Open your ears; for which of you will stop
The vent of hearing when loud Rumor speaks?
Shakespeare, Henry IV,Part 2
Rumor is my chief source of exercise. Word gets around quickly on a ship, and if I hear of a falsehood or misapprehension that might circulate quickly and cause distress, I try to track it down and correct it--because the little rumor becomes the big rumor quickly. Today's was of the minor kind, that a particular person was circulating a petition to address a particular policy. No running is permitted on the ship, and in truth the swaying of the ship doesn't encourage particularly fast walking. But I managed to get to where I needed to be at least to determine that the rumor wasn't true. Whether that will slow the rumor's circulation I can't say. Shakespeare would suggest that the answer is 'No,' and he is pretty smart about such things.
It's lovely on the sea today. Classes seem to be running smoothly. Evening gatherings of various kind have begun, and I can only report on the ones I'm responsible for, since I have to be at them. Last night we had the music professor board, Mark Brill, lead a sing-along of sea shanties, and that was a lot of fun; tonight is a film about Hawaii followed by a discussion. Attendance at those events are optional, but attendance at the cultural pre-port briefing, tomorrow night, and the logistical pre-port briefing, the following night, are required: the first will provide some historical and cultural introduction to Hawaii, and the second will go over safety and logistical information pertaining to our arrival the next day.
I suppose one reason why rumor holds so much authority here is that there is so little current news from the outside--no newspapers around in hard copy, few accessible electronically, no electronic media outlets of other kinds, and no Facebook or Instagram or any of the rest. If you are communicating with someone on board, you might mention a current event or two of possible interest. For time here has sort of stopped, stuck on the moment we sailed, and sometimes rumors are all we have to move discourse forward.
The vent of hearing when loud Rumor speaks?
Shakespeare, Henry IV,Part 2
Rumor is my chief source of exercise. Word gets around quickly on a ship, and if I hear of a falsehood or misapprehension that might circulate quickly and cause distress, I try to track it down and correct it--because the little rumor becomes the big rumor quickly. Today's was of the minor kind, that a particular person was circulating a petition to address a particular policy. No running is permitted on the ship, and in truth the swaying of the ship doesn't encourage particularly fast walking. But I managed to get to where I needed to be at least to determine that the rumor wasn't true. Whether that will slow the rumor's circulation I can't say. Shakespeare would suggest that the answer is 'No,' and he is pretty smart about such things.
It's lovely on the sea today. Classes seem to be running smoothly. Evening gatherings of various kind have begun, and I can only report on the ones I'm responsible for, since I have to be at them. Last night we had the music professor board, Mark Brill, lead a sing-along of sea shanties, and that was a lot of fun; tonight is a film about Hawaii followed by a discussion. Attendance at those events are optional, but attendance at the cultural pre-port briefing, tomorrow night, and the logistical pre-port briefing, the following night, are required: the first will provide some historical and cultural introduction to Hawaii, and the second will go over safety and logistical information pertaining to our arrival the next day.
I suppose one reason why rumor holds so much authority here is that there is so little current news from the outside--no newspapers around in hard copy, few accessible electronically, no electronic media outlets of other kinds, and no Facebook or Instagram or any of the rest. If you are communicating with someone on board, you might mention a current event or two of possible interest. For time here has sort of stopped, stuck on the moment we sailed, and sometimes rumors are all we have to move discourse forward.
