Seventh LJ of a Seventh LJ

[curiouswombat]

Trying to put off doing anything in any way useful or productive I decided to do the meme suggested by shaddyr which I saw on kantayra 's journal. I spent a happy almost two hours wombling around the journals it took me to, so if you're interested I visited:

julia_here

uberaeryn

romanyg

marinarusalka

neysayer

kytheraen and finally ended up on

losthuan where I answered the questions as set:

1) What is the title of this journal (NOT the user name)? My Little World

2) How many communities does this person belong to; 36

3) List any interests you share in common with this user; None – although we could have had if I’d written a longer list – some of them sound fun.

4) List any friends you have in common with this user; None

5) Where does this user live? Finland

6) What is the seventh sentence in this user's most recent journal entry? " Feeling just like that, Orlando m'dear.”

7) What is the first sentence in this user's seventh most recent journal entry?
"I have eaten way too many Shrove Tuesday buns.”

And what did I learn from that? This is a wonderful place full of weird and wonderful people!!

Comments

[opalescence.livejournal.com]

This gave me a headache when I tried to do it, but I'm going to attempt it again tonight. The problem was that I encountered someone who basically belonged to communities, only.

LOL to this:

"I have eaten way too many Shrove Tuesday buns.”

Hee! I'm off to Google Shrove Tuesday.

[opalescence.livejournal.com]

Answering myself:

Shrove Tuesday


Shrove Tuesday is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday which is the first day of Lent. It's a day of penitence, to clean the soul, and a day of celebration as the last chance to feast before Lent begins.

Shrove Tuesday is probably the Christian festival that the family enjoys most, after Christmas, of course.

But there's more to Shrove Tuesday than pigging out on pancakes or taking part in a public pancake race. The pancakes themselves are part of an ancient custom with deeply religious roots.

Penitence
Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the ritual of shriving that Christians used to undergo in the past. In shriving, a person confesses their sins and receives absolution for them.

When a person receives absolution for their sins, they are forgiven for them and released from the guilt and pain that they have caused them.

In the Catholic or Orthodox context, the absolution is pronounced by a priest.

This tradition is very old. Over 1000 years ago a monk wrote in the Anglo-Saxon Ecclesiastical Institutes:

In the week immediately before Lent everyone shall go to his confessor and confess his deeds and the confessor shall so shrive him.

Shrove Tuesday celebrations
Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it's the last day before Lent.

Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent.

Giving up foods: but not wasting them
In the old days there were many foods that observant Christians would not eat during Lent: foods such as meat and fish, fats, eggs, and milky foods.

So that no food was wasted, families would have a feast on the shriving Tuesday, and eat up all the foods that wouldn't last the forty days of Lent without going off.

The need to eat up the fats gave rise to the French name Mardi Gras; meaning fat tuesday. Pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday as they were a dish that could use up all the eggs, fats and milk in the house with just the addition of flour.

The origin of pancake racing
Pancake races are thought to have begun in 1445. A woman had lost track of the time on Shrove Tuesday, and was busy cooking pancakes in her kitchen.

Suddenly she heard the church bell ringing to call the faithful to church for confession. The woman raced out of her house and ran all the way to church; still holding her frying pan and wearing her apron.


Going for gold in the pancake olympics
One of the most famous pancake races is held at Olney in Buckinghamshire over a 415 yard course. The rules are strict; contestants have to toss their pancake at both the start and the finish, as well as wearing an apron and a scarf. The race is followed by a church service.

Since 1950 Olney has competed with Liberal in Kansas, which holds an identical race, to see which town can produce the fastest competitor. After the 2000 race, Liberal was leading with 26 wins to Olney's 24.

***********

I can go to bed now. I've learned something new.

[shaddyr]

I feel all edjumicated now.

I know *nothing* about Lent or Ash Wednesday other than the fact they're on the calender. I grew up in going to various protestant churches over the years, so anything Catholic/Anglican is not familiar to me.

That was interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I know - that one line made it all worth while for me!!

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

Sounds like non-productivity was fun. Love the icon. So many things can be substituted for curry, too.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Thanks - if you don't recognize him, he's Death from Terry Pratchett's discworld.