Catching Up

• Location: a pot, William-Sonoma, Burlington Mall
• Date: April 5, 2008
• Description: White crane with the poem “Facing it” by Yusef Komunyakaa written in yellow

I don’t know if you’ve ever read the poem “Facing it,” but I have; it’s about a veteran confronting his demons at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C. The poem makes me think about the price of war, both on a grand scale (58,022 U.S. soldiers died in Vietnam) and on a personal level. I feel like this poem is one of the most accessible to people who don’t usually go for poetry — it has a lot of imagery and not a lot of overt metaphor, so it’s easy to read. Also, most people have seen or heard of the Vietnam War Memorial, which means that most people can relate in some way.

We headed to the Burlington Mall to pick up our new pizza stone, courtesy of Cheryl. I must say, William-Sonoma is ridiculously overpriced. We could have paid $16.50 for a new ice cream scoop, but Seth vetoed the idea. Oh well. The movie people weren’t filming the Kevin James movie yesterday afternoon, so we got a close-up view of the ball pit, the fake kiosks, and two fake store-fronts. Someone removed the dented minivan.

I’ve finally gotten around to posting about another Crane Project. This other person folds polymer clay and wax cranes and writes information about those who have died due to the war on each crane — sort of a visual confirmation of the price of war. She’ll fold over 4000 cranes for her installation, and she’s been kind enough to keep me in her list of links (many thanks!). She’s also included a link to a really great “how to fold cranes” website, in case you want to learn.

That’s it for today. And as a public service announcement, please bring reusable grocery bags with you whenever you go shopping. Thank you.