date stamp: 4 p.m., april 30, 2009

The last day of April 2009, and date stampers from around the world filed mundane (not to say boring) reports that indicated that, media hand-wringing to the contrary, life was carrying on, the sky (as true blue in Scotland as any ever witnessed) was not falling, and people from all over the world were placing one foot in front of the other and getting on with the day. Much like one American soldier in the middle of a troubled, ancient desert had done on his daily run.

There was work to be done, a child to be delivered to school, pastures to be grazed. And so it was, and she was, and they were. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing glamorous or Earth shattering. And yet. It is in the simplicity of each of these reports that the pulse of the world is detected, a quiet, constant, steady rhythm, proof if ever it was needed (which is more and more these days, it would seem) that all is well.


London, England
GMT
(4 p.m., local time)

Well, as befits the run up to a Bank Holiday, the weather is gearing down for the occasion - pretty overcast and a bit chilly, so I'm indoors tidying up my storyboard files. Fred, my very able artist's model was pressed into service for the fight scenes and is now offering his opinion on the resulting sketches.

— Kathryn Radmall

Screenwriter

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Edinburgh, Scotland
United Kingdom
GMT
(4 p.m. local time)

I spent the day writing and doing admin tasks, taking breaks to stare out of the window and up at the clouds.

— Laura Anderson
Freelance Writer and Filmmaker

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Manchester, England
GMT
(4 p.m., local time)

As captured by Peter Spencer, Screenwriter.

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New York, New York
United States
GMT - 5
(11 a.m. local time)

Well, 11:00 is when the phones are turned on at my job, so here's the phone. To the right you'll see the wall of the cubicle - not quite sure why there's a bottle of white-out behind the phone (I don't think I've used white-out since college). This is the moment before the onslaught - the first two hours are always the busiest. Lucky for me that with the economy being the way it is, people are still interested in going to the theatre at all.

— Mrinalini Kamath
Playwright, Filmmaker

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Raleigh, North Carolina
United States
GMT - 5
(11 a.m. local time)

Another day — another 50¢ (and that’s before taxes).

— Michael Scherer
Screenwriter

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Louisville, Kentucky
United States
GMT - 5
(11 a.m. local time)

Today is two days before the 135th Kentucky Derby. A former Derby horse, Perfect Drift, grazes by a parking lot at Churchill Downs. If memory serves, he came in third in the 2002 race. I thought, how wonderful to have already completed your best run!

— Jeanne Hammond
Screenwriter

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Westlake Village, California
United States
GMT - 8
(8 a.m. local time)

This image perfectly captures the last four years. Sunlight pouring out of the east, lighting the way to school (straight ahead for five blocks), or the ocean (turn right at the stop light).

Every day without fail, we've walked this way, back pack and brown bag lunch in hand, Lucy on leash. You feel privileged to be so close to school that you can avoid carpool lines and frantic SUVs altogether, glad of the time you have with her to talk about the dreams she had the night before, and the ones she has for the rest of her life.

With the all the uncertainty you're currently facing, you feel even more profoundly these moments together as you push forward into a new day, pushing away thoughts of scarcity, of ruin and disappointment. This is all there is. This moment, right now. Everything else is illusion. And for that you are so grateful.

— Pamela Schott
Author, Screenwriter

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Tikrit, Iraq
GMT + 3
(7 p.m. local time)

5 days, 4 runs, 30 miles. My soles are like alligator skin. I managed to get a blister on the arch of my foot. And I have a blister on a blister, on a blister that has now popped.

But these aren't complaints; this is my reality. I'm a runner, and these things won't stop me.

— Art La Flamme
Blogger/Army Serviceman

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Elsewhere in the world:

Panama Canal, Panama
United States
GMT - 8
(8 a.m. local time)

Australian Station
Antarctica
GMT + 4
(8 p.m. local time)

Abbey Road
London, England
United Kingdom
GMT
(4 p.m. local time)

Paris, France
GMT + 1
(5 p.m. local time)