will also be published by Illumen Magazine in its Spring 2014 issue.

Guys, things are bad.

The virus, the government and cultural response, pretty much everything — save for some encouraging news about vaccine development.

People are dividing politically over things that ought to be pretty straightforward. There isn’t any grand plan or overall strategy — we’re all arguing about components of what should be the overall strategy: masks, social distancing, reopenings, etc. No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, you’ve gotta agree that that kind of division is kinda not good.

The news just gets steadily worse. I’m worried about exactly how bad things will get before they get better again.

The last time I was this worried about the nation was 19 years ago.

 

 

(With apologies to T. S. Eliot)

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but with a “winner.”

 

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Advertisement for State and Dearborn “Flu Masks,” 1918

Boston, Massachusetts.

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Check out Jav. D’s “Peregrination” on Soundcloud!

So it turns out that another friend of mine is a talented musician — check out Jav. D’s new single, “Peregrination.”   It’s actually a really damned good track.

The song will soon be available on iTunes, but you can listen to it right now here on Soundcloud.

 

 

Poster for “X-Men” (2000)

20th Century Fox.

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Photo during Spanish flu epidemic, circa 1918

Source: Dublin (California) Heritage Park and Museums.

Note the cat.  If the cat can wear a mask, then so can you. You don’t want to be viewed as less responsible than a cat, do you?

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“Summer Day. Asgaard,” Rockwell Kent, 1950

Oil on canvas.

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Eric Robert Nolan interviewed by Spillwords Press

Hey, gang.  I was quite flattered recently to be interviewed by Spillwords Press as part of the online magazine’s weekly “Spotlight on Writers” series.  It was a brief interview, but I had a lot of fun with it — and I’m grateful to the editors of Spillwords for selecting me.

You can find the interview right here:

SPOTLIGHT ON WRITERS – ERIC ROBERT NOLAN

Spillwords Press is a terrific creative community.  The site is “the home for all that live and breathe words, spilled or inspired, through literature of every genre, from writers and poets of every walk of life. A place where classic, modern, and contemporary writers and writings thrive.”  I encourage all of you to peruse the site and consider submitting your own work.  🙂

 

 

Cover to “Green Lanterns” #7, Robson Rocha, Joe Prado and Rod Reis, 2016

DC Comics.

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Resources for talking to kids about coronavirus.

Here are a couple of really good resources for talking to kids about Covid-19 — especially the first one, produced by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.  (It’s a set of one-minute videos that are simple and easy to understand for younger children.)

“Videos for Kids and Parents” (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center)

“Facts about coronavirus” (National Geographic Kids)

“How to talk to your kids about COVID-19” (Mayo Clinic)

 

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Photo credit: By Rachel Hendrix – NPGallery, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82441410