I broke down and bought tickets for Bart and me to go to Sing-A-Long Sound of Music next Saturday. Yay! We'll have to think of some good costumes that will win us prizes.

A collection of political cartoons that have resulted from the terrorist attacks. [via Q Daily News]

News Updates

An interview with Tamim Ansary, the Afghan-American whose letter has most likely hit your e-mail inbox sometime this week.

The NY Times Magazine didn't come out this last Sunday. But a special issue dedicated to the terrorist attacks will come out September 23. Here it is online.

Salon.com News | An Afghan-American speaks

For some reason, all of this tragedy has suddenly hit me with an overwhelming force. Yesterday evening, seeing all the stories of people searching for loved ones sent me reeling. I began crying, truly sobbing for the first time since this attack began on Tuesday. And this morning is no better. Every time I see a U.S. flag attached to a car or a stranger smiles and says hello I practically lose it. I told my dad I would buy him a flag at Elmer's, the flag store near where I live. I hope they aren't sold out.

Portland Citywide Remembrance today
Mayor Vera Katz and Portland-area religious leaders
Rose Quarter Commons, in front of Memorial Coliseum
Friday, 5 p.m.

caterina.net: I can't think of a thing to do either, but all the things we always ought to do: be generous every day.

Ann Coulter sucks.

Steve Fox, editor in chief, CNET.com: Words fail us at times like this. They can mislead us as well. In the wake of Tuesday's tragedy, I received a few copies of a horrific piece of e-mail: a verse attributed to 16th century prophet Nostradamus. The eight lines seem to predict the World Trade Center attack and the subsequent start of World War III. If you've received this e-mail, please don't forward it: it's a malicious hoax. Some of the words do indeed come from Nostradamus (though they've been spliced, diced, and rearranged to form a coherent prediction). But the most worrisome specifics--lines such as "In the city of York there will be a great collapse, two twin brothers torn apart by chaos" and "The third big war will begin when the big city is burning"--are fabricated whole cloth. Shame on those who would spend their energies spreading fear while we're all so vulnerable.

An amazing multimedia presentation on what happened in New York and Washington, D.C. [via kottke.org, where there are a wealth of links related to these events]

Steve Duin: Our ingenuity is at issue, not our resiliency

Yesterday evening after work, I watched a couple of hours of news coverage. I decided to break away from the tragedy of events by going running along the waterfront. I had a very interesting experience. I encountered several people along the way to my destination and it seemed that we were all somehow united as one by the earlier sequence of events. Everyone I passed met my gaze and said hello or nodded at me. This doesn't usually happen. I myself felt like I needed to acknowledge everyone as a sign of support and understanding that our nation had just undergone something tragic. When I returned home, I began watching the news coverage again, and a psychologist was discussing exactly what I had been feeling. How this amazing event was making the general public come together as one, as Americans. I have never before felt so patriotic.

Donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund through Amazon or PayPal.

An eyewitness account of the happenings in NYC. [via calamondin]
c|net has a photo essay of the horrific event.
The Sydney Morning Herald has several photo galleries. Look for the links on the right hand side of the page.

Five Suspects Identified in NYC Attack
Plane Crashes Collapse World Trade Center Towers
Airplane Crashes Into Pentagon
Horror, Alarm, and Chaos Grip Downtown Manhatten
United jetliner crashes in western PA. following terror attacks
Bin Laden warned US 3 weeks ago
World shock over U.S. attacks
Sports Leagues Postpone Events
Portland residents line up to donate blood
My friend Rich called me early this morning from New York City as this whole surreal scene began to unfold. It is altogether scary, unreal, and amazing. I had to peel myself away from the news coverage on TV to come to work only to find all websites extremely slow and internet radio stations unaccessible!

Yay! It's Friday!

Serena vs. Venus. Who's going to win?

I am just about finished with my first sewing project of the month. I mentioned that I have been obsessed with sewing recently. Well, starting this month, I had to limit myself to two sewing projects a month, or else I'd go broke like I did last month. My first project is this coat made of wool felt. I had been thinking about making a nice wool coat after seeing some beautiful ones at a favorite boutique, Vergotis. They had several lovely coats by Poleci. Most were slightly fitted in great colors like orange and green. Naturally, I thought, I could make a coat like one of those for a lot less. I chose wool felt after seeing my sister make all these stockings out of it. Plus, you didn't need to hem anything since wool doesn't fray. I originally wanted this chartreusey green color, but there wasn't enough of it at Fabric Depot, so I chose Barn Red, which has a little black mixed in. I had several possible patterns to choose from, but then found the absolute perfect pattern in the New Look book. You could choose from a plain fitted coat, or one that had patch pockets and trim, or one that had a belt and trim. I knew that I wanted the trim and belt version (based on one of the coats I saw in the boutique). So I bought this big bold black rick rack to use as my trim and a belt kit, which would be made with black wool felt. I started the project last weekend and have been sewing at lunchtime everyday this week. All that's left is to sew on the snaps and make the belt. It looks gorgeous! I love it! It's very satisfying to create these things. My second project of the month is a wool skirt with a kick pleat in the front. Ultimately, I want to have sewn enough things so that I can eventually start making my own designs. That's a long ways off in the future though!

School started yesterday. I'm still on "special assignment" with the school district, so I didn't have the stresses of preparing a classroom and meeting new students. I don't know if I will ever go back to the classroom. Teaching is an extremely difficult and tiring job, yet also very worthwhile. However, during my last few years, the difficulty, fatigue, and absence of a life wasn't worth the little satisfaction I was receiving. I would love to stay in education because I still love working with kids and I think I can make an actual difference in the lives of adults, as well as children.

Sampras and Agassi produce match to remember This match was almost as nearly as exciting as the Anne Heche 20/20 interview with Barbara Walters later that night.