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It’s Halloween and that can be scary…but don’t make it too scary, you don’t want to be a statistic! Why not consider replacing that fun but dangerous habit of Trick or Treating with a Halloween Party for your kids…or your store? A ghostly party is always fun, and the danger can be kept under careful control!
Where to start? Well, how about a Ghost Butler? Let somebody man the door, all he needs is a white sheet over his head and cut outs for eyes. Easy! Add a recording of horrible sounds to give character to the entrance and you’re ready to go.
All the people in your house or store should have on a costume. And, of course, a mask! See to it that the kids are dressed up, too. You can make up a great party game by having each person explain his or her costume and why it should win first prize. Just be sure you have follow-up prizes in large enough supply so each youngster can win for something. “Ghoulish Best.” “First in the Cemetery.” “Vampire’s Choice.”
You might also want to theme your Halloween costume party to something like “Vampires and their Damsels.” Or, “Little Devils.” Or, “Witches and Warlocks.”
Food? Well, it just has to be pizza. Find out about Halloween specials at your local store. Treats can be homemade, or bought. My mom used to make devil’s food cupcakes and frost them with orange icing on one side, black on the other. Quick and easy! Or stop at your local candy store and get some Halloween goodies like spider webs, skulls, and other delicious fare. Sprinkle them on cakes and ice cream. Be generous with some green or blood red soda. And then, decorate the table with some fun plastic spiders from the party supply store.
Horror films from Blockbusters will make your party a hottie. Just jazz it all up a bit by having the lights go out from time to time, or some screams and groans echo across the party room. Keep it all light, and fun. Who has the most horrible scream? Who can cast the best spell? Ohhhhh, this can get wild!
Before ending for the day or evening, give each party-goer a bag of Halloween treats to bring home. And with that in hand, who cares about Trick or Treat-ing anyway?
Happy Halloween!
BE SURE TO GET THE BEST MASKS YOU CAN THIS YEAR. THEY MAKE THE CELEBRATION A REAL TREAT! HERE ARE SOME TERRIFIC CHOICES:
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RING-RING: Georgio Armani has just unveiled his third phone for the giant electronics firm, Samsung, with Microsoft Windows 6.5 software, and is it ever Smart. Wow! Ringing in at a modest $1,029 or 700 euros, the Armani Samsung Smart phone features a 3.5-inch Ultra Brilliant AMOLED touch screen and Qwerty keyboard as well as always-on connectivity tools, GPS, a 5-megapixel camera, radio, music, and video player, 8 gigabyte internal memory and an extendable microSD slot up to 32 GB. “Elegant dressing is part of daily business life,” Armani says. Elegant accessories are also becoming more and more a part of the daily fashion world, as well.
VUITTON FOR CHARITY: “People say we don’t do anything, but we do a lot,” declared Naomi Campbell, in launching a new handbag from Louis Vuitton for her latest charity, the White Ribbon Alliance. The organization is dedicated to reducing the amount of maternal mortality in the world. The bag has yet to be given a proper name, but its current price tag is 1,900 euros or $2,789American.
–Campbell has been modeling for Marc Jacobs since she was 16. She is presently a global ambassador for the Alliance, which lobbies world leaders to provide safe motherhood practices. The new Vuitton bag is quiet and versatile, with a soft square style and a coveted Marc Jacobs label.
SNL AT BARNEYS NY: The theme of the 2009 Christmas holiday windows at Barney’s New York is Have a Witty Holiday. The fabulous collection of windows depicts memorable Saturday Night Live moments covering more than 3 decades of laughs and talented, hilarious people. “We are deemphasizing flagrant luxury and reemphasizing fun,” declared creative director Simon Doonan. The same holds true for the firm’s holiday catalog, where prices start at “highly approachable” and go up to “typical Barneys.” For example, a Timex watch sells for $85, while gemstone recycled earrings carry a price tag of $29,000.
YOU CAN GET PLENTY OF GORGEOUS BARNEY’S STYLE JEWELRY, BUT NONE OF IT HAS TO CARRY A BARNEYS PRICE TAG:
PRICED TO SELL: Can you believe it? Even Neiman Marcus has caught the economic flu this year, with a catalog featuring 40 percent of over 400 items priced at less than $250. Even the firm’s annual fantasy special (this year it is a two-seater plane) goes for a mere $250,000, considerably below the fantasy gift price tags of yesterday.
–Also in the famous Christmas book: an electric motorcycle, a fabulous dinner for two at Manhattan’s famed Algonquin Hotel, and a Cupcake Car, a 4-foot wide electric automobile that looks like a cupcake with thick frosting and sells for just $25,000.
Comments (1) Posted by Mary McGarry on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
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IT’S NOT THAT MANY YEARS AGO that Halloween costumes were strongly limited to just a few popular themes, used year in and year out. Like cowboys and devils for boys. And princesses and brides for girls. Today, that is almost amusing it is so simplistic and passé.
Over 2.5 billion dollars are spent on Halloween costumes, masks and makeup annually in the United States, and the longest list of costume possibilities still won’t include all that is available. Scary figures are always big, like zombies and apparitions, but they just kick off the subject matter, including in their grasp ghosts, dark angels, demons, gremlins, and the like.
—Boo! Halloween is a time for goose bumps! It is also, in case you didn’t know it, the second biggest holiday annually for retail sales, and that, by itself, is worth a couple of Boos and Howls!
Halloween costumes are by no means limited to kids. In fact, adults make up a huge portion of those wearing costumes on the big night. So, if you are one of the millions of twenty-one-plus-ers who love Halloween, this is a time to allow your fantasies to run wild, to be whoever or whatever you want to be, without consequences.
While children may be limited in their pseudo-identities to more conventional dark-night fare, adults are in no way so constricted. They can be naughty, wild, sexy, scary, anything they want! This is the night to howl. Ohhhh! Oooooooo!
LOOKING TO KNOCK THEM DEAD THIS HALLOWEEN? HERE ARE SOME AIDS FOR THE PROJECT:
- Gorgeous masquerade mask with black and gold lace trim. Choice of colors.
Costume Mania
THIS YEAR, SOME OF THE BIG STORIES for kids revolve around the Harry Potter, Disney, and Spiderman stories. Pirates, however, are especially hot! See Pirates of the Caribbean for inspiration. More big themes include Spiderman, Batman, and, of course, the now classic Star Wars, with all its fascinating alien space types.
On the adult costume list, Medieval and Renaissance costumes abound. They are especially appealing to those who like to dress up with unusual flair, pomp, and extravagance. Marie Antoinette costumes are sexy, robust, historic. Superheroes of all sorts are also popular here, along with horror and Gothic characters.
IF YOU’RE INTO CRAFTS or if you are particularly creative, you’ll really enjoy Halloween making your own costume. Doing it yourself can keep you busy for weeks with entertaining ideas and activity. A few years ago, an artist friend of mine drew a straight line down the middle of his face, and then proceeded to draw in makeup to create two totally different-looking personalities. All he needed then was a black jump suit and the costuming was done. Wow! It was a schizophrenic masterpiece!
Another time, a friend’s son (who was very into electronics) decided to make himself over into a computerized robot. Not only did he have a squared off button-plenty chest, he had antennae as directionals, funny looking lights blinking bright colors around his head, and a wonderful beep-beep sound system. Talk about a smart kid!
YOU CAN HAVE FUN MAKING YOUR OWN COSTUMES AND MASKS THIS HALLOWEEN, TOO. LOOK AT THESE GREAT MASKS THAT CAN BE COLORED, PAINTED OR EMBELLISHED ANY WAY YOU WANT:
- Unpainted cat mask – a rare design with real Venetian flair!
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Political figures make for wonderful costume fare. This year, you can be sure President Obama and former Alaska Governor Palin will be front and center on the Halloween character line.
Comments (0) Posted by Mary McGarry on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
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DID YOU KNOW? Halloween is Saturday, October 31st this year, a day deeply rooted in the pagan rituals of ancient Ireland. Back then, people believed that the spirits of the dead roamed the earth on Halloween, looking for bodies to possess. To protect themselves from the disembodied dead, people dressed up in frightening costumes and masks, thinking to scare off the demons! Today, we still put on costumes for Halloween, but many are as fabulous as scary. Just look at these remarkable masks:
FABULOUS JADE! IT’S BACK AND IT’S BEAUTIFUL!
GREEN IS A HOT – AND DRAMATICALLY UPTRENDING – COLOR FOR AUTUMN. Green clothes. Green jewelry. Green hats. The look is a way of expressing support for environmental groups fighting to save the planet. It is also just plain great.
Green ball necklaces lead the jewelry push (note one very classic piece from David Yurman), along with lots of delightful green stone rings, like one cabochon set in silver from the inimitable Elsa Peretti for Tiffany.
In the green camp, jade everything is hot, hot, hot. One magazine gushed, “as a trend, it has been growing quietly….” Of course, we automatically think of China when we talk of jade. Ceremonial jade reached its high point during the Ch’ing dynasty (1644-1912). Right now, it is almost inconspicuously, silently, reaching out to modern society in the West. Watch it as the excitement grows!
Green Bejeweled Embellishments
Chanel is leading the jade parade with some fascinating jewelry and jewelry-like designs to jazz up any wardrobe. One major way is the use of jade-like rings on shoes and other accessories. Chanel also puts some very handsome deco-inspired green clasps on the newest little black clutches, and matches them to large jade finger rings.
HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE GREEN? IT’S THE VERY COLOR OF LIFE ON OUR PLANET! YOU CAN EXPRESS THAT VIBRANT LIFE WITH FABULOUS GREEN JEWELRY:
BIG REAL AND FAUX JADE-ENCRUSTED BELT BUCKLES are another hot accessory seen in all the right places, along with green knits, like scarves, shawls, and hats. And don’t forget green as a clothing color, too. Green slouchy slacks, green tweed jackets and suits, green winter coats: They all look great themselves and work beautifully with even more green, this time in accessories.
Jadeite is the finest jade, which is generally mined near the surface of the earth, after undergoing uplift, otherwise known as a kind of natural erosion which brings it up from deep in the earth. But there are many different types of jade.
Perhaps the best jade comes from Myanmar, but the United States renewed import restrictions against the military junta in that country into effect last year, leaving jewelers to scurry, looking for other good jade sources. Some of them include places like Alaska, and Ural Mountains.
Costume Jade
An interesting but lesser form of jade comes from British Columbia, and is called nephrite. It is less expensive than finer forms of the stone…but look at this:
– Kate Moss wore jade jewelry to a special after-show party at Coco Chanel’s former Paris apartment just last year, and it wasn’t even nephrite. It was costume jewelry! It looked great and, if you weren’t told, we guarantee you wouldn’t know it wasn’t real.
Vogue Magazine quotes Karl Lagerfeld as saying,
“Green in the color of hope.”
Isn’t that terrific? Consider it as a gift for those who are ill, or troubled, or otherwise going through hard times.
–And, by the way, Lagerfeld’s classy design house, Chanel, is even adding green nail polish to its cosmetic collection, and plans on releasing it within weeks. Pre-release reactions to the polish are reportedly enthusiastic! Oh, yes: Chanel is even promoting its mascara on an out-of-sight gorgeous green-eyed lady. All carefully chosen, believe it.
You might also look at the latest cover of Elle Magazine, which features super-model Victoria Beckham against a cool lime green back ground. And Ray-Ban has a new pair of chic green cat eye sunglasses.
Bulgari Green Collection
And, then there is more and more green! A bright green taffeta jacket from Lanvin, a green leather bag from Marc Jacobs with 2 interchangeable shoulder straps, and a green cashmere turtleneck dress from Michael Kors.
Also, look for green as an integral gemstone color in mixed stone necklaces and bracelets. Bulgari has a stunning gold choker on the market, featuring green, amber, and amethyst gemstones. The necklace is part of the firm’s newest Parentesi cocktail collection, which also includes a large, eye-stopping green faceted solitaire stone set in 18-K gold.
YOU CAN CASH IN ON THE EXPLODING GREEN MOVEMENT WITH SOME GREAT LOOKING GREEN OF YOUR OWN. LOOK HERE:
- Mixed stone necklace balances rich green stones against a natural collection of agate, quartz, and more. Earth-wise and beautiful!
Comments (0) Posted by Mary McGarry on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
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EVERY HALLOWEEN, my neighbor turns her side yard into a virtual cemetery, complete with bats, spiders, witches, ghosts, tombstones, and even an open coffin with the likes of Dracula inside I can’t say I appreciate her creative endeavors, dark as they may be, but this year, I did find they stimulated some interesting research.
For example, I wondered: What was the name of that fascinating cemetery in Paris that I visited some years ago? And what is the name of the cemetery in downtown New York where all of the office workers come and sit on tombstones and eat their lunch each day? Why, you may wonder, would I possibly care about such things? I don’t know. I just do. So I began checking them out.
THE INTRIGUING PARIS CEMETERY, it seems, is named Pere La Chaise, and it is the site of such graves as Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Marcel Proust, and even Jim Morrison. An interesting thing about the cemetery is that it has served as the archetype for practically all urban cemeteries built in the United States since 1831.
You Need People
It is fascinating to walk around the Pere La Chaise, to see the tombstones of famous people, and to read what they say. Provided, of course, that you do it during the day, as part of a tour, with plenty of other people around. Other than that, well, let’s put it this way: The cemetery is very Old World; the tombs are big, many above ground, and they can be scary. Very scary.
—Don’t go there alone, at night, on Halloween. You have no idea what might transpire! Ohhhhhhh…
B UT…IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A REAL HALLOWEEN EXPERIENCE, GET A GROUP OF FRIENDS TOGETHER FOR SOME SPOOKY GHOST STORY-TELLING. AND, PUT ON A MASK FOR REAL ATMOSPHERE (STAY OUT OF CEMETERIES):
Cemeteries –on a Serious Note
OF COURSE, THERE ARE innumerable intriguing cemeteries all over the world. The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague, or La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, where Eva Peron is buried.
The military has always been given special burial treatment. Arlington National Cemetery, for example, is “home” to the Unknown Soldier’s Grave, as well as John Kennedy and his brothers. And then, there is the deeply moving American Cemetery on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach in France, with its terribly sad endless rows of little white crosses and stars of David, there to commemorate the devastating Normandy Invasion of World War II.
SOME CEMETERIES AND BURIAL SPOTS can be surprising when, as a tourist poking in and out of things, you suddenly realize what they really are. That, too, can be scary! Westminster Abbey, for example, is a huge burial place. So is the Taj Mahal. And, what about the pyramids? They are ancient, fantastic burial places for the Pharoahs.
–Among other things, the pyramids remind us that it wasn’t too bad to die in Egypt if you were a Pharaoh, but oh, if you were just part of his domestic family! Wives were buried alive with their dead husbands. So were all the Pharaoh’s personal servants, various high priests, and the pyramid’s architect. (You see, the architect had to know the way through the labyrinth pyramid to the inner burial spot, and that was never to be revealed.)
Final Words
Oh, the intrigue of cemeteries! The goose bumps! The witches’ tales! And, even sometimes, the fun of it all. Like epitaphs. They often make you forget you’re in the Land of the Dead. Dorothy Parker once created the pithy epitaph, “Here I lie. I’d rather be living in Philadelphia.”
PHILADELPHIA OR NOT, COME HALLOWEEN AND YOU CAN HAVE LOADS OF FUN MAKING UP YOUR OWN EPITAPH, OR LISTENING TO OTHERS. PUT ON A MASK AND LET PARTY-GOERS GUESS WHO YOU ARE FROM YOUR WORDS!
- Papier Mache Masks in brilliant color – great for guys!
- Phantom of the Opera Masquerade Mask with natural fit and flexibility.
— Meanwhile, if you like life in the fast lane, you’ll love New Jersey’s Rebecca Freeland’s tombstone. It reads: “She drank good ale, good punch, and wine. And lived to the age of 99.”
A Uniontown Pennsylvania tombstone says, “Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake. Stepped on the gas instead of the brake.”
Harry Edsel Smith of Albany New York was awarded this remembrance: “Born 1903 – Died 1942. Looked up the elevator shaft to see if the car was coming. It was.”
And, finally, an epitaph found in a Vermont cemetery that all good merchandisers will appreciate:
“Sacred to the memory of my husband, John Barnes who died January 3, 1803. His comely young widow, aged 23, has many qualifications of a good wife, and yearns to be comforted.”
Comments (0) Posted by Mary McGarry on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
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AT THE FUNERAL MASS FOR Senator Ted Kennedy recently, the Senator’s son Teddy described his father as an adventurer who loved sailing, camping, all things French and, surprisingly, costume parties.
As we move into the run-up timeframe for Halloween, the fun and fascination of such parties comes to the fore for all of us. Oh, the mystery of it: the masked beautiful lady or the masked man with his elegant dress and imperial manner. Who might they be?
Costume parties are always great fun, for all ages. Little girls get the chance to dress up as brides. Little boys become swashbuckling pirate-fighters. Adults can entertain themselves by dressing up as Marie Antoinette or George Washington, Cleopatra or King Henry the Eighth. A hero or a dastardly fellow…take your choice for the costumed character of the year!
YOU CAN JOIN IN THE ENTERTAINMENT WITH YOUR OWN COSTUME FEST! HERE’S A COLLECTION OF FABULOUS MASKS TO MAKE THE FESTIVITIES AS ELEGANT AS EVEN A KENNEDY COULD LOVE!
- Spray of feathers on one side of sequin face mask includes coque, peacock, and ostrich in gorgeous colors of red, purple fuchsia, and turquoise. Wow!
- Yellow, fuchsia, and turquoise feathers make up this multi-colored mask. The eyes are outlined with gold sequins and the mask is topped with peacock and dark coque feathers. Breathtaking!
The “Revealing” Bracelet
EVEN AS YOU’RE REVIEWING your own Halloween costume for 2009, pay attention to the details! For example, be careful what you wear with that spectacular mask – it could immediately identify you! Oh, well, most of us just have to wear the things we love, no matter!
—As one Halloween master pointed out, however, “If you are going to blow your cover so quickly, at least do it with panache!”
A gorgeous tennis bracelet is not just a thing of beauty; it is a treasure that never goes out of style. It is at one and the same time, always trendy, always classic. And, it is a great way to let “insiders” know it is you, there, behind the mask!
Should we include a quick definition here?
A tennis bracelet is essentially a thin in-line jewelry design of faux or real diamonds and can be made from small to fairly large, individually set stones. An essential point is this: the stones must all be symmetrically set and of the same exact size and cut.
A Rose is a Rose
TENNIS BRACELETS ACTUALLY DON’T date back very far, at least in name. They surfaced in their present guise back in 1987 when former #1 world woman tennis player Chris Evert was playing in the U.S. Open.
–Suddenly, her diamond in-line bracelet snapped apart, scattering the precious stones and more or less causing a spontaneous flurry of excitement. The match was immediately stopped to allow the diamonds to be recovered!
The incident brought the bracelet design to the forefront of public awareness, and resulted in a new name for it: The Tennis Bracelet. It has been a deeply valued and popular jewelry design ever since! Among the tennis celebrities who routinely wear this bracelet design are Serena Williams and Gabriela Sabatini.
Incidentally, Evert has worn the tennis bracelet to numerous events and photo shoots since then. One of them shows her remarkable versatility: A pix shot of the champion player ready to kick butt on a dynamite looking motorcycle wearing the now famous bracelet, skin tight pants and a hot black leather jacket. As we’ve said before: Diamonds (real or otherwise) go with everything! Hey, another thing: that Biker Outfit could make a terrific costume!
YOU MIGHT WANT TO MATCH YOUR FABULOUS HALLOWEEN MASK WITH AN EQUALLY IMPRESSIVE EVERT-INSPIRED BRACELET THIS YEAR. HERE ARE SOME TO CHOOSE FROM:
- Six rows of solid rhinestones, clear or iridescent, offer up endless dazzle!
Comments (4) Posted by Mary McGarry on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
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PARTIES ARE ALWAYS FUN, and what could be better than a costume party planned around the theme of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, that delightful comedy by William Shakespeare?
Here is all the drama and intrigue for a stellar evening of entertainment and fun…or a retail store display theme for a collection of spectacular masks! Shakespeare took inspiration for his play from “The Knight’s Tale” in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales,” and expressed as its main statement that LOVE TRIUMPHS ALL.
–But what mischief and madness goes on until we get to that conclusion!
A Midsummer Night’s Dream involves two couples whose romantic intrigues are complicated, confused, and thoroughly hilarious. Their volatile experiences take place in Athens, Greece, in the middle of a forest, at night. And, as the Bard so aptly puts it:
“The cause of true love never did run smooth.”
Oh, that is an understatement for all times, as we discover with these star-crossed lovers.
Wild, Annual Festival
HOW SHAKESPEARE CAME TO THE IDEA of setting his play in the middle of a forest in the middle of the night in the middle of the summer is not too difficult to figure out, when you realize that, in ancient England, it was believed that on a Midsummer Night, the fairies and witches hold their wild, annual festival.
–And, yes…the play is all about fairies, romping, playing, dancing, loving and being generally naughty and charming in the middle of their forest kingdom on a warm summer’s evening.
The characters in the play are nothing short of fantastic, and offer wonderful opportunity for party guests – choosing who they want to be, based on the play — to dress up in spectacular wonder. Not the least of their outfitting just has to involve masks.
JUST LET YOUR IMAGINATION RUN WILD WITH THESE MASKS! THEY MAY BE VENETIAN, BUT THEY FIT THE FESTIVITIES OF ATHENIAN FAIRIES TO A “T”.
- Butterfly mask is a creation of pure imaginative design. This beautiful style in butterfly shape is done in molded acrylic and blends with the forest theme perfectly!
- White Venetian Mask, with gold or silver highlight. Ahhh, with brilliant white ostrich plumes rising 10 inches above the eye mask, this is an elegant mask for the Queen of the Fairies!.
Synopsis
FOR THOSE WHO AREN’T too familiar with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, you might offer a sheet with the play’s synopsis on it, included in your invitations. No, you don’t have to write it yourself; you can pick it up on the Internet.
Or, you might make this party an intellectual pastime, and have a scene or two from the play enacted for your guests’ entertainment. If the party is for youngsters, well…this is an ideal way to turn an educational pursuit into real fun! Let them reinvent the play in their own modern terms.
WHATEVER YOU DO, A Midsummer Night’s Dream offers great party fare. It is also made up of a bevy of fantastic characters, one more intriguing than the other. There is, to start with, a full band of fairies. Then, there is Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, legendary queen of the Amazons, and Theseus’ fiancee. And, let us not forget Oberon, King of the fairies, and his Queen, Titania. So…not only do we have a forest, we also have royal courts!
What Roles They Play!
THE MOON-STRUCK LOVERS include Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius, whose escapades are confused and complicated, but who eventually come around to a happy ending. They are strange and crazy and mixed up – but, what roles they play!
And then, there is perhaps the most famous character of all, Puck, the court jester. Puck is a mischievous fairy, and he delights in planning pranks on humans. And ahhh, what pranks he pulls….
HERE IS A GREAT MASK FOR THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO PLAY THE PART OF PUCK, SURELY THE MAIN CHARACTER FROM THE PLAY:
AND, GIVING AN ARTS AND CRAFTS DIMENSION TO THE DRESS-UP FARE, HOW ABOUT THESE GREAT MASKS:
- Comedy or Tragedy, in classic Greek design. These unpainted masks are for those who want to create their own look. They add a delightful extra to the party planning! Great for any one from the fairy band!
Finale
So clap your hands. Enter the forest. Let your friends and clients, foes and competitors all dress up in masked disguise lest we discover too soon who they might be. Before we discover too soon what Shakespeare saw in the most famous quote from this engaging play:
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
— But does it matter? The play’s the thing!
Comments (1) Posted by Mary McGarry on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
