Not too long ago I read Will in the World, which is a (very well-) hypothesized biography of Shakespeare as we generally acknowledge him to be, i.e. the man from Stratford-on-Avon, etc. I read some other stuff in between (Corelli's Mandolin, recommended if you like Marquez; Tuck Everlasting; Island of the Blue Dolphins, good for a bit of nostalgia), and now I've just started Shakespeare by another Name, which is essentially a biography arguing that "Shakespeare" the author was actually Edward de Vere, [Seventeenth] Earl of Oxford.
So far I've only read the introduction and maybe half of the first chapter, but I'm already blown away by the difference in these two ideas. I don't think the author of the de Vere bio is specifically targeting the work done in Will in the World, necessarily, but he's already blown so many holes in the typical idea of Will Shakespeare that I'm already finding it difficult to believe that "Shakespeare" was a reasonably uneducated, middle-class actor from the country. Honestly, if you look at it that way, it sounds downright silly.
More will be said on this subject when I'm a little further in. Expect at least a book report, and at most a full-blown essay comparing the two theories. Whee, fun.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
Little Miss S
I have, at many points, vowed eternal love for Pandora.com. My favorite thing is to be minding my own business and be suddenly confronted with a song I love and probably haven't heard in many, many years. I just got hit with one such song: Little Miss S by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. I used to have the tape. I bought it used at The Emporium. Little Miss S was probably my favorite song on the album. It's like greeting a long-lost friend when one hears a strain of music, forgotten but familiar, and clicks over to see what it is. The heart leaps upon the realization. No, seriously.
The funny thing is, listening to it again, recalling the lyrics, I've no idea why I ever liked it so much. I think part of it was merely the title. I am, after all, a little miss S. But check out the lyrics. Those don't describe me in the slightest. Never could, never would. What's fascinating, though, is that I think Edie Brickell foresaw the future in some fashion. This song doesn't describe me, but it gets someone like Paris Hilton spot on. It absolutely describes the celebutante (don't you just love that word?) in all her trashy glory. How'd she do it? I suppose there's nothing new about the concept of a talentless rich girl, living fast and leaving a good-looking corpse, but they really seemed to be a somewhat recent phenomenon, didn't they? They fascinate me. They hold such power over the general population; somehow convincing us that they are beautiful, or talented, or important, when they're really probably just dysfunctional messes, begging for fleeting attention in place of meaningful relationships. We live vicariously through them when in fact we probably have much better lives. Think about it next time you wish you were rich and famous. Would you trade that life for your friends, your family? I don't think I would.
I guess there wasn't really a grand and glorious point to this, but I told myself that I'd wait until something really caught my attention before talking about it here. Nothing like the emergence of an old friend to take you out of yourself, at least for a little while.
The funny thing is, listening to it again, recalling the lyrics, I've no idea why I ever liked it so much. I think part of it was merely the title. I am, after all, a little miss S. But check out the lyrics. Those don't describe me in the slightest. Never could, never would. What's fascinating, though, is that I think Edie Brickell foresaw the future in some fashion. This song doesn't describe me, but it gets someone like Paris Hilton spot on. It absolutely describes the celebutante (don't you just love that word?) in all her trashy glory. How'd she do it? I suppose there's nothing new about the concept of a talentless rich girl, living fast and leaving a good-looking corpse, but they really seemed to be a somewhat recent phenomenon, didn't they? They fascinate me. They hold such power over the general population; somehow convincing us that they are beautiful, or talented, or important, when they're really probably just dysfunctional messes, begging for fleeting attention in place of meaningful relationships. We live vicariously through them when in fact we probably have much better lives. Think about it next time you wish you were rich and famous. Would you trade that life for your friends, your family? I don't think I would.
I guess there wasn't really a grand and glorious point to this, but I told myself that I'd wait until something really caught my attention before talking about it here. Nothing like the emergence of an old friend to take you out of yourself, at least for a little while.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Application of Self
When I told Andrew that I'd decided to return to this blog, he asked me what I intended to do with it. I found myself stumbling through an attempted explanation of wanting to do various things: focus on varied interests, find some disclipline in furthering those interests...ultimately, I guess, I'm looking for lessons in application. In dealing with online networking, etc., one of the things we're often asked is "What are your interests?" I really kind of hate that question. I'm interested, to some degree, in so many things. The problem is that I don't really apply myself to most of them.
Maybe to any of them. I don't know where to begin.
I have a good friend who says that this is the curse of particularly intelligent individuals. We're doomed to find everything interesting, and to be unable to focus wholly on any one thing. We're never going to be the best at something. In a lot of ways, it's a really valid concept. I see it in him, myself, many of those closest to me. And so my question becomes, how do I change this?
While I was in school, it was easy to ignore this lack of application. There was always something immediately demanding attention and application: a paper, an exam, something to be read. Now that I'm an "adult", I don't have that out anymore. Why do you think I'm in such a hurry to go back to school, yet again? The thing is, there really are things to which I could apply myself. Now's the time to develop hobbies, to find out what I like and what interests me, to delve further into how my brain works, and how I view the world. I'm even sort of half-heartedly working on professional interests, eyeing a topic that will most likely make for some pretty interesting and potentially important research. Still, I feel afraid of the notion. I feel that I'll just talk about it, maybe do some research when there's nothing better to do, and never really do anything about it.
Yes, I'm talking about discipline. I don't have it in any great abundance. I'd like to, if only because I believe that it would lead to a better understanding of me. I look at the things I say and do, the things I "blog" about, and I realize that they're so shallow. If we watched a movie last night, I'll say that I liked it, perhaps, but I'll hardly ever say why. Same with anything else.
Does any of this make any sense? It's really just something to work on. And I guess that the only way to work on it is to make the effort to go an inch further, for now, into the things I choose to discuss. Hence, this blog will (theoretically) be an experiment in deeper thought. Probably about shallow topics to start with, since it might be easiest to analyze a song I'm currently obsessed with, or a movie we see, or a random item of internet-ness that I feel the need to share. Start small, eh? I don't know if I want to discuss any professional ideas, as someone could conceivably steal my ideas. Is that silly and paranoid?
Just some thoughts for a Sunday afternoon. If I take them to heart, I'll get off the computer directly and go DO something with myself. Ask me later if I made it to the gym.
Maybe to any of them. I don't know where to begin.
I have a good friend who says that this is the curse of particularly intelligent individuals. We're doomed to find everything interesting, and to be unable to focus wholly on any one thing. We're never going to be the best at something. In a lot of ways, it's a really valid concept. I see it in him, myself, many of those closest to me. And so my question becomes, how do I change this?
While I was in school, it was easy to ignore this lack of application. There was always something immediately demanding attention and application: a paper, an exam, something to be read. Now that I'm an "adult", I don't have that out anymore. Why do you think I'm in such a hurry to go back to school, yet again? The thing is, there really are things to which I could apply myself. Now's the time to develop hobbies, to find out what I like and what interests me, to delve further into how my brain works, and how I view the world. I'm even sort of half-heartedly working on professional interests, eyeing a topic that will most likely make for some pretty interesting and potentially important research. Still, I feel afraid of the notion. I feel that I'll just talk about it, maybe do some research when there's nothing better to do, and never really do anything about it.
Yes, I'm talking about discipline. I don't have it in any great abundance. I'd like to, if only because I believe that it would lead to a better understanding of me. I look at the things I say and do, the things I "blog" about, and I realize that they're so shallow. If we watched a movie last night, I'll say that I liked it, perhaps, but I'll hardly ever say why. Same with anything else.
Does any of this make any sense? It's really just something to work on. And I guess that the only way to work on it is to make the effort to go an inch further, for now, into the things I choose to discuss. Hence, this blog will (theoretically) be an experiment in deeper thought. Probably about shallow topics to start with, since it might be easiest to analyze a song I'm currently obsessed with, or a movie we see, or a random item of internet-ness that I feel the need to share. Start small, eh? I don't know if I want to discuss any professional ideas, as someone could conceivably steal my ideas. Is that silly and paranoid?
Just some thoughts for a Sunday afternoon. If I take them to heart, I'll get off the computer directly and go DO something with myself. Ask me later if I made it to the gym.
Back again.
Well, we see what happened with that particular idea. Not a thing. I decided that hanging out on LJ was more important, given that's where my friends were, and that's how I communicated and kept in touch with them. Of course, now I also have a Myspace, because there's a collection of friends over there. And now, I'm thinking again about having a more "grown-up" and somehow more adult-friendly "blog" as opposed to an LJ. I still don't think there's a difference. But I'm willing to entertain the notion. Maybe I'll post different things here. Maybe I'll just cross-post. Who knows? I can be spontaneous...I'm completely allowed. So there.
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