Items

• 2021-03-06

  A Niche Online Community of Writers

  It feels a little strange to be sharing this on this platform since it’s not typically on the hobbies-to-try lists. It’s roleplaying. It’s like acting, but with writing. Instead of on your own, it’s with a partner, a community, and so on. I’ve been roleplaying for over five years now, and I’d always find solace in joining the community of writers. If one group didn’t work out, there was always another that was a quick search away. I started because I wanted to live vicariously through my characters. Everyone has different reasons for doing this, and a common one is just to escape from real life. With the pandemic, it’s easy to see people cling onto this hobby if they already had it or wanted to start. There’s been a lot of escapism behaviors during the pandemic, and this is easily one of them. What I noticed, however, was many of those groups closing their doors. Some long-running communities with likely a hundred different writers just stopped because they couldn’t find joy in it anymore, it got too hard to manage, or otherwise. I’ve also seen a great deal start brand new groups only to close down within a month, or not even get to open (one of which closed due to the group manager getting covid-19). As a result, these writers have been left “homeless” in a way, because now they have lost their safe haven to get creative and use the groups as their stress-relief. I’m sharing this because I know many roleplayers wouldn’t even share this hobby with others who don’t share it. I feel like it’s a niche that’s neglected in the mainstream world. I also think this is a part of fandom culture that doesn’t get talked about because it’s so common nowadays that we’ll simply assume that it’ll always be there; that we’ll always know without any context.
• 
  2021-02-19

  ‘Bet on you’: Brooklyn yarn shop owner spins childhood hobby into burgeoning business, empowering crafters of color

  Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Felicia Stenhouse Eve has seen business for her yarn store from around the world. Felica hopes her store, String Thing Studio, empowers Black crafters and entrepreneurs.
• 2021-02-17

  Pandemic Hobbies

  With all of the free time suddenly on my hands due to the pandemic, I was forced to find new hobbies that would occupy the time. Some of the hobbies that I developed over the course of the pandemic and specifically during the quarantine are following along to Bob Ross videos, fiber arts including latch hook and cross-stitch, and I have rediscovered my love for reading mysteries. These hobbies have helped keep my mind off of and cope with COVID and everything else that is going on in the world these days. Despite the negative effects that COVID has had on the world and individuals, it has allowed me and many others to delve deeper into new and old passions due to the amount of time that we have on our hands that we never had before.
• 
  2021-01-30

  Covid lockdowns turned buying plants into the next big pandemic trend — for good reason

  During lockdowns, people have taken to keeping houseplants as companions. These plants help people that live alone feel less lonely and ground them. People have had varied results with their plants, but plant influences have seen a surge in people asking for help with their plants.
• 
  2020-01

  Fortune Teller

  Towards the end of 2019 if some sort of fortune teller warned me that the COVID-19 pandemic was on its way and the faces of the world would become covered with masks indefinitely, I would tell them that they are crazy. The spring semester was picking up and the coronavirus had become public news in China for a month or two. One of my closest friends Zach was very interested in Chinese politics and current events. Ever since the first cases were being reported he had warned me that the world was going to change. (He was that fortune teller figure.) I remember us taking a trip to Aldi’s so he could stock up on the regular number of weekly groceries. However, he had quite a few cans and non-perishable goods in his cart. He told me he was stocking up for the lockdown that was about to come. Today he’s known as the man who saw it coming all along. After that night my fear of the unknown began to grow. I began telling my friends/classmates at Duquesne casually saying the word “coronavirus.” They thought I made it up or it was a prank. I explained to them that this outbreak may hit the U.S and affect the entire world. Classes were still in session but as cases started rising in the U.S, the fear of school closing became closer to a reality. Fast-forward to the first couple days of lockdown. I was becoming extremely overwhelmed adjusting to a new format of learning. I wanted nothing more than to see my friends and have them tell me that everything was going to be okay face to face. The days started merging together and my sense of time was gone. I tried my best to look for the positives but there really are none when the entire world is faced with a potentially life-threatening illness. As months started passing by, I had started to realize that the only thing that would keep me going is patience and a good attitude. Even in the current moment I still long to go to concerts or have big group gatherings with friends or family. A habit I started picking up is whenever I would watch movies or tv shows was pointing out that people were not wearing masks. That’s a scary thought knowing that masks have become an external part of our identity. Let’s look at the positives though! I became a lot closer with my best friend by playing Xbox with her. This was one of the only things that I looked forward to, so I played games with her almost every day. I also started playing the piano again after stopping when coming to college. A new hobby I picked up was making meals for my family which was something I found relaxing. I even dyed the front strands of my hair pink from the TikTok trend! All of these hobbies were new beginnings that I don’t think I would’ve initiated if it were not for being in quarantine. As each day goes by, I can only hope that we are closer to “normal” and that the coronavirus can be a thing of the past. I am blessed that my family and friends are in good health and that they stay in good health until the end of the pandemic is in sight.
• 
  2020-06-26

  My new hobby

  During the summer of 2020, not a lot was going on in my life. I had just recently finished my undergraduate degree and had little to do on a daily basis, there were no jobs, no friends, not even family. Gradually, I got sick of just playing video games day in and out; however I wasn’t getting sick of the music of these games, many of which used the banjo. Some of these songs seemed pretty simple, and with my previous experience rudimentary experience with the guitar I figured I’d be able to some of these tunes. I started picking up my dad’s banjo, which is in the photo I provided on a daily basis; using YouTube tutorials I started to pick up the basics. In all honesty it was pretty easy to pick up, and just a relaxing experience, I even grew to like the feeling of developing callouses on my fingers? That’s a little weird but it felt like they were physical reminders of how much work I was putting into learning this new instrument. Recently I’ve kind of stopped playing, but I still love just plucking at it every now and then. My friends online similarly liked hearing me play every now and then, so in a sense it was a great coping mechanism to boredom and loneliness. However, I’ve really stopped even plucking at it, I don’t feel a drive to do much anymore; so I just kind of stare at it now every now and again, which is incredibly weird. This item maters to me as it helped me through the initial stages of the pandemic, and helped me stay mentally active during quarantine. However, as the pandemic has dragged on I kind of have lost the desire to play it, or do much of anything else really. I’d like to add this item to the collection of performing arts as it is a musical instrument, and I would perform for my friends on Discord every now and then (but then again I’m not a professional artist or performer so I don’t think it’d be appropriate for me to be in that collection) Mental health on the other hand is a way more accurate collection for this item, as it really helped me stay mentally active during the pandemic.
• 2021-02-01

  Covid-19 in One Word VI: Exhausting

  This word comes from a peer, an over-worker overthinker, someone who lost much in the pandemic. Exhausting: extremely tiring Too much of anything is tiring. Too much of a bad thing is exhausting. It’s like never being able to shut your eyes and take a rest. There is no break from living in a pandemic. Leave the house for a break? Mask. Relax with friends? Social distance. Go out for a fun time? Entertainment closed. We are not living in a pandemic; we are living the pandemic. This means there are no breaks. There are no pauses. There are no escapes. Even when you get tired of living this way, you still have to do it. That makes things exhausting almost daily for some people. So where can people go for relief? When it all gets too much, how do you find rest? This is something many people have had to find the answer to during this time of isolation. Without a determined end in sight, it is crucial that people learn how to live in a world permanently changed. For some, this has taken a mental form in meditation, yoga, writing, art expression. For others, physical outlets such as running, lifting, creative ways to stay active, new sports, and more have helped give breaks from a crazy world. Most have tried many new hobbies with various successes and failures. On the other hand, for some, this has been the break. Without corporate ties and office hostages, people are finding themselves more relaxed now than they have been for years. Being home has opened families to more time together and opportunities to grow closer. Still, even these people, at times, find this new life exhausting. In all cases, too much of this pandemic is exhausting.
• 2021-01-30

  Things That Haven't Changed

  Stories in this archive often describe how things have radically changed. My submission will highlight some of things in my life that haven't. To begin, many of my hobbies have stayed the same. Since I moved to a new state a year before the pandemic, I never had the opportunity to pick up any new hobbies, especially with anyone outside of my small circle here. My hobbies mostly include reading, hanging out with my wife, watching movies, playing video games, going on walks, working out, and spending time with my dogs, all of which I have done with the same or more consistency. I have gone home roughly the same amount as I had before the pandemic. None of my friends or family have gotten seriously ill from COVID-19, so I am lucky to have not lost anyone to the disease. Other than working remotely and taking precautions when going out in public, my day to day life has remained largely the same.
• 
  2020-05-10

  Learning How to Orienteer in Finland

  This picture is a picture of my friend, Linda, orienteering. Now if you're confused about what orienteering is, you are not alone. When I first reached out to her to see if she had picked up any new hobbies while in quarantine, I was also very confused by her response. It turns out, orienteering is the sport of navigation; you are given a compass and a map and are tasked with trying to find your way. I had never heard of orienteering before I asked Linda about it, but it turns out it is not exclusive to Finland and is also a competitive sport in some places in the United States. Linda told me that she picked up orienteering as a way to get outside and enjoy nature while fulfilling her competitive drive. If it weren't for the pandemic, she wouldn't have been inspired to try out this new favorite hobby of hers and now new favorite competition. Covid-19 has introduced not only her, but me as well to the sport of orienteering.
• 
  2020-11-16

  Learning to Play Piano

  My roommate Vanessa decided to take advantage of the online classes available at our university and decided this was the year that she would learn piano. She had always wanted to learn how to play piano, but had never had the time to drive out to lessons. St. Mary's University this year was offering all music classes online and she decided to take advantage of this opportunity. Piano has become her new hobby, her new way to relax. As her roommate, I have had the unique opportunity to listen to her skills grow from the beginning of August to now. She said if it hadn't been for Covid-19, she would have never thought to have taken piano or had the opportunity to learn a new skill. There are some silver linings in this pandemic and some of them have come in the form of new hobbies and talents.
• 
  2020-09-18

  Aslak's Competitive Weightlifting

  My friend Aslak, from Norway, has always stayed in shape. It wasn't until the pandemic hit that he started to do it competitively. Weightlifting competitively gave him a new edge and something to bring focus into his life. While this isn't exactly a new hobby, it is a new form of one of his favorite hobbies and has allowed him to meet new people (while staying at a safe distance). During this pandemic, people all around the world have had to find new ways to adjust, to cope. While Aslak is all the way over in Norway, his life right now is not too different from mine. While Finland was able to handle the pandemic differently than the United States, they also had to quarantine and wear masks. The pandemic has become divisive, but it also has untied us in ways that we haven't been before. Everyone has had to adjust and some have done so through new hobbies, like Aslak.
• 
  2020-10-30

  “We’ve been gearing up for this financial year”: Hornby returns to profit for first time in nearly a decade

  During the pandemic, many people have turned hobbies to keep themselves busy and to relieve stress. Because of this, the hobby industry has seen a revitalization. Some company's, such as Hornby, are seeing profits for the first time in years.
• 
  2020-10-27

  Pandemic Quilt

  I've finished many smaller needlework projects during the pandemic to keep myself occupied. Recently I've taken on the bigger project of making a quilt. The quilt will be made up of quilt squares that have been cross-stitched. This picture is of one of three designs that decorate twelve squares. Since this is my first time doing such a project, my mom is helping. She is currently working on a square of the same design as mine. We don't know how long it will take to complete the quilt but we hope the pandemic is over by then.
• 
  2020-10-21

  Making Halloween Ornaments

  Since we can't go out and celebrate Halloween this year, we made Halloween ornaments to make October feel a little more festive. We worked on them throughout October so they would be done by Halloween, that way we could display them. Each one is cross-stitch done of perforated paper and doing one took about a week. My mom and I each did one and my older sister did two
• 
  2020-06-03

  The Ribbon Handkerchief

  At the beginning of the pandemic my family was afraid to go out because mom works at a retirement. We were afraid of unknowing contract COVID-19, passing it on to her and then her passing it on to the elderly residents at her work. Most of our weekend activities involved going out: shopping, hiking, visiting friends. Since we couldn't go out save for a few exceptions we needed to find new activities to fill our spare time. Which led us to old hobbies. When I was younger, my mom and I would do needlecraft together but when I entered high school I decided I was too busy for that. We packed all the supplies up and stowed them away in the closet. Since we had nothing else to do, we got out our old supplies and dusted them off. We didn't have many patterns or other supplies left but we did have a few things. One of the few things we had was an old handkerchief embroidery kit, an old gift to my mom from one of my aunts. This particular kit involved ribbons, something I had never worked with before. The handkerchief took longer to complete than it probably should have, especially since it was such a small area, but I got it done even if it wasn't perfect. Although it was such a small thing, working on this handkerchief helped take my mind off of things and alleviate my boredom for at least a little while.
• 
  2020

  Jewish Melbourne - My Two Lockdown Experiences - Day by Day

  I shared my thoughts, experiences and feelings: my family and me in lockdown. In both lockdown #1 and lockdown #2, in daily blog posts over many weeks. Many of the stories include Jewish-life aspects.
• 2020-03-01

  Mental Health Effects of COVID-19

  COVID-19 was an experience that presented the ideal conditions that would challenge our mental health. The fear of the unknown, fear of losing loved ones, fear of missing out on our precious years of life as well as not knowing when we'll see our close family and friends. We are separated from society unable to see our loved ones, schools are closed, many people lost their jobs or were unable to work to prevent the spread of this horrifying disease. As we're locked into our homes, we confine ourselves in our own minds which can often be our worst enemies at times for people like me. We need to be occupied and be around loved ones in order to stray away from negativity. During these times being surrounded by close family and friends was a luxury we couldn't afford because of the virus and ultimately many people like myself picked up hobbies to distract ourselves from the dreadful events occurring all over the world. During my summer break, I began learning to paint and would spend about a couple hours a day painting with my friends over Zoom which would either sometimes turn out to be a competition between us of who would do the best or we would just freely paint while listening to some calming music and keeping each other company. Although I am not very artistic or good at acrylic painting there was something very therapeutic about it. My entire focus and attention was solely on doing my best to recreate the painting from the tutorial I was watching on YouTube or trying to win the friendly competition with my friends and this helped me steer away from pondering about what's been going on in the world and was very stress-relieving. In a way my COVID-19 experience taught me a lot about my mental health and helped me find ways to make the best of the situation and not take anything for granted. Now a couple months into quarantine I still paint from time to time although not as much because the semester started and being bombarded with assignments and tests but I do make time for it if I find that I need to release my stress.
• 
  2020-05-31

  Finding Pleasure During Boring Times

  Due to the quarantine, my daily life became incredibly monotonous. I wake up, do school work, occasionally work out, and the day ends. I had a rough schedule with a lot of time being wasted. I went to sleep past midnight and often woke up after lunch. After about two weeks of this cycle, I changed my lifestyle. I organized a schedule that forced me to go to sleep and wake up on time. As a result, I finished my work earlier and had time to get back into one of my hobbies. I have always wanted to produce music and make my own song for others to listen. The only experience I have with music is during middle school where I learned to play the violin and the guitar. With little knowledge on music theory, I began producing music. I made a short instrumental titled "Happy Times" and it is a relaxing piece that I created to help myself remember the happy times prior to the pandemic.