The Iowa Caucus

January 31st, 2016 → 5:51 am

“The commons, like an angry hive of bees
That want their leader, scatter up and down,
And care not who they sting in his revenge.” – Henry VI, Part II

God I hope they pick somebody normal tomorrow, but based on historical experience (Rick Santorum?), I’m not holding my breath…

Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians

Squirmishes and Beslubbering

January 28th, 2016 → 5:55 am

“Yea, and to tickle our noses with spear grass to make them bleed,
and then to beslubber our garments with it
and swear it was the blood of true men.” – Henry IV, Part I

I’m reading Henry IV, Part I right now, and I just finished Act 2, of the comedic sparring of Falstaff and Prince Hal scene.  In it was the line above with the word “beslubber,” meaning “to smear or cover.”  I realize that there were some different words in use in Shakespeare’s time, but beslubber?  It just seemed like such a squirmish to me I had to blog about it.

Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art

Winter Weather

January 25th, 2016 → 5:36 am

“When icicles hang by the wall,
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood is nipped, and ways be foul, 
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
To-whit, to-whoo, a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

When all aloud the wind doth blow, 
And coughing drowns the parson’s saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian’s nose looks red and raw,
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl, 
To-whit, to-whoo, a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.” – Love’s Labor’s Lost

Ahhhhh, this winter weather. Might as well sing a little ditty as you try to keep warm.

(Note: Dick is blowing on his nails to keep warm. And the “parson’s saw” is a sermon.)

Filed under: Blog & Other

Vacation’s End

January 19th, 2016 → 5:08 am

“Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end.” – Sonnet 60

Classes start again at the university and winter vacation is most certainly at an end (really, it was over for me weeks earlier when I attended a conference in San Francisco, but still).  It is amazing how fast time can fly.  The good news is, the blog posts are back!

Filed under: Blog & Other