it was more than vaugely strange to be in new york yesterday. all morning the ceremony with children reading the names of the people who died, including their parents and other family members was on. we went down to ground zero later that afternoon and there were people everywhere.

a big bone of contention right now is that some victim's families are protesting the fact that 100% of the footprints of each tower are not being left empty, right down to the bedrock.. people are wearing shirts that say things like "don't build on my sister's grave." i think they're going a bit overboard.

seeing is a shock. its a big hole in the ground- there are 7 stories of what looks like parking garage underneath the streets around it. sliced right through like a cross-section. new york is practically hollow underneath, you know. subways everywhere, sometimes 150 feet down, plus basements and parking and goodness knows what.

inside the hole there is tons of construction equipment, plus some temporary buildings... around it is a big metal fence, with pictures and history of the twin towers. many of the buildings around the block are being torn down or reconstructed, because they were damaged by debris. the metal sculpture that was in the courtyard of the complex is down by where ferrys leave for the statue of liberty. its all bent and has holes right through the 3 inch thick metal.

there was a carnival in little italy last night. clowns, dunk tanks, cheap toys, food... what a contrast.