Happy 300th, Mr. Fielding

April 22nd marks the tercentenary of Henry Fielding's birth. He is best remembered for his hilarious novel, Tom Jones. I have yet to read his other stuff, but I'm looking forward to doing so. I just found out yesterday that Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, my favourite female wit of the 18th century, who was also his cousin, said of him he was "so formed for happiness, it is pity he was not immortal." A great epitaph!

The good news is that I finally found a topic for my Restoration paper. I managed to find something that virtually no one has discussed: Thomas Sprat's elegy on Cromwell (1659; Sprat is best known for his History of the Royal Society). It is a refreshing luxury to work on something that has not been criticized to death. It also gives me the freedom to choose virtually any angle without the fear that it has already been done.

I'm officially moving this coming weekend (Saturday the 28th). Needless to say, I'm looking forward to it. I'll finally have my own "pad," as they call it. Fortunately, I had a friend with a cargo van, so we went to Ikea last week and bought a bunch of furniture and moved it to the new place on the same day, so that makes my move much easier. I managed to furnish the place for under 600 bucks, which isn't too shabby (gosh, I can't remember the last time I spent so much at one time). I managed to find someone up the street who was selling a very good desk and chair combo for 60 bucks, so that helped a lot. When I get the chance, and a friend with a camera, I will post pics up here of the place for your delectation.