Sigh

Barbara Tuchman says the widespread apparently juvenile behavior of medieval Europe should be considered in light of the fact that most of active society was in fact people in their teens and twenties

Which on the one hand is like one of those things that’s obvious once it’s pointed out

But also its funny to think there was a whole historians’ tradition of being like “why were medieval kings so overemotional” until Tuchman clears her throat and goes… “Ahem… Have you ever met an eighteen year old boy” and then everyone’s like “oooooh”

“My father passed away a year before I got married. I wish he could have lived to see me start my own family. After God, he was my god. There was no infrastructure here when I was growing up, so we lived through very hard times and often there was no food. But he’d do whatever he could to make us forget. One night he organized an entire musical. We couldn’t afford instruments so we pretended that we had them. Every one in the family had a role. I was the star.” (Hunza Valley, Pakistan)

“I grew up in the village behind me. It’s very beautiful here but there are few opportunities. Whenever I think about my children’s prospects, I grow sad. I have nothing to provide for them so they’ll probably end up like me, taking whatever work they can just to survive. My parents died when I was ten. I went to live with my aunt and my uncle. They never gave me grief. They never made me feel bad. But they were also poor, and every time we sat down to eat, I felt like I was stealing from their family. The guilt grew so bad that when I turned 15, I tried to build a shed for myself. I lived there for about six months. But then the winter came. And eventually the cold grew stronger than the guilt.” (Hunza Valley, Pakistan)

here we go, cecil number two (i have three in my head so far) (they probably all have the same tatts cause i love em)

once i started seeing native american cecils i really couldn’t resist for a moment

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7POL3MhfgA)

Popping a Falling Balloon 

(Source)

So i choose to stay in the hotel tonight & Lauren takes Cecil & Dylan off to understand the lights above the Arby’s. (omg these two)

My brother’s the only one who can get along with my grandparent’s grumpy dog

Parchment holes in manuscript repaired using embroidery circa 1417, currently in University Library Uppsala, Sweden

The bigger the issue, the smaller you write. Remember that. You don’t write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid’s burnt socks lying on the road. You pick the smallest manageable part of the big thing, and you work off the resonance.

Richard Price (via redqueenofbookland)