Shakespeare at 6 AM

I have never been one to sleep in; most of you know that. I do, however, like to make it past 5:30 on the weekends, which was not an option yesterday as a certain orange furball

had other ideas.

So after checking my email and feeding said furball, I did the next most logical thing: I decided to watch The Merchant of Venice, a play I had never read before but had heard much about. I tried to put the captions on, hoping to be able to read what I couldn't understand aurally, only to discover that the subtitle options were limited to French. Even at that wee hour, I knew I wouldn't be able to process Shakespeare in French...so I was left to my own ears to decipher the story.

Did I catch it all? Of course not. Still, I enjoyed, mostly because it kept switching between comedy and tragedy, with no clear-cut genre working by the end of it. I know some people frown on the portrayal of Shylock, and think it'll create anti-Semitic feelings, but I guess I didn't see it that way. Rather, Shylock is an ass...who happens to be Jewish. He is not an ass because he is Jewish.

So, yes, if you haven't read/seen this play, you should. Al Pacino does an excellent job as Shylock, and Portia may be one of my favorite Shakesperian heroines.

For those of you interested (and that's probably very few of you), my v.p. is looking at the failing portfolio this weekend; hopefully he will have some brainstorm to help me pass it the second time. I have to call the state department of education back on Tuesday because I need to set up a session with one of their scorers. All good thoughts my way, please and thank you. :)