Peeping Tom

It's Lady Godiva day!On this day in the year 1057, Lady Godiva rode through the streets of Coventry, naked as a jaybird.

Why did she do it?

For the people!

Apparently her husband (the earl) was oppressively taxing them. She'd appealed to him over and over to let up on it, but he always denied her. Eventually, he called her bluff, saying that he'd relax his crazy taxes if she'd ride through the streets naked.

Guess she told him!

The best part is that they were both religious. Great church benefactors, in fact. So she wasn't some harlot just showing her immoral self (for the times - with all that hair she wore more than most of us do to the beach, I must say). Gotta love a woman who balance both spirituality and independent thought! My kinda girl!

Lady Godiva was a notable horsewoman too, and she may have been a widow when she wed the earl. Quite an independent woman for her times, I say.

Nice forerunner for the rest of us!

So sure enough, she did it. Of course, being a lady, she first sent out a proclamation that everyone had to be inside with the windows shuttered. After the streets were empty (or so she thought) she made her ride, and got her way - the people of Coventry got the benefits of her wager with her husband (less taxes). Good for the earl for not chickening out.

Now, this being at the time that it was, with modesty and 7,000 layers of clothing and the sight of an ankle driving men to madness with the lust of it all, etc., do any of us honestly think that no one was watching her, taking an eyeful while putting a finger between the shutter and the edge of the window?

Heck, I'm sure everyone saw it.

But, according to legend, one man, a tailor actually, watched her and went blind. Dang.

Who was it?

Well, that's where the name Peeping Tom comes from.
(...and that's your nugget of useless knowledge for the day. You're welcome.)

Of course, some say that she was clad in a shift (an undergarment, kinda like a slip), so not actually naked, and some even say that her "nudity" was just bling-wise: she may have just ridden stripped of all her jewelry.

But I think that the better story is the jaybird one, no?
So that's what I'm going with.

In other news, I feel bad today about still not having done a vlog (I'm thinking I'll comandeer T's macbook this weekend, which does have a working mic, and make one) so here's a still:
(the smugness evidenced above is because it's Friday, duh.)

Today's whiteboard quote:
"Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values.
~Ayn Rand