But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

It is the East, and Juliet the sun
Arise fair sun, and kill the envious moon
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she...

... Well, that's largely right, anyway.  I'm too lazy to look it up.  A few entries ago, I mentioned that I can do Romeo's part from the balcony scene.  Andrea asked why.

Well, you see, we read the play in Junior High School, and one of our assignments in English class was to pair up and learn the balcony scene.  There were more girls than boys in the class, so lots of girls ended up playing Romeo.

The story doesn't end there, though -- as I wasn't just a girl assigned to play Romeo.  I was actually assigned to play Juliet.  I was, however, partnered with a kid who was a lousy student and who pretty much promised me he wouldn't be there to perform.  I figured that the only choice would be to learn both parts and do it as a monologue.  (The fact that my teacher could've just had someone else feed me lines never actually occurred to me.  Besides, I was into over-achieving back then.) 

I've always had a pretty good memory in terms of monologues or speeches, but it's always something of a crapshoot as to what will end up in my long-term memory (accessible forever) as opposed to short-term memory (disappears after the exam).  Romeo's opening monologue is filed away in long-term.  Go figure.

Andrea also asked about a "scratch pin."  I've no idea what that is.  I said I can't do a scratch spin, which is your most basic figure skating spin.  It annoyed me no end that I never mastered it -- I'd thought it would be easier to spin than jump, and I ended up learning two jumps (toe-loop and salchow) and still couldn't get that sucker to go around more than two or three times on a regular basis.  (I think I hit six revolutions once, which is enough for it to legitimately be called a "spin," but I never got it again.)

And forget my last entry.  Much better than even Dove chocolate-dipped chocolate chip cookies are piping hot oatmeal cookies right out of the oven.  (Courtesy my neighbor and her new Kitchenaid stand mixer.)