Time and Thoughts About It

I've been thinking a lot lately. I've also been thinking a lot lately about time. Not in an existential way, really. More in an experiential way. I guess.

Something about this summer (and year as a whole) felt quicker than summers past, and it's the first time I've ever been sad to get older. If you know anything about me, you know how much I love the aging process. I don't presume to kid when I say that I'd rather spend my time with octogenarians than nearly anyone else, and I'm honestly looking forward to getting older myself--if for no other reason than: it's definitely going to happen, so it's better to embrace it than run from it.

And yet. And yet, this summer, I'm sad. I'm sad to grow older and subsequently grow away from my youth. I've never thought about it like that, and I'm sorry I just did, but it's the truth. The older you get, the further you grow. And, the further you grow, the less young you become. Science is a hell of a Thing.

What's more is that we seem to have surrounded ourselves with time. Literally, everywhere you look (at least in NYC), there's the time. On subway platforms, in the trains themselves, on your wrist, on your iPod, on your phone, on your computer screen, and even on the wall. You can't escape it. How many times do I turn on some device only to have to turn it back on again three seconds later because I forgot to check the time. I forgot to check the time, and it was right there!

And yet. And yet, I never seem to know what time it is. Is it possible that it's become so ubiquitous, so entirely everywhere, that Time as a Thing--a Thing Which Can Be Known--has almost completely faded into the background of my day-to-day? Has Time become a nuisance like the homeless people I pass throughout my day and give little more than a one-sided smile to, which I do to make me feel better since I know it doesn't help them in the least, but I somehow can't stop doing it, because it's my way of acknowledging that they're still People even if they don't feel like they're part of the rest of People?

No. Time isn't a nuisance. Time is a really, really big tidal wave that crashes on the shore in the middle of the night and washes every footprint and sand castle away, leaving fresh, like-new sand in its wake. The next day, you forget that there used to be sand castles where you plant your umbrella. And the day after that. And the day after that. Until suddenly, you forget that the waves come at all.

On the Significance of Accessories

"As Harold took a bite of a Bavarian sugar cookie, he finally felt as if everything was going to be OK. Sometimes, when we lose ourselves in fear and despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we can thank God for Bavarian sugar cookies. And, fortunately, when there aren't any cookies, we can still find reassurance in a familiar hand on our skin, or a kind and loving gesture, or subtle encouragement, or a loving embrace, or an offer of comfort, not to mention hospital gurneys and nose plugs, an uneaten Danish, soft-spoken secrets, and Fender Stratocasters, and maybe the occasional piece of fiction. And we must remember that all these things, the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties, which we assume only accessorize our days, are effective for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives. I know the idea seems strange, but I also know that it just so happens to be true. And, so it was, a wristwatch saved Harold Crick."

Taken out of context, you would have no idea that Will Ferrell was Harold Crick.

John Waters + David Simon = Pink Flamingos on The Wire

I'm currently en route to Baltimore, MD, wherein I will see my long lost older sister and less long lost parents. Nobody is from Baltimore, but Baltimore is where we're going.

Becky's been living in Portland, OR, for a while now and it's been a while since we were in the same physical location. You forget how far away you are from people sometimes. You forget because of Skype and texts and very well-written emails. But you remember how far away you are when you finally get together, after all kinds of public and private transportation mediums and an unfortunate lack of travel music due to an unfortunate lack of head phones.

Public (and very affordable private) transportation is probably my favorite part of Things. It's so weird and beautiful and human to travel with strangers. It's like humanity on tour. I guess it actually is humanity on tour. Everyone gets the same kind of treatment and nobody is in charge. Even the driver becomes part of the humanity at some point in the journey. Usually, for me, that point happens when s/he pulls over to use the bathroom. That's even more human than travel.

I do my best thinking in motion. Also, my best Wikipedia research. Did you know 2Pac went to high school in Baltimore?