Windrush Generation

April 25th, 2018 → 6:47 am

“England, that was wont to conquer others,
Hath made a shameful conquest of itself.” – Richard II

All countries make mistakes.  Treatment of the Windrush generation is definitely one of the UK’s.

Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians

All He Has Taught Me

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

Small Talk

April 14th, 2018 → 6:44 am

“Unless hours were cups of sack, and minutes capons,
and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of leaping houses,
and the blessed sun himself a fair hot wench in flame-colored taffeta,
I see no reason why thou shouldst be so superfluous
to demand the time of the day.” – Henry IV, Part I

This quote reminded me of my mother, who was famously bad at small talk. A woman in an elevator once said to my mother, “Nice weather we’re having.” To which she replied, “I find that insignificant.” Ah, my mother… A flawed but fierce woman, whom I miss terribly….

[Note: “leaping houses” refers to brothels, and “dials” to sundials]

Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life

White Privilege

April 7th, 2018 → 6:19 am

“Bless thee, Bottom, bless thee!  Thou art translated.” – A Midsummer Night’s Dream

I just finished reading Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race.  It’s a good book.  Well written, compelling.  Yes, it’s also uncomfortable at times (for me particularly, the section on white feminism), but it presents the kind of discussion the world needs to be having today.  I am so very grateful my black son has Barack Obama to look up to, and Wakanda to dream about, and a mixed community that is (relatively) welcoming.  But it’s no use denying that racism still exists, and we need more people to read more books like Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race.

Filed under: Blog