Ok, no more stalling.  I am absolutely going to get something done today.  I know I keep saying that, but this time I really mean it.  I have a project that I want to do but keep putting off.  The time has come to do it.  No more procrastinating.  It’s an album that will be a gift for a very good friend.  I’ve been doing small bits of it here and there but I really need to finish it.  The problem is I don’t want to make something that isn’t worthy of her.  She’s crafty and so is her daughter.  I don’t want her to unwrap it and realize I could have done better.  So I’m putting it off until I am absolutely certain it will be great.  How can I be sure–there’s the rub, I really can’t know for sure.  By the way, what does that statement mean anyway.  “There’s the rub? ”

Q From Paula Conneran-Weig: What does the saying There’s the rub mean and what is the origin of the phrase?

A The phrase is Shakespeare’s. It comes from Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy:

To die — to sleep.
To sleep — perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub!
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.

By rub, Hamlet means a difficulty, obstacle or objection — in this case to his committing suicide.

PS Remind me never to wonder what a phrase means, or to find the answer.. Yikes!

• Uncategorized