Stephanie Booth's online ramblings
In addition to the page of thoughts I put together a few days ago, here is another one, collecting entries of longer thinking posts together. These two pages are not complete yet, as I still have to make my way through a few months of archives. Keep checking them during the next days.
The India index page has been updated, and all the posts pertaining to my recent six-week holiday there can be found on one page. I’ve also started sorting out book posts.
Starting my journey at the fray, I’ve been reading through accounts written by those who were there on September 11. I’m a bit late, maybe—but that’s understandable, given where I was at the time.
The web offers us something the mainstream press cannot: collections of personal stories. Voices of those who saw things happen with their own eyes. People who do not write for newspapers, or tour the world to cover stories, but who for one event turn into instant reporters. If the Internet is also about connecting people and bringing to your eyes what the other media cannot, this is your chance to see it in action.
I won’t link to everything. There are hundreds of pages out there. Here are some I have read, and appreciated.
I have all these other ideas, I’m going to write about something other than those fucking terrorists and what they’ve caused. And then, tonight, the smell came back. That burning plastic, electrical, city on fire smell. You know all those clichés about how the smell is the sense most closely linked to memory? They’re true.
Had I taken the late train, or gotten a bite to eat, I would have been 5 minutes late and walking over the crosswalk. Had that happened, I would have been caught under a rain of fire and debris, I wouldn.t be here talking to you. I.d be dead.
Some say, why don’t the Afghans rise up and overthrow the Taliban? The answer is, they’re starved, exhausted, hurt, incapacitated, suffering. A few years ago, the United Nations estimated that there are 500,000 disabled orphans in Afghanistan–a country with no economy, no food.
My doctor may be among those killed on 11 September. I’ve tried three times to reach him, and all I get is the same eerily calm voice mail loop.
A little more general than the Urban Legends Reference, purportal.com is a great place to stop by before you forward your next email.
Their main page contains handy search boxes to search the above-mentioned Urban Legends Reference Pages, the Symantec Virus Encyclopedia and a couple of others. They also provide a handy list of links to reference sites—long enough to be complete, short enough to avoid being overwhelming. It definitely looks like a great starting-point for figuring out if information is good or bad.
Rebecca’s pocket has many interesting links and comments about the present situation.
Compiled for you, the thoughts presented in this weblog. Enjoy in bilingual, English or French versions of the page. Admire the source code if you feel so inclined.
More to come.
I was lucky enough to make it into a movie theatre once during my six weeks in India. I went to see Dil Chahta Hai, and I’ve been listening to the music for the last two or three days. My favorites:
The others are good too, of course. But one has to start somewhere… Happy listening!
Paris, 15h03: un belge a écrasé son delta-plane contre la Tour Eiffel; l’attentat a fait un mort.
Dépêche volée sur #suisse DALnet – merci Arzatoth!
God Angrily Clarifies ‘Don’t Kill’ Rule
Like Ben, I’m not usually one to repost what has already been reposted—but this one is really too good, and a breath of fresh air in the present seriousness.
During my absence, the building opposite my balcony was pulled down. I now have a nice view on the mountains from my living-room (I can see them now as I type). Maybe I should complain when they try to build something there, and keep my new view?