[insert tacky 9/11 tribute here]

so it occurs to me that i'd like to write something for the anniversary of september 11, if only something angry about current bullshit US policies all over the world. but honestly, what i'm really remembering is just what it was like here at swat that day. being woken up (i overslept) by people i could have sworn were pulling some practical joke ('hey, come check out cnn...') and then watching in the ML lounge as the buildings actually came down. walking up to campus and seeing people crying. the crowds in parrish parlours that stayed for days. the beautiful weather. a hallmate going crazy worrying about her brother-in-law, and the terrible sound she made when she knew he had died.

it was a surreal and horrible time, and it was worse because at swarthmore we guessed instinctively at what was coming--the racism, and the murdered afghan civilians, and the US-PATRIOT act, and all of it. and i think we also knew, on some level, that the thoughts of the terrorists were understandable in light of america's current face to the world. never justifiable or rational, just understandable. which is bad enough.