Tuesday, September 26, 2006
The Trip to Neuwan
Neuwan is about one hour outside of Hsinchu. If you head east from Hsinchu and into the mountains, you'll reach this small town known for its perennial street fair and suspension bridge. 
Here are two of the 77,123 pictures I took with my Taiwanese friends last weekend.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Diagnosis: Broken
Sunday, September 10, 2006
5 Years On ...
So five years have passed. It's inconceivable that four other anniversaries have come and gone. Details from that morning remain more vivid than most events I can recall; even memories from last week aren't as bold.
I wanted to go back into my archived footage from that day: I had hoped to re-edit and post an entry which would have provided a tangible glimpse back at that morning. But I am too far removed from those tapes and a long way off from any other material I wrote or collected during the days and weeks following September 11, 2001. So here is a brief written account of what I recall from that day.
I moved into my NYU dorm on August 26, 2001. Two-and-a-half weeks later the city was transformed. The twin towers were a permanent part of the landscape, and yet they were removed, so quickly, from the panorama of the island. I was in class when they fell. When I got out, distraught crowds filled West 4th St. I ran into a classmate I recognized from orientation and asked him why I couldn't see the towers.
"They fell down, man. They just collapsed."
I remember the fear that welled up after I heard his words. I remember running back to the dorm, discursively contemplating the people that must have died downtown and wondering if my family knew what was going on. I remember rushing back to the few people I knew: my roommates and floormates. They were gathered around a small television I had hooked up in our dorm room. The phones were dead - clogged to a standstill.
Fortunately, instant messenger and email were functioning, and I was able to get in touch with my sister and, through her, the rest of my family. Colleen was at school in northern MA, Endicott College. I give her a lot of credit, she was prescient that day: she printed and saved the transcript of our entire online conversation.
But it goes without saying, the events of that day unnerved this brash, naive freshman.
I recall that we had a fire drill that morning at 6 AM - hours before the terrorist attack. The kids that emerged from their dorm rooms were scuffling, tossle-haired, and bitter-faced students, but by the end of the day, they were reshaped, wide-eyed individuals. And they were forever branded "The 9/11 Generation," a brotherhood that still binds the class of 2001.
The firefighters that investigated our dormitory that morning were said to have perished at Ground Zero a few hours later.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Try this out ...
Please check out this website: www.Pandora.com
This webpage tailors your own radio station to match your personal preferences. You just type in a name of your favorite band or artist, and the program will immediately configure an array of tunes that are of the same genre and feel of the artist(s) you entered. It's a great thing to have at work.
