9/11 Thoughts

I have an interesting mix of thoughts in my head this morning:

First, it is September 11th ... or 9/11 as we Americans often call it these days. This is the anniversary of the date when the World Trade Center towers were attacked and brought to the ground by terrorists. A lot of people died that day, and the death toll continued to climb through the tragedies of the first responders, the crash of Flight 93, the attack on the Pentagon, then through the wars that have been tied back to this event. As an American, I can't help but think back to that day, what I was doing (working at the state of Wisconsin), and all the emotions that steamrolled through my day, leaving me numb and in shock.

Second, I find it slightly ironic that today I saw the announcement on Facebook regarding the Blog Action Day for 2012. The topic is going to be The Power of We, and though I will join the international blogging community with a post about that specific topic on October 15th, I wanted to mention it today because it ties in to my memories of 9/11.

There are a lot of horrific moments associated with this date in 2001. The scales falling from our eyes that someone hated America and Americans enough to do this to us. It was shocking! The days that followed saw a lot of "us versus them" type talk, but I also remember some amazing and powerful reactions worldwide. Everyone, other than the terrorists themselves, stood with us that day. The entire world reacted as an American and people let us know that they felt our pain, they shared our sorrow and grief. The international community reached out in support and caring, wanting to help. Truly, the power of WE was evident world-wide.

I so wish we could have harnessed that moment somehow. I think we could have transformed the world. Out of an unbelievable tragedy was made visible a connectedness that many average citizens had never felt or seen before. As a global community, we cried together and held space for one another to express pain. It was one of the most powerful things I can ever remember.

As we continue to move forward and slowly heal from that day in infamy, I would never want to forget that we can all come together in unity. As horrible as that day was, I would like to think that we will all look back one day and remember, not just the days of pain, but that the pain brought us together in a way that had never before been experienced to that degree - and gave birth to the possibility of a new way of looking at the world. I dream that we might see it as the beginning of our global awakening in unity.

As John Lennon once famously said, "I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one."

Geek Squeal

So, switching back to tech-type geekolisciousness for a moment ... I have been hearing rumors that US Cellular is finally thinking about moving in the iPhone direction. Apple is supposed to be working on an LTE version of the phone and once they do, US Cellular is rumored to be "interested." I have to say, that I think that would be a total WIN. I love US Cellular connectivity and customer service. In my part of the world (Wisconsin), they are far and away the most stable carrier with the best coverage. Add to that one of the most coveted phones in the US, and it just sounds amazing.

The only possible hesitation is that they have to get the LTE iPhone connectivity right. A great phone on a geat network won't get you very far if they don't play together nice.

So, I am crossing my fingers (and saving my pennies!)

w00t!