OK, so I promise this will be the last entry on William Shakespeare for awhile (probably).

In the news this week...

A death mask discovered in 1842 England is now believed to be that of Mr. Shakespeare. It bears the date of 1616, the year in which the playwright and poet died. Also, according to New York Times reporting, it appears to have the same "high forehead, prominent nose, and beard associated with Shakespeare."

Hmm... what do you think?

Too close to call, right? WRONG!

(Warning: unauthorized editorial approaching.)

It is him! Forget science, forget tests, forget all logic and just jump on in. The water's fine. There's too much debate surrounding the man. There has been for too long. People wonder whether Shakespeare was really Shakespeare. Maybe he was some other dude named Christopher Marlowe, maybe he was Sir Francis Bacon (mmm Bacon), maybe he was a group of writers pulling a fast one over centuries of readers ... I'm not going to get into all that here, we pretty much covered it already in READ issue 12. All I want to say now is ... come on, let's let the great one rest in peace and give him back his good name.

The death mask looks like him to me, and frankly, I never needed proof. From the first time I picked up Romeo and Juliet in middle school all the way up to last weekend when I saw a surprisingly strange and silly slapstick performance of As You Like It, I've always believed that Shakespeare is Shakespeare. No matter how much the naysayers nitpick, I will tell you, Shakespeare is Shakespeare. Just as you are you and I am preaching too much.

(Rant over. Probably.)

Anyway, to get back to the point, this is a pretty cool story. You can check out the facts without my idiotic ramblings here.

Have a great weekend.
Word.

Poem by Tom DeLay, Grade 10

Squirrels scampering out of the way

As a singular car

Speeds down the lonely avenue

The crack of a branch

Breaking

Awakens a rabbit

White fur enhances its appearance

The Gabriel of the morning

Calling out for all to hear

That the night has been ended

Raccoons race into hiding

Nocturnal birds soar through the sky

Fighting to get back into safety

Into a fortress of darkness

So evasive to the light

One streak comes out from the heavens

A small overture

For those who are already moving about

Beginning the day's work

Out the pores of the heavens

Come the beams of life

Containing within them the power

To bring to life all that has

Hibernated through the night

Trying to escape their scope

The amoeba of light

Envelops the entire avenue

Tentacles of joviality touching all they can

And showering everything in the celestial glow

Of the new beginning

The day is here

At last

Have you ever wanted to take a writing course but didn't have the money or the time?  Believe me, I can relate -- sometimes it can be hard to find time in your busy schedule to write for fun, much less enroll in a writing class!  But I've found that just writing for a few minutes each day can really add up to pages and pages of writing -- and a writing class provides structure and ideas to help you stick to your writing goals. 

If money's an issue, there are plenty of writing classes out there that charge minimal amounts, or even nothing at all.  My personal favorite is the program created by amazing teen writer Elisabeth Wilhelm at www.learning.absynthemuse.com.  If you're between the ages of 13 and 22, you can go on the website and enroll in writing courses for *free*!  :) There are all sorts of topics available, from finding your own writing voice to promoting your work to the class I am teaching about writing short stories. 

If you're interested in my class, there are still spots available, but act quickly -- the registration deadline is this Saturday, February 25, as the class starts on February 26 and runs for six weeks.  The key code to register for my "Writing the Short Story" class is "lightening bug."  Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions!

Geez. That's one of my biggest pet peeves actually and I do it all the time. "Finding the Write Mood". Oh how delicious! Do you see what he did there? Instead of "right" he used "write"! It's oh so clever you see, because he is writing about writing and not righting! Oh jolly good. Chuckle chuckle. Grr. Anyway...

I'm not in the right/write mood. I'm working on a play adaptation of... something that will come out in a future issue of READ... and as much as I stare at the book in front of me or hover my fingers over the keyboard, I just know that anything I attempt will come across as unpleasant and sub-par. I didn't even want to write this blog entry about it. That's how much I'm spacing right now. Heh. spacing.                           Get it?

Anyway, something good must come out of this. Someone must help me. Surely you know what I'm tallking about? You have deadlines in school that have to be met. Do you ever sit down to write a paper and soon find yourself face first in your book? Or slamming your forehead into your desk? Or screaming internally? The phase passes in time, but as you stew in it, it seems as if there is no end to the non-creative pit of doldrums you slog about in. Is it laziness? Sure it is. It's also a normal part of being a writer (or any kind of artist for that matter). There will be good. There will be bad. And God help us, there will be ugly. When you're pressed with a paper's deadline or due date and you're stuck in the awful land of nothingness, try something like this.

Just write.

Forget the paper and spout out all your bad feelings. Write about how you can't write. By the time you're done with your tirade, you might actually find that you're rejuvenated and ready to go. Then again, you might feel worse. If that's the case, walk away. Go for a run. Watch bad T.V. Eat a cookie. Eat twelve cookies. Turn up the music and dance on your bed. Play catch with your Dad. Play frisbee with your dog. Go shopping. Buy me something nice. Read a book. Call a friend. Do a handstand. Ride your bike. Take a hike. Eat a snickers. I hear they really satisfy you. Think of new and better slogans for existing products. Post a comment on this blog. Tell us how you can't stand writer's block. How it pains you. What you do to overcome it. What you do when you can't overcome it. Pick a star out of the sky and name it.

Start all over again.

The mood isn't always there and you can't always find it and you can't always fight it. But at least you can write about it. Right? Right?!?!

I dunno. Let me know.