CAN THE MUSIC SAVE YOUR MORTAL SOUL?

Mo' Hammad? No Problem --

I applaud Mr. Obama for speaking to the Muslim world earlier today. Yes, a lot of it was peachy, happy, let's-all-hold-hands-ish, but it was still the smart thing to do. It makes Osama bin Laden look like even more of a jackass. And anything that makes him look like a jackass is fine in my book.

If you haven't read or seen the speech, I suggest doing it. It was one of Obama's best speeches to date. It was brilliant to quote the Qu'ran in his speech too. I'd like to see an Arabic leader come to the West and quote the Bible in our lifetime.

But I thought it was a great gesture. Israel needs to allow Palestine to return to the region. And Palestine needs to realize that Israel ain't going anywhere. It's a hunk of land. The world has its place for religion. But it does not have a place for religious fanaticism. And there's plenty to go around on every side.


I was watching So You Think You Can Dance last night when I saw an advertisement for Bing. It was perhaps the only time I was inspired to look up what the heck it was. Turns out its a search engine that Microsoft recently started. And I love it. Bye, bye Yahoo!

I filled up my iPod Bruce to the brim yesterday, but I only made it to Meatloaf. I think I need more iPods.


And finally, I wanted to share something I wrote a couple days ago. I put it on my other blog, but thought I'd roll it out here too. It kind of came out of nowhere. I plan on submitting it to Glimmer Train next month. But anyway, here it is:


I remember when at nine in the morning, a buddy of mine said there had been a plane crash. We had no idea. I showed up at my Spanish class a few minutes later. I think for the first time we were quiet. For the first time, we were silent.

The televisions were on in every classroom. This was one of those "When it happened, I was..." moments.

Then there was another plane crash. My Spanish teacher turned off the television and went to answer a telephone call. "Okay," she says, and hangs up. She looks at me. "Your dad is okay."

"What?"

I had forgotten my father was on a plane going to New York. Traveling businessmen are always here and there. Home and then gone. A meeting near Liberty and Church Street, New York, New York 10006. He instead went to New Jersey that morning to visit my grandmother. He could have looked in his rearview mirror. He could've seen it all, but he chose not to. He had the choice not to.

Civics. Test day. I will always remember what our teacher told us. "This is more important than any test I could ever give you." For an hour and a half we watched. The Pentagon. Pennsylvania. New York City. It didn't fall once. It fell over thirty times.

It fell over and over for weeks. Collapsing down to the street along with our sense of invincibility.

After classes, my mother and I had our typical talk. America the Beautiful. But I couldn't stop looking in the sky. I probably wouldn't look at those beautiful, white streaks in the cool September air the same way for a long, long time.


I wonder where it's going. I wonder who's in it.

I never knew where my father was off to. I saw him that afternoon outside the Pinehurst hotel. Rented a car. We embraced as if it was some dream sequence in a movie of someone who had passed away. Except he was right there. This isn't the end. That embrace lasted forever.

I always knew. And I felt safer.

When we got back to our condominium, it fell again and again. It just kept falling. There was no one there to stop it. In front of the television or not. It kept. MTV, Discovery, History. Bathroom, bedroom, dreams.

The next morning there were numbers. There was a mayor, heroes, and a suspect. There were classes and businesses were open. The Pinehurst hotel had a typical Wednesday morning. They came in, they went out.

We talked about it in Civics. We talked about in Spanish. In English. But there was no phone call. It was just okay. It was one of those "When it happened, I was..." moments. To be replayed over and over like the two towers that fell the morning before.

Labels: Electric Light Orchestra - Don't Bring Me Down, Puff Daddy and the Family - Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Ray Charles - America the Beautiful

 Joana    EddieSki