The second property of your excellent sherris is, the warming of the blood; which, before cold and settled, left the liver white and pale, which is the badge of pusillanimity and cowardice; but the sherris warms it, and makes it course from the inwards to the parts extreme: it illumineth the face, which , as a beacon, gives warning to all the rest of this little kingdom, man, to arm; and then the vital commoners and inland petty spirits muster me all their captain, the heart, who, great and puft up with this retinue, doth any deed of courage: and this valour comes of sherris.                                             

-Sir John Falstaff

King Henry The Fourth Part II          Act IV, scene iii, line 107

I have heard liquor referred to as ‘liquid courage,’ and that seems to be nothing more than a paraphrasing of these lines from Sir John Falstaff. His treatise on drinking is a pretty good read, which is why I gave you a fairly large segment of it here. Sir John ends his ode to sack (remember, ‘sack’ is sherry) with the following claim:

If I had a thousand sons, the first humane principle I would teach them should be,--to forswear thin potations, and to addict themselves to sack. 

Much as I enjoyed the soliloquy, I can't say that I buy into this closing sentiment. Sorry, Sir John.

 

Okay, so it might look like my little friend here is enjoying a blue footed boobie with me, but I'm pretty sure that his was a non-alcoholic version. Yes, I'm pretty sure, Sir John, but I guess you can take some solace since I can't say that I'm positive about that.

                        but know, thou noble youth,

The serpent that did sting thy father’s life

Now wears his crown.



-Ghost



Hamlet                                          Act I, scene v, line 93





“You should write a book and call it How To Do Everything Not Now.” That’s what Patrice told me earlier today. I can’t remember what it was exactly that I hadn’t done that she was referring to, but I wrote it down because I didn’t want to forget it. How To Do Everything Not Now. That’s a great title, isn’t it? I do, in fact, tend to procrastinate, so maybe I should write that book. 
But for now it’s a perfect segue into today’s Totally Random line. Here is Hamlet finding out from the ghost of his father exactly what happened. Hamlet learns that Uncle Claudius murdered his father, stole the crown, and quickly married the queen, Hamlet’s mother. And what does Hamlet do with this news? Confront his mother and Claudius? Challenge Claudius to a duel? Plot a scheme to overthrow Claudius? How about.......nothing? Yes, nothing. Oh he thinks about it, and moans about it, and soliloquizes about it. But basically Hamlet could’ve written the book How To Do Everything Not Now. So I guess Hamlet and I are more alike than I ever could have dreamed. Who knew? 

Is it Pete, or is it Hamlet? I guess we'll never know.