[BlogEntry] Mad About Mad, Yo!

You're missing out on a large part of life if you don't take the time to walk among other people with your eyes and your ears open. Now that the nice weather is here, I tend to wander around Boston Common, sometimes working my way up to Downtown Crossing. And I'm learning things. I'm learning, for example, how words change over time.

Last night I was at a production of Shakespeare's King Lear. There is a line, delivered by the senile king, where he says "Let me not be mad." As I heard it, in context, I realized that it could have two meanings – since he is about to visit one of his daughters he could be calming himself down, literally telling himself that being angry with her will get him nowhere. Or, more profoundly, he could be realizing that he's starting to lose his mind, and praying that it holds off awhile – Let me not be senile.

Today while walking back to work over lunch I heard someone say, "I be spending mad dough today, yo!"

Once before I heard a similar sentiment where one man confided in his friend, "I've had mad jobs, I just keep gettin fired."

Shakespeare would be proud.