Featured Refresh
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Let's talk about racism. Have you seen any messages or memes that you thought were racist or offensive? If so, talk about what you've seen or heard.
A history professor in our town has a tradition of making elaborate, thought-provoking Halloween displays. This year, he -- and his friends and family, media reports share -- tackled both #BLM and COVID-19, as well as the death of RBG. My family and I went for a walk over the weekend to check it out. It's impossible to capture the full display in a single photo, but I've tried to snap a few. Media reports -- local and national -- capture a bit more. For example: A Connecticut man's Halloween display features real-life horrors: The coronavirus and Black lives lost https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/01/us/connecticut-man-halloween-covid-blm-trnd/index.html West Hartford family's annual Halloween display tackles BLM, COVID-19 https://www.wfsb.com/news/west-hartford-familys-annual-halloween-display-tackles-blm-covid-19/article_b22f79a0-0724-11eb-97fd-5f5558807e19.html The final board of the display gives passersby a chance to write their own comments. This photo shows one of the hundreds of comments posted on the comment board. (The creators of the display thoughtfully built it to include a ledge with permanent markers on one side and a holder with a bottle of hand sanitizer on the other so people can write their comment, then sanitize.)
October 9, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I won't lie - it felt weird walking through the doors of the Getty Museum today in Los Angeles. Perhaps what made it so strange was that it felt in some ways like I had just been there. The last time I had ridden the tram or admired the artwork was February 15, 2020. Just mere weeks before the end of the normal world as we knew it. Yet here I was today with my family. It was interesting to hear their perspectives on the California lifestyle. Most of them live in Texas where they can roam free while the other half live in Seattle. I loved how they talked about how intolerable the mask rules were here - as if I hadn't mentioned it countless times on the phone with them or if I saw them in person. I guess it's one thing to tell someone and another to experience it firsthand. I am curious to see what California looks like in three days when the mask mandate supposedly ends. For some reason I remain doubtful that things will change - i.e. that I'll see more maskless people. I keep waiting for the governor to step in and go "um, nevermind, I'm not lifting the mandate even if I'm being recalled." In many ways, the Getty was exactly the way I remembered it - the vastness of it, the gardens, the artwork. Today, I loved the Vincent Van Gogh "Irises" painting - full of life - vibrant. Something I hope to experience in the future - full of life. In some ways, I have lived like dormant flowers - waiting for the spring to arrive so I can burst into color.
June 15, 2021