Tag: Hamlet

Time, he’s waiting in the wings.

Sara Mazariegos

Love-Hate relationship with the Metro. Next month, the DC Metro is going to be shutting down 4 stops along the Red line in order to do some big construction for the new Purple line and some needed repairs. I take the Metro into DC for work every day, so this has been a source of stress for me. Luis pointed out that I can take a bus to the opposite end of the Red line and go to work that way, avoiding the points where I’d have to exit and take a shuttle. I’m relieved to have that opportunity, but I’m still dreading it. Commuting is so draining.

The other morning, my train was delayed for half an hour because someone was on the tracks. Police came and escorted them off the tracks, and I’m very glad the person wasn’t hurt, but a whole lot of people were late to work because of that. Thankfully, because I’d caught an earlier bus, I ended up only being about ten minutes late, so it could’ve been much worse. But this is a week in the life of a DC Metro rider.

I am very grateful to have access to a rail system that fairly reliably gets me where I need to go. I also appreciate that many other people in this area see the value of it. Fewer people drive around here, which is better for the environment and safety of others who have to be on the road. I wish more people had reliable rail and bus service in their areas. The Metro has a lot of issues, but hopefully a lot of them are being worked through this summer while the crews work on the several stations that will be closed.

Das Boot has nothing to do with German footwear. Last weekend, we watched Das Boot, Luis’s long movie choice. We took a break in the middle (it’s about three and a half hours long) to go have pizza and a peach margarita (for me) at an Italian restaurant near our house that we’ve never been to. The movie is really good, and definitely claustrophobia-inducing. I’d never want to go into a submarine. I told Luis, I wouldn’t even want to go down the ladder. The subs in World War II didn’t even have screens or windows to look out of, if the movie is accurate. They had to rely on sonar and physically going up to see what was around them. I would hate to be in an enclosed space with zero windows. I remember staying at the Z Hotel in England and our room didn’t have a window. Thank goodness it was only for one night. I would’ve lost my mind if it was for longer. I didn’t sleep very well. When the guy lost his mind in Das Boot, I totally understood, although he wasn’t going crazy because of the tight space; he was going crazy because the Allies were torpedoing his U-Boat. Which…fair. He was my favorite character. He reminds me of Andy Serkis.

It’s about a German U-Boat in World War II, so you can’t completely cheer for them, but it’s interesting to see that perspective. It’s not like all German soldiers and naval officers were Nazis. A lot of them were, but the guys in the movie (minus one) aren’t really into that stuff. Anyway, it’s a really good movie. We watched in in German with subtitles, so it was completely authentic. I’m interested in reading the book it’s based on now, but I have so many books to read. It’s not like Hamlet, which feels more like a “duh, you should read it at least once” kind of book.

Local Pride events. On Sunday, we went to our local Pride event with some friends, and saw one of our friends perform some original songs. It was nice. We got a lot of swag. We also got Lebanese Taverna and margaritas. It was very hot outside, so it was good to be able to take a break inside. I’m glad it wasn’t raining. There were some brief thunderstorms during Das Boot, which was thematically appropriate, but if it had rained on Pride it would’ve been sad.

Getting into Hamlet. I checked out Hamlet from the library and I’ve been reading it on the Metro (when I can manage to get a seat.) Watching the Kenneth Branagh movie and having it fresh in my mind is the best way to read the play, in my opinion. I can still hear the inflections and imagine the characters, which makes it easier for me to follow. I definitely think that reading Shakespeare can be tough, and seeing it can make it clearer, so seeing the plays and then reading them might be the best way to understand and appreciate them.

There’s a part early on in the Folger version of Hamlet that I borrowed where the editing team basically wrote “there’s no consensus on what this means.” 🤣 Great. Love that.

Writing <break> update. I’ve still been enjoying my break from writing. I have ideas I’ve written down, and I’m thinking about my next novel a healthy amount. My goal for writing the first draft is to try and take it a chapter at a time, instead of pressuring myself with lots of future ideas. I tend to get ahead of myself, particularly when I’m excited.

During my break, I’ve been enjoying the ARC novel I mentioned last week—the one I can’t tell you anything about yet—and I’m dreading finishing it because, like I said, once I’ve finished it I’ll never be able to read it for the first time again. I told my sister-in-law about it and how much I love it, and she asked to borrow it when I’ve finished. But she has to give it back to me and be gentle, because it is precious to me.

Reading has been helpful in relaxing my brain while simultaneously inspiring me and awakening my imagination for my next writing project. I haven’t been reading as much as a writer, since I’m taking a break, and I think sometimes it’s better to quiet the analytical thoughts and let the story take me for a ride.

I’m counting out time, got the whole thing down by numbers.

Sara Mazariegos

Holidays can make people go crazy. Last week, Memorial Day was on Monday and a bunch of our clients either don’t celebrate the holiday because they’re not in America (fair) or they just assumed we would be working on a holiday. So we had a stressful Tuesday of explaining our closure to a lot of people, and dealing with a big influx of tasks and things. Things were still pretty nuts on Wednesday. Then I felt sick, so I took a sick day. I came back to work on Friday and everyone seemed to still have lost their minds.

Sometimes our little team takes a holiday. We deserve breaks.

They’re going to go crazy again on Juneteenth, because that’s a recently-added federal holiday. I can already imagine the impatient emails and messages come the following Monday. 🫩

Luis said, “Pick a long movie.” So I chose Kenneth Branagh’s William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. His response was not, but it was practically, “Not like that.” Given the fact that I’ve been thinking about hosting a Lord of the Rings weekend in which we watch all three of the movies—in their extended versions, because the other versions cut out way too much!—he shouldn’t have been surprised that my choice for ‘long movie’ was Kenneth Branagh’s extra-long treatment of Hamlet. It’s been on my watchlist for years, mainly because of Robin Williams. I remember my parents seeing it when it was in theaters. I was around nine years old, and I really wanted to see it, because of Robin Williams, but my parents said no because it’s too long, violent, Shakepearey, etc for a nine-year-old.

I probably would’ve fallen asleep.

But you never know! I may have loved it! Anyway. I’m glad we finally watched it. It’s not even particularly violent. It’s rated PG-13. It’s available on YouTube, so it’s easy to find. I was surprised to learn it was a flop when it came out. I guess because it was so long. I checked out the book version from the library so I can read it for the first time. It’s easier to read since I just watched it; the actor’s inflections are still fresh in my mind. It may be a long movie, but I think it does a fairly good job of making Shakespeare more accessible to audiences who might not understand it otherwise.

Next weekend we’re watching Das Boot for Luis’s long-movie pick. Notably not as long as Hamlet, but twice as many Nazis.

Finally some good news! Without going into detail, again because it’s personal stuff I don’t want to share on a public blog, the situation that was stressing Luis and me for months has finally been resolved. He’s done a lot of hard work for several months, and it’s paid off. So we can finally relax now, which feels amazing. It doesn’t even feel real yet, but it will soon. I’ll be able to write more about it in a few months, once everything has settled down.

I love a book I can’t talk about. Luis was able to use his producer magic to get me an advance reader copy of a book, and I have been loving it so far. I read it a bunch this past weekend and I wish I could just sit for hours reading it. But I also don’t want to read it so much that I finish it, because then I won’t be able to live in its world anymore, and reading it a second time won’t be as magical as the first time when I don’t know what will happen next. I have a feeling I will read it a second time, though.

It will be a perfect comparative title for the next novel I’m writing. That’s why I wanted to get a copy; but I love it beyond being similar to a story idea I have. I can’t talk about it for now, because it’s not out for another month and I haven’t finished reading it yet, but I’ll be publicly singing its praises as soon as I can!

Writing update! I finished writing my novel draft last Thursday! I feel free to move on from that story now and write other things. I may circle back to it and reshape it into something new, but for now I’m thinking about my next novel, which is exciting. I have a document of my outline plus notes, and I’ve been adding to it as I think of new ideas. It’s going to be similar in some ways to the novel I just finished, but it’s also going to be so different. I’m looking forward to writing the first draft.

At the same time, I’m enjoying taking a break from writing. I’ve had more time to read, which is lovely. I’ve also had more time to let my imagination run wild a little bit instead of constantly trying to stay on one track with one story idea.

Probably by the end of June, I’ll be chomping at the bit and anxious about getting started with my next novel, but for now it’s nice to not feel pressured to write or stick to a schedule.