Tryouts at the Consulate: Hamlet

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well, Horatio.

No, wait. That can't be right. Let me think.

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well, Horatius.

There's still something wrong here. How would a fellow of infinite jest hold off an army? More to the point: why? There's something else. Give me a moment. It's on the tip of my radula.

Got it! Hamlet lived just after the Black Death, right? No, wait. That was Shakespeare. Hamlet lived a thousand of your seasonal cycles before that, roughly: or am I thinking of that other chap? Some sort of revolutionary. How did that Rome thing work out, anyway? Your lettering looks like theirs.

I think I have it now. Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well, Hortense. Oh, bother.

What's that? Don't call you, you'll call me?

How about Ophelia? Have you cast that part yet?

Related posts:

• "From the Mind of the Lemming: Xanadu Springs"
  (June 20, 2014)
• "Holiday for the Lemming; or Time, Tide, and a Tired Lemming; or the Lemming Takes a Break"
  (June 6, 2014)
• "From the Mind of the Lemming: The Lemming's Walking Stick"
  (May 23, 2014)
• "From the Mind of the Lemming: A Far Horizon"
  (May 16, 2014)
• "From the Mind of the Lemming: Just Outside Hobbiton (maybe)"
  (April 18, 2014)

From the Mind of the Lemming: Xanadu Springs

From time to time the Lemming goes for a walk. That's how the Lemming puts it.

Notes in the Lemming's album are a bit cryptic. For example, this one's labeled "Xanadu Springs."

Related posts:

• "Angst and the Artist: Interview With Narcissus-X"
  (May 30, 2014)
• "From the Mind of the Lemming: The Lemming's Walking Stick"
  (May 23, 2014)
• "From the Mind of the Lemming: A Far Horizon"
  (May 16, 2014)
• "From the Mind of the Lemming: Just Outside Hobbiton (maybe)"
  (April 18, 2014)
• "Coffee Cup, Doughnut: the Lemming's Back "
  (March 28, 2014)

Friday the 13th, Figgy Pudding, and Bartolus de Saxoferrato

You may recall that triskaidekaphobia means "a morbid fear of the number 13." The Lemming speculates that a great deal depends on what the reader thinks is "morbid" — which, oddly enough, is not what an auctioneer wants when asking for more bids.

If anything, the Lemming thinks we should be afraid that Friday the 13th might not appear. Think of the calamitous consequences, should Thursday the 12th suddenly encounter Saturday the 14th. The force of that impact might dislodge dates, and maybe even figs.

And, speaking of figgy pudding: Why would carolers demand a 16th century English pudding? It would have gone stale by now.

Finally, the Lemming suggests a more broad-minded approach to irrational fears. Why, after all, should one be limited to fearing the the 13th only when it falls on a Friday. Imagine the possibilities if, for example, one were to become obsessed with next month's Sunday the 13th.

It was on July 13, 1357, that Bartolus de Saxoferrato died. This eminent professor of law was, ominously, born in the year 1313. If that's not enough to scare you: well, the Lemming tried, and that's all one do.

Which reminds the Lemming of the Doobie Brothers, and a perdurably persistent Hanna-Barbera cartoon which, oddly enough, actually does include the occasional strangers in the night. Some of which are stranger than others.

Posts, related and otherwise:

• "Friday the 13th, Poetry, and a Rambling Lemming"
  (September 13, 2013)
• "Lemming Tracks: Triskaidekaphobia and a Rambling Lemming"
  (January 13, 2012)
• "Eleven; and Why is Six Afraid of Seven?"
  (November 11, 2011)
• "How to Not Sound Crazy - or - THE PARANOIDS ARE AFTER ME!!!"
  (June 12, 2011)
• "Dutch Statisticians: Friday the 13th is - Lucky?!"
  (June 13, 2008)

Holiday for the Lemming; or Time, Tide, and a Tired Lemming; or the Lemming Takes a Break

After last week's interview, the Lemming decided to take a vacation.

Allegedly-normal posts will resume next week: however, the Lemming does not guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of that statement.

Related(?) posts:

• "Angst and the Artist: Interview With Narcissus-X"
  (May 30, 2014)
• "From the Mind of the Lemming: The Lemming's Walking Stick"
  (May 23, 2014)
• "Kepler-186f, Sunsets, Tourism, and a Musing Lemming"
  (May 9, 2014)
• "From the Mind of the Lemming: Another Postcard"
  (May 2, 2014)
• "From the Mind of the Lemming: Just Outside Hobbiton (maybe)"
  (April 18, 2014)