#and echoes of cities past that come back to life when something is reintroduced

[leona-florianova]

Illustration for Hellblazer fanfic Lights Out (by NAOA on ao3)

[swiftsuburbanlegends]

What’s in a Name

There’s been too much hiding since Will had come back to Star City, but if he wants to help, if he wants to do the right thing, he has to be more like his father.

Will looked out on the crowd of people and reporters. He knew what he had to do. There was an imbalance between the Glades and Star City, an imbalance between the rich and the poor, between citizens and vigilantes. And that had to end.

“You don’t have to do this,” Mia whispered to him. He had never seen her look so nervous. “We can find another way.”

“There isn’t another way,” he took a deep breath. “I’ve been hiding Mia, for far too long. The way to fix things, is to fix that.”

“What if--”

“You have my back?”

She nodded. 

“Then I’m good.”

She moved to go stand near Connor and Zoe, the latter giving him a reassuring smile as he stepped to the podium. 

The noise quieted a little as they’re attention focused on him. He knew he only had a few minutes before the questions started up. 

“Thank you all for coming out today,” he said, looking over the masses. “It’s been a long time since I’ve made any public announcements regarding the company. But a lot of things have changed in the past year.”

“Mr. Harris,” a reporter from CCPN spoke up from the middle of the crowd. “Is this in regards to the merger between Harris Consolidated and Wayne Enterprises.”

“No, it is not.” He took a moment, remembering all the times he saw his father in the exact same position. Every time Oliver had faced the public, Will had seen a strength in him that had nothing to do with being the Green Arrow. “It does however have to with my company, and a family legacy.”

He looked over to Mia, who ducked her head. Their parents hadn’t come, not because they didn’t want to, Felicity had wanted to come so badly. But the city still hated them. But this, this would be a step towards fixing that. Fixing the divide, fixing what was broken.

“For years I have let the world believe something about me, about my background and how I grew up,” he said taking a deep breath. “William Harris is a name everyone of you knows, because it’s who’ve I’ve been for the last decade of my life. But that’s because I’ve been hiding.”

The murmurs started to roll through the crowd and before they could pick up speed he pushed forward. “When I was a kid, I used to live in Star City. I saw the rise of heroes. I saw good and noble people fight every day to protect this city from falling into the darkness. And as I grew up, I watched this same city turn on those heroes.”

“Mr. Harris, you believe the vigilantes that once crawled through the city were right? Based on what?” another reporter cut in. 

This was the moment of truth, and Will knew it in his bones that there would be no going back after this. 

“I asked you all here today, because Harris Consolidated is rebranding,” he stated, looking once more at his sister and friends. “For too long I have denied a part of myself in order to push myself forward with this company. But not anymore. As of today, on this spot, my new head office space, I am coming clean with all of you. I’m the son of the Green Arrow.”

Any questions the reporters may have had died on their lips the second he spoke those words. He could see a million new ones filling their eyes. But he wasn’t done yet.

“Oliver Queen, isn’t just my father. He was a hero to this city,” Will felt the words give him the strength, he had never felt more like his dad than in that moment. “And because of him, because of the sacrifices he made, this city was once a great and wonderful place to live. I hope it can be that again.”

A reporter raised her hand and he pointed to her. “You said this was a rebranding? What does this mean for Harris Consolidated?”

“Harris Consolidated is no more,” he said and shrugged. “If I want to help, if we all want to heal the divide that has scarred this city, then we can’t do that hiding in the shadows. I can’t hide either. So from this day forward, on this very spot, Queen Consolidated sits once more.”

“Mr. Harris.” The same thing echoed through the mouths of several reporters as he tried to calm them down.

“I promise to answer you’re questions, but before we continue,” he said holding up a hand. “I’d like to reintroduce myself to you all, my name is William Clayton Queen.”

[alanaknobel99]

Book Review: “How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy” by Jenny Odell

1. What is your favorite quote from the book and why do you find it meaningful?

“It's a bit like falling in love, that terrifying realization that your fate is linked to someone else's, that you are no longer your own. But isn't that closer to the truth anyway? Our Fates are linked, to each other, to the places where we are, and everyone and everything that lives in them how much more real my responsibility feels when I think about it this way! This is more than just an abstract understanding that our survival is threatened by global warming, or even a cerebal appreciation for other living beings and systems. Instead this is an urgent, personal recognition that my emotional and physical survival are bound up with these strangers not just now but for life.” (pg 183) 

I know this is a long quote, but when I first read this passage my eyes filled with tears and I let out the most inspirational “wow.” I was just shocked when I read this, at this point in the book this quote made everything make sense. We are connected to each other and to this earth, and our survival is counting on that connection. However, we are so absorbed in the attention economy we forget what and who are around us. We need to fall in love with each other again rather than the people stuck on our little screens. 

 2. Why do you think this book, released by indie publishing house Melville Press, has become an unexpected bestseller in Corona Times?

What else do we have to do during quarantine than sit our phones? We are quite literally in a cage where the only thing we have is to lose ourselves in the attention economy. People forgot how to take walks outside, rather than go to the gym, or just sit on the porch and watch the kids play. I think why this book was so successful during Corona Times is because people needed a break, and this book was a guide to that break. There was a pause in life, and I don’t think anyone truly knew how to take that pause. 

This past year has been a constant pressure cooker of the attention economy, and people needed to find a way to turn it off. While social media was a great way to connect us when no one could be together, we really had no escape. This book also came out at a time when a lot of people found it necessary to evaluate their life, and really look at themselves including what and who we surround ourselves with. The book, I believe, allowed people to open their eyes to seeing more than what was really there. 

 3. How does the attention economy benefit from our social media activity and media streaming consumption?

Refresh, Refresh, Refresh. That’s how the attention economy benefits from our social media activity. There are certain aesthetic choices that suck us into platforms like Instagram, or Facebook. The endless scrolling is what sucks you in as a consumer, and its main purpose is to keep you scrolling. There is always something new, and it never stops. 

Our attention span as society has continued to dwindle down to the bare minimum. Musicals and plays used to be over 3 hours, and now they are compact into 90 minutes with a 15-minute intermission, to recharge your attention. With the advancement of technology, our attention span continues to decrease. So much that we can’t deal with the feeling of not knowing something. We have to take out our phones and ask Siri. Our phones and other devices have allowed us to develop these emotions that we don’t want to feel anymore, and the only way to avoid that is to continue our use. 

 4. How does this book relate to the topic of celebrity culture?

Celebrity culture is a huge part of the attention economy. A majority of the ‘news’ on my Facebook feed is about celebrities. Social media allows them to develop a brand, and it’s almost as if they are constantly selling to us. Also, social media breaks down this barrier between the celebrity and the audience where it makes us feel as though the celebrity is our friend. The closer that connection becomes the easier it is to get sucked into this cycle of celebrity culture that is produced on social media. 

 5. Do you take digital detox breaks? If yes, describe them. Have they been more challenging during the quarantine era? Why?

I don’t take digital detox breaks. For one, I just don’t think I could remember all of my passwords after. 

All joking aside, for me I don’t know if they would work. I feel like no matter how long the break was, I would just go back, and perhaps it would be worse. What did I miss? Who messaged me? I’m not saying there aren’t benefits, but I try and find other times to avoid social media during the day. Maybe I’ll take one just for an experiment. However, I feel as though I would have to be alone. I don’t know how effective it would be because I have roommates, and watching someone else scroll all day wouldn’t give me the same benefits that I would expect to happen if I were alone. 

 6. Do you sleep with your phone or computer? Are you aware of impacts on your sleep cycles and relaxation caused by overnight proximity?

My phone is on my nightstand, plugged in, and on do not disturb at night and mostly throughout the day. Notification sounds just bother me, especially if I’m trying to concentrate on something else like homework or reading a book. However, I have many habits with my phone. Just like notification sounds, notification numbers bug me so much. If I see one I have to clear it, I like things to be clean on my phone. Usually when I’m stressed about something I will go on my phone to escape or avoid. I follow a lot of “aesthetically pleasing” accounts that I turn to in order to calm myself down when I get anxious. Scrolling through Pinterest always helps because I’ve tailored that to be aesthetically pleasing to my eyes. If I’m surrounded by a calm, good-looking space, it’s less likely I’ll be anxious, and that pertains to my phone as well. 

That being said, I am trying to limit my phone usage. I’ve noticed I can’t watch television without scrolling on my phone. This is just bad for my eyes and everything else cause I’m staring at two screens. My biggest habits with my phone are in the morning and before I go to bed. I’m very into my routines, and this has just become part of it. I also look at my phone when I first wake up, and I scroll for about 30 minutes. Mainly, it’s just to clear all my notifications from overnight. Then at night, which is where I watch tv shows or Youtube, and then scroll on my phone before I go to bed. I’ve been trying to break this habit by reading before bed, which ultimately limits my watch time because if it’s past a certain hour, I just go to sleep. I’m very aware of my habits and am trying to change them, especially because of this book. But I don’t think it has an impact on my sleep cycle, if anything my phone relaxes me because I use it in a relaxing way, but that is also a problem within itself.

 7. What is the role of nature in Odell's book, in particular the role of birds? (P.S. Did you know that birdwatching has become a HUGE pastime in the Covid era with a Snow Owl becoming a celebrity in NYC's Central Park? See NY Times (Links to an external site.)  article on Birdwatching and another on the snowy owl  (Links to an external site.))

The presence and care for nature in Odell’s book is what I mostly took away. We as a society are so absorbed within ourselves and advancement of technology that we have lost a state of consciousness with the very ground we walk upon. I watched a TED talk by Graham Hancock called “The War on Consciousness” (which was originally banned from TED due to it’s radical content) and he echo’s a lot of what Jenny Odell says. Humans have lost this connection to spirit, and if we don’t reconnect we may be holding ourselves back from further evolution. The way that Hancock suggests we grasp this reconnection is through the psychedelic drug of ayahuasca. There are a lot of parallels between these two because Odell suggests a lot that we need to render our attention, in order to open ourselves to more than what is considered surface level. If we allow ourselves to embrace a further, deeper state of consciousness we can reconnect with earth, and the nature that surrounds us in order to become a greater society. 

We need to reintroduce ourselves to nature, rather than take it for granted, which is why I think something like birdwatching became a pastime activity during COVID. I also want to mention the attention that nature has been getting during COVID. I remember a couple weeks after the lockdown there were stories of how animals and wildlife were starting to come back to places they haven’t occupied in a long time because nature was somehow repairing itself. There are also a lot of before and after lockdown pictures of cities where you can see the difference in pollution form the sky color. I think a lot of people took that as a sign that we are the problem, and things need to start changing. 

 Here is the link to the TED Talk, I highly recommend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0c5nIvJH7w

 8. Experiment: Leave your phone at home for one hour to talk a walk in your neighborhood. Write down your observations when you return and draw a map of your path. What did you observe?  Take a photo of your map to include in your book review. Did the experience provide any revelations? Were you anxious, relieved, inspired? Did you notice anything you'd never seen before?

I love taking walks, it’s been a daily activity for me since Corona Times have begun. I usually just plug my headphones in and listen to music, but I don’t really look at my phone when I’m walking. My phone is also a safety net for me, so walking without it made me a little more anxious than comfortable. 

I live kinda close to a park in New York, but it’s a bit of a trek to get to. Usually I speed through my neighborhood in order to get to the quite area when the park begins, but not this time. I took more of a casual stroll through my neighborhood, still the same route. There was a lot of traffic noise, music from people’s speakers at storefronts, groups of people talking in Spanish. I always walk by a pet store to stare at the puppies in the window. Once I got to the park there is always this sense of relief, and it was still there even without my phone. The wind was brushing through the trees, footsteps of people running, birds chirping. There was a lot that I noticed, I sometimes forgot my phone wasn’t there and I could just be present. 

9. What does Odell mean by 'doing nothing?' Are we capable of doing nothing? 

The very last line of her book when she describes her encounter with the pelicans was, “The answer was nothing. Just watch.” We need to be able to disconnect, and we have lost that ability to disconnect ourselves from the attention economy. We live in a society that tells us we can’t do nothing, because you can’t survive that way. To take time to breathe, relax, connect with nature is looked at as selfish rather than necessary. The question of if we are capable of doing nothing is simple, of course we are capable. However, are we willing?