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2020-05-01
The Hustle and Bustle That Went Naught
This story is nothing that many of you may not be familiar with, notably of those in metropolitan-like areas. Plus, I can not say that this story is anything deeply descriptive and the likes thereof, but it certainly had an impact on someone like me (along with others) that live in a city, notably if you are especially in or around New York City, the city that never sleeps. What brings me back to this? Well, not exactly the link that I provided that actually shows (at the time of course) a live-time recording of midtown Manhattan and its eerie sound, which is paradoxically a "sound" of a hovering-like quiescent stillness of keen silence (but a silent ambiance that was somewhat peculiarly enchanting) . Or rather, as the title alludes to, a sound that was "naught". At the time, it became so normal if you will (especially around 40 days since the lockdown went into effect), that it became a coincidentia oppositorum of sorts. One might ask, where is such a "unity of opposites" in effect whereby this was simply a "change" in the dynamics of your "said" environment? To start, the Newark (NJ) area is nothing BUT a concoction of familiar and somewhat pleasing noise as I sit in my half-airconditioned room, from the constant sound of public transportation busses passing by and their intrinsic slight familiar screeching stop, the talk of those a few floors down walking the streets, the constant sound(s) of cars flowing by, the sound of the famous pathway train into NYC in the faint distance (though it stops at Jersey City first), those at the corners (as inappropriate as it may sound) calling out that they got "x, y, and z" near Broad and Market Street, so forth and so on, to "almost" nothing! It was like something straight out of the novel Brave New World and other such pally stories of the sort. To me and many others around our surrounding areas, this was a moment in history that stood out, one that I can not recall in similarity since Tuesday, September 11th. 2001. Because the unity of these non-coherent opposites is in the simple fact that the innate aspect of a pandemic lockdown of a such magnitude as we had is quite obviously "silence" if you will, which is the opposite of what is immersed in a city of almost 300,000 (and that is of course not including the amount of citizens in neighboring metro-areas both east, north, and south of my location), nevertheless, they formed one coherent form of a dialectical force. Because it soon became a "norm" and it happened at quite an expedient rate in the larger scheme of things. Nothing was more "quiet" and "surreal" then the tragic events of 9/11, as it did not take some time for a similar situation to occur, as the event was so dynamic that everything I am speaking of happened at once, but and more importantly, day by day the city quickly gained back its ingrained normative environment. But the reason I arbitrarily picked the date of 5/1/2020, rather then use the date of the article, is because it was in early May where this began to slowly engulf me and took me back to one quite sunny day around noon (maybe a tad later), where all of this, "all of this" being that of what I speak of, struck me finally as something transformative (but far less than cathartic to say the least). I hope you enjoyed my little tidbit of what kind of impact COVID had on me (be it a self-like precept, photograph, video, etc...), particular using my experience in a sensory course of description. Sure, there was obviously other aspects that came into play with COVID-19 that eventually impacted us, but most of them were later on as the days moved by, while rather this experience was the first and the one that will stick with me anytime I think back to the pandemic. And the beauty of it, or rather lack thereof, all happened while simply sitting near my bed (hence against the window) while putting on my prosthetic legs. Cheers to you all! -
2021-01-11
News Article: Where Arizona stands 1 year into the coronavirus pandemic
This online news article from Catherine Holland of 3TV/CBS5 in Phoenix, Arizona, relays her assessment of key highlights in Arizona's pandemic history from the first anniversary of SARS-CoV-2's confirmed presence in Arizona on January 11, 2020. -
2021-03-06
Mask trash #8
I came across this white fabric mask while walking from home to the university. It was near the corner of Roosevelt and 5th. -
2020-09-06
Lonely Train Rides
In the city of Chicago on Monday morning I was used to the train being super packed. However on this Monday there was only one masked man on the whole train. So I sat and did a social distanced doodle to capture the moment. -
2020-11-16
Pandemic speeds up influx of remote workers to small cities
This story, which also appears on NPR, talks about how smaller cities like Burlington, Vermont are experiencing an increase of new "remote workers". They're escaping the big cities for multiple factors, many exacerbated due to the Covid-19 pandemic. -
2020-11-02
Masks now required in all City of Victoria buildings
Masks are now required in all buildings owned by the City of Victoria. Compared to the United States, Canada has not required masks in many municipalities. -
2020-07-03
Filling the time whilst working in fast food
HIST30060 During this year, I was luck enough to still be able to work in my fast food job due to the JobKeeper program, which saw the government paying the wages of part time and full time staff, as well as certain casuals. I would work 2 to 3 shifts a week in the city, which allowed me time to get out of the house and socialise with my coworkers. Restrictions meant we did not receive many customers, with our main source of income coming from the delivery platforms my boss installed. Despite this work, it did not mean I was able to escape the boredom most faced during the prolonged periods of restrictions, as there is only so much cleaning you can do in the periods where we had no customers. To fill the time, I began recreating famous paintings I could find online in miniature form, using the materials I could find in store, such as white board markers and receipt paper. Pictured here is my attempt at recreating Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ (bottom left), the ‘Great Wave off Kanagawa’ by Hokusai (right), and Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ (top left). -
2020-08-18
Image of a pigeon in store
HIST30060 Despite quarantine restrictions, I was still able to work at my fast food job in the CBD. Pictured here is a pigeon who would come into our store looking for food in the quietest parts of the day, which were almost always due to the lack of people in the city. Whilst working in the city, I realised that most urban birds, including pigeons and seagulls, became very confident during the stricter quarantine periods. The lack of activity in the city meant they were not receiving the usual scraps they would receive from those travelling to and from their desk jobs. The birds became bold with their interactions with those who were coming to the city in order to gain the small amount of food they needed to survive. This small pigeon in our store is a good example of this. He would waltz in and munch on the oats that would land on our floor before we had time to clean them. Despite repeated attempts to shoo him outside, he would often walk around our floor before meandering outside again. -
2020-10-29
More than 50% of Montrealers Plan to Leave the City for the Suburbs or Countryside
According to RAD, more than 50% of Montrealers plan to leave the city for the suburbs or countryside. Reasons listed were teleworking, price of housing, and quarantine. If many follow through with these plans, this would likely be a significant contribution to the continuing suburbanization of cities. Montreal is also one of the cheaper major cities in North America, it would be a major issue if Montrealers appear to be indicative of the rest of the North American city-dwelling population. Translation of image: 56% of 18-36 year olds have the intention to leave Montreal for the suburbs or country. -
2020-09-30
Geneva to Introduce a monthly 4,086 Swiss francs minimum wage due to Covid-19
Geneva, considered one of the most expensive cities in the world, is going to be introducing a minimum wage of 4,086 Swiss francs (around $4500 USD at the time of posting) in order to help citizens prevent sinking below the poverty level. This is, according to the article, the highest minimum wage in the world. -
2020-09-06
Quarentena sedentaria
Meme from Being Peruvian Instagram. It makes light of how inactivity leads to weight gain during the pandemic. Peru has some of the strictest lockdown orders, and it's a society that is accostomed to walking and traveling across the city daily. Loosing daily activity has slowly, but surely affected everyone's health. -
2020-04-21
my Lockdown
what happens in my studio in Paris during the lockdown