Ways to stay entertained while sheltering in place

Staying entertained while isolating can be hard, but here are some new ideas anyway.
Photo: Taelar Pollmann • The Sentry

staff picks for the best quarantine activities

While most people are having to remain indoors for health and safety reasons, The Sentry has surveyed its staff to compile a list of recommendations of how to pass the time.

Cyanotypes
by Taelar Pollmann

A photographer with nothing to photograph is a depressing situation to be in, but there is still hope with alternative processes. Cyanotypes are one of the original light sensitive processes and can be developed with water. This process allows the photographer to either coat their own paper with a simple two-part emulsion that can be applied in low light or just purchase precoated paper. Objects or digital negatives are placed directly on the paper and exposed in the sun. Once the desired level of exposure is reached the paper is rinsed with water, treated with a diluted solution of hydroperoxide, and then hung to dry.

Fall Out 4
by Catherine Milles

When unable to leave the house, all gamers should play Fallout 4 from the beginning to get in the end of the world mood while still in quarantine.

Manifest
by Haley Frank

To experience one of the hit dramas that NBC has released, people can login into their Hulu accounts and hit play on the series Manifest. This sci-fi show details through two seasons so far the mysterious disappearance of a flight 828 that unexpectedly returns five years later with passengers who haven’t aged a single day. While trying to pick up the pieces of the lives they left behind from old romances to the loss of loved ones, passengers are also forced to understand their new set of powers that continue to turn their world upside down.

Next in Fashion
by Kennedy Erhart

Netflix has recently been entering into the dramatic world of reality television with hits like Love Is Blind and Too Hot To Handle but a recent addition featuring Queer Eye’s own Tan France is the perfect way for fashion lovers and reality television lovers alike to pass the time in quarantine. Reminiscent of shows like Project Runway, Next In Fashion puts pairs of designers head to head in various design challenges—ending in a massive runway show each episode—for the chance at $250,000 and it’s nothing short of drama—and blood, quite literally.

Writing Challenge
by Alexander Elmore

A good way to keep creativity flowing while stuck in one place is to challenge oneself to write something, anything every day. Setting a word limit is maybe the easiest way to do this: mandating that every day one must put 200 words to paper may seem difficult, but by doing so in such short bursts, the task becomes manageable. Plus, the days authors write more than the goal become even bigger tiny victories.