And, of course, now I see that I’ve got a big, fat typo in one of the family tree entries. Easily fixed, thankfully. Hrmf. I’m blaming DST, just because.
Month: March 2007
Genealogy Progress
I spent this evening trying to throw together something resembling a website for my grandma’s family’s genealogical information. It’s pretty sparse, as yet, and not all the sections are functional, but it’s progress of a sort.
I’m not entirely happy with the output of the main index file, but the individual pages are alright. I see that I’ll need to go in and edit some of the notes, because they exported unattached to their events. It might be nice to know which census is being referred to, for example. I’ve only been working with this program for a few days so far, and it’s got a bit of a learning curve, so I’m finding a few surprises along the way. All in all, I really like it, though. It isn’t pretty, but it’s flexible and powerful.
Also, letters. I’d like to get good scans of the originals and the envelopes at some point, but for now, all I have are kind of crappy photocopies, so I can only put up transcripts.
Alsotoo! Please to be meeting the actual, for real, totally legit, Hound of the Baskervilles!1!!!
A Trip Down a Different Memory Lane
I talked to my mom this morning, and the subject of college diplomas came up. I “lost” mine for a long time, and only found it again while packing for this last move. I pulled it off the shelf and opened the folder, and some old Christmas cards, my “fancy” birth certificate, and my 8th grade report card were tucked inside.
I was a pretty solid B student in middle school. I had horrible study skills, and I never did a single bit of homework. If I had, I’m sure I would’ve gotten As.
With the single exception of the final History exam, which was on WWII, I don’t recall ever studying for a test. During the second half of 8th grade, we lived in town, so I walked to school instead of riding the bus. I usually got there early, because it was my job to go over to the church and do the hymn board for each day’s masses. I must have gotten to school extra early on the day of the history final, because I recall having a lot of extra time left over, and using it to study for the test. I remember knowing, when I finished the exam, that I had gotten every answer correct.
On the last day of school, we all signed each other’s report cards. I have no idea who Rosy was, but I remember everyone else.
Morning Coffee with the Basquills
A light exists in spring
April 22, 2006
Some of the trees are starting to get a faint tinge of pale, pale green, and the redbuds are close to bursting into bloom. The brambles behind my house have little bud swellings on them. All of this means that my allergies are awful. I love spring, but it does not love me.
Mr. Upstairs Update
I really ought to stop complaining about the jerk upstairs, but I just can’t help myself. I heard him vacuuming yesterday afternoon, which made me happy. If he vacuums during the day, he probably won’t be doing it at 3am, right? So later on, when I went to take out the dog for her pre-dinner potty break, there were big, grey tufts of crud all over my patio. It was like a tumbleweed and a dust bunny had a litter of frankenspawn. O gross! Milton had dumped his vacuum canister over the balcony, instead of emptying it in the trash like a normal person.
There’s a mean, vindictive part of me that wants to pick up the mess and dump it on the carpet outside his front door.
Genealogical Capers
A few years back, while visiting my grandparents, I photocopied a bunch of letters that had been written to my great grandmother, from her brother. I never got a chance to actually read them, because as soon as I got home, I promptly put them in a very, very, very safe place. So safe, that in three moves, I did not unearth them. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago, while looking in the closet for vacuum cleaner bags–I never did find those–that I stumbled across the letters. I quickly scanned the through one on top of the stack and realized it was chock-a-block with information about my great grand grandmother’s family back in Ireland. I called my mom, and got some more basic info from her, then I went to work.
If you’ve never done any sort of genealogical research, it’s an interesting puzzle. You can search and search and search for one piece of information, hit a brick wall, and then weeks, months, or even years later, stumble across it. Or you may never find it. On those occasions when you are able to locate a key piece of information, it can be a bit like decoding the Rosetta stone. One simple date can make everything fall into place. Or, if you’re having a bad day, it can make everything fall apart.
I’ve been able to make a good bit of progress in a very short amount of time. I’m very lucky in that the family name, though very uncommon here, is common in the part of Ireland my great grandmother is from. I expect they’re all related in some way, and it’ll be an interesting puzzle trying to figure out how everyone fits into the big picture.
Another piece of luck is that there are some active genealogists in County Mayo. A lot of vital records have been transcribed and are online, with more being processed all the time. From what I can tell, most of that information is so new that it has not yet hit the bigger genealogical search databases, like World Connect or even the LDS’ Family Search. (And, yes, I’ve encountered a few Basquills who have been co-opted by the LDS. I wish they’d knock it off with the baptizing of long dead people who are not even Mormon. Hrmf!)
So, that’s what I spent my weekend doing, instead of arting. My hand is just about crippled from writing. I have a ginormous dent in my middle finger and the tip of my thumb is completely numb. On the bright side, I forgot how yummy the ozone produced by laser printers smells. Mmmm. Every time I run it, I get a blast of ozoney goodness.
Is That a Meme I Spy?
I’m not so much with the meme thing. Maybe it’s my distrust of anything that looks like it could have graced the Cool Kids’ Table. But, the meme wherein you ask the Google Oracle to summon forth pages containing “[your name] needs” was actually kind of entertaining. I cheated a bit. I think you’re supposed to just use the first ten, but I am contrary, so I picked the ones that amused me. Also, math is not my strong suit.
Shelly needs a comfortable lap.
Shelly needs a favor.
Shelly needs some help.
Shelly needs a home with no other cats.
Shelly needs some assistance.
Shelly needs all your thoughts and prayers.
Shelly needs a room.
Shelly needs a fucking life.
Shelly needs motivation!!!
Shelly needs Lots of Space.
Shelly needs no more crises.
Shelly needs Bernie and vice versa, to a point.
Shelly needs her spirits lifted.
Shelly needs help to complete the assignment.
Shelly needs 3 stars to improve.
Shelly needs some comfortable walking shoes.
Shelly needs further convincing.
Shelly needs a new distribution facility.
Shelly needs to follow up with the conditional use permit.
Shelly needs to hear this.
Shelly needs to feel like she’s home!
Shelly needs to understand that I know.
Pissed-off Shelly needs to come out and play more often.
Perhaps Shelly needs to tell us more.
The last thing Shelly needs is for Bernie’s power to fizzle.
The last thing Shelly needs is for his “cooler” to suddenly get “hot.”
M’kaythen!
Horror Vacui
Doodle
gel pen on 90lb Stonehenge paper
5 5/8 x 7 1/2 inches
This one got a little out of control.
Thawing Out
Pandora basking by the space heater
The new furnace was installed today, and it is working beautifully. I’m looking forward to actually sleeping tonight, instead of listening to Mr. Upstairs, who is–even as I type–dropping free weights on the floor above my head. Really, I can’t think of a single nice thing to say about the guy right now, so I’ll just leave it at that.
red paper boat 