186 Quiz Answer

Ophelia, in the play “Hamlet,” by Shakespeare, is a young noblewoman of Denmark, potentially the wife of Prince Hamlet.  After she learns of her father’s death, she appears wildly before the King and Queen, who realize that she has gone mad.

(Also for Three Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "J" is for "Journalism")
I suppose you’re aware of the state of journalism these days.

Fact is, the situation of newspapers in our time is pretty bad: the number of papers that have gone through bankruptcy and closure keeps rising.

I chose this rather desperate era to spend four years getting a Journalism degree, planning on having a prestigious career with a handsome salary.  After graduation, I spent roughly another four years trying to find a job.

I came to realize that my father’s suggestion – that I go into veterinary dentistry – may not have been so wildly insane as I had originally thought.

I finally landed a position with a small newspaper in northern North Dakota.  It was a freebie - no charge for the paper, they gave it away in grocery stores. 

I became the sports editor.  No matter how much you love sports, no matter how easygoing you are, sitting in open stands covering high-school teams in temperatures that ranged from “moderate” - four below - to “chilly” - twenty below - made you start thinking how nice and warm the conditions seemed to be for employees over at Wendy’s.

But enough of those problems.  Things changed.  The big news is that there was a contest held for the state’s Journalist of the Year.  I’m pleased to report that I won.  They wanted someone to represent northern North Dakota and I was evidently one of the few journalists there who wasn’t frozen solid.

But seriously, this was a big deal.  I didn’t get much in the way of currency but as the winner I was sent to our nation’s capital, which as I understand it is in Washington, D C.  I know you’ll find this difficult to believe but I wound up covering a press conference in the famous Oval Office.

The Prez and the Veep were discussing something important and I was busy taking notes so that it would look like I understood what they were talking about.  Then the most incredible thing happened.

The beautiful daughter of one of our most important political leaders came bursting into the room.  She, of course, is known throughout our land.  She is always held up as a model for today’s youth: quiet, dignified, proper.

But on this occasion she was raving – she seemed to be what I believe is known as “of unsound mind.”  She was disheveled; you might almost say bedraggled.  And she proceeded to sing some very raunchy songs, highly inappropriate in such a setting.

Well, it was all hushed up, which is why you probably never heard of it.

 The above is all foolishness.  But as for the weekly Berownial quiz, there’s something in it that might remind you of a Shakespeare play.

Which play?

(Also submitted to Sunday Scribblings.)