A Day

Today was a good day. I felt lucky to be a part of it.

Part of the day involved my first tour of Ellis Island. I expected to learn a lot. I expected to enjoy myself. I did not expect to be so fully engrossed and was simply not prepared to be moved in so many ways.

Coincidentally I just finished watching all three discs of When The Levees Broke, Spike Lee's documentary about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. There are more similarities than I care to think about. There are also more similarities than I've had a chance to ponder.

In the middle of watching WtLB Aaron Sorkin's new show, The Newsroom, premiered. My synapses flickered and I realized I really wanted to watch just the very end of the Christmas episode of his previous show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Thankfully the internet made that pretty easy.

As you may remember, this episode was filmed shortly after Katrina and used musicians who had been displaced by her. Trombone Shorty represented all the New Orleans musicians with a soft-spoken guest spot who brought the fate of these folks to the attention of the main characters. Every time I watch it I get tears in my eyes.

I could go on about why I think all these things are related and why I think they're especially important right now but today I don't think I will. I'll just ask you to click, listen, and feel.