Many happenings

To the left (maybe) is Harvey, Sandy, me at the far end, and close in Laura, our oldest granddaughter. To the right is a closeup of Laura. As usual, click on the photos to enlarge them; back arrow brings you back to the blog.

Dear Friends and Family,

I now have so many photos that I don't know what to do with them all. Merwin took the two here. Our granddaughter is 27, in her final year of a PhD program at Boston College. Unlike PhD candidates of my time, she has to publish papers, which she has done, but her advisor wants her to write and publish two more before she incorporates them all in her thesis. She is hoping to be finished by the end of the summer. Good luck, Laura! By the way, Sabrina, the youngest of our five grandchildren was 24 a few days ago. She is also a chemist.

On Sat, we went to the HD opera, and with the help of Laury's camp stool I was able to see and hear the whole opera. Not my favorite, I must say. Too static, too withholding, too little scenic drama. Wonderful singing, though, but I want the whole caboodle when I go to the opera. This one was Iphigénie en Tauride (Gluck), which takes place after Orestes has avenged his father's death by killing his mother. The set (Thomas Lynch) added nothing: the same throughout the opera (so no viewing of dramatic scene changes during the intermission), a main room with the prominent sacrificial altar, and a side room, which singers wandered into for no apparent reason. The lighting was quite dark, as usual these days. It's very much in the French Classical tradition. The main singers were Susan Graham and Plácido Domingo, both with serious colds, as we were warned before the performance began.The main thing was that I could go all the way through, about 5 hours, door to door.

When we came home, we started preparing for our Sunday visitors, our granddaughter and her parents. Sandy brought a beautiful huge salad. I made a roasted salmon to be served cold (cool actually) the next day. On Sunday a.m., we prepared cauliflower for the roasted version, which we all began nibbling as soon as they arrived at about 11 a.m. This version we made with olive oil, cumin and curry as well as a small amount of salt and a quarter teaspoon of ground pepper. In the way in, they picked up a cheese cake and bread we had ordered from Leonetti's. And for those wary of sweets we also had Sonia's apple compote.

Laura brought me several pairs of earrings, just beautiful. She is a crafts-loving person and designs these herself. Very delicate. I am happily wearing one pair now, along with green and gold slacks that go with the wild blouse I had on some days ago. Wearing the two together would be too wild. But I love them especially because my mother-in-law made the set for me, over 30 years ago.

In between, I am also beginning the work on Macbeth, while keeping Hamlet in mind as well. I have established a little set of books on a shelf and a scattering of journals around my recliner. The books include my own on Macbeth in performance, Nick M's collection of essays on the play (with his lovely recognition of our friendship in the credits). I am re-reading his introduction. It's a compliment to it that when I could not sleep because of itching during the night it did not put me to sleep, as reading often does. I also have Marvin Rosenberg's huge book on my shelf, and the New Variorum ed. of the play. Of course there are hundreds of books I could use, but I think we'll have enough with these four, plus the films Laury (and maybe me) with see at the Lincoln Center collection Theater on Film and Tape, and those we have on DVD plus the performances we are going to see in March. Shaping up in my mind.

Sonia will be here soon. So à demain,
Love,
Bernice

Corrections

This photo returns to the dinner party for our anniversary a few weeks ago. It features our dear cousins Sylvia and Marty. He courted her right here in our living room after they had met at the University of Buffalo. Now they have 3 sons and 8 grandchildren, with another on the way next month. The t-shirt I am wearing reminds me of being in Berkeley for the Bar Mitzvah of one of Vaughan's grandsons. On the main street in town there was (maybe is) a shop that sold clothes made by women in Africa; the shop supported their work by sharing profits with them. The symbol on the front means peace can be chosen (two fists separating and an olive branch of peace). I like that: peace is a choice. Would there were peace all over the Middle East, peace with democracy and dignity for all.

Dear Friends and Family,

Yesterday's photo, Merwin tells me, also shows me in a black top, gingerly stepping on the rocks. There is also Rachel's uncle looking off to the left and two others in the background who may also be part of our group. I do not at all recall the occasion.

Once I read the contract for the second drug trial (stage one, determining dosage), I felt it was not for me. There are dire warning associated with it: all kinds of bad things can happen. Of course, I know that the drug maker and Dr. M. have to tell you the worse that can happen. I know that if I read the warnings on all my drugs I would not want to take any. But this seems like a drug that will slow me down. It's not just the infusion at the hospital, requiring a 2-day stay. That's only once a month, if I remember correctly.I have so many things I want to do; I don't want to feel sick and unable to work. I am inclined to wait (if my body lets me) for the Comfort drug, which in trials (that I could not get on because of my wacky platelets) showed some good results in reducing spleen size and fatigue. That will happen towards the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012.

The second trial drug will not do anything for the neuropathy or the itching which makes me take lots of antihistamines—and those pills contribute to the fatigue that is one of the features of this disease anyway. I have to consider myself lucky in that my pain is minimal, mostly from bad knees, which has nothing to do with my myelo fibrosis (I believe). This morning, I heard from our cousin Nancy, whose mother is in excruciating pain because of severe back problems. She has to have surgery. She is in worse shape than I am.

We're off to the opera (HD live broadcast). More about that later.

Love to all,
Bernice

Brief update with change

This photo, taken some years ago, is of Rachel, a dear friend, who lives in Arizona.


Dear friends and family,

Yesterday, Merwin and I had a long session with Dr. Mascarenhas and Amy at Mt. Sinai. It looks like I might qualify for one or two drug trials. We were sent home with a contract for the one we like better: it requires me to be at the hospital regularly, but I can take the medicine at home, 3x a week, with some exceptions when I have to take the drug in the office. There is quite a lot to be done before I start, all of which must happen within 3 weeks of starting,so I have to wait till I get the green light. Note: after writing this, the red light came in from Dr. M's office: my EKG disqualified me. Now I will await news of the other trial, to see if I can qualify.

Yesterday my bloods looked good. No blasts, which is good news. We spoke about the itching, neuropathy and fatigue, none of which might be helped by either drug. The fatigue, I think, may be due to all the meds I take for itching. Up to very recently, neuropathy was a reason not to be put on either trial, but that has just changed in the case of one or both of the candidate trials. I have to read and accept the terms of the contract, get a chest x-ray and echo-cardiogram from my general doctor, a cardiologist, ultra-sound at the hospital to see spleen size, EKG, etc.

The second trial requires me to be in the hospital overnight about once a month, I think, and receive infusions. I don't know what else is required until I read the protocols, which just arrived.

Dr. M told me that I looked good and full of energy. He said this personality aspect would help me—probably has helped me. He admired the sparkle of my eyes also. None of this is more than professional; that is, he considers these aspects signs of possible success in staying alive (more so than people who don't look energetic, whose eyes are dull). What he does not realize is that being in that office, with the hope it encourages, energizes me. True, I am often smiling for no reason at all, just for the joy of being in whatever pleasant space I happen to be, listening to music, writing, thinking, reading.

In the back of my mind, I am thinking of Macbeth and how Laury and I will work on our chapter.

Very rainy here today—a good day to stay indoors.

Love to all,
Bernice

Catching up

The photo on the left is of Grant, lively son of Gisele and Dan. Dan, a gifted photographer, was one of the people in a Sunday running group I belonged to. Mostly I liked to run by myself, listening (and dancing almost) to the music in my headphones, but once a week it was fun going out with a group. We'd drive in someone's car to a park with good hills. Lovely memories. The photo on the right is of little Eddie, named after his grandfather who died young some years ago. Eddie is a long awaited grandchild for Sandy, Big Eddie's widow, a Marriage Encounter friend for many years.


Dear Friends and Family,

I can remember only if I write things down! On Monday Doris took me out for lunch, at the very nearby Japanese restaurant. What a good meal we had, and what fun to chat about our families and mutual friends. Just before she arrived to pick me up, Sandy called to tell us how he is coping with Phyllis's death and his own illness. It's been such a short time, but he is doing very well, with plans for helping others. He'll be coming to New Jersey from Tucson this spring, and we hope to be able to get together.

Tuesday was Sonia's day, and after she left I had to nap instead of going out as I had hoped to do. Reality keeps on encroaching on my hopes and plans. I found out that the TOFT collection (Theater on Film and Tape) has a sizable collection of Macbeth films, records of production that played in NYC, as well as some films. It would be wonderful to view these: some I saw and wrote about at the time; some I saw and did not write about. Laury is probably going to do more viewing than I will be able to do. I am so glad she is with me on the project. There is a lot for me to do, though, before we start writing.

Yesterday, Merwin and I had a comedy of errors, going out to a non-existent hardware store to look for drawer pulls to replace the ones that are falling apart on a chest in my bedroom. We tried another one and then another without getting far. We finally ended up ordering the pulls from the Internet. I hope they are as handsome as they look in the online catalog. Dave came over to give his dad a treat, slow-cooked eggs, a very careful way to produce perfect, mellow eggs. Merwin was a happy man! You should have seen his face as he was eating: pure bliss.

Today we go to Dr. M. I am hoping he can help me at least with the itching. We will drive in and back and not stay over as we sometimes do. Merwin has too much work to do here. He's very busy, much of it chores for me, such as, for example, renewing my handicapped parking permit.

Love to all,
Bernice

Moving right along

As usual, click on a photo to enlarge it, then back arrow to return to blog. Merwin took these photos the other day of a kestrel (a raptor) that sat for at least a half hour in our viburnum bush. It looks well puffed up, a sign that it is keeping warm with air insulation or that it has made a meal from the many birds that visit our feeders. About a foot high, it could turn its head almost completely around. Merwin is getting really good at these photos, taken through our kitchen window. The gnarly branches of the bush that Dave planted are as interesting to me as the flower-laden stage.

Dear Friends and Family,

Since some who read the blog have already assumed I am undertaking the Macbeth project (writing a chapter on its performance history for a book on the play, due next June), I may as well say that they knew me better than I know myself. I thought I was still mulling it over. Just yesterday I sent in my agreement to write the chapter, with Laury as my co-writer, and received an enthusistic response from the editors. I am psyched by the possibilities., and I fully intend to work on hamletworks.org as well.

Other (but related) Shakespeare news: in a response to my email to Arin Arbus, the Artistic Director of Theater for a New Audience, she wrote that (1) she liked my review of her Measure for Measure (phew!, I wasn't sure how she would take it) and (2) she would help me with her Macbeth that is in rehearsal now and will open next month. I see her production as, possibly, the centerpiece of our chapter. Cheek by Jowl is also doing a Macbeth next month at BAM, and I will try to include that one as well.

I also will make an effort to see any theater productions that TOFT ("Theater on Film and Tape") has captured. That's the collection filmmed and archived by the Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library. Unfortunately, they do not have the money to film every production, but they should have some Macbeths, perhaps the one with Patrick Stewart (Stuart?).

Yesterday, I also got an email from the Shakespeare Quarterly, a 3000 word doc, that the proof sheets for "Hamlet at Sea" will be coming my way in a couple of weeks—with a description all the attendant back-and-forth that I will have with the editors. Exciting.

I am feeling energized by all these projects, but my stamina is limited. Yesterday, after Sonia left, I was so wiped out by our exercises, walk etc, that instead of going out with Merwin as I thought I would, I took a long nap, actually falling asleep. Part of the problem is all the antihistamines I take to curb the itching (though it never stops entirely); they are soporific. Now, with the laptop on my lap, I am squirming with itches all over, some of which I cannot reach—not that scratching helps any.

The best news came this morning—that Dr. M and Amy want to see us again to determine if my bloods and general condition qualify me for a drug test. I worry because my bloods are not very good at all, way out of whack. Why can't these drug trials include some outliers among the cohort? Why can't they test the drug on the worst cases? I suppose they worry that someone like me may make their drug look bad. My other hope is that the Comfort drug, for which I did not qualify during the test, will be approved rapidly by the feds and be available to all by the end of this year.

More soon,
Love to all,
Bernice

Planets Galore

This view of Saturn was taken from Voyager 1 on October 30, 1980 from a distance of 11 million miles. A very careful look reveals three moons: Tethys (outer left) and Enceladus (inner left) appear at the left below the rings, and Mimas is the tiny white dot above the rings at the upper right of the picture. Note the shadow of the rings on the planet and the shadowing of the rings by the planet. As always, click on the image to enlarge and use the back arrow to return to the blog.

If you are not inspired by a planet hunt beyond the limited realm of our solar system, this particular blog posting may not be for you.

At the beginning of February, prior to and during the startling and welcome upheavals in the Mideast, there was another event — a far out event I might say — that caught my rapt attention. The NY Times reported that the spacecraft Kepler had discovered an additional 1235 exoplanets candidates (those orbiting stars other than our own) to add to the already known 500 or so. Of course, I have a very warm interest in the news of spacecraft missions being run from JPL (Jet Propulsion Labs, the NASA facility responsible for all unmanned space missions) where I spent lengthy periods of exciting time working on many missions such as Viking, Voyager, and Galileo. My work was designing the computer and associated hardware needed to fulfill the missions. My old buddies at JPL are now either retired or dead, but I continue to get great pleasure in following the work of the current creative scientists and engineers.

A few years back when first reading the proposal for the Kepler mission I was fascinated by its courage and chutzpah. The spacecraft is not in an orbit around Earth but is trailing in a sun-centered orbit so it can keep its telescopic eye constantly in view of a tiny patch of the star field within our Milky Way galaxy that is never obscured by the bulk of our planet. It is a planet hunter. Because cosmologists were uncertain how commonly planets might appear among any group of stars, the hunting ground had to be dense with stars to provide a better chance of noting planets. The area selected has over 100,000 stars, most of which are similar to our own sun. The Kepler computer has the precise coordinates of each of these stars and, amazingly, its major task is to sample the faint light emanating from each of these stars every 30 minutes! It registers the brightness of each star and sends this measurement down to the anxiously waiting computer system on Earth. Its whole Raison d'être is to determine if a planet is crossing in front of the distant star and has therefore slightly obscured the light and created a small dimming. The instruments are incredibly sensitive. They could easily detect a mosquito crossing in front of an automobile headlight a mile away. This detection technique is called the transit method.

A very large planet orbiting close to its star will create an easily detected shadow while a small planet orbiting some distance away may cause a barely detectable dimming. Note also, that a transit can occur only if the orbit of the planet is edgewise to our point of view. This is problematic depending on the tilt of the orbit. For example, if some curious aliens were looking our way there would be only a 0.5% chance that they would see our orbit edgewise and observe a transit as our Earth passed before our sun. A Jupiter-sized planet orbiting so close to its star that it makes a swift orbit in four days has a 10% chance of having a favorable tilt. So, Kepler will miss the vast majority of planets due to their unfavorable orbit tilt. This is why the mission needed to examine a patch of the galaxy with over 100,000 stars. That huge number was necessary for the telescope to get any results at all. From the planets we do detect we can infer that there exists an additional abundance whose detection awaits different search techniques.

The mission scientists and engineers (and those funding such programs) require a good dose of patience and this is why. Since our own orbital time is one year, a far off observer might have to wait a year to detect a single transit. If a planet is whisking around its star in mere days only a small dose of patience is needed. To confirm the data and to determine the orbital time, at least three or four successive transits are needed. Long orbit periods will result in other missed planets for the mission. In our own solar system the “years” for all of our planets vary. As Kepler’s third law predicts, planets further from our sun have increasingly long “years”. Here are a few, e.g. Mercury 88 days; Mars 1.9 years; Saturn 29.5 years; Pluto 248 years.

I was pleased to find the media reporting on the Kepler mission but am often put off by their hasty statements that the majority of planets found are giants orbiting in close to their stars and having speedy orbits. The media then generally leave the impression that this is characteristic of the whole planetary population. From what I have covered above, it is clear that there is a strong detection bias to the hunt. Large planets create shadows that are easier to see during transit, and short orbit times are bound to show up more frequently than orbits of a year or more. The basic mission is scheduled for only 3.5 years with a chance for an extension if all goes well. Imagine observing, through binoculars, a large enclosure walled by a six-foot stone wall. You observe a number of people whose heads protrude above the wall. A flawed conclusion would be that all those behind the wall are six feet tall or more. There is a strong detection bias towards large planets with speedy orbits, but that does not preclude the existence of other, more earth-size planets, with earth-length orbits. In fact, though it is early in the mission life, five of the candidate planets are rocky, smaller planets more like our Earth than many of the large, gas planets also found.

The astronomer Kepler certainly deserves the honor of having this mission named after him. In the early 1600s he worked for years poring over the astronomical data collected by the wealthy Danish nobleman Tycho Brahe who, in spite of publications of Copernicus, still believed in an Earth-centered system. Kepler, who never had any idea why the planets moved as they do, through repeated trial and error attempts, finally arrived at an explanatory scheme that fit all the planetary data he had at his disposal. He was able to predict all planetary paths. His years of effort were summarized in his three laws of planetary motion: planets moved in ellipses (not circles), their orbital speed was related to their position in their orbit, and their distance from the sun determined the period (time) of their orbit. Fifty years later in 1680 the genius of Newton explained all planetary motion based on gravity and confirmed Kepler’s laws. The Kepler mission computers use his laws to determine the orbital parameters of its candidate planets. Incidentally, Kepler and Shakespeare were contemporaries. So, Merwin and Bernice each have their familiars in this age.

I have already mentioned that the Kepler spacecraft computer has the coordinates of each of the stars it is sampling in its ephemeris (star table), and I would be remiss in not mentioning the Babylonians who were the master astronomers of the ancient world and have left us with a rich legacy. The Babylonians used a base 60 number system as opposed to our base 10 system. Their stellar observations were recorded in their number system from about 3000 BC to 500 BC but were so comprehensive and accurate that their data was handed down to succeeding civilizations in its original form. You might ask, what has this to do with me? We use their base 60 system every day. We measure latitude and longitude in degrees with 60 minutes to a degree and 60 seconds to a minute. The 360 degrees to a full circle is also Babylonian. Their star tables also used degrees, minutes, and seconds and all astronomers since their day, including Kepler and his mission, do likewise. Of course, the Babylonians, recognizing the intimate relationship between the Earth’s rotation and time, measured time in hours, minutes, and seconds as we all still do.

Finally, the large number of exoplanets already found further confirms my belief that many are out there teeming with life.

Good stargazing and love to all,

Merwin

Days speeding by

Here Laury and I are working on our Measure for Measure text after the publishers asked for some trimming. We took the opportunity to improve things all around.

Dear friends and famly,

Friday morning, we had the pleasure of Rick's company for a while. He is deep;y into volley ball, and is very good at it. He and I worked on Latin American Shakespeares, and recently José Ramón sent me reviews of the book, very positive. Sonia was here also, because she couldn't be here on Thursday, her usual day, when I had the writing group meeting at NCC. Sadly, our long-term insurance, which pays for her help, is making noises about whether I really really need her. Reason not the need, I say, but the policy says something different: I have to have at least 2 of 7 disabilities, and I have none now.

She does so much for us both, cooking, the wash, and guiding me on my walk around the block. Most important, she puts me through my exercise regimen. Most of the exercises require a helping hand. I don't like people leaving my life, but I know that Sonia could do better with a more than two-days-a-week job, and she would like more work. She made Yukon Gold potatoes, cut small, the way we make the cauliflower. She mixed 1 T olive oil, 1 t curry powder, a pinch of salt, 1/4 t pepper. Bake at 450 for about a half hour but check after 20 minutes. Utterly delicious.

In the evening, Merwin went to his book group to talk about Justice and didn't return until after midnight. Dave had discovered that Michael Sandel's entire set of lecture that the book is based on is available online, free. Merwin enjoyed completing the book by viewing and listening, because the lectures include the very lively and bright responses of the Harvard freshmen. I think I will try some chapters—except I am so busy, it's hard even to complete the library book I now am reading.

On Saturday, Laury and I spent the morning as you see in the photo above, side by side, working on the final revisions that the publisher asked for. I must be getting better because I was able to work with her for over two hours. Then Lincoln came and we went out for a late lunch. We hung out together all day, watching Sergeant York with Gary Cooper in the late afternoon, having supper, chatting. Very enjoyable.

I have been thinking more about the Macbeth project. I asked for a couple of weeks to make up my mind. Yet through the grapevine I learn that some people think I have accepted already. Laury and I would work together, and that is always fun. I am trying to project myself into June 2012 when the chapter is due! I have been wondering if I would "make it" to April 12 and my NYPL talk. I have to say that there are moments that I don't want to go on at all: this body makes me creep along; I am barely able to raise myself from a chair and sometimes need help. I itch terribly. I wake up aching all over, feeling as if a train has run over me. And yet. And yet. Here I am enjoying the prospect of an intellectual challenge, enjoying the sunshine, the music I am listening to as I type, and the sound of Merwin's sneezes, a sign that he may be finished with his breakfast.

Margaret will be here soon to clean our house, so I will stop now, with loving thoughts of all of you.

Love,
Bernice

Read more >> Options >>

Writing group today

Audrey at the wheel about 6 months ago: she is Marisa's daughter and Vaughan's granddaughter. Soon Kathryn's children will be featured, I promise.

Dear friends and family,

Writing group today, at NCC, Hedda's office, very cozy, very comfortable. I ate continually: delicious pita, humus, cheese, cake and peanut butter chocolate cups. All yummy. I saw several other members of the department, including a new guy hired for this semester and Rick, who will be arriving sometime this evening to spend the night, so we can have a morning together tomorrow.

The papers were all interesting, all different. Joe is working on his novel, spending time to shape portraits of his characters, this one today a priest. Kathryn, who drove me to and from the college, wrote about the virus that attacked her computer in the guise of what seemed to be a former student. Hedda wrote about her struggles with a back injury. Jay countered a view taken by Toby (who was absent) about a statement by Meta (who did not read today), I wrote about holiday seasons past and present. Barbara wrote a poem, powered by the color yellow. It's impossible to do justice to the writing style in a brief list. Anna was absent, but we will all see each other at Elliott's birthday party. After I got home, I rushed to my bed and slept for 2 solid hours, a deep seemingly dreamless sleep. The activity, from about 10:25 when we left Glen Head, to about 1:25 when we returned, was well worth it. I was so happy to be there.

Interesting news today: a Shakespearean from Britain emailed to ask me to undertake a chapter in a book he and another Shakespearean have under contract. My chapter would cover a history of Macbeth in performance. I have already done that work for my book on Macbeth, but I would have to produce something different for this new book, something more up to date. I asked for time to think about it, because I have no idea how much time I have. I also asked if I could invite a co-editor for the chapter and was told I could indeed ask someone to join me in the project. I have already broached it with Laury, who is game. We miss our collaboration. Her interest in joining me seems to make doing it more feasible. I love being asked to contribute to books, but realistically, given that my primary focus in hamletworks.org, do I want to spend the time on Macbeth again? Dawn and I have been chatting about the play because it figures in her PhD dissertation, and that has renewed my interest in the play. But still. Can I spend an hour a day on Macbeth as well as three or more hours on hamletworks.org?

I'll decide in a few days, I think.

Merwin is going to read from Justice for me again. Sonia will be coming tomorrow, and the weekend in busy, so I have to plan rests.

Love to all,
Bernice

Back to the blog

José Ramón Díaz Fernández and me in my study. No, I am not sitting in the photo, I have shrunk!

Dear friends and family,

I didn't want to take the time away from JR while he was here for such a short time. I enjoyed our visit together greatly. JR was very understanding about my need to disappear into my room at times and relax on the recliner. Since he had brought his computer and was working on a grant proposal, he seemed content to work when he could and socialize when Merwin and I could.

Thumbnail sketch: in 1999 JR organized the first ever International Shakespeare on Film Conference, attended by hundreds of people, in Belemadena (not sure of spelling), a resort on the Mediterranean, near Malaga, where JR's University is. It was an amazing week. I gave one of the plenary papers (there was one each day, I believe); mine was on flaws in Branagh's Hamlet. Afterward it was very sweet to hear from a colleague, a professor from MIT, that she thought that the many young women in the room would be encouraged and strengthened by my analysis of Branagh's conceptual flaws when in the audience was sitting the scholar who had stood at Branagh's side all through the filming process and presumably had endorsed all those "flaws." The nerve, she said, approvingly, the courage. I had really thought nothing of it. That scholar, an acquaintance of long standing, got even with me, perhaps unintentionally. To show, I think, that he had no ill feelings, he took a empty seat next to me on one of our many bus trips to wonderful sites and gave me the cold he had.

One of the wonderful friends I made there was Sarah H., a young scholar who had written extensively on Branagh and loved his work. She was interested in my view, not at all put off by it. Sarah, who lives in Paris, has, with her friend Nathalie, organized conferences on particular Shakespearean film topics in France. I have had the pleasure of attending and/or written papers for some of these. They always publish a book for each conference.

So many connections came from the Belamadena conference, not least JR himself. While he was visiting this time, we worked out the way his extensive bibliography and filmography for Hamlet on film, which he has prepared for Sarah's and Nathalie's volume based on their last conference, would differ from theirs. For the website there will be two documents, one for bibliography and one for filmography, JR's work in bibliography is amazing, and I am delighted that he will contribute his work soon, perhaps before my talk at the NYPL in April.

About our weekend in NYC, I want to mention one enjoyable aspect that I missed in my prior blog. For his next book group meeting, Merwin is reading Justice, by Michael J. Sandel, a professor at Harvard whose freshman lecture course is so popular that there is a lottery to select who can attend. The book is based on his lectures. Merwin, who is a wonderful reader, read some of the book aloud, and besides being energized by his voice and the ideas, I was brought back to memories of the course in philosophy I had taken as an elderly undergrad (i got my B.A. at age 26). Kant's idea that one must never use people as a means but only as an end was particularly important to me.

I did not do much work during JR's visit, of course, except the discussions we had about his work for hamletworks.org, and now I am eager to plunge back into it. But first I wanted to talk to all of you in this blog.

Love to all,
Bernice

Back from NYC

Barry Kraft, above, adding about 30 years to his actual age, looks like the Lear we all have dreamed of, a perfect blend of age, pride, strength and perhaps a hint of vulnerability. He is performing in Ashland, Oregon, at a local college, a step aside from his usual important work with the Ashland Shakespeare Festival. Jessica, his proud wife, sent the following URL.
http://www.dailytidings.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110210/ENTERTAIN/102100313&cid=sitesearch

Dear friends and family,

Back home from our weekend in NYC. We did well, with naps between activities. For some reason, my email was not working, so at the end of our stay, our son Dave, who drove us home, took my NYC computer with him to fix. Something is corrupt.

We were able to follow our plans well. Dave drove us in early on Friday, giving us plenty of time to rest. Jay B, the terrific manager of the two reading rooms at the NYPL and the folks who use them, organizes a gathering at the NYPL (second Friday of every month, at 4:30). He is very warm and welcoming and has become as dear to us as our former librarian, David Smith, who retired. I met some new people and saw some I already knew. People brought food, but Jay brought the most. So there was food and talk and drinks. After that, we went to our apartment and took naps. I saw that the one activity, short as it was (perhaps an hour), was enough. I am not ready yet for the four-hour span of the Columbia Shakespeare Seminar. Maybe next month.

The next day we went to the Philharmonic and heard two wonderful pieces. The afternoon program always starts with a chamber music piece. This one, Mozart's Quintet in E-flat major for Piano and Winds, featured oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn. The pianist was Jonathan Biss, who also performed in the second piece after the intermission, Beethovan's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37. Instead of our usual excellent seats, which I didn't think I could manage, we had a box in the farthest corner from stage right, with movable chairs so I could lift my legs as needed (using Laury's wonderful camp stool). It was not easy to see from this spot, but we could hear the music very well. It's time to renew our subscription for next year, and I am wondering what we should do. Perhaps we should subscribe to the philharmonic series as Tilles, a mere 10 minutes away, where a good seat near the front would have room for the camp stool (as at Philobolus last week). It's so hard to know: will this neuropathy and fatigue diminish somehow? Not too likely, I would guess.

After the concert we took a cab to Szechuan Gourmet with Naomi, our concert companion. Since we arrived before 5 p.m. we had no trouble getting a table. At a normal dining hour it is impossible. Merwin and I managed all of the activity by taking naps before and after. By being a little careful, avoiding unnecessary activity, I had a great time.

Today, José Ramón, a dear friend from Malaga, will be arriving from DC, where he has been working at the Folger since New Year's. It will be a joy to see him, and instead of going into high gear with food, I am going to suppress my inclination to cook something special and make everything easy for myself: this evening, it will be soup from the freezer made by our daughter-in-law Debbie (thanks Debbie!) plus a few embellishments; tomorrow take in from Caggiano's. That's the plan, anyway.

Love to all,
Bernice

Read more >> Options >>

A short one

Dear friends and family,

At the top are the flowers that Sophie and Brendan sent 11 days ago for our anniversary. The lilies, which were tight buds, are now open, a feast for the eyes. The photo at the bottom was taken yesterday when Merwin and I went out for lunch with our dear Phyllis S. The blouse I am wearing is part of a two-piece set (top and bottom) that Merwin's spunky, sometimes wild, sometimes amazingly independent Mom, made for me. I may have mentioned before that she used to make all my clothes, a real boon when we had small children, I could not get out easily to shop for clothes and, at least at first, we were short of money. I would open cardboard boxes, mailed from Buffalo, and pull out garment after garment. She sewed for me (and did much else) while working full=time as a pioneering x-ray technician for almost 50 years. She died very suddenly about 18 years ago. I rarely discard what she made for me. Sometimes I give items away.

This morning Sonia and I actually went on an outing to TJ Maxx, a favorite store of us both, where I failed to find some things but did buy pjs, which I will try at home and keep if they fit. My body is so weird these days, it's hard to tell. The result of the shopping expedition is exhaustion, but I will recover soon, I hope.

On the TV, the news has just been broadcast about Mubarak's decision ti step down. Wow! Of course, it's his recently appointed VP who will take over, and he is just another version of the president. It's fascinating to see how all this will fadge (to use a favorite word from Twelfth Night). The NYT this a.m. had a great article about how this whole Egyptian revolution was planned and executed by a small group of intellectuals.

The NYT Book Review, Jan. 2 (I am behind in all reading) has a review I want to take to heart. The historian Tony Judt, struck down by a neurological disorder that left him paralyzed except for a finger or two, but whose brain and voice were perfectly intact, dictated a memoir before he died. I am so much better off than Judt. I can use my own fingers to write—and that allows me to keep in touch with friends, Shakespeare, family (not necessarily in that order). Of course, this distance is not ideal for all relationships. I was not able to be there for the final days of my dear friend Phyllis Bolton, who died yesterday, at home in Tucson, after a long illness, not cancer but heart failure. It would be hard to convey what she has meant in my life. I will try to do so, perhaps in a piece for my writing group meeting next week. What a beautiful life she had! How many people she touched—not only friends but the children of friends.

Sonia says that in spite of the exertion of the TJ Mazz outing, we have to do our exercises. So off I go.

Love to all,
Bernice

No Icicles left

Dear friends and family,

All the icicles are gone, some with help from Merwin, and the snow is slowly sublimating as well as melting. Sonia and I went for a short walk when she first arrived. Together we did some serious cooking and exercises, and on her own she did the wash and mending. Soon after Sonia left we had a visit from our delightful friend Anna, whom we seldom see these days since she has retired from NCC and moved to Southhold, a community on the North Shore of Eastern Long Island. What a joy to be with this beautiful woman who has carved a wonderful life for herself since her early retirement. She leads many bookgroups, Monday through Friday, and obviously does a lot of reading, with different books for each one. It's something like teaching English literature except no grading papers! And she now has a significant other. She is one happy person, and her happiness flowed through to us.

Yesterday, I mentioned a recipe in the NYT Mag. Jan. 10th issue. I am thinking about another piece in that issue, the Assange essay, aptly titled "The Man Who Kicked the Hornet's nest," a very long discussion by Bill Keller of his experience having access to the wikileaks material that Assange has decided to publish in three newspapers. The three writers from the three papers got the raw material and shaped it into something suitable for print. It's not just that they decided that some things should not be printed. They also decided how to make the mess into something literary, something worth reading (though I did not read any of it). This is the point I want to make: shaping is a creative act and makes something new and different from the raw material. The three newspapers are liberal, moderate and conservative, respectively. Each reporter saw a different way to make (shall we say) the messy raw materials into something that would fit the kind of newspaper they were writing for. There is no way to really know what the raw materials conveyed since they now have been filtered through the creative process of three (now more) different writers. There are other issues, of course, such as should these raw materials be published at all. I understand that undercover Afghans have been put at risk of execution because of their outing in the documents. I care about that, of course, but here I am concerned that Keller seems to think he is conveying originals, cleaned to be sure, but to my mind, shaping in creating. No two essays about a literary work, for example, will be the same.

Yesterday, a colleague wrote an email stating he was hurt that hamletworks had neglected to refer to his published work on Hamlet. I don't know what people think about our magical ability to scan every journal, every title, of the hundreds of works on Hamlet every single year! We do our best, often in a haphazard way. We depend on people to send us references to their essays. We have methodically gone through every major edition of the play since 1603 and many minor ones, and we have captured data from lots of book-length critical essays. We've had student helpers on occasion who have scanned the main Shakespeare journals for us, brought relevant articles to our attention, and even written valuable summaries, but I have had no money (from grants) for such helpers for a while. Right now, since library work is impossible for me, I am working on Shakespeare books I own that we have not yet scanned and looking for material on Hamlet in TLS, which sometimes has something worthwhile on Hamlet (but thank goodness not too often). So please, dear folks, if you have published anything on Hamlet in any language, in any format, please please give us the bib info, send us the piece as a WORD.doc or pdf or jpeg file, summarize it for us, etc. My dear friend Joe P has kindly sent me individual commentary notes on lines (from his work in progress) and I have been more than delighted to place his ideas, always interesting, on the site. Others could do the same!

Thinking of the site, I better get back to work.
Love,
Bernice

Read more >> Options >>

Then and Now

Dear Friends and Family,

Alan, from the JCC spin class, sent wonderful photos of his trip with many others to South America. I was happy to receive this gift of vicarious travel. Happy too to see Randi and her husband among the tourists. I can't envision any travel in my future except by car and perhaps LIRR, but that's OK.

The recipe feature of the NYT Magazine often has a "then and now" recipe. Recently (20 Jan.), the "then" was the 1966 recipe for rib roast of beef by Ann Seranne adapted by Craig Clayborne for his column. I have had the recipe in my file since then. This is my kind of recipe, and though, as a vegetarian who does not entertain these days, I seldom make roast beef, it would be what I would turn to if I had company coming: only 4 ingredients (a rib roast of beef, flour, salt and pepper) and very simple prep—and great results, always yielding a perfect, rare-medium rare roast from top to bottom. The "now" recipe has 10 ingredients, a three-part prep and a much heftier dose of salt and pepper. What is the point? If you want to see the easy recipe search "Ann Seranne roast beef" in google, and you'll get lots of hits.

I have the feeling that the recipes in the Times are getting more complicated because they are no longer catering for working families. They aim for people who want to fuss in the kitchen, who don't mind having to go out to buy special ingredients, assembling them, and preparing them for hours. I had that phase too. Along with speedy cooking, I also liked to fuss for parties. My favorite book of recipes for both purposes was Feasts for All Seasons by Roy Andries de Groot (also 1966, interestingly enough). He provided complex recipes for parties and company followed by simpler recipes for everyday family meals. I have not opened the book in years.

Sylvia came yesterday, and for our meal I made a canned salmon frittata: Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a large oblong pan with 1 T of oil. In a bowl, mix together until well blended contents of a one-lb. can of salmon with skin, bone, liquid and all; chopped onion, as much as you like; one large egg; bread crumbs or matzoh meal to firm up the mix, perhaps 1/4 cup; no salt; pepper if you wish. Herbs, such as parley, are nice too, but I didn't have any. Yesterday, I added frozen baby limabeans, so we'd have a vegetable built in. Heat the pan with oil in the preheated oven until it shimmers (a few minutes: don't let it smoke). Remove pan from oven and pour in the salmon mix, spreading it from end to end. It will be very thin. The object is to producec mostly crust, an attempt to reach an approximation of salmon patties. Bake for about a 1/s hour. If it does not look brown on top, put it in the broiler for a minute or two. It takes longer to write the directions than to do it! It's very good in sandwiches the next day. I am now using our old paint splattered step stool for any kitchen chores that require standing for a while, and I hope to find a nicer stool soon. It's wonderful to think of a way to do what I cannot otherwise do—in this case stand in one spot.

It's always great to see Sylvia; we go back so far and we've always been very close, since she came to stay with us for a while after college, about 40 years ago! She is more like a daughter than a first cousin once removed. Now she is awaiting her 9th grandchild! The great thing is that our grandchildren Rachael and Michelle love her also; who doesn't? But it's wonderful to hear that they meet her and Marty on occasion.

I sent Jeffery the Sentinels essay at last for the website hamletworks.org, and now I plan to return to the little changes the general editor wants in the Measure for Measure edition. I am always amazed at how much I learn when I work on Shakespeare—and I guess that is what I like best. While Merwin was watching the football game last night, I was shaping some new ideas I had developed for the web site. This gets a little technical, but what I was noticing in scholars' arguments about the nature of Q1 Hamlet (and this is really nothing new) is that they avoid anything in the text that could not be explained by their theories. Since I have been working on the sentinels, I was especially alert to the neglect of Marcellus (one of them) in the argument that Q1 was Shakespeare's first draft or that it was a shortened version of Q2, a longer text. Neither of these arguments accounts for the fact that Marcellus's part in each of the three texts is remarkably similar, more so than any other role. Fascinating. Another interesting fact is the virtue of collaboration. I hadn't even planned to get into the Q1 issues until my fellow editor Nick wrote that he thought I should after I sent him a first draft. I even found a paragraph that would work well in the Gertrude essay. That's the great thing about the site: we editors who have access can add, subtract, change, correct. I found several typos on the site as I was working and corrected them.

Because of this and that, everything scholarly goes very slowly for me. I look for books I know I have; but standing at the bookcase where I know they are makes the neuropathy flare up; I have to return to the recliner to raise my legs. I ask Merwin to look for the books. He finds them. Nothing is straightforward. But at least I have the help I need to do the work. And I have to be patient with myself.

I hope to go to the City this weekend, and our dear Dave spent many hours yesterday (including trips to stores) installing grab bars in our apartment's bathtub/shower so I will be able to take a shower. Good Dave!

Back to work!

Love to all,
Bernice

Snow and Ice but many clear spots also

Dear Friends and Family,

Thursday, Sonia made a bok choy recipe I had clipped from the NYT, which had the requisite simplicity (any more than 3 steps and it's too much). Laury had gotten the 4 baby bok choy heads that the recipe calls for and that only Whole Foods had, but Sonia says that the full-grown heads will do as well: you just would not be able to serve them whole to 4 people (cut 2 in half longitudinally). I liked it a lot and append the recipe above. It is really fast, probably no more than 10 minutes from start (washing the vegetable well) to finish (serving). We also made potato cubes the way we make the roasted cauliflower, but we will have to try it again without the potato skins: the flesh was soft but the skins were tough.

Sonia thinks I am getting stronger and better at the exercises we do together. When she came in, she urged me to come out with her for a walk before she took off her coat and boots. The street was completely clean, with huge snow piles all around. Merwin keeps on tackling the ice at the front door. And Sonia must be right about my improvement because I scheduled not one but two activities on Friday (yesterday). Ilona picked me up to go to the Jolly Fisherman for our First Friday lunch with friends from our synagogue. I love this activity, sitting and chatting with friends. I was able to stay until just before dessert (I took mine home) without having to get up and walk to ease the neuropathy in my feet (they don't like to hang down as they do when I sit) because, I guess, the neuropathy was helped by the pills (2 different ones, a one-time dose of each) that the neurologist prescribed. He had expected me to continue taking the pills, but my reaction was so negative after one each that I stopped. My memory is such that I do not recall the nature of the bad reactions. It is rather lovely to forget bad things.

On Thursday Sophie, who is a trustee or something grand for Tilles Center at C. W. Post College, offered us tickets to a Friday evening performance there, of Philobolus, and I was game to try. Sophie arranged for us to be in the sixth row (right in front of them), which faces a wide aisle. Merwin brought the little camp stool that Laury loaned us, and I was able to put up my feet when I needed to. [I get a lot of help from my friends! to say nothing of Merwin!] Close by parking courtesy of our handicapped permit also helped. The program was fabulous, 6 pieces for 6 acrobats/dancers—2 women and 4 men, all equally athletic. It was thrilling to be out and to be so charmed by their innovative moves: not dancing as we know it.

When we came home we were a little hungry, and so, on the fly, I invented a new dish for Merwin, basically pan-toasted bread with an egg on top and cheese on top of that, cooked, covered, until the cheese had melted, the white had solidified, and the yoke, as Merwin likes it, still liquid. I used our step-stool to sit at the stove and keep a eye on the progress of the egg and cheese. I am trying to find a more handsome stool of some sort that I can keep in the kitchen, because I can't stand in one place for long, again because of the neuropathy.

Now it is Saturday, and I feel none-the-worse for yesterday's wear, though happy to be sitting here and eager to get to my Shakespeare work. We love hearing from you.

We are, of course, fascinated by the events in Egypt, hoping for the best for the people of that country but worried too. What will this mean for Israel"

Love to all,
Bernice

Another day, another celebration

Jpeg file of NYPL announcement above; some people had complained about the text yesterday.

A bouquet for our anniversary, one of several giving us the cheer of summer and artistry in this continuing stormy time.

Dear Friends and Family,

The celebration continues: today we went out for lunch with our friends Eli and Miriam who were married in Jan. 1951 as we were. We went to a Japanese restaurant a few minutes away, at the end of our street. I couldn't go out in January, but at last I am much better. I woke up with hardly any pain (I sometimes feel as if I have been run over by a train) and with a smile on my face. It was early, and I got to work on the Sentinels. Slowly, slowly, I am getting there. I sent the draft to our web master, Jeffery, so he could see if I tagged it correctly for the web site.

Some people objected to the form of the NYPL announcement—so forgive me for appending it again above: I wanted it to be below but no luck. I am also including a URL below that will take you to a whole set of pictures Harvey took on the weekend. Seven of us had lunch in my study, which doubles as a casual dining room, and eleven of us sat down to dinner in the dining room.

Yesterday, I had a very good day with my aide, Sonia. Even when I start off as a mope, she always energizes me: I help her do some cooking and she helps me exercise. Later, my dear friend Barbara stopped over briefly on her way home from the College: she is not at all ready to retire.

The icicles are amazing. Merwin spent the morning chopping ice, so I was able to walk gingerly to our friends' van. I get by with lots of help from my friends.

Love to all,
Bernice

URL of photos: http://gallery.me.com/harveykliman/100852

The 60th anniversary day

Oh how the mighty have fallen! almost 20 years ago this is what we looked like. Merwin looks the same now. It saddens me to see the change in my whole bearing as well as my appearance. Dan Specter sent this to us. At the end of this post I have the announcement of the talk I WILL give in April. Come if you can; all are welcome.

Dear Friends and Family,

A quiet day for our actual 60th anniversary. Bearing gifts as always, Kathryn made a brief visit, about an hour, but afterward I had to lie down. Everything, even simple pleasures, is tiring, exhausting even. Kathryn retired as of the end of last semester, and she is vibrant with the pleasures of her freedom—for travel, grandchildren, and the wealth of NYC's amenities. And delighted with her freedom from having to drive from NYC to the college and back and from facing the ever-less-well-prepared students.

Early in the evening we went to a very nearby upscale restaurant, "fork & vine." We chose it because they serve small plates as well as regular meals. We selected 2 small plates each and a salad to share. The food was ample and good, with low-keyed and elegant service. By the time we left, many young people had arrived. It's clearly not a place for old folks, but we were welcomed beautifully. I had to rise and walk around several times because of my back pain. We told our waiter (one of the owners, I think) that we were celebrating our 60th anniversary—and though we were very full by then, he brought us a beautiful and delicious ice-cream dessert on the house, which we polished off in moments. Exhausting. But I was so happy to go out for dinner for the first time since July 22nd!

I am still working on the sentinels essay: every time I read it I find something I need to change—add or subtract. I enjoy this shaping process. Through the magic of email, I exchanged email about a play focused on two of the sentinels with a scholar (now on sabbatical in New Zealand) I know who had seen the play and who had written a marvelous review. I hope to somehow enfold it into my essay.

Below I am attaching the announcement of my talk at the NYPL. I keep imagining myself walking with Merwin from our NYC apartment to the 42nd Street entrance of the library. I get to the venue for the talk and do it—an hour of demonstrating hamletworks.org. Then, elated by the talk itself and seeing so many people I love there, I walk back to the apartment and rest. Will I be able to make this happen by imagining it? I hope so. I think so.

Love to all
Bernice

Here is the copy for the announcement:

Stephen A. Schwarzman Building Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street New York, NY 10018-2788

On Tuessday, April 12, 2011 at 1:15 pm in the South Court Auditorium
Bernice W. Kliman will present an illustrated lecture on Hamletworks.org for Everyone!

Hamletworks.org gathers and analyzes data, whole works, and more every week! It offers deep levels of information on Hamlet and related works for scholars, students, theater practitioners, and fans. The site is a continuing work in process and brings together an important body of information about Shakespeare’s play that will interest casual students as well as serious scholars, and it will grow increasingly valuable as it continues to develop.

The original editor of the New Variorum Hamlet, and currently the Coordinating Editor of hamletworks.org, Bernice W. Kliman is Professor Emeritus of English at Nassau Community College. Active in Shakespeare scholarship, she has edited The Enfolded "Hamlets": Parallel Texts of and {Q2} each with Unique Elements Bracketed (2004), and written Hamlet: Film, Television, and Audio Performance, among many others. She is currently a Writer in Residence in the Library’s Allen Room.

I welcome your support!