another good day in rehearsal yesterday. i'm working on two plays this year: lucy thurber's SCARCITY directed by brian mertes and BAD FOR THE JEWS by peter morris and directed by danny goldstein. we're having a bang-up time killing trees (ironic, huh, given the post from yesterday) with all of the rewrites.
today's message is as a result of the trip to minneapolis. as betty was dropping me and morgan off at the airport, we passed fort snelling national cemetery. this is what we saw from along the road and through the gates:
i don't know how many of you have been to arlington or one of the other 123 national cemeteries in 39 states, but it is really a sobering sight. there are over 2.5 million war dead buried in these cemeteries from every conflict in our nation's history. it makes one stop and wonder what the purpose of it all is.
so, today's message is: "at what cost?"
if you take a look at a cemetery like arlington, or fort snelling, or cave hill or any of the others (see http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/cems/listcem.asp for a complete list) that i've been to, you will see row after row after row after row after row of these simple white headstones. how many of us actually absorb it? it is impossible for one human to take in all of it, but don't we owe it to them?
on a related note, don't we owe it to them to read their names when we see the box listed in the "new york times"? don't we owe it to them to be silent for a minute while the "newshour" shows the photos of the recent dead in iraq or afghanistan.
answer the question.
i am happy to report that sylvia poggioli (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2101034, our favorite NPR gal) is partying like a rock star with the players of the italian world cup team. after surviving bosnia and the recent papal elections, sister, you deserve this:
am i right?
have a good day, folks.
gotohellifyouhatefreedom,
volansky
1 comment:
My grandfather's ashes are in Arlington so we have a pass to drive in whenever we want without dealing with all the tourist stuff. I've been a few times, but I went recently with my grandma right after graduation because it had been a few years, and it is insane how much that place grows every time. I mean, in terms of field that were empty and are now full, it's crazy. And for the half hour we were there, I think we heard 3 seperate 21 gun salutes and saw tons more funeral processions. It's really upsetting when you stop and think about it. There are just miles and miles of people in there, and, the most recent ones especially, for what?
I feel like if the president had to personally apologise, or even just explain himself, to every mother of every kid who dies in Iraq, maybe we wouldn't still be there. Maybe.
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