I wrote on the GLYNY Again Reunion Board how I spent my Independence Day:
The fireworks were pretty blah this year. I viewed them from a rooftop party on the Lower East Side, but the windless, overcast weather meant the smoke from each burst stayed in its place and blocked the view of successive bursts. And it only lasted about twenty minutes with no spectacular finale. If the right-wing fanatics can blame gays for AIDS and the California earthquake because we supposedly incited God’s wrath, then I blame the U.S. government’s evil ways for inciting Mother Nature to remove the spectacle from the Independence Day festivities.
—Untitled post in thread “Happy 4th of July Weekend,” The Official GLYNY Again Reunion Board, 5 July 2008
Nonetheless, I had a great time. Thanks to Dr. Charles and APANY for the great party. I saw many old friends and met many new friends, but I would be remiss if I did not mention the Web log authors I met there: I Need You, Babe a.k.a. Greg, Richard and comedian Sean Graham: Leader of the Chucklenauts.
Update (9 July): My friend Andrew was also at a rooftop party on the Lower East Side, albeit a different one, and described the fireworks similarly:
it was amazing. we were seriously right under all the fireworks. all the car alarms on the street were going off from the loud noise. it was kool but the smoke from the fireworks wasnt clearing fast enough so it was alittle blocked. it still was amzing.
—Andrew Jonas, “And the Rockets Red Glare…,” Andrew MySpace Blog, 5 July 2008.
A version of this article is reproduced at webcitation.org/5kYviTskE.
