Items
Date is exactly
2020-11-15
-
2020-11-15
Keep coughing
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2020-11-15
Trump Supporters and BLM Clash
Yesterday, thousands of Donald Trump supporters rallied in Washington DC to dispute the Presidential election results. Among those attending were white nationalists, conspiracy theorists, and alt-right activists. Throughout the day, Trump supporters violently clashed with BLM and abolitionist activists. I've had Trump supporters came at me a couple of times now. My favorite shots are the moments before they decide to make a move on me. Photo #9 is seconds before a woman decided to shove her bike in my direction. -
2020-11-15
New York, Bilbao, New York
In November 2020 I began reading Kirmen Uribe's novel Bilbao New York Bilbao while in Bilbao, Spain with my partner. We were there to care for his father who is suffering through the late stages of dementia and to spend time with his family who he had not seen in a year. Uribe's novel is important to my plague year for many reasons. He talks about the split mind being from Bilbao yet living in New York. My partner is from Bilbao, and the novel helps me understand his mindset. But Uribe also talks about the ways humans remember and carry pain and mark loss. Unlike trees who carry their growth in their rings or fish who mark time through their scales, humans mark time and pain through simply marking time. He notes that fish grow their entire lives, but humans start dying and shrinking from the moment we hit maturity. Growth, it seems is only for the fishes. My plague year was marked by my entire partner's family getting the virus, a story of gradual family loss, one of borders, and of course a presidential election. The pandemic closed not only schools and bars but also borders and our chances to move between Spain and the U.S. in any straightforward way. When we began planning the trip in the summer of 2020, we came up against all of the travel bans in place. My Spanish partner could get to Spain, but I could not. So, the research began, and I spent more time on Facebook groups than any person should be allowed to. We knew we weren't going to Spain just to have fun. We needed to take care of his father, but it felt like we were doing something wrong. Love, it turns out, knows no national borders, but border agencies certainly do. To get to Spain, he just hopped a plane to Madrid. I had to go through Lisbon, London, and Paris before arriving there. On the way back, I hopped on a plane flying directly to New York. He had to quarantine in Mexico for two weeks. Our stay there was marked by his father's continued decline but also moments of joy. The picture here captures one of those. As a U.S. citizen, his Spanish family and friends are always asking me about U.S. culture and practices. One of my tasks in Spain was to cook a big American Thanksgiving dinner, which I did with gusto. I made all the things: turkey, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pecan pie. I tried to explain the significance of each dish while realizing how insignificant and somewhat gross Thanksgiving foods are. But we had fun and spent the night after the meal singing "American" songs and discussing art--his cousins are all artists. That night, one of his friends recommended I read Uribe's novel. So, I ordered it that night. It is a lonely book of loss and thinking about how art marks that loss. I think that is how we marked our time in Spain contemplating everything we had lost in 2020 and everything we were gradually losing. We spent time at the Guggenheim and Fine Arts museums in Bilbao. In fact, we waited for my partner's COVID test while browsing the Fine Arts Museum. It turned out positive, and we separated at the point for two weeks. But the picture here represents a moment of joy as we said goodnight to my partner's cousins after the Thanksgiving weekend. I hope for all the clichés of going back to normalcy. And we probably will get back to the "before times" given humans' inability to learn from any of their experiences. But I am one of those humans and just want to sit at a bar and talk to strangers again. When that normalcy returns, I will look back at this picture and remember Uribe's words: "As with the growth rings of fishes, terrible events stay on in our memory, mark our life, until they become a measure of time. Happy days go fast, on the other hand--too fast--and we forget them quickly." Maybe Uribe is wrong, though. I will not be forgetting this day anytime soon. -
2020-11-15
Senior Year in NYC: The Monumental Moments - After A Night Out
Imagine...after a nice socially-distanced night out on the town, walking to your favorite late night snack joint with all your pals. **Fordham University, SOCI2200 -
2020-11-15
COVID 19 - PETS
Pictured in the photo is my 2 year-old mut, Nala. Like many dogs during the pandemic of COVID-19, she was happy. The governor of Massachusetts issued a stay-at-home order that forced many businesses to begin operating online, employees to work remotely, and students to be taught through a screen. This left residents with not much to do as facilities closed to stop the spread of the virus, and so, people turned to the shelters and pet adoption. It seemed like the perfect time to welcome a new family member into the household-- people were able to spend more time taking care of puppies who might have needed extra training or surveillance at home. Shelters all across America were being flooded with adoption applications during the pandemic, and other shelters even ran out of dogs to adopt. Nala’s smiling face in the photo represents the simplicity of the happiness one can get from spending more time with family. It was a silver lining during these uncertain times. -
2020-11-15
Christmas Photo 2020
A year never to forget and the most unusual Christmas holiday experience, or lack thereof. To memorialize our 2020 holiday season, we illustrated the mask mandate in force wearing holiday attire for our Christmas picture. -
2020-11-15
A way to pass the time
As a 76 year old grandmother, I never felt the need to learn all of the new and fancy technologies. I would occasionally use my daughter's facebook to check up on friends and family but that was about it. Most of my time was spent visiting with friends or working at the local Church. This all came to an end with COVID obviously, and especially since myself and my friends are considered very high risk. My grandsons showed me a way to watch all my favorite movies and shows on my laptop. This has been an excellent way to pass the time, as well as a new way to connect with my grandsons during this trying time. -
2020-11-15
Jewish Melbourne: Mitzvah Day
Mitzvah Day in 2020 was on 15 November, and due to lockdown and restrictions on gatherings, special activities were organised through the website. -
2020-11-15
The Healing Power of Music
My friend Sarah who currently lives as St. Mary's University sent me pictures of the way she gets through her anxiety which is with music. The pictures that she provided show that the Healing Power of Music is a way to escape all the chaos that is happening in our lives around us. This shows when there is no where else to turn music always seem to have your back by providing comfort. -
2020-11-15
Faces of the arts shutdown: Nathan Hubbard: ‘As far as I know, everything is off the table’
The San Diego Union-Tribune has published a short series chronicling local musician's experiences and struggles during COVID-19. This story is about drummer Nathan Hubbard and how he has gone from performing almost every day to having very little work. -
2020-11-15
Stranger intentionally coughed on 4-month-old baby at Victoria hospital
According to Vancouver Island Mother, a man purposefully coughed on her and her 4-month-old baby while at the hospital. This comes as BC Covid-19 cases have been at an all time high. -
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. -
2020-11-15
Symphony Reinvention: Orchestras, GR Ballet cope with COVID upheaval, revamp for survival
With concert halls unable to open due to COVID-19, many performing arts groups have to find alternate ways to perform and raise money.