Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:00 PM

Hamlet: Jeffrey Carlson

Hamlet's letter to Horatio:

          Ere we were two days old
at sea, a pirate of very warlike appointment gave us
chase. Finding ourselves too slow of sail, we put on
a compelled valour, and in the grapple I boarded
them: on the instant they got clear of our ship; so
I alone became their prisoner. They have dealt with
me like thieves of mercy: but they knew what they
did; I am to do a good turn for them.

So last night, I dreamed of Hamlet / Captain Jack Sparrow slash.

This was a dream, so the scenario borrowed heavily from Stardust (with Captain Shakespeare's lessons in swordplay) and the Dread Pirate Roberts.

PS: Jeffrey Carlson is playing Hamlet for the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington D.C. Free thru June 1st.

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:05 PM

I've been growing my hair out for quite a while now, but I think the end is near.

As you can see, it's gotten quite long. Twenty-six inches from the hairline center-front to its longest point down my back.

Despite all the doodads I've purchased, my attempts at putting my hair up have largely been for naught.

I am capable of precisely two professional hairstyles which actually stay up for more than 10 minutes without product*:

There's the classic ponytail, and I recently worked out how to put my hair up with a chopstick, using instructions in The Daring Book for Girls.

My hair is heavy, it's giving me problems with tangles and knots, and I'm just finding it a greater nuisance than pleasure.

So, enjoy these looks at my hair, because tomorrow morning, I'm going in for a trim.

I'm still keeping it long, just not as long.

But, frankly, I'm rather bored with my hair.

And, as long as I'm getting it cut, I think I'm going to dye it as well.

Barring any horrific beauty parlor accidents, I'll try to post some updated photos after I get back.

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:18 PM

Do you ever have nightmares about failing out of school -- even if you graduated decades ago?

I certainly do.

Well, with graduation season upon us (did you know that J.K. Rowling will be @ Harvard? Wish I could hear her talk), NPR interviewed professor of dream studies Kelly Bulkeley about graduation dreams and what they mean.

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:40 AM

From a conversation with Ian last night:

“Never mind. If it were possible to brew, ferment, or distill something potable out of sweet tea, Southerners would've already invented it.”

I'd love to be proven wrong, though, so anybody has examples to the contrary, please tell me of them...

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:10 AM

Are you familiar with Rule 34?

EroticFalconry.com

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:30 PM

Still have no time to write, so how about a couple more Lol!Sox

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:45 PM

This week, on Sound and Spirit, Ellen Kushner played poetry and music inspired by World War I.

• Listen
• Playlist
• Bibliography

Near the end (at the 49 minute mark) Kushner observes that "even today, the story of WWI, its soldiers, its artists, means something to us, our understanding of our century and of ourselves."

She then concluded the program with "No Man's Land" by Eric Bogle: "a contemporary song about a contemporary person stopping by a soldier's grave."

But I couldn't help wish she'd used a different song, one whose very creation I find inspiring:

• Chaz Brenchley, a British writer, blogged about finding a family bible in the attic of his house, containing a headmaster's commendation of Henry Hoad, dated 1911.
• Arkessin looked up census records to find Hoad's birth date
• leading Brenchley to discover Hoad died during World War I.
• Arkessian found more specific information on his death
• including his memorial on the Menin Gate, which means his body was never found.
• In response, Jo Walton wrote a poem
• to which Carandol added a tune and recorded it.

And this all happened within a space of twenty-four hours, from a group of strangers: the closest relation was somebody living in the same house nearly a century later.

Well, I find it inspirational, at least.

Lance Corporal Henry Ellis Hoad
8th (Service) Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment
Killed in action 07 June 1917

PS: Manny Olds, consumed by curiousity, conducted further research into the Hoad family

Posted by Lis Riba at 1:11 PM

So, I was looking for a black baby-doll t-shirt I could customize with my Titus design.

Decided to check out Zazzle.com.

But despite a promising initial screen, something didn't quite add up.

Do you see the problem?

→ → → → →

What happened to the other four colors?

I call shenanigans!

[And if Zazzle can't be trusted for something this basic, why should I believe any of their other promises?]

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:40 PM

When I was younger, I remember health food stores stocked all kinds of carob-based treats intended as chocolate substitutes.

Nowadays, places like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's stock countless varieties of gourmet chocolate.

And yet, lately I've been craving carob, and having trouble finding it...

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:15 PM

I have nothing to say, so how about some more Lol!Sox: