The Year That Time Forgot (Week Forty-One)

I usually try to do a highlights post at the end of the year, and even though 2020 has obviously been more of a 'lowlights' kind of year, I decided to forge ahead. Below I've compiled a list of some of the things that occupied my thoughts (in a good way) as time went off the rails and left us in this strange world that somehow feels extremely normal -- by which I mean habitual, at least for those of us who have the ability (privilege) to work from home and prefer not to go anywhere in light of the pandemic -- and abnormal, given the pandemic and the political extremes we continue to collectively endure.   

THE CITY

This week, as I was putting my phone back into my pocket at the entrance of the park, a woman with a dog veered around me on her way out. Given that we were in the forty-first week of the lockdown, we were maybe a little close for comfort, but I didn't say anything: she (and her dog) were both very old, and she was muttering at it in a language that I guessed was Russian. She had a hunched back and a scarf over her head, while the dog, which seemed to be pulling her this way and that, was wearing a coat. As I watched, she surprised me by picking up the dog, which had a bit of a belly and seemed far heavier than her spindly arms could handle, and carried it across an icy patch, all the while talking to it in what sounded like a mix of admonishment and encouragement. Though I knew nothing about this woman except for what I had just observed, I imagined that she lived alone with her dog in a nearby apartment and that this year had been difficult for her, because -- as I'm beginning to learn myself -- age has a way of compounding problems. Seeing her interact with the dog induced a kind of pandemic-induced teariness that was offset or in some ways enhanced by an appreciation I felt for living in the city, which even at peak solitude and isolation gives us opportunities to envision lives that are very similar and different than our own. Later in the run, as I began my ascent up 158th Street, a very steep hill that extends from the river to Broadway, this sense of appreciation for the city continued as I saw in quick succession 1) a graffiti dick that someone had carved into the cement of the sidewalk (stupid but never not a little funny, as long at it's not on a sidewalk I paid for), and 2) two people talking in another language (some kind of Chinese, again guessing). I always like to hear people talking in languages I don't understand, because it reminds me that speaking English (like many things we associate with the lingua franca of capital, finance, and mainstream culture) shouldn't be a requirement for existing in 2020. I wasn't even bothered by the fact that these people had parked their car half in the sidewalk and half in the protected bike lane, which usually makes me furious (because seriously: cars are the worst, and especially in cities). I wasn't in the mood for rants. I ran the last half mile or so up Broadway and felt glad to be in New York, in Washington Heights, on my block. The media this year made a big deal about people fleeing the city for the suburbs or the country, and I can understand the appeal of leaving -- I think about it all the time, and I'm sure that, in many ways, life outside of the city, especially during a pandemic, is easier -- but even though my block was not at finest, thanks to the soot-covered snow and the mountains of uncollected trash, I knew that I would never be one of them.

CITY PARKS: Fort Tryon Park, as anyone who reads this blog knows, is my favorite park in the world, and was no less beautiful in 2020 than it has been every other year leading up to it. But also the Hudson River, where I spend a lot of time. Running through these urban oases is when I'm most optimistic, when I can believe in a higher power that so often seems implausible during the rest of the day. 

HIGHBRIDGE PARK: New York City has an unfortunate history of neglecting to maintain public services in lower-income/minority neighborhoods, which is why the renovation of Highbridge Park by the Parks Department (beyond being perfect unto itself) is noteworthy. Stephen has been walking past this park all year on his way to the pedestrian High Bridge to the Bronx (another landmark) and has been giving me glowing reports of the progress. Last week I went on a walk with him and was excited to note that they had even installed a parcourse, which always makes me think about the one we had in the park near my house in the 1970s, when they were popular (and generally more spread out than this one: the idea was to jog a few minutes between stations). 

CULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT

TERRACE HOUSE: The show has been cancelled following the suicide of one the cast members, but it really helped to pull me (us, since Stephen is also a fan) through the earliest and most harrowing days of the pandemic. Even when contestants are fighting with one another, it's very calming to be immersed in a culture that is distinctly not American. 

DRAWING LINKS: Subscription newsletters have replaced blogs (so it goes), and one of my favorite subscriptions is Drawing Links by Edith Zimmerman. Edith draws comics about her life, sometimes veering into magical reality, often walking a delicate line between hilarity and melancholy and sometimes skipping between both. She likes to write about running (and its metaphysical appeal), which is a big draw for me, but I often find myself thinking (and laughing out loud to myself, like a maniac) about her observations of everyday life and the people she encounters -- like this one about a woman early in the pandemic wearing a salad container for a mask (and the imagined dialogue) -- which was a gift in 2020. 

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FATHER: This podcast features a range of guests who talk about their fathers (along with a couple of great episodes in which the podcasters breakdown the archetypal Don Draper of Mad Men). The podcast is lo-fi and thought-provoking, and sometimes very funny. Straight men in this world have a lot to answer for; this podcast takes them to task but in a surprisingly endearing way (surprising because the underlying stories can be quite harrowing and sad). 

MARNIE T: I watched a lot of television this year, but tbh nothing post-Terrace House has grabbed my attention as much as spiritual guide Marnie T on Twitter. Why watch two or more hours of a show when ninety seconds can deliver inspiration, mockery, political analysis, crass commercialism, and personal (drug-induced) enlightenment? Marnie T is the gay/post-gay entertainment we desperately need. I will always sign up for her class. 

MUSIC

Sometime around the beginning of the year, I finally decided to join Spotify (notwithstanding its horrible revenue model for artists), which has been miraculous (for the music) and depressing (because the music has in some ways never felt cheaper/more commodified). But in the interests of focusing on the miraculous, Spotify has helped to reinvigorate my interest in music -- and especially new (to me) music -- which has felt like waking up from a coma. 

WEYES BLOOD: I learned about Weyes Blood from reading Brooklyn Vegan (Titanic Rising was BV's 2019 Album of the Year) and quickly became obsessed with that record and some of her earlier albums, as you can see from my Spotify 2020 Wrap-Up. (Lol.)

INDIE ROCK: Here are some other bands/musicians I loved (and played the most in 2020). One of the last things I did before lockdown was to see Torche at St. Vitus, which was mindblowing (and ear-shattering, even with ear plugs!). 

DEATH CULTURE @ SEA: Being in lockdown turned out to be a good excuse to finally learn how to record music with my iPhone, first with GarageBand and now with Cubasis. It's been a steep learning curve, but I'm continually astounded by the technology. Here's my latest, which is an attempt to stretch into the synthier side of indie rock. 

Link: 

DCAS Playlist:  

LAW AND POLITICS

For reasons both professional and personal, I sift through a lot of legal (and political) writing (and tweets). Here are a few things I found most compelling in 2020: 

KNOW YOUR ENEMY: This podcast is designed to help listeners understand how the conservative/libertarian movement in this country has, over the past fifty or sixty years, and in the interests of corporate greed, private property, and white supremacy, engineered the ongoing assault on democracy that may or may not be relenting as we head into 2021. 

LAW AND POLITICAL ECONOMY: I spent a lot of time this year thinking about my own education, particularly at law school, where I, like most law students at the time, was indoctrinated into a belief that the law, generally speaking, was apolitical, objective, and best employed in the interests of market efficiency. Reading this article, which dispels this idea in favor of crafting laws that works for the people, was a revelation to me and a source of hope in a political landscape that can often feel very bleak. 

CATS

How can anyone survive a lockdown without pets? It's a mystery. 

ZEPHYR AND ELEKTRA: On a blue blanket, in front of a large pillow. 

CLIO: Our gray panther in the snow.  

2021

In some ways, thinking about 2021 was the best part of 2020. Let's hope we get our collective act together! 

See you next year :)

Comments

[Nadia S. Ghannam]

Hey Matt,

I kinda found this by accident. I’m generally not on FB. It’s a really nice, crisp day here up in Westchester. Have been thinking a lot about the past year(s). You once said to me, “don’t you hate it when the sun shines right after a snowstorm?”. The answer was yes. I always think about you when that happens, which is a good thing despite the fact that the post snowstorm bright-sky is kind of depressing. Anyway, I don’t know if you still feel that way or even remember that conversation.

Do you remember when we stayed up all night to study in College?

It’s been a weird year but one with lots of silver linings. I love seeing this, your photos and the great music recommendations.

Let’s talk soon!
Happy new Year!

Xoxo Nadia

[Matthew Gallaway]

Hey Nadia -- thanks! And yes, I often think about you when it's snowing and sunny at the same time (THE WORST). "Nadia, why is it snowing?" I *do* remember studying all night in college. I don't remember what I studied lol. Do you remember freshman year when someone left a note on your door that said, "I used to live here and it's weird that your name is Nadia."? Or the time someone started a rumor that a house had fallen into one of the gorges? Or the time that girl spent the day rollerskating around the quad playing with a yo-yo and reading a book at the same time? Or the sorority girl who got drunk and fell off a bridge and was saved because she landed on a raccoon? Or our favorite college administrator CLEO BASH? Or the giant footprints on the cabinet in the bathroom? THOSE WERE STRANGE TIMES. Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR and yes, let's talk soon :)

[Edithzimmerman]

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