Stranger Than Fiction

You may have noticed that the reading list to the left has dragged to a halt while the titles listed in the books on bytes section seem to be set on fast forward, no pun intended. Well, the sun hangs around longer and puttering around in the yard is easier to do with buds in your ears than with a block of paper in tow. And when I crawl into bed at night, I fall asleep without the energy to reach for a book from the pile. So the bytes fly by while the paper collects dust.

Here is the historical trivia of the day. During her lifetime, who performed in a Paris cabaret, tamed lions in L.A. and London with the Ringling Brothers Circus until she was mauled by a bear in Peru, Indiana, then took up a rivet gun ala Rosie in a Miami shipyard? Yes, the daughter of the Mad Monk herself, Maria Rasputin. She rounded out her days as a retired Floridian, occasionally babysitting. Kids you make sure you mind the sitter now or ... or ... where exactly do you go with that thought?

Rasputin's Daughter is an fictional account of the final week or so of Rasputin's life, as seen through the eyes of his eldest daughter. It was the final 5 minutes or so that grabbed my attention last night when the afterword described what happened to all the people depicted in the story. My shallow knowledge of history was given a firm kick when I was once again reminded that history is made up of real people. I'm off to the library today to see if I can find some tome that can fill me in on the Russian Revolution, you know, briefly. I'll let you know what I find.