Focus, the hearth festival, is a feast traditionally celebrated in late January or early February. In 2005, Focus falls on February 11th, and we're having a party to celebrate it at Bugbear Labs. Like Christmas, Focus is a mid-winter celebration intended to cheer up northern dwellers, but Focus occurs about a month later, is spent with friends rather than family (though of course these are not exclusive), doesn't involve presents, and is cheerfully secular. Most scholars believe that the name "Focus" derives from focus, the Latin word for hearth. But there is also an old tradition that the name is derived from Nicephorus II Phocas, Byzantine emperor and bon vivant, and for this reason many households celebrate Focus with readings from Liudprand of Cremona's Embassy to Constantinople. There are traditionally two great elements of Focus: feasting and light. Focus menus emphasize roasted foods, including roast turkey, salmon, potatoes, squash, and so on. Seasoning is considered a very important element of Focus food, and dishes tend to be more strongly seasoned than at Christmas or Thanksgiving. Thyme is especially favored. Focus usually involves spiced teas after and even during dinner. Orange is the color most associated with Focus. Guests at Focus parties often wear orange clothes, and oranges and tangerines, when available, are eaten throughout the day. Cake is traditional at Focus, as at Christmas, but a Focus cake is a chocolate cake rather than a fruitcake. But the most important element of Focus is light. As at Christmas, it is traditional to decorate one's house for Focus, but there are no trees involved, and the emphasis is on decorating the inside rather than the outside. The aim is to have as many beautiful light phenomena as possible: not just Christmas lights (though these are, conveniently, on sale), but also candles, paper lanterns, interesting table lamps, spotlights, flashlights, cathode ray tubes, projectors, LEDs, prisms, mirrors, gels, champagne, and of course, a crackling fire in the hearth. Bright ambient light sources (e.g. overhead fluorescents) are frowned upon during Focus, and in some households a cardboard effigy of a 300 watt halogen torchiere is ritually sacrificed by being broken up and thrown into the fire. None of these traditions are inviolable, however. The most important principle of Focus is that it is fun, rather than a rigamarole to be endured for the sake of tradition. So, for example, the tradition for dress is: as formal as you like. If you like to dress up, Focus is an excuse to do it. If you don't, Focus is an excuse for wearing your most comfortable clothes.