We’re back after a “few days” hiatus. The break was in part due to Columbus Day, a U.S. national holiday, that for many people, including us, is not a holiday at all. More on that later.
But first … Did you miss us? NO? Well, we missed YOU, savvy reader!
What with the Columbus Day non-holiday stuff and — more to the point — really good surf arriving these past couple of weeks in California after a month of no good surf, we took a few days off from posting.
And then those few days became a week. A week became weekS!
All that time, roaming up and down the SoCal coastline hunting waves AND trying to get work done. Emphasis on “trying.” We didn’t get a lot of work done, at least in terms of posting to this site.
But we did take lots and lots of pix for this site and saw a lot of art in the service of reporting it on this site.
So, Columbus Day non-holiday holiday.
The U.S. government and its related entities, as well as all banks, take this day off. They shut their doors, let their calls go to voicemail, and fuck-off for a Monday.
In the process, they extend their weekend for additional and various weekendy non-work activities like …
- Day drinking
- Home improvement/DIY stuff
- Catching up on and binge-watching their favorite TV shows
- Epic shopping excursions to big-box retailers like Costco and WalMart.
- Road trips up the coast
- Road trips down the coast
- Road trips to the coast …
- Road trips away from the coast
- Supplemental day drinking
That kind of stuff.
Some public and private companies observe the holiday and give their employees the day off, too. But it’s kind of scattershot.
When we were working in the advertising and branding agency world in New York City, most of the companies gave us Columbus Day off.
Not so at our current company or most of the same kind of advertising and branding agencies here on the West Coast.
Columbus Day is kind of a bigger deal in NYC. There’s an annual Columbus Day parade there that celebrates the legacy of Italian Americans.
There are statues of Columbus, and in Midtown Manhattan especially, steps away from Central Park and the Trump International Tower and a Whole Foods, is a traffic circle (what Brits call a “roundabout”) named Columbus Circle. In middle of it is a tall column topped by a statue of Columbus. See photo above.
Columbus is a controversial figure as a symbol of historical celebration, which is understandable. The Italian navigator who sailed for Spain and discovered the “New World” is a symbol of imperialism, colonialism, and genocide for some. Increasingly, It seems the statue’s days may be numbered.
His legacy, however, can’t be denied, for good or ill. And one byproduct of his legacy, in the U.S., at least, is an annual national holiday that befuddles a nation of gainfully employed populaces who just want some clarity on whether they get the day off from work and can spend that day off to go day drinking, etc. (see bullet list above).
Another byproduct is the amazing on-site art installation by artist Tatsu Nishi in 2012 titled “Living Room,” wherein the Japanese artist constructed a temporary apartment living room around the that statue of Columbus atop the column in NYC’s Columbus Circle, making it the centerpiece of a living room.
Let’s be clear, we want the day off. So how about calling it “Controversial Historic Legacies Rememberances Day” or something like that? And then go day drinking? Or to WalMart.
Whatever it’s called, either everybody should get the day off or nobody should. Consistency, folks. Consistency! (Granted, unlike our posts … but we’re working on that.)
GLOBAL GRAPHICA 