Friday Five

1.  Is there a particular historical period or event, anywhere in the world, that fascinates you?
   

Pretty much everything??? Growing up in Massachusetts, surrounded by Revolutionary War artifacts, kind of does that to some people. I taught myself enough Greek and Latin back in middle school to be able to sit down and start reading over some of the plays and epics. Can't do it anymore with that stuff, sadly. Current interests are pretty much anything in which queer people and/or POC and/or other marginalized groups get back at people who talked down to them. 

2. Would you like to visit that time, or live in it permanently, or does the whole idea make you want to run screaming?

If this were middle school, then yes, because that was before I knew how queer I am. But not anymore, but I will say a thousand thanks to those who came before me and made my life at least a little bit more possible.

3. What's the best piece of historical writing, nonfiction or fiction, you've ever read?

I have a book of battle maps from Civil War battles that has extremely good commentary and sticks entirely to facts. It is good.

4. What's the worst?

I'll stretch this a little: Samuel Butler's translation of the Iliad, completed in 1901, in which Achilles doesn't even get the chance to mourn Patroclus other than saying what effectively comes down to "Welp, he's dead. Here's dirt on my head and now I'm going to go fight." 

5. Is there a historical site you would love to visit?

I mean, the dream would be to tour the world??? Start off local, spiral out until I end up in Australia someday. There's nowhere I wouldn't want to go, really.