So what did you do last week? Did you manage to watch "the news"?
I had my creative writing class over to the house for their last class; I read through their portfolios and submitted the final grades; read the final version of a 70+-page honors thesis on satires of war by a terrific graduating senior I had the pleasure of advising this semester; went to the publication party for the literary magazine where many students-old and new-celebrated their accomplishments; taught my last class in Modern Brit Lit for the semester and made up their exam; and gave a couple of talks for a couple of organizations, including a library (who were kind enough to make me their "author of the year") and a domestic violence awareness program where one of my former students now works as a grant writer.
Your week probably looked pretty much the same; it's the end of the term and we're all running around.
So this meant I watched and read very little of the news. I know some of the most destructive tornadoes in American history ripped through the South; I know there are breaking stories of the Middle East twice a day; I spent too little time, as always, reading about struggles in terms of labor unions and the economy.
But I did make time to read about and watch two features (I hardly dare call them news, however) and although it seems like a confession to admit it, I will: I watched the Royal Wedding and I watched Trump vs. Obama.
I thought Trump vs. Obama was more fun. Less pageantry-more posturing.
Maybe that's because I watched the wedding only as a re-run and only in the already-edited, spliced version where the really weird squared-headed little bridesmaid stole the show by putting her hands over her ears, whereas I watched Trump make his New Hampshire speech live, only to be cut off by President Obama breaking into his speech, live.
That, in and of itself, was a great moment. The timing was perfect. It was funny. It was slapstick and a slap in the face.
It was theater.
The President's delivery was also theater, insofar as he deadpanned his lines about the release of his long birth-certificate right up until he got to the part where he said he didn't want the American people to be distracted any long by "sideshows and carnival barkers."
I had only one problem with this: comparing Donald Trump to sideshow performers and carnival barkers gives sideshow performers and carnival barkers a bad name.
Many of my colleagues at "PT" have written many and diverse-not to mention smarter and more thoughtful-pieces on Kate Middleton and Prince William than I'm willing or able to do right now, and I have enjoyed their perspectives. (I hope somebody has brought tea towels back for all of us, either to hang in our kitchen or to burn.)
But I also hope that, somewhere, there's a graphic artist putting Obama's words about Trump on a souvenir item. I'd buy a thimble and oven-mitts, and that's just for starters.
