good things

[threadwalker]

1. after seeing the recent "Elizabeth" flick, I desired to know more about Walsingham. Voila'! I bought it last August, but it got stuffed in with the cookbooks so I forgot I had it. I'm reading Her Majesty's Spymaster, Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage by Stephen Budiansky. It's interesting... even almost gripping. I'm a bit over half way through it and totally enjoying it. My thought: hat's off to the movie makers - it was a period steeped in a tangled web of politics. There was a lot of complicated stuff going on at the time.

The husband would say that any period with a woman (or 2 in this case) at the forefront would obviously be steeped in tangled politics. heh.

2. Sanity is having lunch w/ a close friend and enjoying butternut squash ravioli and bread-pudding.

3. Hachez chocolate: Cocoa D'Arriba (77% cacao, mango, chili)... bliss

4. I am not the energizer bunny and I am definitely aging and slowing. I went to bed at 8pm last night and slept for 8 hrs. I woke up at 4 am totally vexed that I crashed so early, didn't do anything fun, and didn't take over the world last night. humph. But I do feel refreshed.

okay - 3 out of 4 thoughts are happy.

Comments

[loup_noir]

I found Budiansky irritating, but that was mostly because he didn't cite his sources very well. I've also got Elizabeth's Spymaster by Hutchinson, but I haven't read it yet.

Sleep is a good thing. So is chocolate.

[thread-walker.livejournal.com]

I noticed he wasn't foot-noting. I wonder if he had secret access to records. Or if he's using someone else's work.

His writing and flare for creating a feel for what is going on is very engaging for me. I am a bit too attention deficit to get into dry histories that recount facts and dates, but don't mix in the documented family drama people were going through. I like my histories colored with the day-to-day experiences of people.

Yes and yes!