The Dubai Media Office tweeted Monday that Dubai police had “resolved” the “issue” of construction workers who had “gathered” to “demand” “bonuses” in front of Dubai Mall. All of these words, arranged as they were, might suggest that the Dubai police had benevolently dispersed a throng of pampered workers causing traffic congestion.
On Friday Jan 17, in the shadow of giant retailer H&M’s Times Square store, I wore a bloodstained shirt and surgical mask and began working behind a manual sewing machine for eight hours. It may have been easy to miss among the bright New York City lights and the blaring cab horns, but those who stopped to watch throughout the day saw that it was not cloth running through the machine, but US dollar bills.
I just got my first smartphone, an iPhone 5s. Do you remember when you got your first smartphone and the way it altered your daily living experience? I had abstained for so long because I struggle enough to be “present” and “mindful” without a screen smack between myself and the world. But as a documentary filmmaker and aspiring smartperson, this smartphone thing is becoming handy.
