Idk what I’d do if I inherited land from a family member, it depends on where it was and who I got it from. Like a French chateau sounds nice, but how would I pay the taxes? (By opening a hotel, obviously ?)

OK, I can see that. I’ll have to look into it!

Almonds have been a major crop here for a long time, and they’re really pretty in February when they bloom. February is just about my favorite time of year here–between the almonds and the tulip trees (which are a kind of magnolia that blooms before leafing out) it’s just lovely. BUT as our town grows, the orchards that are closer in get cut down for apartments and shopping centers. I guess we need apartments, but I really liked having orchards better….also I think it is dumb that we have some of the best farming soil in the whole world, so we build apartments on it. Can’t we build housing on some of the less amazing soil? There’s plenty of that around here too, but nooooo.

Let’s see, what else is interesting about almonds? You harvest them by whacking or shaking the tree, and they fall off. Put a tarp down first. Locals pronounce it aamund, nobody knows why, but they have this silly joke that they’re almonds on the tree until you shake the L out of them and then they’re aamunds.

I’ve heard about this book from Vijayalakshmi. It piqued my interest then and I’m reminded again now that I should add it to my 2016 TBR.
I also have not read King Lear, and now that I know there is eye stuff, I may be even more reluctant to do so. But I’m glad to see your comparison to Gatsby because damn it do I have a weakness for that damn story.

Oh man, the eye stuff in Lear. “Out, foul jelly” and “Let him smell his way to Dover” are some of the only lines I remember from Lear.

Well if you must, it’s “Out, foul jelly!” Here’s the whole gross section:

http://shakespeare.mit.edu/lear/lear.3.7.html

There’s a 2009 recording of an RSC performance directed by Trevor Nunn. I’ve read good things about it (starring Ian McKellan and Jonathan Hyde) but I haven’t actually watched it because I’ve seen so many good performances of Lear and I’ve never taught it. If I were teaching it, you know, I would forbid my students to read it until they’d seen at least the first few scenes, preferably following along in the script to see what the director cut or added.