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Have you or people in your community been harassed, threatened, or attacked since the pandemic began, either in person or online? If so, what happened?
At first, I did not see much hate being spread about groups of people in relation to the virus, but I later found out that the Asian community has taken a lot of heat from prejudiced people during this pandemic. I have a friend from high school who was harassed and yelled at on the street for being Taiwanese. I also didn't realize that calling it the Chinese virus causes more hate crimes against Asian people statistically. At first, I thought that there was nothing wrong with calling it the Chinese virus, but since learning that information I don't think it is so wise. I still believe people should be allowed to say it, but when public figures like Donald Trump say it I think it becomes an issue.
April 13, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Last week I finally had the opportunity to remember, rejoice in what life was like BC. I had both shots and now I'm protected from COVID. At least that's what is said. My first outing was a ferry ride to the City to meet a friend for lunch - outdoors of course, and we still wore masks. I hadn't seen her in more than a year. A few days later, we met with our group of friends called family by choice, nine of us all under the same roof again, also vaccinated, but we didn't wear masks. We laughed and hugged, and cooked together, sat at the table to eat looking out at the mountain. I played with the dogs who I adore. These were the first hugs I have from someone other than my husband and the nurse who watched over me after I had a CT Scan. We, too, had both been vaccinated. There may be life on the other side of this. I await anxiously for it to be a daily occurrence. I am grateful.
April 13, 2021
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¿Ha cambiado su condición de vivienda un los ultimos meses? Quizá hubo un cambio en donde usted vive, o con quién vive, o en su relación con las personas con quienes vive.
Sí cambié de vivienda. En mi casa, mi habitación quedaba en un segundo piso. El 20 de agosto del año pasado (2020) me enfermé y necesitaba que alguien me cuidara. Entonces, regresé a la casa de mi mamá, donde crecí. Esa casa es de un solo piso y mi habitación aún estaba disponible. Después de la enfermedad, me agito mucho y me cuesta respirar si subo gradas . En principio, por eso me he quedado en la casa de mi mamá. También me di cuenta de que en mi casa me deprimía porque no tenía alguien con quien hablar. Desde que vivo con mi mamá, ya no siento esa tristeza perenne. Hablamos y compartimos todo el tiempo. Eso me ayuda mucho. Este año también me enfermé durante varias semanas. Al estar en esta casa, fue más fácil para mí recuperarme y tomar los medicamentos. Tanto mi mamá como yo guardamos un confinamiento más estricto que el de mi hijo, por ejemplo, quien se quedó en la otra casa. Allí entra y sale gente joven constantemente, algunos trabajan fuera. Las posibilidades de contagio de COVID-19 son altas porque se relacionan con mucha gente externa. Mi mamá me ha dicho que está contenta de que yo la acompañe, así que seguiré aquí por algún tiempo más.
April 14, 2021
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Has the pandemic affected your religious or spiritual observance in any way? If so, talk about it.
This question is very well-timed because I am about to start my second month of Ramadan during the pandemic. The first was last year at the height of the pandemic and was noticeably different because there weren't the usual gatherings to break our fast or pray at night, However, I feel like the Muslim world's resilience has shone through this calamity we have faced because we have readily found ways to adapt to our conditions by praying over zoom, using the month to reflect on the pandemic and pray for the virus to finally be eradicated.
April 14, 2021
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Has the pandemic affected your religious or spiritual observance in any way? If so, talk about it.
I am a Quaker, and we have had continual Quaker meetings in zoom. Strangely, this silent hour, with everyone muted, has been fine. I miss the in person socialization ( I really dislike zoom group social gatherings), but silent meeting has worked quite well. We are beginning to prepare to be back in the Meetinghouse itself, esp for those of us fully vaccinated. However, I suspect that some form of hybrid meeting will be continuing , which will be great for elderly, disabled, or those not vaccinated. Our meetinghouse is currently being brought up to date with WiFi so that we can start with a more hybridized version of Meeting for Worship.
April 15, 2021
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Talk about what brings you happiness these days.
The spring weather. The flowers. Having zoom calls with friends and family. Painting. Reading.
April 15, 2021
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Talk about what brings you happiness these days.
Beans!! I know it's a weird way to start this entry, but during quarantine and staying in my dorm, I try and find happiness in the little things. As I feel I have little control over the world around me, I do things that I have complete control over to try and remain sane. The newest escapade of mine involves growing black eyed peas on my dorm window ledge. Being able to turn the sprouts away or towards the sun and water them regularly is about as much control I have over anything at the moment. They are also representative of my home and family. On my way out after visiting my mom for Passover, I quickly grabbed a small ziplock bag and tossed in a dozen or so beans. Throw in a little water and boom! A few weeks later I have plants coming in at around 5 inches tall. I've grown beans in the past. My fourth grade science teacher did a demonstration in class when we were learning about photosynthesis. Reflecting back on it now, it's one of the earliest memories I have where my fascination with biology started to bloom. I remember so vividly rushing back home after school that day and starting my very own bean-growing setup. And not to toot my own horn, but I remember them growing tall enough to the point where my parents were gladly surprised. As I'm writing this entry and staring at the two sprouts planted in a recycled coffee jar, I think these beans provide the perfect metaphor for a world post-covid. Rebirth.
April 15, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
These past couple of weeks, I feel like I've been having crazy mood swings between super happy and excited (usually when I'm socializing with friends) and super depressed and pessimistic. Last week, there was a period of time when I felt generally miserable and isolated on campus, which was only exacerbated by the fact that almost all the students in my hall are in a registered household together and being loud and partying all the time. I really don't like the way that my university has designed its COVID household policies. The way it works now, groups of up to 8 students can register as a "household" that allows them to mingle indoors without masks or distancing, and also grants them special privileges like reserving campus amenities as a group or (as of April 14) reserving outdoors campus spaces in tandem with other households. While I understand the need for households, I feel that the way the policies are currently designed effectively ranks the well-being of students with households (aka with preexisting close-knit friend groups) above students who don't. Currently, RAs in the dorm are not allowed to organize outdoors, socially distanced events for their halls (which are typically less than 20 people and already share bathrooms and showers). And yet the university allows groups of 24 students from up to 3 households to register outdoors, socially distanced gatherings. This is frankly absurd from the point of view of fostering the well-being of all students — I would venture that a lot of students on campus depend on sources of social support that are not within their household, but the university is effectively saying that that's not a legitimate way to be social and the only legitimate way is to be part of a group of friends that is close enough to be registered. Also, I feel like our dorm is really struggling to set ground rules for living together in COVID times (like quiet hours at night, reasonably quiet spaces during the day when we have remote classes), and resistance to these norms usually comes from households, not individual students. Seldom if ever do I hear about a single student being disruptive — usually, it's a household that is partying that keeps up people in a hall at night, or a household that is having an impromptu eight-way fireside chat that interrupts my lecture. I feel like any solution necessitates significant reform to the current rules around households. One prong of reform would be making an explicit set of guidelines around meeting with students outside the confines of households. Right now, the university doesn't have any guidelines either allowing or forbidding students from meeting with each other across campus, and as a result I see students meeting up all the time from different dorms (full disclosure: I have done this too). I feel like rather than pretending that this doesn't happen or blindly insisting that students give up the convenience of meeting up at the dining hall for yet another hour of Zoom, the university should acknowledge that students want to see each other and give advice for how to do so safely and when it isn't allowed. So for example, an explicit rule that no more than X students can meet up at one time, indoors or outdoors, but small gatherings (e.g. up to 5 people) are permitted as long as they are outdoors and distanced. Another prong of reforms would govern granting access to spaces for students who are not in households or want to interact with students outside the confines of their households. This I have less of a vision for, but I feel like this could start paving a path to normalcy for students in clubs, homework groups, etc. I've been really acutely feeling a sense of anticlimacticness to the end of my college career. Usually, this time of year is full of special events for seniors, but we have basically nothing. Our graduation is online, and other events that I didn't even know existed (e.g. senior formal) are cancelled. Our university won't even let us get grad photos, even though my friend at Princeton is getting formal graduation photos with the cap and gown. I find that this is causing a lot of anguish for me because I feel like no one is really acknowledging that we missed out on a year of milestones and we're ending our college experience on an incredibly dismal note. Yes, "silver linings" and resilience and all that (silver lining: I'm not dead, I guess???) but I feel like there's a difference between staying positive and acknowledging that we've lost a lot and we need to make up for it somehow. You don't make up for losses by just pretending they didn't happen. I'm taking a weird solace by making hugely expensive and unrealistic plans for how I plan to commemorate graduation regardless of what the university does. Item number one is getting an uber-expensive photoshoot. Like, engagement photo quality. A high school classmate did a photoshoot with a photographer in SF who I found out does really nice photos, and my pipe dream is to do a photoshoot with that same photographer and post the photos on Facebook and on my dating profiles. Item number two, which is related, is to go on a huge shopping spree and buy lots of fancy dresses and get a perm and get a makeover and a mani-pedi. Like, just totally reinvent myself physically. Item number three is to have a nice fancy restaurant dinner with my parents (we will all be fully vaccinated at the end of this month, so we should have peak immunity by May). My mom also ordered a cake for me through a lady who bakes really good cakes, so part and parcel of this fancy meal is having the good cake. That's all I have on my list right now (sometimes I think I'm going CRAZY, and then I realize that my "crazy" is actually a fair number of people's "fun weekend"). Last week, I met up with a lot of people on and off campus and through Zoom, and it was really nice and it helped me realize just how important having a social life is. it was also one of the impetuses for me to understand that the household policy is not well designed. Lots of folks in college meet their social needs not through a tight-knit friend group, but rather through a looser web of interactions, but instead of figuring out how to allow students to maintain that looser web more safely, the university just moved it all onto Zoom and prioritized the students with tight-knit friend groups. I kind of want to write an op-ed about this, although now that I'm entering the professional world I feel like I should be much more mindful of what I say in a public forum. Santa Clara County opened vaccine eligibility to all on April 13, which was a nice surprise since it was two days early. SCC has also "cancelled" the J&J vaccine, but anecdotally, I think a lot of people have already gotten Pfizer and Moderna here, so it's not as big of a deal. I personally got Moderna and my parents and a lot of my friends got Pfizer. Most of my parents' friends are getting vaccinated, which gives us hope that we can get together for a July 4 meetup. Usually we get together on the major holidays, but last year we didn't meet up at all after New Year, and holiday season was noticeably empty because of it. So I am excited. My work announced that we'll be starting remotely, which was incredibly disappointing to me. I have hated this last year of remote school and if it were up to me, I would never take another Zoom call in my life. Zoom is exhausting, it strains my eyes a lot, and I feel like it's impossible to truly get to know people or have meaningful conversations over Zoom. Plus I hate the prospect of having to spend my formative first years in the workforce working remotely, not really being noticed by my managers and unable to learn how to handle office interactions. My office is in San Diego and I had been looking forward to starting my dating life for real once I moved, but now, I'll have to spend at least another few months at home and will probably need to have an awkward conversation with my parents if remote work drags on. My parents are nice people, but they don't tend to react well when I try to make moves that signal independence from them (e.g. finding a partner as opposed to just relying on them), so I'm not looking forward to having to have this conversation while also trapped at home with them 24/7. I feel like my entire independent life has been on hold and my greatest fear is that by the time things finally get better and I can finally move on, I'll have become so emotionally stunted and fearful and weak that I just keep clinging to my parents for support. And so if they tell me they don't want me to date until I finalize my career, or something else to push me not to leave the nest, then I'll just accept it because I've become afraid that if I make them mad, then I'll lose them and then I have no one left. I hope that I haven't become that desperate, but I guess that's one of those things that you don't know until you're there. I feel like in a weird sense, I've both gotten used to having my entire life being ruled by this one virus and also am no longer okay with it. I personally don't believe it will be possible to eliminate COVID, nor should that be our goal (there are lots of other diseases in the world, and if we froze society until all of them were gone, we'd have no more society left). I do think that we need to make it so that it's no worse than a cold for everyone who gets it, and that we can get there through a number of policy means: worldwide vaccination, some regulation of spaces, etc. But I feel like at this point, I'm really damn tired of having to stick to poorly designed and haphazardly enforced university policies that unnecessarily destroy my mental health and put my social life and dating life on hold when so many other people aren't even trying. I feel like my only options right now are either being a chump who follows all the rules and then is forgotten about and is depressed and isolated for the rest of their lives, or being a "covidiot" who acts like the virus doesn't exist and then gets everyone sick. No one is offering a third way right now, and it's so frustrating.
April 15, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Michigan should be known for its freshwater inland seas, the Great Lakes. For the miles of soft sanded beaches. For Petoskey stones. For virgin stands of pines and the Mackinac Bridge. For pasties, tulips, and Art Prize. But not this week. This week we are known for the largest number of new Covid cases in the country. My guess is that new cases will continue to grow in the next few weeks because people have returned from spring break trips and will be depositing covid germs wherever they gather in unprotected clumps. I can't believe how careless we have become. A restaurant owner in Holland, MI refused to close her establishment when our governor ordered that restaurants close for in-house dining. And she had customers, people who believe the pandemic is a fraud cooked up by liberal villains or over-reactive ninnies. Our governor who has previously been willing to take the heat for shutting down the state seems to be bending to conservative nitwits in the Michigan legislature and so far as not ordered another shut down. She has twice asked for additional vaccine doses and twice has been denied. Today, she will address the state and may, perhaps, order schools to close for in-class learning and restaurants to limit indoor patrons. But, really, all people have to do is socially distance and wear masks. But the latest covid victims are teenagers and younger adults. It's frustrating and exhausting. But, the magnolia is in bloom.
April 15, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I hugged a friend yesterday really tight and it made me realize how much I miss human touch and connection. I used to hug my friends all the time but hadn't since Covid. I miss that. My friend is vaccinated and I have my first shot, so I think I will keep hugging him everytime I see him. I also miss having people over to my apartment to hang out, or going to other peoples' places to hang out. I miss going to movies and other events like plays, concerts, etc. These are some of the things I'm looking forward to doing more of as soon as I get my second shot.
April 15, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I was excited to see that eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine opened up. But then news broke of hundreds (millions?) of ruined doses, and everyone I talk to says how seemingly impossible it is to get vaccinated in Oregon, where I live. I was feeling so much more optimistic, buoyed, but now I've fallen back down a bit. I want to keep moving forward, but there seem to be so many hiccups. I know we've turned a corner and things are better than they've been, but I'm still impatient and restless, eager to be looking back on this time instead of continuing to muddle through it.
April 15, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
My son got his first shot this week. He has been extremely careful throughout. We have also been careful, but not as preoccupied as my son. We let friends who have been vaccinated into our home, with which he has not been entirely comfortable. I wonder if his careful approach prevails amongst his age group. Perhaps we will be able to see more people after he gets his second shot. Maybe he will feel safe enough to travel to go visit his girlfriend in Seattle. She stayed at our house from September through early January. During that span, I had some business associates come from out of town. We had lunch indoors on a very sparsely attended restaurant. When I got home, my son made me quarantine. Set me up in a far corner of the house and made me stay for ten days. In retrospective he was right, one of the visitors got Covid.
April 18, 2021
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Has the pandemic affected your political views in any way? If so, how?
Watching the pandemic turn into a political question just drives me insane. What should just have been a fact of life became a marker of your political philosophy, and probably made me more of a moderate than I was prior. Those one the right are being reckless with their lives and those around them by denying the virus and not taking precautions because that’s what “free” people do. On the other hand, those on the left that turned mask wearing into virtue signaling and wanting to force people to get vaccines isn’t right either. It just creates a horrible chasm that makes it really hard for medical workers, public health officials, and those of us who have to care for the dead to do our jobs to save lives and keep society running. I don’t know that this could have played out any differently though - all these ingredients already existed, but there’s nothing like a pandemic to be the catalyst for societal upheaval. It was bound to happen regardless; more a question of how and when rather than if.
April 18, 2021
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Talk about what is most upsetting or scaring you right now about the coronavirus pandemic.
Day #363 Haiku in Corona Time A recent uptick Herd immunity at risk Vaccine refusals
April 18, 2021
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Talk about what is most upsetting or scaring you right now about the coronavirus pandemic.
that it will never be over and I'll never get to have the kind of family life and see friends like I used to
April 18, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Southern California trip to see my parents was a huge success! This photo is of my daughter and my father sitting at the piano playing music together. It was one of so many special moments we shared with my parents, and I am looking forward to making another road trip to see them again in a few months. It seems like the aged so much since we saw them in 2020, and I want to make up for the time we missed.
April 18, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Iphone and ipad contact Zoom on my laptop Shared image from 1969 Art school drawing Sent ink drawing To my classmate Four years in art school Now his memoir Arrived in our mail I sent him this drawing We are old old friends 2023 will mark 50 years since graduation We survived pandemic Many memories Held in my head We survived the pandemic!
April 18, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
April 18, 2021
April 18, 2021
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Talk about how the events of recent months have affected your financial situation.
I live on government disibilty assistance. Its pretty low but I can just cover my expenses and groceries as I shop at a discount supermarket. Early on during the lockdown I continued but felt more and more uneasy. Since December my family has been helping me out financially. It has been a real help. I now order all my groceries and needs through a delivery service. It costs alot more and I balk at the prices often, I'm spending twice as much on groceries, but the peace of mind is worth it. There is no way I could have stayed at home, safe without financial assistance. This pandemic was hard on the poor and in my province 42% more likely to get infected. I support raising our rates and that of welfare. This pandemic hopefully showed that people's lives matter more than money.
April 18, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I am part of a Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services committee consisting of behavioral health clinicians, patients and their relatives. On a meeting this week a man who is in his 70s and is a patient was quite distraught. He said he had a really hard time getting necessary medicine this past week. He said he was at CVS and waiting for his clinician to fill his Rx. He says he was doing much better before COVID happened, I have seen him at more than a dozen meetings and a couple of community events over the years and he is definitely doing worse now. This meeting me realize that there are two separate groups whose affected by COVID, those with ongoing chronic mental illness whose condition is aggravated by COVID and those who did not previously have significant mental illness who develop a mental illness during or because of COVID-19 and the lockdown. The effect of COVID on mental illness can only be judged after looking at both groups. WE got our second Moderna shot Wednesday. WE had almost no effect in the first 12 hours after the shot. Then we had fatigue, chills and feeling feverish, though I checked once and didn't have a fever.
April 18, 2021