Monday ...

[nightdog_barks]

... and a happy Fourth of July to folks who are celebrating. We're observing the holiday by hiding from the heat and doing laundry. Oh, and watching the Law & Order marathon on TNT. *g*

Fascinating obit from the Telegraph today -- Otto von Habsburg, last heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire dies, aged 98. Otto's father (Karl) was the last official Emperor; Otto was Crown Prince but never assumed the throne. When Otto was born, an Austrian newspaper said that he “will be called upon to steer the future of Europe in the last quarter of the 20th century.” Which means that in an alternate version of history, there would still be an Empire in the center of Europe, and a lot of people might be carrying passports issued Im Namen Seiner Majestät Franz Joseph Otto, Kaisers von Oesterreich, Königs von Böhmen, etc etc., and stamped with an imperial black double-headed eagle. AUs, I love 'em.

I should pick up a good history of the Empire. I've read A Nervous Splendor but not much else.

Comments

[taiga13]

Happy Independance Day! Just think, if a courier hadn't dropped his general's orders, the South would have won the Civil War and who knows what you'd be celebrating today - you would probably be flying a different flag, anyway.