Hello, my dears.
I am very curious to see how people react to my Twitter page. For example, I posted ten tweets yesterday about this Wikipedia chain that I completed. I was very surprised to find that not a single soul unfollowed me after that. If you are curious, it takes 10 moves at most to get from Constantine VII to Antarctica. I’m also curious to find out if the Wikipedia page for the Upper Peninsula War is still up.
Well, I just looked it up and it’s not. Curses!
For those of you who are wondering what in the world this Upper Peninsula War is, it was a Wikipedia hoax a few years back. I don’t know the specifics, but someone wrote an entire article about a war in the upper peninsula in Michigan – that never actually happened. I thought the idea was hysterically funny, but I’d never do that myself.
Anywho, I am excited to see what today will bring. I’m listening to “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House – I have no idea what is with old music and I this week – and it’s too early to call or text anyone without being rude. I hope to begin listening to my course on the Byzantine Empire from the Great Courses today. It will feel good to learn something.
May we all stop for a moment to appreciate the Byzantine Empire? I know that I am obsessed, but I find it superior to obsessing over fiction books (guilty) or heaven forbid – boys (guilty about that, too).
I discovered the Byzantine Empire back when I was on my Roman kick. I think that I was seven or eight at the time. I remember quite vividly that I was very angry at the Byzantines for succeeding my beloved Roman Empire. However, when I took an excellent world history class, my love affair with the Byzantine Empire began.
To quote the excellent John Green, I fell in love with them “slowly, then all at once.” I think that it was the Nika riot that sealed the deal for me. These shenanigans began when there were two political parties in Constantinople called the Greens and the Blues respectively. These parties rarely agreed, but when they did, they AGREED. One such agreement was over one problem – the emperor. So, they decided that it would be a good idea to riot and wander the city burning and destroying things and shouting “Nika!” which is Greek for “victory.” Now, the emperor at the time was Justinian the First. This frightened him greatly and he wished to flee the city. However, his wife Theodora decided to give an incredible and rousing speech that essentially said, “Oh, no you didn’t. You get out there and fix this.” So, Justinian and his general put down the rebellion and the day was saved. For some reason unbeknownst to me, that made me howl with laughter. I was hooked from then on.
So, the daily prompt at the WordPress.com Daily Post is called “Fictional Intruder,” and I am supposed to write about 3 fictional moments that I’d like to intrude on. I understand fully that this has nothing to do with the previous topic, but chances are that I will tie it in.
Here’s the link to the post if you are curious: http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/fictional-intruder/
My three moments are:
3. Go to Rivendell with the Fellowship of the Ring
2. Meet River Tam from Firefly/Serenity.
1. Fly Spit Fyre with Septimus from the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage
Here is why.
3. I grew up with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I was raised amid Lord of the Rings marathons and other such geekery. I’ve also been fascinated with Rivendell for a long time. It’s so beautiful and I’d love to meet an actual elf. Just not Arwen. I dislike her. It is my personal opinion that Aragorn should have married Éowyn, but that is one girl’s opinion.
2. I was also semi-raised on the amazing Joss Whedon film Serenity, the follow-up for his TV series Firefly. River Tam is my favorite character from the series, so maybe I could sneak onto the ship if it were real and shake her hand and tell her that she’s the greatest.
1.Two words are all that are technically necessary for this section of the post: Septimus. Heap. I’ve been in love with Septimus ever since I was nine, and unfortunately he is fictional and cannot age along with me. However, in the new series I hear that he’s 21 years of age, so there’s still hope… That aside, I also like his dragon, Spit Fire. It would be nice to ride a dragon with pretty much my favorite fictional character of all time.
I think that this is all for today, sorry I didn’t tie it back in.
See you around!
-Ryon xx
Living the Life of Ryon 