I realize this will be difficult to see, but take a look at the picture below that I snapped from my crappy phone camera today…

What you are seeing is a sticker that shows the twin towers, an American flag, and yes, a plane crashing into the tower on the right with a big yellow clipart star in front of it.

Since it’s difficult to see, I have attempted to recreate the picture using Powerpoint.

I really don’t know what to say. It just astounds me that someone would display this type of “bumper sticker”.

Early in the morning of 11 September 2001, I was making my way to the Sacramento airport for a flight to Austin, TX. I used to be the Diversity group contact for my company, and we did quite a bit of recruiting there at one point. I was heading down to Texas for a recruiting event, and to meet with some of the Diversity Club leaders - trying to build an ongoing relationship with the school.The plane was in the air for a couple hours when the pilot announced that the FAA was grounding all aircraft. No other reason than that, but that we were being diverted to the nearest airport which was in Salt Lake City. Within an hour, we were on the ground.

As I stepped out of the plane and into the airport, I noticed that all of the televisions had been turned off, and there were very few people waiting around. I was on the phone at this point talking with the company travel agency, who informed me that they were able to reserve the last available Hertz car (some huge tub of a vehicle) at the airport, and they had found a hotel room for me just south of the city.

I was not really all that concerned - I hadn’t heard the full details of what had happened on the east coast, and since we have a facility in the vicinity of SLC, I figured that I could get some work done while I waited to hear what was happening.

At the time - the only details that were available came from people around me who were on their mobile phones and relaying information from friends and family members who were apparently watching the news on their end. All I heard was that a plane had flown into one of the towers - at that point I don’t think anyone knew to use the word terrorism.

I found the hotel, then made my way to the remote office building, logged in, and opened the news. I seem to recall that most of the online news sites were having performance problems (understandably), but after a moment I was able to see the problem. There were a few voicemails on my mobile line, so I made contact with friends and family members to let them know that I was ok - just in a different part of the country than I had expected to be.

We cancelled the recruiting event, and for the next 4 days I worked from Salt Lake City, waiting for the flights to re-open so I could get home.

This sounds rather petty, but my first priority after getting there was finding a sushi restaurant. Don’t ask why. I don’t know. That’s just what I needed to do in order to feel comfortable.

Unfortunately, several days passed and I was not able to be rebooked on any flights - which were only just beginning to open up. So I did what I had done back in 1996 - got in the car and drove across the country. Except this time I was only driving from SLC to Sacramento instead of Raleigh, NC to Sacramento.

On my way out of town, there was a massive train crash in the area - I saw one of the pieces of train up on top of another piece of train, black and on fire. Since all the cops were busy with that, I drove to Sacramento as fast as I could, and made it in about 8 hours. That was the second time I have driven that exact stretch of road, and I hope that I do not have to do that again.

So that’s where I was on 9/11/01 - where were you?

Usually, I’m fond of the reporting I get from NPR on my morning commute. But this was just odd. I guess the apathy has really reached new heights when the newscasters can’t even muster up emotion in their voices.

“In Iraq today, 12 or so people died in a car bomb.” - that’s what I heard from the morning anchor. 12 or so? I know it’s just nuance, but there is a huge difference between saying:

12 or so people died today in a car bomb on the streets of …

and

more than 12 people died today in a car bomb on the streets of …

Subtle? Yes. But an important distinction. In the first example, we can’t be bothered to know how many people died. Maybe it was 12, maybe it was more, we don’t really know and don’t care.

In the second example, we know it was at least 12, but we want you to know that yes, tragically, it might have been more as well.

I don’t know what more to think about it. Maybe I’m overly sensitive, but it still bothers me to hear every day that more people are dying from car bombs, plane crashes, etc.

Need your religious fix for the week? Have you been craving an anatomically correct chocolate savior to celebrate the holidays? You need look no further than Jesus of the Week.

Using the handy “Select-A-Jesus” drop down menu, you too can access photographic proof that Jesus is everywhere.

Not only is he hanging in effigy (though slowly melting in the summer heat), but he also shows up on your pimped out wheels, in your box of Post-It Notes, even floating around in space with his nose incredibly close to the atmosphere.

Who knew that he could be in so many random places at any one time?

There’s something for everyone, even the muscle-boys out there who are spending 24 hours a day at the gym trying to look like Ripped Jesus. Guys, you have to go to the Lord’s Gym - 24-hour fitness won’t cut it.

Don did it, so I can too…

$4275.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth

This distressingly tragic story is just in from Stratford, Connecticut. This poor little girl who had done nothing wrong except have zero communication with her parents, sneak outside to have naughtiness with her boyfriend from the “other side of the tracks“, then set off the motion sensor when she returned home and broke into her own house through the basement.

What is interesting about this story is how the media presents it. This wouldn’t be news otherwise, it would simply be an unfortunate accident, and thankfully she wasn’t killed because of it.

But let’s take a look at the multitude of ways the media presents a very simple story like this…

• Off-Duty copy shoots daughter who snuck out
• Cop shoots daughter mistaken as intruder
• Off-Duty Officer shoots daughter mistaken for intruder
• Police officer mistakenly shoots daughter
• Off-duty cop accidentally shoots daughter
• Off-duty police officer shoots daughter by mistake
• Cop shoots daughter, thinking she’s a burglar
• New Haven Officer On Disability Mistakenly Shoots Daughter

Put it all together and you’ve got -

Off-Duty New Haven Police Officer on disability accidentally shoots daughter who snuck out, mistaking her for an intruder.

And this is nothing compared to how the Anna Nicole Smith death was titled…

Here is the snippet and link to msnbc.com

STRATFORD, Conn. - An off-duty New Haven police officer shot and critically wounded his 18-year-old daughter, apparently mistaking her for an intruder after she sneaked out of their Stratford home and re-entered through the basement. [Link]

In the spirit of multiculturalism and diversity, I have chosen to dedicate this special blog to the Christian holiday, Easter*. What is Easter? Where did it come from? Is it a religious holiday or a celebration of all things small, furry, and blue/white with big floppy ears?

As a child I remember trying to stay up as late as I could the day before Easter (Easter Eve), so I could catch a glimpse of the Easter Bunny (or wasn’t it supposed to be a resurrected savior? - never fear, they’ve now combined the two). Finally when my eyelids would no longer stay open, usually about 8pm, I fell asleep. After arising the next day (also usually 8pm), I would race to my bedroom door to see what Jesus had left for me. Who knew that Jesus could turn a loaf of bread into a basket of multi-coloured eggs.

I think that’s why I’m gay. No, not because the lord our god (L.O.G.) performed a miracle with the chicken and the egg, but because the rainbow flag was bestowed on me at such an early age. The eggs were red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ocre and peach, ruby and olive and violet and fawn, cream and silver and purple and gold, russet and white and pink and orange and BLUE!

Ok, so I didn’t really have THAT many eggs, but those were the colours on Joseph’s Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and they sure were pretty…anyway…..eggs. The basket was full of them. But not just ordinary eggs. These eggs were plastic! I wasn’t sure what you did to an egg to make it plastic, but I’m sure it involved a lot of boiling. Needless to say, I wasn’t very careful with them because I knew there was no yolk to spill. What I didn’t realize though, is that instead of yolk, Jesus had put money and candy inside these eggs! The money was obviously meant for me to put in the offering plate at church, but the candy was all mine!
Jelly beans of every colour imagineable, jujube’s, candy corn (I thought these were only for Hellaween!), marshmallow duckies with sugar on top, raindrops on roses and noses on kittens, bright yellow packages tied up with string, these are a few of my fav…whoops! got a little carried away there.

Eggs. Candy in the eggs. So of course I had to eat all the candy in the 2 hours before church. By the time we got to god’s house, and what a fine pad he had with a loft and track lighting and candles from Pier 1….anyway…I had a tummy ache. Let’s all thank L.O.G. for these gifts which give us gas.

We sang some songs about a tomb, and a rock, well, a boulder really, a monolith in fact, Ayers rock if you will….and then something about rising from the dead, but I didn’t see what that had to do with candy so I didn’t sing along. Finally church was over and it was time for the Easter Brunch. I don’t know why they call it Easter Brunch, because by the time we got there, it was well after noon, which practically makes it Easter Dinner, or maybe Linner, or Dunch.

To further confuse the issue, we had exactly the same food as we’d had for Thanksgiving Brunch/Dinner. Apparently the holidays are related, though I don’t know why anyone would give thanks for dying on the same day every single year and being put in a cold rocky tomb, but who am I to judge another lifestyle?

So Easter Ludinner ended, and my tummy was even more sore because now the jelly beans were combining with the baked beans, and the juxtaposition of the two in my stomach was creating a very unpleasant ride home. Somehow I managed to survive the 2 mile trip from cafeteria to bedroom, where I lay on top of the covers moaning in pain. All the while thanking L.O.G. for the blessings bestowed on me this day.

After a few hours, I finally started feeling better and decided to revisit the Easter basket to see if I had overlooked anything. Anyone who has seen an Easter Basket knows how easily things can get lost in the green plastic grass strips.

I dumped the cash out and stuffed it in my piggy bank, and started digging through the Astroturf. Low and behold, and ye verily, the mother lode appeared!

Apparently Jesus appreciated me going to church to celebrate his death, because what to my wondering eyes should appear (no not a sleigh with eight tiny reindeer, honestly we should just consolidate all these holidays into one big HOLIDAY, Celebrate! If we took a holiday, took some time to celebrate, just one day out of life, HOLIDAY!)

The Cadbury Creme Egg. The epitome of egg. The crème de la crème of egg. The Alpha and the Omega of egg. The great I AM egg.

I held the egg gently in my fingers, careful not to warm it too much so that the chocolate would melt in the wrapper. Slowly, I peeled back the foil which held it so tight, revealing the true meaning of Easter. Liquid sugar, encased in chocolate.

Forget about all this death and dying nonsense. this was my reason for living. My salvation, my rock. This precious gift from above was to be savored, worshiped, praised. And so like a good boy, I praised it like I should.

In one gigantic bite, I split the egg apart, showering my taste buds with the rich and creamy goodness, that could only come from such a precious gift. I let the liquid sugar and chocolate melt across my tongue, washing away any leftover taste of brunchinner.

Softly, and slowly, I swallowed. Always wanting to remember this very special Cadbury Crème Egg, and to never forget the true meaning of the holiday.

Then I promptly ran to the bathroom, and showered the god who sits on the white porcelain throne with all that I had been bestowed.

* Easter, like Christmas, is a blend of paganism and Christianity. The word Easter is derived from Eostre (also known as Ostara), an ancient Anglo-Saxon Goddess. She symbolized the rebirth of the day at dawn and the rebirth of life in the spring. The arrival of spring was celebrated all over the world long before the religious meaning became associated with Easter.