This Is Ogden

So, I'm thinking of starting a project. Not that I don't have enough projects - as if I actually need something else to fill my time - but this is something that struck me last week and has been festering in the back of my mind, fighting for my attention.

I plan to start a YouTube channel, tentatively called "This Is Nash," that will consist entirely of dramatic readings of Ogden Nash poetry.

For those unfamiliar with Nash, he was an American poet, known for writing light verse. He was born in 1902, and published over 500 poems by the time of his death in 1971. My hope is to film myself dressed in formal attire reciting some of my favourite Nash poems in an environment that is relevant to the poem's content. For example, I may film myself shaving my face, looking into the reflection of the camera in the bathroom mirror, reciting Song Before Breakfast:

Hopeful each morning I arise

And splash the cobwebs from my eyes.

I brush my teeth and scrape my chin

And bravely at the mirror grin.

Sternly I force myself to say,

Huzza! Huzza! Another day!

Oh happy me! Oh lucky I!
Another chance with life to vie!

Another golden opportunity

To rise and shine in this community!

Another target for my aim!

Another whack at wealth and fame!

Almost I feel within me stir

A budding force of character...

... And so on and so forth, with all the seriousness I can muster. I would hope to film quite a few of these, and release them on a YouTube channel for the world to enjoy. Because I can't think of anyone who wouldn't enjoy a good dramatic reading of a Nash poem.

 I am immensely excited for this project, and I'll be posting again once I've filmed a video. I'll leave you with the first few lines from one of my favourite Nash poems, simply entitled, Splash:

Some people re do-it-some-other-timers and other people are do-it-nowers,

And that is why manufacturers keep on manufacturing both bathtubs and showers,

Because some bathers prefer to recline

On the cornerstone of their spine,

While others, who about their comfort are less particular,

Bathe perpendicular.