Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?
It's the Ides of March, which means that it's 2056 years since the murder of Gaius Julius Caesar. I wonder if anyone will look back in 4067 and remember that it was 2056 years ago that the world saw the deaths of Osama bin Ladin and Kim Jong Il. They don't make them like they used to... Not that we ought to be comparing Caesar's dictatorship to any modern dictatorships, and besides there was a lot of good to Caesar, which makes him worth remembering. To me, he will always look exactly like Rex Harrison, who played him in Cleopatra. I really love that movie, I don't care what a critical flop it was. I watched it times without number when I was a kid. I recently saw a quote on Facebook, which said "You know you're a history fan when you still get upset thinking about the library of Alexandria". And I do get upset thinking about it. The fate of that library is the one problem I have with Caesar. If you don't know, here's a line from Plutarch:
when the enemy endeavored to cut off his communication by sea, he was forced to divert that danger by setting fire to his own ships, which, after burning the docks, thence spread on and destroyed the great library.
There were some 40,000 book scrolls destroyed in that fire, and since they didn't make lots of copies in those days, it was a terrible disaster for historians and scientists to have all that knowledge turn to ashes.
I don't know how to answer today's question. I guess I've never really seen insanity and seen it turn to creativity. Of course that can happen, many artists are only appreciated long after they are dead. I think I have changed my opinions on other matters, about religion and politics, for instance. I used not to understand why grownups thought those things so important, and quarreled about them. But now, that I'm grown up myself, I hold some strong opinions too, and I'm ready to argue for them. I don't usually like to argue with friends, however amicably, but I will do it, if I feel I have to. Debate is a very wholesome thing, after all.
By the way, I am aware that I didn't write the It's the tenth meme, about what books I'm currently reading. I did it on purpose, because I've been writing so much about books. Also, I'm reading the books for the two following 100 books entries, and I intend never to reveal the next ones beforehand. You'll just have to wait and see. I'm still reading David Copperfield, and I'm also reading the first of the Chrestomanci chronicles, Charmed life, by Diana Wynne Jones. I read it about 20 years ago, and I just happened to see it in the library, so I thought I'd revive some childhood memories. It will be interesting to see how I like it this time around.
I still have the cold, and I still haven't got any yarn... I really hope next week will be better. See you tomorrow!
when the enemy endeavored to cut off his communication by sea, he was forced to divert that danger by setting fire to his own ships, which, after burning the docks, thence spread on and destroyed the great library.
There were some 40,000 book scrolls destroyed in that fire, and since they didn't make lots of copies in those days, it was a terrible disaster for historians and scientists to have all that knowledge turn to ashes.
I don't know how to answer today's question. I guess I've never really seen insanity and seen it turn to creativity. Of course that can happen, many artists are only appreciated long after they are dead. I think I have changed my opinions on other matters, about religion and politics, for instance. I used not to understand why grownups thought those things so important, and quarreled about them. But now, that I'm grown up myself, I hold some strong opinions too, and I'm ready to argue for them. I don't usually like to argue with friends, however amicably, but I will do it, if I feel I have to. Debate is a very wholesome thing, after all.
By the way, I am aware that I didn't write the It's the tenth meme, about what books I'm currently reading. I did it on purpose, because I've been writing so much about books. Also, I'm reading the books for the two following 100 books entries, and I intend never to reveal the next ones beforehand. You'll just have to wait and see. I'm still reading David Copperfield, and I'm also reading the first of the Chrestomanci chronicles, Charmed life, by Diana Wynne Jones. I read it about 20 years ago, and I just happened to see it in the library, so I thought I'd revive some childhood memories. It will be interesting to see how I like it this time around.
I still have the cold, and I still haven't got any yarn... I really hope next week will be better. See you tomorrow!