I finally finished “The Two Gentleman of Verona” and I have to say I was a little more impressed once it was over than I thought. It turns out the situation was a little less horrible than I thought it would be. As expected in Shakespeare’s comedies, everyone who should be together ends up together in spite of their self-inflicted and much deservéd adversity.

At Christmas, I treated myself to a copy of The Dangerous Book for Boys. It is a how-to book of sorts for young men on everything they need to know as guys. This, of course, is a subjective topic. Okay, no it’s not. There’s some great stuff in here that I think every guy really should know. How to make the greatest paper airplane in the world, for example.  It looks a little something like this:

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I took great pride in knowing that I had been making “the greatest paper airplane in the world” since some time in junior high.  Can’t remember who taught me how.  A classmate of mine, I think.  I’m sure we were making them against teacher rules.

So, imagine my surprise when the table of contents announces that on page 150 is a section called “Sampling Shakespeare.”  It is a collection of quotes taken from a few of Shakespeare’s play.  I was a little disappointed to see that my favorite from Henry V was not there:

“But if the cause be not good, the King himself hath a heavy reckoning to make when all those legs and arms and heads, chopp’d off in a battle, shall join together at the latter day and cry all, ‘We died at such a place. ‘”(For an excellent article on the beginning of the Iraq war that uses this quote, see http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20030208roddy102col2p2.asp)

But there are still a few great ones from Romeo and Juliet, Henry IV, Richard III, Julius Caesar, and of course Hamlet and MacBeth.

My next goal is to start on Shakespeare’s histories.  I really enjoyed Henry V when I read it in college, so I am hoping to be just as impressed with the others.

Guys, be sure to pick up a copy of The Dangerous Book for Boys.  And for girls, there is The Daring Book for Girls.

It’s bed time now.

Until later — “There’s no turning back now that you opened up to your mind.”