We’ve so enjoyed hearing from you, dear readers — keep the fiery feedback coming. We lift our third cup of coffee in your honor.

Comments this last week featured a couple of riveting mini-debates. Responding to “Students and Shakespeare: The Lady Doth Protest, but Too Much?” in which BFB writer and former public high school teacher Holly Morse-Ellington suggested that most teens don’t have the ability — or the genuine interest — to begin to process the big, bad Bard just yet.

Gita offered, “I beg to differ. ‘…Shakespeare High the documentary…that tells the story of a group of teenagers in Southern California who find a place to belong within their high-school drama program and are determined to succeed in the 90th Annual DTASC (Drama Teachers Association of Southern California) Shakespeare Competition. Theater has become their inspiration, a reason to strive and overcome adversity. The film features their stories of how the arts enriches their lives amidst personal troubles, including poverty, violence, gangs, drugs, absentee parents, as well as the troubles and hardships of adolescence. Through Shakespeare, these students are able to find community; they discover passion, drive, and confidence to pursue their dreams and dictate the course of their lives…’” Go here to learn more about the film.

Meanwhile, Roland Jim’s take: “It’s not that Shakespeare is too difficult for these students; the problem is that someone put an unprepared student in your Honors class. Their difficulty is not with the comprehension of the Bard’s plot tricks, nor his humor, nor his delicate insight into human emotions. It is primarily reading practice and vocabulary. The latter can be remedied easily enough with some advance warning; the former takes far more practice. When they have not been required to read more than 200 words a week for all of their school tenure, it’s tough to ramp up to three acts a night. Oh, and their math skills are worse, I can tell you…”

Senior Editor Betsy Boyd’s quick post, “Nighttime Arrest in Roland Park: Mystery Solved,” which broke the news of a car thief among us and shared safety tips, got Roland Jim’s goat again.
“Hmm, some great tips from MSP: ‘Lock the car.” …I have another, at least as good: drive a car they don’t want to steal. No Beemer, or Porsche — who has ever heard of a Saturn or Subaru getting stolen?”

“Anonymous” fired back, “Actually, Saturns and Subarus are stolen way more than Beemers or Porsches for several reasons. First, there are lots more of them. Second, they generally have fewer security features so they are easier to steal, and finally, while most thieves are stealing cars for parts, for those who are, there is a much bigger market for Subaru and Saturn parts because there are more of them on the road. Historically, the most frequently stolen cars tend to line up with the most popular makes and models.”

Grant Boden applauded resident artist Jowita Wyszomirska’s stunning new installation at MICA, detailed in “Drawing for Passersby.”

“I wish I could have been in Baltimore to view this great showing. Congratulations to Jowita and The Baltimore Fishbowl. Cool!!” wrote Grant.

Lori said of Cynthia McIntyre’s “Beaux Arts Victorian Mansion” report, a look at a regal former funeral home in all its architectural glory, “I went to a Halloween party at this house in the mid 1980s. It’s spectacular.”

“Dead Tree? No, Yard Art,” also by C. McIntyre, a post touring painterly possibilities for trunks past their living prime found “MMW” musing amusingly, “This will go real good with the ceramic kittens crawlin’ up my vinyl siding.”

Last Monday, “Vichy” weighed in on an Amy Winehouse post from last summer, “Tears Dry? Whiny Backlash Calls Winehouse Overrated,” written by Betsy B.

“‘Without Amy, there would have been no Adele, no Duffy, and no Lady Gaga,’ Then thank God she died before she could spawn any more monstrosities. I do not get pop music. Hell, I don’t get music. Boring, boring, boring. Economics lectures and history audio books fill my mp3 player,” said Vichy with conviction.

Cantankerous comments keep up smiling, of course, but “Against Coming of Age” by Marion Winik continues to rake in the meditative messages, and we’ll admit we love those, too.

Sheryl Rose noted, “My ‘little girl’ is now nearly 22, but I can still recall the moment when I realized she had cast off her child-self and began the journey toward becoming a woman. She was 12, and it took almost this long for us to appreciate each other again. Ah, motherhood.”