I Don't Need to Go Around Singing "Colors of the Wind"

Actual quote from my history class today where we discussed John Smith and Pocahontas. It was thrilling. The t.a. practically had to pull teeth to get us to answer questions about the readings. When he asked us what our previous knowledge of John Smith was before this reading, however, then we wouldn't shut up. We all wanted to talk about the Disney movie. Somewhere along the lines a guy in the back of the room could be heard saying that. Which I just find hysterical. Politics was interesting... we talked about the Bosnian War in the 1990s. I sat there quietly laughing to myself because I already knew everything the prof was saying since Liz talked about it all last semester.
So I'm not really sure why, but for some reason I find myself watching "America: A Tribute to Heroes" on youtube. It's probably because I have the cd on my computer and one of the songs came on while on shuffle. If you don't know, "America: A Tribute to Heroes" was a telethon organized by George Clooney immediately following September 11th. I can remember watching it when it was broadcast about a week after the events. It was a Friday and my family was at our friends, Jerry and Beth's, house out of town. Jerry is a Port Authority cop and he'd spent the last ten days at ground zero. This was his first night home and they had us over to watch the telethon. We got pizza and then just sat there, frozen in front of the tv for two hours. We didn't talk at all. I'm not sure we could have come up with anything to say even if we had wanted to.
The show opened with Bruce singing "My City of Ruins", which is a song he originally wrote about Asbury Park, but after September 11th it seemed as if the song had been penned solely for this event. When I found the video online and watched the opening again tonight it was the first time I had seen it since it aired almost 8 years ago. It gave me chills and I found myself thinking about those first few days for the first time in a long time. Enough time has passed that, when I'm home and driving on the turnpike or I look across the water from outside my town's movie theatre, it's no longer unusual to see the skyline and not see the towers. We're now at a point where we see pictures of the skyline with the WTC and it looks strange. That, in and of itself, is incomprehendable to me because I can remember a time when seeing those buildings was something I didn't think twice about. I have this memory from when I was in sixth or seventh grade... my sister and I had gone to the Liberty Science Center with our mom and her friend/kids and when we left it was dark out. To get home you have to get on the Turnpike for about ten minutes and the road runs right along the Hudson River with a clear, uninterupted view of the city. I sat in the car staring out the window at the city all lit up and I don't know what made me think this at 11 or 12, but I said to my mom and her friend "you know, people come from all over the world to see that skyline and we see it everyday just driving down the street. We take it for granted that we get to see this all the time". That's kind of insightful for a kid. Pretty sure after that my thoughts turned to why they were called the twin towers, when clearly one had an antena that the other did not. I was always facinated by that fact, whenever I saw them.
Ok, wow. I did not mean to go on this huge rant about post-9/11 life. It just sort of happens with people who live around New York. You'll find that we all tend to end up talking about it more than we realized or wanted to.
Anyway, back to the present day. I talked to my Dad again today and I definitely get to bring my car back. He confirmed it. He suggested that when I come home for Easter I leave my car and then come home one weekend and pick it up so he could get the air fixed. But I only have 3 or 4 weeks between Easter and the end of the year. So I'll suck it up and deal until I get home in May. We can get it fixed then. So I do get to keep that check on my list. Yay!! Alright, the two hour Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice crossover episode starts soon. I should go so I can get the popcorn ready. So excited!!!!

In case anyone is interested... Bruce- My City of Ruins