Happy Valentine's Day

Smooches and roses, chocolates and cards, here we go once again celebrating the day dedicated to love. Every year, the florists, candy and card companies make a killing off of couples celebrating St. Valentine's Day. But who was Valentine and why is his day associated with love?

In the year 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius I dedicated February 14 as the day to honor several Christian martyrs named Valentine. They were canonized as St. Valentine by the Catholic Church and Valentine's Day was a day to celebrate the love they had for their faith.

It's not until the 14th century that there was a shift in what kind of love was being celebrated on Valentine's Day. This was a time of courtly love, knights and their ladies fair. King Richard II of England wrote a poem to his then-fiance Anne of Bohemia describing how Valentine's Day was a celebration of their love for each other. Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, described two love birds who nuzzled with each other on V-Day (he really was talking about birds, not peeking in somebody's bedroom window).

Exchanging cards on Valentine's Day became popular in Britain and America in the late 18th century. During Victorian times, these cards became quite racy- which is ironic because the Victorian times were known for being very prudish. By the 20th century, the custom once again shifted a bit. Typically, men were supposed to present their lady loves with the traditional card plus other gifts like roses, chocolates and jewelry. In the 1980's, diamond brokers started promoting the diamond ring as the perfect V-Day present. Needless to say, lots of marriage proposals came on Valentine's Day.

Since I don't have a significant other to celebrate the day with, I'll just consider you all my valentines. The card at the top is for you. Have a happy one!

Attn: Students

I sent out a mass email to everybody in my Clifton and Columbia classes but not everybody checks their student accounts. Let me go over the same thing here for you guys.

We have the test scheduled (actually rescheduled *pulling my hair out because we are so far behind*) for tomorrow, Monday Feb. 15. The weather folks are dancing around the idea of more snow and ice for us. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Unfortunately we probably won't know until tomorrow morning. Here's the plan...

Unless Columbia State is officially closed or I have to cancel class, the test will be given as scheduled. If bad weather hits and your roads are bad, don't put yourself into danger just to take a test. I will give a makeup the next class period. However, it will be a makeup and they are harder than the original test (short answer questions over the same material rather than multiple choice). I hate to be like that, but that's the only fair way I know to do it.

Keep a check on the blog and your student email accounts. I'll post something if I have to make changes. If Columbia State is closed or I have to cancel class, the test will be pushed back to the next class meeting.

I'm going on the assumption that we will be meeting tomorrow and taking the test as scheduled. Don't put off your last-minute studying and pray for snow to save you because it probably won't. And don't forget your pencils!

Movie Review: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

They had me at "Olympians." Ever since 4th grade, I have been utterly addicted to Greek Mythology. My dream job would be to teach mythology (ancient and modern). So this movie was a definite must for me. It's based on the first in a series of books by Rick Riordan (another series that I was a latecomer to and have now read multiple times). Another reason this movie appealed to me was the fact that the director was Chris Columbus, he of the first two Harry Potter movies, Mrs. Doubtfire and Home Alone fame. Love him!

I worried going into the theater that the Lightning Thief movie wouldn't be as good as the book. I needn't have worried. For two hours, I didn't even blink.

The story opens with the Greek gods on the verge of war. Sibling rivalry between Zeus and Poseidon has brought things to a head. Zeus' lightning bolt has been stolen and he blames Poseidon's son, Percy Jackson, for the theft. The problem with this is that not only is Percy innocent, he has absolutely no idea that he is the son of a god. To prove his innocence and stop the war, Percy must find the lightning bolt and return it to Zeus. In his quest, he is accompanied by Annabeth, daughter of Athena, and his half-goat, half-human best bud, Grover.

The actors were great, the story moved fast and the special effects were spot on. It's definitely going to draw in the crowds who like Harry Potter. Plus, part of it was filmed at the Parthenon in Nashville- practically in my own backyard! The only thing that was sort of weird for me was the fact that in the books, Percy and Annabeth are only about 12 years old. In the movie they are 16, 17ish. It was strange to see Percy with an Adam's apple and a deep voice and for Annabeth to have boobies. But this sort of made me think of book PJ&O and movie PJ&O as two separate but equally worthy entries.

I give this movie two thumbs AND two big toes up! Go and see it right now- and then come home and read the book. They better make the other 4 books in the series into movies too!

TV Rant

***SPOILER ALERT- If you haven't watched the latest episodes of your fave shows, stop reading now. I might ruin them for you***

I have come to the conclusion that the two words that I hate most in the English language are "Winter" and "Finale"- not really the two words themselves but when they are strung together to inform me that I have to wait 6 weeks for new episodes of my favorite shows. Why? WHY????? Do the TV gods hate me that bad?

I was just getting back into the swing of things from the rerun break that TV takes over the holiday season when- BAM- smack me in the face... no new episodes of most of my favorite shows until the end of March. Argh. What makes it suck even worse is the fact that several of the shows left me hanging. Is Olivia going to spill the beans on Fringe, telling everyone that Walter stole Peter from the alternate universe? How is the demon blood going to effect Sam on Supernatural? I mean, holy moly, they left it with Dean praying and crying. Real tears, real prayers (at least TV real). Dean doesn't cry or pray. And now I've got to wait until March to find out what happens.

I guess I'll have to console myself with the fact that at least Star Wars and Human Target are still running new eps, plus the final season of Lost just started. Maybe it won't be forever until March gets here. What shows are you going to be jonesing over during the Winter Finale break?

(Just so you know- I'm not as shallow as this sounds. I just really like my TV shows.)

Attn: Columbia M/W Students- Today's Class Cancelled

OK, I like being off just like the next person, but I really hate icy roads. I tried to make it to my Clifton class this morning and spun out on the road when I turned off of the highway. My poor little car slid into a ditch and just slid right back up out of it. You know me...I was making up new cuss words the entire time. Are you supposed to turn the wheel with the slide or against it? I can never remember and when you are in the process of sliding is not the best time to try.

Anyhoo, call me a wuss, but I'm just not risking it to get to Columbia. The roads in Wayne County are bad and from what I understand, the ones in Lawrence and Giles are getting there too.

Yes, cancelling class puts us even further behind, but we'll catch up. I don't want to risk anybody's safety (especially my own!) just for a history lecture. I'll had out a revised schedule when we meet Wednesday. The test will be pushed even further back than it already is but look at it this way, more time to study! Silver lining people, silver lining.

Other teachers are cancelling their classes too. I know my friend Dawn is stuck in her house (she can't even get out of the door). So you might want to check your emails to see if any of your other classes are meeting before you head out.

Stay safe, stay warm and see you Wednesday.

Book Review: The Mortal Instruments series

Yep, I know I'm a little on the slow side with this one but unless it's a Star Wars book, I don't usually rush out to buy it on release day. The 4th Harry Potter book came out before I read the first one, #6 with the House of Night series and everybody else heard about Sookie Stackhouse before I did. But once I get hooked on a series or an author, I'm scrambling to read everything they've ever written. Case in point- the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.

The Mortal Instruments is a trilogy- City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass. The main character, Clary, is a typical teenager in NYC, fighting with her mom, wondering if her best friend-boy should become her boyfriend, clubbing, etc. Then she gets sucked into the "real" world. Most mundanes (normal humans) have no clue that there is so much more out there in the world. Shadowhunters, descendents of angels who mated with humans, fight to save the world from demons. It's simply good vs. evil. What's not so simple is that there are sort of halfbreeds in between- vampires, werewolves, magicians and fairies. Neither good nor evil, they are all viewed as second class citizens by the Shadowhunters. Where does Clary fit into all of this? You'll just have to read them and find out! You'll be glad you did (I read all three 400+ page books in about 4 days because I couldn't put them down and now I'm starting them over again to see what I missed the first time around).

I do have to address one thing- Ms. Clare got a lot of flack when the first book hit the shelves. There were accusations that she "borrowed" a lot of her ideas from other books. You guys know how I am about plagiarism- big no-no, punishable by death! But, even though I saw lots of ideas that are out there in many books, I never saw anything that made me doubt that this was her story. To me, this is what writing is supposed to be- taking traditional (and well worn in the case of vampires) ideas and putting your own spin on them. I love the world she created and can't wait for her to write more stuff!

According to Phil...

Happy Groundhog Day! According to Punxutawney Phil, we'll be having 6 more weeks of the cold stuff before we can break out the flip flops. I remember that last summer, my mother and I were hoping for a nice cold winter to kill off the bugs and get the flowers back into their regular growing cycle. Be careful what you wish for huh (that might explain my 4 1/2 hr icy drive home from Franklin last Friday).

As I was watching the news this morning, waiting for Phil's judgement, the newscaster got my hackles up. She turned to her co-anchor and asked him why, in an age of computer models and meteorologists, we are still putting faith in an archaic custom like groundhogs seeing their shadow. Lady, to a historian, THEM'S FIGHTING WORDS! Don't those "archaic customs" form the basics for our daily lives? From our language to our religions to our morals, values and social actions, the "archaic customs" tell us what to do. Learn your history, heifer!

OK, ok, now that my pulse is back to normal, let's examine this archaic custom. Why do we celebrate Groundhog Day? Yep, you guessed it...an old pagan tradition that translated into a Christian tradition and was brought to this country by immigrants centuries ago.

Celts (think very old Scottish, Irish and Welsh pagan tribes long before there was such a thing as "British") celebrated the festival of Imbolc on February 1. Imbolc was considered the turning point of the winter season, time to begin preparing for spring. Part of the Imbolc ritual was to see if serpents and/or badgers came out of their winter hibernating lairs. If they stayed out, spring would begin soon. If they turned around and went back inside, more cold days to come. The Catholic Church translated Imbolc into Candlemas (February 2). Candlemas celebrates the Virgin Mary's trip to the temple for ritual purification 40 days after the birth of Jesus (you know how women take off for 6 weeks today after having a baby? think along those lines). Part of Candlemas includes the celebration of the renewal of the year, or the coming of spring.

German immigrants who came into Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries brought these traditions with them. Rather than a badger, these Pennsylvania Germans looked to the groundhog for sage advice (no shadow, stays out, spring soon vs. sees shadow, goes back, more winter). There are several Groundhog Day celebrations in the US and Canada but the most famous is the one in Punxsutawney, PA. Since 1886, crowds as big as 40,000 people have gathered to see if Phil sees his shadow. It's a very elaborate affair with everybody dressing up and honoring all the old customs. And of course, interest increased back in the 1990's with the movie, Groundhog Day.

I'm tempted to send this to the newslady but I figure she might not understand it! Either way, enjoy your Groundhog Day (and don't dig out those flip flops just yet).