To Be or Not to Be: Reading Shakespeare

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It suddenly struck me, not that long ago, that I’ve never really mentioned much about a particular author who goes by the name William Shakespeare. I was first introduced to him through our homeschool's production of The Taming of the Shrew. I was eight or so, and found it hilarious, even with the hard-to-understand Elizabethan vernacular. (It was even more hysterical due to the fact that they set the play in the 1970s…just imagine the costumes!)

In addition to The Taming of the Shrew, I love Much Ado About Nothing and I also have fond memories of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But the Shakespeare play that I have the most interesting history with is probably the oft-quoted Hamlet.

It all started in the 10^th grade when for extra credit I had to read Hamlet. I had read plenty of other Shakespeare plays – The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, and Romeo and Juliet, for example, but we had gone through them as a class, and this was just something kind of “extra” that we didn’t really discuss. Well, I was completely lost. I got the basics of the storyline, but mostly I just waded through it and was supremely thankful when I was done and that I’d never have to look at it again.

Well, God obviously had other plans, because next year I took a Shakespeare class and had to read it, and then Senior year in British Literature I had to read it again. And somehow, Hamlet became the only tragedy that I actually liked. Not to mention, I also own a 1911 copy of the book.

Not only is it supremely quotable, but Hamlet himself fascinated me- still does. It wasn’t that I liked the characters- I was more intrigued by them, really (although, despite his flaws, I do have a sneaking fondness for Hamlet. I always end up feeling really bad for him.)

BBC's modern-day Hamlet, starring David Tennant as Hamlet

Sadly, I haven’t yet seen any whole movie versions of Hamlet, although in Shakespeare class we did watch two versions of the “to be or not to be” speech- the first done by Mel Gibson, the second by Kenneth Branagh. (and I'm about halfway through BBC's Hamlet at the moment, although I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to get to the other half)

Hamlet 1996 starring Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet and Kate Winslet as Ophelia.

It’s thanks to that Shakespeare class that I’ve read as many of his plays that I have. And I really don’t like some of them. I hated Othello- talk about depressing! And Macbeth kind of freaked me out. Shakespeare also has a habit of being bawdy at times (although with the hard language, this also flies right over my head many a time, thank goodness.)

Yay, everybody's happy. Finally.

The one I have the most mixed feelings about it Much Ado About Nothing- it’s both my favorite and my least favorite of his plays. Favorite, because I adore Benedict and Beatrice, and least favorite, because I hate the story between Claudio and Hero. But I mostly like it because, well….Beatrice and Benedict are just hysterical! Though there is definitely some needless content, the ’93 movie is really funny (if you have a clearplay, of course) and again, BBC has done a version I really, really want to see. 

…And The Taming of the Shrew starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton? More hilarity! (Although the women’s gowns are so low it’s definitely not a movie to watch with brothers)

About two or three years ago, my high school drama group did a performance of a Midsummer Night’s Dream, where I played Helena. My friends, I thought I liked reading Shakespeare. Acting it is a million times more fun!

Reading Shakespeare is an interesting experience. I’m not a whole-hearted fan of everything he’s written (I spend most of Romeo and Juliet complaining to myself about how everyone is acting stupid, basically) and I haven’t read (or even approve!) of all his works. But each of them have a timeless quality. There's endless controversy about everything in Shakespeare's life- but one thing that most everyone can agree on is that these plays are masterpieces. You really can set almost every one of his plays in a different setting, time, or location, and they’d still make perfect sense. And that really is a mark of brilliance. 

What about you? What's your favorite of Shakespeare's plays?

Here We are Halfway Through May

The time for picnics is here.

I just want to thank all of you who participated in the Childhood Memories Blog Party! I had a lot of fun reading everybody’s answers to the tag!

It’s hard to believe we’re halfway through May already! It seems like the year just started. I’ve been quite busy with both my writing and my reading lately. (I’ve printed up Hidden Pearls in its entirety and I’ve gone through it with my pen. Now I just need to make those changes on the computer document!)

I’ve also had to do something that was really hard for me, writing-wise. For the past six months, I’ve been steadily working on my fantasy (known here as TDITEN), but something about it just wasn’t right. I wasn’t satisfied with my writing, which seemed flat and lifeless. So…I’ve put it aside. Not forever, but for a while until I can toss it around in my mind some more. I’ve been thinking of making some major changes to it- including changing my villain entirely- so I needed to stop writing for awhile.

That left me at some loose ends, because my fantasy was going to be a three-book series, and those were the next three things I was planning on writing. That meant I actually had to pick apart my carefully planned writing schedule and choose something to write next. I’ve also started working on a series of novellas involving time-travel, but they are still in their infancy, so I’m not really sure how everything in them is going to turn out.

And now, Amy tagged me with the infamous tag of elevens, which means I have to name 11 random things about myself, and then answer her 11 questions. The 11 random things part is always a little awkward and hard to think of. But I did come up with some….

1. A couple days ago, I made taffy for the first time.  My first batch was too hard, and my second batch too soft. So the next time I make it, it should be just right.

2. I bought a violin, and have been trying to teach myself to play, but I haven’t picked it up in a good two weeks…I need to start up again!

3.The only thing I can play on said violin is the first several notes of the theme to North and South.

4. I’m currently reading The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood for the Classics Club.

5. Last month we watched Wreck-it-Ralph on our clearplay and I loved it.

6. Speaking of Clearplay, the site finally got a filter for the first season of Doctor Who, and I’m sort of thinking I might have had a hand in that, because Emily and I literally sent about twenty requests to them to get a filter for it.

7. I’m slightly obsessed with names, and always have been. In fact, I have a massive list of all of my favorite names. Of course, I’d have to have at least forty kids to use up all of them, so that’s one of the nice things about being a writer. I get to use some of those names I love.

8. I don’t like heights.

9. Whenever I go to the dentist, I have to say Joshua 1:9 to myself so I don’t freak out.

10. Yesterday was the first time I read an Agatha Christie mystery that didn’t make me feel like an absolute idiot. I actually solved most of it! *happy dance* Poirot would be proud.

11. I think Ice Cream should be a food group.

1.  Have you ever eaten caviar?  If so, what was it like?  If not, would you be willing to try it someday? Ick. No, I have not and I don’t really want to. (Although I have eaten escargot once. But I was a toddler who didn’t know any better and thus ate whatever my dad saw fit to place into my mouth. :)

2.  When did you first learn to ride a bike? Hmmm….I think I was seven. I just know that I was terrible at it and it took me forever to learn, and my younger sister got the hang of it before I did. She’s never let me live that down!

3.  Elizabeth Gaskell or Charles Dickens? (I leave Jane Austen out of it, we all KNOW she's the best...) Dear me, this is not easy! I like them both for different things….but probably Charles Dickens.

4.  What's your favorite long/interesting/complex word? Supercalifragisticexpialidocious, of course.

5.  Put your music playing device on shuffle and tell us the names of the first three songs that come up, no skipping. “Like a Star” by Britt Nicole; “Garbage In” by Tal and Acacia, and “McQueen and Sally” from my Pixar’s Greatest CD. Honestly, somehow I got three of the most obscure songs ever. *shrugs* I have a habit of uploading entire cds from our collection and then only listening to, like, three songs on each cd.

6.  What's the funniest dream you ever had? I’m a lucid dreamer, which means that I’m always aware while I’m dreaming and I know that I’m dreaming, which makes dreaming itself a little awkward sometimes :) I have not had any particularly funny dreams lately, but apparently the other night my sister dreamed that I hugged Benedict Cumberbatch in a cafeteria at a theme park….does that count? (And apparently in the same dream my sister met Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant...WHERE WAS I???)

7.  How many plays have you seen performed live? (School plays and amateur productions totally count.)  Umm…. Let me see….The Taming of the Shrew, The Secret Garden, A Christmas Carol, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Antigone, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Diary of Anne Frank, Alice in Wonderland, and the musical Beauty and the Beast. We used to see a lot of stuff at the Dock Street Theater when I was younger, so there are probably a few that I forgot to mention. But that’s at least ten.

8.  Mexican food, Chinese food or neither?  Why? MEXICAN! Actually, whenever we do go out to eat after church, it’s always either for Mexican or Chinese, because the family is sort of split half and half over what we like. I love, love, love Mexican, but I hate spicy food so I always have everything mild. I am not over fond of Chinese food, but the buffets usually have good old American food like Macaroni and Cheese and mashed potatoes and stuff, too, so I don’t starve.

9.  Is there a name that you consistently mispronounced for years and then finally heard someone say it out loud and felt completely mortified for saying it wrong all that time? I’ve done this a lot. But one I remember specifically is from when I first read Jane Eyre. I had NO idea how to pronounce “Eyre.” So, I never said it out loud, because I knew I’d pronounce it wrong. Thank goodness for Jeopardy, which eventually taught me how to say it.

10.  Which Les Mis character are you? I did take the quiz and I am...Enjolras! (another name I pronounced wrong for a while…) I think the only reason I got him was because I'm not very good at caring for people's lonely souls. Which is not exactly a nice personality trait. 

11.  What's your favorite board game?  (it doesn't have to be an actual BOARD game... technically Bananagrams isn't a board game, but you know the genre I'm talking about) Well, again, it’s not exactly a “board’ game, but we recently started playing Catchphrase, which is really fun.

Giveaway Winners!

The Winners of the Childhood Memories Blog Party Giveaway are about to be announced!

Drumroll.....

*rifling through grocery bag filled with slips of contestants' paper*

wait for it.......

And the winner of the Ribbon Rose hairpins from Rose Garden Stitches is.... 

Meghan Gorecki!

And the winner of one dozen shortbread cookies from Butter Blossoms is... 

Elisabeth Grace Foley!

Congratulations, girls!

Please leave a comment with your email address so I can contact you! (Don't worry- I won't publish your comment!)

Childhood Memories: Pinterest Fun

There's only one more day to enter the giveaway! Hurry, now, hurry! :) Hopefully, I'll be posting the winners tomorrow night. But until then, here are a few "nostalgia" pins.

The kids from the magic school bus grew up to be Captain Planet planeteers! Never cared much for Captain Planet (do they still play those marathons on Earth day?) but the Magic School House was the best!

Childhood Memories Blog Party: The Songs I Remember

Here are the songs that I remember listening to when I was little....and still do. After all, I've only been an "adult" for eleven months! :D But I will say that music videos have come along way since....then. Although in general music videos even now rarely make a modicum of sense!

"I Believe in God" (ZOEgirl)
from the cd ZOEgirl (2000) We actually own every single one of the ZOEgirl cds except for the Life remix one. They were my sister's favorite group for a long time.

"Take You At Your Word" (Avalon)

from the cd In a Different Light (1999) We own quite of bit of their cds, though not really any of their newer ones.

"Dive" (Steven Curtis Chapman)

from the cd Speechless (1999)

"God is in Control" (Twila Paris)
from the cd Beyond a Dream (1993) Odd music video, but oh well.

"People Get Ready, Jesus is Coming" (Crystal Lewis)

from the cd Beauty for Ashes (1996)

"There You Go" (Caedmon's Call)

This is from the cd Forty Acres (1995) which we listened to CONSTANTLY. It was the only cd we kept in our old van, and we actually wore it out and had to buy a new one.

"The Other Side of the Radio" (Chris Rice)

from the cd Run the Earth, Watch the Sky (2003) This was one of those "Daddy songs" where whenever it come on the radio he'd roll down the windows and sing along. :)

"Shine" (Newsboys)

from the cd Going Public (1994) although we always listened to it on Shine: The Hits (2000)

I could fill an entire post with Newsboys songs. Really. (and no, this is not the offical music video. The music video is seriously like, the weirdest thing ever. So I spared you.)

"On My Knees" (Jaci Velasquez)

from the cd Heavenly Place (1996) I remember listening to quite a few of her songs, like "God So Loved" "Imagine Me Without You", and "Crystal Clear."

"One of These Days" (FFH)

from the cd I Wanna Be Like You (1994). My mom was a huge fan of FFH. We only owned this one of their cds, and it was played a lot.

And then...there's this one. When I was little, the only Christian radio station that we got played "3 in 1" - worship, contemporary...and Southern gospel. and though none of us were really Southern Gospel fans, there was one song that was our special song, because my dad would sing it to my brothers when he'd put them to sleep. I remember hearing them:

Dad: Oh I'd rather...

Sammy: Beeeee!

Dad: In a deep dark...

Sammy" graaaave!

and on for the entire song :)

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the song "Oh I'd rather be" so I can't show it to you :(

I wanted to do this post because I've been browsing on itunes, and have sort of exhausted all of my favorite "current" Christian artists, so I've been stumbling on all these guys thinking, "Hey! I remember you!"