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recent posts
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There Must Be Cake
While I'm At It...
Family Viewing
Bookish
Like the Proverbial Hole in the Head
But First
Creepy Jewelry
Musical Chairs
Even Movie Stars Aren't Immune
Brood Brooding
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Presenting
So if you were going to perform Hamlet with finger puppets and only four characters, which ones would you choose? I ask because a friend gave Felix a Christmas present of a set of (magnetic!?!) Hamlet finger puppets of: Hamlet, Ophelia, Gertrude and Claudius and I don't know how much one can do with those particular four. Hamlet is pretty interesting, now that I think about it, for being really invested in its secondary characters: the Ghost who gets the ball rolling, Polonius who makes things worse all the way around... Still, perhaps this set is really best for a holiday-time contemplation of Hamlet. Forget the state, it's all about family (mother, stepfather/uncle, girlfriend and of course our hero).
This year I started looking for presents comparatively early, which is to say, this week as opposed to the week of the 25th. It is amazing how procuring presents is like those scenes from Looney Tunes cartoons where a character cleans up by sweeping everything under the rug, and creates a giant lump that moves around and won't be squashed no matter how many whacks it gets with a broom. I found and ordered something for my husband. Triumph! It arrived. Then it arrived again. While I try to sort that out, which is more complicated than it sounds, I order something for one of the nieces. As soon as I make contact with husband's present's customer service, an email arrives telling me the niece's item (which was fab, by the way, and I hope I can remember it exists for a birthday or next year or something) has been back ordered. Eventually I had to get back to work and today my email box seems more like a minefield than ever before.
But here's one recommendation, if you're short a present for bookish types. It is rather spendy, but don't dismiss it too quickly. A couple of years ago- pre kid- I was given a subscription to the Times Literary Supplement, a British publication, and I've become addicted. But only now that I have Felix do I really relish it. The supplement contains mostly book reviews and a scattering of pieces about art, theatre, movies and strange things. It always has poems scattered around, an often amusingly blustery letters section, the occasional acrostic or quotation quiz (with cash prizes!), and an amusing classified section.
Since the thing shows up every week, and I'm short on time they tend to pile up, but I always keep one in my bag to ward off boredom and they also help, I think, to prevent my becoming boring. This week I've read about curry and pineapples, the prejudices against meteorology, and Edvard Munch. No matter how insular I feel in the dark mornings while I feed Felix or noodle with him, I can always glance through any stray issue and glimpse a peculiar assortment of passions. Just a taste of these texts provides enough succulent tidbits to toss around at cocktail parties (if any were being thrown), and it's just as well that one isn't desperate to read the books because many are unavailable in the United States and the shipping rates from Amazon UK are extraordinary.
posted by Elise at 8:03 PM
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9/28/2006 9:58 PM
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9/28/2006 9:58 PM
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Good design!
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9/28/2006 9:58 PM
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