Trying to rediscover myself.
The holidays are behind us and the new year is staring us down. I start a temporary position in a week and I’m quite nervous about it. I’ll be leaving my comfortable office setting and jumping into training our staff. It’s only a four month stint but our crew is motley to say that absolute least. Don’t know if I’ll walk away from this unscathed or in one piece. Wish me luck!
I’ve written numerous drafts about how I’m going to write and post more of my photography. This is my first attempt at being more consistent in the coming year.
London 2022 beneath the London Eye. This is one of my favorite pictures I have taken in a while.
I’m not sure when I bought 80’s band, The Human League, third studio record Dare but I know I picked it up because of the track “Don’t You Want Me” was on it. The only reason I know the song is because of a Chips Ahoy! commercial from 2007. A car full of cookies is singing the song as one by one a hand from the sky pulls them from the convertible they’re in.
When I listen to a record for the first time I listen to it from beginning to end. “Don’t You Want Me” is the last track on the record so I figured they saved the best for last. The first track “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of” stood out to me since I was managing a bougie Brooklyn ice cream parlor at the time and the singer mentions ice cream while listing some of his favorite things. The rest of the first side of the record is classic new wave, nothing too deep, and as I flipped it I was ready to hear more of the same.
The third song on the B-side is the reason I’m writing this post. “Seconds” starts with a drum loop with some synth, very minimal, then the synth drops out at around 38 seconds followed by a rush of synths seconds later. It has all the elements that we’ve come to expect from a classic New Wave track. I hadn’t really been paying attention to the first two verses and It wasn’t until the third verse kicked in that I was intrigued by what the song was about. Philip Oakey sings, “It took seconds of your time to take his life”, and it piqued my interest. What drew me in was the repetition, as for the rest of the song is just him repeating those words. Whose life had been taken?
I had to listen to the song over again so I could get more clarity. Upon the second spin the lines, “Hiding from the sun, Waiting for the golden one, Waiting for your fame, After the parade has gone”, set the scene and the following lines, “Your knuckles white as your fingers curl, The shot that was heard around the world”, made it clear that the song was about an assassination. Still I couldn’t figure out who was assassinated.
“Seconds” was written 18 years after the Kennedy assassination, and, I was born 4 years after this song came out which is why I did not connect the dots sooner. Hell, my mom wasn’t even born when Kennedy was murdered. The immensity of this historical event is lost on me. It is interesting that it had such an effect on a band from the U.K. and would inspire them to write this song.
It’s a perfect bouncy 80’s bop referencing Kennedy’s assassination. Which is a weird thing to say, but it totally works. Give it a listen and let me know what you think of the song
Thousands of people have lost their lives due to senseless violence carried out in the name of God or nation. It could be the advent of social media or the 24 hour news cycle that make it feel like something bad is always happening or maybe violence in general is on the rise. It has become commonplace to see grizzly scenes of violence and mayhem and it hurts my heart. Paris, Beirut, Mumbai, Baghdad, Afghanistan are just a few that come to mind. Our government and many others around the world do atrocious things. We pay for these acts with our tax money. We have to, it’s the law. Does this make us complicit? Do we have blood on our hands?
All of this shit is making me feel so sad and helpless.
There are lines on the lake.
The lines on the lake sit motionless.
Markings on the water like a message from the past.
Is it a message?
Is it fate?
Or are the lines from string and some bait?
Since moving to New York City I have realized how spoiled I was in the PNW! I’m not saying there isn’t good coffee here ‘cause there’s hecka good coffee all over the place it’s just that in most you gotta take your order to go. Real estate is a hot commodity and cafe sizes reflect that truth. Wifi and outlets are super hard to come by too.
Culture Espresso located in the Garment District of NYC and just a stones throw away from Bryant Park & The New York Public Library (the one that was in Ghostbusters) has Wifi (sometimes spotty) and I’ve always been able to find a seat even though there are few to choose from. Make sure that laptop is fully charged because there are no outlets. They serve espresso from a snazzy La Marzocco Strada and also serve house made cold brew, Kyoto style cold drip, and even nitro. All the traditional drink choices are available too.
I’ve been on a cold brew kick lately so when I saw that they made theirs with Heart Coffee Roasters I couldn’t pass. Heart is a roaster of of Portland Oregon and I ❤ them. Anyway, to the coffee! The sweet nectar comes straight out of a keg all cold and tasty. My iced coffee was brown sugar sweet up front with no bitterness. On top of all that goodness it was really strong. Iced coffee is disappointing when it tastes like watered down coffee and in my experience that’s what I get served. Plus 100 cool points for filling the cafe with awesome tunes!
Go to Culture Espresso!
~Originally published on tehcoffee.com
Thoughts of Clouds