Worthless and Weak

At my door, the leaves are falling,
A cold wild wind will come,
Sweethearts walk by together,
And I still miss someone...

Labels: what this blog is really about

So I'm actually really really enjoying the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. A surprisingly easy read, although at times Gibbons uses archaic wording, he always keeps it interesting, never stays on one topic too long, and combines historical facts with his opinions in a way which allows you to feel connected to events that happened two millennia ago. I especially like the way he describes most of the emperors, either as benevolent men of virtue and courage, or despotic tyrants who ignore law and pursue only pleasure. Not sure how historically accurate it is, but it definitely feels the need to form an opinion on things as opposed to merely describe them. And, as you're hearing the opinion of someone from 200 years ago, it's in my opinion quite refreshing.

Labels: fall of the roman empire, scooters, vacation

One of my pet peeves is when you're having an argument with somebody, and they say something like "you wouldn't think that if you were in person X's situation." All they're really saying is that if you were incredibly biased, you would have a different opinion.

For instance, if we're talking about the death penalty, and somebody says "you wouldn't be for the death penalty if you were falsely accused of murder." As if suddenly, being an impartial observer who is able to see both sides of an issue makes you less credible. (not to mention that said tactic can almost always work in the opposite direction. You'd be equally against the death penalty if you were accurately accused of murder). (Side note, I'm not trying to make an argument about the death penalty, it was just the first example that popped into my head.)

Labels: fall, scooters, vacation

Sometimes I do things without a full understanding of the reasons why. Today, I picked up a copy of Edward Gibbons' "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." I've got no idea if I can get through the whole thing or not; but I'll try.

The first two chapters are about the extent of Rome during the rule of Trajan.

One final thought is that I don't think that books should be so long that the abridged version is 1200 pages. That's a bit excessive.

Labels: fall, scooters, vacation