Monday, April 20, 2020

LOSING A FRIEND TO COVID-19

Two months ago I was listening to a public official tell us,"Coved-19 is coming and it's going to be bad. You'll probably lose someone you know. 
    That happened to me today when I learned of the death of Bobby Pin. My Burning Man buddy was one of the most charming, out-going people you could ever meet. Bobby made documentaries,
took beautiful photographs, and helped run film festivals all over the world.
 Bobby Pin's Profile Photo, Image may contain: 3 people, including Bobby Pin, people smiling, people sitting and screen

   Just a month ago he posted a FB picture of himself smiling from an ocean-side hammock 
captioned, "Day 4, Quarantined in Hawaii. Stay safe".  I imagined how wonderful it would to surf and eat mangos until the pandemic passed.
He got the virus soon after and died last night in the Maui General Hospital.
   His family, Burning Man friends, and partner, Dan Greening, did their best to share their love  and help him pull though.  

'Day 33: Sweet Bobby Pin left us today. The first person I know to die of COVID-19. He was one of our Documentary Photography leaders/cheerleaders at Burning Man. A sweeter guy you would never meet. His burner name was Chino Loco, but I asked if I could call him Bobby Pin because it’s the cutest name ever. He loved to throw a party. Here he is in 2017 at Sunset on the Narwhale artcar where he arranged for us to have a Doc Team celebration. He died in Hawaii, with his hair colored blue on Bicycle Day. How we will miss you BobbyPin❤️'    The world traveler took his last trip to an intensive care unit. How incredibly sad to think that someone who had so many admiring friends had to die -more or less- alone. Bobby was just a smiling sixteen year-old who happened to turn fifty last January.  Heaven's a better place with him there.

Friday, April 10, 2020

WAKING UP IN NEW WORLD

Image may contain: 1 person, tree, shorts, outdoor, water and nature


We fell asleep in one world, and woke up in another.
Suddenly Disney is out of magic,
Paris is no longer romantic,
New York doesn't stand up anymore,
the Chinese wall is no longer a fortress, and Mecca is empty.

Hugs & kisses suddenly become weapons, and not visiting parents & friends becomes an act of love.
Suddenly you realize that power, beauty & money are worthless, and can't get you the oxygen you're fighting for.
The world continues its life and it is beautiful. It only puts humans in cages. I think it's sending us a message:
"You are not necessary. The air, earth, water and sky without you are fine. When you come back, remember that you are my guests. Not my masters.”

-Yasir Hussain
He is a 34-yer old playwright, living in Islamabad, Pakistan.