New blogs coming up soon: Robin and I leave November 6 on the Shakespeare At Sea Cruise 2 (with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival participating again). And, once again, Robin is one of the principal speakers. OK, why be shy? She's the main speaker, the heart and soul of the Shakespeare Cruise, and the most important person in the world (to quote an intellectual, who, on a totally unrelated side note, is a close personal friend).
So, if the Wi-Fi on the cruise ship is decent, I'll be blogging during the 10 day event. You might recall that last year I discovered after the cruise started that it was actually a zombie ship full of very old undead people who stumbled around the ship day and night, but mostly at meal time. Well, this year I have more white hair and I've perfected my stiff-legged, stumble-forward walk (with a vacant look in my eyes, mouth slightly agape) so I can roam freely about the ship. I've also perfected the illusion of looking like I'm asleep while I'm blogging.
Since I haven't blogged in a while, I'll be posting some blogs between now and when we leave for the cruise (Ft. Lauderdale to the Eastern Caribbean).
The latest news from Santa Fe: The Mermaid Tavern bar (in the kitchen) is finished, except for the etched glass that goes in the doors. The photo below is a mockup of the etched glass design.
The border is made up of Shakespeare quotes about drinking. Under each quote is the character that said it, and the play it comes from (below).
The Mermaid Tavern was a real London tavern on the corner of Friday and Bread Streets in Shakespeare's time, where the elite artists, writers, poets, and intellectuals met on the first Friday of the month (The First Friday Club, the gathering was called).
It should be noted that the man named William Shakespeare was never documented as having been there. But surely he musta, coulda, shoulda, woulda. Maybe he disguised himself because he so loved being an invisible genius who didn't want any credit for the humble scribbles he jotted down in his free time (when he wasn't hanging out in Noblemens' libraries studying English history, or brushing up on his French, Italian, and Greek).
It should also be noted that Robin's house is known as The Mermaid Tavern, and her Shakespeare Reading Group is also called the First Friday Club (and meets on the first Friday of the month). Hmmm. Strange.
There's still a tavern on the corner of Bread and Friday Streets in London. The owners had no clue as to it's history until Robin and pal Amy told them about it. Interestingly, the current name of the tavern is The Seahorse, not that far different from Mermaid Tavern in concept. Hmmm. I say again, strange.
