Month: June 2017

Getting Ready for As You Like it

Next up on on tour of Shakespeare’s works is the widely popular “As You Like It”. If you want to read it before we talk about it, I suggest the Folgers edition. The play is one of Shakespeare’s most easy to understand and follow so just about any edition will do.

You want to watch for:

Themes of love, loyalty, and distrust.

How social norms and niceties give way to baser needs when the setting switches from the court to the forest of Arden.

How gender plays a role in moving the plot along, and the effects of preconceived ideas on gender roles are used.

Here you will find Shakespeare’s famous “Seven Ages of Man” speech.

It’s a fun play, but gives serious thought to the role of women as it pertains to their ability say and be what they want. Though all the women in this play are hyper-aware they are depended on men, they struggle to find their own voice and ultimately get what they want on their own terms.

Get ready! This weekend will be as you like it.

We stand with London

It seems as if the world has gone mad, that each day brings a new sense of dread and fear. A feeling of helplessness is creeping in, trying to wrap itself in our hearts with the goal of turning our fears to hate and suspicion so that we ultimately turn on each other.  This is what the terrorists want and why they are masters of chaos.

Yet, even as we wrestle with our emotions, we must and should resist the urge to turn on each other, or use these attacks to further dividing ideology.  Showing love for one another while the terrorists sow hate will ensure they never win. Our bodies may be terrorized but our hearts and minds must stay strong.

By standing up, using our social media voices to spread love and a united message we show the terrorists that they cannot win no matter how hard they hit us.

I know it is easy for me to say this from my “safe” corner of the world, but know that I feel your heartache. Many of us do. This is why I am calling out to everyone to stand with me, and cry out in one voice, “We stand with London, and will continue to love mankind”.