Epidemics start at a moment in time, proceed on a stage limited in space and duration, follow a plot line of increasing revelatory tension, move to a crisis of individual and collective character, then drift toward closure.
One measure of a good year is that it finished more than it starts. As such, 2020 is pretty far down the leaderboard. Q1 wrote a lot of checks Q4 couldn’t cash, and now 2021 is going to have to pick up the pieces.
But it's not all bad — 2020 did manage to tie up one loose thread.
Linga
2020 was a big year for islands. Animal Crossing happened. Richard Branson offered to mortgage his private island in exchange for a govt bailout (which didn't go through, so he got to keep his island). Islands big and small across the globe made use of their natural moats to live relatively unaffected by COVID19.
And with all this, some estate agents who had been trying to sell an island in Shetland for six years sensed an opportunity to get a bit of press attention. And I'm pleased to share that in fact they succeeded — Linga is now Under Offer. Ring the sale bell.
Who's the buyer? Well we don't know, but:
It comes after a private plane was tracked circling around the island in late November, with reports on social media suggesting it may have flown from the south of France.
The curious thing is that all the press attention came around April. Why the delay? It turns out that one publication did recently give Linga some attention...
On Friday the 13th of November, Tom Wood of LADbible gave the island a fairly detailed writeup. That's a mere couple of weeks before this plane sighting, suggesting that the buyer may be one or more lads. Is Shetland ready for the lads? We shall see.
Other Trivia
Lockdown pioneer Neil Ferguson and polyamorous lover Antonia Staats met on OKCupid. I did think they seemed a little familiar...
Remember that guy who did the "Tired of being a bird?" tear-off poster? He's still at it — here are some pigeons putting together a gingerbread house, getting a mouth, playing saxaphone, and making a pizza. Never stop grafting.
In one of 2020's biggest disappointments, Neumunster Zoo has still not started feeding the animals to each other. All talk no tigers.
So 2021 seems set to be the year of the vaccine. Who's going to get it? Who's not? Will there be some kind of app? Will people steal the vaccine and start flogging it on the street? Will people then just create fake vaccine and start selling that? Will which vaccine you got become a mark of status?
All this and more, no doubt.
Have a great NY.
K
P.S. HAT TIP to Shetland-insider e for the Linga link.