Literature in Motion (& Other Things)

Yet another book blog. More or less. By ssw15. Follow this blog if you like it. / Who am I? In no particular order: American. New Yorker. Brooklynite. Asian- American. American-Born Chinese. Female. Lawyer. Writer. A once-upon-a-time history major. A PBS Snob. Ivy Leaguer. And, a reader of literature. / Do check triscribe.com, where I tag-team blog with FC and YC about Other Things. / And a disclaimer (just being cautious): the blog should not be attributed to my employer or to organizations to which I belong. This blog is not about the law and not about legal advice; the contents should not be construed as legal advice. If you need legal advice, there are better places for that than here. Really...! / Feel free to see the Welcome post, the very first post in the Archives.

[adorableside]

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Bringing new meaning to “cat in a box.” – ssw15

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Reblogging for Caturday. -- ssw15

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“You often feel tired, not because you’ve done too much, but because you’ve done too little of what sparks a light in you.”

— Unknown (via perfectquote)

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Interesting post over at the New York Public Library’s website: “15 Books to Celebrate Disability Pride” by Estefania  Velez, Library Information Assistant, Woodlawn Heights Library, posted on July 2, 2021. The book list for Disability Pride Month demonstrates the wide-range of disabilities, and between memoirs and novels, these books seem to convey a lot. Worth checking out. – ssw15

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I’m reblogging an earlier post from July 17, 2021, during Disability Pride Month. The list from the New York Public Library, posted by Estafania Velez, is still worth checking out. See here for the NYPL's webpage for Disability Pride Month resources, including other book recommendations. – ssw15

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i feel like i‘ve lost my spark and trying to get it back is fucking exhausting

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On This Day, July 11, in 1804: a Duel at Weehawken, NJ...

On this day in 1804, Alexander Hamilton, former US Secretary of Treasury, and Vice President Aaron Burr went out to Weehawken, NJ, to do a duel (where it was legal to do, because gentlemen weren’t supposed to do that in NYC in those days).

Hamilton had lost his eldest son to a duel in NJ only a few years earlier. Before starting the duel, Hamilton put on his spectacles, and then history proceeded; he was mortally wounded, and he is buried over at Trinity Church in downtown. Burr remained a complicated figure.

216 years later, the whole thing became a Broadway musical and currently streaming by Disney during a pandemic.

Ideas of masculinity, honor, and politics didn’t mix all that well in those days. But, these days, I wonder if having a little more honor might do a lot more good.

Fun fact: I hadn’t realized that Hamilton’s son, Alexander Hamilton, Jr., was the lawyer representing Eliza Jumel in her divorce from Aaron Burr, which was finalized on the day Burr died. Irony.  – ssw15

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Re-sharing, as it’s after midnight on July 11, 2023. I don’t have Disney Plus, but someone can tell me if Hamilton the Musical is still streaming there, more than 200 years after the duel… – ssw15

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Re-sharing, as it’s after midnight on July 11, 2024. National partisan divide is as awful as ever, and please don’t let it destroy democracy, rule of law, and so on… – ssw15

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Re-sharing. Don’t give in to political violence and toxic masculinity. Learn from history and try not to repeat past transgressions. – ssw15

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Happy Independence Day 2026! Happy America 250!

Happy 250th Birthday, United States of America. I'm reflective. Between current events being what they are and the heat wave here in New York CIty, I’m not quite feeling the semiquincentennial. Yes, I still wish you all a Happy Independence Day, but at least have a meaningful one. We made it to 250. Somehow.

Consider the basics of what it means to be an American. I'd rather we learn from history than to "celebrate" it. Bear in mind: "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" and in the end, when the Founding Fathers declared at the end of the document: "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." They were about to do something dangerous, and they knew it. But they came to an agreement and they went ahead together, in hopes of something good. Social contract theory meant something to them.

As James Baldwin said, “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” Do we appreciate dissent? Do we appreciate collaboration and cooperation? Do we want to keep trying to create that more perfect union? What does it mean to have a more perfect union? What does it mean to be a country founded on hope and possibilities? Do we use possibilities to be more understanding and empathetic – to be a better people – or do we squander possibilities for what ends? Are we in this together or not?

I have said previously in my July 4th posts, "The American experiment continues." Try not to lose rule of law and whatever is democracy along the way. Keep at it.

Anyway - some links to keep the mood thing going.

New York Public Library has some great resources, and even a commemorative library card for America 250.

Some reflections on this Independence Day over at NPR.

Associated Press has a quiz.

I caught some of Sail4th's ship parade on tv this morning/afternoon. A lot of gorgeous ships in town - and here's the link for more info.

A birthday is good for a year, so we can keep learning about the American 250 year old experiment all year long... -- ssw15

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How To Write A Spy Novel

Want to learn how to write a spy novel? We explain how to write a spy novel, create believable spies, and build tension with plots full of twists.

Use this step-by-step guide to help you outline a story and you’ll be well on your way to penning your first spy novel.

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Good post covering the basics, so I'm re-sharing. And, I do like thinking in terms of an outline as part of structure; my spy novels during NaNoWriMo, back in the day, were very much part-planning, part-pantsing (seat of the pants, make it up as I go along...). If I ever revise them, I'd need structure...! -- ssw15.

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Check the link for events at and info from New York Public Library for AANHPI Heritage Month 2026, which is still ongoing. -- ssw15.

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The Tempest, Act IV, Scene I [You do look, my son] - You do look, my son, in a moved sort,

Happy Poem in Your Pocket Day! For this year, I’ll share from the Academy of American Poets/Poets.org: from The Tempest, Act IV, Scene I, by William Shakespeare:

The Tempest, Act IV, Scene I [You do look, my son]

William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

Prospero speaks to Ferdinand and Miranda:

You do look, my son, in a moved sort, As if you were dismay’d: be cheerful, sir. Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. Sir, I am vex’d; Bear with my weakness; my, brain is troubled: Be not disturb’d with my infirmity: If you be pleased, retire into my cell And there repose: a turn or two I’ll walk, To still my beating mind.

The Tempest is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. I liked the imagery of the “spirits” after the weird “play” Prospero presented to Ferdinand, and the reference to the globe (with the meta-reference to The Globe theater) and how “We are such stuff / As dreams are made on” - those are just beautiful. – ssw15

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Re-blogging from Poem in Your Pocket Day 2020. -- ssw15

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Poem in Your Pocket Day

Every April, on Poem in Your Pocket Day, people celebrate by selecting a poem, carrying it with them, and sharing it with others throughout

Poem in Your Pocket Day 2026 will be on April 30, 2026, as National Poetry Month winds down. -- ssw15.

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It’s William Shakespeare’s 450th birthday! (Well, OK, no one knows the exact day he was born, but devotees have adopted April 23 as the day to celebrate, so we will too.)

To mark the occasion, here are three random things you may not have known about the Bard:

What Do Jay Z And Shakespeare Have In Common? Swagger: As with so many other famous words and phrases, Shakespeare was the first to use “swagger.”

Shakespeare Was A Tax Evader And Food Hoarder: Research suggests that he was prosecuted for evading taxes and for hoarding grain during a famine and then reselling it at inflated prices. 

Shakespeare’s Accent: How Did The Bard Really Sound?: A little more Edinburgh — and sometimes even more Appalachia — than you might expect. 

HBD, Will!

-Nicole

gif via giphy

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Happy birthday, Shakespeare, wherever you are!  Congratulations; you’re (about) 450 years old.  It’s a big one! – ssw15

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From 2014 - not only is it Shakespeare’s Death Day, it’s (sort of) his birthday! Happy birthday, Shakespeare, wherever you are! – ssw15

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Re-blogging from 2014 - not only is it Shakespeare’s Death Day, it’s (on or about or around) his birthday! The big 460 years old birthday, yay, Shakespeare, wherever you are. – ssw15

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One year later, it’s Shakespeare’s 461st birthday, or or about or around his birthday and his Death Day. Yay, Shakespeare, wherever you are. – ssw15

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Happy 462nd birthday, Shakespeare, on or about April 23, 2026. and umm it's 410 years since Shakespeare's deathday. Well, have a happy one, Shakespearem wherever you are! -- ssw15

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Celebrate National Library Week, April 19-25, 2026

Find your joy at the library during National Library Week, April 19-25, 2026!

It's National Library Week, April 19-25, 2026. Check out the link for more info. -- ssw15

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One of the reasons I love Endeavour is that it's so very rewatchable. It's deliciously layered, the performances nuanced and complicated.

And then sometimes it really is twins and there's a tiger in a maze.

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I've been thinking of doing a re-watch binge of the Endeavour-Morse-Lewis universe. Morse, Lewis and Endeavour all had a lot of ridiculous plots and nasty villains, but only Endeavour gave us a CGI tiger. -- ssw15

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I actually felt a little sad that NASA sent the Artemis II crew to space with Outlook. I use Outlook at work, and it's fine for our purposes. But, I just thought that space meant that you get something a little better? LOL. -- ssw15.

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The Ides of March

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. Beware the Ides of March. 

(it wasn’t a good day for Caesar.  And, eventually, for Brutus.)

If I find a good Shakespeare item today, I’ll update this post or post something else later…

UPDATE:

I thought that this item from Time.com about the Ides of March was nifty and cute, especially for putting things into perspective, highlighting that every month has the Ides.  Well, the Ides of March gets to be the weirder day, considering its place in Western culture…

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It’s THE IDES OF MARCH, people! Time to celebrate with everybody’s favorite hapless soothsayer.

In honor of the Ides, I’ve written the following short play:

The Helpful Soothsayer

SOOTHSAYER: Caesar! Beware the Ides of March! CAESAR: Why? SOOTHSAYER: Because Cassius and Brutus and a bunch of other people are planning to stab you to death then. CAESAR: Wow, thanks very much, Soothsayer. I’ll get right on that.

THE END

Additionally, if you want to print out your very own feel-good Ides of March mini-comic, check out my Shakespearean What-If mini-comic. Have a happy Ides and, whatever you do, don’t let anyone named Casca stand behind you.

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I didn’t get a pie for Pi Day. But, oh, hey: beware the Ides of March! – ssw15