Where Is "Where I Fell"?

In the words of Alan Jackson, “Where were you when the world stopped turning?”.

OK; So I don’t really know if it ever has. (In an aim to make my life seem more worth-living to me, I have often spent the day simply trying to find a way/reason to be moving somewhere, in a vehicle or on foot.) However, I didn’t want the first sentence of this blog to be as upsetting as my real starting question might be…

“Where were you on the morning of ’9-11′?”

Growing up (as some may claim I am still doing), I heard a ton of people say there were moments of history during their lives that everyone in the country would remember where they were: The JFK assassination (about Negative-Twenty Years Old) was the big one, but the first I recall happening in my lifetime was “9-11″. Yes, I remember precisely where I was when the 2nd plane hit: I was sitting in a chair in my original home, getting mad at Matt Lauer. It was nothing personal, nor did it have anything to do with what he was saying, doing, or wearing; I had started a very-regular routine of waking at the same time, checking my blood-sugar, & watching “Judge Mathis”. I turned-on the channel, & it was Matt, continuing the “Today Show” due to the (apparently) “shocking events…”.

Twenty years later (doesn’t seem that long to me), I don’t recall what Matt said verbatim, nor many other major details. I do recall, however, what I continue to call “My One Good Thing To Come Out Of ’9-11′”…Or rather, “who”. Due to filming at that time in the New York area, Conan O’Brien had a lot of bands coming on & performing optimistic tunes. One night, he brought out a group I had never heard of (he did that a lot, & still does) called “Fountains Of Wayne”. They performed what I later learned was a Kinks cover they had recorded before called, “Better Things”.

Lyric-wise, the song sounded to me like it belonged in a Disney film. (Covered in sugar, it seemed, as it was from “Mary Poppins”, long my sister’s favorite Disney flick.) But I liked something I still can’t specify about the group’s sound. I went soon to the local secondhand-disc store, & bought the only FOW disc I found. Over the next few years, they became one of my favorite groups. (I will always claim this was before they hit it big on the radio with “Stacy’s Mom”, or they were nominated for a Grammy for “Best New Artist”… For their THIRD ALBUM?!)

I’m (again) not sure why or how, but being a fan of theirs eventually led me to a song called, “Fountains Of Wayne Hotline”. It was performed by a singer-songwriter named Robbie Fulks. If you can find it, I suggest you get it. It’s a hilarious song I’m shocked he ever actually recorded (on no albums I can find, nor available anywhere in “MP3″ format.), as written by a wannabe artist who has trouble writing songs, so he calls the “Hotline” & talks to a few employees (none of them sharing names with actual FOW group members) who give him tips, ideas, etc…

Anyhow, I was watching TV last week, trying to transfer files from my still-problematic PC to 1 of a few external hard-drives (if not remove them permanently) before sending it off again to the local “Geek Squad”. (“Once more unto the geeks, my friends!” says a voice in my head that prefers mocking Shakespeare to the anger this often fills me with.) The show had a few live performances of other songs by Robbie, which I watched. Afterward, I looked for versions of those same songs in my Windows Media Player library. One of them is a song called, “Where I Fell”. Both verses end with him referring to a specific spot (different in 1 verse than the other) “…Where I Fell”.

The songwriter in myself (who has spent much, but not all of the past dozen years silent) wondered if one (or maybe both) of those places (as well as a few other places/things) he refers to in the song truly exist in his case. Unsure about him, but knowing I myself have fallen more than my share of places over the years, I decided I would spend 1 day this week heading to one of them, standing on/in it (the chosen spot was a pothole at the time of the fall, which is the reason I think I fell on/near there), & proclaiming (like Robbie in the song), “Now I dwell where I fell”.

I mentioned it to Mom briefly last night, being rather vague on purpose. (Mom has no mask, costume, or comic book, but I have long thought-&-said she feels great when she knows of someone who needs her help at any time; In fact, I am borrowing her PC right now while she is out-of-town, taking an Aunt to Cleveland Clinic.) She woke me this afternoon right before she left, & seconds after she left, I grabbed my necessary items (& a few “perhaps-I’ll-need/use” things), & headed out.

Side-note: I was ready to discuss my plan with anyone, since my destination was not indoors, which may lead/have led to questions. Also, I kept a “running log” on my Twitter account, going as far as to invite people to come & ask questions while I was having Lunch near my planned destination.

I left this building wearing the following “outfit”:

Usual wristwatch

Shoes ordered by my podiatrist about a year ago

Dark jeans (still including an especially-dark spot caused by the Banana Cream Pie Blizzard I had while my nephew celebrated his team’s local Athletic Club Championship yesterday)

The black shirt I bought covered in shoes, themselves covered in a phrase regarding, “Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes.” (Needless to say, the whole saying is more humor than true suggestion, & I credit the late Mitch Hedberg as the first reason I heard it.)

Monkees sweatjacket I bought under a month ago (Largely b/c Mom had warned of predicted storms, another one of the reasons I originally fell in this spot)

—————

Long story short, I stopped at the local Taco Bell at the Mall’s Food Court (same menu, but I think a bit more cost, than the one up the block). I then walked through a bunch of the Mall, cutting through the JCPenney the way I had that original fall (for me; Summer for all others) day, & out the exit. I literally pointed with my index finger at the end of my fully-outstretched arm to the light-pole I recalled (perhaps incorrectly) falling near on that day. (I realize now I have not named/mentioned it. If you need to know, I can 95%-promise you it was June 19, 2007.)

I stopped within walking distance of the store I had just left & the local movie theatre I haven’t visited in I-literally-don’t-know-how-long. (I quietly debated amongst myself further steps, remembering I was headed from-movie-to-Mall the day of the fall… Did not mean for that to rhyme, I promise.) I then decided that specific didn’t matter, largely because repeating that detail would require me to cross a two-lane roadway of sorts between Mall parking & that of the nearby theater & “Expo Center”. (I specifically also recalled I believe myself to have tripped because I was looking at/for traffic on/in those lanes, & not paying attention to what awaited once I had crossed it.)

Finally, I shrugged, grumbled & mumbled a bit to myself, & started writing my own 3rd verse to the song, wondering “WTH?” (full words; Editing myself for content) happened to the pothole &/or rest of the area where I recall myself to have fallen. [Watching too much "NCIS: Los Angeles" makes me wonder who to call about them maybe still having the traffic/other surveillance tapes to prove what the reason(s) was/were I fell that day, & why it isn't/they aren't still there...I also laughed at the local Congressman I've longed disliked, with whom I share a first name & who I believe my Dad knows personally, perhaps causing me this issue/problem by actually (I believe) doing his job in this case/area.]