Autumn Love

I love autumn! The leaves, the weather, ginger tea, the sun, warm knitted things, scented candles, pumpkins... How can you not love this? In order to celebrate this wonderful season I took a few pictures during the last weeks, enjoy!

Writing letters in candle light is just so much more epic than in the boring, bright sunshine of summer, it has a whole different style to it.

The most stereotypical and yet most amazing dish for autumn will always be pumpkin-ginger soup for me!

I made some autumn themed cupcakes for my boyfriend's birthday a few weeks ago, they're decorated with chocolate leaves, brown sugar, sprinkles and nuts.

Aaaand of course: Leaves!

Have a great day and enjoy autumn!
The Countess

Boys and Girls of Every Age...

...would you like to see something strange?

Tomorrow is Halloween. Finally. This year I didn't really have the time to plan a costume but because my friends and I plan to go to an Irish pub that will have a Halloween themed night, I fooled around with some make up this evening.  The result is not ideal but I think it will do. My mum looked at me and said "Your boyfriend is going to leave you..." so I think it looks alright.

How do you dress up for Halloween?
Have a great day,
The Countess

Thoughts From The Wrong Century

Homophobia sucks. It is nothing but wrong, stupid and dangerous. 
We are all the same and therefore we all should have the same rights, it's that easy!

I want to sharewith you  the best speech in favour of gay rights I have heard in a long time. Not only is it witty and funny it is also so very true!

"I'm sorry, I brought the wrong notes with me this evening, I borrowed my arguments from the wrong century. It turns out what I have been reading to you this whole time are direct quotes from white preachers from the 1950s all in support of racial segregation. All I have done is simply take out the phrase 'racial segregation' and substitute it with the phrase 'gay rights'. [...]The arguments sound so similar I got them confused. I hope you'll not make the same mistake! I hope you will stand on the right side of history. "

This man deserves loud applause and standing ovations!

Have a great day,
The Countess

Keeping a Journal

As a "historian" I have always found myself being intrigued by the idea of leaving something behind for the generations that come after us. I want to make sure that a part of me, my life, my beliefs does not simply get lost in the future. I know that I am not going to become a person that is important enough to have books written about her, I am no Clara Zetkin and no Angela Merkel and I really don't want to be! Still, I love the idea that in the future some weird nerdy kid might stumble across a bit of my life and get all excited to learn some interesting yet absolutely unimportant things about me and the past.

Nothing in our lives really lasts forever. We live, we die, we get burried and after 20 to 25 years our grave becomes the grave of somebody else. More and more people decide to get cremated which means that not even our skeletons will be left to please the curiousness of the people living after us. We have loads of skeletons, skulls and bones from different times in the past that we can clearly identify as being the remains of an identified person and I am afraid that will not be possible with us and our remains.

If we look at our clothes, we often see that we tend to wear certain things for a season, maybe a few years and give or even throw them away afterwards. Nothing we make is really meant to last forever, except maybe for jewellery. Back in the past people had most often less clothes and accessoires and the ones they had in their possession were often kept for as long as possible because they were expensive, often handmade and made out of high quality material. I am not only talking about the Victorian era, the Middle Ages and so on but also about the youth of our grandmothers and grandfathers. My grandma owns clothes that are up to 40 years old and still in great condition, simply because the quality and her magic hands keep them in this condition. The generations after us will not be able to find vintage items that belonged to their grandparents (us) because we live in a society where nothing is made to be kept forever.

I want to make sure people will remember me and the time I live in, I want to leave something behind. Something that isn't my carbon footprint. That is why I keep a journal.

My journal is not a diary, it is not a book that I write in on a regular basis. Instead, I use it to document the things in my life that make me happy.
 Things I put into my journal:

• travel reports
• tickets from movies, trains and concerts
• my favourite quotes
• thoughts on books I have read
• pictures that I find beautiful and inspiring
• things my friends drew or wrote 
• a list of things I have learnt 

An entry about a museum I visited

Harry Potter quotes, I reserved a few pages in a row for this

The journal is neither a scrapbook nor a travelogue or a diary, I guess it is something in between. If people in the future ever find it they won't get any knowledge about my daily life but rather about how I like to spend my free time. I enjoy writing/glueing/stamping in it a lot, it gives me the possibility to relive those positive moments in my life another time.

Do you keep a journal? What do you write in it? What would you want future generations to find?

Have a great day,
The Countess

Oscar Wilde Appreciation Post

Everyone knows Oscar Wilde and his plays but his little phrases and witty comments are what he is really loved for in the world of literature. He is quoted in books, movies and now also on this blog. I have collected some of my favourite phrases in order to share them with you.

Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.

Some cause happiness wherever they go, some whenever they go.

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.

It is better to be beautiful than to be good. But... it is better to be good than to be ugly.

Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.

I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.

Source

Source

Do you like Oscar Wilde and do you have a favourite quote?
Have a great day,
The Countess

English Nerd Facts

This time I have a very short but still interesting (I hope...) ENF for you:

Dummy-Do only became part of the English language in the time where Early Modern English was spoken which was between 1500 and 1700 and even during that time it was often considered optional.

Have a great day,
The Countess

Some more Holiday Pictures

My friend Imke gave me her photos from our holidays and there are some she took of me that I rather liked so I thought I'd like to share them with you.

Squirrel!!!

Have a great day,

The Countess

Hamburg

A few days ago I was in Hamburg visiting my dear friend Sonja. While there we took a bus tour on one of those stereotypical touristy red busses. I wanted to take some nice picture but unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs. I still managed to take a few good ones though, I kind of like the effect of the rain drops on the bus window.

 Hamburg is a lovely city, those pictures do not give it credit but I still do like them. I had a great time with Sonja, we would like to see each other more often but Hamburg and Cologne is pretty far from each other.

Have a great day,
The Countess

Magic Lights

A while ago the Klangwellen took place in Bonn. Klangwellen is the German word for sound waves and in this context it is the name of an amazing open air water-music-light show. It is divided into three parts, the first one has classic music, the second pop and rock songs and the last part has regional stuff in it. My friends and I had a great time! It was the very first time for me and I have to say that I am still honestly impressed! I can't show you the whole thing but at least I can give you some bits and pieces. The show always ends with a piece by Beethoven because he was born in Bonn in 1770 so here is his famous fifth symphony and the pictures I took.

Have a great day,
The Countess

Time's Flying

Oh my, is it October already? When did that happen? I can't believe summer is already over... On Monday uni starts again, I'm already excited! In a few hours I'm going to Hamburg for a few days which means that I probably won't blog until next week. Therefore, I leave you with this picture of me that was taken a few days ago when the sun decided to come out for a few minutes. 

Have a great day,
The Countess