Remembering

hello, friends,

here we are, september 11, 2006. did anyone, on that day, think that we would be here now?

as i sat down at my computer this morning, here in chestertownvilleburgheightsuponavon-shire, and lovely wendy's house, i flicked on CNN, as i always do. the scroll along the bottom was listing the names of the nearly 3,000 who were killed on that day five years ago.

coincidentally (that's not the right word, i know...), they were on last names that began with a "k," and i sat quietly waiting for danielle kousoulis' name to appear. she was the little sister of one of my dear friends from elementary and high school, and one of my own sister's friends. while faith and i had certainly lost touch since high school and college, five years ago, all of our history came flashing back to me.

there's a great article in the city paper, written by another alum of haddon township, that sort of captures what we all -- those of us from a little town in the new jersey suburbs -- might be feeling today. there are also thoughts from peter kousoulis, danielle's sister. it's a good read: http://www.citypaper.net/articles/current/phillyblunt.shtml.

i also think of my old friend julie, with whom i shared that day. we sat on my couch in philly in stunned silence.

september 11 changed so many things, and there are, i believe losses that are less tangible that those that are obvious -- i think there were losses of marriages, of friendship as well. i know that i experienced some of that.

and so, on this day, let's remember to be kind to one another -- we need each other.

gotohellifyouhatefreedom,
volansky

sweatin' to the oldies

hello, friends,

i hope this finds everyone doing well, having survived hurricanes ernesto and john, as well as the president's recent address to the american legion.

the republican word for the day is this: islamic fascism.

i know that we all recoil when he opens his mouth, but i think, we should start listening again. he has reached a level of delusion that has not been seen since, oh, i don't know, since sister sue and i convinced brother rob that superman would fly past his window and see rob in his superman underoos.

sorry. childhood moment.

at any rate, there's the president. and then there's the senate race between santorum (and we all know how to translate THAT word, right -- see dan savage for details...in this and only this instance, wiki is acceptable: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Love) and bob casey.

now i've heard some of my fellow left-leaning folks say that they just can't find it in themselves to vote for EITHER candidate. however, may i remind all of you of the need to look at the BIG PICTURE. by regaining the congress, we can spend the next two years impeaching this president and his cronies, while, at the same time, trying to turn the titanic upright again. tim russert, on this morning's "meet the press"(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/) hosted a lively debate between the two. at one point, casey called santorum "crazy." big fun was had by all. for my fellow pennsylvanians, i hope that you'll remember to look beyond our humble little borders.

classes have started again and gosh, i love my students. smart freshman and smart upperclassman will make for a fantastic semester. i'm teaching "great american speeches" and "theatre in performance" for the freshman and "dramatic theory" for the smarty-pants drama majors. aristotle, anyone?

and it is delightful to be back in the land of the wednesday night gang.

i would encourage anyone who likes the land of blogging to check out the new one from our good friends in the star center: http://revolutionarycollege.blogspot.com/ dreamboat adam goodheart and friends have been digging around chestertownvilleburgheights-upon avon and have come up with some remarkable things. follow them.

finally, we are saddened by the defeat of andre agassi at the US open. i'll be the first to admit that i was suspect of him when he first arrived on the scene (and even more so when he married brooke shields...) but he's sort of grown on me. fare thee well, andre. enjoy the retirement.

gotohellifyouhatefreedom,
volansky

ps oh, hey, if anyone, speaking of brooke shields, has anything to say about the recent reconciliation between brooke and tom cruise, please share.