Fine then, Jane.

So, it has come to my attention that there have been complaints as to the content of my blog not talking about what I am actually doing work-wise.

Well, I am currently doing research for two longish papers due Friday and a quite long paper due next Friday. The two papers this week are on the London Blitzkrieg and "The Effects of Jacobitism on Scottish Highland Music." Next week's paper is entitled "Saints and Warriors: Manhood in Medieval Germanic and Scandinavian Culture." My school time is mostly spent on researching for those papers and attending lectures that are completely unrelated to my area of study, yet still mandatory.

Fun facts on the Blitzkrieg:

The Blitz did not start London until around a year after war had formally been declared on Germany. However, the Londoners felt that it was imminent and decided that it would be too difficult to keep their pets through the troubled times ahead. As a result, over 400,000 cats and dogs were put down within the first weeks of the official war. Restrictions on resources left crematoriums unable to deal with the animal carcasses, so many of them were spirited away into the surrounding countryside and buried in mass graves. When the air raids failed to begin within the next few months, many of the pet owners were wracked with guilt over whether they had done the right thing.

There was also considerable angst as to what should be done about animals in the London Zoo. The 200,000 gallon aquarium was drained, most of the fish eaten or preserved for museums, and the manatees shot. During air raids, guards were posts around the cages of carnivorous animals to take care of any wolves or lions that might escape. Apparently, no one came to visit the monkeys anymore and they became quite depressed.

So there you go. Fun stuff. I'll tell you all about Medieval Icelandic dietary habits in my next post.

(this info taken from Philip Ziegler's London at War)