Monthly Archives: September 2001

Perhaps this next train is the one. The one that contains the girl that you’re going to marry. A smile creeps up onto your face.

Or, it could contain your true death, the one to end your suffering, the one to end the little deaths you experience each day.

You scan the cars for beauty and instability. Neither category in the cars tonight.

Sometimes, you see it on the platform waiting. Either putting on makeup or mumbling curse words and kicking recycling bins.

Neither is very hard to spot.

The following security measures are now in place: Effective immediately, I have suspended any and all walks in the vicinity of national monuments.

In the light of recent attacks on people who even look “middle eastern,” I am curbing my walks during my lunch break. Normally, I’d walk on the mall, near the vicinity of the Vietnam Veterans’s memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. Now, I’m not so sure.

For one of the first times in this city, I was afraid–not so much afraid, but I had healthy concern over the thought of walking by myself, in emotionally charged times.

America returns to work today.

On my commute, I hear and see many of the sights and sounds that I have grown accustomed to over the course of living here for eight years.

There are still couples exchanging brief kisses at Metro stop.
Vendors selling their wares in the same locations.
Everywhere I look, newspapers.
All the same headline, all being carried like black armbands on this day.

Every corner, Military Police. Something new today. A small change, but one that preludes a whole host of changes to come.

Very quickly, an image of a black suited individual rushes to my head.

“Papers please,” he says, in german-accented english.

The CVS shocks me back to reality. Incidentally, it also reminds me I need batteries.

9/11

What can I say?

What words?

We all wish to sleep, and wake up and find that none of this ever happened.

I’m okay–but I’m not.

Just a quick entry before I go to bed. What I did tonight. Not bad, getting up the pics and pages an hour after the show, I think. One of the quickest webs in the west.

And for the record, ParaParaParadise is one of the best dance/music games I have ever played. I thank Will for the ability to play this game. I didn’t think I did too badly for never having played the game before. But the game rocks. Seriously.

For those of you wondering what ParaParaParadise is: the controller is the pink discs on the floor. Think jpop stars and fruity dancing. Think good music. You still don’t understand. SIGN THE PETITION!