In Which I Defend...

...and rant unnecessarily.

I don't understand why people always assume that one is lying just to sound educated and fancy if he or she says they like Shakespeare. I finished As You Like It the other day and, while I had trouble comprehending certain points (but that's what the footnotes are there for), I actually did, well, like it.* It's a comedy, a light and witty love story that takes place in a forest in France. The ending is lame, in that it basically goes, "Hey, remember every problem that came up over the course of the play? Yeah, I'm just gonna send this random messenger who also happens to be the never-before-seen second brother of the hero and the bad guy to tell you that everything resolved itself while the quadruple wedding was going on. lulz."

Far from hard-hitting literature, but a fun read once you get through the poetic Shakespearean language. The play is also like 90 pages. When you spell it out like that, reading and enjoying this oh-so-pretentious-because-it's-Shakespeare doesn't seem that pretentious. Saying I enjoyed this silly play doesn't make me an English Professor. There are a lot of people I know whom I think would really like the story of this play, but won't read it because it's Shakespeare and "Shakespeare's hard."

I've read three other Shakespeare plays (Romeo & Juliet, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet) and I've seen Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Romeo & Juliet. I've only read them for school, but I'm really interested in reading a couple more. In my opinion, there are a lot of more difficult, snootier things I could read

Currently Reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. My test on it is on Thursday

Currently Listening to "Rockin' the Suburbs" by Ben Folds. In my grandparents' house. With my grandpa in the other room. Oh yeah, I'm BA. :)

*The sooner you embrace my inability to pass up a pun, the better.

In which I Copy...

...and paste.

I've had a tiring week, but it's not the sort of tiring that I can blog about really. So, instead, I'm showing you the English assignment I just finished. That way, when I'm trying to illustrate the extent to which my writing skills go (which isn't very far) I can simply link them to this Hamlet prequel that I'm sort of actually proud of. Enjoy.

Brotherly Hate

The hairs on my arms stood straight up in spite of the warm air surrounding me. The moment I woke up this morning I knew it would be the day. I had been preparing for this day for weeks and fantasizing about it for much, much longer. Today was the day I completed my destiny and began the life I deserved, the life of a king. My dimwitted, useless older brother simply did not deserve the crown. Just the sight of him in the lap of luxury makes me cringe. He has, well, had, everything: the crown, the kingdom, the beautiful wife. Someone had to knock him down a notch, and I just knocked him down.

I finger the tiny bottle that remains in my pocket as I stroll through the castle. I have to work to keep my pace leisurely while my heart races. To think, ten minutes ago I was in the castle garden, having a seemingly harmless, run-of-the-mill conversation with my beloved brother. My beloved, and now deceased brother.

“Hello, dear Claudius! How are you, my brother?” His unsuspecting eyes smiled up at me.

“Hello, dear King. I am great, given the circumstances.”

“Given what circumstances? The weather? It’s so warm out here.”

“I agree. It’s delightful outside today.”

“Then why do you shiver, Claudius? Are you feeling uneasy?”

“I’m simply shaking with excitement. I feel as easy I can be, given the circumstances,” I repeated, reaching deep into my pocket.

“But given what circumstances?”

I had been practicing this next line for years. I felt like an actor playing his greatest role yet as I told him, “Given the fact that my brother is dead.”

Before his face could finish contorting into a look of confusion, I pulled the cork out of the bottle and poured the bottle’s contents into the king’s ear. A drop of the green liquid rolled down his cheek as I watched my brother, the stronger, older, braver brother, writhe on the ground as if he were bitten by the devil’s very own snake. One minute, he’s alive; the next minute, he is but a lump in the garden waiting to be found by a servant. I know the subjects will mourn the death of their king, but I also know they would not allow young Prince Hamlet rule Denmark alone. Ear poison, an untraceable poison, makes it impossible for anyone to link this murder to me. The crown is finally within reach. Nothing can stop me now, not even the cruel emotion of remorse.

Currently reading The Help and As You Like It still. (I can't wait to read for fun again)

Currently listening to "My Guy" by Mary Wells. (I've been on a serious motown kick lately)

I Told You

Well, it's been three weeks and I haven't blogged. Such is life. Let's see, in lieu of three posts, I'll just sum up the craziness that has been the last three weeks.

Probably the main reason I've stopped blogging (as well as why I'm behind on YouTube) is the fact that I was asked to be the Assistant Stage Manager of my school's production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. I basically run around doing whatever the director and stage manager tell me to do and watch over the other (unnecessary) assistants. I have to go to every single rehearsal, every day, for three hours after school, so I've basically sold my soul (and all of my time) to high school theatre. Yay.

But honestly, I enjoy it. I'm friends with almost everyone in the cast, so I'm expected to hang out with my friends every day. Pretty sweet deal. I like the fact that I get to be a part of the show without having to have the talent to audition of all that jazz.

Outside of that, not much has happened. Winter Formal went well. I didn't win court, but I had tons of fun and my date was super awesome. (He's in the play too, so seeing him every day is an added perk.)

OH, I did go on Junior Retreat last week. It was my first overnight retreat, held at this really great place in Robert, Louisiana, the middle of nowhere. I grew really close to a bunch of people in my class, and even got a little closer to God. The coffee was also superb and free so, yeah. :)

This is once weekly, right? That's totally reasonable. I can do that. I think.

Currently reading As You Like It by Shakespeare for English and The Help by Kathryn Stockett for History. No more reading for fun for a while :(

Currently listening to "Sonic Doesn't Need a Story" by Alex Day