to piggyback on Ron Silliman's blog:
Saturday, November 22, 2003  
*It's strange what one remembers after nearly 40 years . . ..*


it is interesting how that image (the kennedy assasination) is burned into our collective memory.. maybe how 9.11 will be, but I am not sure.. you are right though (Ron), mass media changed that day... there was live broadcast on all the time.. even when there was nothing to say.. or at least that is what I remember. I was not 10 yet, could not wait to be 10, in one more month. but the one thing that struck me during that time was the silence... no one went to work, no one spoke, an air of mourning was ever present or it seemed it was. everything stopped for what seemed like days.. it may have been just the weekend.. my recollection is it was a Thursday when it was announced at school and we were let out early.. everything shut down the next days until the funnel ended. which for an almost 10 year old was years.. the days dragged on.. and though I was aware of the significance-.. the endless nothingness on the TV did not hold my attention.. I think I ended up building a sculpture out of wood in the garage. by the fourth or fifth day I had had enough.. I remember asking when things were going to get back to normal... I was informed, "things would never get back to normal..."

that was an interesting comment in view of the mass media coverage of 9.11... it seems like that was a resistance to get back to normal.. at least during Kennedy's coverage there was a sense of completion. the burial, the end. and little johnhohn (is that right?) saluting... 9.11. seemed to be on repeat... a time loop.. an image loop . . . a never ending story... I do not no, maybe it is my change perception, but the media today did not let dead air come into being. during the final march of the funnel procession all one heard at times was the sound of a horse hoofs... there was dead time, and boredom... all good stuff for reflection and sculpture making...

now, with split screens and multiple images.. no rest.. one must stay glued to the image for days to catch it all in its brilliant colors... so I guess my parents were right . . . things would never get back to normal...