Titania's Bench

William Shakespeare's presumed 448th birthday (and the 396th anniversary of his death) landed on Zen Monday, so I saved this picture for today.

On a stroll through South Pasadena I saw this bench, a perfect spot for faeries. I don't recommend it as a chair for bards, though, unless they wear rubber pantaloons, because that bright green seat color is moss. But it's fine for faeries and other woodland creatures. It might even be a nice place for Bottom to rest his a**.

Unjust

I think today will be our final test of the translation software at the pirating website, Just Pocket Camera. If you're reading this post there, it was stolen from http://pasadenadailyphoto.blogspot.com/. Come on over and see the post in its original form!

After today, I'll update you when I hear news about the legal proceedings. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check my posts of the last several days. We're messing with a pirate website that's stealing my posts, but this wild, wacky fun won't last forever 'cause that sucker's coming down.

Karin suggested Shakespeare. I couldn't resist one of my favorite Sonnets, number 152.

In loving thee thou know'st I am forsworn,
But thou art twice forsworn to me love swearing,
In act thy bed-vow broke and new faith torn
In vowing new hate after new love bearing.
But why of two oaths' breach do I accuse thee,
When I break twenty? I am perjured most,
For all my vows are oaths but to misuse thee,
And all my honest faith in thee is lost.
For I have sworn deep oaths of thy deep kindness,
Oaths of thy love, thy truth, thy constancy,
And to enlighten thee, gave eyes to blindness,
Or made them swear against the thing they see;
   For I have sworn thee fair: more perjured eye,
   To swear against the truth so foul a lie. 


I guess he was mad when he wrote that. 

The Darling Buds of January

With apologies to William Shakespeare:

Shall I compare this to a summer's day?
It is more comfy and more temperate:
Hot sun doth bake the darling buds of May,
And summer's heat hath all too long a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every day the heat doth make us pine,
When budgeting for air conditioning's slim:
But our delightful winter shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that green it hast,
Nor shall dearth brag we wand'rest in its shade,
Nor is infernal sun our doomed forecast.
   So long as I have camera and compute,
   So long lives this, I hope it's not too cute.

On the Map

Civitates Orbis Terrarum


"I'm one of those people who get dizzy just being in a bookshop, so you can imagine what these rare books did to me."

Thus spake Barbara Ellis, aka Bellis, about how it felt to assist the head of Caltech's Archives and Special Collections in putting together an exhibit of rare maps and books. The "On the Map" exhibit, created by Shelley Erwin, explores the concept of mapping earth and sky, and includes such rarities as a copy of Ptolemy’s map of the world that was printed during his lifetime.*

He could have touched it himself.

I know, right??? AS IF!

Here's an early map of Moscow. I couldn't take my eyes off it.

The exhibit is small, filling a few display cases on the second floor of the Parsons-Gates Hall of Administration on the Caltech Campus. It's a wonderful opportunity because these books and maps literally rarely see the light of day. As it is, they're displayed in low light to protect them from UV rays.

This is Kronborg Castle.

I know! Elsinore! Where Shakespeare set Hamlet! Cool! Also cool, and factual as opposed to theatrical: Tycho Brahe's island observatory, Uraniborg on Hven, is pictured. It's the little island in the sound.

Most of the items were donated to Caltech by Earnest C. Watson, founder of the Watson Lecture Series, professor of physics and dean of the faculty at Caltech for many years. I'd love to know what else they've got in the archives. It must be an amazing place for the eyes, imagination, and white-gloved fingers to wander.

Bellis says, "I was very thrilled to be allowed to touch those books and look through them, though very sparingly and gently."

Read Barbara Ellis's excellent article about the On the Map exhibit in Caltech's Engineering and Science Magazine.


*Sooo wrong! See Bellis' comment.

The Real Thing

This moss-covered bust of Shakespeare stands (where else?) in the Shakespeare garden at the Huntington Library and Gardens. He looks like a friendly, handsome guy, doesn't he? Maybe, maybe not.

The Huntington owns many fine portraits. I especially admire those by the great Sir Joshua Reynolds, who knew how to make a likeness look like it was painted from life. But none of the portraits in their collection are of Shakespeare. Only two likenesses of Shakespeare have been proven to be definitive. Both are posthumous. One is the funerary monument that looks over his grave inside Holy Trinity Church at Stratford-on-Avon, England. The other is an engraving by Martin Droeshout, printed in the First Folio of Shakespeare in 1623 (Shakespeare died in 1616). Many have claimed to own a portrait of Shakespeare, but only these two are proven to be the real thing.

It's thought that about 1,000 Shakespeare First Folios were printed back in 1623. Of the 228 still extant, one is housed at the Huntington Library. It's one of the most valuable books in the world and it's often on display for viewing by the likes of you and me.

I had long been using the Folio in my research when I had the good fortune to study Shakespeare in England one summer. My teachers included members of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I got to walk the ground Shakespeare walked. I went to Stratford-on-Avon and visited Shakespeare's grave. I returned to the States with a reverence for the bona fide genius of the man.

My First Folio is a 20th century facsimile copy of the original. Every once in a while I like to make a pilgrimage to the Huntington to see the real thing.

Trade-Off

Work on the Braley Building has finally been completed after four years, during which many Pasadenish lamented the sale of this historic structure to the Church of Scientology and wondered if renovation would ever even begin. Upon purchasing the building, the Church immediately evicted long-standing businesses only to leave the building empty and waiting. Not exactly starting off on the right foot, but outsiders to this institution generally approach with mistrust, so I suspect the wrong foot was the only one to start off with.

Renovations finally began in earnest early this year. I took this shot in mid-May, grabbing a peek while the doors were open to Mercantile Place. It shows the first floor atrium in mid-construction. There, one could once find entry to the Pasadena Antique Mall, and a great little Italian restaurant where J. and I began falling in love, and a sandwich shop run by an immigrant couple who named the shop after their daughter. Apparently the the old wall clocks will be allowed to stay.

Walt Mancini's photo in the Pasadena Star-News shows a chapel. Knowing the Braley Building, I can only assume that's in the basement where the Knightsbridge Theatre once was. There I performed the Shakespearean roles of Tamara in Titus Andronicus and Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra. Fun times.

The theater company moved on to a better space before the Braley was sold. Say what you will about Scientology, but my bet is the chapel doesn't have cockroaches.

Dads are King

My father-in-law and I have our own relationship based in a common interest: we're both actors. Before I met him or my husband, I saw Sandy in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida in Chicago. Sandy played Priam, the king of Troy. If you knew Sandy you'd say, "But of course." That's because when you know Sandy, you know this guy's going to play the king. He's even got a regal voice.

Sandy's also a lawyer. He's a man of many parts. He isn't feeling well today. Nothing serious. But we're thinking of him. John took these shots in our living room the last time his parents came to visit, so they're within my rule: photos on the blog must be taken in Pasadena or adjacent communities.

I miss my father today. He died too young--for me and for him. My scanner's not hooked up yet or I'd break my rule and show you a picture of him. (I already broke the rule when I posted about him on his birthday last year.) I don't know if he was ever in Pasadena but if he was, I don't have the photos.

Booting Up is Bootless

Continuing from yesterday and the day before, this shot was also taken on north Los Robles Avenue. Every time I go by these bright berries I feel good.

I forgot about Earth Day yesterday. My little problems seem so monumental when I'm under the desk unhooking this cord from the new computer that doesn't work at all so I can reaffix that wire to the old computer that doesn't work very well.

I listened to Air Talk on KPCC. The subject was Earth Day (ah! slap on the forehead!) and a caller said we're disconnected from the out-of-doors. Her son hangs out in his room staring at his computer. No one goes outside anymore. Let's have Earth Day on a weekend, she said, so working people and school kids can go.

Good point. Pasadena's holding festivities this coming Saturday. Scroll down to Hot Topics at this link and click on Greening The Earth Day, then show up at Memorial Park Saturday for all the free, earthy fun. Earth is important--more important than our little day-to-day stuff--more important than anything, really. Think about it: where else are you gonna go?

But yesterday I forgot that and got my head stuck in unimportant issues. If my computer stops working and I can't post a picture, we'll all muddle through somehow, won't we? I need to remind myself that the world isn't falling apart--or if it is, getting my computer fixed isn't going to help.

Recipes for unsticking the brain: yard work, hanging out with neighbors, walking the dog, babysitting, lunch with a friend, giving a gift, going somewhere you've never been before, participating in an important activity with your tribe (hmm, like Greening the Earth Day). I also like a little dose of Shakespeare for unsticking, and since today is thought to be his 445th birthday and definitely the anniversary of his death, I'm unsticking with a sonnet. I love them all, but if you forced me to pick a favorite it would be Number 29.

When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And looke upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least,
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the Lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth sings hymns at Heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings,
That then I scorn to change my state with Kings.