Much Ado about Cyber Bulling

Follow this production of Much Ado About Nothing, via Facebook, all done in status updates and comments, and designed to educate kids about both Shakespeare and cyberbulling.

Read about the project here.

I'm interested in seeing how this will work.

Plus, it's timely, considering my recent desire to see a "Shakespeare" language option for FB.

Now is the winter of my discontent

It's holy week, but I'm not feeling very holy. It's spring break, and it feels neither like spring (it SNOWED on Monday!) nor like a break. But it looks like our insurance is pulling through for us, and the deal is still set to close on our Louisiana home next week. I have a hard time imagining how on earth all the work will get done by then and won't breathe easy until the paperwork is signed (and not even then, as it's a bond to deed, which is kind of like a lease to own, and we won't be totally off the hook with that house for up to two more years). I worry I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Other" being a loose term, as I feel like the ground around me is covered in mismatched shoes and I have more than a few lumps on my head.

I did have a good audition a few days ago and today the sun is shining through the clouds, at least. I cling to the hope that some day the clouds will dissipate and a warm breeze will blow; that sorrow will turn to dancing; that joy comes with morning.

Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale

A friend recently posted on facebook that she wishes FB had a "Shakespeare" setting (you know, like how you can change the language setting to Pirate).

This, of course, got my brain whirling. The banner across the top would read "All the world's a stage," the status box would ask "what news on the rialto?" The "like" button would be replaced with "marry." You would click the "what say you?" link, rather than "comment." Your friends would be your "Dramatis Personae" and you would be invited to find friends with the phrase "seek new friends and stranger companies." You would be informed if someone blocked you with a message that "_____, who, like a block, hath denied my access to thee." Chat will be renamed "idle talk."

What changes would YOU make to Shakespearean Facebook? And what other "languages" should Facebook offer? What would they look like?

Cracked

This isn't the most flattering self portrait, but it's a pretty accurate representation of my life right now. I took it through a crack in a cement slab, and the crack and rebar and myself - we're all reflected in the water below.

Crying Uncle

OK. I get it. I am not in control.

I move across the country because my husband has the call.

I move into a temporary house, and I weather the storm.

I put in an offer on a short sale, and wait... and wait... and wait... for it to close.

We move in, and work hard to surmount all that Murphy and his damned law throw our way.

I pray and pray and pray that our home in Louisiana will sell.

We finally get and accept an offer. This week.

And then...

Yesterday.

A geiser. In the master bathroom. Flooding through the ceiling down to the living room below.

Water. Everywhere.

A new ceiling. New hardwood? New carpet? New plumbing.

Calls to the insurance company. Trying to answer questions about the catastrophe 1000 miles away.

No idea what's going to happen to the offer... the SIGNED offer PENDING INSPECTION... scheduled to close the end of this month.

I realize that there are people facing worse things. Earthquakes and tsunamis and nuclear disaster, for instance.

But still...

please.

I am waving the white flag.

I am crying uncle.

Enough already.

Home is where your story begins

So...

we closed on the new house well over a month ago (Valentine's Day, to be precise) and after over 2 weeks of really hard labor and some whopping good examples of Murphy's Law we moved our stuff here, only to discover that all sorts of our furniture literally DID NOT FIT (like, it would fit in the room, but couldn't get in the door, or down the stairs, or turn the corner in the hallway). The day of the move my husband andI were recounting all the things that had gone wrong and laughing hysterically. The May Queen asked why we were laughing, and I told her that it was either that or cry. And she joined in the laughter.

I am exhausted and not fully unpacked and not yet completely out of the temporary house. Projects I had hoped to have completed before we moved our stuff in still aren't done (since our old friend Murphy made sure we had enough other stuff to keep us busy, thank you very much). Our computer died and we had to get a new one.

It's been a hell of a month.

But we've had our first houseguests. And today we hung some pictures on the wall. And i LOVE my red living room and enormous kitchen sink. So it's getting there.

Slowly.

So that's why I haven't been around much. Or part of why. It turns out that even though I'm an extrovert (with a BLOG, for heaven's sake) I'm really not all that good about talking about myself when the going gets tough. But I'm getting there.

Slowly.

Biting My Virtual Tongue V2

A while back I did a post about facebook statuses i would never actually post. Here are some COMMENTS that I'm tempted to make... but won't:

-Just how much television DO you watch?

-How can you be stupid enough to believe that rumor? Have you never fact checked anything in your life?

-Do you realize that every picture you post of your toddler shows him watching TV?

-If you're going to put your political opinions out there for all of your friends to read, don't be so darn upset when someone disagrees with you. Sure, it's your wall and you can say what you want. But once you've put it out there you've opened yourself up for someone to disagree with you.

-If you don't care to hear from anyone who disagrees with you just unfriend all of your friends of a different political persuasion and tune solely in to your biased news programs that will never challenge your long held understanding of how the world works.

-Another "witty" status shuffle post? Yawn.

-It's really not cool to talk badly about "some people" whom you leave unnamed via a status update. Talk to them if you have an issue. Don't make it an issue on Facebook.

-You "like" THAT? Really??? Why????



What about you? What comments have you held back?