Today of course marks the 5-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks on America. And while we will all be reminded of this fact throughout the day, I still thought it would be an appropriate subject for today’s blog entry.
However, we need not discuss how that day changed us all and America. Rather, let’s discuss how we dealt with such a heavy day. I for one spent the day with E-Que, whose birthday now will always be impossible to forget (Happy Birthday E-Que!!).
I remember the day vividly, but I can’t remember what I ate. Is that the case for the rest of you? I’m sure I ate something, but the details elude me. Lunch may have been at E-Que’s and Shorty’s house, but I can’t remember. I do recall that a group of us had planned a large press event for that day, and needless to say it was cancelled. In the evening, we all went to Adams Morgan, which was teaming with people, as if it were a Friday night. We had dinner at The Diner, which is a great place for comfort food.
My guess is I ate a burger topped with bacon and cheese, and a big side of freedom fries. Whatever it was I’m sure the mindset was to eat whatever felt good; concerns of artery clogging grease were certainly not in the mix. Not only that, my recent quitting of smoking went out the window and I probably smoked 2 packs that day. Its funny how when faced with such a stark reminder of mortality, my reaction was to return to old habits that are known to increase your risk of dying.
Nonetheless, the main item on the menu that day was lots of beer. Beer and good company and playing pool at Kokopooli’s, and trying to have a good time and forget for a minute about what happened.
So do any of you remember what you ate that day? If not, what do you think you ate? What would be the appropriate food for such a day?
And what is a good bet for lunch today? I’m thinking a big greasy burger, with bacon, and fries…freedom fries…
47 comments:
I was standing on the HSBC building on 8th and 14th...
I remember getting my Starbuck's that morning and I think that was one of the times I caught drag-ass Natasha Leone sitting in there reading a script.
Regardless, I was walking back when I heard a big bang almost like a garbage truck hitting a building a long way off. Usually, this would have been a manhole exploding or a moron truck driver trying to get in a badly design parking garage.
I went up to the 21st floor where IPM was located because I had to finish building workstations for Tiffany and Co (Singapore office). I went in and the receptionist was sitting looking out the window like there was a ghost out there. I looked and it was the first tower, looking as if they had a fire. I asked her if she saw what happened and she said there was just an explosion in the building (we were north of the build almost parrallel to it so she wouldn't have seen the plane). Just then we see a shadow of something and then a huge explosion ... it took a second to register but I said, "Holy Fuck .. that was a plane!" Just then our office exploded with people from the sales side and we all went to the roof. We watched the buildings. I remember my Nextel was the only phone working because I was talking with Ro and telling her the first building was falling and she argued with me that it wasn't and it took them (the news in Boston) nearly an hour to update the news to get the information that the building fell.
Is this how Neil Armstrong felt?
So, I spent all day in a line trying to give blood. By the time I got into the clinic I hadn't eaten a damn thing. So I had Fig Newtons and juice. I took my juice to go and then stayed at the office ... numbly finishing the computers which proceeded to sit there for almost a month until I was sent with them to hook them up.
I didn't eat anything that day. I numbly waited for the trains to start back up to Brooklyn .. so I remained at the local little cantina drinking a few beers until about 9pm that night.
I got home by 12am and just fell into bed.
So it was a weird day.
Today I'm going to eat my lunch and go get my HepA,B,C boosters today.
Yeah! Shots!
I watched tv all morning & my co-workers & I went to a pub on the other side of town (I was living in Bermuda at the time) - a pub that was for Friday happy hours & the occasional hangover meal, but never for lunch (way too far). We got there & my stomach was all knotted up & I wondered if my boss would give me the stink-eye if I ordered a beer. He ordered one, and I immediately ordered one. I wound up having 2 beers & a couple fries off someone's plate.
After "dinner" (which I couldn't eat as stomach was still in knots) I went over to my friend's house (whose husband was working the Asian market shift overnight) & we cracked open at least a couple bottles of wine & sat in front of the tv. At some point they had a grief counselor or something come on & say "Be near friends or family etc etc etc. Stay away from drugs & alcohol." (for some reason - can't remember why) That was the closest I came to smiling that day as we toasted each other while we were half-cocked. Ugh.
So to sum up: meals that day: 0. Liquid meals that day: 2.
Lunch today is chicken salad I made last night with shredded chicken, mayo, dijon, splash of vinegar, S&P, diced onion & green pepper. I'm looking forward to it! And at 2:30 is dessert - I made Uni's famous Tittiecakes, but in cake form b/c I don't have that many cupcake tins. I will report back later on how it is.
And all hail Queen Uni! She makes the best cakes in the world!! On Friday she made me a sushi cake and it looked (and tasted!) fantastic!! Little choco cupcakes on top decorated as sushi on top of a sheet of spice cake with buttercream frosting. Talk about service! I'm hoping she'll link to a picture of it!
I started off the day w/ a muffin and coffee, which I had just purchased when my dad (who was scheduled to be flying along the east coast that day) called to say, my flight's been grounded, I'm okay, and I answered, what the heck are you talking about.
A couple hours later, after walking home from law school and back to Capitol Hill, I headed over to my friend Janet's apartment, after first stopping at my place to grab a fresh pack of cigarettes and wine and other alcohol (cause I figured I'd need both). We watched the news all day. Eventually, after Janet's then-husband and my then-roommate (pre-HT) also made it home, we made spaghetti. One positive thing from that day (the ONLY positive thing), is that before then Janet and I had been merely good-ish friends, mostly just classmates. I think that day is what really set us on the road to becoming GREAT friends, and she is still one of my best friends. So thank you, Osama, for cementing Janet as a permanent part of my life.
Happy Birfday E-Que!!!!
I was at home in the 'burgh, and as I've told all of you before, my reaction at first, was, "Why is my phone ringing at 8:4_ in the morning?"
(I was unemployed at the time) It was my friend calling from the train on his way to Long Island asking if I'd heard something, or if this was just a crazy NY rumor (his office, which at one time had been mine as well, was at Broadway and Wall). I was confused, so I turned on the tv in time to watch the second plane.
Local news cut in a little later to say that there were reports of a plane being down in the Pgh. area, and I was so pissed off that the local news trumped up some bs just to make national news relevant to the yinzer yocals. Turns out, they were actually kind of right this time.
Oddly, I remember exactly what I ate that day. Mid afternoon, I couldn't get the craving for Indian out of my belly/mind, so I went to the grocery to get the fixin's for chicken tikka masala and dahl and lots of naan. I had to sub something for naan, this being suburban pittsburgh, but I found everything else I needed right there in the Giant Eagle. I remember there being no one on the streets or in the grocery though, and I'm probably the only person in Moon Township who made an Indian feast that day.
Today will be road food, as I head home to the 'burgh this afternoon. I'll be home all week, and as there is death involved, I suspect there will be a casserole or two, and some pies, cakes and cookies on the menu. And I'd just gotten rid of the 5 lbs I gained in Chicago... I will be checking in all week with tales of the 'burgh, my dad's place, going through grandma's shit, and other fun and games. Oh, and I happen to know Dad and friends just made a fresh batch of peppers, so when I get back, y'all will have a special treat.
E-que and I were both working together on the Hill and were at work early. A coworker put on CNN and told us the world trade center was on fire. We watched the screen as the second plane hit. We both figured this had to be an act of terrorism, and as we were in the house office building across the street from the pentagon we decided to leave the building and get some coffee.
We hit starbucks up the street, and there we saw on tv that the pentagon had been hit. We walked outside and could see a column of smoke rising into the sky from the pentagon.
After that is was back to the office building and a hasty exit that had us pass right in front of the capital, where we heard a loud boom and the sound of a jet. I thought that was it for us, but later we found out that noise was likely the sound of the first jets getting to dc and breaking the sound barrier.
Crazy days indeed...
Spent the morning in my office at 12th and K in DC watching the footage and then up on the roof watching the smoke rise from the pentagon. Evacuated the building and met some friends for drinks at The Front Page (it opened early)for a few hours. Then went to a friend's ex-grilfriend's apt for more drinking, CNN and loud arguing. Eventually met my Dad at hotel where e-que (happy birthday dude!) and shorty got married and drank some more before heading to my apt of the time on metro, which took us underneath the pentagon (it skipped the stop).
Can't remember eating anything. Maybe some fries at The Front Page. My dad and I sat up watching new footage into the wee hours of the morning.
For lunch today I think I'm going for tuna.
Oh yeah, Happy Birthday Eque!
Ugh, sorry about your grandma, HT. Or whatever. Hope it all goes well - and don't worry about the calories! ;-p
HT,
Sorry to hear about your grandma--please give your dad my best. Can you shoot me an e-mail later to let me know how long you'll be gone so that I know what to do about the care and feeding of Mr. Dirty Mitts? He may be coming over for a kitty slumber party w/ my own whiny, obnoxious furball.
Sorry, we were across the street from the U.S. Capitol, not the pentagon.
Perhaps the weirdest part of the day was driving back to the Capitol about an hour after the attacks to deliver a phone to the congresswoman we worked for. Traffic was backed up heading away from the capitol, but we were the only car heading towards it. 2 lanes wide open for us, with the capitol looming ahead of us, both of us expected it to come down...
silly tease.
Hello, "tease" - why do I feel like we've met before...?
Thanks for the well wishes, as you all know, it's a complicated situation, but not one that I'm at all emotional over. As I find the humor in everything, this promises to be even more amusing, as it's not really mitigated by heavy mourning and whatnot. I haven't been home since my dad chopped down all of our trees, so I'm looking forward to that.
Molly - I'm driving up and so I'm taking Mr. Dirty Mitts with me (my cat has a blog alias. Pathetic or Cute? I lean toward the former... ) so no need for you to attend to his asthmatic, vomitous, dirty needs. Thanks for the offer though - your own whiny creature will have to be alone for another week!
Ah, the irony of the two of you delivering that particular Member a phone...
Ace was almost 9 months old at the time and I was finally at the point where I felt like I had a handle on the motherhood thing. I had nursed him while sitting on the couch and he fell asleep in my arms. I was having a cup of [decaf] coffee and deciding if I should take a shower before Oprah came on [the joy of being a stay at home mom] and watching the Today show. They cut to the WTC and I sat in stunned disbelief as I watched the second plane hit on live TV.
The Ex was in Arizona at the time and scheduled to fly home that afternoon on an American Airlines flight. I called him and because of the two hour time change woke his ass up. When I told him the WTC had collapsed because two planes had hit them, he just said, "that sucks," and hung up on me. I was all kinds of frantic but just sat and watched TV. When the Pentagon was hit I called him again and screamed in the phone, "wake up! We are at war! Turn on the fucking TV, motherfucker!"
I remember not wanting to eat at all that day, but forcing myself to eat fruit and drink water and eat a chicken breast because I was still nursing and so neurotic about the quality of my milk. I also couldn't drink so I wasn't getting plastered like you lushes. I was scared and alone because it took days for The Ex to get back to Chicago and I have no family here. I just clung to Ace like my life depended on it and sat on the couch and cried for days. I did write a real long entry in his baby book on 9-11, and I must say it is one of my favorite things I have ever written.
Ugh, I was in the same boat as you Jada. Except without a kid. And being able to drink.
This is how much I suck at keeping a journal: I started one on like 9/12 or 9/13. I think I made two entries. Ha! Me not so literary.
Argh, I'm so annoyed. I just called this one moving company that was supposed to be coming out to give an estimate tonight at 7. Well, I had forgotten about Eque's HH (sorry! the email got buried!) & I have another estimate coming at 4, so I thought well, I'm leaving early anyway, I might as well try to get the guy to come at like 5. So I call & the office guy's like, "oh I'll have him call you" & the estimator calls & is like "oh, I can't come earlier" & I was all "Ok, well, I guess I'll stick with 7" & he goes "yeah, I can't even make it there by 7, b/c the other guy's sick, blah blah blah." I mean, dude! Would I have been sitting there at 7 waiting for this guy to ever show up? Hey, thanks for calling, dickhead. They got a big black mark. Good chance they won't get hired now. I mean, yeah, that sucks that the guy got sick (assuming that's true), but you really ought to actually phone the people who have appointments. Argh!!!!
Yaaaaaayyyyyy!!!!!!
Stop taking LSD?
I say butcher the pig and fry some bacon on your overheating engine block. Offer it to the helicopter pilot and ask him to get off of your bumper.
It was my second day in the office after taking a new job in the middle of nowhere Montana. I woke up at 630AM to walk the 50 yards to my office. (I was living on the ranch that is the headquarters for the organization. No, it wasn't a white supremacist compound.) I stopped in the dining hall to grab some coffee and found half a dozen of my co-workers standing in front of the TV. I watched the second plane hit. I walked outside and sat by a Rocky Mountain lake to drink my coffee and smoke half a dozen cigarettes and worry about my friends and sadly laugh about the fact that I never thought I would be so happy to be in the middle of nowhere. After a beginning like that, I should have known that job was going to suck.
I don't remember exactly what I had for lunch, but it was in the same dining hall, and I'm sure it was in front of the TV. I'm guessing it was some sort of gravy-based dish, as that's what usually came out of the kitchen at the ranch. I know I smoked an awful lot that day.
Beer and fig netwons.. mmmmmm
Miu, you need sleep. You definitely stayed up too late.
Slow down. Unless the chopper is being driven by that guy from the first Mission Impossible movie, b/c then he probably wouldn't mind rear ending you.
Do I win another pair of panties???
Miso, where's the danger in the situation? All are travelling the same speed. So I say just keep on truckin'. The helicopter will likely run out of gas before your car, so once he drops off, just slow down. Or run the pig off the road. Or put your car in cruise control, then jump to the fire truck, perhaps grab one of those hoses and drag behind the truck dramatically. You could then swing over and grab the bottom of the helicopter. Climb up and then punch out the pilot. Then you grab the parachute in the chopper and jump off the cliff, free-falling as the helicopter smashes into your car, then the firetruck, and finally a huge fireball engulfs and the pig and the whole pork roast firey debris goes flying off the edge, while you open your parachute, light a cigarette, and say "i'm tired of these muthafuckin' pigs on this muthafuckin' cliff!"
that sounds safe...
Miso did you tell that joke in Chicago?
My stomach is not happy today...I think it may have been the box of Cheez-its I ate yesterday.
I'll probably do some chicken noodle soup.
Happy B-day E-que!
Well played, wd.
I forgot earlier: lunch today was leftover sweet potato-lentil soup that I made for a potluck last night. It's a brillaint recipe, even if I was running late and got pretty lazy in "dicing" my onions and whatnots. It was more of a coarse chop.
Fortunately, it still tastes good as hell.
Well, not as good as fireballed giant pig, but, lacking that, still good as hell.
PS - lt and Lady A, sorry I got all turned around and disappeary Friday night. You wouldn't think I get paid to know how to get around this town, would you?
I've probably seen to many hollywood movies. But I love the idea of a fire balled pig blasting off a cliff...
Important OWFL question:
I'm getting to leave here soon, though already much later than I'd planned. The question re road eats: Taco Bell or Chik-fil-A???!!! All input welcomed and appreciated!
Chick-Fil-A. No question.
Never mind the fact that Chick-Fil-A is an infinitely superior product. Taco Bell, while carrying its single Pro in its relative cost, is a dangerous proposition for road trips. It tends to move through a brother. (Or a sister.)
Besides, Chick-Fil-A also has Dr. Pepper. Good luck finding that at Taco Bell.
I'd have to agree with Earthquake. Taco Bell tends to run through someone just slightly faster than those police chases on Fox.
Chick-Fil-A however, is the devil. They promise fast-food that is supposed to be lean and somewhat good for you and then you get waffle fries and a ten pack of juicey fat nuggets.
mmmmmmm [homerj] aaaaa hahahahahahaaaaa oooo!
Not in Chicago. The closest you've got is Racine, WI and Mishawaka, IN.
They did expand in to southern California in the last year or so. That's why they started adding the lettuce, tomato, and cheese options to their classic lineup.
I'm a big fan of their chicken, but what you're really missing out on are the waffle fries. Fantastic.
miso: if you are three wide on a merry go round, all three cannot be going the same velocity... ugh.. physics make hulk angry.
eque: rock the birthday
ht: taco bell, no animals are harmed in the making of the delicious beefy goodness
spt11: i remember seeing some weird away messages when i woke up for Stats II.. "how can i be happy on a day like today, when i can't even breathe, how can i be happy getting what i just received, i took it in the ass, all this gravel and broken glass" turns out it is a song by a rather lovely musician "onelinedrawing" highly suggested.
anyway, went to class, sent home by my professor and went to the campus store to get some index cards and watched the footage among all these crying people.
it was rather surreal.
i don’t remember a lot other than buying a whole extra pack of cigarettes around 2 and finishing a couple bottles of wine before it was dark. I know i blacked out that night. -OH is my therapist.
Lunch: (wow that took a long time to get to) 3 pieces of pizza divided thusly: 2 pepperoni and one sausage. but not that good pizza hut crumbled sausage... that gross one that was probably part of a hotdog shaped Italian sausage that is thinly sliced and really has very little spice and a filmy grease on it.
oh cruel world.. why bother with two types of sausage on pizza.
Chik-fil-A it is. Save the cows, indeed.
Kikidee, you will need to come here to sample its deliciousness. And by "here", I mean the burbs, or wherever the closest one is. Shorty and E-que know. They are wise in the ways of the fil-A.
get nuggets and waffle fries with a large sweet tea. Grab a sandwich for later also, they are pretty good at room temp. or left out over night as well!
Has it been said that blogger sucks lately...this may wind up being a double post...
See I would have said Taco Bell, given the occasion for the road trip. However, I think the only Chic-Fil-A I've ever had was nuggets at the first conference, so perhaps I'm not unbiased. That being said, the chick has to be better for driving and eating. There's no way that saucy hamburger isn't getting all over the place. Especially in a stick shift.
I was wondering what happened to you Friday, EQ. And where is Sunshine? Is he still out wandering around Old Town looking for Minis? He'll be looking a long time - I drove today! Ha ha ha!
I would like to extend my thanks to M for listening to the popular voice of OWFL & changing his avatar! Phew! Now, is that your arm or someone else's?
ht: Silver Spring. Ballston Common Mall. Also one out Leesburg Pike a ways. Apparently, there's one in Alexandria and one in Bethesda, but I haven't touched those.
There are also a bunch of campus locations, but they're all run by Aramark. It's better than getting kicked in the junk, but it's not as good as a genuine franchise.
i still think that taco bell is the better choice... viva la resistance!
ugh. i miss my feet. and that is my arm. miso was supposed to get one with me the week before but she had to "sleep" and "go home".
pussy.
lt: Yeah, I got to where I thought I was going, and then I thought I would take a left and then I got horribly lost in the wilds of norther Virginia. When I finally figured out where I was and where I was going, I needed to be somewhere else in about 20 minutes. I figured not showing up was better than showing up, waving, and leaving.
In short, earthquake=lame.
kiki: I just realized that my life has become an office hell when I caught myself trying to decide what FedEx container would work best for shipping Chick-fil-a sandwiches...
I'm getting awful thirsty.
Kiki, I am happy to do so, but I don't recall where you stand on room temperature, day old sandwiches. Myself, I love them, but some OWFLers are wrong, and don't agree with Lady Amalfia and I.
I tried to leave out a quarter pounder saturday night...apparently mr. uni found it though and snarfed it up!
don't forget the tequila at the bar or the general euphoria from shaking a midgit's hand and seeing such glorious mustache's around...
either way, hurry up and get the kingston one so when i see you next we can each get new ones
kiki is one of those weird types that don't want food poisoning.
I've met those types before. Paranoid freaks.
!
Time to drink for e-que!
I'll see what I can do about dry ice, but as Lady Amalfia knows, there is nothing better than a day old fast food sandwish.
(home now - meaning apt. in DC home - packing and getting ready to leave; argh today took FOREVER)
Er, sandwish = sandwich.
"Eat Mor Chikin" Can some essplain to me why Chick-Fil-A has a cow for a spokesthing?
(I'll pass on the FedEx'd sandwich, dry ice or not. Ixnay on your weird room temperature leftovers thing...)
Lunch today was a Santa Fe Salad from Corner Bakery. Nothin' too exciting.
I was lying in bed listening to Stern on 9/11. Being on an hour delay + my usual groggy morning state meant I didn't quite get what was happening until I turned on the tube.
I also recall going for Indian food for lunch that day and there being a lot of tension in the restaurant. The woman behind the counter wasn't her usual cheery self. The shwarma was damn tasty though.
On a totally unrelated note:
BEARRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
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