1) 4/20/20 My World

I’m tired of this shit. I’ve been stuck in my house for God knows how long. I’m not cut out for quarantine. The distractions of the four square meters of space in which I spend most of my time are friggen’ killing me.

I think I consistently spend about an hour a day fondling a slinky. Its an old slinky. Maybe thirteen years of age. It has seen quite a bit. Its metal coils; no longer the silver, bright, reflective shine that it used to have, but now a tarnished patina. It has two loose gaps within the coil that give it a segmented look. I remember I received that thing for Christmas. I remember that my Hungarian aunt (not related by blood) and I stretched it the length of my front stair case. That distance is maybe twenty feet. After that, I feel bad for It. I fondle it for hours on end: sometimes when I am occupied doing productive activities, and sometimes not.

Several weeks ago my brother and I shot a short-film for shits and giggles. It turned out quite well. It seems that most people found it quaint and amusing. All this in mind, my brother shot it on his iPhone, which takes plenty of quality stabilized hand held shots. However — and here is the thing — one of my camera lenses, I just found out, has a stabilizer in it, and it take really nice hand-held video. And I never knew.

I think my desk looks cluttered. However, let us be honest. My desk looks like a fallout stricken city a year after the bombs fell. At the base level of the clutter lies a series of old school book from seventh grade that I still have returned, and some of which I assume to be quite expensive. Above that, there is a secondary layer over various radon papers, CDs, novels I haven’t read, and magazine pages. Above this layer lies the decorative layer of camera and recording equipment, floral drink coasters and bumper stickers for every outdoor, and guitar brand imaginable draped around. As a center piece to this cacophony of chaos lies my iMac that takes two literal minutes to load the opening page of the various browsers that I tend to use. Its all pretty bad. As a whole, I think my house is very beautiful, but the places that I inhabit end up looking quite awful.

I’m not sure. I just get distracted by everything.

2) 4/30/20 Cleaning Up

In times like these, life will be chaotic. There does not seem to be a point in doing many of the tasks that would typically be necessary to function in a world that is not being suppressed by a pandemic. There is no real goal to work toward. Nobody can see any of their friends. Relationships are souring. And there is not much to do about it. There is a systemic lack of personal agency amongst locked up people around the world. How do I expect to curb my lack of personal agency? I am going to start by cleaning up my desk.

I ‘m going to try to get rid of most of the shit that, over the years, has gradually found its way to my desktop. There is a lot on here. I am guessing that the wait of everything on here probably weighs in the several-dozen-pound range. The things range from books that are effectively stollen to an assortment of knick-knack games and old stacks of papers that have not been looked at in many years. It is all very rough.

*Some moments later.

It definitely looks better. There is a lot of space. I am making up for the many years of being so close to my computer, due books and trash being behind it, by having a full meter between the computer and the edge of the desk. Its so spacious. It feels like a I actually have room to think now.

This is my first expedition in to the philosophical mountain range that is minimalism. There is a well done documentary about minimalism feature the de facto founders of the modern minimalist movement, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. Its a pretty good documentary. I think it does a good job at capturing the whole point of the movement. But never minding all that, their main thesis is that basing you life’s satisfaction on material objects is not sustainable. Now I do not know if just cleaning up is going to make me happy, but I don’t think that their point is that a lack of material objects is what will make you happy. If that was the case, demographics that are materially lacking would be the happiest, but they tend to have the highest rates of depression. So I think their point is more specifically that happiness is not attached to material objects.

I can be a bit of a hoarder. Discipline is a big problem for me; or maybe a lack thereof. I think lack of discipline feels my gradual accumulation of a myriad of different objects, which then plays into my amazing ability to distract myself with my surroundings. This hoarding is a symptom of the larger problem of discipline. And if we are talking about an apparent lack of agency, I feel that the solution for me is to give myself a the start of a disciplined structure to follow. Now, I am fully aware of my limitations. If I give myself to much of a structure, I will be overwhelmed, intimidated and I will push back. So I’lll just start by cleaning my desk.

3) 5/4/20 Ego and Creativity

There is a video essay by a youtuber, Accented Cinema, that discussed the 2010 shoestring budget, Ugandan, film, Who Killed Captain Alex, by Nabwana I.G.G. The video essay talks about how the film’s cinematography, production design, video and editing quality, acting and especially the film’s special effects are terrible, yet how the film still accomplishes to be very good. So the movie looks terribly, but the narrative holds up. The film emotes very well. The film is endearing. Accented Cinema brings up the fact the films director, Nabwana, seems to a genuinely decent person, and that he made this film purely as a passion project. He brings up examples of truly horrid movies like The Room or Pure Hearts: Into Chinese Showbiz which are effectively vanity projects by there creators. His thesis is that the easiest way to make a good film (and story) is to be a genuinely good person.

I recently listened to an episode of the podcast, The Portal by Eric Weinstein. This episode consisted of an interview with one of my favorite filmmakers, Werner Herzog. This guys has a pretty large ego. In one instance, Herzog brags of the his acting in the film Jack Reacher, and proclaimed that his acting was probably better that Tom Cruise’s acting. On a different occasion, the host recounted an instance where Herzog says to a large angry booing audience, “you are all wrong,” and compared his work to Dante’s Inferno and the work of Hermosa Bosch. So this guy’s ego is pretty large. Yet he can produce some of my favorite documentaries ever made.

I am not to the point where I can understand how someone can reconcile one’s large ego while in the creative process. An concept that Accented Cinema brings up is that of ‘write what you know.’ But when one’s ego obstructs the creative process to the point where they can only write about oneself, how do you prevent creative stagnation?

One of Herzog’s favorite points of advice is to read lots of books. I think he would say that this will give you an intellectual edge on your competitors and colleagues. However I think that reading stories that speak to the human condition gives one perspective in the world. So, like I said, I do not fully understand how to be a decent person in order to be creative, but I think maybe perspective is necessary. I think thats is what Nabwana has in spades.

4) 5/6/20 The Rise and Fall of New Atheism: How I Became Politically Aware

These times of boredom, stress, and development remind me of a similar time in my life. I was a bastard when I was thirteen. A really stereotypical over overconfident, idealistic, under-socialized, internet asshole of a thirteen year old. At that time I was a doing my schooling online, from home or on the road. I had hours upon hours of time where I would browse youtube looking at any video I found interesting. Politically and spiritually I was quite naive. There were only two things that I was sure about: I was an atheist, and I was not a conservative. Both of these things I had figured out for my self. This was all during the time of the Obama Presidency, and he was surely a good guy, so I was a liberal. Buy the time I was in fourth grade I was pretty well sure that god did not exist. At the time, the group that interested me new atheism.

New atheism was a group that was founded in the early to mid 2000s when four authors (the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, journalist Christopher Hitchens, philosopher Daniel Dannett, and psychologist Sam Harris) published books questioning the necessity and factuality of religion in the modern day and in a post 9/11 society with increasing religious fundamentalism. This group was “The Four Horsemen”. Along with the anti-islamic activist and Somalian émigré, Ayaan Hirsi Ali (plus one Horse-woman), this group spearheaded the movement. However soon it would grow.

Now, clearly this movement was unabashedly divisive. Obviously, most religious people frowned upon the movement. The movement was more specifically aimed at evangelical groups and fundamentalist, and how they influence politics. It drew copious amounts of flack from Muslims and islamic fundamentalists. In fact, one of Hirsi Ali’s friends and collaborators was murdered after their short film Submission, depicting the oppression of an islamic fundamentalist Somalian society, was released. Much of their rhetoric, which seemed brash and potentially hateful towards some groups, and often vaguely ahistorical, tarnished their reputation academics. However, this exterior push back is not what would doom the movement.

By the time I had begun looking into the movement, a bulk of its members were involved through various popular youtube channel. This was my introduction to more complex political thought: through a bunch of ass hole ideologs that would post videos of critiques on absurd religious ideologs, and make fairly rational refutes of these religious arguments. Youtubers like Shoe0nHead and Armored Skeptic, The Atheist Voice, Thunder foot, JaclynGlenn, the provocative Atheism-Is-Unstoppable, Sargon of Akkad, and of coarse The Amazing Atheist were the voices I listen to for political commentary when I was thirteen. These people are glorified youtube trolls that have a sprinkling of intellectuality to them. At the time it was very entertaining stuff. Definitely a bit toxic, though. I ate it up.

But, I think if the atheist youtubers had a laugh over religious fundamentalists, they hated the SJWs. After the Horsemen [-woman] gained traction and the movement began to grow, the first cracks be gan to form. Feminists, under the 3rd wave variety, were inducted in to movement for all of the best reasons. However, when these feminists started to speak up about alleged sexual misconduct at New Atheist conventions, the movement split. Each of those youtubers slowed down the production on their religion focused videos, and started making videos about the SJWs. People like Steve Shives, Rebecca Watson, Anita Sarkeesian and Laci Green became the boogymen of youtube. The discourse around the community turned from being optimistic to downright toxic. The left wing end of the movement called into question the stance of opposing islam and portrayed it as racist. I do not think that these progressive feminists were in the right, or even unjustly vilified. Its just that the discourse shifted to be primarily about third wave feminism. I believe this is what truly killed the movement.

I saw all of this, but I was definitely a confused gullible person. I would be watching stuff like that but then also watch content buy right wing voices (some admittedly a little to far right), and then also farther left wing people like The Young Turks. I watched all of this stuff in the name of consuming diverse content. I was all over the place. I was so muddled and confused that I really only understood how different each different voice was when they started talking shit on each other.

As a whole, the New Atheism movement I believe had good intentions, but was far to willing to venture into problematic conversations. The movement then faced exterior push back. Then once cracks in the movement started to form, it immediately fell into infighting. Ideological demagogues perpetuated this inner feud for popularity, making New Atheism that much more divisive. Under the weight of the internal and external pressure, the movement loss traction. All the while, the talking heads of the movement gave into rhetorical excess. People got tired of it. I got tired of it. Youtubers that were getting millions of views per upload now rarely get views above fifty thousand. The movement lost its base of support. However I do think it did help to normalize the idea of people being non-religious. I think it might have succeeded in that regard.

How I attained my political and religious views and who I attained them from might be ugly and my readers may find this offensive (hell, I find most of the youtubers I mentioned abhorrent assholes today), but I believe the long chain of events a sociopolitical tides that brought me to where I am today made me into a healthy, skeptical member of society. How I attains those was definitely chaotic, though.

5) 5/8/20 Embrace of the Serpent

Quarantine’s been doing weird stuff to me. Well over half of the movies I am watching these days are non-english language films. This is atypical. Normally I would be watching english language films from a plethora of different genres. I have also found that I am consuming more and more surreal content. From podcasts about psychedelics to Korean zombie movies. I’m watching some weird stuff … by my standards. One hidden gem that I found is a 2015 Colombian film called Embrace of the Serpent.

The film is weird, interesting, and pretty good. It is about explorers in the Amazon rainforest trying fix their physical and metaphysical deficiencies. It is very surreal. It uses the transformative effect of the jungle to show how some will go mad and how some will be healed. It incorporates the use of psychedelic drugs into the plot. It also happens to be a black and white film with pretty great cinematography set in a remote part of the world and is in languages that I have never heard in my life, so that also adds to the apparent surrealism of the film. The story structure is very odd. There are two timelines. Each narrative timeline has a very loose plot. Both storylines play out like a series of vignettes with a central driving conflict stringing the story together. Events and places in the earlier storyline play an effect on the later storyline. The story is definitely not conventional, but it all plays into itself in a very satisfying way.

My viewing experience with this film was odd. When I started this film, I felt fairly detached, and I stayed that way throughout most of the film. However, in the last half hour, the film really started to both lure me in and confuse me. The film becomes very cryptic. It discusses things like the river having more than two sides and how the reality that we perceive is just a dream that we follow. At my first viewing, I could not understand it. Only once I let these scenes marinate and continued to watch them after them after I had finished the movie, I understood the meaning of these discussions and How they play Into the rest of the film. It took me time to understand what the film had to say.

Recently, I have been watching out-of-the-way movies like this one. I think its has been to challenge myself in our boring world. This film took me a lot of time to get it. And I think I have been spending a lot of my time trying to think about the odd content I consume in this way. I don’t know.

6) 5/8/20 Concluding All of This

I think I did a good job on this assignment. I think that each of these little pieces of writing that I did collectively can describe and give a sense of what my quarantine experience has been like. I was trying to document my inner musings as my mind wanders in boredom. However, I was also just trying to have some fun writing.

In My World my, was attempting to show the chaotic, neurotic, scrambled thought process that often takes hold of me. In Cleaning Up I wanted to talk about and act on some of my insecurities over how disorganized I can be. This blurb is definitely piggy-backing off of the topic of the last essay. In the Ego and Creativity I talked about a subject I think a lot about. That being how to foster creativity. I think about that one a lot. In The Rise and Fall of New Atheism: How I Became Politically Aware, I was reflecting, reminiscing and reevaluating parts of past events. I really what to develop this one into a more comprehensive essay. It is hard to find good coverage on this topic, especially from somebody with the perspective of a thirteen year old at the time. Embrace of the Serpent was about the content I consume to pass the time, and how I consume it. Then in this entry, I reflect upon the work I have done. Thats what all of the essays were supposed to be about, although I think I might have gone a bit off rails in some of them.

Yeah writing this was a pretty fun assignment. It gave me an opportunity to write about very random things and in a nonconventional format and structure. It was interesting to play around with the non formal introductions and writings that would not proceed towards any specific point. I do not think that many of my essays in this assignment would actually fit under the definition of a formal body essay for that reason. I think it was a good exercise for general writing and I might keep doing stuff like this. That is a might.

I also tried to play around with language. I would try working between a formal style, a very neutral style, and then pretty much how I would speak in my day-to-day life. I think this mixed style of language is where I work best in.

But yeah, I did enjoy this assignment.

Dear diary,

4/22

I started my day out early again, waking up to my alarm blaring at 5 am. I got up, put workout clothes on and headed to my basement to workout in our gym. I did my usual work out for an hour then stretched and did a quick 15 minute yoga sesh. I went back upstairs hopped in the shower and got dressed and ready to go to work. After that i got my breakfast and packed my lunch. I had a protein bar and banana for breakfast on my drive to work. For lunch at i packed a chicken salad, lime popcorn and some trail mix. I left a little late again and probably wouldn’t have clocked in on time if i didn’t go 80 the whole way there. Work was very long but it was very good to see my residents! We are still wearing masks and taking a lot of precautions due to COVID-19. I got done at 2 and it was really nice outside. I decided to roll the windows and sunroof down and take a drive around town before i headed home. My great-grandma lives right by where i was passing by and i saw her outside and decided to stop by and talk to her a bit since i haven’t been able to see her much. (don’t worry, we social distanced!!) When i got home i grabbed a snack and made myself a “to-do” list of everything i wanted to accomplish today. This list included laundry, vacuuming, work on pop lit final, facetime my partners for my philosophy final and work on that, and do my taxes. The majority of these tasks were done successfully except my taxes, i’ll do those tomorrow maybe. For dinner my mom and i made spaghetti squash and roasted turnips with venison meat sauce. After dinner i watched an all time fave movie of mine- step brothers. Soooo funny! I am very tired so it’s about to to hit the hay.

goodnight

-mads

4/25

I have a very unique story to share today. My best friend Molly and i have been friends since the 3rd grade. However, our lives changed drastically a little over a year ago. First of all, our parents are both divorced and single.Her dad asked my mom out for coffee and they really hit it off! They saw each other every day for the next almost 3 months until we went on vacation. We all did stuff together and it was really fun. They are honestly both very good together and make a great couple. 7 short months later we all moved in together! My best friend and i now live together which is crazy to think about but i wouldn’t have it any other way. Never in a million years would i have expected to be living with my best friend, practically sister!We are inseparable and do everything together. From concerts, vacations, photo shoots, road trips, you name it and we do it together. As if we weren’t close enough already, this quarantine together has made us even closer. We have really made the best of it and have done a lot of fun things. Some things we have done include, picnic on lake erie at sunset, photo shoots at least once a week, game nights, sleeping outside star watching, sleeping in our boat, painting our backs, road tripping all over the place even though we can’t get out anywhere, hot tubbing, hiking, baking and we even started working out and trying to eat healthier together! I am so thankful to have someone i am so close with during this scary and difficult time. We are planning on making a “quarantine bucket list” soon so i will be letting you know how that is going!

Goodnight and until next time diary,

mads!

4/28

Today was a really good day!! I felt very productive and had a lot of fun. To start off my day i made a chocolate banana protein smoothie for breakfast. I then got some chores done, these chores consisted of laundry and i had to paint a little hallway of my house! They took me probably an hour to do both, so not too bad! After i finished that i did some homework and tidied my room up a bit. By now it’s about 2 and molly and i decide to get ready and go for a photo shoot and a little drive to titusville. One of our favorite things to do is just drive around towns that we don’t spend a lot of time in and see what there is cool there. We also love to look at unique houses! We always find something interesting while adventuring in new places! This is an activity that we do now more than ever due to quarantine. We found a lot of really neat places that were perfect for a photo shoot!! We went to McDonald’s for some fries and ice cream on our drive home. Once arriving at our house, dinner was ready so we ate as soon as we got home. We had chicken tortilla soup, one of my favorites! It was delicious! We were pretty lazy the rest of the evening, just hung out and watched some netflix. We snuggled with our dog, Alder too! We also just recently got a new baby kitten, his name is Milo!! He is adorable and only a couple weeks old! One of our barn cats (who is not fixed) got one of our cats pregnant which we did not know until we heard all kinds of loud meowing that sounded like screaming. We are very excited to have another pet!! Well that is enough excitement for one day i’d say!!

Peace out diary

mads

5/1

Hello again corona diary! It’s been a few days since i’ve last wrote! So i’ll recap what has been going on in my life! Wednesday 4/29-

6:00 am- wake up!!

6:10-6:20- get dressed

6:25- make breakfast and pack lunch

6:38- head out the door and drive to work

6:53 arrive at work and rush inside to punch in on time

7-10:30 work grind

10:30- 11:00- lunch break which consists of primarily scrolling through tiktok while rushing to eat my entire lunch in a short amount of time

11:00-2:00 back on the work grind

2:00-2:20- take the long way home through town usually but eventually make my way home

2:25- get home and have some frozen mango as a snack while i watch an episode of my new fave netflix show-Ozark!

3:30- Got some motivation to be productive and actually do something so workout for a little while

4:30- shower and put pajamas on (yes i am wearing pajamas at 4:30 in the afternoon it’s effing quarantine)

4:30-8:30- ate dinner hung with the fam and watched some more netflix

8:30-10:00- scrolled through some social media and watched tik toks and netflix then eventually fell asleep!

Thursday 4/30-

8:00- wake up

8:15- make some breakfast and contemplate what i am going to do the rest of the day

8:45- cleaned my room and did some homework

10:00- decided to take my dog, Alder for a walk at the pael

1:00- arrive home from the park and hop in the shower

1:05- drop phone in shower and break it

1:10 panic because it’s tweaking

1:15- start crying because you have no idea what to do and your mom is in meetings all day

1:30- pull myself together and go to the AT&T store

2:00- Arrive at AT&T store that is NOT OPEN

2:15- get very stressed and decide to go to McDonalds lol

2:30- after waiting in line forever you get your food and drive to the next AT&T store which is even farther if a drive from home

3:00ish- arrive at open AT&T store and find out what to do to get a new phone during COVID

4:00- arrive back at home to tell your mom everything that has happened to you today

4:00-7:00 bored because you don’t have a phone and finding ways to annoy your mom because you have nothing better to do

7:00- 10:00 ate dinner, watched netflix and went to bed

5/30

Hi corona diary!! i am currently writing this at 7am after a very interesting night. So i intended on going camping last night in the woods behind my grandparents house with Molly. We get to the spot and set up a fire and get it going, it’s about 8 o’clock so it is starting to get dark and the sun already set. We start looking for two trees to set our hammocks up in, believe it or not this was very difficult. We searched for a good half an hour and ended up not finding anything that would work! It’s around 9 o’clock by now so we say f it we will just sleep in the back of the car with the seats down. We set our bed up in there and then go tend to the fire. We are about to make s’mores when we realize we forgot the stick thing for it! So instead of being unsanitary and using a stick we drive the four wheeler back to my grandparents house and get the fork type thing. On our way back we stop and get some more fire wood. We make some s’mores and hang out by the fire until probably 11 or so. We head into the car and scroll through social media and talk before we go to sleep. I fell asleep first, as i typically do. Next thing i know i’m tossing and turning all night, just couldn’t get comfortable! It was the kind of sleep where you are practically awake but your eyes are shut, ya know? I knew molly was sleeping the same way, she was rolling all over the place too. It was very cold also so that did not help our case. I wake up at 4am to molls awake too and we both immediately say at the same time “this is ass” because we were both sleeping horribly. Next thing i know molls says she is feeling really sick… this is never a good thing. She is the type of person who always throws up like at least 2 or 3 times a week, she has really bad acid reflex. She jumps out of the car and you can imagine what happened next. I cleaned up all of our stuff from outside, threw it in the back of the car and got molls into the passenger seat. I hopped in the car and started to drive us home. She is sleeping now and hopefully will feel better soon. We are hoping corona is over soon so we can have some pro campers camp with us next time lol.

-mads!

5/6/20

Dear corona diary, today i had to work which was unfortunate but it wasn’t too bad. On my way home i forgot i had a zoom meeting in a few minutes so i went and sat in a parking lot and zoomed with my class, it was nice to see my teacher and some classmates! After my zoom meeting i headed to the gas station to get gas because my tank was a little low. I get ready to go open the door to the gas station and realized i forgot my mask, i do this all the time. I pulled my gas and headed home to make some lunch.I made made a chicken fajita wrap, it was very yummy. After that i was feeling kinda gross from work but didn’t want to shower so i took a bath! it was very nice and relaxing, i enjoyed it very much. I then decided to play frisbee with my two dogs!! My mom made a really good dinner- Venison sausage spaghetti with my fave garlic knots from wegmans!! After that i was in the mood to take a drive alone and just decompress and think about everything that is going on in my life right now. I drove all around town with the sunroof down but heat on lol. I thought about missing my friends but being thankful to have every one i know is safe and healthy. It is sometimes just really hard to not be able to go about life “normally”, ya know? Unfortunately this is the end of the road for you corona diary. thank you for listening to my daily life throughout this quarantine. P.S.- thank you for a great writing 1 and 2 class, Cher! You made writing enjoyable and i learned a lot! Good luck on your PhD!!!:))) will miss your funk and sassiness!!!!!

4|22|2020 6:50 PM

THIS IS STUPID.

Just kiiiiiding, there’s people dying. But to be real, I have never been more antisocial in my life. I’m starting to develop a stutter and a patch of acne where my mask rubs my face.

When I asked for a “break” I honestly meant to be taken out by a freakin’ freight train but instead, I’m here and I’m actually glad things didn’t go as planned.

I’m going through this unexplainable period of growth and bettering of myself and it’s very refreshing, however, I’m met with the dread of trying to stay intact with my classes and priorities and it ain’t goin’ too well.

I am happy and healthy, but I constantly find myself complaining and buying things that I don’t need. For instance, just this week I’ve bought two pairs of Nike shoes (one pair was on sale ok I can’t help what I am) and just today I bought a Nutribullet. Did I need it? Absolutely not. Why did I do it? Because I can, duh. Now I’m thinking about all of the smoothie and milkshake combinations I can make while sporting my Air Force 1’s in my pajamas in the comfort of my own home.

The one thing I’m struggling with is people not following correct precautions- especially the damn masks. Today I had to parade around one of my best friend’s grandma’s house for her birthday instead of spending any time with her, let alone have an opportunity to get a proper gift that isn’t half-assed. Things like this can get better if people cooperate and listen to healthcare professionals. They are the educated ones, you are not.

Alright, enough bad JuJu and until the next time I feel inspired enough to complain to the general public. Stay safe, bitches.

Xoxo,

Ashley

QuaranTEEN pt 2

Hello and welcome to shit-show numero dos. I hope you’re enjoying your stay so far.

Today I made a really good smoothie and it for real tastes just like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made with strawberry jelly. I have never made such a creation in my eighteen years of living and it was definitely a major highlight.

So, the smoothie is exciting but why am I in such a good mood? My parents want to get a dog, that’s why. I’ve been asking for MONTHS for a dog, and now that we’re all locked inside with each other, suddenly they’re sick of me and would rather have a dog to keep company. Am I disappointed? A little. Surprised? Not at all.

Along with dogs and smoothies, all of my complicated stuff for college is finished! I have my freshman schedule that I literally put together by myself because they wanted me to “get a head start” so they could “tweak it on Wednesday” when I have my actual Zoom registration. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of tears and hair pulling as I figured out that the letter “H” means Thursday.

Your guess is as good as mine.

So now, I have a roommate that loves Fleetwood Mac as much as I do and I know I have to be up at 8:30 on Thursdays. Yuck. I’m also enrolled in Literary Media? I’m such an artsy bitch 🤓.

Writing these makes me want to start a YouTube channel or something… ya know?

Cher, let me know in the comments if I should. Life’s gettin’ pretty interesting right now.

Alright, that’s all for today, folks. See ya in a few days, maybe? God only knows.

Xoxo,

Ashley

April 22, 2020

GOOD AFTERNOON!! It has been over a month since the start of social distancing, but it feels like five years have went by. I would be lying if I said I was staying sane. As you may know I am an extrovert and I am withering away to nothing without human interaction. To start off my six part corona diary we are going to take a look into my daily life during the week. Lets go!

10:00-11:00 AM- wake up

11:00 AM- 12:00PM- take care of dogs, shower, and check social media

12:00PM- school work

1:00PM- my daily outing to go get the mail

1:30PM- lunch

2:00PM- school work

4:00PM- play with dogs

5:00-7:00PM- at some point in this time span we have dinner the rest of the time we normally talk, watch the news, maybe play a game if we are feeling adventurous.

8:00-10:00PM- more school work

10:00PM-2:00AM- Netflix time(I am currently watching Ozark and I recommend it to you all.)

2:00AM- I attempt to go to bed but normally end up watching TikToks for another hour.

3:00AM- Sleep

My day normally goes exactly like this Monday-Thursday (I normally try to keep Fridays open for me time). However, I did not include the fifteen thousand times my dogs make me get up to take them outside and my numerous trips to the kitchen for food. Speaking of food, I am a person with a fast metabolism and I don’t really gain weight, but I have gained 7 pounds from all the food I eat now.

Thanks for reading. See you on the next corona diary.

XOXO

April 21, 2020

Hello everyone,

The days seem to just blend together at this point– a continual cycle of the same thing, day-after-day. I do thoroughly enjoy being home with my dogs everyday now. They will have such a hard time when we all go back to work and no one is home during the day anymore. My favorite part about being home with them is the mornings. Normally, only two of the three dogs sleep with me all night, but in the morning they all come in to cuddle and get some more sleep. Our yellow lab is just the cutest because she will wake up when I do and give the biggest yawn. She then crawls up from the bottom of the bed to give me a good morning kiss. In my opinion the best way to start to the day.

I have also decided to try to make oat milk for the first. It was a lot messier than I thought it would be. After 30 minutes of mixing and blending I finally got it to taste just right. I forgot to mention the some I spilled on the floor, the oats I dropped getting them out of the cupboard, and almost losing my finger in the blender. however, in my defense I thought I unplugged it but obviously didn’t.

Anyways I miss everyone.

XOXO

May 1, 2020

Hello everyone once again. I hope everyone is doing well.

Today was amazing because I got to go get coffee from my favorite coffee shop in Warren, The Arbor House. I haven’t been there since the start of the shutdown so it was a very nice treat to go pick up and enjoy.

Other than this one trip to get coffee I don’t leave the house much. The only time that I do is when I go to record at the church I work at for our virtual services we offer during this time. I have thoroughly enjoyed doing this because it keeps some for of normalcy from life prior to Covid. It is also very helpful in becoming a better musician. I normally notice mistakes when playing but recording and listening to it again helps me hear minor mistakes that normally are just me being lazy and messing something up.

This weekend we are going to our camp to spend time up there, away from our daily lives. In fact, we are leaving as soon as I get done writing this. I hope it will be as relaxing as I imagine it to be in my brain.

Anyways, stay safe.

XOXO

May 4, 2020

May the fourth be with you all! and welcome to part TWO of my corona diary.

Since my last entry I have been very busy with other school work including writing a paper and a revisions for another paper. This was definitely a couple of very stressful days (but I definitely am using things you taught me in writing, so thanks Cher!).

I then took this past weekend to spend at our camp to have some me time. Its was so peaceful to just literally sit around and do nothing. I could read my book, tan, eat, play with my dogs and didn’t have to worry about anything. It was a great stress reliever, which I greatly needed. However, I kind of regret not wearing any sunscreen because now I have a bad sun burn that hurts when I move.

Now its back to the week-day routine though. I combination of lack of sleep, homework, Netflix binging, and eating constantly. I am not complaining though, I could definitely get used to working from home always. The only major problem is minimal social interactions, but I am kinda starting to get used to it and enjoy the quiet and personal reflection.

Anyways, I hope everyone is well that reads this.

XOXO

May 6, 2020

Hello all from the distant realms of social distancing land.

I am currently watching The Last Kingdom a show on Netflix that is based on the events back in Anglo-Saxon times when Saint Alfred (the Great) defeated the Danes. First, its made me realize how simple they lived and the lack for the need of possessions. I wonder if we would be able to live like that ever again or if we have strayed so far from simplicity that it is not possible.

I really drew the connection between them(saxons) and us. They were and we are facing a pandemic. Yes they are completely two different pandemics– theirs being the invasion of the Danes into the kingdoms of Great Britain and most notably the Pagan beliefs.

We both are called to act. They were called to fight and we are called to fight, just in a different way. In their case they were all engaged and united as one too strict down the Danes. We, on the other hand, are to stay home and let the professionals deal with the problem as our form of a battle plan. (And if your were a Saxon or Dane that did not agree with what your side was doing you were killed for being a traitor.)

What we should take from this is we all need to join together for the common good like they did. We need to fight our battle plan, even if it is staying home and social distancing. That is what we are called to do whether by God like the Saxons or by government order like us. Fighting the leaders wishes will end up in death, maybe not literally, but in some form.

Just some food for thought.

XOXO

May 9, 2020

Hello all, for the last time. 😦

Writing this last entry to my corona diary really starts to emphasize the near end to my high school journey. Even without the traditional “things” that happen for seniors when they graduate it still feels like I dream, like I haven’t actually made it this far in life. its veery surreal.

It’s very humbling to be going through also. Having the chance, even if we are forced, to be thankful for what we have and what we can enjoy without having to be with other people. I am eternally grateful for it, even though at first when the lockdown started I was just like everyone else and was complaining. However, I do wish I would have been able to either have a last day with my classmates or have an alert that the last day was near.

All the complaining aside I am adapting well, surprisingly, to the new style of life, solitude. I hope everyone else is as well and is or has learned to enjoy the silence and stressless times.

I miss everyone so much.

XOXO

-Hunter

4/22/20

Okay so basically I’m going insane. I no longer have any concept of time or a sleep schedule. But enough of that, let’s start from the very beginning of quarantine. One full day in, I decided that since everything is cancelled I wanted to dye my hair pink way earlier than I planned. My parents quickly shot that down and said, “Do it and you’ll lose your phone and car”. So in true Hanna spirit I did something else. I sat on my bed wondering what is something that I can do at home to my hair that doesn’t involve hair dye. Then it hit me. Bangs. So naturally I watched a few YouTube videos and decided it was time to snip. I have had them now for about 2 months and despise them, so not my best plan. Then two days later I stopped at Tops and bought some blonde hair dye and dyed my hair lighter. It was sufficient enough until it started to grow out. I decided two days ago to drive to Ollies and by 4 things of hair dye, all different colors. My friend Maddy convinced me to dye it auburn so here we are with auburn hair. That is how corona has destroyed my hair. My next installment will either be my struggles as an essential worker or my horrendous spending habits. Stay tuned.

4/26/20

Today I woke up at 10:22. It was a beautiful sleep, as I had woke up at 5:45 the morning prior and to go to work. After I came home from work my mom wanted to take a walk at Chapman’s Dam. That’s why I slept so well. I have had a beautiful day of doing nothing. I made some eggs and ate some Burger King (that’s right I’ve gained the quarantine 15). Since then I’ve spent the day in bed watching Community. I’ve been looking for a new sitcom to watch and Community fits that. I also started watching Waco which is also really good. Something I’m looking forward to this week is having daily Zoom parties with my friends. Tonight’s party is charades at 7. That’s all for today’s daily check in. Hopefully something a little more exciting happens so I have something not as boring to write about.

5/1/20

I love my friends. We have had a great week of Zoom parties. Sunday’s charades went well and after we finished charades we played some online Cards Against Humanity. I won both games because I am the game master. Monday we had short story day. All of our stories had to include Harry Styles, Timothee Chalamet, Taylor Swift, and a dinosaur. We all had great stories. After story time we did MadLibs and Buzzfeed quizzes. It was surprisingly nice to use my brain to think. Tuesday was yoga day. We did a 30 minute yoga routine which was pretty difficult, as it was not for beginners like we thought. After our first yoga video we did a nice Zumba class. None of us had ever done Zumba, but it was actually really fun and uplifting. After our Zumba class we did a nice cool down stretch class to finish our night. Wednesday we baked. My friend Maddy was in charge of the recipe and decided to make a pineapple, coconut cake. I don’t like pineapple or coconut so I made chocolate chip cookies, which were pretty good. Yesterday was my hosting day. I hosted a fashion show with 3 rounds. It was a pretty good time. Tonight is cocktail/fancy night so I will fill everyone in on it in my next post.

5/3/20

Update on the Zoom parties. We finished out strong and had a good time.

I don’t know what to do anymore. I think I’ve done everything I could possibly do. I have no motivation to do my high school work even though none of it is very hard. I work 4-5 days a week and want to cry every time I go in. I don’t get hazard pay and I work in a grocery store. The owner only lets us wear face shields which are pointless as they aren’t doing anything to protect anyone. I have to run register while also juggling cleaning all the incoming baskets and carts. I question every time I go in why we don’t have one specific cleaner, but who am I to question I’m a 16 year old girl. I’m really tired of all the rude people who come in and bash me. I’ve been moved up to lottery (scanning tickets and doing online ones like powerball etc) and it sucks. No one trained me. So I just guess every time I do a ticket. On a happier note, I finally got to have Easter with my family. I went to my grandparents camp yesterday and got to have a meal and our yearly egg hunt. I was so happy to see everyone as I’ve only been able to see my grandparents a few times over the last few months, only lasting a few minutes outside or if they stopped in the store. The fire ban was lifted so we could have our family fire. Today it was super nice outside. My mom and I went on a walk at Betts with our dogs which was nice since my dogs haven’t really been able to go on walks anywhere other than our neighborhood. I ordered an iPad which will hopefully be in tomorrow. I really want to try and go paperless this coming school year. I hate how much paper is wasted for no reason. Everyone here is so bored that people have just started making up rumors about people. The most recent being that I’m dating my best friend Maddy. Maddy and I think it’s funny as neither of us like girls, and even if we did we definitely wouldn’t date each other. But who really cares. I have one more year to get through and then I’m out of here. Well that’s all for tonight’s careful contemplation of life.

5/10/20

Well not much has happened since my last check in. I went to my friend Maddy’s mom’s birthday drive by. That was fun since I love her mom. Maddy convinced her to come out by saying she hit something at the end of the road. The next day I went back up to her house to help her paint a picnic table. I got paint all over my favorite jeans because I am stupid and got paint in my hair. Maddy also accidentally ran into her uncles truck so we had to buy stuff to buff out the scratches. It was great. I worked a lot this past week and that’s okay I guess. I think I have finally mastered acrylic nails. I’ve spent quarantine trying to figure out the best way to do them and I think I’ve done it. You just have to get the right set do to it. I would recommend the KISS full acrylic set, which you can buy at Walmart. I also bought some of that Aztec clay mask at Walmart. That’s all I have for now, peace out.

5/12/20

Wow my last post, who would’ve thought. Shall we reminisce on these last 2 months? It all started when I cut my bangs, which I massively regret now. Then I dyed my hair lighter, which my parents hated and told me looked bad. I decided early on in quarantine that I was going to workout so I could look good this summer, however I gave up when I had to start working everyday. Now I’m chubby and sad. I dyed my hair again, this time an auburn, however it doesn’t even look auburn. I’ve eaten a lot of eggs and drank a lot of chocolate almond milk. I was supposed to go to Rome in July, but that is canceled now so that’s fun. I’m also supposed to see my man Harry Styles in July but I’m betting that won’t happen. Lol rip my summer and my life. Can’t wait to work all summer long and want to die. I scheduled my senior pictures finally and I’m hoping by early July that my bangs will grow out enough that I won’t look stupid. My current biggest problem is I have no idea where I want to go to college. Not being able to tour this summer is making life a little difficult. Oh well maybe I’ll make a random generator with different colleges and let it pick a college for me. The only thing I’m looking forward to is dying my hair pink in July. That’s it for my corona diaries.

UPDATE

Just as I thought my corona time couldn’t get any better. Today after writing my earlier installment, I took my brother fishing down by the river before I went to work. When we were there I decided that I was going to leave and have my dad get him so I could go get my stuff for work. As I was getting ready to leave I tried to start my car. To my surprise my car was dead. At the same time I got a call from my brother. He told me that he found a baby duck that was stranded on a little sandbar in the river and that he was bringing it to my car. When he got to my car he handed me the duck, which I wrapped in a blanket to try and keep warm. My dad came to jump my car and started yelling at for having a baby duck and telling me I couldn’t take it home. I proceeded to start crying and told him I would be taking it home as it was close to death. I drove home sobbing and walked into my house to show my mom the dying duck in my hand. I cried for a very long time today. My mom put it in a box with a towel and some water with a heating pad underneath. The biggest issue was that I had to go to work and leave my dying duck. I told my parents not to text me if it died while it was gone. I came home four hours later to my dead duck. I then FaceTimed my friends and dug a hole for my dead duck. My friends and I sang the Irish Blessing as I put its box in the ground. I buried my duck and my friends said goodbye. Today has made me realize I really need to go to therapy and that maybe my medicine isn’t working.

4/21: Dear Corona Diary, I hope this entry finds you in good health. I am Ailsa. For my first entry, it only makes sense to fill you in on my quarantine journey so far. It all started on Friday the 13th of March. I was beyond excited to have two weeks off from school because honestly, my life was slowly falling apart, and I needed time to myself to pull it together. I was way too far behind on my online class and I had about four loads of laundry to do. I handled the first two or three weeks pretty well. I have three older brothers who all attend college in Philadelphia, and two of them came home to be quarantined with us. I am very close with my brothers and not as close with my parents, so having them home has definitely helped me stay busy. I have been staying on top of my schoolwork, mostly because I have nothing else to do. I watch a lot of Netflix and Tik Tok. Also, if any of you need a new show to watch, start watching Ozark on Netflix. It’s fantastic and so addicting. Since I’ve been spending a lot of time on my phone, I started to realize that I have been distracting myself from my emotions and trying to suppress my feelings. This has happened to me before and I definitely do not want to let it get any worse, so I am trying to let myself feel things and cry when I need to. I cry a lot actually. I miss so many of my favorite people and it has taken a huge toll on me mentally. I never realized how much I thrived off of human interaction, and I will never take it for granted again. I honestly just cannot wait to hug all my friends again.

xoxo, Ailsa

4/26: Hello!! Okay so time is very weird to me lately. I have a hard time remembering what day it is and everything I do is out of whack. Something that makes no sense to me is that I still look forward to the weekends. Nothing changes for me on the weekends now, but I still get excited when I wake up on a Friday morning. Let me fill you in on my weekend. On Friday morning, my dad came in and woke me up and my dogs followed in as usual, greeting me with lots of snuggles. I stayed in bed for a little while and then decided I should shower and put on makeup for once. My parents went up to our lake house for the night, leaving me and my two older brothers home alone. I love my parents, but it’s nice to have time apart and be able to bond with my siblings. I decided to relax outside for a little bit with my dogs because it was so nice and the weather here is very inconsistent. My brother and I took my dogs for a drive and we listened to music. We finished the night with a movie and then I facetimed my friends for a couple hours. On Saturday I had some iced coffee and then met a few friends at a local park. We stayed in our cars and talked for four hours!! It was so nice to have a conversation with people other than my family. My mom made a delicious dinner and then we facetimed my other older brother. Sunday was a very relaxed day. I did not get out of bed until about 1:30. I get teased a lot for how late I get up, but it doesn’t bother me whatsoever. I watched New Girl (another great show on Netflix, go watch it right now) for a while and then we had family dinner. My brothers and I hung out and then I showered. I’m so thankful to have such a great support system. It makes all of this much more bearable.

xoxo, Ailsa

4/28: Hello!! I apologize in advance because this post is going to be all over the place due to my scatter-brained-ness. I just made up that word and I hope you like it. I would like to mention the fact that the Pentagon has literally released UFO videos and the world is not even shocked. Personally, I have always had a feeling that there are other creatures in the universe besides humans. I find it very odd that the videos are being released at this time. Is the government just trying to distract us from being locked in our homes?? The timing is very odd. And why aren’t people talking about the UFOs more? We seem to be so involved in the Corona virus news and we are failing to see what else is happening in the world around us. The panic and anxiety that has been created is not helpful. I am honestly concerned about our society and how our lives will go on after all of this, although I am trying to stay hopeful. On an unrelated note, yesterday was my brother’s 22nd birthday!! I made a cake for him, completely from scratch and it turned our pretty well. We originally wanted to order food from the Plaza, a local Greek restaurant, but they are closed. This made me very sad. Luckily, my parents are fantastic cooks and they pulled together a delicious Greek meal. This morning I woke up and I dreaded getting up even more than usual. I have been feeling drowsy and out of it for the last couple of days, so I am trying to snap out of that. We are starting to receive our graded assignments from the high school and I feel very unmotivated. I want to see my friends and sit in an uncomfortable desk again. Hopefully my lack of motivation doesn’t last much longer.

xoxo, Ailsa

4/30: Hello everyone. To update from my last entry, my motivation is still nowhere to be found. Today my dad and I had to go up to the high school to pick up my belongings that were left in my locker. It was so sad so pull up and see my empty parking space. Not to mention how dead the school looked. Everything is spooky and weird!! Anytime I go out for a drive, the roads are bare and it feels so illegal to even walk out of my house. The seniors had to pick up their caps and gowns yesterday, this makes me so emotional. My best friend is graduating and I have not even seen her in weeks. I will never sit in study hall or choir with her. I won’t even be able to sing at her graduation. Sometimes when I start to feel sorry for myself and my friends I catch myself saying things such as, “Ailsa, people are dying. Shut up and get over it.” Then I remind myself that our feelings are still valid and real. If any of my classmates are reading this, it is okay to feel sorry for yourself sometimes. Supposedly restrictions might be lifted in a week or so?? Part of me hopes this will happen, but the other part of me is nervous for what will happen when everyone starts socializing all at once. Maybe I will stay inside for a couple weeks and see what happens to the rest of you. Also, I have found a new hobby. It consists of online shopping and filling my cart up, leaving the tab open for a couple of days, accepting reality, and closing the tab. I hope I am not the only one who does this. If anyone is reading this, please comment the weird things you do to keep yourself from going completely insane!!

xoxo, Ailsa

5/3: Corona journal, I have fantastic news. I got a little sunburnt today!! As I have previously mentioned, I love the weekends. This weekend my family went to Findley Lake where we have a lake house. The lake is fairly small, this gives it a sense of community. My brothers and I drove up on Friday night with our dogs, it’s about an hour long drive. We met my parents at the house and my dad was making ribs!! After dinner, my brothers had a fire down by the lake and I had too many s’mores. I have no regrets. The next morning we went out on the boat for the first time this season and I had some goldfish pretzels for breakfast. Something about being at the lake causes me to eat nonstop. We just relaxed all day and listened to music. On Sunday morning it was so beautiful out and we went for a short boat ride before heading back home. Being on the boat just makes me look forward to the summer with my friends and having fun sleepovers, and then I remember the reality of the summer. It’s nice to have a change of scenery and see other people on their boats, it makes everything seem normal. I can’t even express how fortunate my family is to have a getaway. When I got home I suntanned for a little because it was so warm and who knows when we will have nice weather again. The best thing that has come from quarantine in my house is how much my mom has been cooking. We have had so many amazing meals, and tonight my mom decided to make a yummy Asian meal. My brother and I made fried wontons and my mom made a chicken and bokchoy stir-fry. I am so full and happy.

xoxo, Ailsa

5/6: Dear Corona journal, I am starting to feel nervous about several of the counties opening back up, everything about the future is so uncertain. This makes me feel quite uneasy, but I am trying not to worry about things that are out of my control. I just try and focus on my schoolwork and get through it as quickly as possible. On an unrelated note, this is my last post and I feel very sad. I have become oddly attached to this journal and I like to think of myself as an actual blogger with an actual audience. I keep telling myself I should start a journal so I can look back on it when I’m old and cringe at myself, but who knows if I will get around to that. I actually have read through a few of my peers’ journals because I miss them and I want to feel involved in their life. Sorry if that is violating, but I can’t help myself. I miss class with everyone and having semi-intellectual discussions. Unfortunately, I will not be attending SBU for my senior year, my schedule just made more sense without it. I am going to miss the drives to class and the building so much. The thing I will miss most of all is waking up later than I would have to for regular high school. I will probably be tardy every day of school in the fall, but what can you do? I am actually very excited for senior year and creating new memories with my closest friends. Cher, if you’re reading this, I will miss you very much and I want to thank you for teaching us all how education should really be. You have no idea how much that means to me. Good luck with everything in the future 🙂

xoxo, Ailsa

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xFUsW6aOYCLrPuPt0Lk63xH237Jfs4GcjSYZnCdkr8M/edit

4/20/20

At around 9 in the morning I woke up and was ready to begin another day of quarantine. I got up immediately, otherwise I’d lay in bed for longer than I should, and I made my bed. I then went to the kitchen to get some breakfast, I made myself eggs and toast because it’s an easy breakfast to make. After sitting and watching some news with my mom, I decided it was time to start working on my school work. Specifically a history test that I had been putting off. I sat down at my kitchen table, opened my lap top and began the test. I feel as though I did pretty well. My dogs had lots of energy and were running around the house, they are only about 1.5 years old each, so I decided to take them for a walk. On our walk they decided to try to chase a squirrel, at this point I ended having to run behind them to keep up so I wouldn’t fall. After passing about three houses, the squirrel ran up a tree and my dogs stopped. At this point I was pretty mad at them, so I turned around and went home. I plan on taking them on their full walk later. Once home, I watched some TV and then made some lunch. While eating lunch, I went through my Pop Lit google docs to get some ideas for my final project. The rest of the day went by pretty slowly; I worked here and there on other work, scrolled through social media, did my laundry and the dishes. Before I knew it, it was 5 PM and I had a zoom meeting for my psychology class. After class I made dinner and took a shower. This was my day in quarantine.

4/21/20

Day two of my Corona Diaries. Today has definitely incorporated how the rona has impacted me more than the others. As a senior, Corona has taken away my last day, graduation and prom. Which I was already sad about. Although now my trip to Spain this summer has been cancelled, and it’s been quite the to do. The travel company refuses to do a full refund so my family and I have been arguing with them all day! I also got a refund for my New York City senior trip. So because of Corona I can’t do any of the traveling I planed to do this summer. So I’m bummed about that, but I knew that this most likely would happen. Along with all this trip cancelation, I have still been working on school work. School work is about the only thing I have to keep me busy after a month of quarantine. I have already deep cleaned my house, multiple times. I thought I had a busy schedule when there was school, but now I miss it and wish that I could go back. Along with my school work I have been watching Netflix and watching Tik Tok. Even though I swore I would never download Tik Tok, quarantine boredom sometimes takes over. I have also developed an online shopping addiction, which my bank account does not love. Until next time.

4-23-2020

Hello again, Rona diaries. Today my day was pretty similar to, well all the rest. Quarantine is very monotonous. Although today I decided that I needed a haircut… but I didn’t want to wait until the salons reopen so, I did what any sane person would do. I found a pair of hairs cutting scissors, watched a few videos on how to do it (I never like to be unprepared) and then snip snip. Well it did not turn out good, it wasn’t so bad I’d have to go into public wearing a hat, but it definitely was not good.

At this point my hair was two inches shorter in some areas and 3 in other areas. It was a mess. So I decided that maybe I needed some help. I opened the door to see my dad coming down the hallway, and before he could even blink I deemed him my new stylist. Surprisingly, he did really well. By the end of the fiasco my hair was three and half inches shorter and had layering in the front. It honestly does not look that bad for an impulse hair cut.

After this I decided that I was going to take my dogs for a walk. This time in hopes that we don’t see any squirrels. I got my dogs in their little harnesses and we began the walk. I worked with them so they would walk beside me instead of pulling ahead. I was totally prepared for this not to work. Amazingly, it did work and they seemed to be learning. This walk undoubtedly went better than the last.

So let’s hope by the next time I write, nothing else traumatic happens to my hair. Until next time.

4-23-2020

Hello again Rona Diaries. Today has been a bit less eventful. I woke up and did my usual routine of scrolling through tik tok, twitter and Instagram before finally rolling out of bed and making my way into my kitchen. Once there I decided to just make some toast, I did not feel like being a chef this morning. So I put the bread in the toaster pushed the bottom down and waited. Well, about half way through I smelt burning and sure enough it was my toast. Someone had moved the dial up and therefore caused my toast to burn. Not a great way to start out my morning.

But I moved on from the toast mishap and flopped down on my couch in the living room. My mom and sister were in there and we decided to continue binge watching Outer Banks on Netflix (which I recommend to anyone reading this, it’s a very addicting and binge worthy show. If you find yourself with any extra time on your hands…). By around 1 pm we had watched the entire thing, and i successfully did no school work.

I knew that was a problem so I grabbed my lap top and began working. I got all of my examples for pop lit done and am now ready to start writing my paper. I was pretty happy about that, as it is the final project. I also checked all of my emails, something I am guilty of not doing everyday. It was later in the evening now, but still a beautiful day. So, once again, it was time to walk my dogs.

My mom and sister went with on the walk this time. Which made controlling the dogs so much easier, and they were learning to walk better so that was helpful as well. The walk went great, we were able to walk the circle twice! This was the case until we turned onto our street. Then to the dogs it became “play time” which is good for them but bad for the unfortunate one holding the leash.

Although we were able to get them to calm down and head home. Overall today was decent, still monotonous, but decent. Until next time. p.s. I have attached a picture of my dogs below since I talk about them so much. Also, don’t mind the hole in my floor… they were bad as puppies.

4-7-20

Another day in quarantine. Although today was my “fake” graduation. I’m sure you’re wondering, “what’s a ‘fake’ graduation?” Well let me tell you.

At 8:30 in the morning I arrived at Warren Area High School accompanied by my mom, dad and younger sister Brooke. Although only my mom and dad were the only ones allowed in the school. When we arrived we were directed to the door that leads directly to the stage. From here I entered the auditorium and received all of my cords.

I had cords for SBU, NHS, NTHS, GPA, and Key Club. Key Club is a volunteering club at Warren Area High School. I was so excited to finally receive all of my cords after four years of hard work!!! It was definitely one of the highlights of my “fake” graduation.

It was then time to walk the empty stage. The principle directed me across the stage and showed me what to do before the camera began filming. Then I walked and turned my tassel. The process took five minutes. It was definitely not the graduation that I had always looked forward to, but it was better than nothing.

Afterwards my family and I all took pictures together. Then the school took back my NHS stole as you aren’t allowed to keep them, which I was thoroughly disappointed by. Once my NHS stole was snatched away from me, my family and I headed home.

We planned to get dinner out and to get cake to celebrate later tonight when my dad got home from work. Which we did, and when it was time we picked up Applebee’s because nothing else is really open (thanks Rona) and we got some cup cakes from tops. It was nice that my family wanted to make it special.

So that was another day in my life of quarantine. Until next time.

5/12/2020

The final corona diary.

Today life seemed to be getting back to normal a bit, even though it really isn’t. My friends from my medical class at our career center all got together to do a graduation photoshoot. I know, social distancing and all… but grad pics were a must.

It was really nice seeing everyone again after two months, it was almost like those two months never even happened. Which is weird bc in a way they didn’t. I mean that since everything was on pause no one did anything, got anything done, or achieved anything new (in society anyway). Corona pausing the world is really strange if you take a minute to stop and really think about it.

Anyway, after the photoshoot we all drove back to our own houses. (See, we somewhat followed the rules haha) Once I got home I began a study guide for my psychology final that I have tomorrow night. Upon taking it (and writing this last corona diary) I will be finished with all of my school work for this year. That’s a pretty great feeling since I’ve been so overwhelmed and busy this semester. I just hope that I can finish with a 4.0 this semester (so let’s hope I did well on my philosophy final).

After finishing the study guide I logged into my Pitt account for college next year and my schedule was up!!! I was really excited about that. I am just hoping the university can open this fall.

So enough about what I did today, as this is the last diary. I’d like to take this part to thank you for teaching us so much in such a new and better way. I once dreaded going to English in high-school, as you would walk in, read a passage and answer questions. Although that completely changed when I walked into your Writing 101 class. The way that you gave topics that I treated us and never gave us exact guidelines of what you wanted allowed me to become more confident in how write vs how I used to write only to please the teacher. I can not thank you enough for that.

I can say with complete honesty that I am going to miss this class and you so much. I am forever grateful to have had such an amazing experience with my first college level English classes, and that is all thanks to you.

So stay safe during these times and I wish you the best of luck in your PhD. Until next time…

Hello to everyone who may be reading this. My name is Andrea Sveda if you do not already know me, but just in case you think that you know me, you’re wrong. The thing about having a ton of time on our hands is the silence can get louder than anything you have ever heard. You start to drown the silence with your own thoughts, but that can turn very bad, fast. So far on this journey I have mainly been focusing on me. Recently before this all started, I lost a lot of amazing people in my life. People that a lot of my happiness came from. But along with finding myself I have also learned who people can really be, and how even when you think you know who they are, you are wrong. Now with that being said, I do not blame any of them, whatever I did, however I acted that made me lose them, that is on me and not them. So I took that as a learning experience, I started to do things that made me genuinely happy to find myself again and put my values where they should be. Focusing on my school work and spending time with my family. Sometimes I think we get so caught up in the world that we live in that we forget what matters most. We forget about the people who made us being alive possible. My mother and I have never been so close, I can talk to her about anything and everything and know that she will listen with open ears and never judge me. Mentally this has taken a toll on me, my thoughts about the bad seemed to outweigh the good. My problem has always been bottling everything up until I explode, but bottling all my thoughts us never ends up well, which is why I learned that talking instead of keeping quiet is always the best thing to do. Not that everyone will agree with what is on my mind, but I do, which is all that matters. But, with that all being said, I miss my friends, I miss my family that I can’t see and I miss my normal life. Until next time coronadiary

-Ange

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12R5BZ6bKE4dMDUAYcBJWNt22oNQhjhII4XVpKUw_11w/edit?usp=sharing