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Sunday, September 11, 2011

Forever in our hearts

This is how I like to think of the World Trade Center -- gleaming against a flawless sky.

The Towers have been gone 10 long years now, along with all of those whose lives were cut short. So much promise and opportunity lost.

The people who worked there were regular folks who only wanted to provide for their families: accountants, maintenance, cafeteria workers, clerks, insurance agents, people who answered phones. The kind of people who'd see the back page of your NY Post and strike up a conversation on the elevator. You think Bernie has a shot at the Hall of Fame?

I understand the desire for memorial services honoring the 10th anniversary of the attack. However, for people who were there, not a day passes where there isn't some remembrance. Sometimes it's a dull ache. Sometimes it's a sharp pain. Most often, it's a whisper in the wind... a sad remembrance of a long lost friend.

I won't be watching any of the ceremonies today. My wife and I spent the morning helping the victims of flooding due to Hurricane Irene. This afternoon I'll enjoy the kids and settle in with a cold beer and a Yankee game.

But it's hard not to drift back. Think about how it could have been me gone for 10 years now. Think about their last terrible moments. The last thoughts that crossed their minds. They just wanted to go home one more time.

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Worst Mickey Mantle signed item. Ever.

I laughed when I saw this on eBay recently.

Real signature, yet totally undesirable. With all due respect to the man in the photo, who would ever want this except for him? I suppose it could be used for a cut if it was cheap enough.

And why does it look like a photo from the mid-60s instead of the mid-70s?