Monthly Archives: April 2023

On Grammys and Afghanistan

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

A while ago I wrote about some work I did, more than a year and a half ago, during the fall of Kabul, to help evacuate the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. That effort, laid out very well by Daily … Continue reading →

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“The Crossing Place” – A Book Review

Posted on April 23, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

There’s a principle in chemistry called “Isotopic Abundance” which is basically the relative proportions of a stable isotope in each element. These isotopes come from the ground, the land, the water and even the air in a particular location and … Continue reading →

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Now Available My Armenia Novel in Paperback ($8.95) and #Kindle – (I’d Buy the Paperback)

Posted on April 23, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

My Armenia novel, “An Excess of Nationalism”, is now available in paperback and kindle. Paperback is best value ($8.95), I personally would never buy a kindle and can’t read kindle books. I need to feel the paper, smell the pages, … Continue reading →

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I Wrote My Armenia Novel!!!

Posted on April 14, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

A while ago I published a post in which I said “I Should Be Writing My Armenia Book”. I’m happy to report, now, I FINISHED IT!!!! I published first as a hardcover, in color, because I left some surprises inside … Continue reading →

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“Return of the Native” by Thomas Hardy

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

A whole lifetime can be lived on the heath. That’s what the old Victorian masters taught us. From the barrow mound to the river and back again, the entire gamut of the human experience. Birth, love, jealousy and rage. At … Continue reading →

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Tolstoy and Steinbeck

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

The first time I arrived to Armenia it was spring of 2019. Still cold, the people of Yerevan were bundled tight, cigarettes poking defiantly out of layers of coats and hats and scarfs. There was a snow storm the first … Continue reading →

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