A = Winning Cake

=20

JOURNAL 9 . 15 . = 2001

un=20 r=EAve dans le zoo du parc central
3D""=20

saturday, september 15

=BB5:37 PM

My pictures from 9.11.01 are still here; pictures from the 12th = and 13th=20 are here

Last = night we=20 sat around at Antarctica listening to = one of the=20 rescue workers, a 'mole,' who climbs down into holes in the World Trade = Center=20 rubble to find bodies, talk about his job. He said, "there I am, worst = disaster=20 in the world, and I have my choice of 7 kinds of potato. I can have my = potatoes=20 baked, fried, au gratin, roasted; I can have my hot dogs grilled or = fried and=20 with or without cheese; I can get rehydrated, dehydrated, have my eyes = washed=20 out and get a massage from a nurse all at the same time. I feel almost = guilty=20 down there." He also confirmed what everyone has said=96that you can't = imagine how=20 monumental the debris piles down there are; and that he'd had it with = the=20 journalists trying to get in down there: "They ask me if I've found any = bodies,=20 and what do they want me to say? I'm not going to talk about that. I = tell them=20 about the potatoes. If you see me on t.v., talking to a reporter, you = can be=20 sure I'm making everything up."

But the mole also told us that = he'd never=20 seen a better or more inspiring display of work, that you couldn't = imagine how=20 efficient and skilled the effort was. It's like an ant colony, people=20 shoulder-to-shoulder working bucket lines, hanging from cranes with blow = torches=20 to cut up girders, the mayor=96who, he said, had actually been buried in = the=20 rubble himself and had to be rescued right after the buildings=20 collapsed=96climbing around in the debris, shaking the hand of every=20 worker.

People keep asking me if I want to get out of the city = now. I=20 don't want to get out at all: I feel I've been nailed to this city = forever,=20 tattooed as its own. My friend Blake moved up here just after we did, = and he=20 feels the same way. Here's his=20 story of the day of the attack, which he saw from the mouth of the = subway=20 station, and a few more=20 pictures, nothing much. Fray has collected=96rather, is collecting=96accounts = of the day and=20 the aftermath, too.

=BBcomment

friday, september 14

=BB12:05 PM

The more we try to return to normal, the more awful and strange = everything=20 seems to me. We came in to the office yesterday wearing masks to = protect us=20 from the dust in the air. Everyone was wearing them. Today we rode our = bikes=20 through the cold, driving rain that must be filling the rescue workers = with a=20 deeper dread than they already feel. The office is about half-full, but = I don't=20 think anyone is really able to focus.
The Muslim-run deli where = we buy=20 our cat food and beer was shut down and surrounded by 15 police cars on=20 Wednesday night, evidently the target of threats: I'm as scared of that = kind of=20 thing, about the blindness of our anger and our righteousness, as I am = of=20 another building falling.

Thank you, Blogger, for keeping us all in = touch.

5=20 comments

thursday,=20 september 13

=BB11:59 AM

Updated = pictures from=20 the day of the attack, with captions that actually reflect what was = going=20 on.

Some=20 pictures showing the towers from before

Some pictures = I took=20 yesterday, riding around on my bike and taking in the unreal=20 city.

Because we didn't have internet access at home, I kept = notes to add=20 to this when I could get back to work. Here's a fuller account of our = experience=20 of the attack, and what I was thinking Tuesday night and Wednesday, if = you=20 care.

Tues. night

I don't think this will ever = sink in. We=20 rode our bikes to work today, and only Jennifer heard the first = explosion, which=20 she figured was just construction noise. As we crossed Broadway, we = heard a=20 bunch of sirens--more than usual, even for New York. As we hit Mercer, = the next=20 street over, we could see smoke above the buildings, and heard people = talking=20 about a plane hitting the building. Then as we turned the corner of = Greene=20 Street, there it was: a gaping hole in the West tower.

What was = strange=20 about seeing it was that then it felt like it was (surely!) all = over:=20 that I was witnessing the aftermath of the historic day that some = misguided=20 pilot crashed his Cessna into the WTC. I rode my bike downtown, south of = Canal,=20 to get better pictures, and was speculating about the cause of the crash = with a=20 postal worker as the second tower exploded. We couldn't see the plane = hit the=20 building, but even so we began to suspect it was a terrorist attack, = because=20 there was no other way to make sense of it--even though everyone = tried,=20 as though no one wanted to accept that terrorism had hit, = finally.

THEN=20 it felt over, and I actually worried about being late for work. It was = while we=20 were inside the office (from which we had a clear view of the towers) = that they=20 began collapsing. People kept coming into the office--a former employee = who=20 worked in the WTC, family members of employees, friends bawling from = watching=20 people leaping from the windows....

Now everyone realizes that = it's=20 still not over. I can't match my memory of the building exploding = with=20 the news footage of the plane flying into it. We all jump whenever we = hear a=20 loud noise, and regard the water and strangers with suspicion. We can't = make=20 phone calls. When we look down the street of our apartment, where we = once saw=20 the towers, we now see a plume of orange smoke:
3D"view

Weds. = a.m.
When we woke up this morning, the smoke we could see from = our=20 bedroom window last night was gone, and the sun was out, and even though = it=20 wasn't possible to imagine that everything was back to normal, it did = seem like=20 the fires had all been put out, as though the disaster hadn't been quite = as=20 enormous as it had appeared at first. Then, of course, the news showed = that the=20 smoke was as bad as ever, just blowing in a different = direction.

I hate=20 to say this, but I can't stop thinking about it. I've never had a whit = of=20 respect for President Bush, and I didn't expect that he'd handle this = situation=20 particularly well, but I've been appalled by just how badly he's handled = it. It=20 hit me most clearly when I saw Giuliani on television, making his 4th or = 5th=20 public statement, handling reporters' questions, providing information = to=20 television viewers. I've never really liked Giuliani, either, but I was = filled=20 with admiration for him as he stood up there, going beyond even what his = press=20 secretary wanted him to do to answer questions and provide comfort and=20 information. Bush, by contrast, looks like a cornered rabbit, and his=20 unwillingness to take questions from reporters or to say anything that = indicates=20 that he even know what's going on is worse, now, than uninspiring: it's=20 terrifying. I don't want that man leading the country into war.

26=20 comments

wednesday,=20 september 12

=BB12:46 PM

We can't get online at home--earthlink has lost power, = apparently--~~so=20 these are all the pictures = I have=20 up, still.~~ We walked over to work just now to get our bikes and = check=20 our email--the only reliable form of communication, realy. We're about = the only=20 people who can get here, because the police aren't allowing pedestrians = who=20 don't live south of Houston to cross Houston. The streets down here are = totally=20 empty, and a little eerie. There are people walking around, and the = fishmarkets=20 in Chinatown are open. But we saw a father teaching his son to ride a = tricycle=20 in the middle of Grand Street, which is usually bumper-to-bumper = traffic, and we=20 could have sat down in the middle of Broadway for an hour and not risked = being=20 run over.

It's an awful sight, the skyline without the towers. = The smoke=20 from the fires is filtering the sunlight, making everything look a = little=20 jaundiced.

4=20 comments

tuesday,=20 september 11

=BB10:35 AM

WTC explosion. = Everyone=20 looks and feels sick.
Also photos at cia's, in her journal: http://www.ext212.com/

3=20 comments

sunday,=20 september 9

=BB10:47 PM

I spent all day today inside working on a file upload tool for my = father so=20 that he didn't have to email me repeatedly every time he wanted to add a = new=20 photograph to his site. I felt fairly happy = with myself=20 for getting it to work, but then....

We went over to D.U.M.B.O. = this=20 evening for the finale of the Digital Dumbo festival to see a film by = our friend=20 Gary's wife Hila: a = stop-action=20 animation fantasia about a superstar ladybug soccer player killed by an = angry=20 jealous bee. It was astonishing: intense, beautiful color, a great=20 obliquely-told story, perfect music. It should have made every other = filmmaker=20 showing work tonight feel minuscule, as it did me and my puffed-up geek = pride.=20 The only thing I could compare the film to is what I've seen by the Brothers Quay. I guess that's a = pretty=20 obvious connection, but it's a flattering one, too, I hope. = Congratulations, you=20 guys. That was one of the most inspiring things I've seen in a long, = long=20 time.

=BBcomment

tuesday, september 4

=BB11:54 PM

So I'm a little late to the game, but I'm addicted to chowhound.com, which I'd = heard of but=20 never really investigated before Calvin Trillin's terrific article in = last=20 week's New Yorker (why even bother linking to that disaster of a site). = Imagine=20 having access to all the knowledge of a roomful of food-obsessed New=20 Yorkers--without having to listen to them talk!

Fall = dropped like=20 a curtain on the city, right on cue: last week it was scorching, but as = soon as=20 Labor Day weekend hit we were pulling the covers up under our chins. The = weekend=20 was terrific, with a trip all the way out to Shelter Island on Saturday and a = dinner party=20 here on Monday night, with a lot of eating and drinking and=20 not-thinking-about-work in between. Pictures will follow = shortly.

=BBcomment

sunday, september 2

=BB12:21 PM

Ari and=20 Thalia's new project, yobotica, launched this weekend, in plenty of time = for them to=20 go to the beach for Labor Day. It's flash that will give you = chills.

1=20 comment

wednesday,=20 august 29

=BB9:20 AM

A couple of years ago, to round out my selection of magazines for = some=20 American Express promotion, I subscribed to W Magazine. We've gotten along = o.k., W=20 providing--within the generally absurd atmosphere of the fashion = magazine=20 demimonde--a nice balance to the pure helium of Wallpaper. Especially edifying are = the=20 letters to the editor, where you can see, first hand, the violent = collision of=20 cautiously edgy editorial content and desperately overreaching = self-invention by=20 the sorts of people who enjoy--even look forward to--articles = fawning=20 over obscure Greek royalty and praising well-done 2nd and 3rd facelifts. = Every=20 month, Jennifer and I gather around the fire, as in olden times, and = read aloud=20 such howlers as this letter of concern from Rachel Flye, Charlotte,=20 N.C.:

I was appalled by 'Tierney's Tempest', = especially=20 by the pictures of nude children. This 'art' is nothing short of child=20 pornography, and those who find pleasure in it obviously have very = perverse=20 minds. Without a government ban, this so-called art will become = pervasive in our=20 society. The pictures were unneccessary. What mother can read your = magazine=20 without fearing that her young children will find it and be=20 corrupted?

I especially like the resonance between = 'perverse' and=20 'pervasive', which suggests that Ms. Flye did some time in poetry = school, don't=20 you think. I also like the shrill rhetoric of the closing salvo, = especially=20 given that it's buried on a page of a magazine bursting with sweaty = post-coital=20 flesh.

Ah, nothing like teeing off on a would-be princess from = the Queen City.

brought to you from the living room sofa by airport

2=20 comments

tuesday,=20 august 28

=BB9:33 PM

OK. Now we have wireless dsl. That feels a little more = exciting.=20 There's jennifer in the living room chair buying play doh for our = nephews, while=20 I'm in here...uh...doing nothing? My only concern for the moment is = finding a=20 place conspicuous enough to show off the Airport Base Station to good=20 effect.

1=20 comment

thank you,=20 blogger=20