I Have Returned

This post is nothing more than a note to say I've returned. I've been back a couple of days, actually, but classes have officially started as well and that's been keeping me busy.

The King's College expedition was a success--while I was sure I'd have to find what I needed, to be honest, it was a bit of a crap shoot. However, out of 69 letters, I narrowed it down to 2 plus a few notes that were exactly what I was looking for (*relief*). It took me two days to read two letters, his handwriting was so poor. But I triumphed, and then hopped a train down to Bath to get drunk with friends--which I did with a certain amount of celebratory gusto. Oh, to be in a place where the Guinness doesn't taste like ass.

Now that that's out of the way, I give you this for fun:

A Donegal atheist had to be buried in Londonderry because the county has no facilities for non-religious burials.

Journalist Roy Greenslade's mother was buried in Ballyowen cemetery in Derry on Tuesday after a humanist service.

He said he was told atheists could not be buried in Donegal because the graveyards are church-owned.

"Therefore unless one is willing to compromise one's beliefs by agreeing to a religious service, it is impossible to be buried," he said.

"There is a degree of black comedy about this, and my mother, who had a fantastic sense of humour, would certainly have laughed.

"When I rang up and asked Derry City Council's cemeteries department if it was possible to bury an atheist in a municipal cemetery they said it was possible because there were different sections for Catholics, Protestants and Muslims.

"My wife asked if it meant they were going to start an atheist section and the woman said, 'oh no, she can go in with the Protestants'."

A spokesperson from Donegal County Council said it is only responsible for old and unused graveyards.

Haha...