The Seven Ages of Man (from As You Like It, II, vii) by William Shakespeare All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven a...
The sick child Child. O mother, lay your hand on my brow! O mother, mother, where am I now? Why is the room so gaunt and great? Why am I lying awake so late? Mother. Fear not at all: the night is still. Nothing is here that means you ill. Nothing but...
The Tay Bridge Disaster Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay! Alas! I am very sorry to say That ninety lives have been taken away On the last Sabbath day of 1879, Which will be remember'd for a very long time. 'Twas about seven o'clock at nigh...
The chicken and the frog One morning a chicken walked into a library. It went up to the desk and said Book! Book! The librarian gave the chicken two books, and it left. Half an hour later the chicken returned. Once more it approached the desk and sai...
O you shaggy-headed banyan tree standing on the bank of the pond, have you forgotten the little child, like the birds that have nested in your branches and left you? Do you not remember how he sat at the window and wondered at the tangle of your root...
Mum, please don't buy me any clothes. I just want to go shopping for clothes with Dad. This request was made by my almost thirteen year old, and echoed(1) by my fourteen year old. It was totally unexpected. In fact, I have never heard anything like t...
Do you remember a few episodes ago, a podcast called Smoke to the North? We learned how to say that something is going on in a particular direction. Well, recently, we have had very bad fires to the West which are still burning. The photo on the blog...
We're back in business! In fact, I'm back in business. This is an English expression, an idiom(1). And what does it mean? It means that things are working again as they should. I decided to call this podcast 'Back in business' because I am beginning...
Oh, I'm frustrated. I haven't seen the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. I've been searching on the internet, but all I can find are a few highlights(1). NBC, here in the U.S. refused to show a live stream (2) of the event. They had their...
The view from the back of our house faces north, looking at the hills on either side of the Columbia river. They are brown this time of year, after a hot and dry summer. For a few days, the view was hard to see because there was smoke to the north(1)...
