My volunteer photography for United Way, Day Of Caring, 2011.  The volunteers were:

• Foss Maritime:  Montlake Library, Seattle.
• Japanese Business Association: Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle.

I was blissfully asleep…  about to get up for work.  My friend Matt called me to tell me I better get up and look at the TV.  I shake off the mental cobwebs and turn on the television to see one of the Twin Towers on fire.  Smoke was piling out of that giant hole in the side of the building.  The news anchors thought that maybe a small plane had crashed into the building.  I remember being glued to the TV, checking the internet for updates.

Then… the second plane slammed into the other tower.  I recall it was no longer a question on whether or not this could be an accident.  The anchors were in a frenzy… people were saying it was a big jet that hit the tower.  Could anyone confirm this?  I remember the frenzy more than anything.  I think I texted Melissa (who things had just recently not worked out with) that she’d better check the news.

In a daze, I made it into the office, an ad agency in downtown Salt Lake City.  We were all in shock, everyone glued to the news websites for the latest.  Nobody was able to get any work done…  I think some of the biggest news sites like CNN were having traffic issues.

What the hell?  The Pentagon was hit.  Rumors of a plane disappearing or going down in Pennsylvania.  We weren’t under attack, we were at war.  Who was the enemy?  Why were we being attacked?

In the afternoon, management sent out an email telling us to go home and be safe.  Nobody was getting any work done anyway.

Thinking about this, I dug up some old stuff I wrote:

9/11/01:  http://www.digitalsingularity.com/writtenArt/robert/terrorism.htm

9/12/01…  wow, some of these predictions came true:  http://www.digitalsingularity.com/writtenArt/robert/terrorism_aftermath.htm

9/13/01:  http://www.digitalsingularity.com/writtenArt/robert/return_to_innocence.htm  I forgot all about the candlelight vigil.  One of the most haunting events I’ve been to.

Now, reflecting on all of this, I’m glad Osama is gone.  I really do hope the world is a little safer than it was 10 years ago.

My little day adventure around Seattle in August. Featured are: the giant space radar platform moving out of Seattle, views from Pike Place Market, and the gum wall.

And while we’re at it, can we end the practice of harvesting fins from sharks and throwing the rest of the shark back in the ocean… for soup?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_finning

These photos were taken at the Pride Parade in Seattle WA in June 2011. I was marching with the King County Democrats. I got plenty of shots of the dems, plenty of shots of others too.