(no subject)

[iceinyourmusic]

I had this dream the other night, that I was meeting up with people from early schooldays and sat in the cherrygirl's lap and asked her what she's been up to, all these years, before we ran over to the island where *nsync was performing, and it was both winter and not. By the time we got to the cozy little amphitheatre, Arja Koriseva was just done introducing them, and they were already starting up a traditional Finnish christmas carol. And we ran up to the theatre, and the seats were high-backed kitchen chairs instead of benches, and labeled with sticky tape, and everyone was there, Jari Sillanpää and some MPs and everyone, and the two special chairs in the first row, still empty, though, were reserved (and labeled) for "Kate" and "Leo" - of Titanic fame, you know. During the intermission we ate sausage with mustard, and afterwards the boys came back on stage, in purple disco-glam lighting, but ignored the audience and started playing pool instead.

I'm going through some sort of a history phase in my reading now - and I've never been all that into history, it's mostly been the thing you need to know something about in order to get on with other (ummm more interesting) stuff, so now I'm getting thoroughly paralyzed by the understanding that I don't know enough about history to be reading about history. Rephrasing: I'm horribly suspicious of Popular Science and also have spent too many years as an undergrad at the university by now, and consequently the little understanding of the mechanics of historical narrative I've managed to pick up on my way through narratology and lit history and theory of the historical novel (mainly: that it's not as simple as it seems) seems suddenly just about sufficient to make me notice how hopelessly insufficient it is. Also, rephrasing it like this: I just finished reading a biography of Sir Roger Mortimer by Ian Mortimer (no relation) and

1) I can't tell whether it's good history writing, I can just tell that I can't tell
2) I can't tell whether Mortimer (contemporary) is kind of in love with Mortimer (of the 14th century) or if that's the way you're supposed to go about it
3) I don't know anything at all about the early Edwards of England, so, really, is saying that Edward II wasn't murdered at Berkeley
3a) just as valid as any other position on the matter
3b) the current official view on the matter
3c) ravings of a lunatic
3d) none of the above?

Such are the things I spend my nights on (& hence my writing such things more than porn, as has been deemed reasonable) - I don't know, some day I might actually try and get with the syntax, too, since I theoretically can, only can't be bothered to, and it's annoying - and I had a rec, but as usual, the URL-finding is too much work. so, later. Oh, and pretty icon is by mazily.