221.
I have recently been very impressed with Liam's awareness of the world around him. Previously, all he seemed to have been interested in was music, guitars and Playstation games. However, while I was in Lisbon, he was speaking to me on the phone about Achilles, Socrates, Alexander the Great, Homer and the birth of the Roman Empire. When I got home, I noticed that he had raided my library, and had been reading everything I had about ancient Greece and Rome, as well as all my books by and about Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. He has even been reading Thucydides' History of the Peloponesian War! Part of the reason for this is a history project that he had to complete for school. Everyone in his class had to write a report on a someone of their choice from history. While just about everyone else chose William Wallace, Robert Bruce or Mary Queen of Scots, Liam chose Socrates (the Ancient Greek philosopher, not the leader of the Portuguese Socialist Party or the famous Brazilian footballer). Sense prevailed, and he changed his choice to Alexander the Great. I left him to do the research himself, which he did, although I had to advise him that his history teacher would probably not believe that the phrase "imbibe from the Well of Knowledge" was one that he would normally use. Last night he started a discussion with Linda and myself about Bono (the U2 singer) and Band Aid. He was complaining about all those rich pop stars going through the motions without actually doing anything to solve problems. While I didn't agree with everything that he was saying, I was impressed by the amount of thought he had put into his views, and also with his willingness and ability to defend them. Anyway, he made me proud. He went to the cinema this morning with three of his friends to watch the Incredibles (thanks for the correction, Jude). While he was there, I drove out to Strathmartine. Now I'm back in the house listening to the Aberdeen v. Dundee Utd game on the internet, and debating whether to go to the Dundee vs. Celtic game tomorrow afternoon.