The Invisible Library

It is midnight in Manhattan and a line of mourners stretches all the way from 42nd Street to the foot of the Empire State Building. Each bears a single white candle before them. The glow haunts their sorrowful faces. And why shouldn’t it? For this grave looms over all others. Marble white and full of fear, the magnificent sarcophagus of the fallen Gorilla God stands four stories high and takes up two city blocks– a slab of cruel stone surrounded by a fence of wrought iron in the Art Deco style. Etched into the side of the tomb is a single word, so large, you can read it clearly all the way from the Brooklyn Bridge:

Beauty

On this night, wreaths of jungle flowers will be laid at the foot of the tomb. Snake skins draped over the iron fence, in triumph. Virgins in white will swoon against the wall until dawn. Donations are accepted. Vandals will break into the Museum of Natural History and in the morning, Dinosaur teeth will be found amidst the candle wax and other offerings.

Christian writes:

Baghdad - September 10, 2004

The third anniversary of September 11th is tomorrow.

What change three years has brought both for the good and for the bad! Both successes and mistakes.

It was three years ago that I decided to join the fight to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again. That fight is still very much underway and I am now in the middle of it.

I’ve been back in Baghdad now for just over a week. I returned from Greece safe and sound. Having gone on my first R&R leave, I came back extremely refreshed and with a new burst of energy to come back into the game here in Iraq. My role is now changing. I am taking more financial duties and will be helping to track the finances of our ongoing projects. New tasks, new responsibilities. I am very excited. However, I am still doing some PR work and I include this link to highlight a piece I wrote on the Transportation/Communications Sector for the PCO website.

Read the rest.