I really hope you somehow see this. I also really wish that I was quicker on my feet.

You were sitting next to me at Costello's Coffee house at 2pm. I was getting my brakes fixed and so therefor, I was stuck in a coffee house midday when I really needed and wanted to be at the office. That's right, asshole, I have a job. I don't have the liberty to sit with greasy long hair and pseudo-intellectual books all day in a coffee shop, I have bills to pay. So when I had to take a call, in regards to WORK and you butted in to ask me "where you come from, do you normally use your chatter box in coffee houses? You are rude, get off the phone."

First of all, I'm actually from Portland. Unlike you who came here to be amongst the hipsters. Second of all, I hadn't spoken more than 2 words and I was very quiet. So instead of asking you if you always butted into other peoples business, what I really should have done is spill my nice, hot coffee all over your crotch. It would have been worth the $5 that I spent. My patience is wearing thin today.

I'm going to Yoga. Peace.

My dog is pretty much always with me. He is like a son, I love him to death.

Lately, though, I seem to be out of town a lot. I've been back and forth to Seattle/Tacoma, I went back East for a couple of weeks- etc. etc. He's had enough. He let me know.

On Saturday, there was a misunderstanding with the person who was supposed to be watching him. The poor little guy was locked in the house for 24 hours. I felt helpless and freaked out a little bit, but he was fine, my neighboor broke into the house and took care of him.

Well, I get back from Washington and I have never seen his little butt move so fast. I don't think I've ever seen him that excited to see me. Oh, the love. It was wonderful... until I left again to go out to dinner.

I wasn't gone for more than an hour. As I pulled up to my house, I could see my curtains were ripped off my bedroom window. I run into the house and Nomar had somehow physically opened the door to my bedroom. He in turn rips off every hanging blind of the bay window, bends back the blinds and rips down the cloth curtains of the side window, swipes off the papers from my desk, throws the bedding off the bed and threw out every shoe from my closet.

As I look at the absolute chaos, I look over at Nomar. He looks at me with those big beautiful eyes and you can see the guilt. He is thinking, "Oh oh. I shouldn't have done that."

Moral of the story? Your dog will talk to you if you listen! :) He was pissed. So, I took him for a long walk and we're all good now. What a little shit, though.

The 5 year anniversary of 9/11 is here. It's hard to believe it has been 5 years. No matter what our political beliefs or our theories are of what transpired that day and since, the fact remains that 2,996 innocent souls were taken from us. I, along with 2,995 other people, have become involved with a project called the 2,996 Project. Each of us were assigned a victim of that horrible day to pay tribute. I was given Michael Haub. It would have been an honor to know him. My heart goes out to Erika, Michael, Kiersten, Helmut and the rest of his family and friends. Please feel our love and support on this tragic anniversary.



Michael Helmut Haub June 13, 1967 - September 11, 2001

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am the thousand winds that blow
I am the diamonds glints on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle Autumn rain
When you awaken in the morning, hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds' encircled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there. I did not die.

"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost." - Arthur Ashe

Michael Helmut Haub was a family man who loved to help people. He found the perfect career at just 21 when he became a member of the Roslyn Highland Fire Department in New York.

On January 25, 1990 firefighter Haub and company rushed to the scene of the Avianca Air Disaster, which crashed in Cove Neck, NY. He was part of the effort that helped save 85 of the 158 people on board.

Haub worked diligently and soon became Captain of the Roslyn Highland Fire Department. Craving the fast paced environment of the big city, Haub joined the New York City Fire Department on Aug. 8, 1999, eventually getting assigned to one of New York City's busiest houses: the 54 engine, ladder 4, 9th Battalion.

He liked helping people," his wife, Erika, said in a New York Times interview. "He was happy to be at such a busy house because he really wanted to be working all the time."

11 years, 7 months and 17 days after the Avianca Air crash, Haub would be called to another disaster. That beautiful and sunny Tuesday morning, when thousands of people were fleeing the burning towers, Haub was doing what he did best: helping people. He was one of 17 souls that perished from that company.

As his family was watching the horror unfold on television, Michael's youngest, who was 1, said Dada for the first time as she pointed to the picture. She had never said that before. His family, wife Erika, son Michael Andreas, now 9 and daughter Kiersten Edda, now 6, dubbed him "Our Hero" when he was alive. He is Americas hero as well.


To View Other Memorials:
2996 Project



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