Pompeii

Pompeii History-

By Madison Nef

Pompeii was a city state in Italy. It had a beautiful, lush green mountain that overflowed with vineyards and forests.  This mountain was really a volcano, but no one realized this in Pompeii. This was Mt. Vesuvius. Mt. Vesuvius is the volcano that unexpectedly erupted and buried Pompeii underneath ash. It was a normal day in 79 AD, and everyone was doing their usual routine. For most people, several hours were spent in the baths.  Most people escaped Pompeii when they saw Vesuvius erupting. Still, 2000 people didn’t make it out. It was almost 1700 years before anyone remembered about the mysterious buried city again.

Then, treasure thieves came in and started digging, stealing the most valuable artifacts from the city and leaving the rest in even more of a whirlwind mess then it was before. Then, real archeologists came in and handled the excavations properly.  Restoration began centuries later. Since 79 AD, Vesuvius has blown its top more then 80 times. The last eruption was in 1944. This is the record time that it has stayed silent.

One smart man named Giuseppe Ferrailai saw a body-shaped lump in the earth. He poured plaster into a crevice near the lump. After he was sure it had dried, he chiseled away the earth to discover a beautiful plaster cast. It showed exactly the position that the person died in. These casts are now shown at a lot of museums. They are still being made when dead bodies are found. Many of these casts are shown in perhaps the most famous house in Pompeii- the House of Menander.

The House of Menander is one of the most luxurious and large houses in Pompeii. It was still pretty intact by the time the volcano was over. 2 dead bodies were found there- a slave named Eros and an anonymous little girl. In the basement, 2 treasure chests were found filled with silver and gold and many items of silverware. It seems that 2 is the number for the House of Menander.

Before the volcano erupted, Pompeii people were a lot like us. They had lives, and their town had stores and gyms. Their gyms were more like baths and saunas, with a hot, warm, and cold bath.  You COULD lift weights if you wanted but many people came for a massage, 2 baths, a massage with oils, and another bath.

Pompeii Before and After Mount Vesuvius Timeline

8^th Century BC- Original Oscan settlement comes to Pompeii

79 AD- Mount Vesuvius erupts unexpectedly for the first time, killing one tenth of the population (2000 people)

80 AD- Pompeii is already long forgotten, buried under ash for about a year. Name and location are forgotten, but stories still circulate in small pieces about a buried city.

1500 AD- Thieves and collectors discover city and dig through it, taking the most valuable items and destroying the rest worse than it already was.

1700 AD- Real archeologists come in and properly excavate the city, starting restorations later on and bringing back the old statues to their home. Some of the restored places of Pompeii got flushed away by the multiple volcano eruptions after.

1944- Mount Vesuvius erupts for the last known time. This is the longest it has stayed silent and not erupted.

Pompeii is the perfect example of “everything is not what it seems”.  Pompeii was known for having the occasional earthquake, so when the floor shook for the first time, the people thought nothing of it because they didn’t know they were living next to a volcano. They didn’t have any plan on what to do except run. 1/10 more of the city could have survived if they had a plan. Another good quote: “always have a plan!!!”

Granted, they did not live today. When earthquakes happened- OH, THIS BAD RUMBLE FROM GODS! They didn’t even THINK that “hey, maybe the gods are a little bit MAD at us if they are shaking the ground?” No, they thought the gods were just rumbling the ground and destroying houses for NO REASON AT ALL.  Maybe the gods were mad at them for taking good farm animals that could be used for selling or food and tossing them away and calling it “SACRIFICE TO THE GODS”.  Hey, everyone to their own belief.

Pompeii suffered from many earthquakes and houses always needed renovations. At the time of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, houses were just being repaired from an earthquake and were almost finished. It added that extra amount of insult that said, HEY! How dare you rebuild your houses! Ok, here you go! And in comes the volcano.

That is all I have to say on Pompeii. 

Interview with Ashleigh James Nef

Today, I am going to do an interview with my little sister. I am going to ask her questions and put her answers here.

Me: Hello Ashleigh! I am going to interview you about your life as a 2 and 1/2 year old today! For starters, how are you?
Ashleigh: Good!
Me: Who is your most favorite person in the whole entire world?
Ashleigh: Daddy
Me: What's your favorite type of food?
Ashleigh: Pizza!
Me: What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Ashleigh: Vani-lla!
Me: What do you want for Christmas?
Ashleigh: I don't know, a toy!
Me: Can you tell me what kind of toy?
Ashleigh: Ipod! (You see, she had just been playing on MY ipod, MINE I repeat not hers.)
Me: Oh, one like sister's?
Ashleigh: Yea.
Me: What's your favorite TV show?
Ashleigh: Victorious!
Me: Who is your favorite singer?
Ashleigh: Cat! (Ariana Grande)
Me: What's your favorite computer game?
Ashleigh: Wizard 101!
Me: What's your favorite phrase?
Ashleigh: Chocolate Ice Cream!
Me: What is your favorite word?
Ashleigh: Da-ddy!
Me: What is your favorite pair of PJ's?
Ashleigh: Scooby!
Me: What is your favorite song?
Ashleigh: Shut up and dance!
Me: Are you a dog fan?
Ashleigh: Yes
Me: Most importantly: do you like Victoria Justice?
Ashleigh: Yes
Me: Name some songs by her!
Ashleigh: Make it Shine, 5 Fingaz to the Face, Shut up n dance

That is all for right now!

More News

Last night, my sister stopped using her binky for good! We had been cutting slits in her binky, and she finally said, NO GOOD! So she threw it in the trash. Last night, she cried blue murder about her binky, but dad taught her how to suck on her thumb. Then she was good. I remember when she was really tiny....

Anyway. I REALLY, REALLY NEED READERS REQUESTS!!! If you have a request, please leave a comment. I will try to make another email address for my blog. At the moment, the stupid internet isn't working, so I can't use Yahoo.

Stores have already started selling candy corn and candy pumpkins, and I guess you all know what that means. Dad bought some for us. He SAID they were for Halloween, but in this family, nothing with sugar in it lasts more than maybe 3 days. The candy corn was polished off in 2 days. Dad has yet to open the candy pumpkins, but I hope he does so soon.

That's about all the news I have for right now.
Maddie

CONGRATS TO MY LITTLE SIS ASHLEIGH WHO JUST STOPPED USING A BINKY!!!! GOOD JOB SIS! :D

Clean Room

Today, I FINALLY cleaned out my room. It has been messy for so long now, and has been driving almost everyone in the house crazy. Beth, Dad, Grandma and even ASHLEIGH have been getting on my case for weeks: Clean your room, Maddie! It looked like a bomb had gone off in my room before today.

Grandma helped me organize all of my items, and we found a good spot for most of it. We are not done quite yet, but soon. I want my room to look perfect, not like tornado hill. I now have a drawer in my dresser for everything- even miniskirts and shorts. My long dresses hang in the closet and my skirts hang with them. It's quite a nice setup.

I haven't figured out what to do with my figurines yet. I want to rearrange them too, just not yet. I need to find a spot where they don't look messy. I'm thinking of putting them on my windowsill. Anyway, I have other work to do today, so that's it for right now.
Maddie

My Favorite Singers -Updated

Here is a list of my favorite singers and the songs I like by them. It has changed since the last time.

Rihanna had a rough start before she became a successful singer. She grew up in a 3 bedroom bungalow in Barbados, and grew up selling clothing with her father in street stalls. Her childhood was a bad time because of her father's addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Rihanna-

Man Down
Love the way You Lie
We Found Love
Russian Roulette
Where Have You Been
Please Don't Stop the Music
Only Girl In The World

Katy Perry grew up a church girl. At 9 years old she began singing in her church. As a kid, she listened to gospel music and was not allowed to listen to pop music. Her mom did not like it. Her sister started pursuing a music career, and Katy started taking spare tapes and practicing and performing the songs for her parents. When her Mom offered her vocal lessons, she snapped them up and took them until she was 16 years old.

Katy Perry-


Wide Awake
E.T.
Firework
Teenage Dream
California Girls
Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
The One That Got Away
Part of Me

Kesha, too, has a stormy background. She grew up with her mother, a singer/songwriter, and her brother, Lagan. Her mother was poor and they had to live on food stamps to get by. Her mom often took care of her while she was onstage performing. At 16 years old she wrote her first song, and at 17 dropped out of school to pursue her music career.

Kesha-

Blow
We R Who We R
Tik Tok
Your Love Is My Drug

I am not going to bother- I already did an entire Think a Thought on her :) To see this think a thought, please click here

Ariana Grande-
Put Your Hearts Up
Die in Your Arms
Give it up


Victoria Justice-
Too many songs to list- I like them all!!!

Selena Gomez-
Who Says

Victoria comes from a pretty good background. She started acting in commercials when she was 10 years old, and later on got a job working with Nickelodeon's Victorious.

A Year Without Rain
Hit The Lights
Round and Round
Tell Me Something I Don't Know

Selena Gomez was born and raised in Texas. Her parents divorced when she was 5 years old, and she went with her mother. She attended Catholic Church when she was younger and usually went to the park for BBQ's after. In 2004, Selena was discovered by Disney Channel and began her acting career.

News

Has anyone looked at my latest blog, Around the World in 80 Days, recently? If you haven't, you should check it out. I completed my journey in around 25 days, traveling only 1000 miles (or less) a day. I am now continuing for a SECOND trip around the world. If you are interested in following my travels, please click here.

I am thinking of once again re-designing Maddie's Think a Thought. Starting today, there will be a new Think a Thought design each month, matching the theme of the month. Example: October; pumpkins (for Halloween), December; Christmas themed, and so on. Ideas are welcome!

Speaking of Halloween, Ashleigh and I are going as... MUSKETEERS! :) I found some cute matching hats, and my Grandma is going to help me make a cape. We have swords, and even some adorable glittery face masks. This is going to be the best Halloween ever!

Well, that is about it. Oh- one last thing- If you are interested in reading the FUNNIEST blog ever, click here. My Dad writes on it weekly during football season, and it is a write-up of some of the teams in our Fantasy Football.

Later,
Maddie