Trick-or-Treating

October 31st, 2014 → 5:57 am

“We talk with goblins, owls, and sprites.” – The Comedy of Errors

And pirates, princesses, and superheros – all costumes my son’s friends will wear tonight.  Happy Halloween!  I can’t wait to go trick-or-treating.

Filed under: Blog & Other

Lute Strings, Bagpipes, and Other Instruments Made from Animal Parts

October 23rd, 2014 → 6:08 am

“Is it not strange that sheep’s guts should hale souls out of men’s bodies?” – Much Ado About Nothing

I agree.  It is weird to contemplate…

Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Other

Fear of Ebola

October 20th, 2014 → 6:06 am

Albany:  “You may fear too far.”

Goneril:  “Safer than trust too far.”  – King Lear

Ebola panic is spreading…

Filed under: Blog & Other

Lack of Sleep

October 15th, 2014 → 5:34 am

“What art thou that usurp’st this time of night?” – Hamlet

I haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep in ages, it feels like.  Damn you, usurper of the night…

Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life

Man’s Best Friend

October 10th, 2014 → 6:14 am

“Ask my dog:  if he say ‘ay’, it will; if he say ‘no’, it will;
if he shakes his tail, and say nothing, it will.”  – Two Gentlemen of Verona

I was heartbroken to read that the dog of the nurse in Spain who was infected with the Ebola virus, Excalibur, was put down this week.  Poor dog!  Dogs are such good companions – they do what we say and comfort us when we’re sad and now, apparently, give their lives for us when demanded.

Filed under: Blog & Other

Ebola

September 17th, 2014 → 5:46 am

“I found him under a tree like a dropped acorn.” – As You Like It

I keep reading reports, posted alongside gruesome photos, of people dying in the streets, outside of hospitals, under trees and beside rivers where the Ebola virus struck them down or family members abandoned them for fear of catching the disease themselves.  It is ghastly.

Filed under: Blog & Other

Unwitting Guest Post – A Ferguson Mother

September 12th, 2014 → 5:52 am

“I don’t take sides.  At the end of the day, whoever gets cut, they’re going to bleed red.” – Chamaya Johnson

I read this quote from a Ferguson, MO mother the other day and I was struck by how much it echoed Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice:  “If you prick us, do we not bleed?  If you tickle us, do we not laugh?  If you poison us, do we not die?”  We are all human.  We are all in this together.  Amen.

Filed under: Blog & Other

Marriage

September 10th, 2014 → 6:54 am

“Get thee a good husband, and use him as he uses thee.” – All’s Well That Ends Well

Two girlfriends of mine just announced their engagements this week.  How exciting!

Filed under: Blog & Other

Schoolwork

September 7th, 2014 → 5:41 am

“Study is like the heaven’s glorious sun.” – Love’s Labor’s Lost

We’re three weeks into the fall semester and homeworks are being turned in, essay written, exams stressed over.  All you students with slumped shoulders and drawn-out gait, remember, that study is like heaven’s glorious sun – as it brings knowledge, light, certainty, and understanding.  What could be better?

Filed under: Blog & Other

Andrew Madoff

September 4th, 2014 → 6:08 am

“Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all.
Close up his eyes, and draw the curtain close;
And let us all to meditation.”  – Henry VI

Bernie Madoff‘s second son, Andrew, died yesterday.  His first son committed suicide two years to the day of his father’s conviction.   Andrew died of cancer, but he has said the cancer came because of the stress of his father’s actions.  I don’t know if the sons are also guilty (they always claimed innocence), but their death is certainly tragic.  The entire Madoff arc is tragic.  One big, enormous, heartbreaking tragedy.

Filed under: Blog & Other & Stupid/Evil People