The Long and the Short of It

"Six-word memoirs. Four-word film reviews. Twelve-word novels."

Time Magazine described it as "Haiku Nation," (Time, August 21, 2008 issue). I'm inspired.

I've always loved poetry—for a reason. They're short.

Care to plumb the depths of a few well-chosen words? I'm there. Better than soaking in a bath where the water is always too cold or too hot and which holds the potential to relax drowning—or drown relaxing, whatever the case may be.

The most challenging and rewarding classes I took as an English major at Cal Berkeley were those by Prof. Janet Adelman (now emeritus) in which we read ALL of Will Shakespeare's plays over two 10-week quarters and which demanded we write notated double-spaced papers no longer than 2 pages long. Fitting. If Shakespeare could capture the psychological depths of guilt with the three words "Out, damn spot!" (Macbeth Act 5, scene 1, 26–40), the least we could do was keep it similarly short.

So, here's to a new season of blogging. Same old (new) thots. Fewer words. And my first play:

No.