Dowding Newt

Maureen Dowd came to play on Sunday, pointing her rhetorical guns on Newt, giving him the full blast. I only regret that it plays only to people like me, people who already know that Newt is a danger to civilization. But, hey, it is nice to find one's political humor in sources that are more intellectually vibrant than, say, Rush Limbaugh.

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Dowding Newt

Maureen Dowd came to play on Sunday, pointing her rhetorical guns on Newt, giving him the full blast. I only regret that it plays only to people like me, people who already know that Newt is a danger to civilization. But, hey, it is nice to find one's political humor in sources that are more intellectually vibrant than, say, Rush Limbaugh.

( Read more... )

Quote of the Day

“Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.”

-- Eric Fromm

I suppose it does not even have to be romantic love. If it were, that would greatly lessen our opportunities to make life bearable. Building up a true faith in a loving God may work, and loving your pets helps. Books and art are good, too. Movies and cake are nice stop-gaps. Just try to love as much as you can. And try to at least be sympathetic toward yourself. Through such measures one may even be able to pull oneself out of those dark, deep holes that we sometimes fall into. Climb toward the light. It is a useful reminder during these, oh, so cheery holidays.

Quote of the Day

“Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.”

-- Eric Fromm

I suppose it does not even have to be romantic love. If it were, that would greatly lessen our opportunities to make life bearable. Building up a true faith in a loving God may work, and loving your pets helps. Books and art are good, too. Movies and cake are nice stop-gaps. Just try to love as much as you can. And try to at least be sympathetic toward yourself. Through such measures one may even be able to pull oneself out of those dark, deep holes that we sometimes fall into. Climb toward the light. It is a useful reminder during these, oh, so cheery holidays.

Hamlet (1,3) Tenders of His Affections

Before Laertes takes off, Polonius catches up for a final farewell and some more homespun platitudes and advice. After Laertes departs, Polonius asks Ophelia what she and her brother were talking about. Hearing that it was about Hamlet, Polonius takes the opportunity to take up Laertes’s point. He relates that people have been warning him that she and the prince have been getting awfully chummy, and he demands of his daughter to tell him the state of affairs with Lord Hamlet.

_ _ _

O:
He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders
Of his affection to me.

P:
Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl,
Unsifted in such perilous circumstance.
Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?

O:
I do not know, my lord, what I should think.

P:
Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby;
That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay,
Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly;
Or--not to crack the wind of the poor phrase,
Running it thus--you'll tender me a fool.

O:
My lord, he hath importuned me with love
In honourable fashion.

P:
Ay, fashion you may call it; go to, go to.

O:
And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord,
With almost all the holy vows of heaven.

P:
Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know,
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul
Lends the tongue vows: these blazes, daughter,
Giving more light than heat, extinct in both,
Even in their promise, as it is a-making,
You must not take for fire. From this time
Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence;
Set your entreatments at a higher rate
Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet,
Believe so much in him, that he is young
And with a larger tether may he walk
Than may be given you: in few, Ophelia,
Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers,
Not of that dye which their investments show,
But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds,
The better to beguile.

-- Hamlet 1, 3

_ _ _

Accordingly, Polonius commands his daughter to put her relations with Hamlet on ice, and being a dutiful daughter, she agrees, which will create another layer of tensions in Hamlet’s life, at a time when his nerves will be already stretched badly enough.

Hamlet (1,3) Tenders of His Affections

Before Laertes takes off, Polonius catches up for a final farewell and some more homespun platitudes and advice. After Laertes departs, Polonius asks Ophelia what she and her brother were talking about. Hearing that it was about Hamlet, Polonius takes the opportunity to take up Laertes’s point. He relates that people have been warning him that she and the prince have been getting awfully chummy, and he demands of his daughter to tell him the state of affairs with Lord Hamlet.

_ _ _

O:
He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders
Of his affection to me.

P:
Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl,
Unsifted in such perilous circumstance.
Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?

O:
I do not know, my lord, what I should think.

P:
Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby;
That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay,
Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly;
Or--not to crack the wind of the poor phrase,
Running it thus--you'll tender me a fool.

O:
My lord, he hath importuned me with love
In honourable fashion.

P:
Ay, fashion you may call it; go to, go to.

O:
And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord,
With almost all the holy vows of heaven.

P:
Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know,
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul
Lends the tongue vows: these blazes, daughter,
Giving more light than heat, extinct in both,
Even in their promise, as it is a-making,
You must not take for fire. From this time
Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence;
Set your entreatments at a higher rate
Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet,
Believe so much in him, that he is young
And with a larger tether may he walk
Than may be given you: in few, Ophelia,
Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers,
Not of that dye which their investments show,
But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds,
The better to beguile.

-- Hamlet 1, 3

_ _ _

Accordingly, Polonius commands his daughter to put her relations with Hamlet on ice, and being a dutiful daughter, she agrees, which will create another layer of tensions in Hamlet’s life, at a time when his nerves will be already stretched badly enough.