Company is fun

Herb Coursen and I, at some conference or other, sometime in the '90s, I think. You'll notice my trademark stockings. Herb has been a friend for a long time, as long as I have been involved with Shakespeare on film, and it is good to have his photo on my blog. As usual, click on the photo to enlarge it, and use the back arrow to return to normal.

Dear family and friends,

Rainy days continue. Blood drawn as usual. I think I could now go to the hem's office for the blood draw and will ask about that today. When Bill, the P.T. from Visiting Nurses came, he said he could not order the aluminum cane for me after all because Medicare wouldn't cover it. I am not sure why, but it seems difficult to order items on one's own. They cost only about $15. But we have a plethora of canes, used by parents and uncles, and Bill liked a sturdy wooden one that Merwin could saw down for me, replacing the rubber tip at the bottom. So I am going to be trying that more. It will help me get around outdoors. We'll try that today when I go to the dentist.

Dear friends, the Dzens, will be coming for a brunch/breakfast later. I am going to try David Ehre's pancake again. The process will be smoother this time than it was on Sat. because I will get the few ingredients ready on the counter. The side dishes will be fruit, yogurt, coffee of course. Yesterday, Harris and Evelyn came: they are so much fun, and we had a lovely brunch with my favorites, lox and bagels. We are looking forward to theater with them, probably next season since this season is already at an end.

About Herb: At a conference at Bowdoin College in Maine, Herb invited the conferees to his home for a party. I admired his sense of humor there. A prolific writer in many genres, Herb had a lamp with a large shade on which were plastered rejection letters from many venues, pride of place being given to The New Yorker. What a happy sense of humor he has.

When my sister became a physicist she had no idea that she would be collaborating with physicists and technicians from all over the world, in many venues. For her PhD project at Cornell University (where Hans Bethe and many other stars were her mentors) she built a lone experiment deep under ground, in a tunnel through which a stream ran. (I, a teenager then, remember mainly the spider webs and the wooden structures she had built herself.) She was studying particles that could get through the thick layer between her and the firmament. She envisioned herself as being a solitary worker in the field. Never happened. Experiments in nuclear physics demanded collaborations of hundreds of people at times.

Similarly, with studies in English literature. I had no idea how much of my work would be collaborative, like the Shakespeare in Film Newsletter that Ken and I started (1976-1992); like the ongoing website hamletworks.org, the joy of my life; like editing with Laury, such a great opportunity for closeness; like sharing writing and ideas about teaching and writing with my writing group. Yes, there is some work that I do alone, but the collaborative part sharpens my mind as it forces me to elicit the opinions of others.

I am truly blessed in my friends, those who came with the Shakespeare life, and those who come from a wide variety of interests and fields.

Love to all,
Bernice