Today’s Totally Random Lines 

                                

I do not entreat your Grace to pardon me.

I know not by what power I am made bold,

Nor how it may concern my modesty,

In such a presence here to plead my thoughts;

But I beseech your Grace that I may know

The worst that may befall me in this case,

If I refuse to wed Demetrius.

 

Hermia      

A Midsummer Night’s Dream   Act I, Scene i, Line 62

                            

I had determined before I sat down here this morning to write about an experience I’ve recently had. Not surprisingly, since these Random Lines so often seem quite Un-Random, what I was going to write about was a wedding. And not just a wedding but, as in Hermia’s situation, a wedding that goes against what was being dictated as the right and proper thing to do. Let me explain.

As a way of celebrating twenty-five years of marriage, my wife and I decided to do a vow renewal ceremony this past spring. And since our marriage took place without any real wedding ceremony (we got married in town hall by a justice of the peace), we decided to make our vow renewal ceremony into the wedding that we never had. On that day twenty-five years ago, we had our five children from our respective first marriages, aged eleven to twenty, as our only five witnesses. Accordingly, we decided they should be the only attendees at our wedding ceremony; they and their now spouses, our three grandchildren, and of course our twenty-two-year-old son who was merely a twinkle in my eye twenty-five years ago. 

So, it was a group of sixteen having a wedding celebration in June of 2025 for two senior citizens who actually got married on February 17, 2000. It sort of goes against what one would consider the expected thing to do, doesn’t it? Except that it was the right thing to do. It was the most joyous experience of our married lives and one that Patrice and I are so very happy that we did not miss out on. 

The moral of the story? Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do, even when it may not seem like the expectedly right and proper thing to do. It's as simple as that.

Like Hermia, who is refusing to marry the guy her father wants her to marry. It's the same for all of us, whether we're talking about relationships, or careers, or whatever. Don’t ever settle for marrying a Demetrius! 

Do what's right for you!  

Mojo agreed with today's message and acquiesced to not being in today's picture. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines 

                              

You, Polydore, have proved best woodsman, and

Are master of the feast: Caldwell and I

Will play the cook and servant; ‘tis our match:

The sweat of industry would dry and die,

But for the end it works to.

 

Belarius       

Cymbeline                 Act III, Scene vi, Line 28                                   

 

And there you have Will’s opinion, and apparent endorsement, of capitalism.

The sweat of industry would dry and die,

But for the end it works to.

Do you agree with this assessment?

Those lines have the words ‘sweat’ and ‘work’ in them, and you're asking me if I agree with them? 

What do you think?

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

                                        First, methought

I stood not in the smile of heaven; who had

Commanded nature, that my lady’s womb,

If it conceived a male child by me, should

Do no more offices of life to’t than

The grave does to the dead; for her male issue

Or died where they were made, or shortly after

This world had air’d them: hence I took a thought,

This was a judgement on me; that my kingdom,

Well worthy the best heir o’the world, should not

Be gladded in’t by me: then follows, that

I weigh’d the danger which my realms stood in

By this my issues fail; and that gave to me

Many a groaning throe.

 

King Henry

King Henry the Eighth      Act II, Scene iv, Line 189                          

 

I thought it was God’s plan that all my male sons born of this queen should not survive infancy, and realizing what a bad thing for the kingdom this was, and that gave to me many a groaning throe.

There, that’s Pete’s very abbreviated version of Today’s Lines. You’ll notice that I left the end in Will’s words, assuming that you could figure out many a groaning throe.

So, what do you think? Yes, it’s a bit long. But if you read it once or twice I think you’ll agree that it’s pretty understandable.

Henry it talking to the council that’s been convened to oversee the divorce of his wife, Katherine, and he’s explaining why he’s come to this decision. Basically he’s saying that he needs to divorce Katherine because God has decreed that she is not to give him a male heir, and that would be very bad for the kingdom. Is this what he really believes, or is he just hot to trot for Anne Bolyn? Or is it a little of both. Well, of course we don’t really know that answer to that do we?

More to the point, I suppose you're asking, why did I give you thirteen lines of Totally Random Lines? Well, I can answer that question. For one thing, I didn’t want to break up the sentence, and for another thing, I thought these lines were really good. Well of course they’re good: they’re written by William Shakespeare! But not all of his stuff strikes me, as these lines did. The wordplay is wonderful.

I stood not in the smile of heaven: beautiful!

Should do no more office of life to’t than the grave does to the dead: what can I say about that?

Shortly after this world had air’d them. Really?  air’d them? Ahhh.

That my kingdom…should not be gladded in’t by me. That’s right, gladded in’t.

And of course, finally, many a groaning throe.

 

I suppose all I can say is you’re welcome, as I’m sure that you can now appreciate what a wonderful thirteen lines this is, and how you’ve gotten to have your day brightened by Will’s words.

Yes indeed: you’re welcome!

My goodness, can't you just see the appreciation written all over Mojo's face!

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Who is it that can tell me who I am?--

 

Lear

King Lear                   Act I, Scene iv, Line 230                                   

 

We’re doing something just a little bit different this morning. Today I am using the daily quote from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Substack column which just happens to be a line from King Lear. It also happens to coincide very nicely with today’s Waking Up meditation which had a more ethereal take on the same question. Coincidence? I’m not sure how to explain it, but somehow, I think not.

Now, I’m not exactly sure what to do with this. I don’t want to go into an explanation of Kareem’s take on Lear’s question, and neither would I attempt to talk about what Sam Harris was trying to explain in this morning’s meditation. It was an eyes-open meditation that Mojo and I did whilst sitting out back. I guess I would just ask you to take today’s Totally Random (but not really random) Line and just spend a minute or two with it. Read it a few times and see where, if anywhere, it takes you.

Safe travels.

Our Morning Meditation

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

The other two, slight air and purging fire,

Are both with thee, wherever I abide;

The first my thought, the other my desire,

These present-absent with swift motion slide.

 

Narrator

Sonnet 45                                                

 

That’s the first quatrain of Sonnet 45. Here’s the rest of it.

For when these quicker elements are gone

In tender embassy of love to thee,

My life, being made of four, with two alone

Sinks down to death, opprest with melancholy;

Until life’s composition be recured

By those swift messengers return’d from thee,

Who even but now come back again, assured

Of thy fair health, recounting it to me:

        This told, I joy; but then no longer glad,

        I send them back again, and straight grow sad.

Well, what do you make of that?  Here, let me give you a little blurb from my Shakespeare’s Sonnets Edited by Katherine Duncan-Jones and see if that helps. Speaking of Sonnet 45...

This follows on immediately from the preceding sonnet’s focus on the speaker’s confinement in the elements of earth and water. The remaining, mobile elements of air and fire have been dispatched from the poet to his friend, leaving him depressed and heavy.

That’s it in a nutshell, and it's still pretty confusing. I think we'll just pass on this one.

Wait, what? Did he say he's passing?

Whew, that's a relief! 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

As many, worthy lady, to yourself.

 

Eglamour

The Two Gentlemen of Verona     Act IV, Scene iii, Line 8                                   

Right back at you. That’s what Eglamour is saying to Silvia in response to her Sir Eglamour, a thousand times good morrow. The word morrow was used to mean morning.

I had thought for a moment that perhaps Today’s Totally Random Line might be one of those that we could work into our daily lives, but on second thought, perhaps not. The problem is that it only works because Sylvia offered a thousand times good morrow, not simply good morning. If someone were to wish you good morning and you replied with as many, worthy lady (or sir), to yourself, well, that just doesn’t make much sense. So perhaps we should work on getting Silvia’s line into daily use. Instead of good morning, next time you’re greeting someone, try going with a thousand times, good morrow; or maybe a thousand times, good morning, since morrow may throw them off. Then, if we use that enough, eventually we’ll get other people to use it, and we will then have our openings for As many, worthy lady (or sir), to yourself.

Yeah, that sounds right.

Update: My sister Jean, who stayed over with us last night, just came into the room where I’m typing. Naturally, I took the opportunity to say a thousand times, good morrow (I should have gone with morning). Jean, thinking I said a thousand times we quarrel replied with, that sounds about right. 

So that didn’t work out at all. Don't worry, I’ll keep trying.

A thousand times good morrow, Mr. Blagys. Say, I don't suppose you have any treats up there, do you?

See! Mojo gets it! 

As many to yourself, little buddy; but, sorry, no on the treats. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Who’s there? Othello?

Ay, Desdemona.

 

Desdemona

                       Othello

 

Othello                Act V, Scene ii, Line 24                                   

 

This is the last scene of the play, and Othello being a tragedy, you know what that means. Yup, lots of dying about to happen.

Othello spends the first twenty-three lines of this scene talking to himself and the sleeping Desdemona about how and why he must kill his wife, before she wakes and utters the first part of Today’s Totally Random Line. He goes on talking to her and, after chatting for a bit, that’s exactly what he does: he smothers her with her pillow.

Again, tragedy.

Mojo listened to this last act of Othello with me (I have the Arkangel CD of Othello stored on my pc), and now the little guy is practically in tears. He was especially touched when Desdemona's maid Emelia started singing 'Willow, willow, willow' over her lady's dead body.

He's such a sensitive little fellow.