All Photos and Video By Gail
In honor of today (September 21st) being World Peace Day, we’d like to introduce you to Miami, Florida-based street artist and Peace Advocate Renda Writer and his one-man World Peace Mural Tour: which recently saw him creating two of his multicolored-text-based World Peace wall murals here in the New York area.
One of Two Fountains at the Memorial Site
According to the Google Blog post for today, NYC’s 9/11 Memorial opens officially to the public tomorrow, September 12, 2011, after the dedication ceremony taking place this morning at the site. Even though ground zero is only about a ten-minute walk for me from the office of my day gig, I’ve probably walked by it twice in ten years, because it’s always seemed disrespectful to gawk at the site of such a tragedy. But I’m going to make an effort to walk over there in the next couple of weeks and check it out, because it looks like it’s pretty cool and a fitting memorial to the events of that day, if there could be such a thing. For anyone interested in coming in from out of town to see the Memorial, there’s a fairly comprehensive FAQ located at This Link.
Confession: Most of the time, I can barely recall what Netflick I watched last night or what I ate for lunch earlier in the day, but ask me what it was like to be in Manhattan on September 11th, 2001, and I remember that day like it was still happening. I remember seeing the smoke from the first tower as I stood at the corner of 19th Street and 5th Avenue, walking to work that morning and thinking “Something’s on fire.” I can tell you what the weather was like (the most beautiful late summer Tuesday, ever).
I recall the most minute, bullshit details of numerous conversations I had with people that day. I can tell you what I made for lunch (pasta with chicken in red sauce). I even remember what I was wearing. It’s been ten years since that day and for me it’s like it was, as they say, just yesterday. I’m sure I’ll have the same clarity about September 11, 2001 for the rest of my life. If you were in NYC at the time, you can’t ever forget. But think about this: what is that day like for people whose birthday is on September 11th? That’s something I hadn’t really considered until I read this fantastic story in The Awl built around first-person testimonials from10 people who are unfortunate enough to have 9/11 as their birth date. Ten People Who Observe Birthdays on 9/11 is by far my favorite remembrance piece of the too-many-to-mention that I’ve already read over the past few days. It captures just the right balance of candor and uncomfortable humor that feel appropriate after a decade of 9/11 anniversaries. The piece starts out like this:
Jotham Sederstrom, 34, freelance reporter: On September 10th, my friends took me out for birthday drinks in Chicago. I was out until three or four, I think, at a place called “The Hideout,” among other places. I didn’t wake up until about noon, at which point everything had changed.
George Spyros, 44, executive producer: I got married the weekend before. We had a bunch of friends and family from out of town, and went out Monday night for dinner. My wife and I were supposed to fly out on September 11th for our honeymoon. On top of that, it’s my birthday.
Michael Wright, 44, editorial director: September 11th has always been the best day of the year for me — and then it all goes to shit.
Allison Spensley, 31, mid-career change: It was my 21st birthday, so of course I had plans to go out.
And it just gets more engaging. You can read the rest – and I strongly recommend that you do – Here.
Artist: Stacey Sharp of Ink Alternative, Ronkonkoma, NY (Image Source)
For me, September 11, 2001 is a day that takes too long to talk about. I hope that everyone is praying for peace and contemplating the concept of tolerance today. That is all.
Hey what’s up. You’ve probably noticed that the blog posts have been a little sparse over the past few days, since I’ve been distracted writing the forward for my friend Chris’s tell-all book about a famous Hair Metal Band. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be talking about it yet though, so that’s all I’m going say, other than it’s a really good read. Even if you hate the band it’s about (and you probably do) you’ll enjoy getting a face full of behind-the-scenes dirt. Because everybody loves the dirt. Continue reading Broadway’s Dark Tonight
