Items
Tag is exactly
normal
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2020-05-21
After Covid: Zoom meeting
Covid and Yossarian Episode 65, A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2022-03-20
Covid 19 as a senior
When Covid first started, I never imagined it becoming, as serious or being as long as it was. I was a senior in high school, and on March 13, 2020 I never thought that would be my last day of high school. All I wanted was to participate in all the fun activities, but that never happened as life never really went back to normal. -
2022-02-03
A Return to Noisy Normalcy
Due to the rising number of Covid cases in Baltimore County Maryland, many schools had to teach students virtually for a two week period. Teachers, such as myself, gave lessons from the quiet abodes of our homes or empty classrooms. After two weeks of little sound besides the occasional 'ping' of a new email, we were allowed to return. The recording provided is the sound of hallway traffic and chatter from right outside my classroom. The peace and quite of virtual learning directly contrasts the sensory experience from stepping outside my classroom to greet students. As normal in-person teaching duties have returned, the sound of slamming lockers, excited chatter, frantic test talks, footsteps, and warm greetings have returned with it. While reopening schools brings with it new challenges and concerns, for now teachers and students alike can appreciate some noise and normalcy. -
2022-01-28
Unpleasant Sounds
Before the pandemic the sound of a harmless cough or sneeze did not bother me. After two years into the pandemic those same sounds make me cringe. For me, the sound of a stranger’s cough or sneeze triggers the feeling of disgust. I am repulsed and immediately want to leave the environment I am in. When at work and I hear a cough or sneeze I stop, and wonder is it the cold dry New Mexico air that caused it or is it the virus? I try not to get worked up about it and carry on. The pandemic has changed a lot of once “normal” things for me, and has made me hyper aware of things I might not have noticed before. -
2021-10-05
Wide Range of Acceptable Socializing during Covid-19
This meme shows the four members of the "family" in the movie "We're the Millers" reacting to houseguests during Covid-19. The "Dad" says, "My houseguests won't come unless we wear masks!" The "Mom" says, "My houseguests won't come unless we text them our vax cards!" The "daughter" says, "Our houseguests won't come unless we've had a negative covid test in the last 48 hours!" And the son says, "You guys are having houseguests?" The meme represents the wide range of "rules" that people are setting for themselves during Covid-19. Where I live in Utah, there are no official rules right now except that mask mandates are banned in public schools. In public, most people are not wearing masks and very few students are wearing them in schools. This meme, although it describes having houseguests, represents the varying degrees that people are socializing in all venues: at home, restaurants, movie theaters, amusement parks, family reunions, etc. Some people are still very cautious while others are "back to normal." -
2021-07-12
SMhopes banners
These banners were made from submissions to the #SMhopes call on this site, and displayed around the City of Santa Monica in the Spring and Summer of 2021. Designed by Paula Goldman and supported by a grant from Art of Recovery, an initiative of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs. -
2020-08-04
U.S. History Classroom
When I came home from my last deployment in December 2019, I began to look for teaching jobs- I was for the first time preparing for the teaching job market. Suddenly, when Covid-19 hit the streets, most business and shops closed their doors and were only open for carry-out. In May 2020, I was worried because most school corporations announced that they would presume classes virtually or through a mix of hybrid days that would consists of both synchronous and asynchronous learning for the first portion of the school year. I thought that this would be a learning curve for me if I ended up getting a position. By August 2020, I got a position as an 11th-grade high school teacher in my hometown. Before the bell rang on 03 August 2020, I put the rubber gloves on that the school’s office gave me and sprayed each desk down with bleach. The tight latex gloves did not fit my hand properly but worked for its purpose. The disinfectant left an aroma in the air, similar to a hospital. Brinnnnng, the bell sounded, and the students began marching into the building as I watched them from my window. My forehead began to bead up with sweet (I was nervous for my first day). Then, I put on my mask and stood outside my door. As I waited at the door, I remembered the old days when I was a student at that same school, I was now a teacher. Back then, the hallways were filled with my peers, there were lots of hugging and other high schoolers interaction going on. Everywhere I turned, my peers were smiling and excited to share summer stories. In a blink of eyes, when I looked at the hallways, my peers were no longer there. Neither was the high schooler me. Now, I look through the hallways and it is filled with faceless students. The unnatural phenomena brought forth by Covid-19. The wearing of a mask in the U.S. society is unnatural. The students tried to stay six feet away and tried not make physical contact with anyone. The masks covered their faces, and many wore gloves to open their lockers. As I greeted my students entering my class first period, they seemed happy to be in school in-person since all surrounding corporations had announced they would have online instruction. As they seated, they soon realized that each desk was coated in residues from the cleaning products. I then went to the front of my class and tried to write my name on the board. The marker streaked the board. The cleaning products from wiping each room down from the cleaning staff had left a clear coating that made it impossible to write on. This was a common theme for each class that entered my room. By the end of the day, the room was filled with body and cleaning supplies odors. The coating on the board ruined my marker. My hands shriveled from the gloves, and my ears were red and irritated from the mask. I thought to myself, “this is the new norm now. I must get used to it, so students do not feel overwhelmed.” -
2020-03-18
All We Have Is Each Other
From the start of Covid-19 schools begin to get cancelled and change their way of teaching the students. Children, teens, adults, and seniors had to change everything involving their lifestyle. What we knew as a normal life could no longer be the same. Everyone had to be cautious of their surroundings and use protection gear. Before everything changed our lives my family and I would always get together every sunday. After the CDC recommended that there should be an approximate of 8 people per house in gatherings we decided to not get together as often since a family member worked in a senior home and we had learned that at that time seniors were more likely to get the virus. As the number of cases grew in Arizona and the border closed we didn't get time to see some family. It has been over a year since I haven't seen my grandparents. We call each other to see how we are doing. In my household it is only my mom and I along with my 3 dogs. What we took out of this was better bonding time, school ended early and jobs started to lay off employees because there weren't enough jobs. I had time to train my dogs and learn more commands, which was fun. I learned to do new things. My mom is a cosmetologist so she taught me how to cut hair, and how to apply gel polish. As things started to calm down families around my neighborhood would come out their front yard together and play with their kids and pets more. Families would eat outside and have a good time. But now everything is going back to normal. Sporting events are getting open to the public, and schools are going back to in person. I had learned that many families around my neighborhood shared the same experience. -
2021-04-22
Life During Covid
This story just tells what the world looked like during the Covid pandemic through my eyes. -
2021-04-21T18
Dinner and Hearts
As of yesterday, my two weeks was up and I am now "fully vaccinated" per the CDC guidelines. My wife got there Friday, and my mother has been fully vaccinated since February. Per the CDC, since we are all fully vaccinated, we can visit each other and not have to wear masks. We had Mom over for dinner for the first time since before the pandemic. After dinner we played a few rounds of hearts. I had to reacquaint myself with something that used to be "normal" before COVID-19. I was a bit rusty at playing cards, but I soon got back into it. It does not seem like that big a deal, but it was good for Mom to get out of her house for a while. It was good for all of us, and I am looking forward to more such evenings. -
2021-03-23
Pandemic TikTok
With talk of everything going back to "normal" with vaccinations and whatnot, mass shootings are coming back. -
2021-03-21
Don’t Give Me COVID
For the past year, my husband has been the only one to do errands to keep the risk low. Anytime he went out, he showered and put his clothes in the laundry. No one has stepped foot inside our house in over a year. It may see extreme, but more than once during COVID, Southern CA was the country’s hotspot. We have been extremely cautious, and with both the death rates and people within our own circle who weren’t cautious getting infected during the winter spike, I do not regret our decision. Now numbers are thankfully declining and, even more significant, my mom (who lives with us) has received both doses of the vaccine and my husband and I should receive our second doses next week. Slowly, our lives will hopefully be able to open up a bit. But the moment captured here reminds me that the shift may not be as easy for our kids. My son, who hasn’t had a play date or left this street in months, flattened himself against the wall and refused to move when my mom came back from a Target curbside pick up. She didn’t even get out of the car but my son was terrified that she’d give him COVID. It’s going to be a long process to make them feel safe again. -
2020-09-22
Unintended Consequences Part II
This article, "From Equality to Global Poverty: How Covid-19 is Affecting Societies and Economies," includes much information. It covers things like the fact that millions of kids may not ever go back to school after this. The article talks about how poverty has increased since the outbreak and how clean energy progress has stalled. The article ends by talking about the investments needed. But all in all there is a lot of important information here on unintended consequences. -
2021-03-18
With Hope
Today is Thursday, March 18, 2021. Saturday, March 13, was the first anniversary of the Friday the 13th that essentially broke the world, and that was our last day of normal. Or at least that’s how we all remember it now. On Monday, March 15, 2021, the students at my high school returned in “full swing” for the fourth quarter of the school year. I mean by full swing that we have no A and B days, and we are not all virtual. We still have an asynchronous day on Wednesday, but we all know that will soon go away. Many kids are staying virtual, and I don’t know how long that will be an option. So, we have had three days of students back on campus, and I think I would be much more concerned if I myself were not vaccinated, but I am fully vaccinated, and my husband completed his two-week waiting period a couple of days ago, so my house is “safe.” (Though I don’t totally feel that way yet) I don’t work on Wednesday right now, so we celebrated being fully vaccinated by going to an outdoor brunch, which was totally socially distanced, and I appreciated it a lot. I digress, though… school feels like school again. Sure, we limit the number of students who come into the library at lunch, but they are here, the halls bustle, and kids' noise in the hallway trails through our open library doors between periods again. Unfortunately, we are jumping back into things right in time for state testing, so we got this week of “bliss” before things become chaos of finding computers to test, getting students to make sure their computers are updated, and the general panic of finding space and making schedules that comes with any year of state testing. I want things to continue to trend in a direction where I don’t have to rescind all this hope a couple of months from now. -
2021-03-17
Opening Early Meme
As more and more vaccines are being given, it seems that soon we may be able to slowly begin returning back to normal. However, with mask mandates and restrictions falling off early across the United States, I remain fearful that we may experience another wave/peak. This meme demonstrates that anxiety. -
2021-03-10
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/10/health/after-covid-vaccine-cdc-guidelines-wellness/index.html
CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen on the new CDC guidelines for full vaccinated people. While Dr. Wen agrees with many of the CDC guidelines, she does believe some are too cautious and others are not cautious enough. -
2020-03-18
Covid in Jax
Covid took away the freedom to hangout with friends. -
2020-03-20
Hope
My plague year story of the covid-19 pandemic is honestly quite a normal one. For me covid was not a barrier. It was an obstacle that I learned to get around. I did not let anything hold me back from trying to make the best of my situations. Nothing was ideal in any way possible. I never imagined my final months of highschool being spent at home or starting college online. But I always remembered to take a step back. To distance myself from the chaos and most importantly enjoy my time to the best that I could. Because as humans we have limited control on what happens in our life. It all really depends on how you react to what is happening. You can let the confusion surround you and hold you back. Or you can step out and keep strolling on your path to success, happiness, and love. So like I said my situation in life at the time of the beginning of the outbreak was not ideal. I was in my final few months of highschool and looking forward to graduation, prom, and moving on to college. Unfortunately those milestones did not occur according to plan. My highschool experience was cut short. Way too short. I was forced to adjust to online schooling in very little time. The teachers were still confused on how to teach online and kids were confused on how it worked. My school did not utilize google meets or zoom at the time. So my only connection to my teachers was email. The situation was pretty sad. I missed my friends from school and I missed my teachers that used to fill my day with fun. But I adapted quickly and got my work done. I did not let the communication gap stop me from finishing school on a high note. I utilized the extra free time I was presented with by working. All the time. I work at Target. So I am considered an essential worker for an essential business. So I was desperately needed at the store all the time to help out. I was working forty hour work weeks all while still making time for friends and finishing school work. I worked later shifts, came in on off days and came in earlier to help when they needed. I will never forget the benefits of the work experience I got during the first few months of the pandemic. It taught me a lot about managing my time and money well. I also made great connections with my coworkers and customers who came into the store. These experiences will help me greatly when I move forward in my life in many ways I do not even realize yet. I worked a ton, finished highschool, enjoyed my summer; which I still found a way to make memorable and started college. I may not have gotten the experience I had hoped for when I first came to my campus. But as I’ve said many times, I did not let the obstacles stop me from enjoying my life. I built the greatest support group of friends and I could not have asked for a better outcome. My group and I made the best of college campus life. We always find ways to have fun and still get our work done. So far college has been a fun time and I am glad I came. Again, my story may not have the same hardships as a lot of people may have gone through. My story has been pretty hopeful. So here is to passing the hope on. I hope I continue to grow and thrive and if you may not have had the best experiences yet, here is to hoping you can break free from the chaos and live life to the fullest capabilities right now. Life is not about how hard things are, it is about how you are able to overcome difficulties in your path. -
2020-10
Quarantine Tattoo
In August I got a tattoo that I did not want and did not like for seemingly no reason. Then in October I mentioned this to my psychiatrist and was promptly diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I had gotten my tattoo during a manic episode. The typical risk-taking behavior that I would do in my day to day life became more drastic and dramatic during COVID. When I am not manic I'm very careful with regard to the pandemic so the pandemic made my behavioral differences more pronounced and more obvious to a doctor. Due to the pandemic, I was able to receive a diagnosis and begin treatment. Had there not been a pandemic I likely would not have sought treatment as I would have continued to assume that these behaviors were just a normal part of my personality. -
2021-01-29
Dear Future Generations
This story tells about the experience of one young person during the pandemic, and their perspective on the future. I wanted to include this to highlight the perspective of young people, and especially to highlight how I am not satisfied with just going back to normal. -
2021
Rules, Procedures, and My Opinion of them.
For this assignment, we are required to share our feelings about the rules and procedures that we have to follow, not only at school but in our everyday lives. Depending on how long after this is being written that you are reading it, you may have heard of some of the guidelines, such as wearing masks and staying 6 feet apart. Honestly, I have no problem with either of these rules, but the effects that they have ended up having on me have been quite substantial, I cringe slightly whenever I see a movie with many people sitting close together without masks, I feel odd leaving the house without one as well. This has become a new normal, and I am truly not sure how easy it will be to adjust once this is all over. -
2021-01-20
COVID-19 Rules and Proceedures
We all celebrated when school closed. We were so excited for our 2 week "break", yet little did we know that 300 days later we would still not return to school and virtual learning was the new normal. That Friday, it was Friday the 13th of March 2020, I got to sleep over at my friend's house. Me, Scarlett, Ella, and Ava had our last sleepover. The four of us haven't had a sleepover since then. Then on Saturday morning my parents brought me home and told me the news. We were going to quarantine to avoid getting Covid-19. "What?" I asked, not understanding why. Then we went into quarantine for months. Each Saturday my family had house deep-cleaning day, where we would do the work normally done by my cleaning company. We would go on long family walks with my blue-nosed Pitbull Rowdy-Girl. We would wear masks that my mom and I made during the earliest days of quarantine when it was too difficult to find masks. Although I understood why it was important to wear a masks and practice proper social distancing, the disability to see my friends made me so sad. Having no face to face social interaction outside of my family and dog was impossible to me, I wish life was the same as before COVID-19. -
2020-01-11
What Christmas was like with Covid-19
My Christmas was pretty normal, to be honest. The main difference was I was not able the see my grandparents. That was very sad because I spend Christmas with them almost every year. I was able to talk to my whole family everywhere over zoom witch is something we have never done. That was fun to talk to some of my family that I don't talk to very often. But other than that my Christmas was pretty normal. -
2020-12-24
My Christmas
This Christmas, everything was normal we all meet up and had our normal feast. I'm happy to say that there's nothing wrong with having a small Christmas party, but we just have a huge family. I also made our made Christmas card. -
2020-01-07
Covid Christmas
I am going to share how my Christmas was affected by the virus. Personally for me, my Christmas was very normal. My family doesn't normally have other family over because they live so far away so we could easily celebrate like we do every year. I have not really been affected by the virus overall and my Christmas was complete and enjoyable. The only thing that was different about my Christmas was that my gifts came at different times. I'm not sure if that's because of the virus, but if so that's how it affected my holidays. And just to throw it in, for New Years we never normally go to or throw parties so it was normal for. -
2020-12-14T14:22
The Beginning of COVID-19
I honestly can't remember a time without the virus. A time when things felt normal or ordinary. Life before the pandemic, it wasn't perfect, not even close, but I didn't ever feel like I was being strangled, gasping for air. The month of February, only 10 months ago, but feels more like a lifetime since then. I was a 7th grader then, thinking about things like schoolwork and friends and soccer; normal things. I remember I was so happy, so happy that I had such amazing friends, and such a normal life. But, I wanted school to end. I mean, what 13 year old doesn't? Now, I realize how much that wish has effected my life. The day I found out about COVID was a day like any other; I was at school that day, you know, normal things. After school, I checked TikTok and saw all these random videos about some virus that had popped up. At first, I thought nothing of it. When the district announced that school was shutting down, I was told it would only be 2 weeks; just 2 weeks! I thought it would be like a short break from the day-to-day school life, so if anything, I was happy. As the weeks went by, though, I started to panic. What was this coronavirus and why was it ruining my life? I thought eventually it would end, but then we got the alert we were out for the rest of the school year, then the alert that COVID cases were rising once again, then we got the alert that there was no chance of us going back to school in the Fall, and during all of this, as you can imagine, I was going crazy, wondering if life would ever go back to normal. Life right now is bizarre, but we just have to keep pushing because nothing lasts forever. When I think back to February, oh so long ago, I realize how much has happened throughout this pandemic; the rallies, BLM, the election, and above all, change. I have changed as a person, everyone has. Now if that change is good or bad is questionable, but whatever the case, we need to embrace it because we can't change reality; all we can do is hope for the best and keep pushing on. -
2020-12-11
Pre-Covid Life
Before Covid-19, life was normal. I went to school every day. I could actually stand closer than 6 feet apart to my friends. I didn't have to wear a mask everywhere I went, and people could actually eat inside. Businesses were open for business. Everything was normal and enjoyable. -
2020-12-10
The Last Normal Month
In February, life was as normal as ever. I had no idea how much my entire world would change in just a few weeks. I was hugging my friends and sharing food, taking the bus to school and spending my weekends at the mall, not a care or fear in my mind. Then, in early March, that all changed as my city went into lockdown. I was terrified that there were 26 cases of Coronavirus in my county, which is nothing compared to the almost 8,000 cases a day we are facing now. I don't know if this is the halfway point, or just the beginning, but I sure hope life can be like it was in February again soon. -
2020-12-10
Life Before COVID-19
In February of 2020 I was 13 living my best life. I was playing beach volleyball everyday and going to school. I was allowed to go outside and play with my friends and I never thought that would change. No one wore masks but now I can't imagine life without them. I was doing tournaments at the beach every weekend but now I'm lucky to be doing even one. There was toilet paper on the shelves. If you even get a roll now it seems like you have won the lottery. Everyday before felt different new opportunities and new goals to achieve. Ever since, it's all the same. Everyday feels like it goes by so fast and yet so slow. On March 13, 2020 was when it started to feel real. We were in class and everyone was preparing to shut down. In each class we were preparing and problem solving for the next few weeks online. Well what we thought was a few weeks. A longer spring break turned into 10 months. I remember saying goodbye to all my friends even though, we thought we were coming back but, we hugged each other like it was the last time. And it was. Friends I thought I would know forever just drifted. My first day of online school was ruff. I had a hard time logging into zoom and my eyes hurt at the end of the day. Now it's a part of my daily schedule. It is my new normal. -
2020-12-10
Covid 19
In February I was doing what I usually do. I go to school and I play sports with my friends. The first time I looked at the news I saw something called the coronavirus. I didn't know what this was. It was new to me. The news showed that it was an illness in China. I didn't think it was going to be so big. It was just a normal illness in China. Until it spread to other countries. Then continents. It spread to Europe, then Australia, then eventually the USA. They started shutting everything down. I got a little scared but not as much. I still got together with my friends to play sports and hung out with them. Then they shut down the school. We had to do online school, but I got used to it after the first couple of weeks. Instead of doing sports in leagues, my friends and I would play in the park instead. The thing that affected me the most was I couldn't travel to Europe this year. If you wanted to travel in airplanes, there would be a lot of precautions and we would have to wear masks the whole time, so we figured out that it wasn't worth it to go and we would have to wait until next year. In conclusion, the coronavirus was scary at first, but after a month or two, everything went back to normal for me and wasn't as scary. -
2020-09-27
Current WuHan
This is WuHan in September. The filmer recorded nightlife in Wuhan, the city is recovering from the pandemic and people are excited to get back their normal life. -
2020-11-25
Working and Living in a Pandemic
I think one of biggest impacts of COVID for me has been wondering if, or when, someone close to me will contract the virus. A fear that at times can be intense or foreboding, and at other times, that fades into feeling ‘normal.’ It was several months into the pandemic before I knew of anyone who knew someone that was ill. More recently a couple of family members had very serious cases of the illness, and a couple more that tested positive but had no symptoms. Being vigilant, following safety procedures such as masks and hand sanitizer have finally become normal as well. Early days I found myself nearly obsessed with reading the news, watching the daily press conferences, and looking up the statistics. These activities have reduced to a daily glance or two to look at numbers or read the latest about the vaccination. I worry about my family. I wonder sometimes if I feel even slightly ill or off if ‘this is it’— have I finally contracted it? And then worry about giving it to others. Another way that I have felt the impact has been in the work environment. I work remotely in the technical sector, and have for several years, so at the beginning of the pandemic there were no adjustments in my routine. However, it didn’t take long to see the impacts of the virus on my clients. Impacts that were not prepared for even with disaster recovery, risk management or continuity planning. The financial impacts businesses affected their ability to ensure employees could work from home. That their employees would have the correct equipment, connectivity, could adapt to the necessary behavioral changes that can disrupt productivity, etc. How now can we receive, prepare and ship equipment, when no one can be in an office to receive anything? The changes have especially impacted efforts to bring on new employees. One thing that I found striking was the requirements in security and access to data when moving from a secure network environment, to set up for the same security at home. A majority of my teams live in countries outside of the United States where some don’t have internet in their homes, let alone being set up to manage Personal Private Information (PPI). My clients in financial sectors have stringent background checks that can take several weeks to clear in the “old world” under normal conditions. With agencies closed and workforce reduced, it is taking two to three times longer to get simple things accomplished. The last major impact I have felt during the shift to my sector becoming a “working from home one,” was experiencing people on the other end of ZOOM, as we all had to overcome our fears about interruptions. Children crying, wanting attention because they don’t understand why mom and dad are home but can’t pay attention to them. Dogs barking, doorbells ringing, calls dropping. It took several months to work out many of the kinks, and for everyone to adjust to these interruptions, but being OK with them. Overall, I would say that I am not directly impacted too much for the moment. Most of the adjustments that have been made and are now normal feeling. Things are finally feeling like they are back to business as usual, I suppose. On a personal level, my fears rise and wain, and each day is different. I am leery of vaccinations, and wonder if the “wonder cure” we’ve been promised will be miraculous, or if more difficulties will follow? The verdict is not out on that yet, so we will have to wait and see what our next ”new normal” will really look like. -
2020-11-15
My First Semester at College
My first semester at college has been interesting. It is odd, because to me, my first semester has been fairly normal. I do not know how different college would be because this is my first year here. So many things have become normal routine to me: wearing my mask everywhere, joining zoom for my 8 a.m. classes, getting a COVID test every 3 days, and having a limit on the amount of people in my room. For me, an introvert, the coronavirus has limited the possible interactions I would have had daily and given me and excuse to do work by myself or not go to crowded events/spaces. In a sense, it is really odd, but I have not been impacted almost at all. I have either adapted well or I just don't have a lifestyle that is heavily affected by the rules of the pandemic. My first semester has felt extraordinarily normal in a time that is anything but. -
2020-08-20
Transitions During a Still World: My Time as a TA
The world stopped. Everything about our daily lives that we loved (even the things we hated) became abnormal. After being sent home abruptly from my study abroad experience, I was aching for something academically stimulating to do with my summer. Internships were cancelled, and the world only seemed to be doing their daily doses of reading through social media. The position to become a Teaching Assistant for a newly created Politics of the Pandemic course fell into my lap. This blessing of a position gave me the chance to not only help a professor teach the national and global problems that COVID-19 brought into the world, but gave me the chance to truly influence the newest class of Suffolk Rams. A year ago, becoming a TA had given me a true, tangible connection to Suffolk, and this summer I got to aid 38 students in finding their own reasons to love the school. Even during a pandemic, when the world seems still, transitions are happening. I consider myself lucky to be a part of so many individual lives and transitions. -
2020-06-06
A handwritten note on my desk at work
This is a hand-written sticky note I wrote to myself on my first day back in the office in mid June 2020. It was to remind me, though everything “seems” or “looks” normal, that it was indeed not normal. I figured the best way to make sure I was reminded to do things like wear my mask outside my office and wash my hands often was to put a note where I could see it right above my computer screen. It had been helpful to remind me of the working world I am in and what I need to do to try my best to stay healthy. -
2020-06-11
One to Two Percent Dying Is No Big Deal?
People have varying attitudes about Coronavirus vs. the economy. Some say, "Eh, what's 1-2% of the infected dying. This meme hits home by saying: Ok, name them then. Who would you wish death upon within your circle of family and friends. -
2020-05-20
The Girl With The White Mask
I like to make collages. I made this one this morning. Masks are our new normal. It is hard to imagine life without them. The Girl With the White Mask was made using digital collage. -
2020-05-12
Remnants of Normalcy
When quarantining started, I had mixed feelings about not attending school or work, not seeing my small circle of friends, and not getting to take mini explorations out in the city. I'm an introvert who dies to get out of the house. The house I've lived in for my entire life has brimmed with tension and toxicity in recent years. Outside is where I've found my peace and my place in the world. School is my space to grow as an artist, to tap into my capabilities, and to be - or at least find - myself. My job is my step into independence and my career as a filmmaker. My friends are my soul connections, they breathe life into me with their jokes and smiles. My lone adventures around New York City remind me that the world is enormous, full of energy and life, and I can end up wherever I choose. These elements of my life give me the confidence and hope I need for the future. I appreciate these moments dearly. This short film speaks to all of that. -
2020-05-12
This Is Not Normal
A meditation on the uncertainty and absurdity of the pandemic through the eyes of a college senior. -
2020-05-04
A Way Forward
A single panel comic/ piece of artwork shared across multiple social media platforms pointing out the unsustainable nature of "returning to normal" after the pandemic and the potential opportunity this gives us as a society to make changes towards sustainability. The artist is an environmental advocate and farmer. -
2020-05-25
The last normal day
This is the last normal day I had as a teacher. We were talking about covid-19 earlier and I read the students the current numbers. One student asked me if I thought they would close our school. I told him it was a long way off and not to worry. I took this photo to sent to the principal because yet again my classroom was filled beyond capacity with students sharing chairs and students at my desk. This was the last photo I have on my phone of a normal day, an hour later it was announced that our district was closing schools. As the students left the teachers yelled after them to keep in touch, we would figure it all out, and we loved them. You can see the life of these students. So much energy and light. I miss them terribly. -
05/06/2020
Circling
The students are 6th graders at Colorado Academy, a PreK - 12 independent day school in Denver, Colorado. After departing for Spring Break, and not returning to physical school, the students began Learning From Home and taking classes via Zoom. After 8 days in this “new school” the students wrote reflections on their “new reality." They were given complete freedom to craft any type of statement that tapped into their emotions about the change forced upon them by the Coronavirus pandemic. Please note that neither of these pieces was edited by me or by their parents (they actually had not see them until I asked for permission, and I did not read them until they were turned in to be graded). -
2020-07-05
Reverse Culture Shock and Relaxing Restrictions
HUM402 This article discusses reverse culture shock and the likelihood that many Australians will experience this as restrictions are gradually relaxed. I feel this article will resonate with many people worldwide, and also clearly highlights the turbulence of emotions felt during this period of COVID-19. -
2020-05-05
Six Feet
This week I witnessed a screaming match between 2 customers at the store because one person did not remain exactly 6 feet away from them. It makes me wonder if when things return to "normal" if people will suddenly want to be friendly again. -
2020-05-01
The New Normal.
Six feet apart indicator. -
2020-04-27
Hong Kong: Street Portrait #3
As a result of the pandemic, mask-wearing has become a norm in Hong Kong. -
2020-04-17
Trump consults faith leaders on phased-in reopening
President Trump held a call on Friday to discuss with faith leaders the return of in-person worship. During the pandemic, most services have been held online due to COVID-19. After classifying some places of worship as "large venues," some religious leaders would like to return to their normal services.