Time

And you run, and you run
To catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking
And racing around
To come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way
But you’re older
Shorter of breath
And one day closer to death

— Pink Floyd, “Time,” lyrics via Genius.com, where I have now created an account because it’s an excellent site for music nerds and I hope one of them will answer whether Gilmour wrote that verse (as attributed) or Waters did (as annotated). … Part of my ongoing performance series, “Which is correct?”¹

That verse from “Time” really affected me this morning. I’m doing a lot of waiting, in a lot of areas, and it’s not my favourite thing. It’s stressful. And I don’t feel I (we) have time to waste.

I’ve been throwing out a lot of big ideas to people and waiting to see who grabs on. I don’t know, for example, how many people I’ve suggested should go into business with me. This might sound unusual / haphazard, but it’s actually a testament to how many smart and thoughtful people I’ve met that I would happily analyze the meaning of “professional” with.²

But it’s also an observation about how many smart and thoughtful people are dissatisfied with how they’re being treated at work. And, I think, it’s a further comment on how unsafe they feel with something as basic as saying “no, that’s my free time” to their employer.³

I suppose it’s also a comment on how safe my friends feel telling me things, which is nice, especially if they tell me angering things knowing I’m going to start throwing out ideas for pushing back.

Art

There’s a new piece of art on my fridge, from living artist Amaan Jahangir, who does a series that combines technology (text message records) with devastating emotional art that really speaks to me.

The one I bought is the “Never been better!” print, which depicts a short iPhone exchange:

hey, how have you been?

I’m good

accompanied by the image of a knight who looks invincible except for two red arrows piercing through metal to the heart.

It makes me think about how often we speak in the most superficial of ways, and how we can do everything possible to isolate and fortify, but there is always a vulnerability. It makes me think about what matters.

Many of Amaan Jahangir’s other prints in this series evoked similar strong responses from me, including more optimistic pieces. Also, the Metal Gear-looking dude fighting through wake-up alarms is hilarious. (Support living artists.)

Time

“Time” seemed like an especially appropriate launching point today, in re: clocks, since it’s the autumn / easier version of the two annual time changes, imposed for no apparently valid reason even though it increases health risks and confuses pets.

I have a medical appointment this week that I’m not looking forward to. It’s also a big week for American politics / the future of fascism.

I don’t want to just sit around waiting. I’m older. Shorter of breath, one day closer to death. I can’t catch up with the sun but to be honest I always liked the moon better anyway.

1. A footnote to update Minor Campaign #2: Dropout TV. I have now sent a third email, with screenshots rather than links, to the two email addresses I already had plus a guess at the address for their legal department, which did not bounce back undeliverable (!). Summarized: it has now been over a month without reply or resolution. Your advertising contradicts your legalese. Please don’t be gross. In the meantime, here is notice that, contrary to your terms of service, based on principles of legal interpretation, I will be sharing my password with a friend because I think she’ll like Dimension 20. ↩︎
2. I have not, in any of these instances, had an idea for how we would make money. ↩︎
3. My former union has continued to ignore my creative ideas that would have the costs of the 3-days in-office policy be borne by the employer who imposed it unilaterally and without cause instead of by employees. I encourage employees to echo these ideas to others, including to their unions, which seem to have forgotten where labour’s strength lies. (Hint: it is neither in court nor in Parliament.) ↩︎