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2020-08-01
During quarantine I was very stressed because of all the uncertainty. Playing guitar really helps me to de-stress so I learned the intro to Nothing Else Matters during quarantine. During quarantine I found it hard to stay busy. There was little to do since I couldn't leave the house so I decided to take advantage of quarantine to learn some new things. I feel that this is something lots of people did during quarantine. It was a great time to use to learn new things because there was nothing to do. I also learned many other songs but this one is the one that I always play when I am feeling stressed. It’s lots of fun to play but also very calming.
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2020-05-12
Even before the pandemic I would play online with my friends most of the time but the pandemic has just reinforced it. I play everyday with my friends and laugh and mess around and I think because of that I haven't gone crazy yet. Thanks to playing with my friends and having fun I have been able to stay happy and relaxed.
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2020-08-22
This is a photo I took when my friends and I (a total of 3 of us) came together for the first time in 5 months. We had masks on and went to Mcdonalds on skateboards. Because of covid, mcdonalds only had a curbside pickup or drive thru. We decided to do curbside pickup so we didn’t get in the way of cars. We ordered online, stood in a parking spot and pretended to be a car. Hence our saying “we are car”. This photo shows how teens now persevere through these tough times while following corona regulations.
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2020-07-27
Living in New Mexico, it can be hard to have grass or many plants due to the heat and dry ground. Between my dogs running around, the water needed, and the time it takes to have grass in the backyard we hadn’t grown any in a few years. When the quarantine had been happening for a while, my mom devised a plan of how to set up a sprinkler system to water they back yard and have grass and plants instead of dirt. The idea for a sprinkler system was one idea of many my family came up with. She ordered all of the parts online and researched ways to set up and successfully put a sprinkler system and dripline in. After receiving all the parts in the mail, my mom set off to home depot to get a ground trencher so we could put the piping underground. We had to lift and drop the trencher so the large dirt blade would create a path. She was supposed to get a small single-person trencher but came back with a giant and extremely heavy one. Since many people had the same idea of doing yard work during quarantine, the other trencher was being used by someone else. The trencher weighed so much and was so hard to move through the house into the backyard. We finished trenching by the end of the day and were ready to lay down piping. The hard part was getting the trencher lifted into the back of our car again, it was unbelievably heavy and it took all 4 of my family members to lift it into the car. We took some time and faced some more challenges when trying to grow a yard, but in the end, it ended up working out. Our yard now has a layer of grass and a drip line system to water other plants around the yard.
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2020-08-20
I was never really someone who enjoyed reading, or at least I didn’t by choice decide to pick up a book and read for fun. I would only pick up a book if school required me to. But since the start of the pandemic, I have had a lot more free time and I have had to find ways to fill that time. So I started picking books that seemed interesting, and once I started, I was fully engaged until the last page. And over the course of the summer which is roughly 3 months, I have been able to finish at least 6 books, breaking any record I might have had for summer reading.
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2020-08
Several articles seek to expand the conversation of educational inequity during the pandemic in New York City public schools, however many exclude key aspects of inequality that predate the pandemic. This narrative acknowledges and challenges notions that use the pandemic to explain the inequality. It is not only my personal experience throughout the pandemic, but also the experiences around public education of me, my students, and co-workers. Amplifying the necessity for leadership, mental health, and technology to combat the concerns of racial and class retraumatization, the aspiration and achievement gap, and other aspects of inequity. In this analysis, we transform ideas about inequality in relation to [rather than caused by] the pandemic and challenge readers to think about solutions in a different way.
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2020-09-14
The news broke out of a deadly virus in Wuhan, but it felt isolated—almost as if it would not spread outside of a certain radius. However, as the early days of 2020 continued, that hope became less and less a reality for the epidemic, which was transforming into a pandemic, COVID-19. The impending fear of the virus circulated throughout the 24-hour news cycle and into the homes of many Americans, even the living room of my own shared apartment.
Although, I did not feel the closeness of fear or unpredictability until mid-March. Being a senior in college, I had applied to graduate programs, of which I was scheduled to fly and do a university tour March 12-15. Come to find out later, the university was shutting down mid-semester and upon my visit, the virus was the talk of students, faculty, and staff. I remember walking and in and through Ronald Reagan International Airport (DCA) and not bumping into strangers going to their flights, having to wait in TSA for no more than 20 minutes, or worrying about if my flight was going to be obscenely overcrowded. You will note this is quite rare at DCA and illustrates the abnormality of the social situation of the airport due to the pandemic. More simply, people were staying home, shut up in their houses and apartments for the suspicion of who did or did not have the virus in a global city (Washington, D.C.) caused widespread panic.
This is not the first time the world has erupted into a panic or shut themselves into the “safety” of their homes. A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe recounts the plague as it decimated London and the surrounding towns. He describes the plague as a great fire, one that, “if a few houses only are contiguous where it happens, can only burn a few houses; or if it begins in a single, or, as we call, a lone house, can only burn the lone house where it begins. But if it begins in a close-built town or city and gets a head, there its fury increases: it rages over the whole place, and consumes all it can reach” (150). Here we may understand, or at least in the context of my understanding and experience with COVID-19, that the virus would take root where it could consume, namely in large cities like New York City (where there was comparably a mass exodus and high rates of infection) and D.C (increases in COVID-19 cases daily).
However, the 2020 pandemic reflects more than a mechanical, comparative read of Defoe’s Journal of social, scientific situations. It is a lens that begins to deconstruct how our current contexts affect the reading of the Journal—a flash of reality if you will. Who would have thought that a text published hundreds of years ago had a mirroring affect? Now that the global community is months into the pandemic, the U.S. being at around 7, I cannot help but think that the Journal is even more relatable. Defoe claims that, “The Justices of Peace for Middlesex, by direction of the Secretary of State, had begun to shut up houses…and it was with good success; for in several streets where the plague broke out, upon strict guarding the houses that were infected, and taking care to bury those that died immediately after they were known to be dead, the plague ceased in those streets” (Defoe 28). As I initially read this sentence, I was troubled by the intensity of shutting people up by force. Earlier in 2020, many people in the U.S., if not all, had experienced some form of mandate restricting their movements in public spaces. Although there was talk of Marshall Law, which may be like what Defoe describes here, people (generally) at first were willing to comply. After some time in homely isolation, some felt the need to loosen their habits of isolation.
What complicates the reading for me because of my current context, is the discussion surrounding those who are symptomatic or asymptomatic of which Defoe claims that, “namely, that it was not the sick people only from whom the plague was immediately received by others that were sound, but the well” (144). I guess, now in 2020, we still do not have much of a solidified idea of how the virus is spread, reports varied and swayed between direct contact, airborne, or bodily fluids like through a sneeze or cough. Although, with viral and antibody testing, there is a clearer idea of who may have had or has the virus which is unlike that of Defoe’s context. Modern medicine has enabled researchers, physicians, nurses and doctors, janitorial staffs, and more to navigate the infectious field better. This in particular affected my reading because the general “we” understand more effectively the dangers, precautionary steps, and conditions around viruses. During the plague years that Defoe details, there was no scientific guidance, except for the religious guidance of God. The Journal at numerous points suggests that people after some time began to accept willing their fates of eminent death because of their lack of options. I would like to hope, that in 2020 this depressing fate mentality is not reflected as openly, although I cannot be sure.
Rather than suggest that the Journal puts into perspective COVID-19, I would argue that COVID-19 puts into perspective the Journal; readers like myself can imagine how instances set forth in 2020 resonate in the Journal. I have not seen the physical effects of the virus on people like medical staff do, but I have witnessed the widespread fear and uncertainty surrounding: how can I keep myself/family safe, how will I begin to pay bills without a job, can I budget enough for food this month? I myself being laid off from my job while on my graduate school visit (and at the quick emergence of the virus on the East coast) yet struggling to find answers to these questions (thankfully I had help). I must say, the days felt long, the weeks felt longer, the months felt longest giving the impression we had been tackling the virus for years. Who knows, maybe the global community and within a U.S. context will continue to see spikes of COVID-19 for years to come. Like the unknowing in the Journal, we all just do not know.
Work Cited: Defoe, Daniel. A Journal of the Plague Year. Dover Publications, INC, 2001.
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2020-04-18
this is a photograph of a mural on a hospital wall in Brescia, Italy where it translates to “To you all….Thanks.” It is another piece of art that reminds us that we are all in this together and to thank our healthcare workers. I think as time goes on we tend to get sick of hearing about the pandemic and Covid-19 and go about our daily lives. We as a society often times need reminders and I think art provides that in an appealing and beautiful way.
A giant graffiti depicting medical staff holding a figure shaped as a boot representing Italy and reading " To you all… Thanks", is painted on a side of the Brescia hospital, Italy, Monday, March 16, 2020.
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2020-03
When the pandemic abruptly flipped our world upside down, I did not know how to react. Within a matter of just a couple days, I felt as if everything that I had worked towards was being stripped away from me. I was a senior in high school during the 2019-2020 year. March 12, 2020 will go down as one of the worst days in my life. That is the day I found out bad news after bad news. I first found out that all the hard work my basketball team and I had put in was coming to an end. We had just won our PA state quarter final game the night before. We had hopes of making it back to the state championship. That was a hard pill to swallow. No more memories, no more practices, no more laughs and cries with my teammates and coaches. Later that day, it was then announced that school was strictly online for the remaining of the year. I can remember the pit in my stomach when I heard that news. In life, we take so many things for granted- my high school experience being one of them for me. As a senior, you work so hard in the classroom, build so many great bonds with your friends and teachers, and that was all just taken from us. In this day in age, keeping engaged in friendships and relationships is very easy with technology. But this felt different, this WAS different. No more senior activities. No prom. No end of the basketball season. No graduation. No more giggles with your friends in the hallway, at lunch, in the classroom. There was no proper goodbye. That is what hit me the hardest. Everyone is impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic in every way possible- some more than others. It took me a while to accept my new normal, and to accept the fact that it is out of my control. I am not the only senior who felt like what was supposed to be the best year of their life, turned out to be the worst year of their life. I’ve tremendously grown from the situation our world is in, and I know so many others have, too.
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2020-05-18
This wall mural is an ode to nurses. These are the heroes of the pandemic and there are many wall murals praising all the healthcare workers. It is a reminder that we need to keep thinking about the people who put their lives on the line everyday.
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2020-05-06
This is an article about messages from the street in Seattle by street artists, businesses and attractions. This is about a community coming together during a crisis. Organizers created a bear hunt throughout the city displaying a teddybear in the window. At the same time artists are painting messages of hope on boarded up businesses and empty walls.
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2020-05-10
his article posted by Indian Country Today about Indigenous artists that are infusing their work with important health, safety messages as the pandemic hits some tribal communities particularly hard. The pandemic has hit the Native American community particularly hard, yet we hear very little about it in the media. Native American artists are taking it upon themselves to send messages of hope and safety.
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2020-04-08
This is an article about artists who are struggling during this pandemic. The funds are provided by a consortium of non-profits that raised over $10 million dollars. Many different areas of business are hard hit by Covid-19 and are struggling to survive. It is important to note that artists are small businesses and many people don’t realize how they’re impacted as well.
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2020-09-11
This is the school my 6yo would have been at, if we had stayed in Idaho. One of the teachers got creative with the desk shields and decorated the students' desks to look like cars. The photo shows the students spaced a part wearing marsks and sitting behind their shields. It's so weird to see some schools already embracing in-person learning, when it feels like such a remote reality here in Tempe.
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2020-04-30
Wall mural on a French street created by a French artist, C215, showing his interpretation of love during Covid-19. He completed the wall mural before France’s lock down. He is selling prints of the piece online, with proceeds going to the Paris Hospitals foundation.
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2020-03-30
This article posted by Al Dia about Covid Art and a virtual museum in Barcelona, Spain, where a collection of covid art can be viewed. The collection consists of illustrations, photographs, paintings, drawings, animations, video, etc. According to the one of the publicists, these pieces of art reflect how we are all living and feeling during the pandemic. Art has always reflected what was going on during that time period. #covidart, #pandemic, #virtualmuseum, #quarantine, #Barcelona (HST580, Arizona State University)
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2020-06-17
While looking for items to submit to this archive, I tried searching Pinterest for some humorous memes to add. After reading a lot of heavy articles, i felt a little humor was in order; only to be thwarted by Pinterest. After searching for "Covid19 humor, I received a message saying that pins relating to this topic often violate community standards guidelines and so, results were restricted to established health organizations... I guess gallows humor is not for everyone... I tried a google search for the same search term and came across a few things but this article stood out. It discusses the rise of 'dark' humor and how it can, in some cases, actually help those trying to cope with difficult subjects. It confirmed my suspicions that those of us who have a 'gallows humor' approach may have been on to something all along.
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2020-07-04
2020 could have an entire history book unto itself. So much has happened this year... Obviously, the big stories everyone is familiar with; BLM protests, Covid19, Wildfires literally EVERYWHERE, but what about the smaller, but just as important stories that get overshadowed? For example, on Feb 6th, Christina Koch, a NASA astronaut, returned to Earth after 328 days in space, the most days completed by any woman ever, and I bet you don't even remember hearing about it. Thats why I though this time line would be a good addition to the archive. It helps put the events of the year (as of July 4th) in an easy to read format to help us all remember everything that happened this year. Hopefully, the back half of the year is much less eventful, but I doubt it.
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2020-09-13
Music has been a big part of my life ever since I was young. I picked up the violin in second grade, and my involvement in the music industry has only grown since then. This year is my senior year as a music education major in college; however, in light of the pandemic, I am anxious about what the future holds for music.
Music class is very different from other classes that students may have throughout the day. While it is more feasible for a math or science class to be completely online, with live-streamed lessons and online assignments, these concepts are not so easy for a music class. With a large ensemble, it is almost impossible for the teacher to actually hear their students play in an online format. Many schools are using Zoom, which is great for the virtual classroom, however it tends to have a significant audio lag. Due to this problem, music ensembles cannot actually all rehearse at one time. Many music teachers have dealt with this problem by requesting that students mute themselves and then play along to a pre-recorded track that the teacher will prepare for them; however, with this barrier, the teacher will never be able to hear their students play all together, which is a crucial part of an ensemble rehearsal to assure that everyone is fully understanding the music.
Not only are large ensemble rehearsals affected by these restrictions, but also the elementary general music classroom. In elementary general music, singing is a crucial part of the curriculum. At a young age, students need to be able to start singing so that they are able to start developing a knowledge of pitch and rhythm. At this stage of brain development, it is crucial for students to be able to have this aural experience in person. However, in many areas of the country, singing in a public space has been completely banned. This causes a big problem for music educators because there are so many concepts that they cannot teach without being able to sing with their students.
I am in no way stating that the measures being taken in light of the pandemic are unnecessary; I believe that COVID should be taken very seriously and completely understand why it is that these restrictions need to be put in place for educators everywhere to keep the staff and students safe. However, it is frustrating to know that some people are blatantly not following guidelines, which is causing a delay in reopening schools, and because of this, an entire industry is being affected. So many musicians work off of the profit they get from live concerts alone. However, absolutely no concert halls will be able to reopen until we have this disease under control. During the time of the pandemic, I worry for what is going to happen to the music industry, and how this is going to take a toll on music programs all over the country.
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2020-05-05
First Responders, by nature of the job, daily charged with helping people through their worst moments and traumatic events. Some might say that first responders should be able to handle it, after all, they signed up for the job. But first responders, just like the rest of us, are human. No one can ever really be prepared to handle stress like that on a day after day after day after day basis. In order to help out first responders, the CDC created this website with information on how to deal with the usual stress of the job plus the new issues and problems that 2020 has decided to throw at us. I thought it important to include here, not just for posterity, but the more places this information is posted, the more available and easily accessible it is for someone who may need it, but not know where to look.
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2020-09-11
With all the negative in the press, it would be easy for one to think that Law Enforcement officers are out there all alone with no support at all. This is simply not true. This article shows that there are those who support LEO's and that officers/deputies/cops are not fighting the good fight all alone.
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2020-09-13
I saw this article on facebook and was completely saddened by it. Those two officers were doing nothing to deserve being shot in their vehicles. And then to read that protestors were blocking the entrance to the hospital, possibly preventing ANY emergency traffic from getting in was even more disheartening. I can't even begin to think how to explain this to future generations... So. Much. Useless. Hatred.
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2020-09-13
This story is a short essay for my graduate literature course, analyzing parallels between Daniel Defoe’s Plague Year and our current experiences in the pandemic of COVID-19. It is important to me because I believe these parallels illustrate the importance of putting our faith in reliable information, and learning from the mistakes of the past rather than repeating them.
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2020-09-13
Covid controversy, NYC
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2020-09-11
Throughout the Covid-19 Pandemic and my time in quarantine, I struggled with a multitude of things. I was distraught over my senior year being taken away, lonely from the lack of human connection and interaction, and full of anxiety and fear because everything about this virus and the future was still very much unknown. But none of this compared to my biggest and most upsetting struggle. Coincidently this struggle of mine wasn’t even my own, it happened to be my father’s.
My father owns a vintage bowling alley named; The Fox Bowling Center located in a small town in Upstate New York. For over 25 years my father has owned and operated this bowling alley, and he has been involved with this business since he was 9 years old when his parents bought it in the early seventies. This bowling alley has been an integral part of my father’s life for almost 50 years, and during March of this year he had to shut down business due to the Covid-19 pandemic. My father was absolutely distraught and shattered over this news. He was worrying constantly over the future and when things might take a turn for the better so he could open back up. He also struggled severely with trying to pay bills and manage the money in a time when he had zero income.
I think seeing my father struggle with money issues really hit home for me the most. The bowling alley never really made a lot of money to begin with, and when this happened he had nothing to fall back on. He worked tirelessly on trying to secure any type of loan that would help him just pay the bills and keep the business afloat. Seeing him go through this each day was torture. I just wanted to help in some way and tell him that everything was going to be okay, but I had no money to offer him and in total honesty I had no idea what the future held for small business owners like my father.
Even though watching my father go through all this pain and sadness was one of the worst things I ever witnessed, he still managed to teach me some amazing life lessons I will cherish forever. He showed me to always persevere and look towards the future, and he also showed me that you can’t give up on the things you love and hold dear.
I’m happy to also share that because of his hard work and perseverance with financial issues, he is able to reopen now that bowling alleys are allowed to open back up in New York. My father is overjoyed and can’t wait to have his loyal customers and friends bowling once again, even if it is a little different.
I will never forget his struggle to keep the business open and when I think about those long months in the future I will always remember his hard work and dedication.
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2020-09-11
The anniversary of 9/11 is a complicated occasion in a maelstrom of a year, as the US grapples with a health crisis, searches its soul over racial injustice, and prepares to choose a leader to chart a path forward. While many communities have canceled the 9/11 memorial events, many carried on with modifications. It's important to take a minute and remember the events that happened nineteen years ago. It's a time of reflection and remembrance at a time when nothing seems to be going right, we can be thankful for what we do have; starting with our lives. This year looks far different than previous years; commemoration ceremonies are filled with people wearing masks and standing six feet away from each other, but there is one aspect that has not changed, and that's the message of hope. We are reminded that we are one nation, though the good and bad, regardless of politics, social status, and race. We are Americans, we are strong, and we will persevere.
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2020-09-11
Photographed by Mary Ann Michna, artist Sarah Aziz visits New Harmony, Indiana to do a photoshoot in her COVID inspired fashion
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2020-09-10
My uncle has owned a body shop in San Francisco, California, for over twenty-five years. Covid slowed down business a bit since people were not driving as much, as if Covid wasn't bad enough though, they are now dealing with all the fires in the area. Being a Los Angeles native, I know wildfires are not uncommon. It is unusual to see the amount of fire happening simultaneously. It seems like the whole state is up in flames. The air quality is almost unbearable, there are blankets of ash coving homes and cars and raining from the sky. The sky is orange and firefighters struggle to keep these wildfires under control. All this craziness amidst a global pandemic.
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2020-09-10
A friend of mine had to postpone her wedding after almost a year of hard work and planning. The couple had announced that they would wait to have the wedding of their dreams until it was safe to do so. This week her sister uploaded a surprise bridal shower she hosted in her tiny bedroom for her sister and bridal party. I wanted to show how people are still living during Covid, people are still celebrating, and love is still winning. I thought it important to shed some light amidst all the negativity and darkness that Covid has brought. I thought it was the sweetest gesture to let this bride feel important and acknowledging this big event in her life. A few days after this bridal shower, this bride went down to the courthouse and married her best friend. They are still planning to have a big celebration next year.
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2020-04-03
I’ve uploaded pictures of my hike to signify my boredom through this time. With just staying home, going on walks or hikes was like an event in your day/week. I don’t normally take pictures during my hike because it takes a lot to get good pictures and it’s a mostly boring desert when hiking. I was so bored that I decided to challenge myself and try to take good pictures on this mediocre hike. This is the type of little thing about this pandemic that everyone can relate to. I never would have done this without quarantine.
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2020-04-03
I’ve uploaded pictures of my hike to signify my boredom through this time. With just staying home, going on walks or hikes was like an event in your day/week. I don’t normally take pictures during my hike because it takes a lot to get good pictures and it’s a mostly boring desert when hiking. I was so bored that I decided to challenge myself and try to take good pictures on this mediocre hike. This is the type of little thing about this pandemic that everyone can relate to. I never would have done this without quarantine.
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2020-09-10
I’m currently pregnant during the Covid-19 crisis and I’ve noticed a huge uptick in elaborate gender reveals among other pregnant moms. This is my third child and I just realized after reading this article that the pandemic has made rituals such as this one even more important to our mental health and social connections.
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2020-08-27
This news article explores the effect the COVID-19 shutdowns have had on drag performances. Since March, Atlanta has banned gatherings of over 50 people in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. For drag queens in the Atlanta area, this means that they have not been able to perform live since March. However, many have found virtual performances to be a viable alternative. Some drag queens, in fact, are glad that they are able to work virtually now as they had been wanting to get out of performing at bars. While virtual performances don't make as much money as live performances, the audience is a lot larger than if they were performing live.
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2020-09-02
This article speaks to the dire straits the costume industry is in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these costume shops have been closed since March 2020. This affects not only Broadway, but also Hollywood, the television industry, and other performance industries. The Costume Industry Coalition, a newly created organization for the pandemic relief of the costume industry, has estimated that they need to raise $4.5 million in order to keep costume designers' shops open.
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2020-08-19
This article discusses the Mariinsky Ballet, one of Russia's premier ballet companies. As Europe is a bit ahead of the United States in reopening their performing arts, they began performing in July, in the middle of the COVID pandemic, only to have to close three weeks later when the virus spread throughout the ballet corps. Since then, the Mariinsky Ballet has been criticized for returning to the stage too early, despite the precautions they made against the virus. This incident has caused several other ballet companies across Europe to rethink their own return to the stage. In spite of these issues, many dancers are also wanting to return to the stage.
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2020-09-01
I found this post on Ali Ewoldt's public Instagram account. This post puts the spotlight on costume designers and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their business. Much of the publicity with the shutdown of Broadway has been on the actors so far, but as this post mentions, Broadway employed many people to work backstage and those people may end up going out of business is the federal government doesn't provide reimbursement for the shutdown. This post also points out how little the performing arts sector is asking compared to the economic benefits they offer to the United States.
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2020-09-07
I found this post on Ali Ewoldt's public Instagram account. This post breaks down the importance of performing arts in the economy and explains the DAWN Act. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, performing arts venues have been closed down and unable to reopen, causing major financial losses to that business sector. The DAWN Act is one of several bills being considered by Congress to help the performing arts sector get back on its feet.
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2020-09-10T07:30
My 11 year old was not interested in doing a first day of school photo like we've done in the past. I get that it's embarrassing since "nobody else's parents walk around with big cameras." But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to preserve the moment for posterity, so I snuck a picture with my phone and cropped it afterward. I think the photo says a lot about the moment without words- the American flag, the masks, and the way the two girls are talking to each other while staying at least six feet apart. The flag represents, to me, the event that broke the idea of American exceptionalism for Americans in denial. Despite my prediction that Trump would screw up the response to the virus back in March, I was sure we'd be back to normal by the fall. I thought someone would get Trump to do the right thing. All I can say is I'm glad to live in one of the few states with strict rules that have brought our March and April infection rates low enough to have safe, hybrid, public education.
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2020-05-31
I created an infographic for the first few months of my experience with the pandemic in Lincoln, Nebraska. Originally submitted to "Great Plains Quarterly."
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2020-09-10
While some of my relatives live in Australia, most of my family is in Israel, which is doing really bad covid-wise. We keep in touch via a What'sApp family groupchat. However, over the last few weeks, the groupchat had become a site of conflict. We in Australia, on one hand, take the virus very seriously and have favourable attitudes towards lockdown and face masks. My relatives in Israel, on the other hand, see it as a prelude to dictatorship. They also subscribe to all sorts of covid conspiracy theories that undermine their faith in public action. Although usually their opinions are tolerated, covid has really fleshed out our ideological differences to an irreconcilable point. The other week, my cousin in Israel showed up to my grandmother’s house with her friends. This caused a backlash here in Australia among relatives who were concerned for my grandmother’s safety. After quite a public and vicious argument on the What’sApp groupchat my grandmother eventually stepped in to defuse the tensions.
As absurd as it sounds, I hope my relatives stay away from my grandmother. Their alternative views, which were once endearing and funny, can now claim her life. Ultimately, I would be powerless to stop them from here.
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2020-09-10
While some of my relatives live in Australia, most of my family is in Israel, which is doing really bad covid-wise. We keep in touch via a What'sApp family groupchat. However, over the last few weeks, the groupchat had become a site of conflict. We in Australia, on one hand, take the virus very seriously and have favourable attitudes towards lockdown and face masks. My relatives in Israel, on the other hand, see it as a prelude to dictatorship. They also subscribe to all sorts of covid conspiracy theories that undermine their faith in public action. Although usually their opinions are tolerated, covid has really flashed out our ideological differences to an irreconcilable point. The other week, my cousin in Israel showed up to my grandmother’s house with her friends. This caused a backlash here in Australia among relatives who were concerned for my grandmother’s safety. After quite a public and vicious argument on the What’sApp groupchat my grandmother eventually stepped in to defuse the tensions.
As absurd as it sounds, I hope my relatives stay away from my grandmother. Their alternative views, which were once endearing and funny, can now claim her life. Ultimately, I would be powerless to stop them from here.
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2020-09-09
I am currently under the impression that there is not enough time in the day...or the week for that matter. School is in full swing both for me as a teacher and a student. After working a 9 hour day in my classroom teaching students online I come home and set up the wild setup pictured above. My large desktop computer is used primarily for grad school; to watch lectures, write papers, and send personal emails. The laptop on the left is my school computer and used to do tasks for my job such as lesson planning, distributing assignments, or as is the case tonight field the emails from the district and parents as the decision was just made to move into a hybrid in 10 days. The iPad on the right is my catch all notepad. I've started using Microsoft OneNote as a digital planner, note catcher, and meal planner. I thought that after this spring I would be so sick of technology that I would feel compelled to move to paper. However, as time has gone on I realized that this isn't coming to an end. This could very well be our new normal and it's time to embrace the change rather than dwelling in the sadness of what used to be. As I write this I am also running through an email I am going to send to my team of teachers tomorrow. A less appropriate thing to include in a school email is the line that continues to flow through my brain, "it's time to do the damn thing." We. Can. Do. This. This is not the time to feel sorry for teachers everywhere or to wallow in our never ending to do lists. Instead it's the time to prepare to SHOW UP for our students who haven't been in a classroom for 6 months. The kids don't care about content. They care about contact. We'll show up. We'll be there. We'll do the damn thing.
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2020-09-09
I am trying to show how America is not currently living up to its important core values and giving valid reasons to why. Writing this paper has let me express my views and the facts on what America is dealing with and how people live and have to go through.
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2020-06-01
All of my life I have been dreaming of graduation. As a little girl, I would try to imagine what I would wear, how I would walk across the stage (when I was younger, I wanted to catwalk across our auditorium stage like a model – now that would just be embarrassing), what I would say in my valedictorian speech to part with my friends and teachers… and when that moment for those daydreams finally came, it was nothing like I had originally planned.
What was once a thrilling time for all of the “lasts” turned into a last Zoom call, the last time logging into my high school Office account, the last email sent by my favorite teacher, and a last assignment turned in virtually. Not a senior prom, not a final picnic, not a fun-filled “skip day” (unless you count the days since March 13th) … I am not upset, I am not bitter, and I certainly do not dwell on what could have been. I understand that this was for our safety, and I would rather sacrifice those events than put myself or the people I love in a place where we could become ill.
The day of graduation finally came after all of these years of waiting. What my school planned was very innovative, and I would choose this over a normal graduation any day. We filmed the speeches of the valedictorian and salutatorian, each student walking across the stage to receive their diploma from their family, compiled the clips into a video, and played it at our local drive-in. It was personalized for each student in our class of just sixty students. There were fireworks, gifts, and snacks for everyone in our class.
I am not one to reminisce on my high school days. I was the person in my class that just wanted to leave our small town for bigger things. However, I find myself welling up with tears writing this. What my high school did for our graduation was so considerate and accommodating for the world we now live in. There is even a YouTube video of our graduation, online forever, which would have never happened under normal circumstances. I attached a link to it – my speech starts at 31:20 if you are interested.
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2020-09-03
I was offered a job at Arizona State University at the last minute. How last minute? I had already started teaching on campus in my previous position when I got the official offer. We moved to Tempe, AZ in the offseason. The rental market was full of pricey AirBnBs, but not a lot of homes for rent. I have two kids and a dog, so we set our sights on a house. I also wanted to be close to ASU, preferably walking distance, but I knew that was a big ask. We did, however, find a home. It’s walking distance to Rio Salado, downtown Tempe, and ASU. The catch is that it’s in the flight path for the Phoenix airport. When a plane flies overhead it sounds like a long, dull roar. It’s so loud you can’t hear yourself talk or talk to anyone around you (if you’re outside). Before COVID, the planes flew in and out of the airport like taxis. I counted how often they flew overhead, and it was about every 54 seconds for most of the day. Sometimes it felt so loud you didn’t want to sit outside. Post-March, however, everything has slowed way down. There are fewer planes, and that means we sit outside a lot more and enjoy our outside space.
I recorded the sound of a plane passing overhead while I hung up laundry to dry. It gives a sense of how long the sound takes over the area.
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2020-09-08
Freedom of speech
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2020-09-04
D.C. name changes
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2020-08-31
BLM History
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2020-08-28
CV UPDATES
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2020-09
Temple Beth Israel created a website - Yachad - in order to bring community together during Covid times. The website hosts livestreams and recordings of services, as well as reflections, opportunities to hear the shofar, music, share recipes, order a machzor, and offer a blessing. There's messages from the rabbis, information about the High Holy Days services, and activities for children.
They explain: "In many ways Covid-19 has taught us that community matters now more than ever! We are proud to launch this digital platform which will host our High Holy Day offerings for you and your family.
Yachad, (“together”) in Hebrew, draws its name and purpose from “Shir La’Ahava”, a song by Israeli band Gaya. The lyrics of Shir La’Ahava which begin with the words yachad – lev el lev, (“together – heart to heart”), capture the optimism, love and unity which we hope will define our High Holy Day celebration this year."
