9/11 Memorial Visit

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Ben

A few weeks ago the wife and I made a trip to the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. It is beautiful. Simple. Just as it should be. I look forward to seeing it when everything is completed. Oddly, it was not a very emotional experience for me though. I thought I would be affected by my visit more than I was. The memorial was not crowded when we arrived and everyone there was well behaved. However the process to get in affected my experience. It took us over an hour of winding lines and security to get in. While necessary it certainly detracted from the experience. Of course, I made my way right to Welles Crowther’s name. Hopefully you will enjoy a few of the pictures.

The pool representing the South Tower and new construction at the World Trade Center

Boston College graduate Welles Crowther's name at the 9/11 memorial with new construction in the background

Steve Jobs, 1955 – 2011

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Ben

I never met Steve Jobs but as an Apple employee I think I have a stronger connection to him and the company he created than most. His death was a terrible blow to the world. Some may be thinking he was just a CEO of a technology company but he was the creator and CEO of one of the most amazing companies in the world. Working at Apple has been an incredibly important part of my life and one that has given me many opportunities I never imagined I would have. It was not an easy decision for me leave my job as an assistant district attorney to work at Apple but it is a decision I have never regretted.

I have witnessed the way Steve, and by extension, Apple has positively impacted lives in more ways than I can remember. Personally, I have seen the way an Apple device can help those with disabilities function as if that disability was nonexistent. I have seen how it affects an autistic child’s ability to communicate. I have even played a major roll in helping a dying father communicate with his young children via FaceTime when he was too sick for them to visit in the hospital. I have seen Apple products affect businesses in ways they never thought possible from productivity, innovation, profitability, and employee morale.

This all happened because Steve Jobs created an amazing company with an amazing culture that creates impactful but simple products and services with people who truly and enrich lives.

Steve, thank you for the opportunity to be a part of it all. You will be missed but not forgotten.

Goodbye to Terry Francona

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Ben

For the thousands of readers who have been anxiously waiting for my take on the Red Sox not renewing Manager Terry Francona’s contract/firing him, here you go:

In order to gain some insight into my opinions on this subject I feel it is necessary to retrace the journey I took in becoming a Red Sox fan. I did not come from a baseball household. I am from a football family. Growing up in the Midwest will do that to you. Nevertheless in the early nineties I remember watching Sportscenter on ESPN for about three hours every day in the summers (rather Sportscenter was on TV while I played with my little brothers). I would watch the morning replays of the previous night’s Chicago White Sox games too. In fact, I became quite the White Sox fan. I remember going to the game at was then new Comisky Park and seeing Frank Thomas hit his fourth career home run. Then getting caught in a traffic jam at about one a.m.

Right around 1994 baseball was something I really enjoyed. Then the strike happened and I promptly forgot about baseball for the next six years. I did not care for it through junior high and high school. I would watch the World Series though. I remember getting very excited about the Florida Marlins winning the World Series with Livan Hernandez playing out of his mind. But I did not really care.

Shortly thereafter I started applying to colleges and settled on coming out to Boston. The summer before my freshman year at school I worked at Panera Bread. Glamorous, I know. Typically I opened the store and would have my break around 10 a.m. I found myself having a coffee (with honey and an employee-discounted pastry) and reading the newspaper. Of course, I read the sports section. Slowly but surely I began to really comb over the previous night’s baseball box scores. I really started to pay attention to the Red Sox. I mean, I was about to spend the next four (now twelve) years of my life in the city. During my first week of freshman year I made the trip to Kenmore Square and to Fenway. I had been to Wrigley, new Comisky, old Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and the Metrodome but Fenway was different. I loved it. Thus began my courtship with the Red Sox.

Throughout college I watched the Sox on TV and went to games. I bought my first Red Sox hat and t-shirt. Heck I even made a few hour-long trips to a sports bar in Dublin from Maynooth, Ireland to watch the Red Sox play. But it was not until later in my fandom that I really became a Red Sox fan.

I cannot lay claim to being a lifelong tortured Red Sox fan. I did not grow up with the heartache that many of my generation and many more before us have had to live with. Rather, my first taste of real Red Sox pain came the 2003 ALCS when Aaron “bleeping” Boon hit a series winning home run off of Tim Wakefield to win the series for the hated Yankees in game seven. Grady Little made some mistakes but still if Pedro Martinez says he can pitch i still say you let the man pitch. Man, that hurt. I was at a bar in Brighton watching the game with my college roommates and my girlfriend (now wife and fellow Sox fan). When that happened, I put my beer down, slapped my Sox hat in my hand and left the bar. The wife followed and we went home.

That is when I really realized what every other Sox fan has always gone through. That night and over the following days it felt as if the last eighty years of Red Sox fandom was resting on my shoulders. It sucked. Fortunately for me I hung around Boston after college. I was in law school during the 2004 playoffs. When the Yankees went up 3-0 against Boston I took a solemn vow not to shave until the Sox season was over. I did not shave for a while. As we all know, the Red Sox came back from three games down against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS and swept the Cardinals en route to winning the World Series. I watched the parade down Boylston Street. Incredible. I actually watched the final game of the World Series at a bar near the Fleetcenter with a group of firefighters from Gloucester. I had never met them before. I have not seen them since. Go figure. I had some event I could not get out of at law school that ran right up to the start of the game and all the bars I knew people at were at capacity. I ended up finding and watching it with a bunch of firefighters. It was wonderful.

The Sox won the Series and the lives of millions of people changed. The impact of that win was incredible. Reading the “Win it for…” thread on the SoSH forums was an immensely emotional experience. If you have not, I suggest you read some of it. It is powerful stuff. The father who clung to life just long enough to see the Sox win, the grandmother who died days away from seeing it, and the proud parents waking up their three-year-old to see history in the making. Amazing. Here are Bill Simmons’ thoughts on the thread along with a choice selection of posts.

That is why it is with no small amount of sorrow I bid farewell to the Terry Francona era in Boston. He was one of the few remaining pieces in that memorable 2004 season. That year, “team” really meant team. One could tell the chemistry and friendship amongst the players was genuine and played a huge roll in the win. I mean could any of us really believe any recent Sox team would do shots of Jack Daniels together before a game anymore? Not me. The last two years were rough. I do not think it was all Tito’s fault though. If we could fire the players that would be great. Or maybe get some of their salary back. The players on recent Sox teams have been sipped and selfish and that is on the team management. Hopefully someone new can figure out how to make these guys a real team. My only fear is that it is too late. Only time will tell.

It is a sad day whenever one of the originals leaves the Red Sox. Now their leader is gone. The manager who helped bring two World Series wins to suffering New England is gone. It’s too bad. I wish I had gone out with a home run like Ted Williams. Instead, he had managed a boring group of underachievers to the worst September collapse ever. Nonetheless, more people will remember the great things Terry Francona helped the Red Sox achieve and not the way his managing career ended.

I look forward to next season, as always. But I will miss Tito. Thank you and best of luck in the future. Red Sox Nation will not forget all that you have done and will always be happy to see you. Wait ’til next year.

Remembering September 11, 2001

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Ben

The following is a repost from an entry I made on September 11, 2006. This was five years after the attacks on the World Trade Center Towers in New York City.

I do not talk about September 11, 2001 very often. But since today is the fifth anniversary of that tragic day I just want to say a few things. I remember 9.11 like it was yesterday. I was a sophomore at Boston College when I found out about what happened. I woke up to get ready for a philosophy class, Romanticism and Idealism, when I received an instant message from my friend, Ian Cain, telling me to turn on the TV. He said, and I believe this is a direct quote, “New York is blowing up!” When I turned on the TV I saw nothing but a light-gray smoke billowing from the upper portion of one of the towers. My first thought was, “Goodness, another bombing.” Then I went to brush my teeth. When I got back to the room I kept watching the TV and saw the second plane hit. I had no idea what happened and all I saw was even more smoke. Then I woke up my roommate and made him watch. For some reason I had woken up early that day so I watched for probably another 45 minutes and made my way to class.

Not everyone in class knew what happened. About four of us attempted to explain to the class and the professor what happened but no one was sure what was going on. So we spent the class time discussing romanticism and idealism (one of my many philosophy classes) in light of recent events. That was the last class I went to. I rushed back to my dorm room to get updated on what was going on. I watched for another hour or so and then made my way to O’Neill Plaza outside the library at Boston College. The school had quickly planned a prayer service. That’s when I lost it. I stood in the back, just wanting to be part of the group there. There were thousands upon thousands of students, professors, and others standing in the bright, hot September sun. Many people were in tears. That is when I realized the magnitude of what happened. I had not realized how many people standing around me at that moment were fearful for their loved ones. Being from Iowa, I didn’t directly know anyone at the World Center. I had a cousin who worked at Merrill Lynch in the area around the towers but for some reason I just knew that he was fine. What I remember seeing on O’Neill Plaza that day was people hugging, people rubbing the backs of friends who were in tears, people with their faces buried in their hands. I will never forget the heavy air filled with immense sorrow that permeated the open space in front of the library. I vaguely remember a moment of silence and prayers. I think everyone held hands and said the Our Father at one point, but I can’t be certain.

That’s when I lost it. Everything going on around me was just too much and I started to cry. I sat down and remember looking around me at everyone else doing the same. As I looked around I was greeted by dozens of pairs of eyes that met mine and had the same look of sorrow. For just that moment, everyone around me opened up, everyone was just a person in mourning or worried, or both. I don’t remember people by what they were wearing, their names, what they were doing, who they were with. I only remember them as one mass of people, layered on several steps of brick stairs, put into the same situation and feeling the same feelings who came together to draw strength from everyone else. Just coming together as that group helped everyone through the tragedy.

To this day, I cannot help but be impressed and awed by my experience Boston College on September, 11, 2001. So many people coming together so quickly sharing completely in each other feelings. Thousands of people together looking for support while simultaneously offering their support to everyone just by being there. It was a powerful experience that helped me through a difficult time. No one, including me, was ashamed of having their private emotions on public display, something that is increasingly rare.

The rest of the day is a bit of a fog though. I remember hearing and seeing fighter jets in the air. This was the time before everyone owned a mobile phone so I remember my mom and dad calling my dorm room just to make sure that all was alright. They were really worried, I remember that. For some reason it never crossed my mind that my parents, 1,200 miles away would think I was in danger. In the coming days I learned that some of the terrorists on the flights out of Boston stayed at a hotel a few miles from where I lived.

That is about all I remember of that day. It was mostly spent watching ABC news with Peter Jennings. I remember watching the towers collapse into a heap of rubble. I remember watching TV and seeing people jumping from the upper floors of the towers. That one bothered me. The desperation of that day will always stick with me. I remember the candlelight vigil we had on campus. I still have the red, white, and blue ribbon that I received at school the day or two afterwards on my backpack. I don’t plan on ever taking it off.

In the days, weeks and months after September 11, 2001 I remember all the stories about individual heroism. Heroism takes many forms. It can be something as small as giving someone a pat on the back or a hug when they need, something I saw all day. It could take the form of Boston College graduate Welles Crowther, recognized by his red bandana, who is credited with savings the lives of dozens of people while ultimately giving up his. It was Pat Tillman who left his career playing football to go fight in Afghanistan. Heroism was exhibited by those people who got a flight two weeks later (including my mom and step-dad who flew out to Boston for Parent’s Weekend). It is exhibited by all of us who have refused to live in fear. Heroism is remembering what happened that day.

The collective acts of individuals cast a bright spot on the United States that day. The American spirit rose up to conquer the tragedy and it succeeded in small bits. But it is these small bits that are important. So many people rose up together as individuals to accomplish so much and saved so many people. 230 years ago, 13 individuals rose up together and accomplished something great. Something that will be remembered forever. Those 13 individuals, in the form of colonies, came together, worked through fundamental differences and created the United States. The individual acts of heroism that occurred throughout the world on September 11 give me hope for the future that the American people can once again come together to accomplish something great.

That day changed me forever. To this day, I experience a rush of emotion whenever I hear the Star Spangled Banner. I plan on returning to Boston College late this afternoon for a memorial service. But this time It will be in a smaller area that has been dedicated to those Boston College alumni who lost their lives that day.

If anyone reading this would like to share his or her thoughts or memories of September 11 please email me at benostrander@gmail.com and I would be honored to post them throughout the coming days.

Reflections on September 11th

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Ben

I do not talk about September 11, 2001 all that often. I have little in the way of mementos to remember that day. I did not save newspapers or magazines (except for a copy of Time Magazine I found a few weeks later). I did not go out that day and photograph what was going on around me. In fact, I watched the morning news and went to a 10:15 am philosophy class that day. I do not personally know anyone who was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, or on United Flight 93. However, several years ago I had the presence of mind to write down and share everything I remember about September 11. Each time I read those recollections, what I experienced that day comes flooding back. You can find that entry on this website or you can wait until tomorrow when I repost, as I have done for years.

Part of me wishes I had more to remember September 11. Part of me does not. Especially when so many others have done such a wonderful job documenting September 11th’s many tragedies and just as many heroes. Whether it was ESPN’s Outside the Lines documentary on fellow Boston College graduate Welles Crowther (also embedded below) or Jon Krakauer’s wonderful Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. Hearing these stories and learning just the smallest things about those killed as a result of the September 11th attacks is enough for me.

A lot has happened over the last 10 years. I met and married my wife. I graduated from college. I became a lawyer. I worked as an Assistant District Attorney. I bought a house. I own a car. I spent two weeks in Japan and Hong Kong. I taught myself how to really barbecue. I became a godparent. I lived in Ireland and toured Europe. The Red Sox won the World Series. Twice. But each of those experiences will forever be influenced by that day. Not in an overshadowing type of way but as something that has influenced the person I have become.

Because of September 11th I remember the importance of all these milestones. I value friends and family more than ever. I am profoundly affected when I hear our National Anthem. Whenever I fly American Airlines out of Boston’s Logan Airport I stop at gate B32 and look at the American flag on the departure ramp of the gate American Flight 11 left from before crashing into the North Tower.

Many terrible things happened on September 11th and thousands of great people were killed. As awful and as sad as that day was, I find solace in learning about and remembering the many heroes (big and small) who emerged that day. We cannot bring them back but we will always remember.

A House Divided

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Ben

When the wife and I take car trips we generally listen to audio books or podcasts. On our most recent ride we listened to a story from This American Life. If you do do not listen to it, I encourage you to. They broadcast weekly on various topics of Americana. It’s engaging and interesting. And you can download or stream it.

This particular episode was titled “A House Divided” and discussed several stories ranging from children writing they were kidnapped on the back of a minivan to a man’s story about his appendix rupturing. While they were all great stories the one I found most interesting was about the recent recall elections in Wisconsin. One of the producers for the show goes to his home state of Wisconsin to converse with citizens gathering signatures to force a recall election of one of their state representatives. The clips clearly show that Wisconsites are friendly, respectful people who generally get along with everyone. Being from the Midwest, and pretty close to close to Wisconsin, I can attest that is how we generally are. But anyone who saw any of the news coverage of the protests and craziness that happened when the governor took away many of the collective bargaining rights of unionized state employees also saw the amount of discord and rancor between normally friendly Republicans and Democrats.

I am not going to get into my opinions about how all that played out in Wisconsin. What I do want to share is that the current United States political climate has caused a great divide between normally friendly people. We have moved from a country built upon strong debate and compromise to one where if a certain party does not get it’s way (umhum, Tea Party Republicans), nothing will happen. That is where the house divided part of the story comes in. The people involved in both sides of the story were friends, often debating and working together to solve many issues through government. But because of what the Republican governor did and the resulting political climate, they will not even say hello to each other anymore.

What the current Republican (really meaning Tea Party) culture has done is split the country in the middle. They have made us a country of black and white. But we are not a country of black and white. Rather, we are a country of gray. That’s why we have a Bill of Rights instead of everything being incorporated in the Constitution. Somewhere along the way we have allowed this to happen and should be ashamed. When the Speaker of the House cannot even say the word “compromise” in public without getting shouted down, there is something immensely wrong with our government and our country.

I am sick of division in today’s political climate. The less we argue and the more we focus on debate and compromise, the quicker the best solution to the poor economy will be solved. Dealing in absolutes has never worked and it is not going to work now. Knock it off in Washington and start getting some actual work done.

Harvest Time

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Ben

Today marked the first day of a legitimate harvest at the Ostrander Family Urban Garden. Way back in April (maybe even late February) the wife and I started planting a garden in our small apartment. This was while we were looking to purchase our first house. Back when we though twe would get a single-family house with a little bit of a lawn and some space to build a garden. Well, that never happened. We don’t have a lawn we can make a garden in. What we do have is nice stoop that gets great sun all day though. We have a bunch of planters and have tomatoes (cherry, plum, and heirloom), jalapeño peppers, green onions, basil, mint, and a dwarf lime tree that should grow some limes in another year. The basil and mint have been growing well and have been cut many times over the summer. The tomatoes are almost there too. The jalapeños are growing with some already picked and others just sprouting. We even picked the fist of about 10 green onions today. Needless to say, they all smell and taste great.

The only reason for this post is drive other people crazy and brag a little bit. With the exception of some olive oil, tonight’s dinner is going to made up entirely of things we grew or caught. Yes, I catch squirrels and possums in my parking lot. Tonight’s dinner will be smoked squirrels with a jalapeño/basil aioli and a mint and tomato salad. Not really, I’ll be cooking up some of the striped bass I caught a few weeks ago in a marinade made of jalapeño, mint, and basil. Bon appetite!

Fishing

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Ben

For those who did not know, I spent five days in the middle/end of July at the Wife’s parent’s house on Long Island. Just about every year they do a huge family reunion with all of her Dad’s siblings and all of her cousins and everyone’s kids. It probably approaches 75 people scattered throughout the U.S. and the world. For several reasons, that large reunion did not happen this year. So that meant the Wife’s family (brothers and sisters and all grandchildren) converged at her parents house on the end of Long Island. We had a wonderful time. We played golf, swam, grilled, and went fishing. Yep, the men got together and went fishing for striped bass off of Montauk. We woke up at 4 am and made the hour or so drive to Montauk to board the Mishell II. We headed out around 6:15 am. This is the first time I have been this far out to fish for big fish. We caught tons of fish (about 28 pounds of striped ass. And verso more of bluefish. Looking at the price per pound in the market that day, it looked like we caught about $450 worth of fish. Fishing for strikers was much harder work than I thought it would be. We had move the fishing poles quite a bit before we even got a bite and once we got a bite, they fought pretty well and we had to reel them in about 150 yards while the boat kept moving. We ended up with fish in the 30-inch ran and anywhere between six to 15 pounds. It was great. This was also my first experience with any type of sea sickness. Now, I have been on boats man times in the past and I love roller coasters. I never get motion sick. But, after I hooked by fourth fish, I realized how tired I was and how overworked I had been not only working to hook the fish but reel them in. My exhaustion (from waking up before 5 am several days in a row and from reeling in big fish that liked to fight) combined with the boat motion and messed me up. I didn’t get sick but I was not happy. Long story made short, it was a great and I look forward to going out with my father-in-law and brothers-in-law again. Until then, I’m grilling up the stipers!

Fresh Hamachi

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Ben

Day one of the Simonetti Family Reunion started at 4 am with a drive to Montauk for striped bass fishing. More on that adventure later. I want to talk about what happened when we got back to shore. We were filleting our bass and bluefish while watching the guy next to us cut up two beautiful yellow tail tuna. My mouth started watering and blood boiled with jealousy as I watched him cut those beautiful tuna steaks. He must have noticed because as luck would have it, he made a bad cut on one the tunas that resulted in him giving me a nice strip of tuna. Being a trusting man from the Midwest, I immediately grabbed a hunk of the raw fish given to me by this stranger and ate it! It was incredible. Nice and cool and it nearly melted in my mouth. Then I had several pieces with the rest of the fishing group. Sushi breakfast lives on.

A Big Moment

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Ben

Well I am on full Long Island family reunion mode. Day one of waking up before 5 am has begun. As is my custom, I am barbecuing for my wife’s family and showing them how we grill meat in Iowa. Needless to say, they all love it. Tonight is a particularly important night because my godson had his first taste of a barbecued pork tenderloin. Of course it has Uncle Ben’s dry rub and homemade BBQ sauce on it. He loves it! It helps that he is almost one year old and watched me grilling the whole time. The kid know what’s going on!

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Wondering around Waltham