Remembering 9/11

On September 11, 2001, I was at school when the first plane hit.

I was waiting in the sophomore hallway at my high school before classes began.  One friend walked in and said "Someone just flew a plane into the World Trade Center." and another friend asked "Like, they opened the windows or something?" and we all laughed, not knowing exactly what was going on yet.

As classes started, it was realized things were serious.  The other tower was hit, and the Pentagon, and there was another plane somewhere, and who knew what else.  I was in an art class first period, and ended up watching news coverage in the library right across the hall.

When second period came around, I went to Chemistry, where we still had class.  My teacher said "everyone's going to forget about this in 2 weeks, anyway".  He was/is a very wise man, but I think he was wrong about that.  Either that, or he just wanted to get through the lesson and not fall behind.

As a 15 year old kid, I probably didn't take it as seriously as I should have.  Singing "It's The End of The World As We Know It" in the halls, but it really was.  Things changed that day, for better or worse.  People were being more patriotic and more alert.  Everyone was scared of similar things happening, even in small communities like mine. 

As the day went on, you could tell things were weird.  When I finally got home, after waiting in line for gas with my older brother (word on the street was prices were going to rocket), the third WTC building fell, which I still think is really weird since it got hit by nothing.  They say underground tunnels are the reason, or something like that. 

I'm still affected by 9/11 today.  It introduced me to one of my favorite musical artists.  Ryan Adams shot a video for his single "New York, New York" just 4 days before the attack.  When the video was completed, I remember it being played on CNN, at least a clip, which led to me checking it out and enjoying it and he has become one of my favorite artists over the years.

I also can't help but think of the attack whenever I see images of the Twin Towers or the Pentagon.  The scene in Home Alone 2, when Kevin is on top of the WTC is still a bit chilling.

Looking back, that day really was the end of the world as we knew it.  The people of the United States have gotten either more or less patriotic, it's hard to tell sometimes.  We grew together for awhile, and seem to be getting more divided nowadays, being election season and all.  I hope you all remember in your own way and try to do good in the world, because September 11 reminds us that there is plenty of evil.

Inspiration: A review of Safety Not Guaranteed

Yesterday, I saw Safety Not Guaranteed.  It was a great movie.  It's about a girl (Aubrey Plaza), who is an intern at a magazine.  She gets picked to help an overconfident writer (Jake M. Johnson) work on a story about an article he sees in the classified section of a neighboring town.  The article is a man looking for a partner to travel back in time with him. 

The film ends up being about relationships with people.  How first impressions aren't always correct, how things don't work out sometimes, and sometimes they do work out when they were never expected to. 

The movie was great in the way that it was inspiring.  It was made by the Duplass Brothers, who also made Cyrus and Jeff, Who Lives At Home.  Safety Not Guaranteed made me feel like doing things, not traveling time or anything, but it gives that anything is possible feeling.  That kind of feeling that tells you to go for whatever you had in mind.  It made me want to write, play music, chase dreams and to be happy, and live without regrets.

I have not been in a lull or anything, but I feel this movie would be great for somebody who is.

Progress.

I've come a long way.  I've been working my ass off and making great progress.  I am proud of myself.

I had some setbacks this week.  My wrist was sore from lifting so I took some time off from it, I also tweaked my knee, so no running.  I did a little time on the bike the other day, that's about it.  I don't think this break is going to hurt, it may actually help.  Not being able to work out has been kind of hard; I've been wanting to, but know its better not to.

These setbacks won't be stopping me or slowing me down.  I plan on easing back into it starting in the morning, and pushing until I can go full steam again.  Nothing can hold me back. 


 

It's July!

I'm getting ready to go work out, listening to this new album Summer of Steve by Donald Glover's (Childish Gambino) little brother, Steve G. Lover III.  It's a decent album, It's got a great track called "Make Em Mad" featuring Childish Gambino.  The album as a hole is decent, its free online, if you want it you can find it.  I'm looking forward to seeing Gambino at Lollapalooza.  Steve joined him at Bonnaroo, as well as Heems from Das Racist.  If I'm lucky, they'll show up at Lolla, too.

Ted was a great movie.  Funny flick about friendship and growing up and having to let your friends grow, but keep your meaningful ties, because without them, you aren't yourself. 

I went to a show last night in St. Louis at the Gramophone.  My first time at that place, I liked it.  Nice little bar with a good setup for the stage (outside of one inconveniently placed pillar).  The Forecast were the headliners, and it was good to see them again.  They put on a good show, as usual.  The other bands were definitely worth checking out, too.  One even covered "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" which was awesome.

Anyway, time to hit the gym in a few.
Stay fresh kids.

Summertime.

It's officially Summer now, my favorite season of the year.  Mine isn't looking to be very special, but I'll enjoy it nonetheless.  I finally got to see Jeff, Who Lives At Home this week, since it came out on DVD/BluRay.  I didn't get a chance to see it in theaters as I live in the Midwest and am a busy man.  The movie was very enjoyable as I wanted it to be.  If you don't know anything about it, it was made by the Duplass brothers who made Cyrus with Jonah Hill and John C. Reilly.  One of brothers is also starring in this summer's Safety Not Guaranteed which I'm looking forward to seeing.

Jeff, Who Lives at Home stars Jason Segel and Ed Helms as brothers who have nothing in common.  Segel plays Jeff, who has no job and still lives with his mom and believes in fate and following the signs life sends you to get where you're supposed to be.  Ed Helms' character thinks he has it all together with his job and wife and his new Porsche.  It turns out neither of them quite have it all together.  It was a highly enjoyable film about different kind of people and learning to work together and respect each other.  The movies also features Susan Surandon as the mother of the two, and how she deals with getting older and her sons growing up and not being the perfect lovable tikes they were when they were younger.






I also recently saw the movie Goon, which was written by Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up, She's Out of My League).  It was a delightful movie about hockey.  I'm not a huge hockey fan, as my favorite sport is basketball and I'm usually following the NBA while the NHL season is happening.  The movie centers around a guy, Doug (played by Sean Willam Scott (American Pie, Role Models)), who is a bouncer, goes to a hockey game with his friend and ends up fighting a player who charges into the crowd after some trash talking from his friend (Baruchel).  After the fight, he's contacted by a minor league hockey team and gets added to the team as an enforcer even though he doesn't know how to skate or anything.  His parents don't approve of what he's doing, and there's a glimpse into the future of what he could become in a character played by Liev Shreiber. It's a good movie with good humor and a little heart.