#143 - The World On Pause

or: just how many people in bushwick actually work from home?

Well hey hi hello happy eclipse day!

All day, every single time I have read the word 'eclipse' I have read it in the voice of the girl on MTV's My Super Sweet 16 who had a dad that owned a Mitsubishi dealership and she spent the majority of her episode attempting to convince him to get her the Eclipse.

At first, she gets an SUV that "matches her sunglasses". But then, at her party, a cherry red Eclipse is delivered. Two cars at 16 years old?? Peak MTV babeeeey!

On an after show, that same girl ranted about reading the message boards on mymtv.com and reminding herself that everyone who comments on there is a loser who wouldn't have been invited to her party anyway.

(I would insert the clip but it has been scrubbed from the internet apparently. MTV makes such weird choices with their online presence of classic media!! As does VH1 release the I Love The [70s/80s/90s/90s part deux] I do NOT understand what's taking so long! In trying to find it I did read the girlies wikipedia page and apparently she became a singer and performed at Warped Tour. Fun!)

So interesting that even in the internet & reality televisions most infant stages the problems were evident. And we did nothing but expand the number of people who were engaging, rather than seriously consider the ramifications of opening up more people to the toxicity of online Message Board Culture.

Anyway, I spent some time this afternoon staring up into the sky as New York City became awash in an eerie silver-ish light for a few minutes.

My friends roof? I go up there all the time.

(We really do! Not a bit! Even if I am making a vague 30 Rock reference.)

I love a good roof and they're really an Essential Outdoor Space in this city, so I'm forever grateful to have easy access to a space that in no way feels fall-offable.

One thing I won't do is climb a ladder to get onto a roof. No thanks! Not only am I freaked out when I get to the top (because most of these ladders in Brooklyn go straight to the edge of the building) but I'm a Virgo (with an Aries moon so like was the eclipse in Aries...extra something for me due to my chart? Will find a way to make everything even more about myself if you give me nine seconds!) so I'm actually forecasting to the part where I have to crawl on my belly to get back down the ladder.

And like. No. 💕

Anyway, today on the roof was mostly different because every single roof around us was also full of people.

For the 2017 eclipse, I was in Portland. We were in the line of totality and closed the busiest pet store in the pacific northwest midday for 15 minutes so we could all gather in the park and watch.

It was eerier, that day. The totality really does elevate the experience.

The part I remember most vividly is the birds going absolutely silent.

I kept seeing people post their superstitious reasons-I'm-staying-inside beliefs today. And I get it, I especially understand why ancient wisdom would be ALL about staying inside.

Imagine not understanding why every time the world goes dark for a few minutes in the middle of the day a bunch of people lose their eyesight?

I would stay inside too!

Thankfully, I have a bestie with a plan and enough Special Eclipse Glasses for the both of us, so we went up to the roof and poked around and watched the birds fly in strange patterns while staying silent.

Today is one of those days that makes me feel so small in the best way. It's kind of how the city always makes me feel. In my personal insignificance everything transcends to be about the communal experience of our intersecting time on the planet.

It's not a self-deprecating thing, it's an "I am a speck made of stars and matter is simultaneously forever and finite and energy is the lingering signature we carry and leave" thing.

The videos of the totality are incredible. Learning about how cultures around the world react to this type of phenomena is forever interesting.

I love being a human I love being alive I love being reminded of how interconnected we all are and the universality of experiences that are beyond our control and comprehension!!!!

How did we end up here? How lucky are we to have crossed paths in this lifetime.

Life is just so fucking rad, maaaan.

Feels appropriate to end with two performances of one of my favorite songs, a song I would say is kind of Decade Defining and will forever make me feel like I'm reentering the world anew.

These performances are 40 years apart but feel so essential. Musical theatre songs get a lot of flack (and if we're talking modern musicals I'm generally not going to disagree but I can't get started on how the pop-leaning bullshittery of Dear Evan Hansen effectively ruined musicals for like eight years straight) but I think it's a genre that is entirely earnest, and musical theatre kids singing their fucking hearts out is a genre of performance that GETS ME.

First up, the performance on Ed Sullivan:

And, my favorite Tony moment of all time, after an incredible opening number medley (during which Bret Michaels broke his fucking nose on stage!!) starring some fucking HEAVY HITTERS (Allison Janney! Elton John! LIZA WITH A Z!!!!) the entire broadway community floods the stage and aisles, joining the revival cast of Hair and they all then sing their fucking FACES off.

Let the sunshine in!!