URL: http://community.realitytvworld.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/rtvw2/community/dcboard.cgi
Forum: DCForumID21
Thread Number: 14
[ Go back to previous page ]
Original Message
"September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by IceCat on 09-15-01 at 08:50 PM
Some people use words to express feelings...

Some prefer to use pictures...

I am creating this thread to act as a gallery of sorts where people can place original works (written or visual). I hope that people will contribute. I know that making this picture today was a very cathartic process as was the poem that I wrote on Tuesday...


You...

You turned the blue sky red with fire and blood...

You sought to burden a free people with fear...

You sought to wage war upon the innocent...

It is your freedom that is now forfeit...

It is your lives that have changed...

It is your fear that will now rise...

We choose our own changes...

We refuse your fear...

We remain strong...

We deny you...

We seek...

You...




September 11, 2001

Table of contents
Messages in this discussion
"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by dangerkitty on 09-15-01 at 09:40 PM
Ice, what a moving picture and poem. Your talents constantly amaze me. And your sig graphic is simply elegant. Thank you.

I was just thinking that I'd like to express my feelings some way. I don't have anything yet, but I'll be glad to make use of this thread soon. Looking forward to seeing others posts.


dangerkitty


"Thanks DK..."
Posted by IceCat on 09-15-01 at 09:46 PM
I look forward to seeing your contribution!



September 11, 2001

"Note that I FOUND this"
Posted by BigBastard on 09-15-01 at 09:56 PM
I did not create it. I don't know who did, but if it's not tactless then it is very close to tactless. I decided to post it because maybe a little humor would do us all some good right now. Even if it's sort of in bad taste.

The new World Trade Center.
"RE: Note that I FOUND this"
Posted by dangerkitty on 09-15-01 at 10:06 PM
OMG - it took me a minute....LMAO!!!!!

dangerkitty


"Took Me a While to..."
Posted by IceCat on 09-15-01 at 10:17 PM
... finger it out!



September 11, 2001

"RE: Note that I FOUND this"
Posted by dabo on 09-15-01 at 11:15 PM

Thanks, BigBastard, this is great! Thanks to whoever created it, too.

"If the race of man should be left naked upon a desert island, we should become extinct in six weeks. A few individuals might linger, but in a year would become worse than monkeys." (Samuel Butler, "Erewhon")

"Where I found it"
Posted by BigBastard on 09-16-01 at 05:09 PM
www.hawknation.com/NewWTC.jpg


I don't know who owns this site, and when you go just to the URL it brings you nowhere. (Try it: http://www.hawknation.com) Whether the guy who owns this site did it, or whether he found it, I don't know. All I did was fix it up a little, as the bottom of the buildings look all screwed up on his version. I'm just passing it along!

"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by Mon Cherie on 09-15-01 at 10:48 PM
LAST EDITED ON 09-15-01 AT 10:53 PM (EST)

Ice, I'm not very artistic, but here's a link to a site with political cartoons, some sad, some inspiring, some you may not agree with, but hey, it's worth a look:

http://cagle.slate.msn.com/

Mon Cherie


"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by Monkeyboy on 09-16-01 at 03:39 AM
LAST EDITED ON 09-16-01 AT 04:06 AM (EST)

Howdy!
Do you want to see my fish??? Click on the link below!!! ||VVVV
http://community.realitytvworld.com/boards/User_files/3ba456df59b6d7d6.html

Hare Krishna!!!!!

"Nice Fish!"
Posted by IceCat on 09-16-01 at 05:41 AM
Very Andy Warhol!


September 11, 2001

"Munkyfish!"
Posted by George Tirebiter on 09-16-01 at 10:16 AM
Oooooh, munky! Oscars are my favorite fish! I had one that grew to be over a foot long--he was like a puppy whenever I'd come into the room.

Suppose I shouldn't tell you the bad part. . . we get millions of little frogs when it rains, and found that he loved those tadpoles and froggies--fed him a dozen or so a day, and marvelled at how those long leg bones came through intact. Unfortunately, this managed to introduce some horrible bacterial infection into the tank, and after 6 months of medication, the ulcerous wound on his head wouldn't heal. . . so I had to take him out by the gardenia and whack him with a shovel to put him out of his misery. . . twice. (Yes, I cried for quite a while.)

But he makes really fine gardenias now, so I figure he's still with us in a big way.

(Okay, okay. . . it's no beautiful stained-glass window story--in fact, you'll probably have to work pretty damned hard to twist this into something positive <think gardenias> but the ape got me reminiscing here!)

GT
(who's ready to start living communally with her California sister if she'll gladly trade gardening for cooking duties. . . and I want windows from Oz in every room!)

"RE: Munkyfish!"
Posted by Monkeyboy on 09-16-01 at 11:06 PM
Georgie,
Your Oscars got the dreaded "hole in the head" disease. I don't know why Oscars are so susceptible to it, but they can almost live their full lives with that problem.
I've never had Oscars get it, but my friend had an Oscar with it and it lived for years.
It's pretty gross looking, but they don't seem to mind it.


"Window on the world"
Posted by Outfrontgirl on 09-16-01 at 05:27 AM
MY KITCHEN WINDOW
The house next door burned down and fried the original window.
I designed this water-glass window with bevelled glass center as the replacement. This is a crop of the center section. Outside we planted bamboo with flowering vines over it to hide the truly tasteless new house they built next door.
I can watch hummingbirds work the flowers and the world seems ultra-green...

To me this symbolizes choosing to create my own view
instead of settling for the gray concrete next door.
We had to wait 14 months to replace the window because
they took so long to demolish the burned-out house.
The shock waves from the demolition might have blown out the new putty.
Another six months to cut a strip out of our driveway and build a raised planter and find, order and plant the bamboo.
Three growing seasons until the bamboo filled in.
Renewal came slowly and required much patience.
I could hardly imagine that beauty would ever replace ugliness.
And yet--it eventually became as I had envisioned, more or less...

"Beautiful, OFG!"
Posted by IceCat on 09-16-01 at 05:39 AM
It's like a stained glass window from the 'church of life'!

Great visual beauty AND symbolic of time as the greatest healer!

I'm knocking a hole in the south end of the gallery even as we speak... consider yourself in receipt of a commission for a 20 foot tall copy! When can you start work?

September 11, 2001

"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by ItzLisa on 09-16-01 at 09:06 AM
Icey, this is a wonderful thread! Thank you, buddy...

Big Bastard - damn STRAIGHT, that's what we should do, LOL!! I don't find it in bad taste - quite the opposite, I think 99% of NYers would cheer if they saw that.

OFG and Munky - BEAUTIFUL!!!

Well, I'm getting ready to head out to bring more supplies to the volunteers, even though they've said not to, that they have more than enough. But mine's just more canned goods, which will always get used. I mean, I have to do something! It felt so good to donate that food the other day, I just need to do it again, I have to!

I have no pictures to post (on an off note, could someone please teach me how to uplink my picutes to SBlows? That way Boomer and Ice wouldn't have to keep posting my paintings for me!), but I would like to tell another story of what happened on Tuesday. The person it directly involves survived, although many of his co-workers died, but it's truly a remarkable story, really mindblowing! I call it one of those "Grace of God" stories - the ones we've all been hearing about people who ordinarily would have been inside the towers, but for whatever reason weren't. "I had a doctor's appointment/I overslept/My alarm didn't go off/I went to get a haircut before a big meeting" Little things that saved someone's life, you know?

Okay....one of the women I work with, Karen, lives out in Connecticut. This gives her a hellish commute every day into the city - 2 hours out, 2 hours back, and she generally drives in as opposed to taking the train. On Tuesday the 11th, she was driving in, and had just reached our offices but not gotten out of the car when the second plane hit. Like anyone else in a car, she turned right around and got the hell outta Dodge. Now, bear with me here - although I drive, I don't own a car, take the subway everywhere, and have never driven in the city, so I don't know the highways, bridges, tunnels etc. unless they're written out for me. So, I'm not sure what bridges and highways Karen was trying, but just trust me when I say she turned right around and began trying any and all roads to get back to Connecticut.

She's driving along one of the outer highways, looking at all the gridlocked traffic, when she spots this woman, in her 50's, well-dressed, standing on the side of the highway with her thumb out! Karen thinks "OMG, this woman is just trying to get home too!" So, she hits the brakes, rolls down her window and waves the woman over. The woman runs to Karen's car, gets in, and immediately bursts into tears. Karen says "Look - I'm trying to get back to Connecticut, and I don't know if I can or not, but the least I can do is get you home - where do you live?" The woman said she lived on 86th and Park. Karen nodded and said, "Okay - that's at least do-able, don't worry." And off they begin to drive. Karen, at this point, gets back onto Park Avenue, which runs two ways, and begins driving along Park. Well, here comes the "Grace of God" part that I mentioned above. Karen brakes for traffic at around 55th and Park and all of a sudden, this young man in a suit and tie comes running like a madman across all these lanes of traffic, straight to Karen's car. Now, I can't even brace you for the incredible sharp thinking and presence of mind this kid had - he sees Karen's Connecticut license plates, runs up to her car, and slaps HIS Connecticut drivers license on her windshield!!!! I mean, how many people in NY were thinking THAT clearly to do something like that on Tuesday????? She rolls down the window and he says "Please, PLEASE, take me with you - I have to get home, I don't care where in Connecticut you drop me off, anywhere, just please take me with you and help me get home." Now, actually, the next comment Karen asked was logical, but still almost humorous in the face of everything - she considers him for a second and then goes "Are you a rapist or a murderer?" The kid blinks at her for a couple of seconds, and then goes "Ummmm....no...." Karen goes, "Okay then, get in." So here's Karen, driving along with these two total strangers she rescued, and they're just driving in stunned silence, punctuated now and then by the woman's crying. All of a sudden, five minutes later, in this lull, the young man goes "...I was inside the tower when the plane hit..." Well, Karen practically lost control of the car! She and the woman go, "WHAT????" Karen says "We're driving along for five minutes here, and NOW you say something???" He then began to tell his story.

He was inside of Tower 1, not sure what floor (it would have had to be a lower one, because he managed to get out) when the first plane hit. He said he felt the BOOOOM!!! and the whole building just shook, right down to the bottom. He and his co-workers all began to panic, and someone, not knowing that Tower 2 was about to be hit in a few minutes, or that it would collapse first, said "Hurry! Let's all get to Tower 2, it's stable!" So, they all begin to herd out into Tower 2, basically to their eventual deaths, except for him and three of his buddies. They were so freaked out, they decided to stay outside for a quick cigarette break before going into Tower 2. While the four of them were outside, the second plane hit Tower 2, and it was all over from there. All his co-workers who went inside never made it out. He and the other three guys ran, and this kid didn't stop running till he got to Karen's car up on 55th and Park! Karen looked at her watch and said, "Wait - how did you get up here so fast?" He said, stunned, "I dunno...I just started running and didn't stop till I saw your car." Now, this was only about a half hour - this kid ran from Wall Street to 55th and Park in 30 minutes!!! Must have been running on pure adrenalin! Of course, the whole "Grace of God" part of the story is the irony that his smoking habit saved his life!

Icey, thanks for starting this thread so everyone can contribute something!

****************************************


"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by Outfrontgirl on 09-16-01 at 02:11 PM
LAST EDITED ON 09-16-01 AT 03:11 PM (EST)

Ice, this is a great idea for a thread. I am in awe of your picture and your poem. Appropriately pointed!

I found the process of putting up a photo truly therapeutic.

Great story Lisa. I really need and want to hear stories from people inside when it happened and how they got out. Those smokers, they get all the breaks (smoke-breakes)!

BB, love the finger; Monkey, love your fish, and thank you Ice, GT, and Lisa for appreciating my window.

GT, first thing I thought with your frog tale was that it rains baby frogs where you live and that's how they got to where your fish could eat them! Like you had a hole in your roof above the tank...Duh! OFG, do not read before drinking your coffee.

Lisa and anyone else: I only learned how to upload pictures recently, so this is the easy beginner's method.

Basically it's the same as adding a .gif.

Save your picture as a jpeg. Hit reply. Look up the page above the emotion icon shortcuts to File Upload Enabled and click.
When the upload window comes up, select Jpeg for type of file.
Hit Browse. Whatever Macs use as a file directory will come up and display the jpeg files on your computer. Click on the one you want to upload (note size limitations).

When the upload is complete, SB will give you an http for the new user file. Copy it and paste it into your message. (Save the http for future use of the file.) When you preview your post, you should see the pic in the post.

That's it!

"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by ItzLisa on 09-16-01 at 04:10 PM

>That's it!

*** Ummmmm....'kay... (LOL!!!)
(Mac users? Anyone, anyone??? Damn that Outfrontgirl - she's always so "PC"!!! GET IT???? PC??? *Snicker!*)

****************************************


"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 09-16-01 at 05:01 PM
hehe that 'cheeky' Itzy...

I haven't used a Mac for a while now, so I'm out of touch there. perhaps you (itzy) could ask GT as I believe she has a Mac as well?

I found it helpful to save a Word document to copy all the links with all the pictures I've used on here. I've occasionally gone back and reused a link so it's helpful to save them rather than get a new link every time.

IceCat, OFG, BB and others... great pics! Always nice to see different looks and views.


"Permit me to introduce myself. I am Pepe Le Pew, your lover."

"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by moonbaby on 09-16-01 at 08:31 PM
Amazing story Lisa-it has opened the tear floodgates again! I have a couple myself...when I saw the buildings get hit and crumble I was incapacited with grief, I simply could not move- until I realized I had to get my sh!t together and make some calls since four cousins work in that area-and my cousin Kevin had been working at WTC the last we spoke-we were at a family thing and he told me about the day the bomb hit. I don't know the name of the firm he works for, but he helped his boss and coworkers down all those steps and lived to tell the tale (being Irish he can tell a story like nobody's business-I seem to have lost that gift somewhere). Anyway-he worked with his sister's best friend Debbie. Debbie is the nicest funniest girl, a real sweetie from Ohio. He was frantic looking for Debbie that day and finally found her wandering the streets in a wreck. They went to a bar, had a few (or more), and made their way home. In the meantime he transferred and she stayed at the WTC. Fast forward-Tuesday. My heart is heavy thinking of all the relatives and friends I have that work in that area. I was beyond freaked when I called my mom to ask for some phone numbers to check up on everyone. She didn't know if Kevin still worked at the WTC. I did not know until the next day that he got a transfer to a different office-still downtown-after the blast. And when he heard what was going on Tuesday he ran like hell over there to see if he could help. In the meantime there was the first collapse. Guess who he found coated with ash and dust and staggering in the street like a shoeless drunk-Debbie! Well she grabbed onto him, they ran like hell and didn't look back. Debbie now calls Kevin her guardian angel. Her whole family drove to New York to take her home to Ohio. My mom spoke to her on Wednesday and Debbie isn't even sure how she got out of there. She is a lucky lucky woman. And Kevin really is her personal hero. I have another cousin who worked right across the street from there-but that's another story. Thank you God for seeing my family home safe. Others are not so fortunate-I am hearing about more people every day who are missing, friends from my old neighborhood in Brooklyn. God help them and their families. Thank you Big Bastard for the ideal model for the new WTC. It was something I actually mentioned yesterday without seeing your picture. I really do think it's worth considering. Damn these vile criminals to hell. And here's a serious word to you all-if you feel your safety is compromised in any way in any situation during these hellish crazy times, follow your gut and GET THE HELL OUT!! The most terrible thing I've heard is workers at the WTC were told to stay at their desks. Be safe everyone!
"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by ItzLisa on 09-16-01 at 09:34 PM
LAST EDITED ON 09-16-01 AT 09:39 PM (EST)

Moonie, now YOU made me cry this time! What an incredible story about Kevin and Debbie!!! (I told you guys my feelings wouldn't stay emptied out for long, didn't I?)

Well, Moons - I don't know about you, girlfriend, but I am just about scared sh.itless to go back into work tomorrow. How you feelin'?

And by the way - my brother, who I was very worried about on Tuesday, because he works down by the WTC? He had just gotten off a payphone in the street, letting my sister-in-law know that he was okay, when Tower 2 collapsed, and then Tower 1. He stood there in the street and just watched them both come down, then got away to safety!

****************************************


"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by moonbaby on 09-17-01 at 00:39 AM
Wow, Lisa-thank God your brother is ok! Absolutely chilling. I am really afraid to go back to work, too (and this is why I can't sleep despite 2 pills), but hell, it's what we have to do! Let's show the nasty mf's we're still going to live our lives....I am still so angry about Bossman Bing's conduct on Tuesday that tomorrow (today, heh)could really help me decide what path to take. Anyway best of luck for tomorrow-I'll be right there with you!
"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by ItzLisa on 09-17-01 at 07:22 AM
>I am still so angry about Bossman Bing's conduct on Tuesday
*** Hon, what happened? What did he do? This is really one of the first times I've had a chance to talk to you and hear your views about Tuesday, so I didn't hear about your boss' behavior. Wha' happen?

>Anyway best of luck for tomorrow-I'll be right there with you!
***Consider me "cyber-hugging" you all through the day when you need it! (((HUG!!!)))


****************************************


"Two Times Lucky..."
Posted by IceCat on 09-16-01 at 10:39 PM
Debbie better name her next kid after Kevin...

... or at least a pet fish



September 11, 2001

"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by VampKira on 09-16-01 at 02:07 PM
*hugs Ice Cat*


"We'll know for the first time,
If we're evil or divine...
We're the last in line." - Ronnie James Dio

Du ar min hjälte, Supermänniska


"My feelings"
Posted by LadyT on 09-16-01 at 06:00 PM
This is how I felt Tuesday, in order

Sadness, grief, worry, fear, lethargy, confusion, anger, worry, fear, happiness, guilty for feeling happy, worry, sadness, confusion, elation, anger, depression, anger.....

Why did so many people have to die and when will justice prevail?

GOD BLESS AMERICA

"A list of Emotions..."
Posted by IceCat on 09-16-01 at 06:07 PM
... Probably the most beautifully concise expression of the day I have seen thus far...

Your last question suggests that the most lasting emotion is 'helplessness'...



September 11, 2001

"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by RudyRules on 09-16-01 at 06:35 PM
Good thread Ice!
We will pull together through this and show the world what we are made of.
"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by dangerkitty on 09-16-01 at 09:08 PM
Like a knife into butter
The irresistable force impaled the immovable object
And nothing is as solid as it used to be

To burn or to fall
The undeniable truth dissolved the unshakeable hope
And no choice will ever seem hard again

How did it feel?
To say "I love you, goodbye"
To choose your last breath
To step onto air
At some moment, did you fly?


dangerkitty


"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by moonbaby on 09-16-01 at 09:19 PM
DK this is awesome-it made me cry (again). The choice some people made to end their lives their own way is something I can't stop thinking about-even identifying with. Back to work tomorrow...
"Goose Pimples and Tears..."
Posted by IceCat on 09-16-01 at 10:36 PM
That poem was amazing... literally knocked the wind out of me!



September 11, 2001

"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by LadyT on 09-17-01 at 07:37 AM
DK, that was beautiful
GOD BLESS AMERICA
"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by dabo on 09-17-01 at 10:36 AM
_______

Very powerful, dk. I have often tried to think about what the victims might have been thinking or feeling, those on the planes, those in the buildings, but I can't bring myself to try to write those thoughts down, it's so painful. Thank you for this.

"If the race of man should be left naked upon a desert island, we should become extinct in six weeks. A few individuals might linger, but in a year would become worse than monkeys." (Samuel Butler, "Erewhon")

"Got this in my Email today"
Posted by PigFace on 09-16-01 at 10:44 PM
"Also..."
Posted by PigFace on 09-16-01 at 10:46 PM
Checked out the site it came from and found this:

Note: The site it came from contains PORN!

"RE: Also..."
Posted by samiam on 09-17-01 at 12:59 PM
A quick note re: the right-hand photo....
A local school teacher here was concerned about her younger brother, who is a firefighter in New York, and whom she hadn't heard from since the disaster. Then she saw this picture on the front page of the paper, and recognized her brother as the fireman on the left.

"RE: Got this in my Email today"
Posted by dabo on 09-17-01 at 11:07 AM

Thanks for posting these, PigFace. It has been the one ugly aspect of American reactions that some few among us have chosen to take out their anger on innocent Americans. I recall that attacks like these also happened after the Oklahoma City bombing, before it was known who was responsible for that tragidy, when most of us were thinking foreign terrorists were responsible. It is a damn shame. Every American was attacked last week; every freedom-loving person in the world was attacked last week.

"If the race of man should be left naked upon a desert island, we should become extinct in six weeks. A few individuals might linger, but in a year would become worse than monkeys." (Samuel Butler, "Erewhon")

"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by VampKira on 09-17-01 at 08:41 AM
America.

My home.

Trip of a lifetime.

Living a dream.

Lights, people, excitement, laughter.

Memories that will last forever.

Happily, I am forever changed.

Slumber.

Awaken.

America.

Forigen land.

Living a nightmare.

Confusion, fear, panic, tears.

Memories that will last forever.

Sadly, I am forever changed.


"We'll know for the first time,
If we're evil or divine...
We're the last in line." - Ronnie James Dio

Du ar min hjälte, Supermänniska


"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by dabo on 09-17-01 at 11:15 AM

Vamps, this is a wonderful piece. As horrible as things were last week, I found it remarkable and admirable how well you handled it all. How does the song go ..?..

Keep on rolling
Keep on rolling
Oh roll with the changes
You got you got you got to

Someday, when you're ready, I hope you will tell us all about the concert, every magnificent detail.

"If the race of man should be left naked upon a desert island, we should become extinct in six weeks. A few individuals might linger, but in a year would become worse than monkeys." (Samuel Butler, "Erewhon")

"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by ItzLisa on 09-17-01 at 12:42 PM
Vampers, that was wonderful! I have thought of you often through all this, and what a dual trip this must have been for you - the most wonderful trip in the world to start off, and the most horrible trip in the world by the time it ended.

****************************************


"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by samiam on 09-17-01 at 09:21 AM
Quick haiku.

A day like any
An explosion of hatred
- Concrete volcano

"RE: September 11th Gallery..."
Posted by dabo on 09-17-01 at 11:56 AM

Thank you, sami. "Concrete volcano" is a truly apt metaphoric description.


"A little bon mot"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 09-17-01 at 08:02 PM

(sorry if it's a bit big)

"Permit me to introduce myself. I am Pepe Le Pew, your lover."
"RE: A little bon mot"
Posted by dabo on 09-17-01 at 11:07 PM

Thanks, Pepe! The following is from an almanac (sorry, I don't do visuals, haven't a clue how to do that stuff):

The Great Seal of the U.S.

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee consisting of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson "to bring in a device for a seal of the United States of America." After many delays, a verbal description of a design by William Barton was finally approved by Congress on June 20, 1782. The seal shows an American bald eagle with a ribbon in its mouth bearing the device E pluribus unum (One out of many). In its talons are the arrows of war and an olive branch of peace. On the reverse side it shows an unfinished pyramid with an eye (the eye of Providence) above it. Although the description was adopted in 1782, the first drawing was not made until four years later, and no die has ever been cut.