The Digital Surveillance State that We Already Knew About

 It's Sunday.

Right off the bat, I have to mention this whole Haskins event. It's a tragedy. Half of my friends, if not all of them, were younger than this guy. And boom. Just gone like that. I've brought this up before, but the passing of high profile folks (athletes, celebs, etc.) sometimes feels larger than life. Perfect example is when Kobe passed. Life didn't seem real for a few months, and it still doesn't even seem like he's...gone? This is somewhat similar, in a way. Just a guy going to practice, doing his job, and then this happens. The fragility of life is such a precious and damned thing. Because once it's gone, that shit doesn't come back. That's my take. 

Also, Adam Schefter, if I ever see you, it's on sight. 

There's this sake bar in the East Village/NoHo, right, and I'm waiting to get in to link up w/the goon squad. The guy that works there is like "sorry, there's no room for one person in there" and immediately goes to the group of like 5 people behind me and is like "give me a second, we have a table for y'all". I'm standing there in awe, disgust, confusion, angst, anger, despair, blah blah blah. Then I tell him I'm meeting some folks there, and he goes "Oh! Well that changes things." Yeah, it better, pal. 

I've been cat sitting for the last week it seems. All they do is scratch at you and eat all of the food that you set out for them. I'm coming to terms that I am just not cut out for this. However I will never let them know that. They need to know that I am the boss. I am the alpha, and the omega. I'm really him. 

Streetsblog just put out that they're going to be installing new security cameras in most, if not all, of the subways within the next two years (around the end of 2024 is when it should be done). Reason being? They want to "stop fare evasions and cut down on crime". As if. Wanna know what happens in cities with marginalized populations that raise train fare? Get a load of this: schools being looted, city fires, militarized police attacking civilians, protesters losing an eye after being shot with a rubber bullet, etc. IMO? NYPD and Mr. Adams are lucky none of that has happened at this point. I mean come on man, you're really THAT mad about some kid or some person that's late to work that doesn't want to pay $2.75? Cry me a river, the River Nile actually, Mr. Adams. E andate a la chucha. 

Also they're thinking about making a super prison in Chinatown? It's 2022 and we're still doing this shit? Streets are done. Omega GG to the people. 

April Showers bring Howitzers

 First of all, how in the fuck is already almost April? I mean, come on man...

What's up with this Will Smith guy, eh? Why are people so mad at this? He's a billionaire, probably. Same w/ Mr. Bed-Stuy. "He almost died" my ass. Whoever tweeted that needs therapy stat. What I will say, though, is that watching that moment didn't feel real. I thought it was staged, until I realized that the sound was muted for about 20 something seconds. Queue international Twitter! Japan and Australia were looking out with the down and dirty versions.

This is most definitely bearing a dead horse, but I feel like this has been a good distraction from Bovid-19 or whatever. The masks come off on public transit in Sin City in less than 2 weeks I think. As if people still wore em' on there in the first place. I could care less at this point (at the expense of my health, for others I can understand as to why you need others to have their mask on. I don't even know if that sentence made any sense. I sure as hell hope it does). 

I come back to this poor example of a blog every now and again when I finally get the itch to blurb my semi-finished thoughts onto the internet. It's serving scrambled eggs that are, like, kinda done, but aren't completely, but you're at your friend's grandmother's house and you have no choice whether you eat them or not. 

The weather here, and I'm pretty sure everywhere else across the US, is so upside down at the moment. Tell me why, as human beings, we are experiencing winter all over again? Easy answer. I just refuse to say it right now because I am upset about it being 24 degrees in damn near April. But tell me, am I bugging? Should it be this way? Do you love this shit? Are you drunk right now? Do you ever get nervous? (real ones get this). Spiel over.

I've considered what going back to school would look like in the near future, as well as taking another bite at the Fulbright next year. But in all honesty, I said the same thing about being an FSO and I've delayed that out of my head for sooooooo long at this point. ANYWAY, university in NY is great (at least the prospect) because even if you are not from here, you can get in-state tuition costs after living here for a year. Not going to divulge the amount of time that I may or may not have been here, but I would benefit from that immensely. 

Currently, I am waiting for my Uber Eats to pull up. I am tipping in cash, and I honestly think that's the reason I am not getting it just yet. The spot it less than a quarter mile down the street, and it's almost been an hour. "Why don't you just go and pick it up then?" Aha, I've already found your answer. And it's that Uber gave me a $10 coupon for delivery, you dipshit. 

Lots and lots of crime has been going on in the city in general. Not that I know anything enough about the Bad Old Days, but it's interesting to see the amount of boomers on local news sites that draw that comparison so easily. Granted, some of the shit that's going on is bonkers. People getting tossed onto the train tracks, getting bludgeoned to near death with a hammer, getting beat up so bad that it looks like you just got shot, getting stabbed to death by a homeless man, dying from a stray bullet coming through your window, and that's all the stuff that I from TODAY. That's not to say that all of this happened in a day, week, or even month's time span, but it does show how crazy the city can be. Is it because we're all coming out of Covid? Is it the measly budget decrease from NYPD that is causing this? Do the cops just not care anymore? Where's the avatar when you need him most?

I may or may not have a video part coming soon. Check back early fall. I will also be checking back to see if I capped on this or not.  

Biking into 2022 down Broadway

 The day is New Year´s Eve. You just get off of work from your day job, and are wondering what kind of nonsense you are going to get yourself into as the night approaches. The bodega is filled with people wearing their typical New Year´s Eve garb (fancy clothes for like, no reason), and the beer section is half empty. Obviously your first pick is going to either the Rolling Rock or the PBR. In fact, you buy both just to calm your mental. 

The clock is ticking, ticking, ticking. It´s 10:30, and you have a beer blanket on. You forget that it´s the COVID era for just, like, a few hours. Then you remember IT is still a thing. Your friends are asking you ¨OMG what are we doing tonight bestie?¨, your GF doesn´t know what to wear, and the IPA that you bought a couple minutes ago is starting to make you feel like you´re having an acid trip. What do you do? What is your next move? How do you react? 

I will leave you with this: At approximately 4:30 AM on January 1, 2022, I had just left the bodega on Broadway getting a deli sandwich (with bev), hopped on my bike, and made my way back home. Take from that what you will.

There´s my boring New Years story. It´s 2022 now. Last year was 2021. The pandemic started in late 2019/ early 2020. What. The. Fuck.

New York just had its first snow of the season, while my comrades in VA were probably stuck on I95 somewhere with the snowstorm of theirs that they just had no more than a week ago. The only difference is that we didn´t have Tim Kaine tweet that he was on 95. Instead Eric Adams was talking about how much swagger the city has, and that he is the ¨swagger¨ mayor. Swagger. Are you kidding me?

I´m on my soapbox right now. And by soapbox I mean my couch. It´s not even mine. My GF bought this with her when we moved in together. That´s besides the point.

COVID has had no issue in terrorizing the hospitals once again. But no lorries full to the brim with dead bodies, right? 

In all seriousness, this sucks. 

But what are you gonna do about it? My freezing cold take is that so many people are going to get it, at least in the US, that it´ll soon turn into an endemic thing, ya know?

Hm. What else.

I saw a bird of prey fly away with a pigeon today. I think I will leave it at that. 

L Train Chronicles

 I´ve come to the conclusion of this: I have felt most human riding the train. 

The whole concept of the train is to be an affordable and relatively reliable form of transportation for all. You can have on a brand new pair of Fire Reds and still have them scuffed. Same goes for the folk who like to wear those pairs of Vans that they´ve had for years that have holes frothing out of the big toe area. Your shoes are going to get got. Or you new Moncler puffer. Or Canada Goose. La calidad no vale para nada. In other words, how much you paid for your stupid fucking clothes doesn´t matter for jack shit. 

You are going to get shoved slightly when someone gets off of the train. They might even give you the gentle but assertive ¨Excuse me!¨ to grab your attention since you probably are listening to some bullshit song commuting either to or from your job, or wherever you seem to be going. 

The subway performers? They don´t give a shit either! The hat flip is going to be less than three centimeters from your face. If you are lucky they´ll give you a fist bump. They´ll make you and everyone else pretending to care on the train clap for them after their performance, ask for cash, and shoutout ¨WE HAVE VENMO, CASHAPP¨ to clarify that the ¨I have no cash excuse¨ is slowly dying out.

Now, what is so special about all of these happenings that compliment each other on what seems like a non-stop basis? Well, for me, it´s that they are all happening in a controlled space. The train is going at hundreds of miles per hour (cap, I actually have no clue), and the only escape is to jump out of the doors that may or may not open when you are careening through the tunnels (I have not tried that, but if I live to tell the tale this blog will be updated immediately). You can escape to another subway car if there are accessible thru-doors, but if not, you´re hit. It´s one of the few spaces that regardless of who you are, just for a subway ride, you are subject to the exact same surroundings, air quality, company, commute time, annoying children crying, dried piss smells, noise from someone´s speaker playing out loud, sand from Rockway beach, empty coffee cups, bodega sandwich wrappers on the ground, irritation from being packed like sardines, awkward eye contact, phone scrolling, and so much more, that everyone else is subject to. And that, folks, is the beauty of it. 

REST IN PEACE TO YOUNG DOLPH. 

Back by Unpopular Demand

 What the fuck is up Denny’s! 

I haven’t used this thing in like, months? Honestly it’s whatever. Most of my thoughts are aired on on Twitter anyway.

This should be a good time to give a synopsis, if you will, on what’s gone on since I last logged into this thing.

New York is still New York. The rats never go away, the train is on time maybe 4/7 days of the week, and Carmelos is still selling $2 Bud Heavys. Governor got kicked out (we don’t give a shit), rent price went up (hold that L), summer came, summer went (ratio), fall is here (l’m bought to stunt on all of y’all), and….. what else am I missing? 

Is the government still on the brink of a shutdown?

Does anyone really care about Colin Powell that isn’t a Bush Era GOP fan?

Is Covid ever gonna go away? Well, the short answer to that is no. (LOL)

Is this the year we delete Insta, or are we locked the fuck in? (Tap in on this one, I might be on to something)

Will I ever stop going driving up and down the Jersey Turnpike? 

Hell, who knows. There are known knowns. Known unknowns. And unknown unknowns. I personally will not be partaking in the ontology of the unknown unknowns. 

Here’s to covid fall/winter part 2, maybe I’ll get off work because if a huge snow storm again. 

COVID Vaccination Roll-Out Say What Now?!

 What seems to be like a never ending fever dream just seems to continue to persist. Covid is almost comparable to the new seasons of It´s Always Sunny (no offense, it´s just that the earlier seasons are way better and FX just doesn´t seem to want to cut em loose, hell I wouldn´t either). Where do we go from here?

The vaccine only protects those who have it. AKA everyone and their fricking mom, dad, dog, cat, and pet hamster have to get vaccinated. Of all places, Israel is doing the best. What, like, 40% of the population has the first shot? I got that from the Global News Podcast, so don´t quote me on that. France is so far behind on their actual plans to get the nation vaccinated. South Africa has stopped their vaccination program. The US is ordering more doses, but still lags as the world´s richest country. Palestine got a measly 2,000 doses of the Russian vaccine, and only has been able to spare Palestinian workers working in Israel (free Palestine) the first dose. 

WHEN.

DOES.

IT.

END?

Who knows. 

I´ve been on a podcast binge these last few days since that´s what I listen to at work to help time go by faster. A guest on the Aspen UK pod (if you follow my Twit, I dropped the link) was speaking about how the future of travel could mean having chips implanted into our passports that show whether we have been vaccinated or not. Authoritarian, much? In this case, I don´t know. It´s almost as if HIPAA has entered the chat or something. 

In m very honest and less than candid opinion, the vaccine roll out in the US is defined by it´s accessibility. NY, por ejemplo. Do you have internet to book the appointment at 6am, while you work from home, and are in the comfort of your own bed, along with the metro fare to make it to the vaccination spot? You´re good to go. Hell, you´re lucky if you have a whip to make it so you have less contact with unknown objects/ people. But those MORE than essential workers who are out delivering food at all times of day and night, who work hours that nobody should be forced to, don´t work from home, and sometimes don´t have the metro fare or the luxury of a car to make it to the vaccination site? These folks are getting left behind with nobody to give a rat´s ass about. Dude, the Times even dropped an article about how some delivery drivers aren´t even being allowed bathroom services at the places they deliver for, or the appropriate amount of PPE to go on with their day. 

If anything, this pandemic has hemorrhaged the ongoing racial inequity and disparity that has plagued this county for oh so long. And for many of us, it comes to no avail. 

WHEW! This could not have fit in a 140 character tweet. 

Here are some links to some info that I mentioned above:

South Africa: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55975052

Israel: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/world/middleeast/israel-virus-vaccination.html

PPE and Worker Absue: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/nyregion/bike-delivery-workers-covid-pandemic.html

Anybody else hip to the Myanmar coup? 

Journal Entry 001 (Language Barrier Much?)

 Sentándome ¨on a curb¨ en tú barrio. Un sentimiento de progreso ha aumentado dentro de mí. En vez de solamente pensando en ¨acá e ahora¨, estoy tratando imaginar un futuro que será hecho de lo que yo hago hoy, manana (still haven´t figured out how to put the enya over the N on my keyboard), etc. El Tiempo es largo cuando se espera con paciencia. Me siento bien donde estoy ahora. Escribí eso en mi Twitter personal, pero cuando veía los numeros de desempleados en el país, inemdiatemente me sentía gracioso por todo que tengo, incluyendo un salario que me sostene, la habilidad de proporcionar comida, de no preocuparme sobre donde me dormiré, que mi familia ha sido segura e afuera del caos del virus, y por Dios bendeciendome otro día de viviendo.

Es más que fácil olvidar sobre las vidas que hemos perdido, y los sentimientos graves que sufren cualquier comunidad alrededor del mundo. Desde Bushwick a Virginia, todo y todos. La unica cosa que ha prevenido mucha gente de faltar la esperanza, es la esperanza. La esperanza que tan pronto que termine la pandemia de beber cervezas con sus amigitos, la esperanza de dando un abrazo gigantesco a sus abuelos, la esperanza de siguiendo una vida cerca a ¨normal¨ que sea posible... todo desde la esperanza.

No he pido pa´ algo especifico nunca, otro que mejorar a mi trabajo y mantenerme en forma (por ejemplo: corriendo 2 o 3 veces cada semana). Para quejarme sobre cualquiera cosita sería vergonzoso. Tengo mi salud, un lugar para vivir, comidita, un coche... Quiero decir mis gratitud a Dios arriba, que sigue protegéndome desde los malvados que persisten en la vida cotidiana de todos. Ojála que pueda crecirme cómo un humano de valores fuertes, con una corazon de miel, que será listo de darle a una causa más grande que a si mismo.