A Bundle of Things

Pre-emptive: yes, I've changed the logo and colour-scheme for this blog. Let me know how you feel about it! Personally I think it's a change for the better.

Anyway, an anecdote for you: yesterday I was on the tills pretty much all day, half a mind on the job and another half looking at the clock. It's pretty dull just bagging cards and exchanging money, and customers don't usually talk all that much. Then one elderly woman came up to me with a few cards, buried in a fairly substantial hat, and I went through all the usual motions until I noticed she had a badge fastened to her coat. It said 'SCRAP THE WALL', and had a picture underneath of said wall.
"May I ask which wall?" I said (I really am that polite). She didn't realise what I was talking about until I pointed at her badge.
"Oh," She said. "It's the Palestinian Wall. They've [the Israelis] built a wall to keep the Palestinians out, and there's people starving over there. And our government won't do anything about it." And she said all this very passionately, tucking her cards into her bag as she did so. Ever since I've been wondering how on earth she became so involved with the movement, a corner of foreign affairs only RESPECT and Palestinians on BBC News ever really talk about. I don't think I've ever been so taken aback. Good for her.

Otherwise, it's been a very busy week for me. I've developed a three-point plan for archaeology which I hope to be able to share fully at some point, and have begun essay plans for the summative assessment a month down the line. My Wednesday presentation on Viking Normandy was comprehensive if hurried, but the reading for it made for an interesting essay. I get feedback on that in 2 weeks.

My hobby this week has been the production of my own Christmas cards, something I think is coming along very well. I still can't really draw for England, but I can diligently steal designs from history and make them look reasonably nice. No pictures of that yet, however, since they will be given out as mini-gifts to certain individuals.

A shoutout here to Rachel, and her most recent blog post regarding her late dog. It's very sweet and well-written, and I urge you to take a look.

Sunday Song: a second shoutout is necessary here, in order to thank Caroline for her music suggestions, particularly The Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel. I didn't even know I knew the song, but I definitely recognise it. The lyrics are exquisite.
I had a problem choosing this week's Sunday Song, however. After some deliberation I chose something in keeping with the 60s trend I appear to be setting, The Door's Peace Frog:



The main street I live on has always reminded me of The Doors. There's always a lot going on and, particularly in the blistering summer, it brings to mind American towns. There's also a court called 'tradewinds' that inevitably makes me think about a line in their song The Crystal Ship. On Wednesday I obtained a third parallel, when I returned from town to see the after-effects of an accident between a taxi and a girl on a bike. Peace Frog's constant references to blood resonated with this really strongly.

And this is no coincidence -the lyrics were apparently inspired by an accident Jim Morrison once saw as a child.