Random R and J Thought

Guacamole and Romeo and Juliet go really well together. Somehow, eating guacamole makes it seem more fun. Maybe teachers should make use of this in schools...

Another random thought: in Twilight, Bella's favorite play is Romeo and Juliet. Maybe this explains the demise of Twilight (not that I'm complaining).

I had to share my random thoughts. My mother would think I was weird, and my stepdad would give me a lecture on A) properly appreciating Shakespeare, B) some story about him being in a production of R&J, or C) not to get my food on his copy of Shakespeare's complete works, even though I'm not currently using it.

Prologue to Romeo and Juliet

I read the prologue. It spoiled the ending, not that we all didn't know what was going to happen. It was hard reading, and I really don't know how I'm going to write on about it for a proper blog length.

So, to make this interesting, I finished a book last Tuesday called Don't Call Me Ishmael. It was hilarious - a bunch of ninth grade guys on a debate team, trying to win when they all have no clue what they're doing. It was a good book, though - Ishmael (main character) was narrating, frequently in second person, and he had amazing mishaps. Like the debate against Kelly Faulkner half way through the book. It was Ishmael's first time speaking, and he fainted. Not only did he faint, but this was after he mangled the topic sentence of his speech to say that the "private parts of public figures should be made public". Direct quote. Then he fainted, a decorated clothespin rolled out the hem of his pants (he had pulled them off the line), and he ended up trying to catch himself on the girl he was up against, but missed her shoulder. It's worth reading.

I hope everyone else's rewritten prologues are coming along well - I tried to get mine to rhyme, and ended up using a rhyming dictionary. Thanks to online rhyming dictionaries.

The Princess Bride (the book)

I sure hope that at least half of you have seen the Princess Bride. It's an okay movie, very funny, with it's most famous line being "Inconceivable!". The book is just as good, if not better. I think it's better. The book itself is satirical, and there are notes at the beginning and the end (and the middle) from William Goldman, who supposedly abridged it from S. Morgenstern's huge edition.

I looked it up on Wikipedia - William Goldman wrote it.

In the movie, the beginning starts with a grandfather reading it to his grandson, so I decided I would read it to my little friend Rose, who I babysit for frequently. I showed her the cover, and she was so so on it, but I told her I would start it while she unloaded the dishwasher (one of her chores). I continued to read throughout making dinner, and when dinner was done and on the table, she wanted me to keep reading. She loved and she's nine - I didn't finish it for her. It's long, and my voice was wearing out after the thirty pages we read. I am now about a third of the way through, and my mom told me I had to do all my homework and take a shower before reading any more.

I thought that was supremely unfair - after all, I have tomorrow off, and it's not like I'm watching awful (read: somehow not worthy of humans) TV shows. I could've read for twenty more minutes....

POSSIBLE SPOILER

I'm at the part where Vizzini just died and 'the man in black' is yelling at Buttercup. The man in black hasn't announced himself as Westley yet.

Done with The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail

I enjoyed Act Two. I liked Act One better, but the end of Act Two was awesome.

****Spoiler Warning****

I especially liked how Thoreau refused to leave jail because he didn't want his taxes paid. I don't much about taxes, except that they fund the government, but I can see why Thoreau didn't want to fund the government. I also bookmarked seven pages that mention huckleberries. I think huckleberries are interesting. Huckleberries are edible and look like blueberries. They are the state fruit of Idaho, all of which was found out thanks to Wikipedia. However, I think they aren't intended to represent blueberries in the play.

Has anyone ever had a huckleberry?

Thoreau First Act

So far, I love The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, even if it is a little confusing. Am I correct that it's an example of a story that starts in media res?

Something very creepy happened while reading this story, around page 58. I started to get a sense of deja vu - I could just about quote along with the text, and I remembered dreaming about it, complete with my computer next to me, last fall. It was strange - I even got up to go to the bathroom at the same time as the dream I had, and when I had the dream, I hadn't ever heard of the play.

Henry David Thoreau sounds like an interesting character - I think I'm going to find facts about him, but I'm still debating. For a while, I had a Thoreau quote as my iPod wallpaper, and I'm wondering if he's as strange as the play suggests. John Thoreau also sounds interesting, if he's not fictional, and I'm wondering why he died. Rust poisoning seems to be what the book suggests. All throughout the book, I kept wondering if Henry was totally sane, but then I realized I didn't care - he was still my favorite character (so far), insane or not. I also liked Ellen, but I think she should have stood up to her father if she wanted to marry one of the Thoreaus.

So far, so good.