John Dekker's Day

7:09PM - That's one amazing woman!!

Shania Twain sings this:

She hosts a T.V. show - she rides the rodeo
She plays the bass in a band
She's an astronaut -
a valet at the parking lot
A farmer working the land
She is a champion - she gets the gold
She's a ballerina - the star of the show
...
She has a fashion line -
a journalist for "Time"
Coaches a football team
She's a geologist - a romance novelist
She is a mother of three
She is a soldier - she is a wife
She is a surgeon - she'll save your life
...
She flies an airplane -
she drives a subway train
At night she pumps gasoline
She's on the council - she's on the board
She's a politician - she praises the Lord


Yep. She's the one. What a lady! Talk about a Renaissance woman...

7:25PM - Acquiring Vitellius.

Five down, seven to go.

I splurged a fair bit of money today, and bought myself a coin. It was so nice, I just couldn't resist it. I have been a passionate coin collector for twenty years now, and in recent years I've been particularly trying to build up a collection of the so-called "Twelve Caesars" - from Julius to Domitian. I had four before today, and now I have five.

I purchased a denarius of Vitellius, who was emperor for only a short time in AD 69. The story of his reign makes for sordid reading - his ruling vices, according to Suetonius, were extravagance and cruelty. Which makes the coin quite hard to find, and I was overjoyed at being able to get it. Completing the collection is going to be a life-long project, however.

As near as I can tell, the coin is as the one below, whose image is courtesy of WildWinds. Just not in quite so good nick.

Ugly fellow, wasn't he? Anyway, my Twelve Caesars collection now consists of Augustus, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus and Domitian.