Today, we sailed on...

As I'm sure everyone is aware, today is the eighth anniversary of the terror attacks on September 11. Just like people can tell you where they were when the Challenger blew up or JFK was shot, anyone over the age of 18 can tell you where he or she was that day.

I myself was on the college shuttle back from a 9:30 a.m. American history class. Ironic, eh? That shuttle ride was the only time I can remember our rasta-reggae-loving bus driver did not have Bob Marley jamming on the radio. I remember the silence of my fellow students and the solemnity of the broadcaster's voice. I recall thinking it was some sick joke, like an edition of The Onion gone terribly, terribly wrong.

I distinctly remember looking at my watch at exactly 8:46 a.m. while waiting for the shuttle to class. Shortly after that glance to my wrist, I watched staff pulling a little plastic bus-wagon full of toddlers from the nearby university daycare center down the street and thought it was such a beautiful day and how adorable the children were.

A lot has happened since that day, much of it bad or worse. But as I put in my Facebook status for the day, I am choosing to remember the anniversary with hope rather than sadness.

Today's blog title came from an Examiner article about Christopher Columbus. He wrote that sentence in his diary every day of his voyage to America, to a land only he saw in his dreams (never mind he thought it was India...). The article by Mary Ann Maxwell-Hebbert reminds us nothing truly important is finished in a day, and we should just have courage we're heading in the right direction.

The photo for today's post (from referencelibrary.blogspot.com) is of a photo frame in the style known as "tramp art." Back in the Great Depression, the (mostly) men who criss-crossed the country as hobos created an entire genre of art which originated from their ingenuity and a lack of resources. They took what they had and made the best of it. That is an American ideal - to find hope through daily struggle and "making do."

One 9/11 widow did just that. Cathy Carilli found hope in her own pets after the loss of her husband and now works to make sure others find hope in animals. She founded The Tower of Hope in 2006 to train service animals for disabled veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Finally, on a much lighter note, Newsday recently posted a story on the continued success of Journey's touchstone song, "Don't Stop Believin'." While not even the band's biggest hit, it remains in the iTunes top 100 downloads (ahead of seven Michael Jackson songs, Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer," and "Eye of the Tiger"). Former Journey lead singer Steve Perry puts it best, in his quote, "It's about having hope and not quitting when things get tough because I'm telling you things get tough for everybody."

(My favorite part of that YouTube video is the shot of the drummer at 0:50 in full '80s basketball regalia.)

KISS, SWAK, TGIF, TTYL...

I have no idea when acronyms first started showing up in written languages, but in today's fast-paced, take-no-prisoners lifestyle, they are everywhere. It began for me during university at, where else, BU. 

I started freshman year doing a program called FYSOP (First-Year Student Outreach Program). Then I started class in CAS (College of Arts & Sciences) before transferring to COM (College of Communication - yeah, I know the letters don't work out...). Then I started working in sports, and I had to calculate things like GAA (goals against average) and 3FG (3-point field goals). And the acronyms flowed from the athletes themselves. I had one women's lacrosse player who seemed to only speak in them - BGT (big game today), LGT (let's go Tigers), etc. Some student-athletes used them so they could swear without getting in trouble - FH (f***ing h***).

One day my old roommate from college emailed me a link to a website called FML (F*** My Life) where people post short bursts of experiences that were the worst things to happen to them that day, week, month, year... Some of them were funny enough to make me laugh out loud in a "dude, that really sucks, but I'm glad it wasn't me" way. Others were kinda sad/pathetic. But eventually I had to stop reading because some of them were just mean. So I was glad to find a story on pr.com yesterday about a new website called GMH started to counter FML. Givemehope.org is the same concept, but it is only for positive stories. Inspirational or grateful messages left by people who had random acts of goodness/kindness show up in their lives. I may add this to my daily troll through the Internet.

Another nice story I read came from the LA Times. It was more of an opinion piece, one more voice adding to the din surrounding the President and Mrs. Obama's "date night" in New York. But this woman took the angle that the Obamas were just doing a classed up version of what every American does or should do with his/her sweetheart - a night out in a dress or suit jacket with good food and quality entertainment. You don't have to do the Met or a restaurant you need to mortgage your house just to pay the bill, but dusting off your heels and opening the door for your lady isn't something you should neglect these days. My hat's off to the First Couple for making time for each other even while he's running the West. 

This past weekend was the anniversary of D-Day, or a large reason why the West is not speaking Russian/German. The Tennessean posted a story featuring a local WWII veteran and his connection to Normandy and its beaches. William Simpkins landed on Utah Beach June 6, 1944 and was one of the few members of his unit to survive the invasion. Simpkins has been back to Normandy six times since crashing the beaches and has a real connection to the French citizens and towns on the coast.

The sources and means of inspiration...

Every day in news articles I see the words "inspire" and "inspiration" used in myriad contexts. This is, well, inspiring (sorry) to me because it reminds me there are many different ways people can draw inspiration, from experiencing a different culture to seeing someone help an elderly person across a street. 

The ways you get inspired are different as well. For me personally when a creative inspiration strikes, it's usually like a lightning flash - the whole idea at once. Looking at recipes makes me wonder how I can tweak them to my specific tastes (and usually results in an continual trips to the kitchen), and inspiration for my writing usually comes over time as ideas and themes germinate. Each occurrence of inspiration brings its own excitement. 

Opening my Yahoo! this morning, the top story was how President Obama has inspired hope and positivity in the nation according to an AP poll. This story is a little more political than I like to be on this blog; in America, there seem to be fewer ways to head for unhappy thoughts than get into a political debate. But I liked the thought our citizens were a little more positive than they used to be, despite the economy.

WBNG News in Binghamton, N.Y. has a feature on its website about a triple-amputee patient who lost both legs and his right arm in a collision with a train and who travels around the country to inspire and give hope to recent amputees that life does go on. 

And monstersandcritics.com has a story about Queen Rania of Jordan finding inspiration for a speech in the philanthropy of a poor Jordanian girl who worked with her mother to turn homemade jam into a source of pride and income for a disadvantaged and poverty-stricken school. 

Photo credit: arttoheartweb.com