Alexander Hamilton

So thanks, Brenna for getting that ear-worm of a musical stuck in my brain. Enough that I start to write to get things unstuck our of my brain, and interested enough about the guy on the ten dollar bill to read his biography.

Interesting chap, things I never knew. As the song goes, “how does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore…” those people usually don’t get a head in life, let alone be featured on currency.

Reading the source material for part of the musical has been somewhat fascinating. Usually I’m more for fiction and imagination than reading a fact based biography. But Hamilton is a fascinating fellow.

He really was non-stop. He had a set of principles that he lived by, and also broke. He was probably a man of faith, but not always a church-goer. His younger years were troubled by just surviving, then he became and aide-de-camp to General Washington. Still ambitious enough to walk away from that (in part where the musical sways away from the facts) because he was frustrated in not getting a command. Still became a war hero at the battle of Yorktown.

I’m still at the start of where his life goes in the politics of the new nation, and I’m sure that will be fascinating too, to see him go toe-to-toe with Jefferson and Madison, let along Aaron Burr.

The musical has lyrics that activate my brain more than other catchy ear-wormy songs. The way the types of music are blended, from rap to jazz to plain old ballads and show-tunes.

Anyway, I have more to share, more to write, I can’t write a novel for NaNoWriMo, but I can make the commitment to blog each day. I think it is a healthy habit to get things out of my brain, and into words. So stand by, who knows where my brain will go.