It was lovely to have the Buffistas during that time. During all times, really.

For me, the support I got from you guys when my dad was dying and I was spending all day at the ICU and was trying to support my mom and was away from friends was life-saving. And a couple of years later when my mom was going through chemo so many of you helped in so many generous ways which I will never forget. It made going through both of those difficult things easier in really profound ways and I feel so lucky to be a part of this community.

The chorus and symphony have performances this weekend, and half of the concert is John Adams' "On the Transmigration of Souls," which was commissioned by the NY Philharmonic. It's pretty difficult, technically, and that's very good, because it means I have to concentrate on counting and coming in at the right time, rather than paying attention to the text, which is mostly taken from statements of people who lost someone at the World Trade Center. It's a good piece, but I can't imagine listening to it on a casual basis.

I was at the premiere of this piece at Lincoln Center. It was a bit of a fluke, no one knew then it would win the Pulitzer and I generally dislike modern pieces. So I was there for whatever else they were playing (googling tells me it was Beethoven's 9th), but hearing that piece is seared in my brain. So very moving. And I do remember thinking that it would not be easy to perform, so kudos.

The aftermath of that day was the basis for our becoming a community

I know that this is Buffista History Canon by now, but I've never really felt that way. The reason I thought to check in (from my honeymoon) in the first place was that we already were a community. I think in my mind we became a community after TT went pay and we were all alone (relatively) in the wilds of WX.

I remember reports of a plane in or around Detroit, which had me worried about friends and family back there.

I also remember MiracleMan woke me. THere's a whole story to that, but I'm making breakfast, so it will have to wait for a few.

I was doing Microsoft Word tech support at the time, and I remember the phone call I got from Midtown Manhattan in the middle of all that. He was determined to get his document formatted even though there was an evacuation order in place. "Sir," I said, "shouldn't you be leaving?" "This damn thing's due, and I'm not leaving until it's right!"

I figured his bosses would have given him some leeway on the thing, all things considered, but everybody copes in their own way, so I helped him get his document fixed. He was much calmer once he had that under control.

Oh, Jessica got there first.

The aftermath of that day was the basis for our becoming a community, and so in my head everybody who is part of the community was there that day, even people I know weren't.

We were a community earlier. We were a different community afterwards, but I'd have still bolted for Allyson's couch or hung out with bon and shrift and Theresa for no better reason than they were us and reasonably close by.

It was a transformative event, yes, but not one transforming from not!community to community.

I know that this is Buffista History Canon by now, but I've never really felt that way. The reason I thought to check in (from my honeymoon) in the first place was that we already were a community.

Yeah, I think we were well into that place by 9-11, and thank goodness for that.

Five years ago I called in sick to work and was thinking about not turning on the tv or getting online when I decided just to flip on the tv. The tv was on USA and I saw a partially fallen tower and another burning and thought "What kind of crappy disaster movie are they showing?" And flipped the channels and saw it was real and everywhere.

Grandma E called me at one point and asked if I would go over there with her and I did. We sat there and talked and watched the news.

I remember hearing that a car bomb had gone off at the Pentagon as well as other rumors.

I know that this is Buffista History Canon by now, but I've never really felt that way. The reason I thought to check in (from my honeymoon) in the first place was that we already were a community. I think in my mind we became a community after TT went pay and we were all alone (relatively) in the wilds of WX.

I don't know -- I do recall a sense of collective when we transferred to WX (there were huge BCC email lists, as we worked out how to track everybody down), but there were other former TT groups on WX, that I kept up with even up till September of that year, that I lost touch with afterwards. I used to hang around in TTTV, for example, and I lurked a lot more places. During that summer, I'd felt like B.org was a special subset of the TT diaspora; after September I felt like we were a community distinct from TT.

Maybe that's a natural function of diasporas, as the cross-connections lose touch; but it seemed to happen so quickly (especially as the board-building got underway in earnest).

It was a transformative event, yes, but not one transforming from not!community to community.

Thanks, ita. That was what I was trying to say in my former post, but couldn't phrase it quite well.

It's like the Escher painting, of the hands drawing themselves - we were a community before, and the fact that we already felt cose enough and comfortable enough made us turn to each other in a difficult time, which in turn changed the sort of connection we've had into something different, and so forth, in a circle that keeps changing and growing.