Day 6 - the WHO names Omicron a “variant of concern”

At the Yoshitoma Nara exhibit today…

11/30/21. Tuesday. 

L. is having difficulty trying to figure out what to do for a digital photography video class assignment that she’s working on so she asked me to go with her to LACMA for inspiration.  If I’m not mistaken, I think one of L.’s many friends was supposed to accompany her today but bailed at the last minute…I’m second string and back-up when these things occur so here I am. L. said we would leave between 9:00 and 9:30 this morning. Spoiler Alert: We don’t. 

8:00-8:30 – I’m up so I go downstairs to say good morning to the animal.  She’s still asleep and barely stirs when I sit beside her – she doesn’t like mornings either. I rub her tummy three times then cue her to go outside, but she doesn’t want to go…until I grab her toy and gently shake it. We report to the backyard…everything looks so much better after the 2 hours of yard work I did last night! She goes potty and we return inside: coffee for me; cheese for her.  I go upstairs. 

8:30-9:30 – Shower. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform. Light make-up. L. is still in her room… 

9:30-10:00 – bullet journal. 

10:00-11:00 – Driving.  

First stop is Republique, because if I’m going, I’m paying. Whenever L. and I go anywhere together, I know its going to cost me. Republique is one of the most expensive restaurants I know, which is why L. picked it, BUT breakfast is always cheaper here. I’d rather eat outside, but L. says it’s too cold so we pick an inside table at the back of the restaurant as far away from people as possible. Omicron’s not in the US yet, right?  Remember when we started hearing about “a strange new virus originating in Wuhan, China?” and my fellow Americans and I collectively dismissed it?  “Wuhan, China?”, we said. “So far away…it’ll never come here”, we said.  God, we were so naive!  

Flash forward to today: “Omicron? That’s in South Africa right now. It’s not here yet. [emphasis on “yet”]” Anything to keep consumerism churning and prevent businesses and schools from closing again. I know Omicron’s already here and it’s probably in California as LAX is our hub and we’re only banning South Africans from coming in and nobody else.  Our government is so stupid…the fact that it was found in South Africa doesn’t mean that Omicron is limited solely to the confines of South Africa…that’s just where it was found because the South Africans actually have decent testing.  Naw…this shit’s probably all over the global community but LAX has no testing or quarantining protocol for international travelers, other than for the Blacks. Lets face it – if you’re a “white” South African, are you really going to be detained at our busiest airports? No. 

The wealthy members of our society have a vested interest in pretending that Omicron hasn’t reached our shores  in order to keep the economy running so the richest 1% can continue to profit off the backs of the poverty-stricken “essential” workers. The Biden Administration is in bed with Big Corporate – who do you think are the major campaign contributors? – and Uncle Joe is out in front, telling us not to worry and to go get “boosted”, with an outdated, largely defunct, three variants removed, vaccine. 

Lately, “wage inflation” has been the inflationary buzz-word, with economists wringing their hands and exclaiming, “We’re paying the workers too much! Union demands are excessive! Increasing the minimum wage is a mistake!”  Why does nobody ever mention “CEO inflation” [this is my term]? Elon Musk, Sam Walden, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and over 100 other men  have doubled, tripled, quadrupled their wealth and become billionaires twice/thrice over at the expense of all of us, while the majority of my fellow Americans continue to suffer from the loss of loved ones due to Covid 19, from food insecurity, or from financial distress after having their unemployment benefits cut off. Why is “wage inflation” a problem, but “CEO inflation” is a win?

It’s not like the federal government [IRS] will benefit from the increase in taxes due to this accumulated, newfound wealth by the top 1%…the richest men in America don’t pay taxes because they’ve hired top attorneys to exploit tax loopholes while simultaneously using Ireland as a “pass-through account.”  

All of this is so disgusting… 

11:00-12:00 – Alright!  Back to consumerism!  I’m aware of my hypocrisy, okay? But what am I supposed to do about it?  When in Rome… 

Because I’m paying at Republique, L. orders three novelty drinks, all of which look disgusting, and I order the Shashuki, which is…interesting…I’m not sure I would order it again. L. also orders sparkling water and a loaf of French bread that we can’t possibly finish. At this time of year, I. am. hemorarhaging. money. so I order a mimosa to cope. 

12:00-3:00 – At LACMA and we see two main exhibits: 1) an exhibit called The Garage, featuring a replica of an actual garage, circa **1950s???*** It’s incredible – like walking through an actual garage, complete with all the useless junk that nobody throws away; and 

 2) a crappy, horrible exhibit by Yoshitomo Nara that takes an entire floor of the Modern Art section. Some of the artwork on display consists of stick figures rendered in crayon that he tore from a spiral bound notebook.  I mean, come on, he’s not even trying! It’s obvious that many items were designated for the trash, before he rescued them, smoothed out the wrinkles, and hung everything up on a white wall. Behold…art! Sometimes a cigar is simply a cigar…sometimes trash is simply…trash.

There’s biographical information for most of his work and I’m able to piece together that he was “in relationship” with a wealthy female benefactor who appears to have funded all of his projects and may have purchased a wing of the museum to feature his work. The exhibit is like a maze…just when L. and I think the “viewing” is over [reference to the “deceased” is intentional], there is yet another hallway of bad art…and another…and another. I feel trapped…like I can’t escape.  When we finally find the Exit, we break through the door and breathe in huge gulps of air.  I’m never going back there again. 

Out of the thousands of pieces Nara created – and I do mean thousands – 5 sculptures stand out.  They’re exquisite and his best work…except he only made FIVE sculptures.  I’m assuming that they simply took too long to create.  It’s easier to wipe your ass with a piece of poster board and mount that, then it is to actually spend time creating something beautiful for yourself and the world. What a sellout!  But…who isn’t these days?  I just dropped a shit-ton of money on L.’s over-priced Boba and French bread at Republique…it’s obvious I’m contributing to the problem.  Why should Nara be any different?  If people will buy or fund crappy art, and it’s easier and faster to make crappy art, then go for it. If I’ll pay top dollar for medicore smoothies at an expensive French restaurant, then, by all means, keep charging an arm and a leg for those medicore smoothies!  Art…food…there’s no difference.  It’s all the same.   

I’ll put a link in the show notes for both exhibits.  Please watch the short videos. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt7qNLilFU8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTjWPXENLmw

L. and I leave.  All is not lost, however.  I come up with a great idea for L.’s digital photography assignment…I propose that she take a separate photo of every album cover that she has, put it to music, and create a 2-minute video. One of Nara’s exhibits consisted of mounting the covers of his entire record collection onto a huge white wall.  His taste in music is abysmal, but the concept of “album covers as art” is kind of cool. 

3:00-3:30 – L. and I leave and she points out that SHE paid for the parking.  En route home, but we stop at Coffee Dose, where I order a regular coffee with almond milk and discover that this is now called an Americano.  L. orders a something, something, latte, something…and also recommends we (“I”) purchase the “pill cookies” [cookies in the shape of a pill] because they’re “incredible.”  Spoiler Alert: they’re not. I pay…and pay…and pay… 

I will say my disposable coffee cup becomes my favorite Xmas decoration of all time.  On the outside of the cup, written in red, loopy, festive, cursive is the phrase, “Fa la la la la…Fuck Off.”  I bring this home and display it prominently on my counter for the rest of the month. Perfect. 

3:30-4:30 – Back on the road and smack in the middle of rush-hour traffic, which. is. horrible. I thought  people were working from home… 

4:30-6:30 – If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that I already purchased the items for my 2022 toiletry inventory. Previously, I asked B. to pick up razor blade inserts at Costco for L.’s razor [they should last for the entirety of 2022] and he texts that he bought the razor blades and will drop them off.  L. says she’s broke so I write the check for $25 and have it ready for B. when he arrives.

-B. stays for awhile and we talk politics. He leaves.

-I read a Money Diary. 

7:00-7:30 – I do a 30-minute Insanity Max – Cardio workout. 

7:30-8:00 – I finish editing a blog post, then upload it to my blog. 

9:00-11:00 – L. and I watch The Guilty with Jake Gyllenhaal. The movie is only 90 minutes, but we pause it several times to talk. 

12:30-1:30 – I report to my office and set up the Discussion Board for my highschoolers for tomorrow.  The Home Page for tomorrow’s Module is still a continuation of the unit we’ve been covering. Based on this high school’s “bell schedule”, I have to administer the Final next week. I post a Final Review to the Module, then send an email blast to the students letting them know the Final is next week and the Final Review is ready for them. 

1:30-2:00 – Kitchen duty and I ready my coffee. 

2:00-2:30 – bullet journal. 

2:30-3:00 – Nighttime routine. Bed. I set my alarm for 7:30.