Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

In thy foul throat thou liest: Queen Margaret saw

Thy murderous falchion (sword) smoking in his blood;

The which thou once didst bend against her breast,

But that thy brothers beat aside the point.

 

 

Lady Anne

King Richard the Third            Act I, Scene ii, Line 93

Yes, there’s a lot of this type of talk in the play King Richard the Third. And certainly much of it involves, in one way or another, Richard. In the case of today’s line, it is he who is being accused by Lady Anne of killing her husband. This is the scene where Richard talks Anne into marrying him, even though Anne is right: Richard did kill her husband. Strange times, eh?

It’s hard to say just how much Will fictionalized and sensationalized the actual historical facts in the process of writing this play. It's a little hard to fathom a fellow being able to successfully seduce a woman just a few minutes after she confronts him about killing her husband. But remember, Will's job was to fill theaters, not lecture as a history professor. It’s a known fact that he got the basic stories right in his history plays, but it’s also a known fact that he took a lot of liberties with the details. Richard the Third is remembered historically as being a reasonably rotten guy, but in recent years his history has been rewritten a little by modern day historians who’ve taken a second look, and question whether history might have given him a bad rap, helped on a bit by Will’s famous portrayal of him. It's hard to tell exactly who’s got the story right. But it did make for a good play. Some considered King Richard the Third Will’s breakthrough play, the one that first put him on the map in his day.

By the way, I put the word sword in parentheses so that you would know what a falchion was as you read the line. I’ve not previously done this, but it seems like a good way to help make the line easier to understand as it’s being read, instead of giving you the explanation afterwards. So I think I might adopt this method going forward. Just know that whenever you see a word in parentheses that it’s my word being inserted, not something that Will wrote. 

 

 

Our titular hero literally fell asleep on my wrist as I was typing today’s Mojo, The Bard, And Me.

Perhaps I should take that as a sign?

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

The spirit of my father grows strong in me, and I will no longer endure it: therefore allow me such exercises as may become a gentleman, or give me the poor allottery my father left me by testament; with that I will go buy my fortunes.

 

Orlando

As You Like It            Act I, Scene i, Line 74

Orlando is talking to his older brother, Oliver, who he feels is mistreating him. When their father died, Oliver, being the oldest, got the farm and everything, and Orlando got nothing. Now he’s telling Oliver that he’s had enough of being treated like a peasant, and he’s going to be leaving home.
Ahh, impetuous youth!

This is the very beginning of the story and this is just a set-up, a reason for Orlando to venture forth and have his adventures in the forest; the adventures that make up what this play is all about.

Speaking of getting fed up, I got pretty impatient with Mojo last night, perhaps as much so as Orlando is with Oliver. It’s been cold and windy outside and Mojo has been refusing to pee out there. The problem is that he’s not using the puppy pads inside, so it seems like he’s not peeing at all. Obviously, it’s possible (probable) that’s he’s peeing inside on the sly somewhere that he’s not supposed to, and that’s not good, so we’re trying to make sure he pees outside, which he’s been pretty good about doing - until lately.

So I decided that this morning I would not be in a rush when I took him out. In fact, I walked him all around the back yard. Well, the little bugger took a nice long pee on Sam’s tree right outside the garage, so I didn’t need the long walk. But hey, that was the plan, so I stuck with it. And It’s all good. We didn’t have quite the adventure that Orlando does in the forest of Arden, but I don’t think Mojo and I were really up for anything like that anyway. And the important thing is that Mojo peed and Pete didn’t get all worked up, and we both got a bit of a walk and some fresh air in the process.

And there you have it.

So, I did notice a few interesting things on our walk.
First, the big pine tree has dropped tons of little four-inch lengths of branch ends with the needles intact, so that it looks like a carpet of these little things underneath it.
Second, the mimosa tree on the back boundary line is really getting big. We haven’t gotten a good pink bloom out of that tree yet, but I’m looking forward to one this year.
Third, the ground back in the corner of the yard where the old shed is is crinkly. Yah, crinkly. When you walk on it it collapses an inch or so - kind of weird. 

Anything else? I think just that I enjoyed the walk. My feet are still warming up from it, and Mojo is tucked deep in my robe warming up, but the walk and the fresh air was good, very good. A nice way to start the day. Next time I'll bring my phone and take a few pics so you can see what I'm talking about.

Maybe Orlando just needs a good walk and some fresh air to clear his head. 

Or maybe not.

 

 Trust me, Mojo Leadbladder is tucked in there in my robe, warm and cozy and out of sight.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Come, assay, --There’s one gone to the harbor?

 

Desdemona

Othello              Act II, Scene i, Line 121

 

Well, what do we have here. Iago has just been talking about his wife, Emilia, and then Desdemona asks him what he would say about her, Desdemona, if he were to praise her. Iago protests, and Desdemona presses him, Come, assay, but then just like that her attention is diverted and she’s talking about some guy running by.

Assay is a modern, albeit seldom used word, and it means try. It's also a commonly used noun used in scientific parlance having to do with the testing of something in the lab. So there you go, your word for the day.

I’m not sure I’ve got anything else to say. Should I assay to come up with something? 

 

 

Mojo doesn't care if I assay or not; as long as I don't assay getting him out of his cozy little spot.