In memoriam

From my visit to the 9/11 Memorial.  Photo was taken on 9/2/13

Today marks the 13th anniversary of what we have come to name 9/11.  On this day in 2001, terrorists attacked the United States by flying airplanes into the twin towers at the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. A fourth plane crashed in the countryside of Pennsylvania near Shanksville.  It was brought down after the passengers on the plane commandeered the plane from the terrorists.

This is always a strange day for me.  And it started again this morning when I was getting ready for work while watching the Today Show.  The broadcast was interrupted to show the President of the United States commemorating the day at the time of the first plane crashing into one of the towers.  Thirteen years ago while I was watchin the show, the show was interrupted when reports started coming in that a plane had crashed into of the towers.  It was deja vu all over again.

In a previous post, I have documented what happened in my life leading up to 9/11/01.  This post explains it all.  To this day, I wonder if I encountered anyone on that trip who died with the collapse of the towers.  It's not something that I think about all of the time but it something that I think of once a year.

November 22, 1963

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas.  Leading up to today, many television networks have been running specials about the last days of JFK.

Everything I know about day that has been told to me by relatives who remember the day, and news stories I have read and heard.  I was only 2 years of age at the time so I have no recollection of what occurred.  If I had to guess, my sister and I were with my Guereca grandparents on the north side of Fort Worth while our parents were at work.  When it happened, I'm sure my grandmother was watching As The World Turns and CBS interrupted the show to announce that Kennedy had been shot.  After the show ended, I would assume they did another news break to announce his death.

The night before, John & Jackie arrived at Carswell Air Force Base.  My Aunt Lulu was there with Raymond (who would later become her husband).  I remember her telling me that when the plane arrived it was like something out of a movie.  The flood lights were on the tarmac and a big crowd had gathered to welcome the Kennedys to Ft.Worth.  The ramp was brought to the plane and the Kennedys exited the plane to the cheers of the crowd.  Uncle Raymond put her on his soldiers so she could see them.

John & Jackie stayed at the Hotel Texas which is now the Hilton.  Inside of the hotel the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce was gathered in the Crystal Ballroom for breakfast with John & Jackie.  And outside of the hotel, a crowd had gathered to greet the President.  News stories say that inside and outside, the crowds were charmed by the President.

In 2012, a monument of JFK was erected and placed outside of the hotel.  Fort Worth holds it's rightful place in history and it was only right to memorialize that day.

Every generation has a defining moment that scars it.  I was too young to remember November 22, 1963.  I do remember what I was doing when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986.  I remember what I was doing when the planes flew into The World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.  And I'll never forget the horror of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

I was reminded the other by my mother that in the days after November 22, 1963, my sister and I asked her if John-John and Caroline could come and stay with us.  Looking back, I guess that day did leave an impression upon me.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has put together a gallery of photos from November 21-22, 1963 that can be viewed here.

And here are photos that I took last year of the memorial in Fort Worth.

9/11 Memorial

The timing of this post is actually a coincidence.  On the last day of the trip I went to visit to the 9/11 Memorial. 

In the ground where the twin towers stood are two big holes that are fountains and serve as reminder of what happened on that historic day in 2001.  September 11, 2001, has left a permanent scar on my memory.  What had been a very fun trip to NYC, was marred by this tragic day.

blogging Hurricane Ike

I dropped off Calvin at the groomer. He really needs to be groomed and I really need a haircut and well you know who comes first.

Prior to taking him to the groomer I stopped at the other office for my daily fix. There was a weird vibe in the air. I think it is because people realize we could get hit hard by Ike. Damn him! First he beats up Tina because he says she deserves it and now he is coming to punch us. Add to that the fact that today is the 7th anniversary of 9/11

After I dropped off Calvin, I found a gas station that didn't have a line (the stations near the house were crowded this morning) and I topped off the tank. I only needed 1/4 of a tank to fill up.

The eye is still heading toward Freeport. They will do a mandatory evacuation for some of the zip codes in Harris County starting at noon. They're doing this because of the storm surge along the coast. Galveston, Brazoria, Chambers and Wharton counties had already started an evacuation and they asked the residents of Houston to stay off of the freeways so that people from those counties can get through town.

I have no idea if the office is going to be open tomorrow. I'm sure HISD will be closed. The mayor has suggested that offices close tomorrow so that people can get things in order to ride out the storm. They're also telling us that if power goes out evacuate after the storm. Not sure I understand that logic.

I'm going to talk to Jim later and find out what he is going to do. I did stock up on canned food in case the power goes out. Calvin has plenty of food. I also have plenty of water. I also have plenty of batteries, vodka, mixers, tortilla chips and magazines and books. Will charge up the iPod nano later.

If I had vacation time accrued, I'd use it and leave but since I don't I'll have to play it by ear. By the end of the work day it is going to be too late to leave and I really don't want to be stuck in the car for 24 hours and get caught in the car in the remnants of the storm. The voluntary evaucation of Hurricane Rita in 2005 is something that I never want to do again.

If Jim stays put, Calvin and I may go to his house since it is more sturdy although he has a bunch of glass. I'll also ask if I can put the car in his garage. Right now there is room in the garage.

You may not know this but my birthday September 10 is the peak of hurricane season. The last time a storm like this hit the Texas coast around September 10 was in 1961. Hmmmm.

If we end up getting interviewed by Anderson Cooper on CNN, at least Calvin will look handsome and I'll look like a lush.
Will keep you posted.

9/11

I previously posted about two events that occurred that have had an impact on me. The second one happened on September 11, 2001.

Last year, I posted some of the sequence of events that were going on in my life leading up to what has become known as 9/11.

Today my thoughts are with everyone who lost a friend or family member on that day.

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 4.1

Yesterday marked the peak of hurricane season. Still too early to say, "The coast is clear." Remember, it was around September 23/24, 2005 when Rita made landfall and wiped out the rest of southwestern Louisiana and The Golden Triangle of Texas.

Today marks the 6th Anniversary of 9/11 (the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon). I got a snippet of the ceremony held near Ground Zero in NYC and it really got to me.

I had a meeting today and then went to lunch with AttyHou. On my way back to NoRO I heard Green Day's When September Ends. There are several songs that put a lump in my throat and that is one of them. Included on this list is: Seasons Of Love; Alone Again (Naturally); On Eagles Wings; Be Not Afraid; and Rainy Days & Mondays. There are more songs.

Yesterday was a fun day. I made my way to The Galleria to wish Neiman-Marcus a 100th Happy Birthday! They were giving away their famous cookie. Of course I strolled around N-M like I belonged there.

The cookie had its own special shopping bag.

Close-up of the cookie (before I ate the whole thing).

A small tin of mints (for after an office visit).

I had to get a look at the N-M exclusive Prada shoe. I think it was only $995. Pocket change for an oil tycoon. They had a really nice looking shirt by Robert Graham for about $180 or so. Don't worry...I didn't buy either item.

I did stroll around The Galleria. Purchased a new protective cover for the iPod nano. It is red just like the nano.

And of course I had to make my obligatory pilgrimage to the mother ship...Nordstrom

I did do a 3 mile run first thing in the morning and get this...I actually made it to LeFittes to do some weights. It was a quick workout 'cause Everyday Italian and AttyHou wanted to go out to dinner. It's always nice to return to the scene of the crime so we went to Cyclone Anayas. The last time I was there I was a bit tipsy when I left. Not last night though.

I had to be sure to eat my Neiman-Marcus cookie before I went to bed. I know. That can't be good for the body but it sure tasted good.

NYC Sept. 8 - 10, 2001

This is one of my all time favorite photos ever. (It was taken on the evening of September 8, 2001.) Not because it looks like Ben and I are wearing a headpiece but because we were all laughing and smiling and just happy to be happy.

We are standing outside of the Paramount Hotel. We had just left the bar and you couldn't take photos inside the hotel lobby or the bar much less move the furniture in the bar because each piece had it's place and you messed up the design by moving it around...blah, blah, blah...so we took our picture outside before we headed over to Splash. (I seriously doubt if Philippe Starck would have known we messed up his design!) :-)

Prior to meeting up with Greg, Sean, Jim and Ben, I went to see 42nd Street and I pretty much tapped danced my way over to meet the bois. It was good meeting place before we did other things that evening.

The short story behind this weekend:

• On my 37th birthday, live on the east coast, at the beginning of the 830A segment, Katie Couric says to me, "Oh. I thought you were 40 or something like that." To which I replied, "No but I'll be back." So I had to go back in '01.



• I went to NYC thinking I was going to spend the weekend alone which I was fine with but I was surprised by the bois. It really was a fun weekend.



• Katie didn't talk to me again. Greg had enlarged a photo of me (at age 5) and put my face on tongue depressers and handed them out to the crowd. At one point Al Roker asked a lady, "Whose face is that?" Matter of factly she says, "Timmy." Al says, "Who's Timmy?" She says, "I don't know."



• Due to a storm that had blown in on the evening of 9/10/01, I had a flight delay out of EWR back to IAH. I got back to IAH really late and didn't get to bed until around 200A on 9/11/01. Greg and Sean had also departed NYC and Jim and Ben were coming back on 9/11/01. One of the last things Jim said to me before we said our good-byes was, "I wish we were going home tonight." I said, "I wish I was staying another day."



• Due to what happened on 9/11/01, they were stuck in NYC for the rest of the week and ended up driving back to Houston. They were supposed to be at the New York Stock Exchange early on 9/11/01 to rub the bull and watch them ring the bell but they overslept and had no idea what was transpiring not far from the apartment they were staying in. I was sitting on the couch in my Lucky boxers with bed head and bleary eyes watching everything transpire and was frozen but was able to call them and pretty much make no sense as I was yelling and crying.

The question was asked the other day, "Shouldn't we move on and stop acknowledging 9/11?" My thoughts lean toward letting people deal with it in their own way. I still get choked up because I had just been there. The fun and frivolity of the extended weekend didn't matter anymore.