August 2, 2008

the difference between names and faces is completely fascinating.  I can go my whole day and see a hundred faces. Where I get my morning coffee; it's the same barista, the audience is the same as we play out a joke we seem to have played so many times before this moment.  I feel connected to that person, yet i do not know his name.  if i saw him, not in the uniform of black and white and that silly hat, i may not know why i know them, but I would register that somehow i do.  would i recognize him quicker if i knew his name?

all of this is going through my head as I am lazily standing around sipping my coffee.  its about 8:30 and the day has begun.  nothing much has changed, and i woke up with that same feeling of insignificance as i had the morning before, and the one before that, and the one...

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Built into our theology is the reality that defeat in life competes with pretty favorable odds. We live in a world and society too complex for our spiritual, moral, and intellectual development. The result is a sad state of inequalities, injustice, and a trail of wreckage through history. I wonder if the Olympics function more like a distraction from reality versus the peace making catalyst hoped for. Obviously, the Olympics didn't stop Russia and Georgia from pounding each other with artillery.

Whatever meaning and impact the Olympics carry, one consistent theme of the Olympics is the almost relentless imagery of fine tuned physics and the sweetness of victory. One of my favorite features of NBC's coverage is their excellent photo gallery. Photographs of sports are a strange form of documentation. Because sports are based in movement, still imagery often has an unreal quality. Gymnasts become suspended in air, and runner hover over the ground mid stride. What does work is the ability to capture the moment of glory when a swimmer pumps his fist in the air, or a runner lifts their flag above their head in victory. Those are the images that define the Olympics.

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I wrote a paper on Catholicism, Protestantism, and the novel in early twentieth-century England a couple weeks ago, and in my reading, I ran across this intriguing exerpt from T.S. Eliot's essay "Religion and Literature":

It is our business, as readers of literature, to know what we like. It is our business, as Christians, as well as readers of literature, to know what we ought to like. It is our business as honest men not to assume that whatever we like is what we ought to like; and it is our business as honest Christians not to assume that we do like what we ought to like. And the last thing I would wish for would be the existence of two literatures, one for Christian consumption and the other for the pagan world.

Well, it's the middle of August, and I need a couple weeks' worth of relaxing wherever I can before I start new jobs, a new semester, and new projects. So, Poetry Friday is taking a break as well (if you're savvy, you might have noticed that it didn't happen last weekend, either).

But we'll be back in September!

Wish Tree for Pasadena by Yoko Ono recently opened on August 2nd and will continue to November 9th. The art installation consists of 21 living crape myrtle trees installed amongst the cafe tables and chairs in the Courtyard of One Colorado. Visitors are invited to write their wishes on pieces of paper and hang them on the tree branches. The wishes will be joined with others from around the world and placed in specially constructed capsules to be installed in the area surrounding Yoko Ono's Imagine Peace Tower on Videy Island, off the coast of Reykjavik, Iceland. With a need to celebrate my 12th wedding anniversary I combined a trip to an Old Town restaurant with a visit to Yoko Ono's latest installation.

Before I begin the fast decent into criticism, I would like to apologize to all of the rabid Beatles fans, and the much much smaller Yoko Ono fan club. I also apologize to anyone who finds these often beautiful but empty experiences cathartic.

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IAM’s next Encounter will take place February 26-28, 2009, in lower Manhattan, and the theme of the Encounter will be “Art in Action.” When asked about the genesis of the next Encounter’s theme, Makoto Fujimura points to the 1982 book by Nicholas Wolterstorff of the same title. “Art in Action” has remained a staple on the bookshelf of artists and creative catalysts throughout the world who seek to dig deeper into the meaning and purpose for art.

Following is Part Five of Christy Tennant’s recent interview with Makoto Fujimura about the theme of the next IAM Encounter:

CT: You mentioned that merely reacting to things that happen in our society is a violation of Christian love. Can you elaborate on that a bit? What are some of the reactions you are referring to?

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This isn't strictly shape poetry, but the shape of the lines mirrors the movement of the words. Enjoy.

# 46

And every poem and every picture
a sensation in the eye and heart
Something that jolts you awake
from the rapt sleep of living
in a flash of pure epiphany
where all stands still
in a diamond light
transfixed
revealed
for what it truly is
in all its mystery
So a bird is an animal
flown into a tree
singing inscrutable melodies
As a lover stands transparen
Screened against the sun
Smiling darkly in the blinding light

I’ve been writing this last couple of weeks. Not just putting down a hundred words here or there, but sitting here for hours at a time. Hours when I don’t feel like sitting here. Hours when I’m not sure what needs to be written next. Hours when I rather desperately want to be... anywhere else, really. I’m aiming for five thousand words a weekend which, for me, is an extraordinarily ambitious goal that I couldn’t even hope to meet if my mother wasn’t rather busy in Australia at the moment planning my wedding.

Unreasonably, though, she has refused to make every decision. Yesterday we had a conversation that went like this:

"But muuuuum. You asked me last week what you could do to help me with this next book, and I said you were already doing the best thing possible by planning the wedding."

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IAM’s next Encounter will take place February 26-28, 2009, in lower Manhattan, and the theme of the Encounter will be “Art in Action.” When asked about the genesis of the next Encounter’s theme, Makoto Fujimura points to the 1982 book by Nicholas Wolterstorff of the same title. “Art in Action” has remained a staple on the bookshelf of artists and creative catalysts throughout the world who seek to dig deeper into the meaning and purpose for art.

Following is Part Four of Christy Tennant’s recent interview with Makoto Fujimura about the theme of the next IAM Encounter:

CT: If art is supposed to be a means of repairing and rehumanizing the culture around us, what is the artist’s responsibility to that end? Does Nicholas Wolterstoff place the responsibility on artists themselves?

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An amusing - and possibly thought-provoking - image.

 We Bring Democracy To The Fish

It is unacceptable that fish prey on each other.
For their comfort and safety, we will liberate them
into fishfarms with secure, durable boundaries
that exclude predators. Our care will provide
for their liberty, health, happiness, and nutrition.
Of course all creatures need to feel useful.
At maturity the fish will discover their purposes.