7 Quick Takes: Volume 3

--1--

Did you hear?  Angelina Jolee and Brad Pitt are getting married.

I'm not an avid follower of pop culture, but I admire them as a refreshingly non-materialistic version of the Hollywood couple.  They do a ton of charity work, give millions of dollars, and have six kids--the last scores very highly in my book.

When previously asked why they didn't marry, they admitted that they already lived like a married couple and that they had decided not to marry until all people had the "right" to legally wed.

But their children, in the clear-sightedness typical of that mysterious young species, recognized that acting like they were married is not a satisfying substitute for actually being married.  Their innocence profoundly affected their parents, who now are admitting that they believe marriage will be a beautiful commitment to add to their stores of devotion for each other.

Wouldn't it be something if this huge, Hollywood family became Catholic?

--2--

We finally bought the baby some shoes!  Sandals, to be precise.  They have two straps on them that both velcro so that they are virtually adjustable, which is just what we need.  His little feet are shaped like very steep wedges of cheese.  It's a wonder how he manages to balance on them!

--3--

I started a supplemental blog to this one.  It's more to house my nonexistent writing career literary endeavors with a focus on fairy tales and by extension, myths and legends.  I'm excited about it.

--4--

Maybe you've heard of this, or maybe you haven't.  Joseph Pearce, a prolific non-fiction writer who taught me to better appreciate Oscar Wilde, has published two books now showing the evidence for William Shakespeare's Catholicism, through what we know of his biography and through his plays.  Professor Pearce is incredibly clear-headed, erudite, and professional.  Pair that with a profound faith, and you find me kicking myself that I didn't transfer to Ave Maria University when I considered it in my sophomore year of college.

--5--

The title image for Spinning Straw into Gold is taken from a painting of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary "Spinning for the Poor" tweaked in Photobucket, by Marianne Stokes.  Beautiful, isn't it?

--6--

This song never fails to move me.

--7--

It's officially summer.  I swelter the minute I step outside, no matter what time of day or night.  And you know what that means--beach days!  Look for adorable baby-in-the-sand pictures in the following weeks and months.

You know you want to.

7 Quick Takes: Volume 3

-- 1 --

I have my eye on this Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens that costs almost four hundred dollars.  I figure if I put a little money away each week, I will be able to save up.  Does anyone know where or from whom I could buy a gently used one for a marked down price?

-- 2 --

I need more prayer and reflection, and a casual conversation on Saint Augustine made me dig up my copy of The Confessions from college.  At the time I read it in a philosophical-educational context, with a not-so-orthodox professor, so I want to take a second look at it.  It is organized into easily digestible sections.  Keeping an account of my reflections here will motivate me to keep it up.  So that is forthcoming, if all goes as planned.

-- 3 --

I want to introduce the art of acting to my pupils.  Naturally, my first instinct is to plunge into Shakespeare, but he is a daunting project for little readers.  So I was wondering what people think of the No Fear Shakespeare series.  Are they written in play format?  How true are they to the originals?

Do you have any other suggestions for quality beginning theatre for an eleven- and thirteen-year-old?

Do you know why my spell check wants me to spell "theatre" as "theater"?

-- 4 --

Since our free trial for Gymboree expired months ago, the baby has lacked quality peer interaction.  I want to find a once-a-week play group for him to socialize with children his age (which will most likely take the form of poking each other with sticks, but you know).  However, there is nothing available in my area.  Is anyone around here interested in starting something with me?

-- 5 --

At the suggestion of my sister, I've signed up for My Fitness Pal to help me keep track of what I am eating and consciously lower my calorie intake to--fingers crossed--loose weight!  Thursdays not included of course, because Thursdays are tea party days!

Should I put a little tracker here on my blog?  It could be a good thing because then people could hold me accountable.  But it could also be a Bad Thing because, you know, people could hold me accountable!

-- 6 --

I never did get to call my BFF before she went into labor with her second baby.  Welcome, little E.T.G.!  I wonder what it feels like to have two children.  My heart is already so full to the brim with one.  Just when we think we couldn't possibly have any more joy, love surprises us again.

-- 7 --

The 31st Annual G.K. Chesterton Conference is coming up in August!  If anyone from the Tampa Bay area is driving to Reno, Nevada, would you be interested in carpooling and maybe even sharing a hotel room?  I would love to go.

To Who Be What, Now?

Shakespeare is the best author who ever lived, and Hamlet is the best play ever written. 

If you're not impressed, imagine it this way: Hamlet is the rough literary equivalent of homemade coconut ice cream; just when you thought it couldn't get any better, it is served to you on a Gigantic.  Fudge.  Brownie.

Photograph (c) Oli Scarff/Getty.

If you are at risk of being abandoned on a dessert island with only one option for edifying, entertaining, and inspiring literature, choose Hamlet.

If you had one day left to live and have yet to put a dent in that reading list, do nothing until you've read Hamlet.

While you're at it, why not catch a play or a movie?  (Hamlet, Hamlet, Hamlet.)

At the risk of repeating myself, did I mention I like Hamlet?

How many great things about Hamlet are there? 

Well, too many to list on one post, but one of them is that we think we know the meaning of something until our Elizabethan host from Merrie Olde England winks and pulls the phrase right out from under us.

In the play, there is a comedic character named Polonius.  

After his impressive display of idiocy (knavery, in Shakespearean) so far, he surprises by giving his son . . . well, sound advice.  Among these is the famous line,

"To thine own self be true."

It sounds good, right?  Be true to yourself.  Don't change who you are for anyone.  If it feels right, do it.

That's what I was taught and assumed it meant.  Then Joseph Pearce, professor and author of insightful biographies including C.S. Lewis and the Catholic Church and Tolkien: Man and Myth, cast this famous quote in a new light.

In summary he says, Polonius is an idiot.  Polonius's advice is in fact relativist error.

What is really important is that we be true to the Truth beyond ourselves.  It is a hard lesson that the Danish prince has to learn throughout the course of the play.

If I have to choose between being true to myself or to The Truth, I would be silly not to choose The Truth every time.

Look at it this way.  Do I really want to be true to me, when I fail and when I hurt those around me?  When I am too stubborn to let go of a bad habit or sin that is hurting me?

Shouldn't I be more than happy to let God in to change me and, through the sacraments and prayer, to let him make me a better person?

I don't know if I should necessarily trust myself.  I'd rather listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

So let's change this advice into a prayer:

Lord, to thyself (let me be) true.  Amen.






Hamlet!  Let's just throw that in to make ten.