Joey Odorisio made me do this. ACTING!
Synchronicity Project
Ouvroir de littérature potentielle
Tentative d’epuisement d’un lieu a Philadelphia.
Media Studies: Ideas Spring 2012
John P. Gelety
Week 1
Sunday, Feb 5, 2012 – 9:02am
Universal Transverse Mercator Coordinates: 18S 484420 4422870
Another man sits alone on a bench.
PA systems calls for boarding on Track 3.
A woman spills her coffee when trying to sit down.
2 police officers walk by.
The Solari board clicks and changes to the next schedule.
A far-off yell echoes to the giant wall behind me.
Week 2
Sunday, Feb 12, 2012 – 9:12am
UTM: 18S 484420 4422870
PA system calls for boarding on Track 1 and 2.
PA system calls a name to come to the central kiosk.
Shadow of a plane flying over darkens the windows for a moment.
A large line of people queuing to go down stairs to platform.
The revolving door behind me makes a moving prism of light on the floor.
A car honks its horn.
My phone vibrates in my pocket.
Week 3
Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 – 9:08am
UTM: 18S 484420 4422870
My coffee sits next to me on the bench.
The gentleman in front of me has his coffee sitting by his feet.
The sound of newspaper shuffling.
The Solari board comes to life, flapping to the next train departure.
A police dog barks once.
PA system calls out a delay.
The shadows of taxis pass outside the main doors.
Train air brakes sound below.
Week 4
Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 – 9:03am
UTM: 18S 484420 4422870
I am the one who spills my coffee as I sit down.
I smell coffee on my hands and jeans.
Au Bon Pain smells like a bakery.
A cash register opens.
Outside the shop, the PA system rings out feedback.
Train air brakes.
Train wheels squeaking on the rails.
The sun fades through clouds and dims the light in here.
Week 5
Sunday, March 4, 2012 – 9:03am
UTM: 18S 484420 4422870
I am asked how I am doing by a stranger walking by.
This all feels the same to me, but I hear different things.
Between trains, there is quiet.
The bench creaks and reminds me of being a kid forced to go to church.
The PA system speaks, but I no longer hear words.
A trash can sits next to me at the end of the bench.
I notice a woman looking at me as I look around and write.
Week 6
Sunday, March 11, 2012 – 9:10am
UTM: 18S 484420 4422870
Busy Sunday.
Police walk by me, I wonder if they are suspicious.
The Solari board changes again – it sounds like old times.
I wonder if this place sounded like this in the 1930’s.
A shiny object caught in the sun catches my attention.
I’m tired.
The floor is hard under my sneakers.
A train schedule falls from a counter.
Week 7
Sunday, March 18, 2012 – 9:02am
UTM: 18S 484420 4422870
A delivery guy pushes a cart.
There are deliveries on Sundays?
Hard shoe sounds on the floor echo.
Air brakes of a train.
My phone rings and someone else looks at their phone.
An advertisement for Dunkin Donuts on the wall.
Amtrak staff laugh to each other.
A line of people waiting to go to the platform.
I smell sausage.
Week 8
Sunday, March 25, 2012 – 9:04am
UTM: 18S 484420 4422870
A woman says “Yeah, right.”
Feels like I was here yesterday.
Is this Paris? London? New York?
I close my eyes.
I could be anywhere now.
A baby cries far away from me.
Sunlight flashing from the revolving door blinds me for a second.
Someone runs.
The smell of fresh coffee and cinnamon.
Week 9
Sunday, April 1, 2012 – 9:12am
UTM: 18S 484420 4422870
I don’t want to be here today and my posture shows it.
This bench is not comfortable.
A man in a suit sits across from me reading Wired mag (Inside the Matrix).
The sound of a harmonica?
The Solari board changes.
Running footsteps.
The smell of cocoa.
A line of children hand-in-hand.
Week 10
Sunday, April 8, 2012 – 9:02am
UTM: 18S 484420 4422870
I sit facing the other way on an opposite bench.
Sounds seem different from this angle.
A Christmas decoration still hangs on a wall.
A large Amtrak banner.
Someone struggles with a heavy door.
Maintenance door.
A man pushes a large trash bin.
A yellow Polo shirt.
A cop tells a taxi to move along.
Week 11
Sunday, April 15, 2012 – 10:01am
UTM: 18S 484420 4422870
I’m late getting here today.
The PA system announces an arrival and last call departure.
The PA system has feedback today.
A woman in a skirt is sleeping sitting up.
My coffee is very hot, should have gotten iced coffee.
The air conditioning blows from above.
The sound of pocket change falling.
Laughter.
A police K9 walks by.
The large angel statue reminds me of the movie Witness.
It’s warm in here.
I’m distracted.
Week 12
Sunday, April 22, 2012 – 9:01am
UTM: 18S 484420 4422870
A second hand of a wall clock is stuck at 35 seconds.
I think the same stranger who talked to me a few weeks ago is here.
It’s raining.
Umbrellas close and are shaken.
A maintenance worker mops by the revolving door.
The PA system announces delays of 15 minutes.
The Solari board changes.
There is a line of people waiting for a train, they are annoyed.
Week 13
Sunday, April 29, 2012
UTM: 18S 484420 4422870
The sound of a pay phone ringing – I think it’s a cell phone.
TV monitors in here are flickering.
The sound of boots walking.
Espresso grinding.
Train air brakes and squeaking.
A man is asleep on the bench next to me.
A newspaper falls to the floor.
Shoes squeaking.
Someone yells “John!” It’s not for me.
A woman with a brown purse.
Week 14
Sunday, May 6, 2012
UTM: 18S 484420 4422870
A couple walking hand-in-hand.
A woman pushing a baby carriage.
A PA announcement is made.
The Solari board changes.
Police walk by.
Light from outside streaming in.
The sound of a plane flying overhead, its shadow.
A family waves goodbye to someone.
Train air brakes.
This bench is harder than ever.
A woman next to me opens a plastic food container with a snap.
A far-off yell.
As a young man, John P. Gelety developed three great passions: hunting, travel, and jousting. It is estimated that he shot more than 5,000 deer in his lifetime. In 1883, he visited Italy for the first time in order to see the properties left to him by Duke Francis V of Modena. In 1885, he visited Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey. In 1889, he visited Germany. At age thirteen, he broke two of his ribs after falling off his horse while jousting.
In 1889, John P. Gelety's life changed dramatically.
Welcome to my blog. Through this, I will post stuff about media, my grad studies, voice over work, my filmmaking and design career, my life as a video & multimedia product manager, the wife, cats, robots and various french toasts.
