The Average Blogger

Civil War, Again

Well, it looks like the b/w cannon was the winner of the last round, so here we go with Round 2. But first:

1: Tig: I was originally in your camp about using all b/w photos, but I'm not good enough yet to do that, and some of these are just bound to come out looking better in color. Plus, you know, that whole daguerrotype ambience is spoiled when you see minivans and SUVs whizzing by in the background. :)

2: Darren: a: See above.  and b: Isn't the need for color why God invented matting? Mattes? Mats? Mahhts? I'm a big fan of the bright red, myself!

3: Malia and Jessica: For shame! But yeah, right there with you. (Especially, and this will be TMI but I don't care, especially when the kid tried to stick his head in one and my instant reaction was "What, trying to revisit your past?")

OK, on with the second batch:

The Stone Bridge at Manassas:

Of course, this is a reconstruction of the bridge, since the real one was busted down in battle. If you are not a big fan of the reconstruction, how about just a shot of Bull Run?

Personally, I'm a fan of recognizable structures, which is why you'll probably see more of those than just random nature shots of rivers and fields. This one, however, is NOT a reconstruction, it's the Stone House at Manassas:

It's Like American Idol, Only Not. Not Even Close, Really.

So, this was our dining room when we first considered buying this house. (Not our furniture.)

And this is our dining room as of yesterday. (Our furniture.):

Very gray, you'll notice. The thing you probably can't tell is that the place mats resemble the field of stars on a very old U.S. flag -- you know, darkish, sort of tea-stained looking. If you know us, and even if you don't but are middling clever, or have read this blog before, you might have picked up by now that we've given this room a Civil War theme. Probably not the smartest theme for the dining room, but hey, real artifacts are expensive and this is the room where we need the least stuff to fill it up.  So far we have a James Longstreet autograph and a fake Union hat we actually bought for the Young Prince that is still waaaayyyy too big for him.  (On the wall you can't see from this angle.)

On the other walls, we are going to put up photos. Preferably ones we took on our battlefield rambles.  Today we ambled down to Chancellorsville/the Wilderness/Spotsylvania and took the first round. This is where you come in.  If you were to have dinner with us, would you prefer to be stuck staring at this picture? Or its doctored sibling?

Or this, taken from Hazel Grove (a key strategic point in the battle)?

Or this? (Not Your Average Blogger and I both think this is a bit over the top, but I figured, hey, throw it in and see.)

It's entirely possible we'll be going to Manassas -- or maybe Antietam -- tomorrow, and likewise entirely possible you will be called upon to vote for future submissions. I figure we'll put up however many frames look reasonable in the room and switch out the pictures as I luck into some that are better than others.

So the voting lines are open. Operators are standing by.

And Hereto I Pledge Thee My Troth

So, I was driving home last night thinking that as much reading as I do, I should really be an expert in something. But I'm not. Unless Dorothy Parker quotes count.

There are two excuses for this: 1: My interests are spread too thin for me to read intensively about one particular topic for very long, and 2: frankly, after sitting and reading congressional blather and computer code all day, I'm not all that inclined to sit and read for fun in my free time. Even my pathetically lazy and lethargic self requires some level of motion and physical activity in order to not be a complete and utter cranky bitch.

So I have set myself a project, and I put it out here so that you guys can shame me into accomplishing it. I'm already a little ashamed not to have done it before now, so you've got a head start already.

I am going to read Shelby Foote's 3-volume opus on the Civil War. All of it. Start to finish.

Three thousand pages, people. 1.2 million words.

It took him 20 years to write it. I'm giving myself a year to read it. Well, technically a year and three days.

If I can do this, maybe there's also hope for me finishing the Bible cover-to-cover along with an accompanying explanatory concordance.

Or maybe I'll just look closer to home and become an expert on the battles of Manassas. At least if I do that, I can get a job as a docent if I get fired for blogging.