As the title sugggests, my mind is aflutter. The bevy of encounters with old friends coupled with the surge in my intellectual fervour have just sent my mind racing. Where do I begin! Where does it end!

Well, my fascination with cultural history is reaching epic status. I've found that I do have a few monographs and works of synthesis that tackle some aspect of that broad topic that fall under the Roman mantle. Mind you, I've only just grazed the pages of these books, I've also picked up a few articles that have proven to be quite stimulating.

To begin, I read, or at least tried to read an article by a Birmingham Byzantine scholar by the name of John Haldon. This essay deals with military conflicts as a barameter for social change in the seventh century. You see, many scholars regard the seventh century, and I think rightfully so, as this age of tremendous and exciting change. New forms of discourse overtook, particularly those with a Christian slant began to really overtake the Classical standards. Of course, these things had been happening for years; but, they reached new heights in the years that Rome was embroiled with the Sassanian Iranians during their "last stand", and those immediately following when the Umayyad Arabs came surging up from the Arabian peninsula and swept across the Near East, stomping the bruised and battered Roman armies in their path. It's just such to contemplate, or rather it's an exciting time to contemplate some thirteen hundred and fifty years removed when one isn't faced with the repercussions of such dramatic upheavals. I'm firmly convinced that if there is any period that cane best be called the age of transition between the Late Roman and Early Byzantine periods, this is it.

Anyway, back to this article. Well, this article happens to be the heaviest piece of literature that I have ever encountered. Hell, most of the German that I've struggled through is no comparison when I compare it to this Haldon article. Admittedly, the first thirty or so pages, I was lost in a sea of foreign terminology and strange historical models and methodologies. Reading it - for the first time that is - was somewhat of an eye-opening experience. I must truly stand back and take a deep breath before I return to that piece of scholarship.

Now, the next related article that I read dealt with warfare in Greek and Roman art. It was fabulous; and endlessly stimulating. In such a short article as that - it is was little more than seventeen pages, plates not included - there is just so much that one cannot discuss. But, these sorts of articles always raise so many questions and open so many doors that you just can't help but love them! In fact, thanks to that article I may now have not only the impetus, but the wherewithal to send my future advisor an email with some sort of description of my new ideas.

In fact, therein lies a major reason for this active mind of mine: ever since that Cultural History lecture I've been scrambling, so to speak, to put these ideas of mine into something comprehensible, however remote they may be. You see, I have this vague interest that only now has found a voice. I've been interested in a while in "how the ancients thought", due in no small part to my experiences with courses in psychology and sociology in the past. The problem is, this is such a difficult subject to broach in the ancient world as a result of the lack of evidence at our disposal. In many cases, you just have to forget any such designs entirely, or at best, employ some trans-disciplinary examples to come up with some sort of answers - though more often then not you just end up with more questions. Anyway, now I feel a little better equiped to tackle the army and warfare in Late Antiquity under the auspices of Cultural History. Unfortunately, although I feel a little closer to narrowing it down, and that's mostly due to the fact that I have a name for this madness that so beguiles me, I'm still not sure what it is I could tackle. Can one really do a paper on the experience of war in the Late Roman east? With a floundering reconquering of the west combined with intermittent wars with the Persians, there certainly were many tense moments for the Romans. We also have the near pre-eminence of Christianity in the Roman world, plus the transformation of civic life. Still, I'm not sure how feasible such a topic is. But, I aim to find out.

Moving on, I should add that about two or three weeks ago I finished reading "I am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe. My reaction? Definitely one of the best pieces of fiction that I've ever read, or probably ever will read. One particular segment that truly has had a profound effect on me is Wolfe's masterful description of the protagonist's, that is Charlotte Simmons', first sexual encounter. Now, before you read any further, I need you to lose your immature sexual preconceptions. Done? His narrative here is simply brilliant; he describes effortlessly what one such as I can only imagine is the one of the most difficult time in a young woman's life. Surprisingly, I have no experience with such things; but, I would like to think that how he describes Charlotte's emotions is pretty similar to how many young women might feel when they find themselves swept up under the charm of your typical young collegiate, or otherwise, man and then after they've allowed themselves to feel comfortable, they find themselves locked into a situation they cannot escape from. Next thing they know, the guy has done his business, quickly dresses with nary a word, and then leaves them used, battered, cold, frightened, and perhaps worse yet, alone. I've never felt so guilty to be a man as I did reading that segment. Fabulous book; and that's only one small part of Wolfe's masterpiece

You know, I've always felt very strongly about the rights of women. That probably comes with the virtual exclusion of my dad due to his work responsibilities from my formative years. It was for all intents and purposes, my mother who raised me. What's more, being raised by a strong woman certainly can leave an indellible mark on a person. As such, I've always tried to afford all women that I meet the respect that they so deserve. This might be one small reason why I find no satisfaction in the one-night stand style hookups. While I shall not deny that there are women out there who are more than happy with those types of relationship, there are many more who are not. Moreover, those women who don't fancy those sorts of personal encounters can quite often be swept up by some deep affectation of an asshole. As such, I have no intention of ever hooking up with girl, whether sexually or not, unless I myself am fully committed to such a relationship. If the relationship, and all the emotions that come with it are one-way, I see no point in continuing, particularly when it's to the detriment of the other party - more often than not that party is the woman. Despite what many may belive, equality between men and women is still a long way off and as intelligent men, we must do all that we can to ensure that we one day reach that level.

So that's it. 24 is now on. So, time to think about the Dorsey Group and grand romantic gestures.