Who's there?

I want to take a moment to explain why I started this blog, and what you, the reader, can expect. Let me begin with what you can expect.

This is a blog designed to produce commentary and criticism (most of it will be piecemeal, works-in-progress) about William Shakespeare, his contemporaries, and the early modern period. This includes modern film and stage adaptations. In addition, I will post news, information, and anything else I can muster with the free time I have available.

However, I will use this blog to post non-Shakespeare paraphernalia as well. Since I teach college-level English, I may use this blog to post news about my classes. I may also post general reviews and impressions about the books I read and the movies I watch. For example, I am about to finish David Sedaris's recent collection of nonfiction essays called Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, so I can certainly envision a post that explores want I think about it.

I'll conclude by indulging a truism. The Internet is an endless chasm of shameless, confessional writing; some of it good and some of it bad. Even though I don't necessarily like the idea of "piling on," here is my confession: I've felt increasingly distracted as of late. I realized I needed a way to channel that frenetic energy. So I vigorously started playing a video game, a golf game at that, but the whole process left me guilt-ridden. As I finished playing, scolding myself with tenacity, I would think, "how did you just spend the last three hours?" I don't blame video games or the video gaming community. It's all fine, I suppose. The fault is mine, so perhaps one day I'll learn how to enjoy video games, but for now, they will not suffice. So I reluctantly started this blog instead. Will this blog curb the guilt I feel for not grabbing life by the short hairs like guys in deodorant commercials? Perhaps. Should I instead get down to the business of exploring why I feel this impulse? Sure. Will I do that? Another time.