Items
topic_interest is exactly
future
-
2022-07-21
SMhopes and the Big Blue Bus
Through a grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Department program, Art of Recovery, artist Paula Goldman designed five banners based on uploads to the project call page on this website, SMhopes: an Archive of Hopes and Dreams. The banners will run on Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus transit system for the month of July, 2022. -
2021-11-09
SMhopes banner with Santa Monica Public Library
Graphic banner made from a submission to #SMhopes by Roxane D., a Fifth Grade student in Paula Flynn's class at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. In cooperation with Santa Monica Public Library, at the historic Ocean Park Branch on Main Street and Ocean Park. -
2020-12-12
Golden Girls Pandemic Humor
I shared this meme on my Facebook page on December 12, 2020. It uses a popular line from the character Sophia from the hit TV series The Golden Girls. In the show, Sophia would always start a humorous story about her life in Sicily with the phrase, "Picture it, Sicily 19xx..." I love that show and that character, so when I saw this meme I had to share it because I could picture myself doing this to my future grandkids. It made me laugh about a dark time, and think about life beyond the pandemic. Those of us who are lucky enough to survive it will definitely have one heck of a story to tell. -
2021-05-21
Help for envisioning the future
This website represents the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. It's a pretty remarkable approach to thinking about how we will live in the future. A quotation on the site, from Buckminster Fuller, is a perfect inspiration for the call #SMhopes: an Archive of Hopes and Dreams: "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." -
2021-05-04
Flight Class
This is from an assignment in Paula Flynn's 5th grade class at Franklin Elementary School, in Santa Monica, CA. Being at my Flight class Light from the sun in the Simulator The sound of propellers from the simulation Why can't we go back sooner Happy focus Tencasity Focus Focus Focus -
2021-04-20
Biden and Harris speak after Chauvin verdict
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris speak after a jury found Derek Chauvin guilty of all charges in the murder of George Floyd. "A Measure of Justice is not the same as Equal Justice" President Biden and Madam Vice President Harris talk about social justice, racism, history, and plans moving forward. -
2020-03-13
The Creation of Memories
March 13, the covid-19 virus struck my highschool. We were sent home early and spring break was prolonged. Everyone assumed this would last a week maybe a month, but I knew that the devastation would last a long while more. Everyday during my lockdown, I focused on myself, more than I ever had before. I worked out every day, I baked, I did my school work, I was on a schedule. Over the four weeks I barely went out of my apartment, I tried my best to keep my head up high and try not to worry about the essential and front line workers. I buried myself into Tik Tok, which is what my story is going to be about. Through lock-down I became quite the dancer. I managed to learn most of the Tik-Tok dances and become fascinated with the Tik Tok algorithm. Although this sounds like a bit of a problem, I was happy, I spent hours a day on my phone scrolling. A screenager, I know. Well, in the midst of my scrolling I would come to romanticize my life post covid, how I will be making new friends and exploring new places. I made one Tik Tok a day, no kidding. I created an archive of the lockdown in my drafts. I devoted a lot of my day to Tik Tok, I kept up with the drama and followed all of the baking trends. However, my Tik Tok debut never occurred, sadly. But, I did come to find out new things about myself. I know, most people find social media toxic in some sort of way, as I do now, but during lockdown I felt it was a sort of outlet. I expressed myself and laughed, and saw a little happiness while being inside. I realized that all of my saved videos on Tik Tok would be an archive for my children, they would look at the videos and the umpteenth amount of selfies I took and laugh. Of course, the pandemic is no funny situation at all, but when my children learn about it and question how covid was for me I can show them. The photograph is not as important as my realization of how the Tik Tok changed the pandemic. It might have altered it in a bad way at times because people were glued to their screens. But it is okay for people to spend time on it, to make them laugh and to make them maybe become more creative. -
2020-10-28
Twitter’s Nostradamus
This individual, The Red-Headed Libertarian, is evidently psychic, predicting that there would be a plague in 2020. Granted, their logic for guessing this is based on something that became apparent to many after COVID hit, which is that the 20th year of the past two centuries have included pandemic events. -
2020-10-22
Museum Awareness and COVID-19
I have been recently researching digital archives and their effective helpfulness in the midst of crises and pandemics, such as COVID-19. While discovering new sources for research, I came upon a community that is treasured by society yet sufferers immeasurable when neglected, museums. From what I have put together in following archives and museums, there is a difference and the difference is impactful: People interact with archives while museums interact with people. Archives can be easily engaged through any format and do not struggle to adapt to a rapidly evolving society. Museums and their charm center on one core energy source, in-person engagement, interaction, and display. Museums attempting to permanently shift to online have the risk of fading into another informational website (Advertising is a dense fog). The attraction is the ability for people to see artifacts and art in person. I personally love museums and I know that without them, history seems to lose some of its luster as well. I found this website, American Alliance of Museums: COVID-19 Resources and Information for the Museum Field, while searching through museum resources and listening to museum and art directors discussing the future of their work. It is a tool for anyone from a visitor to a museum director in staying connected to updates on openings and closures as well as how museums are encouraged to keep up with their audiences. Though a permanent solution isn’t found to the situation or even COVID-19 for that matter, I have found that the need to keep moving forward is not just surviving, but living. This resource created by AAM might be the catalyst for museums to evolve into online forms successfully; that would be joyful news in difficult times. I have saved this link to a web page saver, Wayback Machine, so it can be accessed at any time even if the page is removed or recreated. Thanks for reading! -
10/04/2020
Cheyenne Alexander Oral History, 2020/10/04
Transcript Only. In this interview, I am asking my girlfriend questions about her life and how it has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some topics that we go over is some background information about her, how her employment has been affected, how her family is handling these extreme situations, her community’s response, any health risks or experiences with sickness, how she believes the government has handled the outbreak, and what she sees for her future. We are both just average middle-class college students, and she has some interesting insights on the past six months. -
2020-10-08
Is this our future?
I look at this photo of my granddaughter wearing a mask and cannot help but think this might be her future. When I was her age, we did not have to worry about such horrible things like a deadly virus taking lives locally and globally. But if this is to be her future, then it will be second nature to her, because she will have grown up with it. I still find it hard to believe that my granddaughter at three years old, and my three grandsons have fallen in line with the protocol of changes this pandemic has brought to our doorstep and what they now have to endure. Sure, they may have some complaints about missing their friends. Who wouldn’t? But in today’s world, we have the luxury to still communicate through technology. I am not saying it replaces social interactions, but it does keep us connected to our friends and family, which is so crucial in all aspects of our lives. They did have a choice to attend school physically or virtually; they chose to take classes online. By staying inside and only going out when necessary, they are protecting themselves and others. The rest of the world needs to understand how serious Covid-19 is, and I know so many do. But some still do not believe it is real or that serious. Some of those people I know personally, and it drives me insane! But do you blame them when every day you see in the media many high-profile political leaders stand in front of the camera before the masses and make fun of other high profile politicians for following the CDC Covid-19 protocol so as not to spread the virus? What examples are they setting? There is no respect shown for those who have lost family and friends or those infected with Covid-19. Why are we told not to worry the virus is not that bad when thousands have and still are leaving this world because of being infected with the virus. So, it is no wonder this type of influence has caused such unrest between officials trying to control the virus and those fighting against them. Here in NC, the populous are fighting our governor on closing the doors of different establishments, such as retail stores, restaurants, salons, non-essential establishments, churches, etc., when the pandemic is at its highest. If the virus has leveled and not spiking, he will go into one of the softer phases, more lenient to the establishments and all in lockdown. What is surprising and so disappointing is in so many church leaders' attitudes—how they have handled the pandemic from the very beginning. You can expect a lot of rebellion from some of the retail industry, restaurants, clubs, and so on. But when you witness on the news a church with its community, not following the Covid-19 protocol, passionately holding a rally against the governor’s mandates, you wonder what the logic really is behind their actions. Apparently, it is not about spreading the virus. It is disturbing, like a scene from a bad movie; it is so unbelievable. It confuses me because we learned in church to love and care for one another. Still, these churches' leaders chose to sue the governor, instead of protecting the parishioners and others from a worldwide pandemic, leading by setting a good example. The virus hit the state hard. The governor mandated the closing of all church doors. He did not have a sinister plan to take people's rights away. The governor is desperately trying to stop the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and asking the cooperation from NC. Once all settled and under control, the doors will open to the churches as well to life itself. The churches' leaders are not thinking of their people's wellbeing or the rest of the world when a virus of this proportion is spreading worse than the flu. The leaders of the churches that are suing are causing unrest between their congregation and the governor. They should be following the guidelines set by the governor and the CDC by using new and inventive ideas to service and protect their communities from getting through these difficult times. Some religious communities are coming together and putting their brains to work, coming up with creative ways to continue to carry on their religious traditions. Documentaries have shown religious organizations across the globe, organizing ways to continue their spiritual practice and rituals. Friends have shared their experiences of what their churches are providing for them to keep the connection of faith alive. These stories are refreshing and give me hope, but it does not make up for the injustice because a federal judge overruled the governor's mandate and opened the doors. So, are we mixing religion with the government? I am so proud of my grandchildren for understanding and being more compliant with this horrific pandemic than the adults we see on social media. If one has true faith, one can worship anywhere because my understanding is the god these parishioners believe in would accept praise and worship from anywhere - not exclusively a church. The question is, who really has the power and who has always driven that power? -
2020-09-06
Karmic Retribution
On September 6, 2020, I drove down to Boulder, Colorado to spend the day with a close friend of mine. Wildfires had been raging across the state of Colorado for a few weeks and this day, the reality of the natural disasters was especially apparent. The entire Front Range was shrouded in grey fog of smoke. A bright red sun loomed overhead as ash gently pirouetted down from the sky. The air was thick with the stench of burning forests. And it was hot. It was like something out of a movie. Apocalyptic. Ominous. Foretelling some impending doom. My friend and I started our day with a walk down by the Boulder Creek. It was unusually crowded that day and a majority of the park-goers were not wearing facial coverings. Masks were (and still are) mandatory in busy public places and my friend and I were definitely shocked to see a lack of responsibility among what we thought was a community of informed progressives. We chose to wear our masks, not necessarily because of COVID etiquette, but more so because we were worried about breathing in all the smoke and ash in the air. You could smell the smoke. You could see the smoke. And it was clear to us that we also ran the risk of breathing it in. We never checked the air quality index to verify if the air quality was indeed poor, but we didn’t have to. We both had itchy eyes and scratchy throats and that was evidence enough to wear our masks if we were going to be outside. We made our way around the area, trying to find a place to sit and relax. We passed through a tunnel that ran underneath the road. Spray painted on its walls, in red paint, was “Chief Niwot’s Curse” and “Stolen Landz.” My friend and I both took pictures of the graffiti because it “spoke” to us in a way that art or a well-timed coincidence often does. Our country was birthed in blood and forged in violence. This got us thinking about how the United States might quite literally be “cursed,” so long as Americans collectively refuse to acknowledge that fact that we stole the land from Native Americans. My friend and I found a picnic table and immediately pulled out a Tarot deck to do a reading. Whether or not divination is an accurate reflection of reality, does not matter. The subjective interpretation of a story, (and the symbols therein,) is subjectively real. It’s also fun. And sometimes, it’s scarily accurate. My friend and I brainstormed a theme for our reading and concluded on “the story of 2020.” We shuffled the deck a few times. And then drew. The first two cards we drew at random were Temperance and the Tower, both of which are Major Arcana cards. We interpret the Major Arcana cards as the narrative archetypes, or overarching themes, for our reading. So, in this reading, the overarching themes for 2020 were Temperance and the Tower. According to Golden Art Nouveau Tarot’s explanation, the Temperance card displays “An angel performing a mystical rite to restore spiritual harmony, pouring water from one cup to another.” The Tower card depicts, “A blast from the heavens” that “destroys a tower that seemed unconquerable, its magnificent crown-like dome tumbling to the ground. Two people fall helplessly from the heights. The tower was built with such a forbidding design that it imprisoned them in their own creation, with no easy exit.” Golden Art Nouveau Tarot continues, “Seek liberation on your own, or the universe may give it to you in unexpected ways.” My friend and I saw these cards and immediately locked eyes, sharing a mutual astonishment. Amidst the tumult of 2020 – a global pandemic that changed the way humans socially-interact and go about their daily lives, an urgent call for civil rights, widespread systemic frustration, climate change fueling natural disasters, ideological warfare fueled by misinformation and social media addiction – the themes of destruction and spiritual renewal seemed to bear an eerie resemblance to everything going on in the world. We then drew the King of Cups. The King of Cups “is a steady presence in a turbulent sea.” He is kind, peaceful, keeps his emotions in check, and offers comforting strength in times of trouble. As a king, he is who the people look to for guidance. My friend and I interpreted this as the need to practice detached compassion in order to navigate the waters of 2020. With an upcoming election, the United States is more divided than ever. That division could easily lead people to “drown” in their emotions and “wash away” their civility. The rest of the cards we drew were wands, representing the element of fire. Spiritually, fire is connected with creative energy, action, willpower and ambition. As our home literally “burned” before our eyes, my friend and I thought about the desire for change that seemed to be “fueling” transformation. After our Tarot reading, my friend and I drove up into the mountains. We noticed some Tibetan prayer flags flapping in the wind and pulled over to take a closer look. At a higher elevation, it was even easier to see the smoke settling down below in Boulder Canyon, enveloping the land in this impenetrable haze. We were on top of the world and had a “clear” view of everything. *Photographs taken in Boulder, Colorado boulder, colorado, wildfire, global warming, climate change, destruction, stolen land, chief niwots curse, karma, karmic retribution, cause and effect, tarot, spirituality, intuition, perception, logic, past, present, future -
2020-08-09
Lockdown 2020
I found the meme relevant because from march to now, the US still is not the same. We are having to adjust to a new "normal." This initial lock down was only suppose to be for 2 weeks, but it kept getting pushed due to people not following the stay at home order. It is now August, and some individuals still refuse to wear a mask to help protect not only themselves, but others. This year is definitely a year I would not come back to if I ever had the opportunity. -
2020-05-26
Writing to fight fear
I am a writer of fan fiction (informal stories about published works). While I was in quarantine, like much of the world, I was very nervous about the future. It was then that I saw a post that was similar to the one that directed me to this site. EarlyBloomingParenthesis knew that some people were driven to write during this pandemic to relieve stress. She suggested that we make a collection for works that we write during this time, and that we explain WHY we wrote them. As I began to worry more and more about the virus being persistent and immunity not being permanent, I wrote a story about how I imagined such a world might be from the point of view of a child. I published it on Archive of Our own (archiveofourown.org), the Hugo award winning fan fiction website. I have resubmitted it here because I think it fits what you were requesting. I also suggest you check the other works in the collection. Although most of them are unrelated to the pandemic directly, they reflect on how people deal with these challenging times. Some people use fantasy to get away, some use it to face their fears. The introduction to the collection says: "Hello! We live in strange times! A lot of folks have been talking about the importance of fic and fandom communities in this moment. This collection wants to know: how is the global crisis of the coronavirus impacting the fic we write? How are we using fic to cope? This is an attempt to document the relationship between fic written during the crisis and the experience of the crisis itself. Each fic includes an end note about the impact of the coronavirus situation on the fic/writing process. Hopefully we'll all get a chance to process our feelings together and feel a little less alone!" It helped me feel less alone to know that others like me were going through the same thing, and I was pleased that my worried thoughts and plans could help others to make sense of our times, and the times to come.