As You Like It February 3, 2008
Posted by brandy in Me & the Bard, confession of the day, getting my smart on!, it makes sense to me, it seemed like a good idea at the time..., it's always easier to say it than do it, learning, p.s. i love me, self improvement, this tag is for you Arm!, when beauty queens boost my ego.trackback
Confession- My first choice was the solar system. This stemmed from a conversation I had with my brother during a long drive home when I realized I couldn’t name the planets in order. I was shocked. So in an attempt to deflect my ignorance, I proceeded to make various Uranus jokes.
Because sometimes I’m mature like that.
On Friday I still hadn’t fully decided what I was going study when I got a phone message from the library. A book I had forgotten I requested was in. The book? Interred with Their Bones (recommended by Bre). A Da Vinci Code-esque like tale centered around the idea of finding Shakespeare’s missing play “Cardenio” (a play that Shakespeare actually wrote but has since gone missing).
A woman calling to tell me a book about Shakespeare was waiting for me at the library? Sure I wasn’t seeing the image of King Lear in my burnt toast, but this felt like a sign.
Later that day my mom called to let me know she had seen an ad for a wine night and had spontaneously signed us up.
And THAT felt like God was holding up a light up arrow pointing towards “Wine and Wine tasting”.
So I’ve decided to do both. The wine tasting will be a year long goal. I like the idea of letting my wine knowledge ripen over the course of the year (see what I did there? Man, wordplay is easier when I’m not hungover). This month is going to be dedicated to me and the Bard.
Being a fine arts student with a theatre obsession actually introduced me to a lot of the ‘Speare (he needs a new nickname. I’m working on it), though my experience was centered almost entirely on his tragedies and histories- so I’m not completely out of the realm of his world. In fact, in an effort to boost my party trick repertoire I *memorized Hamlet’s entire “To Be or Not To Be” soliloquy. Because what doesn’t GET THE PARTY STARTED like a zinger of a soliloquy that’s a few hundred years old? I’m shocked I didn’t suggest we really let loose and discuss our tax returns while knitting and sipping Sleepy Time tea.
I never planned on reviewing ALL of Shakespeare’s comedies in 29 days- that sounds like some reality television show stunt that I’m too lazy busy to be a part of. My goal was to narrow my focus after the topic was selected. I’ve decided to go with “As You Like It” and “Much Ado About Nothing”. From my brief reading summarizing all the comedies, these ones sound like real knee slappers and I like the titles. (Especially “As You Like It”- It sounds like something sort of naughty, but in a very highbrow way. Is that just me?) Also, DS is an expert on this one and I like knowing I can ask someone for clarification if needed.
And that’s that. Me and The Bard. A month dedicated to higher learning. To immersing myself in deep thought and words that will speak to my soul. A month dedicated to an example of mankind at it’s finest.
Which reminds me, Pageant Place is on tonight. Yes.
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Mike Harmon
Mmmmmm. Wine tasting. I’ll bet there are some awesome wine-tasting posts to come
During your studies of the Bard, do you plan on touching on the conspiracy that W.S. was just a pen name?
Oh, oh *pick ME!* – Much Ado About Nothing is one of my all time favorites!! I hope you like it
Wine tasting over the course of a year? Yes. That sounds about right. I’m thinking I should do this one, myself!
Also? You really know how to make a girl’s coffee come out of her nose – freakin’ hilarious!
oh my lord you are a glutton for punishment aren’t you?
Good luck!!
Good choices. I love those two plays. can’t wait until you get into them. I’d love to chat with you…. although I Have a feeling that you’re rediscover of the bard is going to lead to a rapid decrease in my ability to hold my own in scrabble. lol
Pretty sure that wine tasting is going to be oh-so-spectacular. Enjoy it!
I am in awe of your commitment to higher learning! I’m going to sheepishly say that my attempt at “higher learning” is reading A Thousand Splendid Suns and learning about one man’s impressions of a middle eastern country. It’s better than reading People all week, right?!
Wow, both of those things sound great! This is going to be a really good month.
Oh yay! One of the ones I picked got chosen! I’m glad you’re doing wine and wine tasting. I’m interested in reading about what you learn!
Hmm, let’s call him Bill the Bard. Good luck with this. When I was doing some graduate work in Shakespeare, I became fond of the superbly-made BBC series of the plays on VHS (long time ago!). I would pull out my massive “Complete Works of” and follow along reading while listening and looking up to watch. My professor admitted to doing the same thing through grad school. It’s very enjoyable! And my suggestion is to start with Twelfth Night…bizarre love triangles, cross-dressing, mistaken identity, comic subplot. You can’t go wrong!
I like r.x.o’s idea – it makes it easier to follow the language and see where a joke is hit, because sometimes, reading the Bard’s language can mean missing some points that are freaking hilarious. I am all for ghosts and cross-dressing, lots of gender uprisals, and you get both with “Much Ado About Nothing” and “As You Like It.” I actually saw Much Ado at the Globe Theater in London, with an all-female cast (to play against the all-male tradition), and loved it. It takes a quick person to be able to play with Shakespeare and make it work.
Definitely e-mail me, I love talking Shakespeare.
I’ll drink to a year of learning about wine. What’s better than wine (not counting straight liquor.)
Sounds like a good month. Wine and Shakespeare (Shakey McSpeare!? Alright, that was just bad.)
I love randomly learning new things and studying new subjects. Let me know how the wine-tasting goes.
Good choice on the Shakespeare and wine. My Shakes-education (that’s the best I could do; Shakeducation and Shakesucation just didn’t work) began and ended with my small role in MacBeth a couple years ago. However, the brilliant actress who played Lady MacBeth in that production is a huuuuge Shakescholar (that worked better) AND a blogger – http://angelaboration.blogspot.com – so if you have aaaany questions, check her out.
I am reading this post as I sip tea out of my Dirty Shakespearean Quotes mug. “Low countries.” “Dart of love.” “Clack dish.” Good lord, he’s so bawdy.
Also, I referred to him as Shakes when I was taking my seminar on him in college. It worked for me, and I’d be more than happy to lend you the nickname
ooh i’m excited about this! you should try a sonnet or two while you’re at it, too. i particularly like sonnet 20. i feel like it gives me permission to look into his personal life. you could spent days – or years – on that sonnet alone. good luck with it all!
Renee flatters me. But I have taken several First Folio-centric acting classes. I have a great love of Shakespeare And I’d love to chat about him, if you want someone to chat with. Let me know.
As You Like It is lovely. I haven’t read Much Ado in years, but if I remember correctly, there is a subplot that is far more interesting than the main plot. And, as always, it’s really so much better to see them than to read them. After all, Shakespeare didn’t intend for his works to be read. He wrote for actors.
Oh, and you can always just call him Will or Bill. That’s what I do.
Smart move giving yourself a year to learn about wine. Why not set a goal to host your own wine tasting at the end of the year and invite some friends?
If you are interested in any supplementary reading this month, there is a book called “Filthy Shakespeare” by Pauline Kiernan. Check out the contents page to see if you think it will improve your learning:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1905204752/ref=sib_dp_pop_toc?ie=UTF8&p=S00C#reader-link
WOOT! You’re really going to enjoy the wine tasting, and I’ve found that wine does indeed make Shakespears comedies even FUNNIER. I don’t know if this is because of heightened awareness or drunkeness.. but either way it’s good times all around.
Mike- Thanks for stopping bye!
Emma- Fingers crossed I do wine justice with my posts.
Silverneurotic- Nope, I’m going to strictly study the plays, however the book I mentioned in the review really goes into the theories- it was fascinating!
Rye- I hope I like it too! The wine tasting one definitely does sound like a great year round goal, I think it’s going to be a blast.
Mez- I think I might be. Now I’m wondering why I didn’t make my February goal – “Read Us Weekly magazines while trying to fit 58 M&M’s in my mouth at once”. Sigh. Oh well.
CableGirl- I never even thought of how this will affect my Scrabulous skills! Yes!!
Deutlich- Yep, I’m thinking it should be fun, though I may have to ask for some suggestions to get me started…
Nilsa- Hey! I wanted to read that. Is it good??
Jess- Fingers crossed.
Jamie- I will try to make it interesting. I’m thinking their might have to be some visuals…
r.xo- Bill the Bard, it’s on the list. I have a friend suggest “Willy”, but I don’t think I can do that. As for the BBC- I’ve already got them on order from the library but I like the idea of reading the text while watching the movie. Definitely makes sense that it would make the whole thing more enjoyable. Thanks for the tip!
distracted spunk- The Globe theatre? I’m quite jealous now! And thanks for your advice, I can see me emailing in a week asking ‘what the hell is going on?!’. Be prepared.
qu33nbee- Shakey. I like it. And I like the fact that other people are going to drink to the idea of me drinking.
holywriting- Yep, I like picking random topics so I can improve myself (actually, I just like knowing at least ONE answer while watching Jeopardy!).
Renee- Oh thanks for the link! MacBeth is one of my favourite plays- not just of Shakespeare, but of all time.
A Lil’Irish Lass- Nice! I think I may have to gift myself something Shakespearean after this month as a nice reward. Perhaps a mug? And Shakes sounds good to me!
Kristin- If I have time I will definitely work in some sonnets. But I will be checking out the one you suggested for sure- I like personal recommendations!
Angela- Sadly there’s no Shakespearean performances going on here right now, so I will have to settle for books and old videos, but I do agree- any play is better to be seen than read. And I may be taking you up on your offer to chat. I would love to hear more about the actors perspective to these two works.
Diane Mandy- You. Are. A. Genius.
Zosia- Nice. I especially like the chapter titled “pertaining to wanking”. That’s a word I think I need to use more.
Carrie- Ha! I like to think that wine makes anything funnier, so I really like the idea of combining the two.
You are a brave girl tackling Shakespeare. I couldn’t read his plays if my life depended on it (you know I was busting out the Cliff notes on those).
I’ve been to a few wine shows and even made a weekend away out of a wine tasting and all I got out of it was, red = good, wine = good and quickest to make me drunk.
hahaha – i JUST watched pageant place for the first time last night. how so catty and FANTASTIC, i must watch more!!
What a great decision – I think it will prove to be facinating and telling – and you can then give all of us a lesson on our ‘Speare
I was so tempted to type this comment in Iambic Pentameter, but alas, I never properly studied Shakespeare. O what dark sorrows now command me for I was but too lazy in my younger times…
Airam- We shall see how brave I actually am. I’m 8 pages in and so far have stopped 3 times from reading to do various URGENT tasks like change my slippers and get a new slice of lemon for my tea. And as for wine… I’m with you on red. I can’t wrap my brain around white wine tasting good.
libby- Isn’t though?? I love how intense they all are! And apparently there is a big brawl over dinner the next episode?? I can’t wait.
PE- Fingers crossed that I actually make it through all the reading… oy.
MC- Iambic pentameter? THAT would have been impressive. Perhaps after 29 days of study I will write a post in… no nevermind. I’m not going to get crazy.
OH! Good choice! I absolutely love Shakespeare. I can recite most of King Lear (sad: me. I’m outing myself as a nerd). Much Ado is fantastic and there is a brilliant movie adaption (if you want to cheat…)
Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite of Shakespeare’s comedies. Mainly b/c the title totally says it all. It’s Much Ado About Nothing. There’s really no point to it but it’s so beautifully written and you find yourself laughing out loud at parts. It’s amazing.
I’m so excited that you chose Shakespeare! And those 2 comedies at that! Yay!
Good luck with this one! Sounds quite interesting actually. Better than the US Weekly’s and OK! magazines that I’ve been so addicted to recently- you know, mindless shit about other people’s lives as an escape from my own. Although, I did start The Kite Runner, and I’m quite liking it.
Woohoo! Go you! I have always done better with seeing the live play than reading when it comes to Shakespere- I’m impressed.
I’ll be curious to know if you find the humor that a lot of people miss.
(That way, I won’t have to feel like the only dork in the room like I did in my college’s summer Shakespere festival because I was laughing during Much Ado About Nothing and no one else got it.)
Yippee! I’ve got my #2 pencils sharpened and ready to take notes in my spiral bound! Are we going to learn about Alicia Silverstone in this class or Gwyneth Paltrow (I want to understand where “Apple” came from)?
well at least you’ll be able to get a nice buzz while you’re learning!
Rosanna- I love that all us nerds are coming out of the woodwork.
littlespoon- Ohh now I’m excited!
Armie- We shall see how it goes but I’m HOPING it goes well!!
brookem- Ohh, I read that. You will have to tell me what you think when you finished. I didn’t see the movie though. Sometimes I think the movie ruins the book for me. (Hello, Atonement?)
justrun- Ohh the pressure is on! Thankfully (?) my brain naturally gravitates towards humor (mostly inappropriate times) so I hope I catch the jokes.
Evas- I think “Apple” came in a hallucination brough on my the microbiotic diet.
Michelle- That’s what I’m thinking too!
See, I didn’t read Atonement, but saw the movie. Hmm. What did you think of The Kite Runner?
brookem- I actually liked it. I don’t want to see the movie though, there’s a scene in the book that’s violently depicted on the screen (apparently) and I’m not good with seeing anything but unicorns and rainbows on the big screen. What did you think of Atonement? Okay, I’m just going to email you.
I don’t know why I’m just making all my comments be about bad musicians… but just don’t call him “Billy Shakespeare”, like that awful song from that Avril Lavigne ripoff. *shudder*
PP- Billy Shakespeare? Avril? I’m so out of the loop because I don’t know what you are talking about. But, if it’s about Avril I’m wondering if I’m better left in the dark.
My most favoritest plays ever! (and my occupation is writing policy for the government – does it trump your teacher sentence?)
And the Much Ado About Nothing movie is highly entertaining. And (unlike any Kiera Knightley remake) not a disappointment! Enjoy becoming an expert!
Very cool. I am most impressed. You should reward yourself afterwards with a trip out to Oregon to the Ashland Shakespeare Festival and live it up with fine wine out on the town.
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