hat a strange year it's been. The beginning of September in 2001 seemed to be the start of yet another peaceful American autumn. The heat of summer had abated, and the leaves were giving hints that the annual fall changeover would be as colorful as any. There was a lot to look forward to. Until...
he 11th. That sure changed everything. There might have been colorful leaves that fall, but nobody really noticed. Everywhere you looked, there were people walking around in a daze. The horrific events in New York and Northern Virginia had shocked a nation, rocked the foundations of assumed safety that were the underpinnings of normal daily life, and left people wondering if this was just a one-time thing or just the first of a series of attacks that would cast a pall over the seemingly idyllic life that American had been blessed with.
lags came out in abundance and defiance. We reacted in every possible way - some of us were angry and full of hatred and revenge, some of us were sad and mournful, some of us were just plain freaked out and didn't know how to be. Jingo returned to mixed reviews... he was popular in public events, and yet many people hoped to rein him in before he took over. Yes, even those tasteless truck window stickers of "Rude Boy" (who looks way to much like one of my favorite old comic strip characters, Calvin, for my comfort) changed their targets so that it was Osama bin Laden that was getting peed on instead of the insignias of Ford or Chevy (depending on your NASCAR preference).
t may take years for us to fully come to grips with the changes that have taken place in our nation since the infamous September 11, 2001. I'll leave that for others to document. The one thing that I have documented for this web space is the way the world's newspapers reacted to the tragedy. I've always had a personal fascination with newspapers. I thought it was uniquely special that you could get a daily synopsis of the major events in the world for so little, and I've always appreciated how well the newspapers overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles in writing, editing, designing, producing, and distributing several editions every day without fail. Please click on the "Newspapers Cover 9/11" link below to see a tribute to the way this infamous bit of American history was recorded in the journals of the world.
nother part of this web space is dedicated to one of my latest hobbies: CD cover artwork for live recordings. If you are a collector, then perhaps I can be of some help to you by providing jewel case artwork for any of the concert recordings that I have that you might also have.
 |