April 22nd, 2018 → 6:44 am
“Look thou character.
Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar;
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel,
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatched, unfledged courage. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear’t that th’opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man…
Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow as the night the day
Thou canst not then be false to any man.” – Hamlet
It’s Shakespeare’s birthday sometime this week (we don’t actually know the exact day), and in the interest of saluting the bard, I’m quoting some of his pithiest advice. There are some really good nuggets in there. Hard to pick a favorite, but… today maybe it’s… ‘Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.’
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Other
February 18th, 2018 → 6:27 am
“A sentence is but a cheveril glove to a good wit.” – Twelfth Night
I’m busy waking early every morning, editing draft 5 of my latest novel. I just reworked the opening scene to one of the middle chapters. It feels good, I think things flows better now. But crafting the perfect sentence is hard! I can agonize over it for hours! Writing is most definitely an art. As difficult and messy as I imagine working cheveril was for Shakespeare’s father. But when done right, a sentence’s beauty can take your breath away.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
November 3rd, 2017 → 5:07 am
Glendower: “I can call spirits from the vasty deep.”
Hotspur: “Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them?” – King Henry IV, Part I
I wake most mornings and try to write – some days, the words flow, other days, they do not. Imagination and creativity are mysterious spirits. I only wish I could see to the bottom of their vasty deep; I bet it is a riot down there.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Self/My Life
September 30th, 2017 → 5:41 am
“Leave thy lascivious wassails.” – Antony and Cleopatra
wassail – to drink copious amounts of alcohol and enjoy oneself with others in a noisy, lively way; to carouse (n. a carousal)
Personally, I could go for a lascivious wassail right about now.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
May 6th, 2017 → 5:29 am
“These news are everywhere; every tongue speaks ’em.” – Henry VIII
Apparently in the 16th century ‘news’ was considered a plural noun. Today, it is “singular in construction.” When did that happen? I often forget whether ‘data’ is considered singular or plural. Politics? Economics? They can be both. It’s exhausting, this protean nature of language!
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
April 28th, 2017 → 5:08 am
“…the devil is a niggard.” – Henry VIII
If you type “niggard” into Google, it auto-corrects into “niggardly,” neither word of which has anything to do with blackamoores (the primary term for Blacks in Tudor England). It means, simply, a stingy person.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
April 24th, 2017 → 6:07 am
“Who is it that can tell me who I am?” – King Lear
No one, but since I’m not one for unfounded conspiracy theories, I’ll just assume Shakespeare was Shakespeare and celebrate the joy of his birth (which was sometime this week). Happy birthday Shakespeare and thanks for the beautiful literature!
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Other
March 23rd, 2017 → 5:38 am
“Adversity’s sweet milk, philosophy.” – Romeo and Juliet
There was an author in the 1990s that I just loved, Alain de Botton. Somehow, I lost track of his work and simply assumed he’d stopped writing. I discovered this week that in fact, he is still writing, on religion, on love, on aesthetics, and somehow I had just missed it. I look forward to ordering some of his latest books; I only hope they are as good as The Consolations of Philosophy and How Proust Can Change Your Life.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
March 5th, 2017 → 5:37 am
“…the whining school-boy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school.” – As You Like It
Shakespeare is apparently more popular in the rest of the world, than he is in the UK, a recent study finds. Apparently that is because the way Shakespeare is taught in the UK (and many other English speaking nations) kills it for most people. How sad! Though I do kind of understand. I didn’t love Shakespeare when I was first exposed to his works in middle school. My love only came much later. At the same time, I have always assumed that early exposure planted the seed; that I might not have grown to love Shakespeare now, had I not been force-fed him earlier. Who knows. Either way, I am glad the bug finally bit, and I feel kinda bad for others who never grew to appreciate the taste of the fruit.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
March 1st, 2017 → 1:23 pm
“Henry the Fifth, too famous to live long.” – Henry VI, Part I
I found this antique pocket edition of Henry V the other day. Is it not adorable? It’s a bit tattered and worn, but I like it even more for the use. It means someone read it, and possibly even regularly thumbed through it, and didn’t just keep it around for looks. Finding it made my day. Plus, who doesn’t like Henry V, once he’s done being Hal?
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art