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September 11, 2001

Neighbors

I met one of my neighbors today. Not one of the ever-ephemeral loft dwellers across the street, but the gentleman right around the corner. The one who’s been here 70 years. In this neighborhood. In the same building. In fact, one of his kids once lived in my buidling…

What must it be like for a man to have watched all the changes South of Market since the 1930s, and from the very midst of the neighborhood yet? There can’t be too many others around. With only nine years under my belt I feel like I’ve been living here longer than a good chunk of my neighbors…

I think I may have to talk to him more often. Besides, I fell in love with his dog…

Anyway, it’s hotter than hell in my apartment and I can’t open my windows because of the painters. The whole building’s turning a rather putrid shade of Pepto-Bismol pink, but that’s apparently just the primer. I’m glad it’s eventually going away, although I must say it’s very soothing to the stomach…

BerkeleyBreathed.com on the monitor and Young Frankestein on the TV, which now has much-enhanced audio…

Jesus…

My God. I wake up at 7:30, hear sirens, read a quick email message from a friend in New York telling me that two planes have flown into the World Trade Center, turn on the news, and realize that the whole country has gone insane.

What the fuck is going on?

Mid-morning

It’s creepy even in San Francisco. People on the street look troubled, the McDonald’s on Bryant next to the police station is almost deserted, and downtown is supposedly shutting down for the day…

And still CalTrans keeps pouding those fucking pile drivers for the freeway retrofit. The backdrop to the horrifying news is a constant loud pounding sound which makes my building vibrate each time. What the hell are those idiots thinking?

And my god, what must it be like in New York. I’ve had a couple of pieces of email, but I can’t get a phone call through right now…

Firsthand sightings at Ultrasparky and Andy’s Chest

Evening

I love my mom for emailing and saying this, among other things: “It is unthinkable to me that so much horror is caused in the name of religion.”

I can’t watch the news anymore. I have to stop.