October 21st, 2012 → 7:17 am
“All’s well that ends well; still the fine’s the crown.
What’er the course, the end is the renown.” – All’s Well That Ends Well
I don’t know anyone who can’t wait for this darn U.S. presidential election to be over with already (expect perhaps the pundits?). In the above quote “fine’s” means “end,” reiterating the point that the best thing now is for this all to be over with already.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians
October 19th, 2012 → 5:52 am
“If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die?” – Merchant of Venice
This is just a small excerpt from the much longer speech by Shylock about being a Jew. What is fascinating to me is that I just learned, last night, of the reference to witches in this that contemporaries of Shakespeare’s time likely understood, but we today miss. In the 16th century one test of a witch was whether she bled or not when you pricked her (it was assumed that she did not), so Shylock is saying here, hey, Jews are not witches! We bleed too! Just like you.
October 17th, 2012 → 5:33 am
“Flat burglary as ever was committed.” – Much Ado About Nothing
7 valuable paintings were stolen from a museum in Rotterdam yesterday, including a Gauguin, a Matisse, and a Picasso. The way it was executed sounds like an Ocean’s 11 high-professional job. I thought those sorts of perfectly executed heists only happened in the movies?!?
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
October 11th, 2012 → 6:14 am
“Society is no comfort
to one not sociable.” – Cymbeline
I think I caught a cold on my recent travels. My head hurts and I can’t stop coughing. I’ve got to teach and go to work but frankly I’d prefer to just crawl back into bed and stay there. I really don’t feel like being a part of society today. *sigh*
Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life
October 9th, 2012 → 6:21 am
“But wonder on, till truth makes all things plain.” – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
I attended a conference at Harvard this past week, where some cutting-edge Big Data research was presented. Some of the papers I thought had flaws, others were presented as “canonical” and discussed as breakthroughs. Who knows?! Isn’t that the beauty of academic research, though? You get to just wonder on…until, hopefully, the truth wills out…(hopefully)
October 1st, 2012 → 5:29 am
“So sweet and voluble is his discourse.” – Love’s Labor’s Lost
My 2 year old son is talking more and more every day, and I love it!! I love knowing what he is thinking and watching as he processes the world. My husband is dreading the “why” phase (“but why does Emma have that ball?”; “but why did her mommy buy it for her?”; “but why does she love her so much?”) but in all honesty, I can’t wait for that too! What mother doesn’t love watching her baby use language for the first time?
Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life
September 29th, 2012 → 8:24 am
“He must observe their mood on whom he jests,
The quality of persons, and the time;
And, like the haggard, check at every feather
That comes before his eye. This is a practice
As full of labor as a wise man’s art.” – Twelfth Night
I went with my friend Karen to a performance of The Improvised Shakespeare Company last night. I was very curious to see what it was about – a Shakespearean improv comedy troupe?? I have to hand it to them, they were funny. And it has got to be hard to do improvised rhyming in Shakespearean English like that. I know I could never do it. So here’s to the art of comedy, which Shakespeare as well appreciated in the quote above.
(Note ‘haggard’ is an untrained hawk. And ‘check at’ means follow after.)
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
September 27th, 2012 → 5:54 am
I was alerted yesterday to this silly quiz which purports to tell you which Shakespeare heroine you are most like. My score put me between Titania and Viola which, after rounding up, makes me most like Viola. Yeah, I am sort of “boyish, mischevious, and inventive,” I’ll go with that.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Self/My Life
September 25th, 2012 → 6:31 am
“A kind
Of excellent dumb discourse.” – Tempest
Shakespeare said this about the dancing creatures that bring a banquet to the shipwrecked king in the Tempest. It reminds me of the one, precious hour of TV I get at night after my son goes to bed and before I fall off into helpless sleep myself. In the last few weeks I’ve caught up on Homeland and Dexter and am looking forward to the new seasons beginning at the end of the month. Here’s to relaxing with excellent dumb TV at the end of the day…
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Self/My Life
September 23rd, 2012 → 5:51 am
“Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once.” – Julius Caesar
When Nelson Mandela was a prisoner in South Africa’s notorious apartheid-era Robben Island prison, a Complete Works of Shakespeare was surreptitiously passed around under the guise of a bible. Many prisoners picked out favorite passages and signed their names by them. Nelson Mandela signed his name by this one on December 16, 1977.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians