Items

2020-04-12

An app that’s like Discord but made by a Chinese company

Due to quarantine, the Chinese government have pretty much shut down the borders. In order to stay in touch with family and friends, this app is the only source to communicate with them. Although there are apps that are accessible for Chinese International students to get in touch with their friends, there are many harsh requirements in order to use it. Due to the relationship between China and the U.S., the app is no longer available for people in the U.S to use. You must have a VPN to bypass your ip address back to China in order to use it. During times like this, I hope both countries can put down any conflict they have and provide a better source for their citizens to access.

2020-03-20

A Local Theater Cares for Its Community

Betsy Garthwaite, facilities manager at the Ulster Performing Arts Center in Midtown Kingston, NY, puts a positive message about the coronavirus outbreak on the marquee outside the theater. Amidst the turmoil and uncertainties facing the world, this uplifting message reminds community members that they are not alone.

2020-03-30

Central Park Field Hospital

The grassy, open areas of New York City’s Central Park are being turned into makeshift field hospitals to accommodate the growing number of people diagnosed with Coronavirus.

2020-04-08

My mom prepares lots of medical supplies to prevent getting COVID-19

Due to the COVID-19, we didn't go out. Every time we did, we had to do lots of preparation, such as using disinfection spray, taking shower when we come back, wearing mask and gloves. COVID-19 had a great impact on my world. To keep distancing, I never go out, and even staying at home, we will wash our hands frequently.

2020-03-28

Penn Station

The photo was taken when I went back to Brooklyn. The number of travelers was fewer than 10 people. Lots of homeless people were staying inside. Most of the exits were closes. Very empty inside the train station.

2020-03-12

Email from RIT about the switch to online classes.

Changing courses to online had a significant change to my life. Everything is reorganized. I have to be careful with time management. It is very easy to forget to do homework or to prepare for the exam date. I have to spend more time outside of the class on school work because I have to understand the materials by myself. Need more self-control.

2020-03-23

RIT students test positive for COVID-19 Email sent to Faculty and Students at RIT

This email was sent the same day I took a walk around the campus (March 23, 2020). It is both a surprise and shocking to me to know there is a case in RIT. Even though no one (expect these two students) is affected on campus as far as I know, it still makes me understand how dangerous this virus can be, especially since I am on campus.

March 23, 2020

RIT during a COVID-19’s Monday

At the beginning of close down in RIT, I was taking a walk around the campus to see if there is any place open. It feels extremely weird to see such an empty walkway during Monday with only a few international students, where normally there will be hundreds of students walking through to get to their classes or other building at this time. Plus, it was rainy that day, which made the whole scene feel more sad.

April 6, 2020

Next Year in Person, a Zoom Passover

The Jewish side of my family gathered together on Zoom to celebrate Passover. It was disorganized, and chaotic. The grandmas had no clue what buttons to press, people kept muting themselves, my call crashed every 5 minutes. But in the end, it was about as chaotic as a normal Passover. However, the plagues were modified to include Corona and the final prayer ended “Next year in person” instead of the usual “Next year in Jerusalem.”

April 11, 2020

Amazon Delivery Delays 04/11/2020

I have been ordering more from Amazon and instead of two day shipping there have been delays up to two weeks.

April 10, 2020

Local Binghamton Crossfit Gym Moves to Online Classes

My local crossfit gym, where I usually go to work out when I am in Binghamton, has moved to online classes to provide the group experience of traditional classes to everyone staying home.

April 10, 2020

3D Printing Facemask at Home (in process)

There was a lot of talk online about 3D printing facemasks to donate to hospitals. This is my first attempt at 3D printing my own.

April 5, 2020

Weekly Mass in Binghamton Has Gone Digital; Live Streaming Easter Sunday Mass

Schedule for local churches (Saint Patrick’s and Saint Thomas Aquinas) for the week of Easter Sunday, Binghamton, NY. Mass no longer meets in person, instead it is suggesting that we watch a live stream and receive a “spiritual communion.” This is the first year my family won’t be going to Easter Sunday Mass.

April 11, 2020

Easter Cartoon During the COVID19 Pandemic

Cartoon in the local newspaper a day before Easter

April 11, 2020

Making Homemade Facemasks to Donate to the Community

My mother making face masks at home. She made several for my family, and is now making some to donate to the community. While not as good as the medical grade, homemade masks still provide some protection and help prevent the spread.

April 2, 2020

Marble Bundt Cake

Being stuck at home has led to a lot of baking, cooking, and binge eating. I hadn’t baked anything since Christmas 2019.

April 11, 2020

Home Workouts 4/11/2020

With no longer being able to attend my gym I have started working out from home. During this pandemic I have found out that Jillian Michaels is no joke.

April 6, 2020

Preparing Plots for Gardens 04/06/2020

More documentation about preparing to live off our own land in the summer of 2020.My father plowed this plot of land for our garden. My parents and I have been preparing 30 different plants. Many people on our street have done the same.

April 9, 2020

Beginning Stages of Planting Strawberries 04/09/2020

Due to grocery stores being a high-risk environment for COVID-19 my family has become serious about living off our own land. This is the beginning stages of planting strawberry bushes.

March 16, 2020

RIT College of Art & Design Dean’s Letter to Students

A letter from the dean of the Rochester Institute of Technology College of Art & Design to students following the university’s decision to close the campus in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

April 12, 2020

DIY Swiffer Liquid

As many grocery stores are running out of cleaning supplies, all our local stores are out of Swiffer cleaning fluid. As a result, my mom Googled homemade solutions- one of which requires white vinegar.

April 9, 2020

Yahoo! News Provides Coronavirus Updates

As the pandemic has progressed, Yahoo! News has added a special “News” bar where all information is archived once it is released to the public. Personally, I check Yahoo! News daily for updates about the country and world, so I have become quickly accustomed to this alteration to the main page. “News” Bar Text: “U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson out of intensive care as his condition improves”

March 26, 2020

Online Store Still Open- Coach

Although their physical store locations have closed indefinitely, Coach sent out an email to inform people that their online stores are still accepting orders. Even though clients may not be able to shop in the physical space, it allows the company to continue making money while serving customer needs.

March 30, 2020

Dining Room Closed- Tim Horton’s

This sign was posted on the Drive-Thru window at Tim Horton’s to inform customers that the store is now operating solely through the Drive-Thru. Hopefully, loyal customers will continue to return even if it alters their routine. “Dear Loyal Guests,Out of an abundance of caution given the current public health environment, our Dining Room is temporarily closed. We are serving all of your Tim Horton’s favorites in our Drive Thru.Thank You, Management

March 30, 2020

Designated Shopping Time for Those at the Highest Risk- Wal Mart

Posted on Wal Mart’s Customer Service desk, these two signs notify shoppers of designated shopping hours for the elderly and shoppers most at risk. Having one sign in English and another in Spanish, allows a wider group of shoppers to understand the changes taking place in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

2020-03-25

Staying Home Does Not Equal Staying Healthy

At college, I was taking a cycling class, going to yoga club twice a week, and walking at least four miles a day on a big campus. Now I’m home in a Brooklyn apartment and staying healthy is not an easy feat, not to mention the pandemic we’re currently living through means we can’t go outside unless we absolutely have to. In an effort to stay physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy in the hectic, uncertain time, I’ve developed a routine for myself to have something constant. There’s so much we can’t control right, we have to just get through it, but we can’t let ourselves deteriorate because then we’re in no condition to fight the virus and to rebuild society.

April 10, 2020

Finding New Hobbies And Picking Up Old Ones

The first week of quarantine was a time for relaxation and enjoying being home, but that quickly turned into restlessness and boredom. There’s only so many Netflix shows and movies to binge-watch. Now is the perfect time to develop new hobbies and get back into old ones. Now I find myself crafting for the first time since high school since, as a college student, I all of my time goes to classes, papers, and friends. We have to do the best with what we have, who knows the next time you’ll have some quality time to yourself when this is all over?

April 13, 2020

Virtual Classes

Just a month ago, I was living on campus waiting for spring break to come to a close and for classes to start back up. Now I’m back home and all my classes are online. There’s no classroom, library, or campus to walk around in, just my desk to do work from and my bedroom to separate myself from my family who also find themselves home with a whole new routine.

2020-03-31

Limited Supplies

I live in Brooklyn, NY, one of the “hot zones” for the coronavirus right now, and necessities like toilet paper and baby wipes are extremely hard to find. My grandfather had to send us a package, from Florida, with toilet paper, gloves, and baby wipes for my three year old sister, who needs them out of necessity.

2020-03-13

“Friday the 13” Healthcare Workers

Photograph of healthcare workers in protective bodysuits.This photograph is extremely powerful. Healthcare workers are risking their lives every day to save people, working hours on end and we should be thankful for their work every single day. Original caption: Workers in protective suits wait for patients to arrive by car as New York Governor Cuomo opens the State's First Drive Through COVID-19 Mobile Testing Center on New Rochelle Glen Island Park March 13, 2020.

April 8, 2020

The Big Apple Sleeping For The First Time Since The 1800s

Birds and other sounds of nature are now audible because of the extreme decreases in human activity in New York City due to COVID-19. This media goes to show how much of an effect humans have on nature.Original caption by the creator: This is what NYC sounds like now - #stayhome means that there are no honking cars, planes, etc.

2020-04-04

Coloring Sheet

Coloring has been therapeutic during COVID-19. Rochester, NY-based artist Shawn Dunwoody made some of his "Legion of Legends" coloring pages available online to encourage everyone during this time.

2020-03-22

Planogram (i.e., how I revamped my semester midstream)

My courses tend to be organized around weeks, modules, and learning outcomes that inform our readings, assignments, and free-form activities. I really enjoy teaching and the art of pedagogy. COVID-19 forced me to change course mid-stream. I know that I was not alone, as everyone had to do this, whether an instructor or student or ancillary staff. I kept trying time and again to simply re-write my syllabus timeline. What finally worked, after six days of fretting, was gridding everything out visually and then color coding the content around videos, assignments due, discussion post topics, and live chat discussions. This large post it (25" x 30") served as my planning guide. Here it is, after I had mapped out about half of the weeks in visual and textual form. I have called this piece "planogram" as that is the term for the visual layout used in retail so that staff can set up displays that mirror those at other locations. It's a visual plan of a layout. Well, I am happy to say, now that I am on the other side of this process, that the Post It Note version of the planogram served me well. And, I hope that my students were able to carve out a meaningful learning experience, even though it was not as any of us had intended in January—which now seems so long ago.

2020-03-31

Sourdough bread fail

During the first few weeks of COVID-19, I found myself not wanting to grocery shop and to focus on making do with what we had. However, as I have a number of food allergies, I have to be careful about what I eat. So I attempted to make bread—not in the TikTok viral-trendsetting-sense, but rather as a means to an end. My efforts were shortlived. I tried three recipes. Each was a disaster. Here is the beginnings of a sourdough starter that is vegan and gluten free. I fed it and cared for it gingerly for a week - nursing it along with fresh g-f flour every day, as a ritual to puncuate my day in the way that commuting to work used to do. On the 8th day, mold grew in the bowl and I tossed out the starter.

2020-04-07

Buckwheat bread fail

During the first few weeks of COVID-19, I found myself not wanting to grocery shop and to focus on making do with what we had. However, as I have a number of food allergies, I have to be careful about what I eat. So I attempted to make bread—not in the TikTok viral-trendsetting-sense, but rather as a means to an end. My efforts were shortlived. I tried three recipes. Each was a disaster. Here is buckwheat bread that is vegan and gluten free. It tasted like dirt.

2020-05-07

JBL

One day I was sitting in Central Park. I was saying goodbye to my friends who were leaving for college. We were also there to celebrate my friends birthday. I remember the bittersweet vibe like it was yesterday. My friend gave me her phone and told me to queue song I thought fit the situation. There were so many to choose from. With the power of music, it was able to lift people up and remember the times we all had together.

May 6, 2020

Plague Journal, Day 54: Jumping down a right-wing rabbit hole

I'm keeping a Covid-19 journal. In the latest entry, as the bodies pile up I explore a Trumpian disinformation rabbit hole involving a Wuhan lab, a New York-based research group, and an NIH grant. Also, a potential job goes up in smoke.

May 4, 2020

Plague Journal, Day 52: Tale of the tip

I'm keeping a Covid-19 journal. In the latest entry, I forget to tip a delivery man, try to rectify my error, fail. Or not:

May 3, 2020

Plague Journal, Day 51: CoronaWorld oral history, 3rd-grade teacher

I'm keeping a Covid-19 journal. In the latest entry, I interview a third-grade teacher at a bilingual third-grade class at a public grammar school (K-6) in the Bronx.

May 2, 2020

Plague Journal, Day 50: Feeling very Brooklyn

I'm keeping a Covid-19 journal. The most recent entry discusses Brooklyn's motto; the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake; the uncertainty that forms the foundation of CoronaWorld; and our latest and best edition of NYC's nightly 7 p.m. cheer for front-line workers.

April 26, 2020

Plague Journal, Day 44: Shouldering CoronaStress

I'm keeping a Covid-19 journal. Here's the latest entry, in which The Girlfriend, my sisters, brother, and mother discuss the challenges and exhaustion of doing normal things -- moving supplies from an art studio, shopping at Target, leaving a parking garage -- in an abnormal time.

2020-04-02

The City That Never Sleeps Until it Did

One night in April, around 8 P.M, a few friends and I decided to go on a bike ride. We rented Citi Bikes and biked all the way from the East Village up to 5th Avenue, one of the most popular and famous streets in Manhattan. On a typical day, 5th Avenue would be overrun with people shopping, going to restaurants, leaving their office, or exploring the tourist sites in the area. The streets themselves would jammed with traffic as commuters and tourists alike try to get to other parts of the city via car, taxi, or bus. However, once New York City shutdown in March, the bustling city that we knew disappeared. Streets were empty all day, empty enough that I felt comfortable biking on one of the busiest roads of the city. I had never seen a New York like this, and am unlikely to see it like this again in my lifetime. What was once the epicenter of art, food, technology, culture, and tourism was now a desolate ghost town.

2020-05-01

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