January 1st, 2013 → 8:16 am
“Falser than vows made in wine.” – As You Like It
I’ve seen a number of Top Ten lists for New Year’s resolutions lately; they are all relatively similar and include things like: lose weight, go to the gym, spend more time with family, enjoy life more, read more, get out of debt, get organized, etc. Admittedly, I’ve made resolutions like these myself in the past, but you know what? I still need to lose weight, I still could use to go to the gym more, I should spend more time with family, and I definitely need to enjoy life more. Thus, I am not making any New Year’s resolutions this year. So there.
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
December 23rd, 2012 → 6:03 am
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!” – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
I’m reading Grand Pursuit by Sylvia Nasar right now. It’s not nearly as good as A Beautiful Mind, but that isn’t actually the point. The point is that I just read the passage (p. 245) where the British Prime Minister Lloyd George called the famous economist John Maynard Keynes “the Puck of economics” for being such a mischief maker during the Peace Conference in Paris after WWI. If only PM George had listened to Keynes, more than mocked him, history might have been so different!
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money & Politics/Politicians
December 19th, 2012 → 8:46 am
It’s taken me over a year of writing these posts, of regularly reading Shakespeare and scanning his works for good images and descriptions, to realize that I think maybe Shakespeare had depressive tendencies. I’m not a psychologist so I don’t know exactly how to describe it, whether Shakespeare was indeed depressed, bipolar, or simply an introvert, but he was definitely not a naturally happy man. Every time I want to find a quote about happiness, joy, or goodness I find it rather difficult to find one! Meanwhile, there are entire websites devoted to Shakespeare’s insults and negative descriptions. I have a few books of quotes of Shakespeare and when I look under headings like “Love” and “Happiness” there are a few entries, but they are generally about how illusive love is, or how fleeting is the feeling of happiness. Not exactly an optimistic perspective. In truth, I’m amazed it’s taken me this long to notice how inherently pessimistic Shakespeare is, but that is probably because my nature runs along the same lines…
There is an alternative interpretation, of course: that Shakespeare may have been a happy man but his literature was negative because, well, it was entertainment and what’s more gripping than a good tragedy?! Let’s hope that’s it. And on the happiest note I could find this morning, here’s a quote about trying to stop and enjoy life for a bit:
“Sit by my side
And let the world slip. We shall ne’er be younger.” – The Taming of the Shrew
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Other
December 13th, 2012 → 7:54 am
“Joy delights in joy.” – Sonnet 8
My son is really getting into Hanukkah this year. Every day now he wakes up and asks for the candles, by afternoon he’s wondering when it is time to light fire, and when we open presents the look of joy on his face brings joy into my own heart. Joy clearly begets joy.
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
December 8th, 2012 → 10:34 am
“These blessed candles of the night.” – Merchant of Venice
Happy first night of Hanukkah! You know how hard it was to find a Hanukkah-appropriate quote in Shakespeare? Let me just say, not as hard as I imagine fighting with the Maccabees was, but harder than lighting a limited supply of oil and just watching it burn. Either way, let the celebrations begin!
December 6th, 2012 → 8:36 am
“…the very soul of bounty.” – Timon of Athens
The gifts have started to pour in for the holiday season. Packages from Grandma, UPS shipments from Montana, so much colorful wrapping paper! I have got to get my own gifts in order this weekend…
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
December 4th, 2012 → 8:26 am
“The pleasing punishment that women bear.” – The Comedy of Errors
I hear Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, is pregnant. Congratulations! Though it’s also reported that she’s violently ill. Bummer. Here’s hoping she gets the rest and care that she needs.
December 2nd, 2012 → 9:09 am
“If you can look into the seeds of time,
And say which grain will grow, and which will not,
Speak then to me.” – Macbeth
Twice in the past week random people (both at checkout lines) talked to me about the 2012 Mayan Prophecy. The first time was funny, the second time was weird. Why do people believe this stuff? If there was a way to see into the future then, please, as the quote above suggests, speak it to me.
Filed under: Blog & Stupid/Evil People
November 30th, 2012 → 8:53 am
“I see, as in a map, the end of all.” – Richard III
Another semester at school is ending and, as always, it feels weird. Weird that I won’t see the same student faces every Monday and Wednesday, bright and eager and ready with questions, weird that I won’t continue my lectures on these important topics… The semester always ends too early, just as I’ve gotten to know my students and begun a friendly rapport with them, just as some of our knotty policy issues have begun to unravel. It always feels so abrupt to me, that it just ends one day. But, as in a map I suppose, roads eventually do.
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
November 28th, 2012 → 8:50 am
“O jest unseen, inscrutable, invisible,
As a nose on a man’s face, or a weathercock on a steeple!” – Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Onion did a satire on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, calling him the Sexiest Man Alive for 2012. But apparently, not everyone realized it was a joke! China’s People’s Daily newspaper picked up the piece and went with it. How funny!!
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians & Stupid/Evil People