Elizabeth’s Journal

Werewolves, Volcanoes, Native American Legends, and Nutrition

Here are my strange web sites for the week. The University of Pittsburgh has some German werewolf legends (already translated—sorry, Daddy). I used to read all the vampire, werewolf, witch, etc., stuff I could find, but I had never heard of the wolf strap that people used to turn themselves into werewolves.

I have always been fascinated by volcanoes, and I would very much love to see an exploding one (of course, one where the lava flows weren’t going to hurt anyone, and one that wasn’t going to be the last thing I saw!). This site has volcano legends from various countries, including New Zealand, Mexico, and Indonesia. The New Zealand ones certainly demonstrate that the gods usually acted worse than humans, just as in Norse and Greek mythology.

This is a pretty interesting site that contains many Native American legends and myths, mostly organized by tribe and done with a great deal of respect for the culture. Links are provided should anyone wish to make a donation.

The last site I’ll mention is one that, for instance, counted up all the Cheerios inside a 15-oz box. It’s well documented with some great photos too. (Funny, it reminds me of the story I’ve heard about my dad and Kathleen taking apart a Contac (remember those? are they still made?) to count all the little bitty balls to see if there were as many as the ads said there were.) The site also takes a close look at, among other things, ketchup (definitely worth looking at!), kegs of beer, and bacon bits. The presentation and analysis is thorough and detailed, and I foresee a great career in science ahead of these folks—you have to see it to believe it. I will say that these look suspiciously like college students with FAR too much time on their hands! Who else has seven hours to spend in front of a movie channel stringing Cheerios . . .