I'm getting so old. I was jumping to reach something the other day and I landed awkwardly and ever since then my knee's been killing me. It isn't swollen or anything so I'm hoping a few days of rest will fix it up. If not, I'll go to the doc's and see what's up. I remember the good ol' days of high school when we'd go to Nick's house every day and play basketball. I got hurt so many times but after a night of rest, I'd be as good as new. Not anymore. Actually, I think playing basketball on that court every day is actually what messed up my knees in the first place.
So as I was resting my knee, I put on the Dark Ages special on the History Channel. The fall of the Roman empire, the invading barbarians, the plague, Justinian and his courtesan wife and the Hagia Sophia, Charlemagne... I LOVE IT! It really seemed to have been a depressing time. Those dudes seemed to have regressed from the glory of Rome. I LOVE history. And I love it when they piece together contemporary things to give you a richer idea of what was going on. For example, they mentioned how after the fall of Rome, the empire was split into an Eastern and Western half. The riches of the east had always supported the west, but after they split, the economy of the west suffered. Roads and infrastructure that defined Rome fell into disrepair. Then the plague and constant warfare caused the population to dwindle. All of these things combined to isolate small communities from each other with little communication with each other. So there weren't enough people in one area - a "critical mass" as they put it - to really
feed off of each other and create things to better their lives. Hence, the Dark Ages.
Plus not many people were educated back then either. Until Charlemagne came around, the monks were usually the only ones that were educated. After the Crusades, texts were brought back from the East that really sparked the intellectual advancement that laid the foundation for the Renaissance.
Suffice it to say, I enjoyed the special.
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I think I saw that on the TV listing but I opted for the redesign show that featured two very strange goth people that wanted their kitchen turned into a goth paradise. I was totally surprised that except for a few things - I actually liked the kitchen when it was done. My mind can't handle Roman empires and hell I can't remember half of what you just wrote about. Time for another glass of mudslide. Soon I'll forget that I was even trying to remember!
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