Graduation...

Today is my beautiful, wonderful niece's graduation from high school. She had her first graduation from Kindergarten, but I couldn't find the picture of her in her cap and gown for that one, but this is her picture before the ceremony:

Here is her Senior picture:

Kathleen is the most amazing young woman with an old soul. She has always been so much more together than I ever was and I'm proud and happy, and yes a little sad, that she is moving on in her journey to becoming the woman she is meant to be. Kathleen has survived a lot in her young life and I am awed at how she has always managed everything with grace.

I hope nothing but wonderful things for this adorable lady. Know that I will always love you.

Stonehenge

Yeah, I'm going to be here for the sunset today. Just so you know a few facts about Stonehenge, in case you have been living under a rock (ahahaha, I make myself laugh)....

1. Stonehenge is situated at the Salisbury Plain which is located in Wiltshire, England. It’s nearly 137 meters to the southwest of Lodon.
2. The word “stonehenge” is derived from two derived from two words: stone and henge. It’s meant to a tribute to the largest henge in Great Britain.
3. As the largest henge in Great Britain, there is no direct evidence to suggest the builders of the Stonehenge. It brings to the belief that the Druids, Greeks, and Atlanteans are the builders of this magnificent structure.
4. In the year 1986, the Stonehenge was awarded as World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This site has legal protection by the Scheduled Ancient Monument.
5. The architecture of Stonehenge has taken into account mathematical and geometrical considerations. The construction is structurally engineered to perfection.
6. The stones of  the structure are situated in such a way that they become larger in size at the center. The stones alternate between tall, thin stones and those stones with a tapering and obelisk shape.
7. Two varieties of stone were utilized for Stonehenge’s construction: the so-called 4-tons blue-stones and the 25-tons “Sarsen” stones. They were transported over a distance of 240 miles.
8. It is believed that more than 30 million hours of labor were spent in the construction work.
9. Of the nine hundred stone rings present in the British Isles, Stonehenge is the most renowned.
10. Most scholars and archaeologists believed that Stonehenge served as a site for ritual activities for the Neolithic periods. However, it could also have been an astronomical observatory.

Highgate Cemetary

Today I will be visiting Highgate Cemetary. I know it is a little strange and most people ask "What Is It? and Why?"

I first heard of Highgate Cemetary when I read the book "Her Fearful Symmetry" and then again when I started researching things to do while in London. This came up as a place to see that is off the beaten track. A brief explanation of the cemetary is:

Highgate Cemetary is a place of burial in north London, England. It is designated Grade I on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. It is divided into two parts, named the East and West cemetary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves at Highgate Cemetary. Highgate Cemetary is notable both for some of the people buried there as well as for its de facto status as a nature reserve.

The cemetary in its original form - the northwestern wooded area - opened in 1839, as part of a plan to provide sever large, modern cemeteries around the outside of London. Highgate soon became a fashionable place for burials and was much admired and visited. The Victorian attitude to death and its presentation led to the creation of a wealth of Gothic tombs and buildings. The cemetery's grounds are full of trees, shrubbery, and wild flowers, all of which have been planted and grown without human influence. The grounds are a haven for birds and small animals such as foxes.

After being asked why I would want to visit this cemetary, people then ask "Who is buried there?" So, here is a list of some of the famous people who have been interned in Highgate:

Douglas Adams - Novelist
Patrick Caulfield - Painter and Printmaker
George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) - Novelist
Sheila Gish - Actress
William Friese-Greene - Cinema pioneer
Anna Mahler - Sculptress and daughter of Gustav Mahler
Karl Marx - Philosopher, historian, sociologist, and economist
Malcolm McLaren - Punk Impresario and Original Manager of the Sex Pistols
Feliks Topolski - Polish-born British expressionist painter
Jane Arden - Welsh-born film director, actor, screenwriter, playwright, poet
Catherine Dickens - Wife of Charles Dickens
John and Elizabeth Dickens - Parents of Charles Dickens
Stella Gibbons - Novelist
Christina Rossetti - Poet
Elizabeth Siddal - Wife and Model of artist/poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Jean Simmons - Actress
Adam Worth - Criminal mastermind and philanthropist.