Michael York (the actor - apparently there's a motivational speaker by the same name, though I have to say I found this Michael York pretty motivating) came to the university this week to give a talk on Shakespeare and acting. It was quite interesting. Too bad the theatre department didn't think to invite us English majors to his talk to their students that afternoon. I'll remember that when I'm a rich alum. But I digress again. The important points I gleaned from the talk are:

Actors should practice on sonnets

Actors like Hamlet because Shakespeare talks about acting in it

Shakespeare was cool because he had blood and violence for the people who bought the cheap seats, and deeper meaning and philosophy for those into book-learnin'

A critic once described York as a "blond, rat-faced Nazi". (That wasn't very nice at all!)

Afterwards, Lunchbox used his mutant celebrity-tracking powers to ferret out where a reception was taking place. Since it was in the building where my office is, we took this as an invitation to attend. After introducing myself as a graduate English student who was studying Renaissance literature, I then got the actor to sign our copy of Logan's Run, which seemed to amuse him.

Having our friends over for the weekend was a blast, and the combination of events has given me some good ideas for papers I have to write this semester. Genius! Thank you!