Sonnet #2016 If Shakespeare saw beyond the mask of death Sir Walter’s face stamped on this legal tryst, I think he’d turn to Richard, to Macbeth, to see what strain of tyranny he’d missed. He could not understand the roots of power so well as all the teachers have portrayed yet be so speechless onContinue reading “Sonnet #2016, for North Carolina”
Over the weekend, I headed outside the city to attend Raffaldini Vineyards’ Assemblaggio! Grande Riserva Trials. Wine blending? Why not? For two hours, our group enjoyed the good company, savory wines, beautiful scenery, and lots of the laughter that accompanies untrained, amateur wine blending. As part of the trial, each group had to invent aContinue reading “Wine Not?”
Today is a big day for Shakespeareans and other early modernists: Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are king’s. The skeleton provides a great deal of tentative information about Richard’s physique (scoliosis, yes; withered arm, probably not) and also his death. His skeleton had suffered 10 injuries, including eight to the skull, at around theContinue reading “Poor Richard’s Bones”
(also known as Twelfth Night) (Shakespeare) (!!!) On the twelfth day of Christmas, my locale gave to me… Twelve mindless blog posts Eleven ’13 planners Ten freezing fingers Nine more to-do lists Eight resolutions Seven Frisbee bruises Six mountain mouse heads Five RayLen wines Four to-do lists Three deadlines Two aspirin and a deer crossingContinue reading “The Twelfth Day of Christmas”
In the spirit of the yesterday’s events, I entered into a friendly wager about the outcome of the presidential election. Barack Obama would win the electoral college, I asserted, but lose the popular vote. Well, as you probably know by now, by “lose,” I meant “win by 300,000 votes.” Also in the spirit of theContinue reading “Conceding with Greats”
I’m sitting in a narrow hallway outside a coffee shop and bookstore called Shakespeare & Company. The door of this coffee/beer/wine/book/cooking supply shop has not one but five Christmas jingle bells hanging from the knob, to be certain the proprietors don’t miss a guest’s approach. (The bells’ effectiveness is undermined somewhat by the fact thatContinue reading “In Shakespeare’s Company”
Snark on the Side 