“As I breathed through alternating waves of grief and numbness over the last two years, I’ve regularly told myself, Just keep doing your part to end the pandemic. But with thousands of Americans dying from COVID every day as we look ahead to year three, I now feel there is little more I have left to…”— Venessa Wong, buzzfeednews.com
“I'm committed enough to the 'no diets' principle of my own eating disorder recovery to resist the temptation to chew ice and exercise obsessively again, but that doesn't mean I'm deliriously happy with the way I look 24/7, no matter how many defiant crop-top pics I post to Instagram.”— Emma Specter, vogue.com
“Now it’s been more than a year and I don’t know how much longer it will be before I can get back to Gagopa, or if it will even be there once I can.”— Alyse Whitney, grubstreet.com
“There's no need to hunt the whales anymore. There's no need to eat them. The young generation born after 2000 don't really do it.”— Eva Björk Káradóttir, nbcnews.com
“On its surface, vaccine envy makes sense; after all, millions of Americans have lost loved ones, jobs, health insurance, and so much more to the COVID-19 pandemic, and living through that kind of collective trauma is guaranteed to engender some kind of emotional response.”— Emma Specter, vogue.com
“Vaccination is imminent; spring is coming. Summer 2021 may be among the horniest yet.”— Katie Heaney, thecut.com
“You’re vaccinated but none of your other friends are. Can you ditch your mask around them? Answer: No.”— Hannah Smothers, vice.com
“And so it continues. This is my life now and maybe it is yours too. I honestly don’t hate it, though I don’t think it behooves me to analyse it.”— Charlotte Owen, bustle.com
“The House voted 275-134 to pass the $2,000 direct payments bill on Tuesday, with 44 Republicans joining the majority of Democrats.”— Axios, axios.com
“Making bread is closer to sex than to cooking. It’s about diving in with your hands, massaging it, making it rise. And there is no fast climax; it takes at least 24 hours to make decent bread. All this time you have to care for it lovingly while you wait. And wait.”— Albertina Coacci, nytimes.com
“It became second nature to compare my appearance to every person who caught my eye, so I found myself in this continuous cycle of picking at my face while slowly watching my self confidence plummet before my very eyes.”— Orion Carloto, nylon.com
“Huang thinks COVID vaccination provides something many of us have missed throughout the pandemic: an excuse to post a selfie.”— Katie Heaney, thecut.com
“Yet, folks are still continuing to put on their party pants and get together sans masks, indoors, without social distancing.”— Sara Li, cosmopolitan.com
“The photographer who got sick after shooting the COVID-positive groom said her experiences throughout the pandemic have left her a little depressed.”— Emily McCullar, texasmonthly.com
“Watching the vaccine being administered delivers a shot of hope. We might finally be getting somewhere.”— Bridget Read, thecut.com