Enlarge the upper photo by clicking on the image. The second photo is of the three guys, the other editors of hamletworks.org and now the editors without me of the New Variorum Hamlet. From the left Hardin, Eric and Nick. Merwin took this photo when we four last met in Glen Head for a summit meeting and we were joined here by Pete from MIT, who is helping our site merge with his. Nick is working strenuously on the connection, which will be brilliant. The photo on top is "The 9 Bernices" again, in case some of you don't remember it. Can you find 9? That's the room where we editors huddled for for the weekend, to make decisions that would move the project forward.
Dear Friends and Family,
Yesterday's meeting with the writing group was splendid, except for the absence of Kathryn, whose wit and verve were missed. Toby has driven all the way from Lenox, where she and her husband live during the summer, and when we broke up at 4 p.m she was driving back. I read some of the points from my review of the edition.All of us, even those who have retired, are interested in the process and perils of teaching.
We met first at Kiraku, the Japanese restaurant at the end of our “drive,” where all of us, except Joe, who met us later at my house, had a good lunch. I shared a glass of wine with Meta. I have given up my abstinence, and I like it. We all read. Dave had made me watermelon chunks, which I served and mostly ate myself. And I also put out the big Majoul dates I had on hand with nuts. I mostly ate those too. What an appetite! I have to be a little careful because though I seemed to be losing weight or just holding steady no matter what I ate, I have begun to put on a few pounds.
The National Endowment for the Humanities is asking for reports from those of us who received grants during the 1st decade of the century. Our team's last grant was issued in 2002 and lasted till 2007. As director of the grant, I wrote to the person who signed the request to ask if we could write more than the form allowed. We have accomplished so much, not only during the grant but also after. She has not responded yet. I want NEH to help us publicize our gains! We are happy to verify the value of the grant. I also wrote to my three fellow editors to ask if they could list all the benefits to themselves both during and after the grant period. I think NEH and NEA are under threat from the Republican Congress.
Nick has been doing a fantastic job as he prepares for his talk/presentation at the International Shakespeare Conference in Prague. Like me as I was preparing for my NYPL talk, he is constantly giving Jeffery, our splendid webmaster, ideas about additions/improvements to the site. Hardin sent me his talk about both projects, HW and NVH, for Prague, which is funny and informative. Nick sent me the talk he'll give if the equipment is not available for him to show the HW site in action. I am looking forward to reading it but do hope he gets his equipment.
I don't Tweet or friend on FaceBook, so I asked Dave to post my Tweet as widely as possible. I hope some of you will do the same. Obama now has a Tweet account, as you probably heard in the news yesterday.
Messages to and From Dave: He wrote: "I do repeatedly hear [your] point on all the liberal talk shows... but if you'd like I'll throw it up there for you."
My tweet: ""If lower taxes for the rich create jobs why the jobs problem now?"
Dave writes: "There are now 200,000,000 tweets per day... it's out there, with all the rest."
If the situation in Congress moves you, I hope you will write your own messages and spread them around. I am sure many of you do that already.
Today was wonderful. Sonia, as usual, pepped me up and perked me up. We went for a long walk, very hot for so early in the morning. She helped me make pesto from the big bunch of basil that I bought from Rotkamps Farm and put in a vase. Since the recipe calls for 2 cups of packed basil leaves, I think I have enough leaves left for another batch of pesto. My own little crop of basil in a pot on our deck I use for ad hoc basil needs, like tomato sandwiches.
The carpenters came to install Merwin's in-the-wall-air-conditioner. I finally persuaded him to move on this front. He is going to be much more comfortable when he rests in the afternoon. The workers put the dead air-conditioner at the curb, and moments later the recycling guys picked it up and threw it in their truck: it's recycling day today.
But the real joy of the day was meeting Barry, his wife Jessica, and her father Jack, whom they are visiting, at MP Taverna for lunch. Barry and Jessica live on the West Coast, but travel a lot: just yesterday they returned from Ireland, which they loved. While they are on the East Coast, actually about 2 villages Northeast of us at Jack's beautiful house, to attend a brother's wedding, we will get to see them again soon and often. Hooray!
How did I meet these wonderful people? Shakespeare of course. Barry, an actor, dramaturg, and passionate student of all things Shakespearean, somehow found my Three-Text Hamlet (edited with Paul Bertram), wrote to me about his admiration for it ("My favorite book"), and we met him when we went to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where he was working. We wrote to each other, and he would tape his thoughts for me, discussing particular lines and choices from the three texts, etc. etc. Like all rich relationships, the one we have with each other cannot be summed up in a few words.
And then he met and married dear Jessica, his beautiful soul mate, who brought Barry to us in person via her father's home. And she enriched our lives through the love we feel for her.
Can you tell I am smiling all over my face?
Merwin made two appointments for me, one with the corneal expert and one for a CT scan of my head. So we will know more, but what we will do about the knowledge is yet to be determined. Oh my, the smile is gone. I better get back to Barry, Jessica and Jack. I haven't told you anything about him: he is a charmer, a film person, a maven, and a pleasure to be with. I wish we could see him between Barry and Jessica's visits to him, but thank goodness for small favors. OK, I am smiling again.
Love to all,
Bernice
No comments:
Post a Comment