A new beginning

I signed the employment contract an hour or so after my last paper on the 24th of April and I will begin tomorrow! I've worked before but tomorrow is special as it is my first job upon graduation. I am excited, but anxious about it too.

Cheers!

Word - weapon

Words are powerful and words can be great. On the flipside, words can also destroy. I have been trying my best to heal from a certain episode, but it is truly challenging. The words of pain pierce the very core of my soul and drains the peace out of my existence.

Let's not propagate any more negativity.

Dev.

The threads unweaved.

You both were the beat of my heart,

but life has unweaved you two apart.

Growing up was easy, for both of you were always there.

Now, I can only reminisce of the beautiful past, for thoughts about the future I don’t dare.

-Devana

Cruel Words

Never knew that a heart that loves is capable of such hate.

I am haunted by the cruel words and label you forced onto my head. 

I have tried very hard to drown the verbal attack,

Even recollection of past good actions cannot take it back. 

I do not hate you for the pain,

But I wonder how long will this heartache linger and remain. 

- Devana

ALL THINGS NEW-YEAR

Have you ever wondered what makes New-Year a new year? Why people make New Year's resolutions? Why is October the 10th month in our calendar? Continue reading if you want to know why! 

Image Source: Yahoo! News

#1. WHAT IS A NEW YEAR?

The earth takes approximately 365.25 days to make a full revolution around our star, the Sun. Hence a year has 365 days, and we make up for the lost 0.25 day by adding a leap year. So a New Year (Solar calendar) is the start of Earth's orbit around the Sun. 

#2. NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION 

New Year's resolution is not a modern social phenomenon. Muslims seek forgiveness for past wrongdoings, mend ties and reaffirm relationships on Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of fasting. In the same way, the ancient Babylonian made promises of self-reforms to their gods at the start of each year.

This human urge to reflect upon one's actions over the year, to seek forgiveness for wrongdoings and work towards improving oneself, is universal and it continues till today regardless of the calendar we follow. 

#3. OCTO-BER  

Octo means eight in Latin. An Octopus has eight arms while an Octagon has eight sides, so why isn't October the eighth month?

Actually it was! In the old Roman calendar, the Calendar of Romulus (Romulus - First king of Rome) the year started with Martius (March) and October was the 8th month in that calendar. Today however, we follow the Gregorian calendar which starts with January. October became the tenth month with the inclusion of January and February.

#4. GREGORIAN CALENDAR 

The Gregorian calendar is today's international civil calendar and is commonly known as the Christian calendar or Western calendar. It is a solar calendar with 365 days in a common year (366 days in a leap year) and 12 months with either 30 or 31 days in a month, except for February which has 28 days (29 in a leap year).

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

It is named after Pope Gregory XIII who introduced it in February 1582. Prior to that, Europe adhered to the Julian calendar. Everything would have been fine except Easter would fall further away from the spring equinox*. The Julian system had miscalculated one solar year by 11 minutes hence the Julian calendar had fallen out of sync with the seasons.

*Equinox - is one of the 2 times in a year when the sun crosses the plane of earth's equator.

#5. LEAP YEAR - NOT REALLY ONCE EVEY 4 YEARS

Here are the 3 criteria to take into account when identifying leap years:

1. The year has to be evenly divisible by 4; 
2. If the year can be evenly divided by 100, it is then not a leap year; UNLESS
3. The year is also evenly divisible by 400

The last leap year was 2012 and the next leap year will be 2016. 

#6. OTHER CALENDAR SYSTEMS

The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar and hence no not correspond with seasons. Each lunar month varies from 29.26 to 29.80 days, and there are 12 months in a lunar year. 

The Hindu calendar and the Chinese calendar are lunisolar calendars. This means that both systems are based on a combinations of lunation and the Sun cycle. 

There is also a fiscal calendar. As the name suggests it is about money. A fiscal year is a period determined by businesses and organisations to  calculate annual financial statements.

The calendar list can go on!

Happy 2014! 

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_resolution

http://www.timeanddate.com

http://www.history.com/news/6-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-gregorian-calendar

http://www.ghazali.net/calander/Linar_v_Solar/linar_v_solar.html