RUBY, THEATER, BOOKS, JOAN OF ARC, AND THE PETER PRINCIPLE

So I’m later than usual. Blame Ruby now 3 months old and almost 5 pounds and a joy. She has a hate fixation on the wee wee pads. She shreds them. She much prefers The NYTimes and the Wall Street Journal. She had her first play date with the Hall’s Nellie, a 50 pound Porti. They sized each other up and ran like crazy around the apartment. I’m glad it was the Hall’s apartment.
I saw Preludes, an amazing, brilliant play, Saturday night at the Claire Tow Theater in Lincoln Center. It was stunningly original. Rachmaninoff’s writer’s block, which people who love classical music know about, but the “telling” here is what makes the play a creative wonder.
I’m about half way into The Secret Place by Tana French. I liked Broken Harbor more, but I’m enjoying this one. Coming up: We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas.
The NYTimes had a horrifying front page article about how English teachers in NY are teaching Common Core. I have to admit that I’ve paid little attention to what is called Common Core, but I am now standing and shouting against it as a way of teaching literature. Imagine teaching an excerpt, AN EXCERPT, from The Catcher in the Rye, and matching it with articles on bipolarism. Holden Caulfield is a lonely adolescent. He is not bipolar. What a travesty. An excerpt from Tom Sawyer followed by articles on teenage joblessness. Seriously? Who designed this? Certainly someone without respect for literature, or teaching.
My political rant: Joan of Arc is now in the US Senate. She is so sure she is right about everything. She rides a high horse. She castigates those who disagree with her, tells her followers to remain fast. I no longer admire her.
And then there’s the clown car of what used to be the Grand Old Party, seeking the nomination. Look specifically at the governors of Wisconsin and Louisiana. Are they not perfect examples of the Peter Principle? When I see the former governor of Florida, I think Terry Schiavo, Terry Schiavo. The senator from that state makes believe his family fled Castro, when they arrived in the US well before. I could go on, but I’ll save it for another blog post.