Getting ready for our trip to England, I am starting to resemble Emma Bombeck's passport photo on the cover of her book titled, When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, it's Time to Go Home. Jeepers! We haven't even left yet and I look a bit haggard. Maybe that's a good thing. Airport officials will easily recognise me from my own horrible passport photo and let me through customs without delay. My passport photo was taken in February and that, I tell myself, is the reason it came out looking so horrendous. (Who looks good in February?)
I have spent the past couple days getting ready for our big trip. My to-do list gets longer as the time to prepare gets shorter! For example, it took me all morning just to figure out how to create and post a blog. (Hmm, do you think I'm showing my age?)
I created this blog for all of you. I wish I could take everyone of you with me to the country where our man Will Shakespeare lived, worked, played and wrote. Those of you who know-me-well know that traveling to Will's old hometown and stompin' grounds is a journey long overdue. My dream of going to England has nibbled at my ear lobes and tousled my hair for the last 14 years. (Enough already, I am not getting any younger, my ear lobes ache and my hair's a mess...it is time to go!) Remember, dear students, that "We are such stuff as dreams are made on..." Pursue your dreams, do good work and you will be rewarded with great happiness.
This blog thing is all new to me so please have patience while I navigate my way through cyberspace, my blogship has a few kinks in it and as soon as I learn how she flies, I will be a better pilot. Hmm, I wonder; Would Will have created a blog for himself if he were alive today?
To Blog or not to Blog?
I have two minds about whether Will would have had a blog if given the chance. I think he would have gotten a big hoot out of the idea. It would have given him freedom to compose, edit and finalize at greater speed. I also think he would have loved getting published as soon he wrote the final draft of his blog-post.
However...
I imagine Will (being the sensitive guy he was) loved the smell of ink, the sound of his quill pen scratching across parchment, and the light of his candle flickering in the late night hours. We all know he loved to write and lived for the theater. I envision him, in the 1500's, breathlessly charging into rehearsals, a little late (always a little late) to deliver his script on scraps of parchment to each of his actors. They had to learn their lines quickly because he was never quite done until right before opening night. (Which was really opening-day.)
The very nature of his genius delights those of us who appreciate the power of inspiration. He was, I think, very turned-on by his creative ideas and lived a highly-charged and full life. I mean, 37 plays in one lifetime is pretty high-octane-kind-of-writing (and living) especially when everything he wrote is considered the best.
Perhaps a blog would have, well... bloggled his mind. Perhaps he would have grumbled at all the technical stuff and gone back to his late night scribbles, ink permanently staining his middle finger. I think Will was born at the perfect place and time; no distractions from computers, blogs, web-sites and the harried pace of living that comes with all of our technological advancements. Will is considered the greatest writer who ever lived and I think his place in time hugely contributed to his genius. I feel very fortunate to be going on this trip. I look forward to getting to know him even better.
And go we to attire us for the Journey...
As I get packed and readied for the flight across the pond, (that's what the British call the Atlantic Ocean) I am reminded how crazy everything gets right before a trip. (Hence the look-of-passport-photo on my face.) I am at the point in travel preparations when I always ask myself, "What were you thinkin' girl?" Everything gets a little frenzied. (I know all you moms are nodding your heads in agreement.) Richard tells me that right before a big trip all molecules start gyrating with greater speed. Sheesh, no wonder I feel excited!
Richard and I have our passports ready (only took 16 weeks to renew them) our plane tickets safely tacked to the bulletin board (so we don't misplace them) and new shoes, all sparkly and waiting by the door. I still have a number of things on my list to do so I will close for the day. But here is an example of my dialogue with Will as I prepare for the trip. (Oh, didn't I tell you? Will often talks to me.)
WILL: "The lists and full proportions are made." (Written with a flourish of his quill and a wink in my direction.)
JAN: Now I to the work! Dear Bard, the full proportions make not themselves.
(Feeling like most women do right before a trip.)
Homework for the Curious
Until my next post; please find London on a map of England and look for Heathrow Airport. (You can find it on the web.) That is our destination for now. We leave at 8:00 pm Wednesday (out of Boston) and (hopefully) sleep until we arrive on Thursday morning at 7:30 am. (Yawn!) Hey, I thought the flight only takes six hours? Why does it take us so long to get across the Atlantic? Can someone explain this?
We spend Friday in London and then we head toward Stratford-Upon-Avon, now there's a hometown worth exploring! (Can you tell how far Stratford-Upon-Avon is from London?) Remember, in Shakespeare's time, the only way to travel was by foot or by horse and carriage. How long do you think it took Will to get from Stratford-Upon-Avon to London? Write me and let me know. Hint: Look up Shakespeare's Way on the web. It is beautiful!
I hope to hear from you soon. Cheers!
