What?

I have just scanned my blog, andit's been looking a bit bleak recently! I will spice it up with pictures of me bumming around with famous folk soon...

Quote

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares."
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Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude

Orphans in literature

I looked up 'orphan' on wiki. I kinda liked what I found!


Orphaned characters are extremely common as literary protagonists, especially in children's and fantasy literature.[3] The lack of parents leaves the characters to pursue more interesting and adventurous lives, by freeing them from familial obligations and controls, and depriving them of more prosaic lives. It creates characters that are self-contained and introspective and who strive for affection. Orphans can metaphorically search for self-understanding through attempting to know their roots. Parents can also be allies and sources of aid for children, and removing the parents makes the character's difficulties more severe. Parents, furthermore, can be irrelevant to the theme a writer is trying to develop, and orphaning the character frees the writer from the necessity to depict such an irrelevant relationship[citation needed]; if one parent-child relationship is important, removing the other parent prevents complicating the necessary relationship. All these characteristics make orphans attractive characters for authors.

Orphans are common in fairy tales, such as some variants of Cinderella.

Many superheroes, including Superman, Batman, Robin, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Storm and Daredevil, are orphans.

A number of well known authors have written books featuring orphans including Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, A. J. Cronin, Roald Dahl and J.K. Rowling, as well as some less well known authors of famous orphans like Little Orphan Annie and the Baudelaire siblings of the Series of Unfortunate Events. One recurring storyline has been the relationship that the orphan can have with an adult from outside his or her immediate family. Some of the most emotive works have been those featuring the relationship between a man and a boy, particularly boys that are coming of age.

Koh-i-nor

A brief history for those who do not know of it;

The Koh-i-nor is a diamond that has been passed around quite a bit. What with it presented as a gift/stolen/a spoil of war etc. It has been acquired in numerous ways. So much so that the Koh-i-nor it in itself has acquired many stories. The most present story is that of Maharajah Ranjit Singh. He himself deserves a posting of his own!! Following his death and the succession of Britain making Queen Elizabeth (the queen mum) Empress of india, it was 'given' as a gift to her from Ranjit Singhs son Duleep...I'm not a know it all. Presently I am reading 'The Maharajahs Box'.


The Koh-i-nor to those who are unaware of it's history, captivates with all of its superficial splendour, however has had quite an eventful past. I once read somewhere that 'it takes a sharp chisel to make a great sculpture'.After all the Koh-i-nor went through, and all sentimentality/unfavourable circumstance that it has been associated with . It seems to only ever become more defined, more sought after, and always without a true home. Still with its complicated composition and fractured perspectives it still remains to this day convincingly clear, and very, very strong!