so I woke up

thinking about the blog and how I don't usually use it as a platform to rant about "stuff" but I had I topic I thought was worthy - you know the usual- people not doing what they said they were going to do and how everyone is sooooo effing special these days that the world revolves around them -

I had seen (thanks to two referrals from FB friends) this incredible video called "this is water" that uses the David Foster Wallace commencement speech text set to video images which seemed to both fit the external issues and the internal... here is a link to it - you may find it interesting or enlightening -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z5TIFr5XMo or another link if that one fails-
http://www.askmen.com/video/entertainment-and-celebrities/this-is-water-david-foster-wallace-video.html

but on the way through the morning- as I was doing all the things I had agreed to do to take care of the details of everyday life - I found the rant dissipating...LOL - to the extent I can't even remember the genesis of my ire some five hours later... especially in light of the day/date....

that Tuesday the sky was the brightest clearest autumn blue - the crisp air hinting of the winter season to come, but only the smallest of hints... and each of us of course remembers where we were and what we were doing that morning.  12 years... a long time - an instant passed - and it has been TWELVE years. How could that be? It's been forever and no time at all...

So instead of ranting today I am going to NYC -

I first went to NYC with my erstwhile boyfriend who brokered for gold arbitrage between the Chicago Board of Trade and New York COMEX.  We went several times and I spent most of my time exploring museums and learning my way around.  Later, I had a job that involved business trips to NYC back in the mid 80s.  Then a different job and a lot more trips to the city, including opening an office there.  So I knew NYC very well when I met Phil and it quickly became our destination of choice in the US for long weekend getaways. 

In the year after 9/11- when no one was traveling - we went to NYC eight times.  And of course we were traveling.  Less than a month after 9/11 we were in Rome and we spent the Christmas holiday in Paris.  How could we pass up fares and hotel rates like those? Our round trip Europe tickets were costing between $400- 500 (those were the days!) - deals abounded. 

But it was to NYC we returned again and again in the first year or 18 months after 9/11.  We loved it so much that our enthusiasm spilled over- and both son and daughter ended up there one way or another... Jeremy for college at NYU in 2003 and then a career there.  Angela headed there the  day after her college graduation in  2009...  And, just two years ago last month, our dear friends Laure & Arno and the adorable Alix moved there - so now we have all kinds of reasons and excuses to visit!

So in one week from today we will be off again to NYC - because even though NYC doesn't look like this photo I took in 1997 on one of the first trips Phil and I took to NYC together- it is still our favorite US destination....

in case you want to see a little bit more 9/11 related information - here is a post I did when we visited the Memorial in 2011....

http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2011/10/day-two-nyc.html

today I say a prayer of thanks for all firemen/women everywhere - god bless them for the work they do. I still tear up thinking of them in full gear running up the twin tower stairwells as survivors were running down...

day two NYC

well we did end up with lots of noise at 7 AM - loud pounding that we covered up a bit by turning up our own "noise machine" the white noise generator that Phil travels with.

we managed to stay a sleep until around 11 AM and then got up - we were headed first to lunch but the subways were not favoring us this morning so we ended up doing that later.  we got off at Rector Street on the R line and headed for the hot dog cart- no that was not our next destination - just a stop along the way for a soda to share and a hot dog to split as we didn't have enough time for lunch before our timed tickets to the 9/11 memorial at the WTC site.

the process for entry was well run even with high security.

the memorial is devastating emotionally- and I think the architects have it just right- the fountains are on the foot prints of the twin towers and they empty into the seeming abyss of a black shaft in the center of each.

the names of all who perished line the railings of the fountains and the site is covered in trees (including the survivor tree- the lone tree that survived the attack.)

it is quite peaceful and I think when the whole complex is complete will be a worthy tribute to our heartrending loss. 

Photos:  you must have a ticket to enter- they are timed every fifteen minutes-

the site is quite quiet for being in the middle of a construction site

the foot prints of the WTC towers are the fountains foot prints

both fountains flow into the abyss of a central "bottomless" chamber- and are lined with the names of all who died there and at the other 9/11 locations- DC and Shanksville PA as well as the six who died in the earlier attack on the WTC-

the first responders are memorialized at the south tower in the area where we first entered the site.

the scale of the fountains is overwhelming- plenty of space for each of the individuals to be memorialized

I knew only one person who died there that day - a woman who had worked for me in the 1990s in the Claims Department- Linda Rosenbaum

this photo gives some perspective of the plan of the site-

and since there is no appropriate seque from the somber and emotional 9/11 memorial to the life of the living- I will just go on- as we did-

from there we went to lunch at Luke's Lobster in the financial district- yummy yummy lobster rolls-

then since we were right around the corner from Laure and Arno's place we stopped in to say hello before leaving for the Occupy Wall Street protests on the way home to our noisy hotel

the view from the bedroom of their new apartment

Zuccotti Park - the HQ of the Occupy Wall Street Movement-

no lack of police - the ratio of white shirts to protesters seemed pretty high-

we later went to have drinks with Jeremy and Vanessa and then on to the Judy Show  before a late dinner at The House near the show- an excellent salad of butter lettuce and endive in a ginger dressing was my favorite dish.