3 days agoOn Context And TranslationsMade the Mistake of Picking Up A Translation of Ancient Greek Poems I thought I would pick up some poetry and really stretch myself at the library. To that end, I checked out ‘7 Greeks,’ a translation of, as the title says, 7 Ancient Greek poets. …Reading2 min readReading2 min read
Mar 17Happy St. Patrick’s DayHappy St. Patrick’s Day Our Fake History has a wonderful episode about St. Patrick that begins with ‘Guys, I think he fought a wizard!’ Turns out he didn’t. At most, he prayed some pigs closer to him once. He also scolded a variety people. It is very funny that his hagiographers made him more violent and obnoxious. We have his own account of his own life. In fairness, it isn’t as though the medieval writers had Google Scholar. It was hard to get St. Patrick’s letters.History1 min readHistory1 min read
Mar 16Medieval Stories Not CoveredSome Ideas That Someone Should Take Historical Fiction can come in many forms, and so does historically- inspired fiction. I won’t be able to get it all down, so here are some prompts for the stories that the world needs, in my humble opinion: Jewish Pirates. Once Spain booted out…History2 min readHistory2 min read
Mar 7Sumptuary Laws: When The Judgy Jerks Get To Dictate Your WardrobeA full survey of sumptuary laws is not going to fit in a blog post but let us start with a definition. A sumptuary law keeps people from showing off their cash and limits what they can spend on. These laws could be aimed at weddings, funerals, or feasts. But…History4 min readHistory4 min read
Mar 6Thoughts On The Individualism of DiseaseTo continue the fight against presentism The thing about the humoral theory was that it was highly individualistic. Why did one person get a disease and not another? Well, see that person was more sanguine (i.e: had more blood in them.) So, when the evil miasma caused by the conjunction…1 min read1 min read
Feb 21But is the Habit Habitual?Or is it repetitive? Ngaio Marsh’s ‘Died in the Wool’ contains the explanation that Detective Alleyn was going to skip bed, but the ‘habit was habitual’ with him, so he went to sleep. I rolled my eyes very hard at that one. Complaint But that does bring up something that irks…Writing2 min readWriting2 min read
Feb 13The Deal With ‘Centuries of Childhood’This French book first published in 1962 is based on the idea that how we have treated children has changed over time. I know that doesn’t feel shocking now, but presentism is a thing, and this may be the earliest deep dive on the subject. A gentleman by the name…History3 min readHistory3 min read
Feb 8Don’t Give Me Snap Replies, Darn ItQuestions deserve thoughtful answers, you jerk, even if I didn’t give you much context. I have a coin forger in my new story, and that has raised the question of why this is a crime in my story. I made the mistake of describing this story and its progress on…Writing2 min readWriting2 min read
Jan 23Embroidered History: Because the Middle Ages Could Also Be Cute AFIt is time, once again, to try out a high medieval art. — Everyone knows about the Bayeux Tapestry, right? How it depicts the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and all that? The story is conveyed 100% by embroidery. Clearly, the embroiderers of the Middle Ages had some mad skills. It isn’t always the same embroidery styles that we are used to now…Art3 min readArt3 min read
Jan 20“But I Can’t Spell!”: The Dumbest, Most Annoying Statement To A WriterBecause We Know What You Really Mean “But I can’t spell” is the “It’s not you, it’s me” of the writing world. You know the situation: You’re hanging out with a friend or relative, they sketch out a story idea, and you say, “Cool! I’d read that.” Alternatively, and more…Writing3 min readWriting3 min read
