if i were rich enough...

i would have some kind of courtyard in my house, with a running fountain. it would be good because a fountain would cool the air, and it would look pretty. also, people will be able to drink from it, roman-style. kinda like dip their cups or jugs or whatever into it, and drink cool running water. (though some people would at this point point out that there is a just-as-functional, probably-much-less-expensive modern equivalent, called the tap. but i say, taps are usually ugly!)

and i would have a book room so big that it could well be a library. floor to ceiling with shelves of books, reaching up so high that one would need ladders to reach the books on the top shelves, and meticulously catalogued on index cards (computer catalogues would be nice and convenient, but nothing quite beats the ridiculous romantic inefficiency of flipping through index cards looking for a particular book you want). there would be so many books that i would never even manage to read half of them. they'd just be there to be pretty. (it would be nice, however, if i did manage to read ALL of them). the shelves of course would be made of some kind of dark wood, solidly carpentered. the room would have large bay windows which would let in lots of light, and perhaps with blinds which can be let down in case there was -too- much light. the room would have humidity control installed to slow down the disintegration of my precious books.

at this point i just thought of making a point about the size and scope of a leisured class and social equality, and bring out a few cases in point, but the thought just flitted, randomly, away, like some kind of butterfly which has only a few hours more to live and is off to have sex with another of its kind.

and therefore i present to you a completely random post which was written when i should be puzzling over the fate of roman fiscal structures following 476.

BAD BOY BAD BAD BAD NAUGHTY ME.