July 16th, 2012 → 8:30 am
“Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog.” – Macbeth
I’m traveling right now and stuck in airports…and the above curse just felt right right now.
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
July 8th, 2012 → 6:15 am
“Good company, good wine, good welcome
Can make good people.” – Henry VIII
It definitely feels like summer now. With all the birthday parties, holidays, and in-law visits, it’s been weeks of picnics, barbeques, parades, and light beer in the sun. This is exactly what summer should feel like.
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
July 4th, 2012 → 7:44 am
“It is my birthday.” – Antony and Cleopatra
Ok, so that is a lame quote. But I wanted to shout out a happy birthday today to both my country, and my baby, who was born exactly two years ago today. Happy Birthday Loves!!!!!!!
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
June 17th, 2012 → 6:24 am
“Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter;
Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty;
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honor;
As much as child e’er loved, or father found;
A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable;
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.” – King Lear
I realize that this speech is disingenuous, said by the conniving Goneril to her unsuspecting father the King. But pretending for a moment that it is real, it could be a nice homage to fathers. And on this father’s day, I wish I could say something as poetic (albeit genuine) to my own father. Happy Father’s Day to all the hard-working, caring, loving fathers out there!
June 5th, 2012 → 7:57 am
“Britain’s a world by itself.” – Cymbeline
I have to admit that though I do not wish for a monarchy in the U.S. (thank you very much for trying Bushs and Clintons), I do enjoy following the British monarchy from time to time. Something about all that pomp and circumstance, I don’t know, maybe it reminds me a bit of the theatre. 🙂 Either way, congratulations on a 60-year reign Queen Elizabeth, and I’m sorry your husband got sick.
May 28th, 2012 → 8:30 am
“I summon up remembrance of things past.” – Sonnet 30
On this Memorial Day I take a minute to remember those that have passed away, both in war and simply in general. Sonnet 30 is, of course, a perennial favorite of Shakespeare’s, perhaps because while it contemplates loss and sad things past, it also ends on a hopeful note of friendship. I love this sonnet, so, I just can’t help it, I’m going to paste the entire thing below:
“When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste;
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep afresh love’s long since canceled woe,
And moan th’ expense of many a vanished sight.
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.”
May 24th, 2012 → 8:15 am
“Mistress, know yourself. Down on your knees
And thank heaven, fasting, for a good man’s love;
For I must tell you friendly in your ear,
Sell when you can, you are not for all markets.” – As You Like It
It’s scary how much Shakespeare sounds like an actual pimp there, isn’t it? Did they have sex trafficking in 16th century England? Sadly, probably…. Lately I’ve been hearing a lot about sex trafficking here in the U.S. It’s unbelievable in this day and age. Absolutely unbelievable. And, frankly, infuriating.
May 18th, 2012 → 8:16 am
“Commit
The oldest sins the newest kind of ways?” – Henry IV
I’m starting to freak out as a mother. Lately I’ve been reading a bunch of articles about how hard it is to protect your children nowadays, mainly due to the ubiquitous internet. Kids can bully each other 24/7 now with Facebook and instant messaging; porn is nearly impossible to screen on mobiles and home computers. Bullying and porn are old sins, of course, but now being performed in new virtual ways. It’s kind of making me freak out a little bit. How will I protect my baby as he gets older?!?!?!?
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
May 12th, 2012 → 7:50 am
“Have more than thou showest,
Speak less than thou knowest,
Lend less than thou owest,
Ride more than thou goest,
Learn more than thou trowest,
Set less than thou throwest.” – King Lear
Barry Edelstein, a theater director who has staged more than half of Shakespeare’s plays, asserts that the quote above is an ideal commencement quote. So, in honor of commencements everywhere (and in particular at the University of Missouri-St. Louis this weekend), don’t ever bet all your chips on one roll of the dice (i.e. a paraphrase of the last line of the above quote).
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.