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

Old Lady Skills

I am an old lady. 
Seriously. 
I am, as Mrs Hudson in BBC Sherlock would say, "more of a sitting down type". I like quiet evenings in bed with a movie and some needlework and I have never ever been to a club or disco. I am into sewing and stichting, I make my own handkerchiefs (yes, I use them) and now I have decided to add another skill to my grandma super powers: Knitting!
I tried to learn how to knit last year but I didn't have the right wool for beginners and my mum is not the best when it comes to explaining handiwork things but over the year my little sister tought it herself over Youtube and now she finally was able to show me how to do it. Yay!
I started with the most simple thing a person can knit: A skarf:

I have knitted 102cm aka 200g so far but I knew I would need another 200g so my mum was nice enough to buy me some more wool today. Out of some wild enthusiasm I also bought some pink wool to make another skarf, a thinner, longer one. Of course, when I say wool I don't mean real wool, it's 100% acrylic and cruelty free.

Do you knit?
Have a great day,
The Countess

History Nerd Facts: Elections in Medieval History

If one thinks of the medieval times one thinks of a whole bunch of thing: The plague, crusades, castles, knights... What one does not think of are elections. In fact there were elections in various parts of society and I thought I could tell you about some of them in more detail.

The election of the pope:

The pope of the catholic church has always been elected. In the early medieval times the pope always had to be a Roman and basically every person of importance in Rome was allowed to vote. This changed at the Third Lateran Council in 1179 where new rules were set. Since that point on every male catholic is theoretically able to become pope but only cardinals are allowed to vote. Also you need 2/3 of all votes to become pope now, before the council the "smaller but wiser part" could also choose who should become pope. Unfortunatel, nobody knows how the "wiser part" was defined. It was and is still important that en the end everyone agrees on the new pope because one needs the unanimitas (lat. unanimity) because it represents God's will. Social status and family backround has since then not been a real issue for the election of a new pope.

The election of the kings of the Holy Roman Empire:

Yes, the kings of the Holy Roman Empire were elected! At least theoretically. The only ones that were allowed to vote were the seven electors (germ. Kurfürst from the Old German word kur = Wahl (election)). The archbishop of Mainz first used to have what was called the prima vox (lat. first voice) which means that he could say who should become king and then the other six could only agree or...leave. Yup, seriously.Again the unanimitas was necessary. This rule was later changed with the Golden Bull of 1356, a decree which set rules for the election of the kings. Since then the archbishop of Mainz had the last vote because now 4 out of 7 votes were enough to elect a king so the last vote was the most important one.

There were many more elections in medieval times such as the election of abbots, bishops, mayors or in guilds but I am not going to describe them all because the two mentioned above are by far the most interesting ones. At least to me.

Let me know how you liked this post, do you want to read more things like that or does history bore you?

Good night,

The Countess

This summer

Today I had two exams (Elections in Medieval History and Psychology) in a row which was really exhausting but now I only have to go to my Early Modern English class tomorrow and then I am free until Octobre. I do have another exam in September and there also is that paper about Clara Zetkin but all in all I have holidays! Hip hip hooray!

In order to celebrate that fact properly I have decided to share my list of things I want to do this summer in order to make the best out of it. The notes in italics show how far these projects have gone so far

- go to Sweden and Estonia with my friend Imke 

-> everything is booked and fixed

- read Edgar Allan Poe

-> started reading his short novels

- watch a play at a theatre in Cologne

-> I have a double ticket...Since 2010...

- visit a bunch of museums

-> I went to the Cologne History Museum today after my exams

- learn all elements of the periodic table

-> I know about 25 right now

- go to the Spa with friends

-> We bought coupons months ago

- stich more

-> There are some vague ideas...

- visit Aachen with the Count

-> I have to wait until he has written all of his exams

- create my family tree

-> I downloaded a programme and put my 20 closest relatives in it.

- go to the Botanic Garden of the Uni of Bonn

-> Again, I have to wait for the count...

- go to the opera for the very first time

-> A friend told me she wanted to go with me

- sew something

-> I know i want a black skirt...

- practice calligraphy

-> bought a new quill and new ink in gold

The Cologne City Museum was amazing! I never went to a museum on my own without friends or family but i must say it was absolutely briliant! The museum is in the old Zeughaus which is the armoury. 

Source

They have an impressive collection of medieval and early modern art and parts of the museum are reserved for the themes jews in Cologne, women in Cologne, childhood in Cologne, the founding of the University or science. I loved some of the paintings and especially the two huge old globes that are part of the science exhibiton.

They also had to special exhibitons, one was about the Cologne painter and revolutionist of 1848/49 Wilhelm Kleinenbroich and the other one was about Cologne's Churches and their decorations. I liked the original exhibition better but those two were still really good.

One random fact I learned: In Early Modern times children up to six years were dressed in girl's clothes without any regard to their gender. There are some features and hints on painting though that declare a child as male or female. One feature for example could be a bird on the arm of the child which is a sign that the child is male.

What are your plans for the summer? And what should I add to my list?

Have a great day,

The Countess

Fangirling

Ok, so I LOVE the Young Avengers! I mean, a bunch of teenangers who decide to form a group of superheros because the real Avengers have disbanded? Awesome! 

What's even greater about the Young Avengers is the fact that two of them are a gay couple: Wiccan (Billy) and Hulkling (Teddy). Hulkling is a shapeshifter (and half Kree half Skrull, two alien species who fight against each other) and Wiccan is a mage. He basically changes the world by just wishing really hard which is pretty much the most amazing superpower ever!

 Source

"Dear Teddy,

you are without a doubt the best boyfriend in the entire world! You're kind. You're genereous. You threaten to maim people for me."

Source

If you want to read more about Teddy and Billy, gay superheros in general or how it is a shame that this picture up there is the very first kiss between Billy and Teddy after 7(!) years of Young Avengers, just follow the source links.

Okay, well, back to me being a fangirl. 

When Youtube make up guru and artist Klaire de Lys posted a video with a tutorial for a winged eyeliner I immediately thought of Wiccan who has wings on his head band thingy.

Because I don't have anything better to do on a regular Wednesday than doing some sort of ridiculous make up I decided to recreate this look. 

Here is the original tutorial:

Here is my variation:

I kind of like the result, hip hip hooray for a Billy/Wiccan appreciation look!

How about you, do you read comic books? Or manga?

Have a great evening,

The Countess

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.”

It's been a while, I know.

I do have an excuse though (other than pure laziness): I went to Hamburg. Yay.

I might have mentioned before that I have a pen pal who has become a dear friend of mine: Sonja. We met over the internet nearly 3 1/2 years ago and started emailing for a reason that neither of us knows anymore. We soon noticed that we share a love for good written stories, movies and music. Ok, well, she showed me most of the bands that we now both like such as Fall Out Boy, Cobra Starship and many more. I on the other hand finally found somebody who at least knew My Chemical Romance and who did not think that they're a weird emo band. Which they are not, by the way.

 We never stopped emailing and sometimes we even exchanged up to five emails a day. Proper emails, not facebook messages. So when I last year found out that her birthday was coming up I awkwardly asked her for her address so I could send her a little present. I nearly assumed that she would find some sort of excuse because, lets face it: We never actually met. Or spoke on the phone. Just emails. Luckily, she DID give me her address and since then we have been exchanging letters. And postcards whenever one of us is on a holiday.

In December 2011 we finally got the opportunity to meet when You Me At Six played a show in Cologne. She came over and we spent two great days watching X-Men (we're Marvel fangirls...seriously.), Youtube videos, baking vegan cupcakes, giving them to You Me At Six, fangirling about the tweet by the band that followed those cupcakes (with a picture!) aaand watching some more Youtube videos. It was amazing.

Now, half a year later we met again. I went to Hamburg (by car ...stupid idea...) last Friday and again, it was just great seeing her. One would think it is a little weird to see that person that you normally only know because of their handwriting but after about an hour I already forgot about that. Sonja is amazing and so is her family and even her cat.

After a 8 1/2 half hour horror trip over the German highways (Autobahnen) I arrived Friday evening. After dinner with her family we did something that we thought would be appropriate for Marvel fangirls: We went to the cinema to watch The Avengers. I hadn't seen it before in contrast to Sonja who saw it for the fourth time that night. First I thought she was just obsessed but now I can really understand her, the movie is soooooo unbelievably good!!! Seriously, I went to see it again just yesterday!

On Saturday we decided to visit a fleamarked where Sonja drew some stuff and people for one of her art classes. Later, we had lunch in a vegetarian café and went to the harbour. There we decided to take a little boat tour because I felt that I should do something tourist-sy just because I could. The weather was sooo nice and Sonja even burnt her neck during that tour.

That's the best one I have got of us together, seriously!

I'd like to own that house, it is marvellous

"This is something famous...I don't know what it is but it IS famous!" -Sonja

Afterwards we went to heaven aka the biggest Saturn store in Europe. Saturn sells everything concerning electric and technics and they had a whole floor only for DVDs, Blue-Rays and CDs and a cinema. Yep, a cinema. Also they had this:

Huuuuuuuge action figures! We wanted to take them all home!

The Joker, my favourite villain except for Loki. I have a thing for tricksters.

I'm a Marvel fangirl but I gotta love Batman!

Sonja and the beloved Tony Stark aka Iron Man, inspired by the second movie.

Dobby. He is perfect!

Can I take him home, please?

And again Iron Man, this is the version from the first movie though.

I bought a whole bunch of stuff. I got the second season of BBC Sherlock (so did Sonja), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Thor on DVD. I was beyond happiness.

What else did we do? Oh yeah, Sonja showed me the town hall on the way to the Saturn and the building is unbelievably beautiful! We didn't have the chance to actually go in there due to our tight schedule that included an hour at Saturn.

We spent the evening watching the Eurovision Song Contest while live-blogging about it on Tumblr. My favourite quote from there concerning the ESC: "The day when America realizes they are not the only country in the world." It was quite funny to read all those comments of confused Americans who didn't understand why Tumblr was suddenly full of this weird thing called Europe.

Afterwards we originally wanted to go out dancing because I have never done that before (which Sonja finds hard to believe) but when the ESC was over it was 1 am and it rained.... So we rather stayed at home and watched Thor. 

Sunday went according to plan. That plan included Youtube videos, Sherlock A Game of Shadows, Scott Pilgrim, BBC Sherlock with live-blogging, Doctor Who, some more Youtube videos and the specials on Sonja's X-Men First Class Blue-Ray. Yes, we stayed the whole day at home and yes, it was awesome! 

On Monday I unfortunately had to go back home. That weekend was simply amazing and I hope we will meet again soon. There are some undefined plans including the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Again, I'm sorry for the lack of posts, I have a few more to come the next days to make up for it.

Have a great day,

The Countess

May tree madness

Do you remember the post where I talked about the German tradition of may trees? In the night of the 30th of April to the 1st of May Boys and men put up birch trees in front of the girl's/woman's house they love. The trees are usually decorated with colourful crêpe paper pieces and a wooden heart with the girl's name on it. It's a nice tradition and I loved every tree the count gave me so far but this year is a leapyear which means it was my turn!

Well, may the first passed and therefore I can finally post pictures of the tree and especially the heart. Unfortunately, I cannot show you a picture of the finished heart as it features the Count's name.  Still, I have a few pictures to show you.

Here we go:

The Count studys physics so I thought a robot with an atom on its head would be appropriate

Unfinished

That's how we transported the may trees. Yes, seriously.

The end result. I edited the name away

Have a great day,

The Countess

I almost forgot...

...to show you my favourite charm. I sent it to a dear friend of mine for her birthday but unfortunately I didn't take a picture before I sent it... Luckily, she has taken one and allowed me to use it (thanks <3).

I only made the Sherlock charm, the rest is hers.

Have a great day,

The Countess

I'm a nerd

...and proud! Nerd, geek, call me however you want. I don't take it as an insult and neither so my friends. Sometimes I forget how nerdy I am because my friends are all into physics, maths and computers and I am...not. Not at all. Still, I'm a pretty nerdy person.

One of my favourite youtube persons, Charlie McDonnell aka charlieissocoollike once made a video about things that make him a nerd. If you want to check it out, here it is: 

I thought I could also make a list of things that make me a nerd:

1: I am completely obsessed with Harry Potter. I have read every book at least ten (10!!) times, I own all of them plus the extra books in German and English. I was one of the lucky ones to get into Pottermore early (on the first day in fact) and even though I always wanted to be a Slytherin, I became a Ravenclaw. Honestly, it wasn't a real surprise. I listen to wizard rock (yes, that is a real thing, check it out on youtube!) and when I people call me Hermoine I take it as a compliment.

2:  I collect semi-precious stones. I love them. I once started to talk to a person at a party who was wearing one around his neck about stones. He turned and  went away. later, I was informed that stones are not an interesting topic to meet new people. Screw people.

3: I study history and I could talk about it the whole time. My favourite periode is the victorian era, my favourite historical person is Elizabeth I. and my favourite topics are women's rights, torture and human rights. 

4: I know how to juggle. I took a class at university last summer.

5: I also know how to ride a unicycle.

6: I embroider in my free time. I love to hand embroider on handkerchiefs.

7: I actually use handkerchiefs. I make them myself because the tissure ones are terrible for the environment.

8: I'm an active member of the Green Youth. I even hold an office in my local group. On the other hand, everyone there does.

9: I love TV series. My favourites are The Big Bang Theory, Dr. Who, BBC Sherlock, House MD, Bones, The Tudors, Six Feet Under and many more.

10: People compare me to Sheldon from the Big Bang theory and I don't really take it as an insult. I even got a t-Shirt for my birthday that says "I'm not insane, my mother had me tested!".

11: I don't think that intelligent people are supposed to be sporty. I also catch myself using "I don't need to be funny/sporty/polite/pretty, I am intelligent!"

12: I don't care if you have a masters degree in German or English, I WILL correct your grammar if you make a mistake.

13: I speak 6 languages: German, English, French, Spanish, Latin and Japanese. German is my native language, people from England ask me from which part of the UK I am so I suppose my English is pretty good aswell, my French and Spanish knowledges are good enough to survive in France and Spain and to make sure I only order vegan food there but I make grammar mistakes. My latin is pretty good but I haven't used it in a while becuase I don't have any medieval history classes at the moment and my Japanese is VERY basic, I only took one class at university.

14:  I started to call myself the good fairy when I was about sixteen and I never stopped. I have this whole idea that the good fairy is supposed to take care of the world and that every problem should be resolved with fairy dust.

15: I'll start an internship at a library in two days, simply because I always wanted to work in one.

What about you? What makes you a nerd?

 Have a great day,

The Countess