The very best of the Awl: Brown Semiotics
To some people, it's about, like wizards, and that's cool. But to me, it's about how capitalism creates a structure of self-serving rituals to make individuals believe that they are members of a community."
"Oh," Emma said. Her therapist had told her if she felt uncomfortable at any time she should picture herself in the place in the world she most loved, and to make it as realistic as possible. She closed her eyes. "I'm at the Brentwood Town Center Jamba Juice right now with Taylor Swift. She just ordered an Apple and Greens with a Power boost and I got a 3G with a flax boost. I'm wearing a sundress from Kitson and Uggs, and she's writing a text to John Mayer about..."
"Anyway, I'm late for Shakespeare Rewrites Shakespeare..." Masha said.
"Oh," Emma said. "I was going to take that, but, in the end I was just looking for, you know, a class on just Shakespeare."
Masha sniffed. "What does 'just Shakespeare?' even mean?"
"I don't know. Reading his plays and discussing them?"
-- Sarah Miller is the author of Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn and The Other Girl, which are for teens but adults can read on the beach.