Reflective Essays and Poetic Musings by Condemiang + Stories About the World

COVID-19 has flipped the world upside down. Scholars everywhere are passionately—some might say rabidly—announcing the arrival of an entirely new era. And those famous investment experts (yes, the same ones who didn’t see 2008 coming) are now warning of an incoming depression so massive it might make the Great Depression look like a clearance sale. It’s an RNA virus, which means it mutates like a drama queen changes moods. It’s zoonotic, too—capable of infecting humans and animals alike. That means everyone’s a potential host, whether you walk on two legs, four, or have wings and echolocation. Vaccines and treatments? Hard-won, yes. Guaranteed? Not so much. We still haven’t figured out which creature served as the intermediate host between bats and humans. Pangolins? Raccoon dogs? Some are even whispering that this whole thing wasn’t entirely… natural. That maybe, just maybe, some mysterious group had a hand in creating and spreading it. Sounds like a bad movie plot—but here we are. ...

Stories of Little Happiness - 02 The world was reeling from the shock of COVID-19. Everything, except essential services like grocery stores, came to a halt. Parks, playgrounds, public facilities, shopping malls, restaurants, beauty salons—places we once took for granted—were suddenly off-limits. Yet here in Canada, people remained calm, composed, and considerate, weathering it all with quiet resilience.  Looks a lot like me—same face, same frame. There’s a guy I know—well, a few of them, actually—who hadn’t had a haircut in over two months. Their hair had grown wild and unruly. But cutting it themselves? Too risky. One wrong move and disaster strikes. Asking a family member? Just as risky. If the cut goes wrong, the blame game begins. Better to just live with it. But me? I had nothing to worry about. For the past 12 years, my wife has been our family barber. Mine and our kids’. She took a crash course in men’s haircutting—a whirlwind three-day program—and never looked back. Of c...