Happy Antipodean: Tweeting better stories, episode five: April 2021

Wanting to find a lighter-hearted way I offer readers this fifth post in a series.

The following appeared at 12.52pm on 2 April.

On 29 April at 6.15am the following appeared.

Famous people

I’ll refer in what follows to Prince Philip’s death simply because it was such a massive event. For a while it seemed as though nothing else in the public sphere was of any consequence. To begin with, a salute from a supporter.

Another relevant tweet appeared on 10 April at 7.17pm. This was also a minimal comment and, like the first one, showed a body at rest.

The duke was leveraged in a range of different ways by people wanting to make rhetorical points, as in the case of this person who, on 22 April at 5.55am, strove to help migrants. It seems as though the prince had powers beyond death, and that, even from the grave, he was able to change things in the real world.

Another famous person appeared with a tweet that also showed a body. This was at 12.32pm on 11 April. Assange, of course, is, like Prince Philip, a talismanic individual, one whose powers of persuasion reside in the mere listing of his name among others. Set beside anu number of disparate facts, the letters of Assange’s name are supposed to move mountains. Or at least to bring those in power, and who abuse it, to justice.

History

On 25 April at 5.45am the following appeared in my feed. This individual – the person who posted this retweet – is commonly to be found talking about the biological record as it is evident in fossils.

History was also served by this tweet, which appeared in my feed on 28 April at 6.45am.

The following appeared on 25 April at 5.19am.

On 28 April at 8.46am the following two tweets appeared in my feed. They were right next to one another and, even though they comment directly on each other’s concerns, no intentional act by me was involved in this conjunction. It was purely accidental, which speaks to the arbitrary nature of meaning.

Madness and desire

On 24 April at 6.02pm the following appeared in my feed.

The following appeared on 26 April at 5.32am.

This person describes herself as an introvert, but does so with such force and certainty that I very much doubt that it is true.

The poetry itself was terrible but afraid of upsetting the woman’s equilibrium I said nothing to her in this vein.

The following appeared on 30 April at 5.36am. This tweet contained so little in the way of affect, but carried with it such a load of frustrated desire, that I decided to make the clip.

On 28 April at 6.08am the following appeared.

The following appeared on 27 April at 7.17am. It also contained oceans of unfulfilled desire, and spoke of a search for a safe harbour. I wondered what kind of place this might be.

The following drawing appeared on 27 April at 6.13am. There are so many drawings of this kind, which link in with an individual’s desires and wishes in a way that no other kind of commentary can do. Many of these artists are talented, as in this case, though some are not.

Protest

I am going to list a few items that have a topical phase simply because there are so many of them. But these tweets are, still, ephemeral and embody transient desires. To start with, on 19 April at 6.56am, I saw the following tweet.

The goal of this comment is clear, though the execution was a little askew. Or perhaps this person was trying to be funny … In any case, the effect is whimsical.

On 4 April at 3.20pm the following appeared.

At 8.55am the same day the following appeared.

On 6 April at 6.11am the following nature-oriented tweet appeared.

On 18 April at 6.17pm the following appeared in my feed. The aim of this person’s remark is entirely obscure due to the consumptive fashion in which the ideas are expressed. This comment was therefore very striking and I thought it warranted inclusion here in my survey.

Contemplation

On 5 April at 10.16am the following appeared.

This tweet reprises the nature theme of an earlier example included in this survey. Here, however, the focus is on the eternal qualities of the natural world, as a refuge and as a source of comfort and of solace amid the cares and trials of communal existence. It’s as though this person were saying, “Time out!”