New Artwork and Quote of the Week- Plus a Whole Brand New Feature!

For this week's artwork, I went with something a little older than usual. I decided to kick it up in the Neolithic today and go with Stonehenge. Stonehenge sits in the Salisbury Plain (I am under the impression they make delicious steaks there), which is in southern England. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site- one of the first to be put on the list. Also, did you know that the Queen technically owns Stonehenge? True fact, although why she wants it, I'm not entirely sure. She's lot lots of lovely crowns, castles, and other nice things already.

Anyways, archaeologists determined that Stonehenge was built in three major stages. Stonehenge 1 was started as early as 3100BC, which is firmly in the Neolithic period. The second phase dates from around 3000BC, although you can no longer see these parts today. Stonehenge 3 (parts I-V) are from 2600BC- 1600BC, and make up mostly what we see today.

Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, England. 3100BC-1600BC

Many uses for Stonehenge have been proposed, although the immense number of burials around the site indicate it served a community/cultural burial purpose. It also likely served as a cultic spot, something to the with the sun, moon, stars, etc. as very, very many people have noted (those Druids were some serious party people). Despite a number of claims made in a variety of History Channel specials, it is highly unlikely that aliens had anything to with Stonehenge. (Yes, it is amazing that such gigantic stones were placed there, however, carrying large rocks is not an impossible task for humans. Case in point: the pyramids. All pyramids.)

For this week's quote, I'm going to use something I came across while researching for a paper (welll, technically while trying to find citation information for my paper). Some brilliant copyright lawyer decided to write this:

All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian.
Copyright MCMIX, by A. Conan Doyle

-from the Copyright page of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Crime of the Congo (1909)

"The Scandinavian"? There's such a thing as Scandinavia, but various Scandinavian people speak various languages. There isn't one single Scandinavian language... Well, also- shouldn't "foreign languages" pretty much include everything already? Unless "the Scandinavian" isn't a language...? Just thought I'd share that gem with everybody for the Quote of the Week.

Starting this week, I'm going to add another special thing (eventually I will clutter that sidebar beyond all recognition)- I'm adding a Word of the Moment. It is of the moment, not the week, so I can/will change it as often as I want (or as little as I want), depending completely on my mood. This section is in honor of my little brother, who knows many words, but not so many definitions (love ya, Nick). For this week, I picked "vitriolic", because I like how it sounds and have trouble getting the spelling correct.

Vitriolic (vɪtrɪˈɒlɪk) -adj.
1. (of a substance, esp. a strong acid) highly corrosive
2. severely bitter or caustic; virulent: vitriolic criticism
 
Example: Mark Twain's opinion on King Leopold's actions in the Congo Free State are evident in his vitriolic work, King Leopold's Soliloquy.

The Definition for Nick: Basically, super mean criticism. Like if I got really mad and started insulting you, that would be vitriolic.