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2020-05-05
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2020-05-05
A lack of touch in a tactile world
When the COVID-19 virus struck in the spring of 2020, I was still completing my undergraduate degree in history at a small university near the border of North and South Carolina. My university transitioned to online learning around the second week of March. One of my classes that semester was an upper level special topics course on Public History. Seizing the opportunity to document the COVID-19 pandemic for future generations, my course instructor had students to document and journal about our everyday lives in quarantine during the second half of the course as we transitioned online. The above is a video I took for that course of some my friends from back home, where I had returned to live in isolation with my mother, father, brothers, and grandfather; while at home, I would drive about once a week to an empty target parking lot to socialize with some of my friends from the community. We would sit in our cars, spaced at least fifteen feet apart, in order to avoid spreading the virus. Though I was thankful for the opportunity to still see my friends, and to have at least one social outing each week, the sense, or rather lack of sense, that was most prevalent in my mind, and still is when recalling the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in the spring of 2020, is not being able to touch my friends. I am a very tactile person, and giving a hug or a handshake to my friends is an important part of expressing my love and feelings for others. Though during the COVID-19 pandemic we were able to communicate by means of modern day technology, such as zoom, and even in cases such as mine due to the state where I lived, still being able to socialize in outdoor areas, the fear of the virus prevented me from being able to express friendship in one of the most natural ways. Though only ten to fifteen feet apart, it was if we had all created an invisible bubble that could not penetrated. Though this was all for good reason, it did not make the psychological implications any less real. The ten feet that separated me from my friends for over two months felt like ten million miles, and my thoughts constantly played tricks on me. I grew accustomed to not touching or being near others. It was in early May, almost two months after returning home from college, that I touched someone outside of my family unit for the first time. A friend of mine who I went to high school with, who also worked on a farm that borders my family's farm, wanted to ride ATV's together. I agreed, and we remained at least six feet distant from one another. We it came time for him to return home, however, he extended his hand to give me a "fist bump." Normally, he probably would have tried to hug me, but even the notion of touching our fists together made me hesitant, though I did return the friendly gesture. The virus had me, and most of society, programmed to remain enclosed to ourselves, and in doing so, though necessary for a time, unable to engage in the most basic of human interactions. Prior to the pandemic, I never had give thought to the importance of touching in my relationships, however, in a post-pandemic world, I will never take for granted the most basic of human interactions, such as touch, because in a moment it could be gone. -
2020-05-05
Cinco de Mayo
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2020-05-05
Forgotten Nature
During the pandemic, I've noticed a good number of people take steps to deepen their connection with nature by hiking, gardening, and even just sitting outside for a while. I took a few short trips around Arizona and found great viewing and hiking spots. This here was in Prescott, Arizona at Thumb Bute. -
2020-05-05
New app gives moms-to-be flexibility in receiving care
A press release from Banner Health announcing a new digital tool used by Banner Health physicians allows pregnant women to monitor their prenatal health at home and make fewer trips to the doctor’s office. -
2020-05-05
A Tough College Year
Life was hard for me for the last two years. As 2020 comes close to an end, I am almost wrapped up with my first year in college, though barely. Last year, due to some family issue, my grade was failing in high school, so I could not enter the college I was applied to, while in this year, the transition to college was still extremely tough due to the COVID pandemic. I had little to no social interactions with others, lives in complete isolation, while had to deal with college workloads. It was tough as I felt that my life was not in my control, and became increasingly frustrated. I had an extremely respiratory system as well, coughing and wheezing constantly, so I had to be careful at managing myself to not contain COVID. I felt like I was a burden on my family, who supports me financially right now, as well as a burden on the society. However, as I took a long walk across the city street during the night, I realized that this was out of my control. It was not my fault that the pandemic happened, and I am doing my part to prevent further spread of the disease. I am no burden of the society - no more than people who are not properly quarantining themselves, at least. -
2020-05-05
Boogaloo Bois
During the riots after the death of George Floyd the Boogaloo Bois started to attend these rallies and seemingly supporting the BLM movement, while they seemed to look like they were supporting the police at first glance with their heavy weaponry and body vests that take a militaristic look with Hawaiian shirts under those vests. These are mainly gun enthusiasts who want to protect gun rights and want to have a government with less control. They are anti-government, pro-gun, who mainly are not racists as many people do believe. This was told to me by a coworker who I had the chance to get to know while working with him during the COVID pandemic. He told me that these guys are mainly misunderstood because people like to link them with White Supremacy because of the way they look and the way that they are perceived, due to some White Supremacy’s trying to link themselves to the Boogaloo movement. They have been given a bad rap because a small handful were arrested for shooting up a police building in early May 2020, in Minneapolis during a protest. -
2020-05-05
Finally Taking a Step Back
As a college student who treasures every bit of time he can with friends at school, getting sent home two months early sounded like the worst thing in the world. Not only would I not be able to see any of my friends as often due to being far apart, we had a global pandemic preventing us and everyone else from feeling a sense of companionship for the better part of 2020. School work kept me busy for the first couple months and that was very clearly my number one focus until May. Once finals were done though, I had absolutely no plans for the next three months of my life. With work being near impossible to find and no school to worry about, I contemplated what I should do with this newfound free time. The solution was a lot simpler than I thought it was, with three months of time on my hands, why worry about what you can do and instead focus on doing things you enjoy? And that was my mindset throughout the summer, which actually helped pass the time incredibly well. I spent a lot of my time making improvements in my various hobbies and eventually, this mind set landed me two jobs for the summer. I got back into running, started learning how to arrange music, and had a large list of projects around the house that I wanted to do. I had a lot of passion projects that I was working on and by the time I was ready to go back to school, I had accomplished the vast majority of these goals. By having this free flowing mind set and no pressure on me to do things I didn't want to do, it kept me happy throughout my time at home, but at the same time I was feeling productive and like I was doing things that were making me a better version of me. At the beginning of the year, I told myself that 2020 was going to be my year and initially, the pandemic scared me away from accomplishing many of the goals I wanted to accomplish. What I found instead is that with the right mindset, your goals are still achievable and while the circumstances may not be ideal, I’m still doing everything I set out to do. -
2020-05-05
Quarantine ferrets
For the longest time, I had been wanting ferrets. I had talked about them all the time, not only at home to my mom but also to my friends at school as well. My mom finally gave in and we had planned to drive out to a place for me to adopt two ferrets. But when COVID struck, my mom pushed it off and said we'd have to wait. Eventually, I found someone selling their ferret on craigslist. He was the cutest thing and I named him Bean. I loved him more than anything and would spend all my free time either playing with him or napping with him. I knew I needed to get him a friend since they are very social animals. So I did just that about a month and a half later my dad and I went to get Bean a friend. We got a little shy fella, and I named him Turtle, soon enough he opened up and was very playful and frisky. They kept me busy during quarantine and made my life a whole lot more fun. But then three months after I got Bean I noticed his energy decreasing. He wasn’t playing that much and was sleeping more than normal. He seemed very weak and even when he seemed like he wanted to play he couldn’t. I was very worried about him and knew something was wrong. We took him to the vet and found out he had leukemia. This was heartbreaking because I assumed we had years together. But he was getting weaker by the hour as his bone marrow stopped creating red blood cells. This was the most heartbreaking day of my life as my first real pet, my first baby, was dying. Turtle and I went to say goodbye. And even though everything seemed to be going downhill, when one door closed another one opened. The vet said he had a ferret that he didn’t have time for and who he was looking to re-home. Even though another ferret could never take the place of Bean but I knew Turtle would need a friend as a few days later I could already tell he was getting lonely and with school approaching I wouldn’t have as much time to be his playmate. A week after Bean was put down we took in the ferret, I renamed him Astro. These ferrets have done much more than keep me busy during quarantine, they have kept me sane. Bean: March 27th-June 27th, 2020 Turtle: May 5th, 2020 Astro: July 2nd, 2020 -
2020-05-05
Coping Strategies for LEOs and First Responders
First Responders, by nature of the job, daily charged with helping people through their worst moments and traumatic events. Some might say that first responders should be able to handle it, after all, they signed up for the job. But first responders, just like the rest of us, are human. No one can ever really be prepared to handle stress like that on a day after day after day after day basis. In order to help out first responders, the CDC created this website with information on how to deal with the usual stress of the job plus the new issues and problems that 2020 has decided to throw at us. I thought it important to include here, not just for posterity, but the more places this information is posted, the more available and easily accessible it is for someone who may need it, but not know where to look. -
2020-05-05
Professional Seafarers are Covid Essential Workers
My covid-19 story started at the end of January, 2020. I was working as a Marine Operations Manager for Holland America Group, which is comprised of four cruise companies: Holland America Line, Seabourn, Princess Cruises, and P&O Australia. As covid-19 spread across Asia in January, we stood up our Emergency Response Center, which involved taking 12-hour shifts to support the ms Westerdam, which had been denied docking in multiple ports in Asia as a result of the covid outbreak on the Diamond Princess. Though there were no covid cases onboard the ms Westerdam, she was denied docking in Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam, Guam, Philippines, and Taiwan. Our job was to ensure that our full complement of guest and crew had enough fuel and provisions, with toilet paper being of critical importance (seriously!), to make it until we could find a port that would allow the ship to dock. Eventually, the Cambodian government allowed the ship to dock in Sihanoukville to disembark guests, which became a political photo op of good will for Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen who attended the ship himself when it docked. But this story was just the beginning of the nightmare for cruise companies, and other maritime organizations. After working to disembark guests, the next hurdle was to repatriate crew, which was next to impossible with the extreme disruption to global travel, some crew members had spent months longer on the ships than anyone could have ever envisioned. Using our ships like ferries, we made plans to transport crew to their homes, but to compound the problem, local governments like South Africa and Mauritius were unwilling to accept their own nationals back when the ships arrived, which meant they had to keep sailing and further plans had to be made to get the crew home. What you see in the object attached is the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and that of its member companies making a humanitarian appeal in their interactions with local port authorities who were blocking their own citizens from returning home during this crisis. We were working long days, 7 days a week to get our colleagues home - but there is only so much you can do when local authorities will not cooperate. The object speaks to a desperate time in the maritime industry during the covid-19 pandemic. (Arizona State University, HST 580) -
2020-05-05
DC Mayor Fights For Control of Her City
Amid tensions with the president over his deployment of federal officers during protests, Washington’s mayor had “Black Lives Matter” painted near the White House in an unmistakable assertion of control. -
2020-05-05
Coronaland: 1927-29 N. Rampart St.
1927-29 N. Rampart St., DON'T INJECT BLEACH, GEAUX VOTE INSTEAD -
2020-05-05
Coronaland: 617 Chartres
617 Chartres, Miles Davis image -
2020-05-05
Coronaland: 617 Chartres
617 Chartres, Sound of Love -
2020-05-05
Coronaland: 617 Chartres
617 Chartres, Louis Armstrong image -
2020-05-05
Coronaland: Royal and St. Ann
Royal and St. Ann -
2020-05-05
HERMIT HERALD VOL 1 ISSUE 25
China re CV; Therapy vs cure; Social distancing, blaming the boomers; CV and extremists -
2020-05-05
George Floyd Protest in Orange County
I live in that area and although we are going through a pandemic, many people were in attendance and not following social distancing rules. -
2020-05-05
Girl Scouts Virtual Experience
With all in person Girl Scout activities cancelled or postponed, Girl Scouts has been hosting virtual experiences for girls. In this one, Karis (Brownie, age 9), participates in a Q & A with a female astronaut. She was excited to have her question answered, as well as to learn how toilets work in space. -
2020-05-05
Quotes
I picked this up in middle school and have copied from it to make up for my boredom. -
2020-05-05
a group where we all pretend to be ants in an ant colony
An article about a Facebook group which has exploded during COVID, in which members pretend to be ants -
2020-05-05
Blessing for the Mitzvah of Putting on a Mask
In Judaism, there are blessings to be said for nearly any action or occasion. For lighting candles, for waking up in the morning, for getting dressed. A blessing for wine, a different one for bread, a different one for fruits. This blessing can be said when putting on a facemask, and emphasizes the central and important place in Judaism of the divine commandment to protect life. -
2020-05-05
Suffolk University/WGBH News/Boston Globe Poll: Coronavirus Has Cut Income for Nearly Half of Mass. Residents
The survey examined the economic fallout from the pandemic in Massachusetts, the extension of the stay-at-home advisory and closing of nonessential businesses, state and national leadership during the pandemic, perceptions about compliance with wearing masks and social distancing, comfort levels for resuming certain activities, and mail-in voting. -
2020-05-05
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe Asks Tribal Graduates of 2020 for Pictures for Casino Marquee, Honoring While Social Distancing
“Let us celebrate you! We want to display your picture on the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort marquee!” #IndigenousStories -
2020-05-05
John L. Smith On Rallies To Reopen The Economy
Protests calling to reopen the economy in Nevada, and across the country, have grown more animated as the coronavirus pandemic wears on. -
2020-05-05
Original Pinettes Brass Band Livestream from Bullet's, New Orleans, LA
The Original Pinettes Brass Band performs a Livestream concert from Bullet's sports bar during the COVD-19 stay at home order. The post reads: "Live @Bullet's Sports Bar, The Quarantine Edition, Friday, May 8th... 9 pm, We're bringing the MUSIC to YOU!! Catch the full show on our Facebook page: Original Pinettes Brass Band. STAY HOME, Video by Emeka Dibia & Natasha Harris -
2020-05-05
Artwork inspired by covid19 statistics through 4/30
Susan Backman is an artist (and Imaging Coordinator at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) who often sends lucky friends original artwork on postcards. She is inspired (and disturbed) by covid19's spread and created this. -
2020-05-05
Coronavirus in the United States
Essay: Coronavirus in the United States by Helena Zikov -
2020-05-05
Will Colleges Reopen Normally in the Fall of 2020?
An essay on the process of college's returning. -
2020-05-05
Through Chinese Social Media -- 5
I’m a study-abroad student. Due to the virus, I had to stay at my home in New York. I got the update of the virus through Chinese social media, and I think it is really interesting. I’m going to share some posts from Chinese social media about the virus. The post is about that one of the temporary hospitals is going to close, which means the hope is coming. Through the post, I feel the persistence of those front line fighters. There are plenty of touching stories in the post. One of them brings his daughter's doll to the front line. They are also others' wives, husbands, mothers, children. These medical staff came to the frontline at the risk of infection, and their families were also worried, proud, and worried about them from afar. -
2020-05-05
African American Covid-19 cases in Southern States.
It shows that the African American population is getting hit hard by this disease in the South, even though they are less of the population -
2020-05-05
Schools sued for tuition refunds
Students from many different colleges have filed lawsuits asking for refunds for tuition because of the switch to remote learning. -
2020-05-05
Cinco de mayo meme
explaining how cinco de mayo falls on a tuesday, which is celebrated with tacos, during the middle of a pandemic called Corona #cshsecon -
2020-05-05
"In clamor to reopen, many black people feel overlooked"
"Black people are dying in disproportionate numbers from COVID-19 in the United States, in part because they are more likely to hold many of the jobs that were deemed essential." -
2020-05-05
Javier's COVID dairies
A detailed account of the pandemic through twitter -
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. -
2020-05-05
Coronavirus Realizations
My personal recollections of the coronavirus, and the need to hold loved ones even closer. #CSUS #HIST15H -
2020-05-05
Javier's COVID dairies
A Journal of the Plague Year- An Archive Diary -
2020-05-05
How I Am Affected By The Coronavirus
This is a description of how I directly have been affected by the coronavirus, financially and in day-to-day activities. #CSUS #HIST15H -
2020-05-05
COVID-19
The Various Emotions of a 21 Year Old in Quarantine -
2020-05-05
Brownies all day
Staying at home has given me a lot of time to bake many things and cook many things as well. One of my favorite things I've baked so far are my oreo brownies. You can simply get the recipe off google or youtube. All you do is make your brownie mix and pour half of it in the baking pan then place your oreos in it all over then add your remaining batter. its easy as that! I like to do all my dessert and food by myself because it makes me feel more accomplished that I did it by myself and I never need the help anyways. My mom goes and takes a walk for about an hour with my aunt every day and while they head out I get to baking, sometimes I do it when there home but I like to do it when its nice and quiet -
2020-05-05
How COVID-19 changed my life.
A personal account of the pandemic. -
2020-05-05
Colleague Care Package
I received a care package from a colleague in my field. It includes snacks, ibuprofen, toilet paper, a positive message, and a craft. -
2020-05-05
Quarantine in Lemoore, California
This journal entry illustrates my experiences throughout the pandemic while living with my family in Lemoore, California. -
2020-05-05
Free Parking During The Virus, Central Ballarat, Australia
Illustrates Council's effort to reduce costs for necessary travel during period of social restrictions -
2020-05-05
Social Distancing Mural Ballarat Bakery Hill
Mural illustrating social distancing during lockdown, Ballarat, Australia -
2020-05-05
Plague Doctor Mural Ballarat Bakery Hill
A mural in Bakery Hill, Ballarat, drawing comparison with earlier pandemics -
2020-05-05
Mural, Ballarat Bakery Hill 5 May 2020
Two virus murals, long-distance shot, Bakery Hill, Ballarat, Australia