Another topic suggested by a TMP reader, that I've altered slightly. "Where were you when . . ."

Now fill in the blanks.

During the moon walk? In the living room of our home on Wetheredsville Road. That's it. I recall being alone, but how can that be? I think I must actually be remembering what happened earlier in the evening, as I walked by, impatient to see the big event.

And now . . . Where were you when:

JFK died. I don't remember.

The Persian Gulf war started: In the newsroom, but I'm just inferring. I don't truly remember. I just remember the days that followed.

Reagan was shot: In my History of Mass Communications class. We were dismissed early.

John Lennon was shot: In my college apartment.

The Challenger Explosion: On a bike ride. Found out about it hours after the fact.

9/11: At home, working on a dial-up connection. A publicist from Morrow wrote me: Can you believe what's happening? I turned on the television in time to see the second tower fall and my first thought was: I don't remember anything about the World Trade Towers being slated for demolition.

The point is that it's actually rare that we remember, truly remember, the moment of hearing certain things, much less what we were wearing or eating. We can infer, or we may have vivid memories of things that happened later: I remember that the invasion of Iraq came the weekend of a cousin's bar mitzvah and we spent a lot of time in the hotel room watching CNN. I remember where I was when Dan Quayle was picked by George H. W. Bush as his running mate because I was at the Republican National Convention, following members of the Texas delegation, and they were all caught off-guard.

I was in the gym parking lot, leaving spinning class, when someone yelled: Michael Jackson is dead. I don't think that will stay with me.

So what do you remember, truly remember?

Meanwhile, expect posting to be light here for a while. Busy, busy, busy.