You know what's really wrong? My local library has the Cliff notes version of Paradise Lost but not the real thing.

At first I thought it said bells. Bells would be cool.

Generate your Anime Style by Jena-su
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Clothes:	Dark and sexy. With randomly placed belts. Lots and lots of belts...
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This is fucking awesome:

"The example is of the Noble Women of Tortosa in Aragon, and recorded by Josef Micheli Marquez, who plainly calls them Cavalleros or Knights, or may I not rather say Cavalleras, seeing I observe the words Equitissae and Militissae (formed from the Latin Equites and Milites) heretofore applied to Women, and sometimes used to express Madams or Ladies, though now these Titles are not known.

"Don Raymond, last Earl of Barcellona (who by intermarriage with Petronilla, only Daughter and Heir of King Ramiro the Monk, united that principality to the Kingdom of Aragon) having in the year 1149, gained the City of Tortosa from the Moors, they on the 31 of December following, laid a new Siege to that place, for the recovery of it out of the Earls hands. The Inhabitants being a length reduced to gread streights, desired relief of the Earl, but he, being not in a condition to give them any, they entertained some thoughts of making a surrender. Which the Women hearing of, to prevent the disaster threatning their City, themselves, and Children, put on mens Clothes, and by a resolute sally, forced the Moors to raise the Siege.

"The Earl, finding himself obliged, bythe gallentry of the action, thought fit to make his acknowlegements thereof, by granting them several Privileges and Immunities, and to perpetuate the memory of so signal an attempt, instituted an Order, somewhat like a Military Order, into which were admitted only those Brave Women, deriving the honor to their Descendants, and assigned them for a Dadge, a thing like a Fryars Capouche, sharp at the top, after the form of a Torch, and of a crimson colour, to be worn upon their Head-clothes. He also ordained, that at all publick meetings, the women should have precedence of the Men. That they should be exempted from all Taxes, adn that all the Apparel and Jewels, though of never so great value, left by their dead Husbands, should be their own.

"These Women (saith our Author) having thus aquired this Honor by their personal Valour, carried themselves after the Military Knights of those days."

-Ashmole, The Institution, Laws, and Ceremony of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (1672), Ch. 3, sect. 3

I was in DC with Jeremy on Saturday for the Battle of the Barbecues, but it was hot (DC in high summer at noon) and overcommercialized. We were horrified that these vendors actually expected us to pay for our food, those capitalist bastards. So after we bummed around for free samples we went to the Natural History Museum, where all the exhibits were "temporarily closed for your convenience." We went into the Gems and Minerals exhibit and looked at shiny rocks. After that, we went to the Hirschorn (aka Donut Museum) despite our displeasure with modern art and looked at shiny God-what-is-thats.

Went to dinner at Teaism, a trendy Asian-style cafe by the National Archives.

I went up to the cashier and ordered some noodles. The cashier boy looked at me funny. "Would you like anything else?" he said.

I looked at him harder, squinted my eyes, and then suddenly yelled, right there in public, "HOLY FUCK YOU'RE NICK S!"

I waved my arms around and pointed like I saw Bigfoot and generally acted like a spazz.

Lesson: Sometimes I don't see people because I don't expect to see.