Everything either happens, doesn't happen or gets rescheduled...

Of all those shoots I mentioned in the "Politics..." entry below, two actually happened.

Lexia and Sarah.

I rescheduled Natsuko due to the fact that my Ace hair stylist, Luis, was otherwise pre-occupied and I want him there.

Natalie just stayed in Los Angeles. And didn’t bother to tell me.

Hey 50% ain't bad.

For Natsuko, I've booked this studio on Grand Street. I don’t usually do studio shoots, as I think real places have much more character and, well, realness, than a random white cyc has.

But it’s a challenge, and I think Natsuko’s energy and her wardrobe are perfect for it. We’ll see…Plus, shhhhh, it's a "fashion" shoot.

This studio is the same one that Rich and I shot in last Thanksgiving with Raleesha and Naomi. It’s a block from where I lived for 13 years. Right above Mohammed's Diner, which is formally known as The Landmark, a place that I ate breakfast in for, well, 13 years. Mohammed, the owner, is the sweetest man to walk the planet. If I missed a couple of days (you know, because I can cook for myself) he'd say, in a very concerned tone "Where have you been? Are you all right?"

On September 11th, 2001, right after my sister called me from Austin and said "look out your window" and after I ran to the roof to really see the shit 20 blocks away, blowing up, I woke up in the Landmark Diner, asking Mohammed for a large coffee (what the fuck?) and he said to me with REAL terror in his eyes, "They just said something about The Pentagon." I took the coffee, and I said, I'll be back.

I walked (and sipped my coffee apparently on the way) across Grand Street to West Broadway. Six blocks, straight shot - the towers right in the middle of the street. There was only one visible, but I hadn’t yet figured out what had happened to the other one. The gigantic dust cloud rolling up West Broadway would have been a clue, but at that point, I didn’t get it. None of us standing there did.

I stood there for about 10 minutes, saw a bunch of stuff that is really hard to describe, and then ran back to The Landmark. I don’t remember for the life of me what I said to Mohammed for an update, but if pressed, it was something like this.

I have to go home and you should too.

Mohammed is from Egypt. Mohammed lives in Brooklyn and has the cutest little boys that you have ever seen.

I was scared for him then. I still am.

I hate anniversaries of tragedies. Especially when politics with a capitol “P” are involved.

This one in particular, as I wasn’t around to witness Pearl Fucking Harbor.

I love the old neighborhood and Sunday’s shoot with Natsuko will involve an attempt to produce an image I’ve woken up with in my mind for the last four days.

Her naked, with her mother’s antique Japanese sun umbrella.

And the best thing about the shoot is this: I get to go into the city and get a coffee from Mohammed, say "Hi, my friend," and then quietly and calmly, get to work. And attempt to create something that I hope is beautiful and transcendent and artful.

The rotting boat is in Chile. It's been there for almost 100 years.
It could be your country. Draw your own conclusions.