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Working in a middle school in a town that is the county seat in a state with an unemployment rate that exceeds the national average, I see plenty of dysfunctional families. Who would have thought I would have been amazed by the crazy family dynamics of a play written in 1605. Things I see in …
With Valentines floating in the stores and hearts abounding, it seemed an apropos time to touch on the essential Christian topic of love. Jesus loves everyone in the world and he has left us this ministry of love. In fact, if anyone will be born into Christ’s Kingdom, they must see this love. Since Jesus …
Even if I’m not really going to college in my sons’ minds, they still manage to use me as an editorial service. If they want a B or better on a paper, it undergoes Mom’s red pen before it gets turned in. (I love that I can actually mark everything in red just by selecting …
Words well within me, an unquenchable passion, until my fingers transfer them to the page. Writing, flying for my soul and spirit, frees me like nothing else. Penning a play – especially one that must be performed within ten minutes – just doesn’t offer the same joyful release. Two Problems Story line: Really, what sort …
While critics everywhere agree that Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most popular play, those same scholars find little to admire in the title character. He seems plagued by a “lack of will to act,” they say. While watching the 1996 Branagh version of Hamlet, I followed the text in my weighty textbook. A few additions (from another …
Words A mighty deluge swelling Untold tales beg telling Phrases unwritten compelling Imagination dispelling Exuberant phrases propelling A pencil to engage in spelling Verbiage continually welling Until spilled on the page. Stories Expand in the soul Burning a yearning hole Fiery phrases, a mole, Burrowing to a creative goal Amplified brilliance, a coal Igniting, …
With difficulty, I managed to keep myself from gagging, choking and puking over the gushing responses of some of the women in my Shakespeare class. They seriously consider Romeo and Juliet an accurate depiction of true, deep, abiding love. These are probably some of the same people that put Titanic at the top of the …
New cross-trainers squeaking on the rubber mat, the woman with a mission – to get in shape – strides into the fitness club. She wanders into the cardio room, tries out the stepper and the elliptical trainer and moves through to the weight room, a hint of perspiration on her brow. A few dozen reps …
My first essay for the Shakespeare class is due this weekend. Ho, hum. Couldn’t they come up with something more original? If you’ve been in college for any length of time, you know that professors adore essays. Perhaps they’ve run out of reading material, so they assign an essay to while away their evening and …
Silence. Unbroken now, as my nest returns to its empty state, the boys flown away to college once more. I love the sound of silence. I am not one of those people whose mind functions at a higher capacity when there’s noise. In fact, I recall completing one of those crazy, forwarded questionnaires in the …