Reflecting Absence / Wireless Revolution

A couple of things worth discussing today. First, the finalists for the World Trade Center 9/11 Memorial have been decided. You can view them here. Be sure to check out the full galleries for each proposal; they have different angles and model shots. I think each does an articulate job in evoking an emotional response toward the lost towers, but so far my favorite is Reflecting Absence, submitted by Michael Arad, a New Yorker. "A visitor to the site can sense that what is beyond this curtain of water and ribbon of names is inaccessible." Even in an architectural display, this design packs a very stiff punch to the gut when it comes to emotion. Some people were against the idea of naming each victim, but most of these designs do, and I believe this tradition is important to the families of those that were lost. A few of the proposals even include short pictorial biographies of each victim - a nice touch.

Failing Arad's proposal, my vote would also go to Suspending Memory or Memorial Cloud, both exquisite and poignant designs.

In other news, I'm a big gadget guy. I don't like building things, necessarily, but I sure like picking up some kind of new electronic toy to play with. The latest is a wireless router for the basement apartments of Wesley. Stephen hatched a plan to upgrade our network with this new, wonderful technology, and I bought one today at Best Buy. I can't stay in that place for too long or I'll walk out of there with $500 worth of stuff. As it stood today, I was hungry, so I wanted to get out of there relatively quickly and managed to salvage my bank account somewhat. I just got the router, a wireless card for my laptop, and some blank CD-R's. Now I'm just looking forward to installing the whole shebang and having it work right on the first try. This almost never happens, but it's fun to think it will, anyway. I'll keep you updated on the results.

The weather's beautiful and should stay that way all weekend, and next week I get a bunch of vacation days. Plus a few days at home with my parents and family. Could it really get any better? I think not. Ciao!