I Survived Six Months of a Global Pandemic. Now What?

The Corona Chronicles | Day One Hundred and Eighty-Nine | Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020 | What's Next? (Featured Image)

It’s a lot easier to look back and see what one’s life’s been like in a pandemic so far than it is to figure out what’s coming ahead in such uncertain times. COVID-19’s messed with us all, bringing everything to a grinding halt, but it didn’t mean that the world stopped turning just because we were all trapped inside.

But if anything, the pandemic let content creators slow down enough to take a solid look at ourselves and get a better idea of what we’re about when the world takes so many of our supports away. Who are you without events and travel? Who are you when you’re not out showing outfits off on the streets or trying restaurants on a whim? The pandemic’s made us all re-evaluate how we do things, and as the world starts to get its footing again, we all need to ask ourselves one question:

“What’s next?”

CONTINUE READING to find out what exactly DOES come next! “I Survived Six Months of a Global Pandemic. Now What?”

How a Global Pandemic Changed Me

The Corona Chronicles | Day One-Hundred and Eighty-Seven | Sunday, September 20th, 2020 | How a Global Pandemic Changed Me (Featured Image)

This past Friday, Kat Dickson from the Toronto Bloggers Collective issued a challenge to our near-600 members to pick a draft from our blogs and turn it into a full-fledged blog post by the end of the weekend. And me, I had 181 because I start so many ideas that I don’t always have the time, energy or innovation to see them through. Every post needs a featured image. They need search engine optimisation. I need to run text analyses to make sure they’re impactful and make sure the photos won’t make my site load too slowly… there’s a reason why my hobby grew into something more of a second job. It’s because every time I want to create something, I want to do the most fantastic job of it that I can—anything less is unacceptable.

But these last six months have got me thinking. While I wasn’t always ready to share because my creative process takes a lot of time, it had me look deep inside and start understanding what I wanted to do with everything I’d built so far and what I wanted from all the time that’s yet ahead.

This is how six months in a global pandemic’s changed me, and I hope it’s for the better.

ContinuE Reading about my six months in the pandemic and who i am today…. “How a Global Pandemic Changed Me”

CMHO x Casey Palmer | COVID-19 and the Schoolyear

CMHO x Casey Palmer — “Making Back-to-School Not so Cruel in the Midst of a Global Pandemic” (Featured Image)

With the start of the schoolyear afoot and an impossible decision on our hands, I found myself wondering how to write about the things we’ve discussed ad nauseam since the pandemic started. How much we parents are struggling, trying to take care of our children with limited resources—especially with school here and every choice feeling like a bad one. Or what it’s like living in a world where turning a blind eye to racism is more passé than ever, leaving us wondering how we can fix the problem that took centuries to create. 2020’s undoubtedly been a year for the books, but it’s not quite over yet—school’s back, and it’ll be stranger than ever before.

Back-to-school, circa 2019 — who even knows what it’ll look like this year?

Back-to-school was already tough enough for kids in the pre-COVID world, a million questions rushing through their heads as they start a new school year ahead. Will they fit in? Are their outfits on point? What stories can they tell when people ask about their summers? It may be a distant memory for many of us, but those first few days often set the tone for the year to come, and everyone wants to start it off on the right foot.

But that’s only if you have the luxury of those being your biggest problems.

Fact is, the COVID-19 pandemic has made things so much more difficult, and it’s hard to see how we’re going to figure things out.

CONTINUE READING: The CMHO Back-to-School Mental Health Kit “CMHO x Casey Palmer | COVID-19 and the Schoolyear”

LG gram 17″ Ultra-Lightweight Laptop Review

The LG gram Ultra-Light Laptop | Computing Success in Three Pounds or Less! (Featured Image)

Disclaimer: LG loaned me an LG gram 17″ Ultra-Light Laptop with Intel® Core™ i7 Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics for my review, but all views remain my own and it made for a stellar addition to the tech on my desk. Read on! 

Last Updated: October 4, 2020

It wasn’t until I got to try the LG gram 17″ Ultra-Light Laptop with Intel® Core™ i7 Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics in all this physical distancing that I realised just how badly I need to get a new computer.

The LG gram Ultra-Light Laptop | Computing Success in Three Pounds or Less! — My Device Family
I had plenty to compare the LG gram against for the most solid comparison possible!

I’ve been a pretty heavy Mac user for the past decade, looking for a computer that’d last a lot longer than the PCs that came before them. But while I’ve had a good run with some MacBook Pros, iPads, and just about every Mac accessory you can imagine, PCs didn’t stop innovating, and the LG gram is an example of where technology can go in 2020! It’s not a touchscreen laptop, but there’s a lot more under the hood that makes it a solid consideration if you want a convenient laptop to use in an increasingly mobile world!

CONTINUE READING to learn more about the LG gram and how much it impressed me! “LG gram 17″ Ultra-Lightweight Laptop Review”

Uncle Ray’s Food & Liquor | Who the Hell is Uncle Ray?

Who the Hell is Uncle Ray — The Most Delicious Way to Spend Your Father's Day! (Featured Image)

Disclaimer: The team at Uncle Ray’s sent over a Ray’s Backyard Bud & BBQ Kit (minus the Bud) for the Palmers to review. But all thoughts and opinions remain my own, and when I eat meat down to the bone… you know it’s a good sign.

The night before everything went to hell, my friend Gabe and I were supposed to have dinner. With us living on opposite sides of the city, I usually try to find somewhere in the middle to meet up, and this time it was Uncle Ray’s Food & Liquor.

Or rather… we would’ve, but bowed out as the world grew dicier and everyone sent home. But if you’d told me then that our city would shut itself down and we wouldn’t sit in a restaurant proper for months to come, we might’ve reconsidered.

So for a long time, it was a remnant of the world before, one of the things on a long list that we wouldn’t get our hands on for who knows how long.

But in June 2020, that need not be the case, since Uncle Ray’s Food & Liquor has both takeout and delivery options that go perfect with this weather!

CONTINUE READING to find out more about Uncle Ray’s Food & Liquor and the DELICIOUS food they have to offer! “Uncle Ray’s Food & Liquor | Who the Hell is Uncle Ray?”