where were you?

Saw this meme over at ViVi's Dispatches from France this morning and figured now is as good a time as any to record these memories.

If any of you would like to play, let me know you're doing so in my comments, please.

And if you're American, in particular, also let me know where you were when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. I was watching live in my 4th grade class room, but about 30 seconds after it happened, the TV was shut off, and I don't remember discussing any more about it until the next day. I later did a spectacular book report on the "Heroes of the Challenger" (forget author), but, to be honest, the whole thing really did sort of crush my astronaut dreams (the price of Space Camp was also involved).

Now the meme:

1) Where were you when Armstrong first walked on the Moon?

My brother, who is six years older than me, wasn’t conceived yet, so I was less than a glimmer in anyone’s eye. But I’ve seen the footage many times. And it's real, dammit!

2) Where were you when you heard Princess Di had died?

I was moving into my dorm for my last year of college. One of the first things we had done was hook up the TV to see if the cable worked. At that point, they were only reporting that she had been in a car accident; I think they reported that she had died a few hours (if that) later, but I can’t say as though I remember that moment specifically. I never got the Princess Di thing, sorry.

3) Where were you on New Year’s Eve of 1999/2000?

I have no idea, and I'm pretty sure it's not because I was just that drunk. If I had my old journals with me, I could probably track me down, but apparently the whole Y2K thing really didn’t make much of a difference in my life. If anyone out there spent that New Year’s Eve with me, please let me know. Goodness that sounds pathetic, but really, New Year's Eve has never been a big deal for me--being single your whole life can do that, I suppose--so they all kinda blend.

4) Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001?

Oh, for this one, I got details.

I was at work on the 28th floor of a Philadelphia building with a great view of the airport and located a few blocks from City Hall, a little further from Independence Hall, the federal courthouse, and the Liberty Bell, but still within striking distance, so to speak.

I was doing my usual run through the Internet before settling into work when around 9 a.m., I saw on Msnbc.com that a plane had hit the WTC. I kept reloading the page for more info, thinking it was just a crazy accident, until news of the second plane came in through one of our secretaries who had been listening to the radio.

By that point, we knew it was a terrorist attack, and we all crowded around the radio for up to date news—the Internet pages were too overloaded with traffic to get more from there. I kept going back into my office to check anyway, and boy was it weird to see no planes, air traffic having been grounded.

Finally around 11.30 a.m., after we heard about the Pentagon and the crash in PA, our boss told us we could go home. I had to walk from Center City to my house (about a half hour on a normal day) because the traffic was wall to wall on the way home. I remember thinking “Just get me out of Center City” because at that point, no one knew if there were more planes heading for East Coast landmarks.

It took me about an hour to get home dodging in and out of cars. I still remember the suit I was wearing that day; even though it had been one of my favorites, I never wore it again.

My roommate got home just after I did, and we sat in front of the television the entire rest of that day—stopping only to be freaked out by very low-flying jets that speeded over our house, shaking it from top to bottom.

5) Where were you when you first heard about the big 2004 Tsunami?

Here in my house in Italy. I had just gotten into the habit of watching BBC World, so like any other day, I got up in the morning and turned on the news. What I saw was and still is indescribable.

6) Where were you when you first heard that Madonna would go on tour last year?

I guess I was here in Italy since I was here all last year, but I can’t say that I even knew she was going on tour—until she did that whole Crucifix thing in Rome, of course.