Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Magic Shake-Ball



QUESTION:

I just received a letter from my university’s president thanking me for ten years of service. As my reward, I get to pick out one of the following gifts: power drill, coffee maker, silver necklace, wall clock, leatherette bag, waffle maker, binoculars, headphones, a set of knives, etc., etc.

So, which one should I pick? (By the way, it will be presented to me at a public ceremony.)

MAGIC SHAKE-BALL'S ANSWER:

Poor and content is rich, and rich enough,
But riches fineless is as poor as winter
To him that ever fears he shall be poor.
--Iago to Othello (Othello 3.3.176-77)

Iago is working Othello into a jealous lather, telling him that it sucks to be a guy with everything who keeps worrying about losing it all (read: getting cuckolded by his wife). Perhaps the more “fineless” (boundless) the riches, the harder the fall. I’m understanding this as a message that it doesn’t matter what gift I pick because all of them will make me feel really old and lame. That said, it would be really funny to get presented with the Cuisinart Quick-Prep Hand Blender.

6 comments:

  1. Geez, I don't know, Michelle. I can't get past the munificence of WPI. At BC, as far as I know, after 25 years, you get a hideous plastic BC clock. Live it up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're so wise. And I'm an ungrateful wretch. I'm gonna make you guys some yummy soup with the hand blender.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If by "hand blender," you mean "witchy churn," I'm down!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Waffle maker. Gotta be the waffle maker.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Totally. If we hadn't gotten one as a wedding gift, the waffle maker would be the obvious choice.

    ReplyDelete