J.W.

Joss Whedon interviewed by Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo

"We were talking about Work Ethic --

Because Everyone in comparison 

to your output, Joss, and your Work Ethic, 

would appear to be slack and lazy --

Because, y'know, people work very hard, in Life, and they get their pay --

But you seem to be working, like, 

a hundred times harder than anybody else --

J.W. :

"Well, part of that is Smoke and Mirrors, I think, 

but part of it is that I do Love The Work,

and also, I DO Have A Problem,

A Serious Mental Problem :

It's Workaholism, and it's not fun, 

I Don't Do Anything Else --

Other People Have Lives,

and, They're Nice to Their Friends,

and They do all sorts of things that I forget to do in The Morning

(and that also includes Basic Hygiene, but let's not talk about that....) "

I mean, none of my schoolteachers could've told you, that this was going to happen 

(except perhaps my Film Professor) --

It wasn't until I began studying and making Film, and Television, that I discovered that 

That was Why I am Here,

and that was really 

The Only Reason --

So, The Story is -- correct me if I am wrong --

That you had finished the filming for Avengers, 

and you were supposed to have some time off --

like, Time-Off, go away with Your Wife, that kind of thing --

Time Off --

But instead of doing that, in the 2 weeks you actually had, between film and editing, Post-Production and whatever, you actually

made another movie --

Which is 'Much Ado About Nothing'.

Is that actually True...?

Yes -- 

It was, in fact, 

My Wife's idea....

 

Seven Virtues, Seven Noble Arts, Seven Champions of Justice

Magic lantern slide c. 1880. Seven.Albert G. Mackey, in his Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry writes two pages on the number seven, claiming : "Seven is a sacred number in Masonic symbolism."1But the point must be stressed that The Number 7 is not a "sacred" number in masonic ritual, it is a "significant" number. The sacredness or importance of the number seven in many belief systems, mythologies and cultures is recognised by knowledgeable freemasons but the number itself is not specifically masonic.Geometry was considered one of The Seven Noble or Liberal Arts and Sciences, the others being Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Music and Astronomy. In ancient Kemet, or Egypt, the number seven represented completion. Creation took place in seven time periods. There are seven colours in the rainbow, seven notes in a musical scale, seven days in a week, &c.In Ancient Kemet, there were also Seven Cardinal Principles/Virtues of The Goddess Ma'at to achieve human perfectibility. These principles are Truth, Justice, Balance, Order, Compassion, Harmony, and Reciprocity.In Freemasonry Seven Brethren are required to Open or Work a Lodge: 3 Master Masons, 2 Fellowcraft and 2 Entered apprentice. While those fascinated by numerology will make much of the two rows of seven tassels found on most Master Mason aprons, this was an aesthetic choice made by regalia makers and has no masonic significance. The Number 7 was said to be 'Perfect' because it contained the numbers 3 and 4 — 3 and 4, The Triangle and The Square, the Perfect Figures — and was itself indivisible and could not be created by multiplication.Some freemasons will claim that together the seven officers represent how human consciousness works. They represent the co-ordinated parts connecting Man's outer nature with his inmost Divine Principle. They provide the necessary channels for the various spiritual and material levels to maintain contact. This, like much hermetic and sacred teachings, is not fundamental to masonic teachings but should be of interest to all students of Freemasonry.1. See : phoenixmasonry.org for full text.Image : Magic lantern slide 18 "The Seven Liberal Arts." c. 1880. Unknown provenance.