9/11 - The 20th Anniversary

"I had just been released from hospital the day before and was still on sick leave. My father called me on the phone and told me to turn on the TV at once because there was something going on in America. Swedish television was broadcasting live.

Just a few seconds after I had turned on the TV-set - and before I understood what was going on - the television screen showed a passenger airplane flying suspiciously low close to the tower that had been hit first. Then I saw the plane steering right into the second tower, flames erupting around the hole that had been caused in the structure halfway up on the building.

I was baffled, shocked, sad, angry, and frightened. After seeing that I remained in front of the television all that day and well into the night to follow the news. There were many speculations concerning the number of casualties, so once the true numbers were released, I was strangely relieved that they were much lower than the initial speculations. 

2,977 people died in the attacks (and 19 hijackers committed murder–suicide), and more than 6,000 others were wounded, it's a scary thought that I could feel relief at such a high toll.

In my mind's timeline there will always be a before or after 9/11, Everything changed, or at least my outlook on everything changed."

(The above has previously been posted in 9/11 - In Memoriam.)

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We must also always remember that the terrorists are an extremely small minority in any community, religious group, or society. In the words of the American president Barack Obama, "We don’t differentiate between them and us. It’s just us."

18 Years Ago

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, at around 2 PM local time, I was in bed and taking a nap. The day before I had returned back home after being in a hospital for a week and receiving five bags of blood. In a routine physical check-up, it was discovered that my blood count was dangerously low.

I was awoken by a telephone call from my father, who told me to turn on the television because "there are things going on in New York". I thought of going back to sleep, but my curiosity got the better of me so I turned on the TV and started watching the eerie live broadcast from New York City where the North Tower of the World Trade Center was burning.

About ten minutes after I started watching the broadcast the events of the picture started to unfold. A plane was seen flying closer and it became clear that it was aiming for the South Tower. It struck the tower at 3:03PM my time, 9:03AM New York Time, and a big ball of fire erupted from the place of impact. Smoke was now billowing from both towers.

I was stunned, like the rest of civilization, by this vehement terrorist attack happening in broad daylight and playing out on color-TV.

I stayed close to the television all through the night. The other attempted attacks were reported. And the numbers of the people killed and wounded rose by the hour. 

The final count says 2,996 people were killed (including the 19 hijackers) and more than 6,000 others injured. Additionally, 343 firefighters and 71 law enforcement officers died in the World Trade Center and on the ground in New York City. There were more people killed in places outside New York City.

Life for us, the lucky ones, continued but the world as we know it changed. We lost a kind of innocence that day with the over 3,000 deaths. Little by little, new agencies and lots of regulations and restrictions were put in place to try to prevent similar attacks from ever occurring again.

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On a day like this, it is good to remember the past, the victims of terror whether killed, mutilated or hurt, and hope and work so that we may never experience anything as horrendous again. 

Second Pride Festival 2019 - Call For Entertainers

This year the 15th annual Second Pride Festival will take place between June 14th - 23rd, 2019.

We are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Riots at Stonewall Inn (url), New York, N.Y., U.S.A, claimed to be the start of the Gay Liberation Movement.

Second Pride has now posted a call for entertainers, musicians, theater groups and dance troupes to sign up. To sign up please visit the Second Pride website (url) and fill in the registration form.

A New York Minute

I've learned a new expression, "a New York Minute", which is supposedly defined as the smallest measurable amount of time in the universe. The time lapse is approximately equal to the time between a traffic light turning green in New York City and the cab driver behind you honking his horn.

"No burden is carried as easily as much knowledge", says The Hávamál.

Sad News

Today I learned that my beloved SecondLife-brother Dejerrity Mycron has passed away.

Dej was found in his apartment in New York today by his friend Danny. It is believed that Dej died sometimes between 3-7 days ago.

The cause of his death as well as the exact time have yet to be determined. As far as I know Dej didn't have any major health issues, but my brother sometimes withheld information he thought would worry me.

The man behind the avatar that was Dejerrity was 54 years old at his passing.

To be honest, Dej was not an easy man to love and did not love easily either, but I have loved him dearly since he supported me when my former husband Ars Northmead passed away in 2010. I know for certain that he loved me also.

Remember Dej!

9-11 In Memoriam

There was something "spectacular" over the acts of terrorism we all witnessed on live broadcasting on September 11, 2001. Events that usually unfold under the cover of darkness or in remote places were happening before our eyes.

I am guessing most of us, who are old enough, have a vivid memory of where we were and what we were doing when we got the news fifteen years ago.

I had just been released from hospital the day before  and was still on sick leave. My father called on the phone and told me to turn on the TV because there was something going on in America. Swedish television was also broadcasting live.

Just a few seconds after I had turned on the TV-set - and before I understood what was going on - the television screen showed a passenger airplane flying suspiciously low close to the tower that had been hit first. Then I saw the plane steering right into the second tower, flames erupting around the hole that had been caused in the structure halfway up on the building.

 I was baffled, shocked, sad, angry and frightened. After seeing that I remained in front of the television all that day and well into the night to follow the news. There were many speculations concerning the amount of casualties, so once the true numbers were released I was strangely relieved that they were much lower than the initial speculations. 

2,977 people died in the attacks and many more were wounded, it's a scary thought that I could feel relief at such a high toll.  

In my mind's timeline there will always be a before or after 9-11, Everything changed, or at least my outlook on everything changed,

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I will always remember that day and all the lives that were lost and disrupted. May the dead rest in peace!

Love Crazed New Yorker on Subway Heroes

"Look at this pic again and tell me these aren't tight pants. Men in NYC don't wear anything that tight, usually, The straight ones anyway. And I *** LOVE *** the color-coordinated sneakers!!! Rainbow???"

Emergency Aid

New York City is having one of it's coldest winters ever and it seems never-ending. This video is posted to help keep my brother Dej warm and to remind him that spring and summer are on their way.

"Listen To Your Body, Bock" - Part 2

"The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp", oil painting on canvas (1632), Rembrandt

In September 2001 I had just gotten out from a biannual medical check up and was driving back to work when my cell phone rang.

The caller was a nurse at the doctors office I had just left. He told me to immediately stop driving as soon as it could be done, park the car and get myself transported to the emergency room at the hospital. They were going to fax the paperwork there meanwhile. No, I was absolutely not allowed to drive there myself under any conditions.

When I (a little irritated) asked why this brouhaha all of a sudden, I was informed that they had received the results of the blood tests that had been taken and according to them I should actually not be alive, moving about and definitely not driving a car on public roads on my way to work. Apparently the tests showed that my blood count (Hb), which should normally be between 130-170 g/l in a healthy male, was down to 56 g/l.

During the following five days I was subjected to every kind of gastrointestinal examination on the books, gastroscopy, Esophagogastroduodenoscopy, rectoscopy and colonoscopy, I was fed with some radioactive gunk which then was filmed as it passed through my system, from the mouth to the other end.  Despite the extensive examinations no ongoing leakage was discovered, nor any scars or other signs of old leaks. As far as the tests showed, I had the most beautiful and healthy gastrointestinal system in Northern Europe.

It was - and still is - a complete mystery how and from where I had been leaking blood extremely slowly over what must have been a long period of time. If the drop in the blood count had been sudden I would have gone into a state of shock and died.

All the doctors I met asked if I hadn't noticed any bleeding from my body. I told them that I hadn't noticed anything of the sort. I had from time to time been feeling a little tired, but nothing exceptional and I had not had a single sick day during the previous three years.

While at the hospital I was given a bag of blood a day, and I noticed that I became more alert and awake and realized how tired I had in fact been.  "You must listen to your body, Bock" they all told me, but if there was no noticeable shift I cannot understand what my body could have told me.

I was released from the hospital on Monday September 10, 2001, in a much better condition than when I was admitted and told to regularly check my blood count. (There is an easy way to do it without a blood test. You look at the palms of your hands, if they have a nice rosy color all is well but if they go pale you should take a blood test.) I have never had a problem like this after that incident.

I was on sick leave for a month after being released from the hospital, the doctors and my employer insisted on it even if I was feeling better than I had felt for a couple of years. The day after I had come home my father called me in the afternoon and told me to turn on the television, there was something dramatic and strange going on in New York.

As I sat down in front of the television set, I saw a tape being replayed of the first plane crashing into one of the towers at the World Trade Center, I watched live - in a state of complete horror and disbelief - when the second plane crashed into the other tower, and later when the towers crumpled and crashed to the ground, one after the other, and listened to all the speculations all through the night.

Remembering 9-11

This drawing was made by a child during the week following the attacks of September 11, 2001. It was rescued from being destroyed by rain from the front wall of a Chelsea elementary school by blogger +Joe Jervis, Joe.My.God., on September 18, 2001.

"The Hugging Towers"

Please read Joe's touching original post about how he found the picture, J.M.G.: "One Week Later" (reposting September 18, 2006).

Joe has donated the painting to the museum which now resides on the site of the former World Trade Center.

In My Dreams...

...I will be in New York, N.Y om Thursday. Will you join me?

(tipped by Bock in SecondLife non-reader +Joe Jervis @J-M-G.

Check out Gotham's hot ruggers, and their date packages in the Bachelor Catalog soon to be published.

Hosted by: David Albiero
MC: Peppermint
Date: Thursday May 9th, 2013

Bachelor meet and greet: 7pm
Auction: 8pm

Location: Splash Bar, 50 W. 17th St, Located between 5th and 6th Ave., New York, NY

News From Dejerrity

Photo by Charles Sykes/AP

My brother in-law Dejeritty lives in Manhattan, New York, N.Y. in first life. I have been worrying about him since the Frankenstorm Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history, hit New York City on Monday October 29, 2012.

Thankfully I got a message from him today telling me that he is well but that all of lower Manhattan lost power at 8:15 PM Monday night when a transformer station literally exploded. They are expecting power to be restored in his area sometime on Saturday - hopefully.

Well, that´s a load iff my chest!

9/11 Again

Honor the dead by caring for the living!

I took these pictures on this day last year at the 9/11 Memorial site (SLurl) in SecondLife.

The effect of the two transparent and ghostly towers looming over the surrounding buildings is a powerful and beautiful reminder of the horrible day when the towers disappeared from the skyline and all our lives were changed for the foreseeable future.

I remember that awful day well. It feels like a lifetime ago but is only eleven years. The day before I had come home from a five day stay at the hospital where I had been urgently admitted when my blood count (Hb) was found to be only 59 g/l (In a healthy man it should be around 130-170 g/l).

They never found out where I had been bleeding slowly over a very long period despite probing my body through every open orifice with a variety of instruments. However, I was sent home after having received a few blood transfusions and been instructed on how to recognize the warning signs. (As long as the palms of your hands are reddish your blood count is over 120 g/l, below that they turn grayish/white.)

The day after I got a telephone call from my father telling me to turn on the television set because something terrible was happening in New York. I turned on the TV and sat in front of it the rest of the day and long into the night. I watched and cried while the second plane flew into the second tower and then again when the first tower collapsed and then the second and then listening to the guesses all night long about who and what had planned and executed these atrocities.

Following Hurricane Irene

The last few day I have been busy keeping track of hurricane Irene as she closes in on New York City, which apart from Boston further to the north and parts of Canada, is where I know i have friends and loved ones in the hurricanes predicted trajectory.

The good news is that it keeps losing speed, the bad news is that it can still cause a lot of damage! I am hoping and wishing for them all to be safe. Love you all, guys and girls!

Courtesy of New York Times: Hurricane Irene Tracking Map 

BREAKING! New York Senate Votes For Same-Sex Marriage!

Photography by Jay Fine

The State Senate of  New York a few moments ago voted for same-sex marriages with the votes Ayes 33 - Nays 29.

Due to some changes of the wording in the bill to get it to pass in the senate the bill will have to pass in the the State Assembly once again for confirmation before governor Andrew Cuomo - as he has stated he will - can sign it into law.

My warmest congratulations to all gay and lesbian New Yorkers for being granted your fundamental human rights!

The light of Jeebus has struck the city and yet she stands firm, and the straight marriages don´t dissolve either, what a wonderful day!

9-11

The September 11 attacks (often referred to as September 11th or 9/11) were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There were no survivors from any of the flights.

The death toll of the attacks was 2,996, including the 19 hijackers. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 70 countries. In addition, there is at least one secondary death – one person was ruled by a medical examiner to have died from lung disease due to exposure to dust from the World Trade Center's collapse.

The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror: it invaded Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who had harbored al-Qaeda terrorists. The United States also enacted the USA PATRIOT Act. Many other countries also strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers. Some American stock exchanges stayed closed for the rest of the week following the attack and posted enormous losses upon reopening, especially in the airline and insurance industries. The destruction of billions of dollars worth of office space caused serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan. (Quote from Wikipedia)

Mourn the dead, celebrate the heroes and start building a new future with tolerance, respect and forgiveness!

We must also always remember that the terrorists are an extremely small minority in any community, religious group or society! In the words of the American president Barack Obama, "We don’t differentiate between them and us. It’s just us."

And yes in the light of this I must - and will - forgive my few enemies and wrongdoers for the petty drama they caused me and for hurting my feelings. I will accept them, I will respect them but I do not need to love them!

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P.S. Recommended reading on the blog Joe.My.God "That day". A personal eyewitness account.