Currently Reading Othello (Folger Shakespeare Library) By William Shakespeare see related

OH my...a whole week has gone by...I suppose I should feel guiltier than this.

But before a guilt complex takes over...

A Couple Thoughts/Observations:

1. I really shouldn't watch psychological thrillers before going to sleep. Once upon a time when I was 11, I decided reading murder mysteries before slumber was dangerous. The Sign of Four is *the* creepiest Sherlock Holmes novel there is. Little Indian men running around blowing poisoned darts and dead people popping up every other chapter kept my skin feeling like goose flesh. Thereupon, I banned reading any such stuff prior to closing my eyes for extended periods of time. I watched Charade for the first time around then too...WELL...let's just say my parents forbid my watching that again for a loooooong time.

So you'd think I would have learned by now (either to not be so timid or to withstand the temptation). And, yes, I am happy to report, I can read my beloved mysteries before bedtime and not freak. But last night I watched the latter half of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo...
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Rule MUST be reinstated!!

Well, perhaps not; by the end of the movie I was calmed back down enough to sleep semi-tranquilly. But for about 5-10 minutes (when Scottie starts to go insane) I was mentally smacking myself.
For those of you who are interested: GREAT movie. I never would have seen *it* coming...::dramatic bum bum buuuuuuuuuuum::

2. When the young men of the family start to resemble The Monkees (or Bart Simpson), an evening is consecrated  to the sacred art of Hair Cutting. They line up from youngest to oldest and wait patiently for their turn to be “unearthed”.

 “OH! A boy after all…I thought we had another girl for sure…”*

I decided to hover the area (stealthily disguised with the handy art of Dish Washing) and listen to the goings on. What juicy tidbits one picks up!

 Gil (6) freshly cut, to Charlie who’s getting shorn: You look like a girl
Charlie (8): You look like one of those boys from the pictures of castles

  I’m trying to decide which is the greater insult: Girl or Page Boy. (Then again, they kinda look like the same thing. )

 I then sidled up to the hair dresser at work (mum) and casually asked, “Soooo, whatcha doing?” Charlie took it upon himself to candidly respond, “Torturing me.”

 Honey, you have no idea.

*::snickering:: No no no, Mom has never said that; tis my own snarky humour  out.

3. The Phantom of the Opera is a MUST see!! I’ve been listening to the soundtrack nigh constantly since returning from the movie theater (over a week ago). Track 6 is my especial favorite –the synth and electric guitars are too great.

 For British movie buffs: did you recognize Simon Callow and Ciaran Hinds as the bumbling new managers?? “Mr. Bebee” (A Room with a View) and “Mr. Rochester” (Jane Eyre)…and scarily enough, their faces haven’t changed. I’ve always thought Simon Callow has a voice on par with Alan Rickman, so it was very neat to hear him singing.

 Gerard Butler’s singing still throws me for a loop though; I can’t decide whether I like it or not. His pronunciation of “music” is rather meuuuuuuuuuusic!ish; almost like he’s mooing. And then his high notes sound like he’s placed them in a sling shot and whipped them up there. It certainly has dramatic effect though.

4. The sophomore barrage of college junk mail has been pouring into the house for a couple weeks now. I’ve basically decided just to stay home and attend UAH, so excepting the few retained for sentimental or Machiavellian reasons, most of those dead trees have been harshly left to molder. Though once in a while, a special one comes along. With a gleeful grin and an oh so chipper tone, I joyously chunk the flyers for MIT and West Point across the room whilst merrily shouting, “BUMP THAT!”

 ::snort:: West Point indeed. To quote Mum, “Ohhh yes, Kaitlin, you need one of those cute uniforms.”

 
5. Some synonyms for metaphysical are: abstract, abstruse, bodiless, deep, difficult, discarnate, esoteric, eternal, fundamental, high-flown, ideal, immaterial, impalpable, incorporeal, insubstantial, intangible, intellectual, jesuitic, mystical, nonmaterial, nonphysical, numinous, oversubtle, philosophical, preternatural, profound, recondite, spiritual, superhuman, superior, supermundane, supernatural, suprahuman, supramundane, supranatural, theoretical, transcendental, unearthly, unfleshly, universal, unphysical, unreal, unsubstantial
(taken from thesaurus.com)

Ok…so now I need to expand my definition of “metaphysical”.

Currently Watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Special Edition) By Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin see related

AHHHHHHHH! The Awful News has hit me. ::gulp:: I don’t know what the world’s coming to…everything is so topsy turvy…and just not right!

 My morals are corrupting.

 More and more frequently of late, I’ve caught myself…

 using puns! ::faints::

And now that Drama Queen mode has been laid aside (for the moment), let me elaborate.

For those of you who hadn’t already figured this out, I somehow acquired a horror of puns. Whether it was innately bred into the genetic makeup or overtook me gradually, I know not. Yet, in my very early teenage years, I was left with a strong distaste for puns, and an inkling to attempt complete annihilation of their kind. Alas, the latter event never happened. And so, those treacherous beings were left to wreak havoc on my poor life if they so desired. ::sigh:: Yup, they have…

First it snuck into my reading. As you should know, I’m a passionate Shakespeare enthusiast. And who dearly loved to throw puns about…alas…I must have been taken unawares!  Much Ado About Nothing is one of my favorite comedic plays (I admit it’s trailing The Importance of Being Earnest though). I recently read the play and watched the movie in the same week; I was [horrifically] struck by how significantly puns figured in the humour and supported the overall tone of the play. Why has it never hit me so emphatically before? The world will never know.

 My friends have not helped either. Several like to throw puns into the conversation whenever they can…just to see if they can irritate me. ::cough::Anoniiiiimoose::cough::

Even my favorite hobbies seem to encourage it! The game “GO” seems to be engulfed amidst many great, seemingly inadvertent puns that slip out subconsciously (though I suppose one has to have played to know what they are). AH! See?? I just used “great” as an adjective for “puns”…I’m further gone than I thought…

So what am I supposed to do??? Is this a hill that I still care to die on or not? Argh. I really don’t know. As expected: my world is having a crisis, and my reasoning capabilities have left for an extended leave in the 18^th century. And so away to sit in front of my GO board I must fly…it’s pure therapy just to stare at the stones and have “Waltz for Dewayne Pomeroy” playing in the background. Perhaps my troubled mind (when restored of its missing components) shall have some of this sorted out by the next time I post.

Yup. Prepare yourselves for a post entitled “Die, Puns, Die”.

But I will continue reading my beloved Shakespeare. In fact, I plan on reading The Tempest while having my hair high-lighted tomorrow. (Hehe, I read Plato’s Republic last time…I joked that reading philosophy while going blonde would surely null all possible ill effects associated with the aforementioned hair color. )

 ::moving on with life::

 Before I go (NO…not a pun!!), I thought a certain family would enjoy knowing what I bought with my Itunes gift certificate. ::eh hem::

 It’s a Miracle- Barry Manilow

Cherish- The Association

Piano Man- Billy Joel

Smooth- Santana and somebody…

Closer to the Heart- Rush

The Trees- Rush

Pride (in the name of love)- U2

Beautiful Day- U2

And all of the Chris Thile and Mike Marshall cd Into the Cauldron

Sorry for such a long break dear people. Thank you for bearing with me.   ~Kait