When in Rome...?

I'm in the middle of reading a book kestrell got me for Xmas, _Shakespeare and Amateur Performance: A Cultural History_, by Michael Dobson. Recommended for those who, like many of my friends, have an interest in the subject.

While it is thoroughly researched and footnoted, the jargon is rare and authorial tone is light. The author occasionally lets his inner ham out to play, as in the following delightful sentence, discussing a man from Geneva who spent many years in England, performing amateur plays in French, then on returning home, produced a bunch of amateur Shakespeare performances in English:

A combination of Nick Bottom and the Scarlet Pimpernel, Lullin clearly knew all about the potential cultural cachet to be gained from being the right kind of foreigner in the right wrong place at the right time: as the old maxim has it, 'when in Rome, do as the Greeks do'.

Insulating against the birds

Busy, long day. Woken at dawn by noisy birds, as I have been for a week or so now. Spring definitely has downsides. Got annoyed enough to (try to) do something about it. Spent much of the morning moving furniture around, so that the window to my bedroom is not just blocked but really thoroughly blocked, by about 6 inches of paper in most places. I generally like to keep my shelves loosely packed, for easy access and insertion, but I'll sacrifice that to create a noise buffer. Hope it works...

Unexpectedly got access to the car in the afternoon, so filled it with (digitized) comic boxes to trade back to Outer Limits. Had a god conversation with Steve about the nature of the evolving market.

Also of note, picked the first 2 strawberries today. Sue, our gardener is complaining that the garden is six weeks ahead of schedule. I make it more like 1.5, but it still does seem likely to be a bumper year.