Happy birthday, Claudius!

Birth of the Emperor Claudius


The fourth of the Julio-Claudian emperors was Claudius, who is familiar to many of us through the BBC production of Robert Graves' I, Claudius series, starring Derek Jakobi as a stuttering Emperor Claudius. Ti. Claudius Nero Germanicus was born on August 1, in the year 10 B.C., in Gaul. His parents were the son of Augustus's wife Livia, Drusus Claudius Nero, and Mark Antony's daughter, Antonia. Claudius' uncle was the emperor Tiberius. Claudius suffered from various physical infirmities which many thought reflected his mental state. As a result, Claudius was secluded, a fact that kept him safe. Having no public duties to perform, Claudius was free to pursue his interests and read much, including material written in Etruscan.

To conclude, he wrote some histories likewise in Greek, namely, twenty books on Tuscan affairs, and eight on the Carthaginian; in consequence of which, another museum was founded at Alexandria, in addition to the old one, and called after his name....

Suetonius Life of Claudius XLII.

His first public office came at the age of 46 when Claudius' nephew Caligula became emperor in 37 A.D. and named Claudius suffect consul. Claudius became emperor shortly after his nephew was assassinated by his bodyguard, on January 24, A.D. 41. The tradition is that Claudius was found by some of the Praetorian Guard hiding behind a curtain. The guard hailed him as emperor. After adopting his fourth wife's son, L. Domitius Ahenobarbus (Nero), in A.D. 50, Claudius made it clear that Nero was preferred for the succession over his own son, Britannicus. Tradition has it that Claudius' wife Agrippina, now secure in her son's future, killed her husband by means of a poison mushroom on October 13, A.D. 54.

Hanging in there!

This morning:

2 miles Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds Super Fat Burning.

I'm sore. I have committed to not taking off any days for a month, so I'm going to push on through.


I am noticing that while my belly doesn't stick out as much, it is starting to droop a little. Let's hope I can get things tightened up with some Pilates in a week or two.


Last night's visitor:

Imperial Moth:


This one did not like posing for pictures, until she got to look into the lens. I guess she wanted to show her pretty face!

Female time.

This morning I posted that my belly looked a little droopy. I just started bleeding, so there you go. Normally, before my period I get a little pooch belly, this time it just looked a little saggy...I guess that's an improvement?

None of the normal warnings, though a couple of times yesterday I did wonder, because I was super horny and raped the trollboy (he whined something about he had to work a 12 hour shift, but whatever....he had to put out!). Over the weekend I did feel a little cranky, but I tried to keep the Minotaura© down deep inside the labyrinth.

So, now the *real* challenge begins. When my period comes on, I never work out over my second day, because my flow is super heavy and I cramp so much. But this time I have started a 30 day challenge to do 30 minutes of cardio every day. So I can't make excuses! I really think getting through this challenge will help me though, because my main problem is copping ot for one day, which only makes the next day easier to forget about, and then whatever work I did is out the window!

I'm clinging to this Spark thing as hard as I can, and hoping I will get through this.

(no subject)

No Ohio woman should be able to get an abortion without the permission of her unborn fetus' would-be father, according to a new bill. Don't know who dad is? Well, no abortion then. Dad's a rapist? Well, that's different -- just bring a copy of the police report to show the doc.

Such is the upshot of legislation introduced in the Ohio House today by Rep. John Adams, a Sidney Republican. It is the second anti-abortion bill introduced this month.

Under Adams’ proposal, a woman seeking an abortion must provide the name of the unborn fetus’ father, who then must give written consent for the procedure. Not knowing the father is no excuse and women who try and lie or doctors who perform abortions without permission of the father could be charged with “abortion fraud," a fifth-degree felony punishable by up to a year in jail and $2,500 in fines.

The U.S. Supreme Court has found paternal consent requirements unconstitutional because they place an “undue burden” on the woman. But in the wake of a few recent appointments by President Bush, the court seems to have shifted in a more conservative direction, giving rise to speculation that a new majority may be willing to reverse its earlier decisions on such abortion restrictions.