Tuesday, September 18, 2001

In times like these, the kindness of people amazes and humbles me. I have gotten several emails from around the world expressing condolences and prayers for myself and my country. I've read countless tales of human kindness on every level and now I have one of my own to add.

I've been wrestling this in my mind for days. Who to donate to? There are so many charities to choose from and so little money to spread around. I've also been thinking about the emotional victims. All of us are emotional victims but I mean those who have to live and work in the Manhattan area; those who have lost loved ones that weren't immediate family. What charity will take care of them?

Today I decided I would do my part to help them. I ordered a small token of friendship for a friend who's seen and experienced more pain than I can imagine. The online shop I ordered from was a company I'd never heard of and that always makes me a little wary. They had a comments section in the ordering process. I stated that this was a gift for a friend who had lost a dear friend in the attack and could they please make sure that this order was handled quickly - any problems please call me right away. Working in/around ecommerce, I am too familiar with orders being set aside, etc. and I simply didn't want this to happen. This is too important.

So I wrote the note, submitted the order and immediately received the automated confirmation emails. A few minutes later, I received another email stating they had read my comments and in the spirit of helping someone heal, they would absorb the costs of my second day air shipping. Isn't that something?? See, the world is still full of good people. All is not lost. We just got sucker punched by the bad guys but there's still hundreds of good ones to help heal our wounds.

After she gets the package, I'll post the link so you can see for yourself what a great company they are and maybe find a little something for yourself or one of your friends.

posted by Lisa Whirrett 9/18/2001 12:11:43 AM | link it

Friday, September 14, 2001

wow.

posted by Lisa Whirrett 9/14/2001 03:06:51 PM | link it

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

This has been the longest day. Four years ago, a tragic event of this magnitude would have shaken me up but I didn't know anyone in New York back then. In the past four years I've come to know many people across this world, a few of them in New York City. It's been an anxiety-ridden day waiting to hear that they were okay. Bart, my adopted internet son, was the last to check in. He attends NYU and I freaked when I looked at their website and saw that his dorm had been evacuated. I studied some maps to get an idea of where he might have been. Faith reassured me that he was probably far enough away from harm. I still worried because he loves New York City and spends much of his free time exploring new places. Finally got an email from him tonight. He's fine but was close enough to see and hear it all happen.

I tried my best to stay away from the tv today. Too much hype in the media feeding the panic that all of us are feeling. My brain has processed too many images in this lifetime. Challenger disaster, Persian Gulf war, OKC bombing, just to name a few. All brought streaming into my living room. Not this time. I can't deal with it. This surpasses anything I'd ever imagined could happen on our soil. I'm so relieved that my friends are all physically okay. My heart and prayers go out to those who can't say that.

posted by Lisa Whirrett 9/11/2001 11:26:52 PM | link it

Saturday, September 08, 2001

I finally got around to uploading some more photos tonight. If you're interested, you can view them here. I take a lot of macro shots which is a bummer when using thumbnails. What are the odds that people are going to click on what appears to be just a picture of an evergreen branch?? Well click on it!! There's dew drops hanging off the branch that you can see in the bigger version. Very cool. Trust me.

I'm sure I looked like a big ol' dork with my face an inch away from the bushes. I had a brief thought of taking a closeup of a spider. Very brief thought. It was one of those that jumps. I can just see me dropping/breaking a $1,000 camera in my haste to escape a jumping spider.

I did get some red bugs and grasshoppers. Pay no mind to the grasshoppers. I thought they might have been doing something nasty but a friend said one was probably sick and the other was pushing it to the hospital. Hmmmm... what friend of mine would say something like that?

posted by Lisa Whirrett 9/8/2001 11:30:42 PM | link it

Thursday, September 06, 2001

I went to the doctor today. Eight days of being sick is enough. Didn't find out much of anything as usual. Get to try the purple pill for a week and see if that helps. So far it's not done a thing. I have no patience when it comes to waiting for a drug to work. I want to feel better now dammit! I've received many a lecture from Al (the birthday boy) on my health habits and unwillingness to listen to the professionals. Wish he'd have been there today. He'd have loved the verbage spewing around me... "Do you smoke? Thought of quitting? Do you drink pop or coffee? Are you eating right?" Ugh. Just leave me alone and gimme a pill. hehehe I haven't been smoking near as much as normal. That's a sure sign that I'm not feeling well. Anyway, I'll give this purple pill a go and hope it helps.

posted by Lisa Whirrett 9/6/2001 09:58:52 PM | link it