The History of Halloween.....

Halloween is one of the oldest holidays, with origins going back thousands of years. The holiday we now know as Halloween has had many inluences from different cultures over the centuries, from the Celtic festival of Samhain, to the Romans' Pomona, to the Christian celebrations of All Saints and All Souls days. Many many years ago, in Northern France, Ireland and Great Britain, lived the Celts. They worshipped nature and had many gods, but the sun was the greatest god of all. The sun was responsible for their crops, the earth's beauty, their work and rest - if the sun was happy, they got good crops; if he was sad, then they would suffer. So the Celts celebrated New Year with a festival on November 1st, which marked the end of the "season of the sun" and the beginning of the season of "cold and darkness".

On October 31st, after the crops were harvested and stored for the long winter ahead, the cooking fires in the homes would be extinguished. The Celtic priests (called Druids) would meet on hill tops to light fires out of oak trees (which were considered sacred), and offer sacrifices of animals and crops on behalf of the villagers. They danced around the fires as the season of the sun passed and made way for the season of darkness. Come morning, the Druids would give an ember from their fires to each family, who would then use them to start new cooking fires. Apart from keeping the homes warm, these fires also warded off evil spirits.

This festival was called Samhain ("sow-en") and it would last for 3 days. Many people would parade in costumes made from the skins and heads of their animals....and this festival would turn out to be the first Halloween.

Happy Halloween everyone!!!!!

xXx

Busy busy bee....

My apologies for the previous post. I was very very disappointed after a discussion with a person and that post was my way of venting out the anger.

So...this week will be quite hectic! I have to prepare a talk (which I have to give on Thursday), write the Experimental chapter of my thesis, and finish off one of the crystals. I also have to book flights/trains for Glasgow (I'm going there on the 15th November), London (14th December) and Erice (next year). My supervisor will be in China so I'll be with the new student most of the time too. That's the work-related stuff.

At home, I have to do the laundry, prepare for Tuesday's dinner (Jim's sister is coming over), go shopping for groceries and clean my room. Oh and see what else I need to buy before my mum comes to visit....she's coming to stay for a week on the 31st October. I'm looking forward to that!!!

PLUS...gym gym gym gym gym!!

I'm sure I'm forgetting something......

xXx

Bloggata f'nofs ta' lejl...

.....nazjon ta' ostricc b'rashom tant imdefsa f'sormhom li lanqas biss ixommhu l-hara taghhom stess.....

Cup of tea?

Special tool included....

As most of you already know, I've recently moved back into the paradise that is Jarratt Hall....Reason being it's close to University, and MAIN reason being heating is included in the price. So I now pay a hefty £510 PER MONTH (yes...it's not a typo) for this room...and guess what? The heater in my room is out of order....and my door doesn't close properly....and I live with people whose doors close so properly they don't even need to hold them while they close. Not that I want to complain, but seriously....note to self: thou shalt not...EVER...live in shared accomodation...EVER....(Other note to self: Please keep these notes to self handy, so that you can actually refer to them)

But I digress.....

So I opted for a deluxe room this time, which means that for an extra 4 quid a week I get a room that's slightly bigger than the one I had 2 years ago....since it's got to house an extra two years' worth of crap....All for the sake of making myself feel more at home. Actually, that's a big, fat, double-chinned lie. I do have loads of crap...because I love two things. Books, and accessories (bags, shoes, hats, bags, bags......:o) ) So I figured with the extra space, rather than not buy any more books, why not buy some book shelves to house even more books??? (Yes yes ok.....not logical. Who cares? All you male readers out there have always said women are illogical. Well there you go. We may aswell live up to our reputation!) I was sick of seeing all my books packed away in boxes, so I ordered a set of stand-alone shelves online, and they were delivered a few days later. This was the week I moved in. I am ashamed to say that it was only this morning...two weeks down the line...that I actually got round to mounting them. (I am a busy woman!!! And yes, reading is work....so is writing.... :o)even if it's for blogs or magazines)

So I looked at the picture on the outer packaging and there was something very funny. The shelves were packed flat, for home assembly, and the outer label read "All shelf components included. Contains also all screws and a special tool!" So I thought "Wow...I get to use a special tool too!" It was only after I unpacked it that I realised the "special tool" was nothing more than an Allen key....so much for exciting implements....

Nevermind. I was determined to do this. So checked shirt, rolled sleeves and all, I started assembling the shelves. It was 100% pure fun. I know all you DIY experts out there would think "Yeah so you assembled a set of book shelves....big deal..." Leave me alone!! I'm proud!! It's something none of my barbie cousins would ever do! (And secretly that makes me extra proud!)

So there....my very first DIY effort....using the special tool!

xXx

NaNoWriMo...

In other words, National Novel Writing Month. It's a cool event that happens every November, and has existed since 1999. The aim is to write 50,000 words in one month. It originated in the United States, but now has participants worldwide.

So why am I posting about it?

I've debated this for a while. I've always wanted to be a writer. It was always my secret (or semi-secret) dream. Ever since I was a little girl, I was told I should write books when I grew older. I have also won a few competitions and had some poems published in the past...but that hasn't got much to do with the reason why I'm signing up for NaNoWriMo.

OK. 50,000 words. I believe everything in life happens for a reason. My innate interest in writing led me to stumble upon the NaNoWriMo website. These people write 50,000 words in 30 days. 50,000. They don't have to make any sense, or be publishable, or even add up to 50,000 in reality. The point is thousands of people sit down at their computers and type away, for a whole month. It could be about anything. They could type nonsense, make up a story, write the alphabet over and over....but they do it. And they're there for eachother via a forum and blogs.

So...what exactly IS my plan??? Here I am, in my final year....But that's the point. 50,000 words is the limit for my PhD thesis. If I can write at least 50,000 words of made-up stuff in a month, that should be damn good training for when I have to write up to the same amount next year for my thesis. Even if I don't reach the 50,000 mark, the self-discipline required to make time to sit down and type away will be quite handy when I'm writing up next year....

Crazy? Yes! What's new then?! ;o)

xXx