Memories of you
On Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, I was working in midtown at 750 7th Avenue. Shortly after the first plane hit the Towers, my entire office was glued to CNN, amazed at how a pilot could screw up that badly.
Then we realized it hadn’t been a light plane; this had been no Cessna… the tower had been hit by a jet liner.
Then the second plane hit and we knew something was terribly wrong.
Our building, being one of the taller structures in midtown Manhattan, was immediately evacuated. Once on the street, I was crossing an avenue and looked downtown just as the first tower collapsed. No doubt you've heard/read people describe how surreal it was, like an unbelievable nightmare. This is a cliché at this point, but incredibly accurate. I count myself lucky that I was not among those who were actually working downtown. I have several friends who were in the Wall Street area and had to flee the debris cloud. I also lost a friend who worked in the WTC. I believe she was killed instantly (she worked on the floor where the first plane hit), but I will never know.
I suppose different people deal with the anniversary of this terrible event in many different ways. This time round, I exercised the "hide your head in the sand" technique. I didn't listen to or watch the news, nor did I read anything about it on the net. I didn't want to know, didn't want to think about it. The only direct effect this year's anniversary had on me was a nasty traffic snarl on Sunday night.
However...
I'm a daily follower of Josh Weiner's Grumpymonk website. Josh is an incredibly talented photographer and I have to say that the pic below moved me in ways I've managed to suppress since the event itself. But this isn't a bad thing. It hasn't reopened any wounds, but instead has somehow helped me remember in a calm and introspective way. It's beautiful, in a terrible and saddening way.
Thanks, Josh.
Requiems:
Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
(finally getting into this one)
P.M. Dawn - Of The Heart, Of The Soul And Of The Cross: The Utopian Experience
(blessed hippy hop)
Leaf - Made Into Itself
(taking off the kilter)
Belphegor - Necrodaemon Terrorsathan
(growl growl bang bang)
Bonechurch - Blackstatic
(black as midnight, black as pitch)
Then we realized it hadn’t been a light plane; this had been no Cessna… the tower had been hit by a jet liner.
Then the second plane hit and we knew something was terribly wrong.
Our building, being one of the taller structures in midtown Manhattan, was immediately evacuated. Once on the street, I was crossing an avenue and looked downtown just as the first tower collapsed. No doubt you've heard/read people describe how surreal it was, like an unbelievable nightmare. This is a cliché at this point, but incredibly accurate. I count myself lucky that I was not among those who were actually working downtown. I have several friends who were in the Wall Street area and had to flee the debris cloud. I also lost a friend who worked in the WTC. I believe she was killed instantly (she worked on the floor where the first plane hit), but I will never know.
I suppose different people deal with the anniversary of this terrible event in many different ways. This time round, I exercised the "hide your head in the sand" technique. I didn't listen to or watch the news, nor did I read anything about it on the net. I didn't want to know, didn't want to think about it. The only direct effect this year's anniversary had on me was a nasty traffic snarl on Sunday night.
However...
I'm a daily follower of Josh Weiner's Grumpymonk website. Josh is an incredibly talented photographer and I have to say that the pic below moved me in ways I've managed to suppress since the event itself. But this isn't a bad thing. It hasn't reopened any wounds, but instead has somehow helped me remember in a calm and introspective way. It's beautiful, in a terrible and saddening way.
Thanks, Josh.
Requiems:
Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
(finally getting into this one)
P.M. Dawn - Of The Heart, Of The Soul And Of The Cross: The Utopian Experience
(blessed hippy hop)
Leaf - Made Into Itself
(taking off the kilter)
Belphegor - Necrodaemon Terrorsathan
(growl growl bang bang)
Bonechurch - Blackstatic
(black as midnight, black as pitch)
posted by Ben at 8:39 AM
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