Pablo Bastard

Whoa, I see someone left my friends list. Was it someone offended by my Saturday night post? And I’ve been taming it down. Well, let’s go through the list...

Wow, it looks like old Pablo Bastard left us, one of the original Blurty friends. Of course, he has been gone for a long time now, being among the first to leave LJ behind in the great exodus. I’m trying to remember if he left before Sugar or after her, and I’m thinking that it really was at about the same time. Coincidence?

Of course, it may be that Pablo’s journal got chewed up by the automatic program that is supposed to clear dead accounts, but the program has yet to touch other people who have been gone as long or longer, such as Better Red, Sheepie, and Repliform.

I cannot help wondering if he was on LJ and perhaps gave my journal a little looksy. I wonder what he would have thought of my “Atlas Shrugged” posts.

* * * *

It occurs to me what might have happened. I have recently gotten notices from LJ that my images have been transferred for my accounts to their new photo-hosting system, and maybe Pablo got such a notice, putting him in mind of his old LJ, and he struck while the idea was hot in his mind and deleted his account, and probably without giving a thought to checking out his old stomping grounds, and probably without even a thought of old Monkey-Knight, as one supposes his life and thought are crowded enough.

I am thinking that he did actively delete his account, because he apparently chose the option to have all his comments wiped out as well. The big reason why I doubt he checked my journal is because he did not show up on my guest list, not even as an extra “Invisible Guest”. Which is pretty cold. And pretty much in keeping with his later evolved character.

William the Coinqueror

That was a little scary. Having finished “The Inquisitor”, I bought another kindle book. At first, I thought the text failed to download. My screen was just plain black. I was searching the order page on Amazon to see how one might be able to make a quick complaint, but not finding such a convenience, I considered my options again. I hit upon the idea that maybe my background colors could be the problem, and, bingo, that was it! This book couldn’t take my black background and white lettering. It’s print is in black and apparently is not made to adjust to our personal settings.

Pi asked, “So, what did you get? Another book of damsels drowning in male depravity?”

No, I went for heavier game. I was due for a non-fiction book. However, during my considerations, I got tracked into taking a shot at the English monarchy.

“And, pray tell, how did that come about? I thought you left all such academic-like pretensions behind, along with your thirties.”

As funny as it sounds, I got inspired by a Joan Rivers interview in the Times.

“That old comedienne who was once in line to get Johnny Carson’s seat, but blew it by getting her own show at another network, and now does fashion jokes with her daughter.”

The very one. A sort of female Don Rickles. She at least claims that she repeatedly reads a four-volume work by Thomas Costain, “A History of the Plantagenets”, the English Kings. They’re historical novels, but more history than romantic fable.

“And this was a turn-on to you?”

Well, one does think of Shakespeare, and I have been bracing myself to go another round through the Henriad. And, umm, before I lost my thirties, and while I was still in my twenties and fresh from college, I did have a bit of a hard-on to tackle the English monarchy - to sort of get at the roots of the roots of American history, if you know what I mean.

“And how well did that work for you then?”

It didn’t.

“Why would you even think about trying that now?”

I didn’t know about Mr. Costain then. His volumes look very approachable as well as chock full of good historical meat. Remember, there was no Internet, no Amazon back then. And, of course, I was too lazy and daffy to find a good vein of books on the subject.

“So, you are going to try these Costain books.”

Uh, not yet. There’s yet more to the story.

Daimon asks, “Is it really worth going into.”

Probably not. But so long as we have gone this far...

I first understood that Costain started his history with William the Conqueror, and that, in fact, was a very big selling point to me. However, I subsequently learned that Costain shortened his history and passed over that dramatic beginning. But I was already set on that material.

So, I started browsing for William the Conqueror books. I found the straight history books to be either too dry or too narrow, and I ended up focusing on a novel, a work of historical fiction, “The Conqueror” by Georgette Heyer.

Daimon chortles, “Great, a schoolgirl version! I’m glad you found your speed.”

It seems pretty involved. In fact, it seems involved enough that I feel moved to count it as my non-fiction book.

Daimon says, “Ah, I see the method behind this madness. You are just going to skip over the non-fiction books. That Monk self-discipline is something to behold.”

Well, if I enjoy the novel, I will just pick a non-fiction book next. On the other hand, if this historical novel actually comes across as more history than novel, then I will count it as a non-fiction book.