"Beware the Ides of March" -- soothsayer to Caesar in Julius Caesar", act I, scene II.

Quoted here for no particular reason other than today's date and I am fond of Shakespeare. I have been fairly restrained here in this journal, rarely quoting stuff (which is rather silly, isn't it? I mean since it is relatively easy to set up links and that ability is one of the reasons why html was created in the first place) but in Real Life mentally mumbled literary allusions drop into my interior stream of consciousness... I try to edit them out of my speech lest I come off pretentious or affected or just leave people wondering what I am talking about. But it is impossible for me to see March 15th appear on a calendar without the phrase "ides of March" popping into my head.

SOOTHSAYER	Caesar!
CAESAR	Ha! who calls?
CASCA	Bid every noise be still: peace yet again!
CAESAR	Who is it in the press that calls on me? I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music, Cry 'Caesar!' Speak; Caesar is turn'd to hear.
SOOTHSAYER	Beware the ides of March.
CAESAR	What man is that?
BRUTUS	A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
CAESAR	Set him before me; let me see his face.
CASSIUS	Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar.
CAESAR	What say'st thou to me now? speak once again.
SOOTHSAYER	Beware the ides of March.
CAESAR	He is a dreamer; let us leave him: pass.

Yeah, I know, this is my first entry since Saturday's entry... well. I have been writing comments, but they've been in the form of postings to various online discussion forums. Where? At Pamie's website in her forum area (noisy co-workers and the amazon.com oneclick patent issue are the topics I've commented on so far this week, but I've posted comments on many topics there over the past year or so). I've also posted on Ellipses where Eleanor usually has a number of on-going discussions (most recent topic is surf vs. grape, whether she should go for an acting opportunity on the coast or in wine country). And Thetis has added a chat/discussion area using Blogger to The Clockworks and I've stuck a few comments in there. There are other sites with discussion forums where I sometimes post comments. I like Jen's Like Sands Through The Hourglass but she hadn't put up a new topic for a few days... but she made up for it with her latest entry, posting three new discussion topics. There are two other discussion forums where I am likely to toss in my two cents worth but they belong to college students who are currently home for spring break, so there has not been much activity on their sites: Piper Dane and Meghan.

Well, while I am listing so many URLs, there is one that someone sent to me today that I really must pass on to you... it was inevitable given the rapid growth of the Internet that we would come to this.

And finally, as a public service, I am posting this important medical advisory. Oops, never mind, apparently the American Medical Association is suffering from a serious humor deficiency and has ordered them to take down that little joke.

Okay, maybe the next entry will not be quite so content free. See ya.