one
It’s an odd time to have a holiday, but I took the week off work to wind down after wrapping up the first project of the year which had sucked out a little bit of my soul.
It was a pretty restless week, both good and bad not having work as a distraction, but I finally seem to have shaken off the cough and weird aches i’ve been having for the last 4 weeks (99% sure i’ve had the virus based on my symptoms), and slowing down definitely helped with that.
two
Ventured out into central London on my bike a couple of times, doing a loop to Westminster and back. The roads didn’t quite have the eerie, 28 Days Later vibe I thought the might – still a surprising number of cars driving around to who knows where – but still noticeable quieter than normal, no tourist dodging needed on the bike path approaching Westminster.
I feel a bit conflicted about riding my bike too far, but London fields seems to be packed with people carrying on as normal, Victoria Park is shut, and the pavements are full of joggers who love to run literally straight into you, so getting out on to the road on my bike has been the only form of escape.
I tense up when I go outside. Approaching someone on the pavement you have to do a weird British thing of making it look like you’re making an effort to put the distance between each of you, because that’s what we’re told, rather than actually doing it. But it’s basically impossible in a city of this many people, with old narrow roads and pavements, not to rub up against people.
three
We’ve been trying to watch some more comfy, distracting films, after a week spent watching a bunch of bleak stuff. This week we saw four great ‘feel good’ movies: Eighth Grade, Booksmart, Napoleon Dynamite, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Maybe not feel good exactly, but at least ‘feel better’.
It had never really struck me just quite how fucked up Cameron is. This John Hughes commentary of the museum scene really gets to the heart of his character.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p89gBjHB2Gs
four
There’s a weird pressure i’m feeling to try and be productive during this period. You keep reading how it’s a great time to start a side project, learn a new skill, bake a sourdough etc. which it’s definitely true, but it also feels acceptable to not feel totally capable of doing any of those things.
“Ultimately, whether we’re perfecting our sourdough, playing a lot of Animal Crossing, or just refreshing the news 100 times a day, it doesn’t really matter. In the future, if someone asks how we used this moment, we can answer honestly: We got through it. And that is enough.”
This quote from Michele Woo really sums it up for me. As long as I can sleep more than 6 hours and not feel like i’m totally catatonic for the rest of day then i’m doing ok.
five
That said, one productive thing I have been able to focus on is finally getting around to posting photos and writing briefly about bike trips i’ve taken over the last two summers. Vancouver to Portland and from San Francisco to San Diego.
Not my finest words or images but feels great to finally have cobbled these together all these months later. I’m going to work on photos from Joshua Tree next.
six
I’ve stopped looking at the news more than once a day, or listening to any podcasts about the virus. This has definitely helped my state of mind and a certain amount of ignorance right now, at least just within the safety of your house, is bliss.
Instead i’ve been going back to old 99pi episodes and watching a lot of YouTube videos by Nick Carver. He’s a photographer based in Southern California who goes out to the desert with massive old cameras and very meticulously scopes out and photographs buildings or cactuses. The way he judges the lighting conditions, takes a light meter reading, carefully slides the glass into the back of the camera or attaches a lens – it’s like relaxation meth for me.
He’ll then make these long videos documenting the whole process. This one of a panorama of a liquor store is a favourite.
seven
Spending this Sunday listening to On The Beach by Neil Young.
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Photo: 6.12am from my bedroom window this week. Recently I feel lucky to sleep past 6am, the only upside is being greeted with a little sunrise over the East London overground line.
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