Semester Two, Week One

I'm holed up in bed with my computer for the rest of the day, trying to work out a compromise between my body, which is determined to acquire another cold, and my brain, which has to write a lecture for my Arthurian Legends class. Juice and Cold-Eez at the ready, I have constructed a lovely work nest of which I am quite proud.

So far this semester is fantastic. My Shakespeare class is very cozy indeed, with only fifteen students, all of whom are brilliant, enthusiastic bardophile English majors who, at least this week, seem willing to work their talented little arses off for this course. Today was a workshop day, so I had them acting out snippets of Richard III's opening soliloquy as mini-plays to get them used to speaking and physicalizing the verse. They seemed to have fun with it, and I somehow found a way to make my Strong Bad sweatshirt into a teaching tool as well as a comfy garment: as with Richard, the audience identifies with Strong Bad because he takes us into his confidence, and when he abuses those around him, one can't feel bad for them because they're so absurdly stupid. I was pleased with myself, anyway.