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Marcus Aurelius Book V

If:
The evil is not of my doing
nor the result of it
and the community it not endangered
why should it bother me

“Εἰ μήτε κακία ἐστὶ τοῦτο ἐμὴ μήτε ἐνέργεια κατὰ κακίαν ἐμὴν μήτε τὸ κοινὸν βλάπτεται, τί ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ διαφέρομαι, τίς δὲ βλάβη τοῦ κοινοῦ;

35. If this be no vice of mine nor the outcome of any vice of mine, and if the common interest does not suffer, why concern myself about it? And how can the common interest suffer?”

Of interest, historical to me, previous quote, previous entry 10/16/08.

Marcus Aurelius (meditations)

Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius

A free copy of Marcus Aurelius Meditationsis available here.

Olga Dies Dreaming

Can’t even say who, or which algorithm, picked this one. Library copy. I miss real librarians with reading glasses, making book suggestions.

“There’s this myth that white Americans don’t have a culture, but they absolutely do, and New England is the cradle of it.” Page 77.

There is that. We (white people) don’t notice it because we are enclosed. Encased. Not really a bragging point.

The book was — the blurbs suggested the most anticipated novel of 2022. Because of my location, I understand, at least some, of the references to cultural heritage that is not white. In the book, it’s that Puerto Rican element.

Cross-cultural boundaries, cross, I don’t know, I have a purposefully limited knowledge of New York City and its associated environs, so I can’t say.

“I worry though I read there’s revolution every day”

(Last line from Robert Earl Keen’s Mariano, originally off his “West Textures” Album.)

Current fiction reflects current events, and good fiction holds up a mirror, to see what we don’t see, otherwise. Wrapped in a modern love story?

Preaching with preaching, family, heritage, the American Dream, and politics.

Rather over-reaching in its scope, and possible goals, and yet? In my mind, thoroughly successful. Fun to read. Bonus points on style.

Olga Dies Dreaming

Shakespeare Textures

But first zombies? (See Taurus, first scope in the link.)

Shakespeare Textures

“If it prove so, then loving goes by haps:
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.”

Hero in Much Ado 3.1

I faced west, just as the sun slid below the horizon, hoping to get glittering glimpse of that thinnest shard of a new moon, or the heavenly spark of Mercury. No luck. Too close in the day’s wan light.

But after the evening’s revels had concluded? The night sky, far from city lights, just outstanding.

The three plays, Two Noble Kinsmen, The Winter’s Tale, and the ever-popular Much Ado About Nothing, all centered on love with loyalty and brotherhood as a backdrop. Palamon and Arcite in TNK, Claudio and Benedick in MAAN, and the two kings in TWT.

I was going someplace with that thought, and it never coalesced.

Bygones.

Shakespeare Textures

The whole of the expedition wasn’t solely “Shakespeare,” either. Wound up in Dallas with tickets to a ball game.

Go Rangers? Against the Orioles. Rangers coming off a good weekend in LA.

My only exposure to the Baltimore Orioles is through Tess Mongham’s creator, the wonderfully evocative Laura Lippman (excited she has a mini-series headed to Apple TV soon.)

That noted, the selling point for me, the logo. Probably offensive to someone, maybe birds, but I like it. But a ball game is a ball game.

Killer Bee seats, hat tip — Capricorn — for the hook up. First pitch, first inning, barely rolled in from the hot dogs and nachos, first guy up to bat for the Orioles, and it was that crack, the sound of the ball heading into the bleachers. Home run. The rest of the night didn’t go well for the Rangers. Stayed to the very end, enjoyed every moment, never got featured on the kiss cam, grateful for that, too. Just a great night at the ballpark, as long as one isn’t a Rangers’ fan.

I just thoroughly enjoyed a ball game.

Round Top Pop. 90

In the last half-dozen years or so, since I’ve been seeing Shakespeare at Winedale regularly? We’ve stayed in a variety of places in the area, most notable was the shipping containers turned into a hotel — the Flophouze. But in an effort to try more than one? Less costly? Back to air b-n-b. Apparently, Round Top is a major tourist, antique spot in the fall, but the rest of the year? Mostly just a small Texas town, although, certainly a lot fewer political flags this year — the truth will out¹.

My favorite air bnb oddity was an inexpensive backyard shed with a small refrigerator, plumbed for a tiny shower and toilet, plus an ac unit in a rich fishing town.

This last one in Round Top was, by far the most eccentric yet exactly as advertised, and an excellent place to stay. It had the perfect amount of kitsch and oddball architecture plus handwritten notes about the amenities, just so welcoming. Good bedding, nice linens, and luxurious bath towels. Turn down the road and go left after the second cattle guard. Sign says, “Hideaway.” The place should’ve come with instructions like, “Even if you arrive after dark, and they’ve taken the flag down, it’s the turn-off past the flag pole, then the color of the fence changes. Like, where the barn used to be? After the second cattle guard, bare to the right, follow the arrows on the old fence posts… you’ll recognize it when you see it.” Cozy, quaint, accessible, minutes from the town’s amenities yet secluded and rural.

Stunning night sky, too.

Really quiet save for the occasional lowing of the cattle.

1. “but in the end truth will out”

   Merchant of Venice (2.2.20) ↩

Much Ado About Nothing (Folger Shakespeare Library)

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing (Folger Shakespeare Library)
Must include a Constable Dogberry reference. And Ms. Emma Thompson?

“Much Ado About Nothing is a fine example of this Shakespearean genre of bromantic comedy, as Don John reveals.” Page 132.

(This Is Shakespeare by Emma Smith, cf., This is Shakespeare)

• Previously at Winedale, Much Ado About Nothing.

Rousing, laugh out loud funny show.

There’s a special note, a tiny comedic piece within the play, Dogberry and his watch that bumbles us to the happy conclusion? As noted before, Micheal Keaton fresh from his ‘Beetlejuice’ role, played it the best, and set a standard I had yet to see equaled. Done admirably, but always a hollow ape of the that magic film version. At Winedale, the returning actor who had the role? He owned it. Made it his own. With nary a hint of film, or outside antics, he did it better than I’ve seen in very long time, if ever. Live.

It’s not the whole play, and just a small scene, but watching that particular actor do it, and do so well with it, he just took it over. Fitting end to wonder ours comedic cycle.

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing (Folger Shakespeare Library)
Too many to list: Horoscopes with “Much Ado About Nothing”.

The Winters Tale

The Winter’s Tale (Folger Shakespeare Library)

“Shakespeare’s violent tragedies may have been popular more because they were the plays most proximate to the pleasures of blood sports than because they were philosophically elevated and meaningful.” Page 287.

• This Is Shakespeare by Emma Smith.

On the heels of my uncertainty about Two Noble Kinsmen, which says more about me than the masterful performance, my previous engagement with The Winter’s Tale comes from seeing it, at Winedale, pre-millennia.

Quote from Leontes. Previously here and here.

From an academic view, there was a plot device that would yield a teaching point in my astrology, as I plumb the depth of various bits of the human psyche.

Knowing how the play will end, previously noted as favorite performance, I shed a tiny tear of joy. The performance was that good.

Really well done by the cast & crew. Remarkable in feeling and delivery, and even better, under a hot summer’s sun.

The Winters Tale

The Winter’s Tale (Folger Shakespeare Library)