The Finest China in the Cabinet - The Dish.

I stole this from the Marquis. I don't usually do these things, but I like this kind of retrospective groove.

Where were you:

1. When John F. Kennedy was shot (11/22/1963)- I was a twinkle in my father's eye. But if memory serves, my Mom was out for a walk with my older brother (born that February) in my hometown. I think she saw the news on a TV in the window of a store. Or I could completely be making that up.

2. When Mt. St. Helens blew (5/18/1980)-I don't remember so well. That was the month my maternal and paternal grandfathers both died. Shortly thereafter we moved across town into my maternal grandfather's old house. I was in junior high.

3. When the space shuttle Challenger exploded (1/28/1986)- I remember this vividly. I was between classes at college, and had just lay down for a quick nap. The guys in the room next door were watching TV and starting making a buzz about something. I got up and watched it over and over.

4. When the 7.1 earthquake hit San Francisco (10/7/1989)- I was doing what a lot of Americans were doing that night: watching the beginning of the World Series on TV in my Mom's house in M*ld*n. I was stunned. I had just been out there to visit some friends of mine, and was thinking of moving there myself. It wasn't the only thing that made me change my mind, or even a very important factor, but it did come into consideration.

5. When the Gulf War began (1/16/1991)- I was on my way to band rehearsal when I heard. We watched a lot of the TV coverage in the living room of the singer's parent's house, where we rehearsed. I went home that night (I was living in S*m*rv*ll*) and argued with my roomate's girlfriend about war protesters. She thought that "kind of stuff" was for hippies, and not "appropriate" for our generation.

6. When OJ Simpson was chased in his White Bronco (6/17/1994)- Interestingly enough, if memory serves, I was again at rehearsal, going out to the living room every so often to check on the coverage. I was never very interested in the whole OJ phenomenon - just another sad domestic violence case.

7. When the building in Oklahoma City was bombed (4/19/1995)- I was at work. I worked in a print shop, doing pre-press work, and my one coworker in the department was out that day. I listened to the coverage on the radio, but didn't really understand the significance of what I was hearing at the time.

8. When Princess Di was killed (8/31/1997)- I remember my father-in-law telling the missus and me when he showed up with the moving truck to get us from our two separate apartments into our one happy abode. But I am not sure if we had already seen it on the news the night before. We were a little preoccupied. I remember my in-laws being very sad, but at the same time I remember thinking, "Gee, if I were Irish, a little bit of me would smile anytime the British Royal Family got what for." Terrible, I know.

9. When Bush was first announced President (11/7/2000)- I didn't accept this until the Supreme Court decision came down. I still don't. But in all honesty, Al Gore lost the election more than Bush won it.

10. When the 6.8 earthquake hit Nisqually, WA (2/28/2001)- Uhm...uh...hmm. That's my brother's birthday, maybe I was hanging out with him?

11. When terrorists knocked over the World Trade Center (9/11/2001)- Terrorists knocked over the WOrld Trade Center!? Sorry, not funny, I know. I was sitting at work, when someone in the office came around the corner and said, "My husband just called and said a plane flew into the World Trade Center." All the big shots in the office were at a retreat, so we got out our radios and I started watching the streaming video from BBC. I remember watching the first tower fall, and my mind couldn't really process it. As more information came in, and it was confrimed that Islamic extremists were responsible for the attack, I began to think in terms of long term military action in the Middle East. Empire, occupation, and decline, just like Britain. Look what happened to them in Afghanistan.