#jon paula

[lilbritches]

A vlog about my channel and such :)

[robscallon]

A Vlog from VidCon featuring some of my favorite youtubers/people :)

[nanythegreat]

Zimmerman's "Not Guilty" Verdict (by Jon)

Well said Jon. Well said.

[himborc]

I like your pointed shoes, where'd you pick those up? The store for idiot-faces?

Jon Paula

[milimiki]

5:03 PM EST

Jon Paula was at Rockefeller Center this afternoon. I could've met him! Agh!

[anorie-blog]

Absolutely incredible...

[milimiki]

I had a feeling this was the case.

[nickgreyden]

Another 9/11 Story

Today, every form of media avaible in America will be going over 9/11 with it being the 10 year anniversary. I'm surprised to find myself surrounded by my online friends and so many not understanding the gravity of the moment. Many are only in their mid twenties or younger and unable to fully grasp what 9/11 means and meant to a vast number in the nation, and still more are overseas in another country and don't get what the big deal is. So today, as I recount my experience, I only hope that you can try to empathize in the way my generation attempts to empathize with the retelling of the JFK assassination. It isn't the same to me because I wasn't there and I am not emotionally involved with the story of JFK, yet with this one I am.

I don't recall the morning. I don't know what was going on at the time. For some reason I was in my golden Nissian 200SX, with my daughter born in Janurary that year, and her mother (my girlfriend at the time), and we were at her father's house. We talked about something for a bit and then I went outside, buckled my daughter in and sat in the driver's seat waiting on my girlfriend to finish her talk with her father and join us to leave. Becoming bored, I turned on the radio to my local station and national news was on. I wasn't really paying that close of attention to it, just wanted something to listen to. Then they recapped. A plane had flown into one of the twin towers in New York.

My first reaction was kind of whimsical. I was curious how some dumb pilot could fly his plane into something so huge! There was talk about fire and smoke but at the time I was thinking it was a little Cessna plane so didn't pay much attention. The girlfriend came out, and I told her father what had happened. He shook his head and muttered "So crazy people.." and then, saying our farewells, we left.

I kept the radio on and after we were halfway home on our trip across my small town, the news finally reported it was not a little Cessna as I had thought, but a giant 757. Suddenly it wasn't funny anymore as my mind eye took in a different image. As we pulled into my driveway the second plane hit. I jumped out of the car, leaving my girlfriend to unhook my daughter and bring her inside. Having no TV, I turned on the radio in our apartment. I listened in horror for a while and knew that we, the United States of America was under attack. I was full of fear! What happens now? Is the dam or the nuclear power planet near my home also a target? I was in shock. This continued until I heard my neighbor stirring around. I knocked on his door, and he invited me in and together we watched on his TV the footage of the disaster and I caught my first glimpses of what the impact looked like. I was appalled. We watched as footage of the pentagon came up. My fear and confusion grew. We watched the footage of the downed plane in that lonely field. I called my mother up and spoke to her, irrationally fearing it may be the last time I would get to talk to her. Then the towers, and my heart, fell.

The day wore on with talks from Bush and Giuliani about the attacks. I continued to see footage of people running from the dust cloud. I saw news anchor Peter Jennings, like many of the rest of the nation, lose his composure. I heard story after story about those that were trapped and died. I heard stories about the heroic firefighters, officers, and even engineers doing everything they could to save lives. But all this is history and can be learned from books, at least the interesting parts. But what history can't convey, what it can't teach, is the emotions the country, and each person, felt at the time.

The one surprising yet beautiful thing happened in the aftermath. This large nation, came together as one. Donations to the NYPD and NYFD flooded in. The Red Cross actually had to turn away people who wanted to give blood because they had no where to store it. As Jonny Paula put it the country felt, if only for a while, as a small town again. There was a feeling of togetherness as the country shared in both pain and patriotism. This attack would not stop us. We would not cower in fear. We would ban together as a nation and become more galvanized.

History can teach the time, but it cannot teach the emotional connection to people at the time. I've said for quite some time that this was the JFK moment of a generation. Everyone (at least those 18 and up) are aware of where they were, what they were doing, and how they felt in the aftermath of the event. If you are too young to be emotionally involved in this event or even in a different country, I ask only that you bear with all the media coverage coming from the US today. Your scars may be many, but ours is no less real or painful.

Jonny Paula's Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jwdI79_ANM&list=SL&hd=1