March 24, 2020 – Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City 10:18PM

Dear Diary, I bought my very own bass yesterday. I had to drive to Long Island by Mount Sinai to pick up, but it was 100 bucks so it was worth it. I’ve been playing all day, recorded a couple of videos and even wrote down some music I made. Hopefully this bass will help me stay indoors and will keep me distracted for a while.

March 25, 2020 – Everything I did the day before, I plan on doing today. I have to learn songs that my friend wrote to help him with his band and I have to help write for this other project I’m part of. Hopefully this can keep me busy and productive. I got two of my midterms back, I didn’t do too bad so I’m not stressing it.

March 26, 2020 – My parents woke me up to go grocery shopping. Every store that we went to had a long line so it took forever to get everything we needed.

Ruhshona Rustamova

March 23 06:45pm kings highway Brooklyn New York

Woke up today at 9:30 because I had a math lecture from 10 – 11:40 my professor had some technical difficulties and we had the lecture only for 40 mins. After I had to submit my math homework through webwork which took me around 50 min. Then I went to the kitchen and made myself some toast and added milk and sugar to my coffee after I finished I washed the dishes after my self. I helped my sister with her online homework which was quite easy because she’s only in 3rd grade. I watched Netflix or a few hours and then had lunch, for lunch I had a chicken sandwich which didn’t taste that good because the chicken was kinda dry. I was so bored that I decided to take a nap I woke up around 06:20 and started  writing my diary.

March 24 07:57pm Kings Highway Brooklyn New York

Today was a very exhausting day I had to wake up at 8 to take my online anatomy lab quiz I could barely keep my eyes open, I had 30 minutes to finish 30 questions it was kinda tough but I still managed to finish on time I got a score of 82 which isn’t that bad considering I didn’t even study for it. I went back to sleep after and woke up at 11. My mom made some pancakes for breakfast, so I had pancakes with syrup and a cup of green tea. My cousin came over with her baby daughter and brought lasagna so we had lasagna for lunch. I didn’t really do much for the rest of the day just hanged out with my family.

March 25 05:34pm Kings Highway Brooklyn New York

I had my alarm set for 9:30 but woke up at 9:50 turned on my laptop went into blackboard and joined my math class this time my professor didn’t have any technical difficulties and we actually went through with the lesson. After my friend called me asking me if I wanted to go over to her house and help her bake. I spend the entire day at her house, we tried baking a cake and other pastries which turned out pretty good.

Keep posting your diaries today. Here’s more on that. I write to you in real time and say why.

Diary of how I’m spending my week 

Yesenia Matute English 1101-C361

March 23-26, 2020

March23,2020 Cypress Hill, Brooklyn, East New York 

10:30pm 

Hey diary today was a good day. I had my first online work video call  with my coworkers. It was fun seeing all my friends that I work with. I Also had  Acai bowls, this is a bowl with granola a smoothie then it has more granola then it has nutella and then you can put whatever fruit you want I like to put banana, blue berry, and strawberry. So today me and my cousin got this dye to color our hair but it’s temporary so I had a lot of braids on my hair so my sister and cousin started to take out the braid. They took like an hour taking out my braid. I actually like how my hair came out so then me and my cousin sat on a chair while my sister and my other cousin dyed our hair. I was disappointed because the color did not stay. My hair is too dark so the color did not stay on my hair. 

March 24,2020 Cypress Hill, Brooklyn, East New York 

 10:56pm

Hey guys today was a very good productive day. I went and did laundry, I had a date with my cousin in her car and we had Pizza. I also cleaned my room. I was bored so I started to clean. Every time  I get bored now I always clean my room. I don’t know why I do that. My cousin did a virtual party for my cousin today. It was her birthday. She turned 8. She is like my little sister. I love her so much. It was fun. I saw my cousin that lives in Florida. I saw my other cousins, aunts,  and close family friends. The theme was Harry Potter. Today was a good day. I really enjoy my day. I have been trying to stay inside but I can’t be home for too long. I feel like if I stay home for too long I will hate it. Sometimes I don’t mind being home but all the time I can’t . Hope all of you guys stay safe.

March 25,2020 Cypress Hill, Brooklyn, East New York 

11:45

 Today was an okay day, I put the clothes that I washed yesterday  away today. I was mostly home. I cleaned my room. I went to my aunt’s house in the afternoon to take her some food. Now i’m about to watch a show on Netflix with my cousin and sister. Today was a slow day. I was home most of the day. 

DIARY OF INDOOR ME, 2020 NYC
ZAHIRA SANTANA, ENGLISH 1101 361
MARCH 23-26, 2020

March 23, 2020 – Whiteplains, Bronx, New York City

1:00 pm

Dear Diary,

I am writing this in the afternoon. I’ve just woken up to do my classwork for my English class. I’ve not yet eaten anything, I’m still in bed with my nice warm blanket over me as it’s raining outside. I haven’t been up too much, feels so weird being stuck in the same four walls every single minute, hour , day, week etc. I’ve been in self isolation since March 17.

As I write this it doesn’t feel real that not so long ago I could go out and enjoy a nice sunny day with my friends. I just hope that soon I’ll be able to go back to that as well as everyone else.

March 24, 2020 – Whiteplains, Bronx, New York City

4:42 pm

Dear Diary,

Im Writing this after a very long day it’s about 4:42 and I’ve just finished doing two Midterms one for Math and another for my fashion class. Even though they were long and tiring it felt good to have my mind focused on something else. I’m going crazy, staying home is so boring and frustrating all I think about is when are things going to get better.

When are people going to fallow what they are being told to do so ,when can we  go out to the world again. I miss going outside and feeling the warm sun. As I sit in my dinning room table I think about the things we have to appreciate.Sometimes when we have everything we don’t appreciate it and when we no longer do we do. When this crisis passes I want to start enjoying life even more and appreciating it.

March 25, 2020 – Whiteplains, Bronx, New York City

12:25 pm

Dear Diary,

Woke up not so long ago , just been laying down in my bed thinking about what I’m going to do today so I don’t go crazy.

6:00 pm

I’m laying down what a surprise!. I’ve just finished watch a few episodes of a series I’m watching is called “ Good Girls” during this time I can definitely say that watching shows is something that’s definitely helping me say sane.

10:00 pm

I’m here again  just thinking, being doing that a lot since I’ve had a lot of time in my hands. I think about how unfair things are , how sad and worrying things are getting every day more people die. It makes me feel so annoyed that there’s not much that the government is doing. Every day of this week I wake up, get my phone and go through my emails. To see an email from the New York Times they talk about doing certain things like getting money and in every email they repeat the same part and nothing is done about it nothing has changed.

My head is filled  with so many emotions…

March 26, 2020 – Whiteplains, Bronx, New York City

11:30 am

Dear Diary,

Woke up about a few minutes ago up but not really excited because I already know is going to be the same like yesterday. Feels like I’m stuck in the same cycle.

12:12 pm

You know what I change my mind I’m going to try to make today a fun day or at least an interesting one. I’m going to do something new today like paint what going on in my head , I find that the worst situations can some times make the most beautiful art. Will see were the day takes us one thing I do know is that I am grateful that all my family is doing well.

I’m about to go eat some spaghetti my mom made yesterday and then I’m going to clean my house and then will see were the day goes…

ONE STUDENT, ONE DAY AT A TIME, NYC PANDEMIC
Ganesh Sitaram, English 1101 361
March 23-26, 2020

MARCH 23, 2020- OZONE PARK, JAMAICA, NEW YORK CITY
2:25 PM

Dear Diary,
I’m writing my first entry after checking open lab. Today started out as any normal quarantine day, with the abundance of sanitizer, gloves and masks making my job a little difficult since I’m not accustomed to wearing gloves and a mask. For my job I depend on the feelings in my hands because I detail cars, so I must feel the paint in order to know how to proceed with the detailing. Anyways I’m on lunch break right now so I decided to start my diary entry. Today I grabbed a small lunch because my options were limited since majority of places are closed, I got a chicken parm with a 20-ounce coke. Surprisingly its tasting really good, not going to lie I was skeptical about it because I never ordered anything from Ozone Pizzeria before. Just finished my lunch, didn’t have much time to write a lot so this will conclude my first diary entry.

MARCH 24, 2020- SOUTH JAMAICA, NEW YORK CITY
6:17 AM

Dear Diary,
Literally just woke up to my phone ringing, when I checked I saw that I had 7 missed calls from my boss. When I saw that I immediately knew what it was about, yesterday I had to close the shop since I was working the afternoon shift, and instead of leaving the keys in the locker I kept it in my pocket. Now I must get to my job before 7am and its my day off. I’m kind of angry but it’s my fault so I can’t complain. Got to go so I will continue after I return home. Now its 9:39am came home and made some breakfast. I made a turkey-bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich with a glass of orange juice and a cup of Keurig Starbucks medium roast coffee. I don’t really drink orange juice that much, but since the corona virus attacks your immune system, I’ve been taking a lot of vitamins. Other than that, today will be a chill day I will be continuing my online courses for my other classes, I have a lab report that’s due by 6pm today and an online test starting at 4pm and ending at 6:30pm. So, for the remainder of the day I will be performing an experiment and studying.

MARCH 25, 2020- SOUTH JAMAICA, NEW YORK CITY
4:03 PM

Dear Diary,
Today has been going pretty good so far, I woke up around 9:30am and headed to the grocery store. It wasn’t a shock to see the shelves empty and cases of water that was once 3 cases for $10.00 is now $7.99 each. After I was finished from the grocery store I went to the pharmacy only to see the vitamin and nutrition isle was full of products. I found this very odd because as we know the corona virus affects the immune system which means we should build our immune systems by using vitamins. I got a few vitamins, such as b12, vitamin C, and vitamin D. I’m kind of taking my own approach on the virus but at the same time still doing the basic social distancing, and cleaning of the hands and face. Since today is Wednesday I have a couple of classes today, I just received an email from Art history saying that instead of us meeting online every Mondays and Wednesdays we will be given a test on each of those days since many people is having so much difficulty with the distance learning. Luckily for me this English class has made it easy to communicate using the open lab website.

MARCH 26, 2020- SOUTH JAMAICA, NEW YORK CITY
3:46 AM

Dear Diary,
As you can tell by the time that I’m writing this, you can tell that I am REALLY bored. I already feel like I’m doing the same thing every day, not going to lie I kind of feel like I’m in prison but at the same time not really. Ever since we got the news that we will be doing distance learning, and I won’t be able to go to work since my job is not “essential” I finished twelve seasons of Criminal Minds on Netflix and I’m already on season 10 of Bones on Hulu. At this point I feel like I’m watching a full season per day and its beginning to get very boring. If I happen to leave my house it usually really fast, just going to do something important then rush back home. Even when I’m outside its really depressing because its not the usual sight, the roads and side walks are almost empty. Even on social media and T.V all you see is some type of “new” information or some sort of broadcast on the corona virus. I know it’s something life threatening but I feel like if they don’t find a cure soon we will all go crazy from being in our homes.

Continue reading

MARCH 25, 2020 – CARROLL GARDENS, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY

1:00PM

I wanted to be at my computer and on OpenLab this morning at 8:30, but I didn’t sleep well last night because I was worried. I read the NYTIMES and saw about a thousand emails from school administration, and I got confused and upset. I got back to bed around 5:45AM.

My brother is sending me inflamed emails and texts, telling me that I must get out of NYC and live in a hotel for 14 days someplace near him, and blaming me for allowing my son to live in NYC (as if there was any other choice I had. His school closed).

I have weird habits. I don’t put groceries away right away. I sort of let them sit for a bit (24 hours or more), because I am afraid of touching them when I come back from the supermarket. I still haven’t put my son’s laundry away that he brought from college. that’s it, below.

I haven’t been hoarding — just going out every day or two for my/our basic needs. What do I do if I buy eggs? I have to put them in the fridge. I still buy fresh produce, and I wonder if this is wrong somehow.

Now that the reports are out that over 30,000 people in New York State, I am getting upset about hula hooping. It’s what I like to do every day. I stand by myself. I don’t go near people in the park (it is an ugly park, with only a baseball diamond on an old cement and asphalt surface. No grass, anywhere). Well the hula hoop touches the ground, and I pick it up. It touches my jacket. I wear cloth gloves while I hula hoop. How safe can I be? I feel like it was wrong of me to do it. Now I am scared of anything. I don’t have alcohol or Clorox wipes. I tried to buy them, but no place had them, and Amazon said it couldn’t deliver before May if I ordered them.

(These are new hoops I haven’t used yet, made for me this week. They are still sitting outside the door.)

My Pastimes/skills/ and this Pandemic Season

I used to go to a dance session/cypher every week. Now that’s stopped. I was hoping to perfect my moves during this time. I practice a form of dance called “popping” or “animation.” People group it with hip-hop, and yes, it comes from a similar tree, but its philosophy is different. During the first week of my sheltering it gave me a lot of comfort. “My moves can get nice!,” I thought to myself. “Now, I will practice — and even San Jose Strut better.” (That syle is hard. I totally respect it. It is kind of a sub-set of popping…but different. The west coast has proprietary dibs on it, but I have followed a few people I really respect in that style, and have even met one: Money B. and have studied a bit with another: Africano.)

This is a typical night at my popping session that I recorded on my iPhone a while ago:

Maybe this give you an idea of what it’s like. My heart is heavy right now, to be honest, and I don’t feel like practicing.

This is Africano demonstrating San Jose Strutting at a workshop I did a couple of years ago, also recorded on my iPhone:

Is there hope? I want to get back to this. I need to. I think that skills and stuff that makes us feel valid and that life is purposeful are even more important right now.

Now I gotta go. I wish it wasn’t raining.

Hi Students,

I am here for you via email and OpenLab messaging if you are confused about the work on the ASSIGNMENTS page. A number of you have reached out, and I’ve responded to clarify. I also hope my video helped.

If you ask me, what is most important? That you write in some kind of diary every day, and please share with us on Thursday (tomorrow) from what you’ve written by posting to OpenLab. I am doing this assignment, too. I will post an entry from my diary shortly.

I am so proud of all of you.

Yours,

-Prof. S.

Hey guys today was a very good productive day I went and did laundry, I had a date with my cousin in her car we had Pizza. I also clean my room I was bored so I started to clean. Every time  I get I  bored now I all ways clean my room I don’t know  why I do that. My cousin did a virtual party for my cousin today was her birthday she turn 8 she is like my little sister I love her so much. It was fun I saw my cousin that live in florida I saw my other cousins, aunts,  and close family friends the theme was Harry Potter. Today was a good day I really enjoy my day I been try to stay in side but I cant be home for to long I feel like if I  stay home for to long I will hate it some times I don’t mind being home but all the time I cant . Hope all of you guy stay safe.

Me on video. Helping you. Hope this works!! I had a few questions on email, so I made a video. I use a different website to demonstrate, but the principles are the same. Apologies for it cutting off at the end.