Rome: Power and Glory (check it out)

Hope everyone had a good New Year’s. Joe and I partied for three days straight, I swear. Or at least it felt like it. At least I got to lay in bed without a pounding headache and watch movies. Water does wonderful things on top of hours and hours of sleep. (Yeah, the time off kind of continued after I thought it would.) People can always tell when I’m a frustrated writer because I start baking. And then I cook. And then I bake some more. Let’s just say we have a lot of cookies and new meat dishes right now. We also have some foggy weather out and melty snow.

I’ve been reading Shakespeare again. “Titus Andronicus.” It’s not that bad of a play. A for bloodshed and ravished maidens. It seems almost Oedipal with people losing hands instead of eyes. It reads easier than some of the histories, that’s for sure. I can’t ever figure out who’s who in the histories. Bram Stoker’s Dracula has also been hanging out on the kitchen counter, which means I’m reading it over coffee. I’m on chapter 9 and I really like it. Surprisingly. I never used to like scary books. Guess I’m expanding my horizons in my old age (haha). I liked Thoroughbred books more than Goosebumps as a kid. Now its seems like I read a lot more stuff that deals with ghosts, ghouls, and H.P. Lovecraft. Still not into Edgar Allen Poe, but who knows. This time next year… hopefully I’m back reading George Eliot. The nightmares from all this creepy stuff aren’t good for me.

I’m glad the holidays are over. It’s back to normal this week with grocery shopping, dentist appointments, and a regular (or as regular as I ever get) work schedule. I’m not the type to enjoy running around and planning my life around parties. It has been a much-needed break though. I get too absorbed in my own head sometimes. Of course, I’m sure a lot of people do.

Oh, and Dad highly recommends the series Rome: Power and Glory (2000) from the Discovery Channel. We got it through Netflix, but I’m sure it’s available elsewhere. It covers a huge swath of information pertaining to the Roman empire, from beginning to decline, and it’s all pertinent to society today, from the technological developments to the fundamentals of political corruption and methods to control the masses or ‘mob.’ It may not be on the pulse for the environment of the world today, but those with knowledge of history can see themes when they arise and have a more informed idea of causes and effects in terms of world power structures. Or maybe I’m just talking out my ass. But still, the series is highly informative and worth watching twice (this coming from a man who doesn’t care to watch the same movie twice if he can help it).