THE LAST FIVE ...

Closing up shop
- Wednesday, Aug. 02, 2006

It may be time for a change
- Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Entry in the air
- Friday, April 21, 2006

Still here
- Thursday, April 20, 2006

Music of the moment
- Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Or ... BE RANDOM!


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101 in 1001
American Road Trip, 1998


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Chupatintas
Dancing Brave
Fugging It Up
Kitty Sandwich
Mister Zero
Sideways Rain
Ultratart
Velcrometer


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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2001 - 4:44 p.m.

Everyone's your friend in New York City

In New York for -- oh, business, let's say -- I moved through Penn Station like other weary, dazed commuters, not really noticing whether or not it felt different. In fact, on my way from my NJ Transit train to the subway, I didn't even ascend to the main level of Penn Station; I avoided the crowds by staying on the mid-level all the way to the subway entrance.

I rode the rails down to the 14th Street stop and then walked to the Metropolitan Pavilion on W. 18th Street, between 6th and 7th avenues. Walking from 16th to 18th St. on 7th, I took one quick glance downtown and recognized the pointed zenith of 1 Liberty Plaza, or one of those buildings near Ground Zero. Behind it should have been the Twin Towers.

But I didn't notice any overly worried or deeply somber straphangers. The subway seemed normal to me, only with a few more American flags than I'd remembered seeing. So that's some sign things are starting to settle down again in New York City. But outside, above the tunnels, the streets did seem less hectic, the sidewalks less crowded. On the train ride home, I picked up a copy of the New York Times left by another passenger (newspapers left on trains aren't litter; they're donations) and read the new section, A Nation Challenged, about the cleanup effort, struggling Broadway, the Mets' pledge to play for free tomorrow and donate their one-day salaries (nearly half a million dollars) to a fund for the children of New York's police and firefighters. There were pictures of empty Main St. USA in Disney World, the barren Strip in Las Vegas and the abundance of open sand on the beach in Waikiki.

After eating lunch at noon -- a slice of pizza from the shop next to Krispy Kreme in Penn Station -- I walked over and bought a pretzel from the nearby Auntie Anne's cart and noticed three postcard racks at one of the gift shops. I walked over and bought eight color postcards -- seven of dramatic sunset and night scenes of the City and one daytime, aerial shot of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor. All have the World Trade Center in them. Some are from a little north on the East River and FDR Drive, a few are taken from Brooklyn, the bridge in the foreground. One or two were shot from the water. And there's one, maybe my favorite, cropped closely of the Empire State Building -- just the upper portion -- filling the left half of the frame and the tops of the two Twin Towers beneath a full moon occupying the lower right quarter. Looking closely, I can see the observation deck of the Empire State Building and the silhouettes of people on one corner. The description on the back of the card simply says, "The tallest of the tall," and the perspective and distance involved makes the Empire State Building look like it's much taller than the World Trade towers.

Unfortunately, these days, it is.

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