Tag: william shakespeare

If Tony Soprano’s “remember when” is the lowest form of conversation, “if then” is the lowest form of political prognostication

Christian Twiste2 Comments
U.S. Capitol building at sunset reflected inside a glass snow globe on a wooden base.

While there’s nothing wrong with indulging in a little fantasy, political prognostication is supposed to be more than mental masturbation, and the same as a sane person wouldn’t consider retirement scenarios that included suddenly being as wealthy as Elon Musk, we shouldn’t consider fantastical outcomes as a basis for rational discussion.  Tony Soprano once claimed… Continue reading If Tony Soprano’s “remember when” is the lowest form of conversation, “if then” is the lowest form of political prognostication

I am a farmer ant and I grow my own food better than you ever could

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Ant carrying a green leaf on soil surface

A colony like mine can reach almost 6,500 square feet, about the size of a luxury home with five bedrooms.  The mound of fungus we farm can rise a foot high, nestled inside with thousands upon thousands of workers tending to it.  I am a farmer ant, technically known as an Attini, or fungus-grower.  I… Continue reading I am a farmer ant and I grow my own food better than you ever could

Hamnet, Hamlet, and the infinite nature of a poem unlimited

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Confining the Oscar-winning film to a story of grief undervalues a far more wide ranging work that can be said to include the totality of the human experience in around 4,000 lines, but does so in a way both powerful and accessible. Hamnet, the Oscar-winning film, inspired by real events in the life of William… Continue reading Hamnet, Hamlet, and the infinite nature of a poem unlimited

Celebrating 1,000 posts with a few near incoherent thoughts on the past, present, and future

Christian Twiste2 Comments

Benjamin Franklin famously or infamously said that the country was a Republic, if you can keep it.  To liken great things to small, this is a blog if I can keep it up, but isn’t that true of everything in life?  When I started this blog in November 2020, it wasn’t clear to me how… Continue reading Celebrating 1,000 posts with a few near incoherent thoughts on the past, present, and future

Sleep, death, and the limits of Mark Twain and William Shakespeare

Christian Twiste3 Comments
Sleep and death

If only we could sleep as easily as we can die.  I could end my life in an instant, but for reasons that defy explanation, simply putting the mind to rest for a few hours can prove impossible.  If only we could sleep as easily as we can die.  I could, if I chose, end… Continue reading Sleep, death, and the limits of Mark Twain and William Shakespeare

Elton John, a cat named “Hercules,” an “Indian Sunset,” and the persistence of my lovely wife

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Before the age of political correctness, they used to say that behind every successful man was a special woman.  While this is true for me, I don’t think it was intended to apply to expanding one’s taste in music. Shortly before I got married, a colleague asked me to describe my future wife in three… Continue reading Elton John, a cat named “Hercules,” an “Indian Sunset,” and the persistence of my lovely wife

“To thine own self be true” and the importance of the source and context of advice

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If Polonius had taken his own advice to be true rather than false and kept his command to his daughter to avoid Hamlet, Ophelia and the royal family might still be alive. The phrase “To thine own self be true” is familiar to almost everyone, having taken on a life of its own after William… Continue reading “To thine own self be true” and the importance of the source and context of advice

I am William Shakespeare about to write Hamlet

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It’s the year 1600 and I am already an accomplished playwright, having written plays and created characters like Romeo and Juliet that would be revered for centuries. This might have been enough for any other artist, but I am not any artist by any means. I am William Shakespeare about to write Hamlet.  It’s the… Continue reading I am William Shakespeare about to write Hamlet

The real Henry V, the Magna Carta, and the glorious depravity we are heir to

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Henry V was literally and figuratively born in blood, especially as his father became king after starving the former ruler, Richard II.  We should probably not spare Richard too much sympathy, however.  He was the last of the Plantagenet kings, who rose to power on a tide of violence in the 12th century, violence that… Continue reading The real Henry V, the Magna Carta, and the glorious depravity we are heir to

David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and the birth of two genres, at least

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In an era where TV rarely ventured beyond the dreaded “To be be continued…” ending, Mr. Lynch and Mr. Frost placed a bet that people wanted more, that the mystery was important for the sake of the mystery, that not everything needed to be explained, and that sometimes things are better without an ending.  In… Continue reading David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and the birth of two genres, at least