Monthly Archives: May 2011

Ready. Aim. Fire.

Posted on May 30, 2011 by jyourist

When we were young, every Memorial Day our family would join others in my father’s VFW Post 6909 in going to the local cemetery to pay tribute to the veterans. I remember the day as somewhat solemn for my parents, … Continue reading →

Posted in family, growing up, memoir, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Welcome to my life

Posted on May 29, 2011 by jyourist

In short films on Friday, SD shared the following video, “Welcome to my Life” by Elizabeth Ito, her senior project at Cal Arts in 2004. The use of the voices of her real family makes the point of this video … Continue reading →

Posted in animation, short films, videos | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Salvage by Kay Ryan

Posted on May 27, 2011 by jyourist

The wreck is a fact. The worst has happened. The salvage trucks back in and the salvage men begin to sort and stack, whistling as they work. Thanks be to god—again— for extractable elements which are not carriers of pain, … Continue reading →

Posted in poetry, transformation | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Karmic Chain

Posted on May 26, 2011 by jyourist

The New Yorker (May 23, 2011) reported on a game of Telephone which took place on the penultimate day of the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature at the end of last month. Some three hundred people stood in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Buddha, creativity, poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Expanding our front porches…

Posted on May 25, 2011 by jyourist

My father told me when I was young that his mother, born in the Ukraine, used to tell stories every day. All the women in the neighborhood would gather on her front porch in the afternoons as she wove a … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, animation, conversation, family, memoir, short films, story, videos | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

There’s always an excuse for Mozart

Posted on May 24, 2011 by jyourist

Last night we heard the last three symphonies Mozart composed before his death. Jane Glover conducted the Music of the Baroque Orchestra at the Harris Theater. The orchestra was composed of less than 40 musicians which was the size of … Continue reading →

Posted in creativity, music, school, Teaching, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Symmetry

Posted on May 23, 2011 by jyourist

A video made by Radiolab as part of their audio broadcast, “Desperately Seeking Symmetry.”

Posted in short films, videos | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Floor by Jane Hirshfield

Posted on May 22, 2011 by jyourist

The nails, once inset, rise to the surface— or, more truly perhaps, over years the boards sink down to meet what holds them. Worn, yes, but not worn through: the visible work reveals itself in iron, to be pounded down … Continue reading →

Posted in poetry | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Ones

Posted on May 21, 2011 by jyourist

My friend Michael sent me this today in an email: This year we have or are going to experience four unusual dates: 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11 and that’s not all… Take the last two digits of the year in which … Continue reading →

Posted in poetry | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

In case I’m not here tomorrow…

Posted on May 20, 2011 by jyourist

According to Harold Camping, president of Family Radio, the Rapture is going to happen tomorrow at 6pm (local time) with a rolling world-wide earthquake starting in Australia. Though he had predicted the same in 1994, he said he didn’t have all … Continue reading →

Posted in christianity, rapture, religion | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments