Here Lies A Man…
Here is a piece of poetry that I wrote when I was…I want to say 15? I submitted it for publication to Cicada Magazine, but seeing as I never got a reply, I guess it’s not to good. 
You can be the judge.
Here Lies a Man
Copywrite – Margy Hesser, 2009
Here Lies a Man who
Played chess in the park with
The little girl who wanted
The horse that she saw in the Fair
The horse that was owned
By a sad little woman
Who’s son was in war
Fighting a man
Who’s daughter just turned ten
And her older brother’s best friend
Lives over seas
In the USA
And he loves a woman
Who’s brother-in-law’s
Best friend from high school
Is in Africa
With a missionary
Who wishes she was
In Ireland
With her sweetheart
Who’s widowed mother
Moved to the States
And Married a man
Who played chess in the park
With a little girl.
The College Puzzle
As most of my regular readers have probably noticed, I’ve been kind of infatuated with St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Indiana. Oh yeah, I’m not one of those teenagers who can’t decide where they want to go, who cringe when they see a college pamphlet coming in the mail, because it means one more choice….naw. I’m set.
Or so I thought.
When I attended the Midwest Charity Horse Show in Springfield, I noticed a little booth, sitting out of the way of the exhibitors. I passed it a couple of times, and on the third or fourth pass, the man sitting behind the table touched me on the arm.
“Do you have a minute to spare?” he asked, a huge smile on his face.
I did, do I nodded yes, and he began intoducing me to the magical world of William Woods College.
This College is amazing! With a 16-to-1 student/faculty ratio, I woud be assured that my teachers would know my name. They offer all four seats (western, Hunter/Jumper, Saddleseat and Dressage), and require their students to try new things. The only down side?
I wouldn’t be able to keep Dusty on Campus. But maybe we could work around that.
At any rate, I am offically NOT settled on SMWC anymore. WW is pulling up quite quickly — and it may have secured the first place spot.
Stay tuned, yeah?
Hamlet — Final Essay
ACT V, SCENE I
This seemingly unimportant scene is vital to the rest of the play, even though it is near the end.
In the first Scene of the last Act, we are greeted by two “clowns” (drudges) digging a hole. Upon closer examination, we realize that these men are not digging just any hole – they are digging a grave.
Hamlet and Horatio, who have escaped the ship bound for England (and Hamlet’s certain death) are spying on the gravediggers. When Hamlet determines these men will not recognize him, he approaches them and asks them what they are doing. After hemming and hawing for a while, one of the clowns pulls a skull from the hole, hands it to the prince, and explains that they are digging a grave for a woman who has drowned, though he refuses to tell Hamlet the woman’s name.
And so we have the famous image of Hamlet, a skull clutched in his hand, reciting one of his many soliloquies.
Along comes the funeral procession, led by Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, who despises Hamlet, perhaps rightfully. When Hamlet realizes it is his lover’s body being lowered into the earth, he is seized by a fit of grief and madness. He throws himself into the grave, and challenges Laertes for the place of chief mourner. After this, they dual and are both killed, as are the king and queen.
This simple scene serves the purpose of explaining a few “loose ends” and setting the stage for the death scene.
Perhaps this scene also asks us top find in our hearts a bit of compassion for Laertes. He has lost his father to Hamlet’s hand, and one may blame Hamlet for Ophelia’s death as well, because it was he that brought on the insanity that caused her to lose her mind, and step into the river.
Examining the situation from yet another angle, if Laertes’ thinking was not clouded with the agony of his losses in such quick succession, he may have found pity for Hamlet.
Hamlet is, quite obviously, not well. He is struck with fits of madness because of his father’s death. It was his blind rage that caused him to slit Polonius’ throat, not hate towards the man, and it was the death of Polonius, her father, that caused Ophelia’s downward spiral.
Cutting this short scene from the play would completely ruin the ending, and leave the spectator with numerous questions. Why are Hamlet and Laertes dueling? Where is Ophelia’s body – did she not receive a proper burial? Why has the wine been poisoned?
Waiting for Test Results…
While I wait for my SAT results to come in (April 7th!), I have nothing to blog about.
So please enjoy a selection of my favorite LOLcats!
And lastly….
Have a great weekend, everyone!
The Annunciation Of Our LORD
Over 2000 years ago, there was a young girl called Mary. She was betrothed, but not married, to a man named Joseph.
An angel, having taken the figure and the form of man, came into the house and spoke to her, saying; “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” Mary did not speak; she was deathly afraid, for she did not know the angel, why he came, or what he was talking about.
The angel continued saying, “Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
The Virgin understood that there was question of the coming Redeemer. But, why should she be chosen from all of the women in the world for the divine dignity of being the mother of the the Savior, having vowed her virginity to God?
Not doubting the word of the angle, but filled with fear, she replied: “How shall this be done, because I know not man?” Meaning, she had had no relations with Joseph.
The angel, to remove Mary’s anxiety and to assure her that her virginity would be spared, answered: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
Trusting, Mary replied, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word.”
Why does this day matter to us?
Why, exactly, do Catholics hold such reverence for the Blessed Virgin?
Mary trusted in the Lord, and she gave her whole self to Him. We can take many lessons away from our Blessed Mother.
A prayer on this Holy Day;
Annunciation Prayer
Lord who came down from heaven
and stayed in the womb of St. Mary,
after making the annunciation
to her through his head of angels, is blessed.
The Lord is blessed whom the heaven and earth,
Angels and mankind are praising always.
Oh Lord let the intercession of your mother
be a fort for us all.Peace be unto thee,
Mother of the Sun of righteousness.
Peace be unto thee, the palace of holiness,
Peace be unto thee the ship full of blessings,
the fruit of your virginity is blessed,
Holy Mother please pray for us,
so that we would also be holy like you in our lives.
Lord have mercy upon us.Lord Jesus,
who was kind enough
to take the presence in humble virgin,
kindly live in us
and redeem us from the strong bondages of sins and death.
Lord make us good and worthy divine homes,
so that you could stay in us.Lord who had been kind enough
to take the human body from the virgin,
unite us all in your peace.
Unite us all with your grace.
Fill your love in us
so that we could share the love
with you and among us all.
Make us worthy to praise thee
with your blessed Mother and all the saints.Holy virgin Mother, you are blessed,
By thy prayers
let the Holy church and her children
be saved from all sorts of calamities
and let all the departed get forgiveness for their sins.
Amen.
Visit me on ‘recipething’!
I’ve started a recipiething account, where I can store as many recicpes as I can type. Visit me at http://www.recipething.com/ !
I’m MargyC.
PS – I’ll blog again later today, promise.
Why My Life is Sweet
The oddest things in life are things that you’ll remember. That 3 second clip you saw on a commercial that will make you laugh forever. A picture of your little brother when he was 4, proudly holding the first fish he ever caught.
The past 24 hours have been tiring, but fufilling. We moved our pony, Mar, to live with her two ‘big sisters’ (boy – they were happy to see each other!), then I attened the IL Horse & Pony Breeders Assocation’s spring banquet. And how did we follow a banquet? Why, Steak and Shake, of course! I didn’t crawl into my bed until 1:30 this morning. 
At Mass this morning, I was allowed the honor of singing. Cantoring is the proper term, but let’s not confuse my horse-minded readers.
After cantoring, the priest, the orginist and I played with the sound system…then we found a purse that a woman had left after Mass. Father took it behind the alter, and tried to call the owner…but he couldn’t figure out the phone. So he had me call, and then he somehow activated the camera…and decided he would take some pictures.
After all that had ‘gone down’, our family came home, and my parents and I worked in the garden.
A strangly lovely day will end with hamburgers, and the movie David Copperfield.
And with that, I will end by saying, my life is perfect. I wouldn.t trade it for the world. =)
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Taming of the Shrew
I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but in this year’s English Lit class, I am reading Shakespeare.
I’ve just finished Taming of the Shrew. For my final project, my assignment was to choose a character, and write a letter to someone, anyone, from their point of view.
I chose Kate, “The Shrew”.
Below is my letter, in all it’s glory.
My dearest Maud;
And so, my father has produced a suitor for me at last, as you have insisted he eventually would. Though others preen over him, and declare at what a fine ‘catch’ he is, in mine own sight, he is an utter pig.
They call him Petruchio, and the very moment he lay eyes on me, he began taking liberties with me, calling me his pet, and Bonnie Kate.
He thinks highly of himself, cajoling me, that I might sit on his lap, and calling me his hen.
And the worst part, dear Maud: Father insists that we are to be wed – to-morrow, even!
Indeed, I can imagine the shock apon your face – he insists that I marry the brute!
And all so that he may marry off my younger, more favored sister.
I would gladly have Bianca married first, the little wench, but my father has insisted (as you know, for I have bemoaned the fact to you many a time before), that I, as the eldest sister, marry first.
I cannot stand it! The injustice of it all!This all have being said, we may move on to gentler, sweeter things. Petruchio, whilst yes, a swine, is a swine which sleeps in jeweled clothing.
I shall be, he has promised me, clothed as a noble-lady, in rubies and gold, unto my death (which may come swiftly, living with him!).In the end, I did recive my dearest wish, I do suppose – I will not be so inclined to dance barefoot at my wreached sister’s wedding!
I would beg you, dearest friend, to keep me in your prayers, but it is all too odvious to me that there is no God in this accursed world – nor out of it!
Forever yours,
Katherina
Just a note – I do believe there is a God. It’s just Kate that doesn’t. 
But anyway, that is the letter. Expect an analyisis of the book later this month.
St. Joseph’s Day
In our family, we celebrate St. Joesph’s day the same way every year.
Plant blessed peas, make cream puffs, and eat an Italian dish for dinner.
Let me share my cream puff recipe with you. 
The shell of a cream puff is basiclly the same concept as a popover. The most important thing to remember when you are making the batter is that it needs to be 100% smooth.
Ingredients:
1 c. water
1 c. butter
1 c. flour
4 eggs
Melt the butter in the water, and bring to a rolling boil.
Remove from heat, and stir in flour. Mix until it becomes a large ball.
Blend in 4 eggs, all at once. For a while, the mixture will look choppy, like brains, but it all comes together at once.
Drop dough by 1/4 cupfulls onto an ungreased (emphisis on the UNgreased!) cookie sheet. You should have approx. 12.
Bake at 360 dgrees for 35-40 minutes, or until puffed and golden.
Let them cool on the cookie sheet. This will prevent them from getting soggy.
After they are cooled, you can split them open and fill with vanilla or chocolate pudding, and dust the top with powdered sugar – or chocolate sauce.
Enjoy!
