Shakespeare Enters

We're only at the halfway mark... Yet so much has happened in these past three weeks of summer school here in Cambridge. However, I'd like to save such stories until the end of this journey, to deliver to you in one fatal swoop of madness.

Thus, for now - as a little taster - I wish to present you with the script my A2 class crafted together with very little input from myself, in which they then had to act out in front of a live audience. On stage. It truly was a thing of beauty. Shakespeare himself would be proud (I imagine). I was definitely very proud of them.

It was lovingly referred to as Shakespeare Enters, and here it is: 

'Shakespeare Enters'

Characters:

SUPERHERO: Sharp

SUPERHERO FATHER: David

EVIL PERSON: William

TREE: Iraide + Lawrence

DOG MAN: Bruce

SHAKESPEARE: Ruslana

MINION: Daniel

MONKEY HERO: Frank

PASSERBY: Emily + Jake

WIZARD: Nico

FIRST SCENE: [Shakespeare enters the stage]

Shakespeare: Hello and welcome to the show. We will travel in time and show you lots.

[Superhero plays guitar]

[Minion dances] + [Monkey hero dances] – 7 YEARS

[Wizard does magic]

[Shakespeare enters the garden]

Tree(s): We are beautiful green trees.

[Superhero father dances]

Dog man: Woof, woof. I am a dog man.

Evil person: I am evil MWAHAHAHA

Passer-by Emily: [sings]

Passer-by Jake: Reads book

[Superhero and evil person fight]

[Wizard wins]

[Dog man helps the superhero]

[Dog man dies]

[Superhero wins and then goes home to have a party, he invites all his friends, including the dead people]

Shakespeare: Thank you for coming, goodbye!

[everybody bows]

 PAPA AMERICANO PLAYS

Ugly Enough To Be Rather Attractive

It would seem like the whole notion of dating and messaging people on specifically-designed apps has always been an interest of mine...

Hence why I have stumbled across such a video on YouTube that shares the results of a rather intriguing study conducted by one of these types of sites (but has since been deleted).

Although I shall try to explain briefly the workings of the study, it'll be far better if you watched the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLNwa_hoz4w

Essentially, people who are observed as having a generally lower score of average 'attractiveness' (this was a 1-5 rating scale) created a polarized effect - in that they would also score as being (a fair amount) hotter for a statistically significant group of people.

Thus, if your face causes an amount of debate or controversy as to your supposed attractiveness, you're more like to have some people think you're REALLY attractive, or REALLY ugly. But if you're just a generic kinda cute, then they'll be fewer people trying to hook up with you. "Men who think you're hot will add to your message count, but men who think you're cute will subtract from your message count".

A point to take away from this, I thought: "If someone doesn't think you're hot, the next best thing for them to think is that you're ugly".

So...

What to make of the findings? Well, basically, it is thought that men may feel this way as they assume they do not have a lot of competition with women who may attract these varying (largely polarized) opinions. They may assume "Hmmm, maybe she's lonely, or maybe she is just waiting to find a guy who appreciates her..." and so they shoot their shot. Whereas, the generically attractive 'cute' girl may find herself without an abundance of dates or potential suitors based purely on the fact other guys are assuming she's already receiving a whole bunch of attention.

Anyway, a lot of this has come about because I have shared a fair amount recently about my dissertation with my colleagues (to be read here, if interested) to the point that I've found myself exploring even more of the realm of all that is online relationship and vaguely SWB - perhaps it's time to delve deeper into the different categories, or even an update to my previous research.

Of course, it's always worth  questioning the validity of these studies (y'know, like, attractiveness as a measure, for instance, but I find them pretty fun to read nevertheless)

Hope this has been enlightening.

Leave comments if you so wish.

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Somewhere in Poland

I've just returned home after spending a delightful week volunteering in Poland. 

I've always been a fan of meeting new people, and the program did not disappoint in that regard. I met so many wonderful human beings whilst away, from all over the world. I cannot describe how happy the week made me. It's been a truly enriching experience.

There was pizza making, walks in nature, water balloon fights, songs around the campfire, terrible card games, regaling the tale of the Canvey Island monster, a whole load of innuendo, and - of course - the hat.

The truth is, it would not have been such a good time had the participants not been so amazing and intelligent and genuinely intriguing individuals. It would also not have been such a good time had I not been surrounded by the other wonderful volunteers. Y'all were fantastic.

I would definitely like to do Angloville again. But I'll admit I have very high expectations now.

A huge thank you to everyone I met on this journey.


P.S. I didn't take my camera with me - so here's just a small selection of not too great photos (or photos that were sent to me) that summed up the trip:

North Wales

Everything you could have wanted from Wales was delivered in one beautiful weekend. There was delicious food, a gorgeous middle-of-nowhere cottage, verdant countryside, an abundance of sheep, and inevitably - when the rest of the UK were basking in sunshine-  a whole load of rain. It was a perfect time to experience Bounce Below, a truly delightful cavern experience, and the fastest zipline in the entirety of Europe.

It was also particularly lovely when visiting the village of Portmeirion (which was utterly cute, and I totally recommend, regardless of weather... and when you can just walk in for free, well... even better) 

 

Here are some photos that document the experience:

On Feminism and Language

Again, this is a post for me to say: I have nothing new for you (or rather, there were many topics I was thinking of breaching, and yet - be it the Eurovision boycott, the horrendous new Alabama state laws on abortion - or even the news of Grumpy Cat's death. At the heart of it, I just couldn't bring myself to face these topics).

Thus, I present to you a blog which I follow and for those interested in all things linguistic, could perhaps learn from and enjoy: https://debuk.wordpress.com/

It's from the delightful Debbie Cameron, a fabulous linguist and feminist. If you so wished, you can also find her on Twitter at @wordspinster

Peaking Too Early

I've just returned from yet another stint in France - but I shall save you all the time of recounting this recent camp experience (there's only so much goblin stories one can take, I understand). Instead I'd like to broach a subject that came up whilst having a chat with my colleagues.

The idea of having 'peaked too early' in life.

I mentioned the fact that I felt that at the ripe age of 17 - I had encountered the best year of my life.

Not that my recent years haven't come up to scratch - they're certainly filled with even more than I could have dreamt of when I were but a youngster, taking her first steps into the world of travel and other good stuff.

But everything had a certain freshness to it.

This is not me just being reminiscent of the halcyon days of youth - I distinctly recall acknowledging and being very aware at the time that I was living a pretty good life (in fact, I felt so touched by Sylvia Plath's writing on the subject* that I was inspired to write a piece on it back then, which shall be forgotten to those long lost tumblr posts of mine...). So it's not just nostalgia tinging my past with sweet memories.

I had the absolute best of times. And none of the responsibility that came with the bad times. I was living a very good life with very good people, experiencing very good things. Everything since has been tinged with the guilt of adulthood and other menial, sad shit.

I'm just lucky that I've continued to appreciate the good moments, even if they're not quite on the ranking of the 17th year... (although they are at least on par).

Yet, here's to even better times.




(P.S. feel free to let me know the ranking of your years, much love to everyone) xoxo


*“Somehow I have to keep and hold the rapture of being 17. Every day is so precious I feel infinitely sad at the thought of all this time melting father and farther away from me as I grow older. Now, now is the perfect time of my life.” - Sylvia Plath. 

Guest Post

Here's a little something my friend wrote about what she has learned in her 25 years of life. Give it a peek:

https://missemmamurphy.com/2019/03/24/25-things-ive-learned-in-25-years/?fbclid=IwAR0ndV4z7Zf4l-t3IO-PyJkzwByh5GtLXmcYvI_PIm9glxl7sU4kMcdD7q4

I've still got 11 months to figure some of this stuff out...


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