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Jen Anderson

@jen.clearingblocks.com
889 followers 735 following 2.2K posts

Teeth shouldn't be luxury bones. Public health comms, Tetris mastermind, catmancer, and freelance copy editor. Lots about brain injuries here. Views my own. She/her. 🏳️‍🌈 Need an editor? www.clearingblocksediting.com

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Reposted by Jen Anderson
C.H. Romatowski @chromatowski.bsky.social · 19h
From this WashPost article on the long term effects of the flu: “When there’s potential for viruses to cause neuronal damage, then ‘we have to prevent getting infected as much as possible,’ [neurobiologist] Hosseini said.”
washingtonpost.com
Column | ‘Long flu’ can linger for months. Here’s how to reduce your risk.
Persistent symptoms can harm the lungs and other organs, including the brain.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 28/09/2026
Waiting for my plane at DFW and it's just a cacophony of coughing and sneezing and sniffling. Not a mask in sight beyond mine.
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Reposted by Jen Anderson
Jessica Ellis @baddestmamajama.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
People will cut out artificial food dyes, spend hours at the gym, drink vitamin infused water…and then go to the airport and rawdog breathing in an airborne pathogen that can disable you permanenty and is basically guaranteed to be there.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 16/09/2026
OK, the one thing I really dislike about the Z6III is that if you have even slightly long nails it's nigh impossible to pry the CFexpress card out of the slot.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
Okay, it's this: sodasense.com
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
This is a huge mood.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
I hear this. Another friend who moved away was telling me about all the clubs and groups and activities she joined when she moved so that she could start meeting people and feeling more involved in the community, and I was so impressed while simultaneously thinking oh, I gotta do that more.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
Solidarity.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
I didn't even get started on the "why are the non-local folks the people who always check in and want to do things" aspect of it.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
I'm definitely in the "I need to find and cultivate new friendships" zone, and it requires a specific kind of energy and vulnerability that's hard to muster. That and a commitment to showing up, often in person, consistently.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
But in all seriousness, it's so challenging figuring out where to put your energy, especially if folks aren't really communicating!
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
do you want to hang out
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
Right, it doesn't have to be a huge thing.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
Meanwhile, "Why am I having so many fucked-up nightmares?" asks the person reading CJ Leede before bed.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
Even just "do you want to come read on the porch" or similar is so damn nice.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
Anyway, maybe check on your friends, especially if they were the type of people who used to plan things a lot and suddenly stopped doing that!
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
We were talking about how it's difficult to tell whether people just don't want to hang out with you or people are legitimately so wrapped up in their own lives that they forget about all the folks outside of their immediate circles.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
Meanwhile extending personal invites to people to do things has similarly felt like screaming into the abyss. "Yeah, that would be nice!" Cool, let's set a date. "Oh, I already have so many plans" or "The kids' schedules are just running me ragged." OK, let me know when you're free! Crickets.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
We do still buy regular seltzer from Costco sometimes, especially if they have cool flavors, but the Aarke is good! I made a ginger syrup recently, and it was pretty delightful.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
I started doing blanket invites to things like bonfires and paddling and shit just to see if anyone would show up, and it's been a whole summer of no shows.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
I'll have to ask @kolrath.bsky.social—he handles those. But I want to say that we do a mail-order exchange for them.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
As someone with a chronic illness, I know that there are often many things that prevent people from spontaneously making plans, but I really think this is why so many of us feel lonely as hell. "Yeah, I'd love to see you—I have time six weekends from now!" Everything has to be *highly* scheduled.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
A friend and I were talking about how many "last-minute" friends we have, which is to say, how many people we could text or call at the end of the day to grab a drink or go for a walk or do literally anything on the fly, and we each had a hard time coming up with more than two.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
We have an Aarke and use it all the time.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 13/09/2026
This is the most boring season of F1, I swear.
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Reposted by Jen Anderson
Abdul El-Sayed @abdulelsayed.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
We're being told that if we sacrifice the rights of some people, then the rest of us get to keep our rights. We all know that's some BS.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 12/09/2026
Probably the least bad I've felt after a COVID vaccine, so I'm going to take that win. Just catastrophically tired.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 11/09/2026
Getting vaccinated at 7:15 a.m. at the local CVS is really where it's at.
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Reposted by Jen Anderson
CIDRAP @cidrap.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Repeat COVID infections tied to higher odds of new health conditions Adults who reported 2 or more infections had 76% higher odds of receiving a new medical diagnosis. Read more: bit.ly/4hleVmc
Sick man sitting on bed looking at thermometer
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 07/09/2026
I was also looking at the a7ii, but I defaulted to Nikon largely because that's what I was used to shooting on (and because the chief science officer at work told me I could borrow all his z-mount glass). I love it so far, but I have a lot of work to do.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 07/09/2026
Having a three-day weekend makes my life immeasurably better.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 06/09/2026
Got our last seventh-inning serenade of the year from @jgoldstrass.bsky.social!
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 05/09/2026
I ended up with a Z6III! So far, so fun.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 04/09/2026
At the same time, have realized I'm all the more grateful for the people who really see me and allow me to be my full self. It's a very small list, but those relationships have deepened in ways they may not have otherwise.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 04/09/2026
Big uptick in random activities triggering multiple days of deep exhaustion, head and body aches, sleep problems, sensory issues and more, which is disheartening and frustrating.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 02/09/2026
Obviously your mileage may vary, but you probably don't need to overthink it.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 02/09/2026
Fun fact: I do have underlying conditions but was able to schedule my shot without having to disclose literally anything. Didn't even have to check a box. This was my experience last year, too. Insurance gave zero fucks.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 02/09/2026
Yep!
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Reposted by Jen Anderson
Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
"The work and everyday labor of living with ME/CFS contains this recursive loop of everyday labor of being ill." For @motherjones.com, I interviewed @elimrogers.bsky.social on her book tracing the history of ME/CFS and what it's like to be exhausted in America. www.motherjones.com/media/2026/0...
motherjones.com
The relentless work of being sick
A new book examines the labor of getting chronic illness diagnosed and treated—for those lucky enough to get care.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 01/09/2026
It's so weird.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 01/09/2026
My car informed me it needed to do a software update today. 🫠
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 01/09/2026
It's been my treadmill show, and it does not disappoint.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 01/09/2026
Flu and COVID shot scheduled. I tend to get mine slightly earlier in the season because I travel a ton for work in October and November and want to be fully marinated beforehand.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 01/09/2026
I started watching AEW and it's been exactly the kind of ridiculous brain bleach I've needed, with bonus wholesome moments.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 01/09/2026
I'm so glad you're on this ridiculous train: It's a delight.
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Reposted by Jen Anderson
Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
If we had clean air standards and mandatory respirators in healthcare, this wouldn’t happen. Patients deserve protection. They’re scared. They’re vulnerable. They’re often immune compromised. Infecting a baby in the NICU is a massive infection control failure. people.com/newborn-baby...
people.com
Pa. Mom Says Her Newborn Was Exposed to Measles in Hospital NICU: ‘He’s Already Had to Overcome So Many Battles’
Brittany Nicole Sponenberg’s newborn was exposed to measles while in the NICU at Geisinger Medical Center. The hospital has since updated its visitor screening protocols as measles cases in the U.S. r...
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 28/08/2026
I'm getting there.
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Jen Anderson @jen.clearingblocks.com · 28/08/2026
You ever realize that if you're not the person texting or calling or checking in that most people are totally cool with just falling off the face of the Earth?
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Reposted by Jen Anderson
Melissa Sweet @melissasweetdr.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Recommended viewing – reports on avian influenza, the commercial determinants, and public health solidarity - Croakey Health Media www.croakey.org/recommended-...
croakey.org
Recommended viewing – reports on avian influenza, the commercial determinants, and public health solidarity
Below we bring readers some recommended viewing – from avian influenza, to the unhealthy entanglement of the commercial and political
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Reposted by Jen Anderson
Shecky @shecky.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
ORPHANED CATS NEED FOREVER HOME IN NORTHEAST (PLEASE READ *ENTIRE* THREAD) My wife's childhood friend died Thursday, leaving his two *mildly* special-needs cats. The elder, Wally, is about 13. ABSOLUTELY affectionate cat; GLORIOUSLY dim. His only issue is that he poops in bathtubs if given a chance
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