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It's Preludes: Blog of Words' Birthday!
Well, technically it's on the 14th; but like having your birthday party a day early so that it sits on the merciful weekend, we too are going to celebrate today. Here are some of my favourite and most important posts from the last two years: we've had a good run eh?
Click the links below to go straight to the page and feel free to indulge in a little vintage curiosity.
My Very First Post -
Why Do We Pierce our Ears?
Why Do We Pierce our Ears?
I still really, really love this post. Whenever I feel a little lost about what I'm doing with the blog I come back to this one. So many of the successful lifestyle bloggers that I enjoy reading can talk endlessly about 'honing your brand' which may be just as well when you're talking about fashion, beauty and endless trips to Mykonos, but what about if you have an odd little blog that posts about nerdy randomosity? Not exactly marketable is it?
Well, it boils down to the spirit of this very first post: "I have a question I don't know the answer to. Let's google the hell out of it and find the answer and share that with the world." It's simple but it was sure as heck interesting and inspiring. Not only did I find out some of the history behind my own ear piercings (and a whole new and baffling world of piercings in the -ahem- nethers), but it also introduced me to Otzi the ice mummy, who is a pretty awesome guy who's popped up on the blog a few times since. Just shows you where a bit of curiosity can lead you.
Well, it boils down to the spirit of this very first post: "I have a question I don't know the answer to. Let's google the hell out of it and find the answer and share that with the world." It's simple but it was sure as heck interesting and inspiring. Not only did I find out some of the history behind my own ear piercings (and a whole new and baffling world of piercings in the -ahem- nethers), but it also introduced me to Otzi the ice mummy, who is a pretty awesome guy who's popped up on the blog a few times since. Just shows you where a bit of curiosity can lead you.
My Most Personal Post (and the Most Controversial)-
I usually try to keep a mix of posts on the blog, usually something light and informative or something a little more research-heavy. But sometimes just going straight to writing from the heart can take you down an interesting route. In 2012-2013 the frontman of one of me and my friends' favourite band was accused (and convicted of) some seriously disturbing child sex offenses and was sentenced to over 25 years in prison. All of a sudden we were confronted with how easily we -and his friends- could be lied to and how something so creatively positive could come from so something so utterly negative at the roots. I liked the music, I will always like the music, but I could no longer bring myself to listen to it...But why? That question fuelled this post as I tried to unpick how we might be able to separate the artists from their art, and whether we should.
The Post I'm Most Proud Of -
The Wildlife Park of Chernobyl
The Wildlife Park of Chernobyl
To put it bluntly: I researched the arse out of this one, you guys. And exactly no one read it.
Or at least it feels that way.
But I put it up here as a post that I feel the most proud of because I put a lot of hard work into learning about this. I approached the subject blind, knowing very little about Chernobyl to begin with and I feel like I came away from it having learnt something for myself, even if for no one else. And in doing that, I realised what this blog really is about for me and why it's just so darn addictive.
Or at least it feels that way.
But I put it up here as a post that I feel the most proud of because I put a lot of hard work into learning about this. I approached the subject blind, knowing very little about Chernobyl to begin with and I feel like I came away from it having learnt something for myself, even if for no one else. And in doing that, I realised what this blog really is about for me and why it's just so darn addictive.
The Most Popular Post -
The ol' viewer statistics on Blogger are a useful thing. They allow me a little feedback on you guys which is more helpful than my intermittent screeching at the screen "Who are you?! Tell me your secrets! What do you waaaaant?!". And Blogger's statistics tell me that you guys really enjoy learning about how to survive the Black Death for some reason.
The Black Death was a fascinating, and terrifying, period of history to be alive. Conservative estimates place the death toll in Europe to be at one third of the population, but many more modern estimates place this at over half of the population. What must have felt like the whole world to these people was falling apart and no one knew why. It sparked some fascinating cultural movements - like the Momento Mori artworks - and gave the averge labourer a whole new freedom and power that he had never experience before. But it is still a galling and humbling series of events in our history that we should never forget. In this short post I look into why Poland remained relatively unscathed.
The Black Death was a fascinating, and terrifying, period of history to be alive. Conservative estimates place the death toll in Europe to be at one third of the population, but many more modern estimates place this at over half of the population. What must have felt like the whole world to these people was falling apart and no one knew why. It sparked some fascinating cultural movements - like the Momento Mori artworks - and gave the averge labourer a whole new freedom and power that he had never experience before. But it is still a galling and humbling series of events in our history that we should never forget. In this short post I look into why Poland remained relatively unscathed.
The Silliest Post -
Sometimes the likes of Tumblr and Imgur get the better of me. Yes, I admit it. And sometimes i just really, really need to share with the world how much Pope Gregory IX looks like Sylvester Stallone. Don't you judge me!
The Best Book Award -
Holy Sh*t - A Brief History of Swearing
Holy Sh*t - A Brief History of Swearing
Do you people realise how hard it is to pick my favourite book reviewed on this blog. Do you?? I tend to be endlessly positive in my reviews, I admit, but it's because I only put up the best. Da cream o'da crop. So picking the best of the best is quite a task. However, I did settle on Holy Sh*t - a Brief History of Swearing by Melissa Mohir because this little book was a far more detailled and excellent piece of social history than it has any right to be. It was funny and insightful, but also took you on unexpected journeys like to the very history of the development of God as a monotheistic deity, for example. It's a brilliant bit of insight to peer into how people of the past thought and developed by tracking their use of curses and swears and I applaud Mohir's talent in pulling this off. It's a proud member of my bookshelf.
Other honurable mentions have to go to 'Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind' by Yuval Noah Harari and 'the Self Illusion' by Bruce Hood. So much talent up in here.
Other honurable mentions have to go to 'Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind' by Yuval Noah Harari and 'the Self Illusion' by Bruce Hood. So much talent up in here.
And One For the Bucket List -
This blog was started in what was a slump in my life in a way. I had left uni and stepped into the adult world of 9 to 5 jobs, aware that I'd never really have the talent nor opportunities become a 'proper' historian and that, maybe, that isn't the right path for me anyway. But I didn't want to leave behind what I had always loved about school and university: the desire to learn. I wanted to stay curious and so started the blog to share that love of random facts and curios. What's more, it gave me an excuse to get out there proactively and visit places I've always wanted to in order to create decent content for you all with my reviews and, I guess, to lead a little by example. So it's largely thanks to this blog that I convinced my family to trek across and visit the famous Stonehenge. It was beautiful and a real tick on the bucket list, and I'm thankful for that.
The Future...?
Hopefully I'll keep plugging away at my trusty keyboard like I always do for a long time to come. With every post I think of how to bring you all something new or to explore something that I'm curious about that I think you'll find pretty neat. I've got a few trips stored away in the old dreambox too. There is one thing that will forever be certain: I will always be utterly convinced that the pageview figures on blogger are only the result of my constantly refreshing the damn thing when I proofread.
As always, thank you for joining in this blog's journey, even if I'm only here to give you something to scroll through on your morning commute. Follow the blog on Facebook or Twitter to keep a track of any new posts and drop a comment here to say hi. It's always great to hear from you. Until then, keep curious!
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