May 10th, 2012 → 6:36 am
“A light wife doth make a heavy husband.” – Merchant of Venice
Ever since I bought a fitbit about a month ago, I’ve been addicted to tracking my activities, my sleep, and my meals. Doing so has led me to lose a couple of pounds without really trying! Meanwhile, my husband has somehow gained a couple of pounds. He says we’re growing apart. Is it my doing? Should I be worried?
Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life
May 6th, 2012 → 7:32 am
“When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk;
he trots the air, the earth sings when he touches it.” – Henry V
Congratulations to this year’s winner of the Kentucky Derby: I’ll Have Another.
May 4th, 2012 → 8:10 am
“The jewel that we find, we stoop and take it
Because we see it; but what we do not see
We tread upon, and never think of it.” – Measure for Measure
If you haven’t heard yet, Edvard Munch’s painting “The Scream” sold for $119.9 million this past Wednesday at Sotheby’s in New York. That’s certainly a fabulous price but I disagree with art critic Holland Cotter who said that it was too much – if I had an extra $119.9 million lying around I’d totally have bid on it. But I do agree with the common complaint that everyday art isn’t appreciated enough. I have a neighbor across the street who is an artist (primarily) and a bookkeeper (to pay the rent). She isn’t famous, as far as I know, but her work really is very good. Too bad it’s so hard for such “unknowns” to make a living.
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money & Other
May 2nd, 2012 → 6:58 am
“In spring-time, the only pretty ring-time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding,
Sweet lovers love the spring.” – As You Like It
The weather is turning nice (if a bit rainy) and I love it. Happy spring time!
April 30th, 2012 → 6:39 am
“Not to crack the wind of the poor phrase,
Running it thus.” – Hamlet
In my day job as a professor I came across a couple of academic articles about Shakespeare last week. They involve textual analysis on Shakespeare’s sonnets – where the researcher breaks the text into distinct words and phrases and empirically evaluates them. I found it fascinating, although at the same time somehow blasphemous to break Shakespeare’s sonnets up into mere words and evaluate them that way. What is in a word?
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
April 28th, 2012 → 7:49 am
“I know a wench of excellent discourse,
Pretty and witty; wild and yet, too, gentle.” – The Comedy of Errors
I recently went back to some of the dusty books in the far reaches of the shelves of my library and found The Collected Stories of Colette. I read Colette as a child and loved her. The verve, the honesty, the forthrightness. She’s still great (though I think I prefer the Claudine novels to the short stories). Indeed, I feel like she’s one of a class of very, very few authors who write fiction about women and not in a hokey, harlequin, boring way. I wish there was more authors like her. She makes “female” literature great.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
April 27th, 2012 → 8:48 am
A reader reminded me that I forgot to wish the bard a happy birthday on April 23. My mistake! Happy belated birthday Shakespeare!! Although, in truth, we don’t know his exact birth date for certain so who knows, maybe my wishes aren’t late at all!
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
April 26th, 2012 → 7:51 am
Today is national Poem in Your Pocket Day. In honor of which I spent a bunch of time last night rereading Shakespeare’s sonnets. It was hard to pick just one for today, and I debated using one of my tried and true favorites (such as sonnet 30 or sonnet 116), but decided in the end to go for a fun new one.
The following sonnet captures a moment in time, when a lover fears for just a second that his love says she ‘hates’ him, when actually she ends up saying she ‘hates not you.’ Phew!
Those lips that Love’s own hand did make
Breathed forth the sound that said “I hate”
To me that languished for her sake;
But when she saw my woeful state,
Straight in her heart did mercy come,
Chiding that tongue that ever sweet
Was used in giving gentle doom,
And taught it thus anew to greet:
“I hate” she altered with an end
That followed it as gentle day
Doth follow night, who, like a fiend,
From heaven to hell is flown away.
“I hate” from hate away she threw,
And saved my life, saying “not you.” – Sonnet 145
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
April 24th, 2012 → 6:16 am
“Is this the promised end?” – King Lear
It’s not just me, I can see it in my student’s eyes – “Are we almost there yet? Are there really just two weeks of classes left?” Hello, summer break! Now if I can just get through all this grading…
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
April 22nd, 2012 → 7:32 am
“The art itself is Nature.” – The Winter’s Tale
Happy Earth Day!!