𝐌𝐘 𝐔𝐍𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐔𝐆𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐒

For the last several months, my life has fallen back into a nocturnal pattern, alert, conscious at night, sleeping during the day.  The self-congratulatory explanation is that of an alert mind, a constant flood of ideas during the night, but it's likely something simpler, like my solid ten years once at a very physical night shift job or even my night janitorial work from age 13 with George Pringle's ABC Maintenance.

At 2:12 AM I'm relistening to David Bowie's rendition of Paul Simon's "America," while he sat cross-legged at the edge of the Madison Square Garden stage, an omnichord in front of him, during "The Concert for New York City" in 2001 after the Twin Towers attack. (You can enlarge to full screen.)

New York City is where artists seem to migrate; Dylan to Greenich Village in '61, Lennon in '71, Bowie in '74, Andy Warhol, etc.

I've one personal image of NYC still burned in my memory; 1958, being bumper to bumper on Wall Street when the workday ended, watching men in suits, carrying brief cases, exit their offices to cross that street, one walking across the chromed bumper of our 50's car.

In recent days, I've watched quite a number of fictional You Tube videos, likely from a mythical NYC, detailing office intrigue, backstabbing, idea theft, along with eventual vindication, wealth and fulfillment, sort of business soap operas, the soundtrack spoken by a narrator.  I tell myself these are well-written to justify my interest, but they're now becoming redundant, repetitive.

                       
Maybe NYC is the center of the Planet Earth's "universe," even with 9 of the world's cities larger, 7 in Asia, including Beijing, China and Tokyo, Japan, Lagos in Nigeria and Sao Paulo in Brazil. 

It's unfair to simply show the congested downtown of Lagos, Nigeria, currently the world's fasted-growing city, without also showing the ultrarich waterfront area.

My contention over the years is that no one actually "lives" in these entire cities, but, instead, functions in a tiny, self-contained section.  A couple years ago, Ana and I spent time in Chicago, surrounded by skyscrapers, but leaving our vehicle in a parking garage. Within walking distance were all the same businesses we normally frequent, but on lower levels of tall buildings, "Ross's Dress for Less" on a second floor, McDonald's the same, a supermarket on three floors with an escalator for your shopping cart.  We only used our vehicle once; a trip to "Buddy Guy's Blues Club." 

Houston is the same.  No one "lives" in the entire city, just individual neighborhoods, each containing everything you need.

Top: Bejing, China, Bottom left: Lagos, Nigeria downtown, Center: Lagos Waterfront business area, Right: Sao Paulo, Brazil downtown, Bottom: Houston numbered neighborhoods

In Asia, the secret to navigating downtown is to ride a motorbike.  In Cebu City, you'll see as many as four adults on one bike or even a father with three children in school uniforms.  The trick is to weave through traffic to be first in line at the red light with typically 100 scooters making it to the front of the line each time.  Pedestrians have to be wary as many of these bikers use the sidewalks to pass the traffic.