jwaneeta

Ha! I found my Borders coupon in my trash -- because the one I printed out went the way of all the coupons I print out: into the freaking Void. But yay gmail for never emptying the trash. Lord Cochrane bio, you are mine! You vex me occasionally, gmail, but I love you after all.

I just finished a book abut the battle of Trafalgar, and all was well and good until the end, because I'll admit it, part of the draw for me was an intense curiosity about public reaction/reaction in the service to Nelson's death. Well. I got a letter from one sailor describing how the foremast jacks wept, and a description about Collingwood's tears. That's IT? I just read 400 pages about cordage and spars and jibs, about the English mood and the extreme emotionality of the time, about the French and the Spanish and how people treated shipboard pets, and that's all I get? Rocks fall, Nelson dies, the end? I now turn to Cochrane, that ebullient nobleman. May he use me better.

Anyway, something is puzzling me. TLC is on (no extended cable makes the weekend a fount of TV woe, and my All Creatures Great and Small dvd is used up) and there's some kind of bridal dress marathon going forward. It's all very foriegn, because what I don't know about weddings and brides is a lot, but I can't help noticing that not one dress has sleeves. Not one. All these millions of dresses are sleeveless. Do they even make wedding gowns with sleeves anymore? Is it Not Done to have sleeves?

What I really want is another lavishly illustrated volume about the Age of Sail, but it seems that there are only two such books and I own both of them.


EDIT: Eek! There is another lavishly illustrated book about the Age of Sail. It's not big, but it's glorious -- and Patrick O'Brian wrote it. How did I not know about this book? I frisk wildly, wildly.

So now I have Cochrane's bio and Men of War by the man himself. Eeee, score!