By sjwny, a Trail Mix Contributor
Recently I received information about my paternal Grandfather’s family. This wasn’t your usual genealogy consisting of born, married, begat, died. This is a history of a family going back to the early 1700’s. My cousin worked years on this, contacting as many descendants of an 18th century Copenhagen Merchant as he could track down. Cousin Leif wanted stories about these people. He refers to it as Family Telling. A majority responded & it is incredible: A living document about long dead people who come alive through letters, writings, remembrances.
I never knew 90% about this branch of my family before I read this remarkable work. Holy cow, 5x Great-Grampa graduated from the University of Copenhagen, became a teacher & with his twin brothers did their best to spread the ideas of the Enlightenment to colleagues in Denmark. Another relative was part of the “Golden Age of Danish Painting” who was also the godson of Constanze Mozart, widow of Wolfgang. I teared up when I read translations of letters my Grampa Hans wrote to his family in Denmark, especially his words about my brother & sister. Also teared up when I read the remembrances of a cousin who was taken by the invading Germans during WWII & made part of a work gang who cut peat into blocks for fuel.
The importance of words, both good & bad, should be honored & recorded. You will never be forgotten if someone remembers.
I would like to propose one day of words – only words – used on this blog to comment. No links, no videos, just you. Any topic. The beauty of the written word to be celebrated, read & remembered.
More Posts by sjwny
“And they all lived happily ever after.”
These are good words, and ever green.
As someone semi-obsessed with genealogy, I always reiterate the message: We all carry 200 years of history. History not passed along is history lost. Pass on the stories. Many years from now after you are long gone, you will bring the past alive for someone you will never know who will thank you for their history.
“Words… They’re innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they’re no good any more… I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little or make a poem which children will speak for you when you’re dead.” ― Tom Stoppard, The Real Thing
yep, words matter. words can inspire and they can incite. words can bring joy and they can hurt. seen and felt both on the trail.
“So difficult it is to show the various meanings and imperfections of words when we have nothing else but words to do it with.” —John Locke
HOUSEKEEPING: Our server company has tech issues this morning on many of their sites, not particular to ours, hence the 404 errors you might be getting. They’re working on it, promise a quick fix.
Nice to see the site back.
I know damn little about my Paternal forebears. My Maternal/maternal side is pretty well documented at least back to the early 1800s thanks to a couple of distant female cousins who worked pretty hard on compiling a book of begats with brief bios of the major players – prolly raching back 4 generations before my grandmother. Sounds kinda like yours, SJ. It’s interesting, but not enough criminal doings to make it really cool. My FIL worked for a couple of years compiling history of his family in Italy (he’s 1st gen American – came over around WWII). 2 years ago when we visited Ellis Island we got on the computer and found the boats and manifests that showed when he and his brothers came to the US. My MIL threw his work out in one of her cleaning jags. Mrs. P was fit to be tied. No one told FIL about it before he died. If he’s reading this he’s turning over in his grave. I threaten to start doing some research, but on the whole I’m lazy and haven’t gone there. I’m hoping my 2nd cousin can get the little she did on my father’s side of the family to me. I thought about doing that 23 & Me thing to confirm my suspicions that I’m an anglo mutt.
sjwny: Family stories are great, thanks for sharing yours. I’m getting inspired to look into my family’s stories by you and others here on the trail. Your idea of a day of words is a lovely one so here are some words for you 🙂
Can The Children Come Out To Play Today?
While spying ‘cross the lake I saw
A dance duet of leaves red and gold.
In the wake of the sun’s reflection
An odd vision began to unfold.
There, standing on the landscape firm
Members of my family make
A mirror of children as they play
on gold/red ripples on the lake.
Mom, a serious dark haired girl
With a golden boy who was dad.
The smiling yellow curled child was me
And my blond brother was not sad.
Two other children shared the fun.
Tow-headed boys my sons are there.
Six mirage children together laugh
On fiery water, in crisp air.
All six land dwellers stare in awe
At our little selves as we play.
Through my window I look and I wish
We’d all let the children come out today.
speaking of technical chaos
from brink:
The most bang for the buck for a foreign nation-state bent on corrupting our election would be to find a way to tamper with paperless DRE voting systems in a battleground state. So where are the likely targets?
Check out the New York Times’ interactive “paths to the White House” page, wherein you can play “what-if” games on which states might have what impact in the Electoral College. The top battleground state is Florida, but thanks in part to the disastrous 2006 election in Florida’s 13th Congressional district, Florida dumped its DRE voting systems for optically scanned paper ballots; it would be much harder for an adversarial cyber attack to go undetected. What about other battleground states?
Following the data in the Verified Voting website, Pennsylvania continues to use paperless DREs, as does Georgia. Much of Ohio uses DRE systems with “toilet paper roll” printers, where voters are largely unable to detect if anything is printed incorrectly, so we’ll lump them in with the paperless states. North Carolina uses a mix of technologies, some of which are more vulnerable than others. So let’s say the Russians want to rig the election for Republican candidate Donald Trump. If they could guarantee a Trump win in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio and North Carolina, then a Florida victory could put Trump over the top. Even without conspiracy theories, Florida will still be an intensely fought battleground state, but we don’t need a foreign government making it any worse.
If one is writing words for posterity’s sake, archival paper (no acid) and a proper fountain pen with permanent ink are the ways to go. I would say to write in a clear Spencerian hand, but the art of reading and writing script is being scrubbed as we post. Placing these items in an unlocked fireproof safe should help to preserve them.
Or, folks can simply gather ’round the fireplace and relate family lore with young people present.
Our outage this morning got me imagining a digital holocaust where communication goes back to what Flatus talks about. For starters, there’d be a lot of typos without spell check.
What if the John/Abigail love letters had been sent by email, they might be lost by now, probably when they upgraded operating systems.
I’m not an orphan but I know very little about my family beyond my parents and their siblings. The piece SJWNY wrote is lovely filled with people you would want to know even if you weren’t related. But what if your family turned out to be slave traders and all your wealth was based on enslaving others?
HOUSEKEEPING: We’re getting back to normal but just in case I suggest copying your comments before posting, so that you can paste it in if you need to try again.
If anyone had to read what I write it better be one of the secretaries or paralegals who have suffered through the very steep learning curve they’ve needed to decipher my scrawl.
So after the digital holocaust I won’t be able to reminisce by looking at the pictures on my thumb drive?
Nuts.
Here are some words about words!
“A newspaper consists of just the same number of words, whether there be any news in it or not.” Henry Fielding (1707 – 1754) English dramatist & novelist
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” Robert Frost (1874 – 1963)
“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.” Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 – 1896)
“The best of us must sometimes eat our words.” J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, 1999
“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.” Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885)
“We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.” Abigail Adams, letter to John Adams, 1774
“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like ‘What about lunch?'”
Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne
Craig: These are things we try not to think about in this digital age. I’ve had a couple of crashed hard drives and lost data (aka words) and pictures that I never recovered. Now I back stuff up but there may come a day when all digital info is lost. Solar flares, em pulses etc are real things that can happen whether we want to think about them or not. Shudder to think!
This is priceless – Newtie on the edge.
Get it Newt? Trump’s on the ticket, Bill’s not. No one but sycophants like you are ignoring the allegations against drumpf that are CURRENT – the last one against bill occurred 20 years ago, and the testimony about it was the basis for his impeachment. Oh, and the $850,000 was not a fine, it was a settlement.
“…there may come a day when all digital info is lost…”
granny, this worries me to no end with regard to so much of the judicial system going paperless.
btw, here’s another milne goody to meditate on:
“What day is it?”, asked Winnie the Pooh
“It’s today,” squeaked Piglet
“My favorite day,” said Pooh”
we live off the grid and do have digital blackouts…we play dominoes
from vocativ:
Trump Launches News Show To Lower Ratings Than Sad Loser Cable
Sorry, Donald, but your Facebook Live audience isn’t nearly as big as your cable news rivals
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump launched his new Facebook Live show, “Trump Tower Live,” on Monday. The nightly show, which purports to give viewers “the message straight from the campaign” without any “media filter” or “spin,” almost looked like it could’ve been on a cable network. There was a “newsroom” bustling in the background (actually Trump’s campaign headquarters), news anchors in suits, and graphics at the bottom telling viewers who was speaking, what was coming up, and, in a rolling bar of text, that Trump got one major newspaper endorsement, is leading in one poll, and that there are accusations of corruption by close Clinton ally Terry McAuliffe.
[…]
…The show is supposed to run every night for two weeks in the run-up to the election. After that, well, there are rumors that Trump is hoping to launch his own news channel and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, reportedly had informal talks with an investment banker about the possibility. That’s assuming, of course, that he isn’t elected president.
Monday’s night video view count will increase over time (the Trump Live test run after the final debate, for instance, has been out for several days now and currently has 9 million views), and allow Trump to save some face, if he wants. But compare that to Candace Payne, who started with basically no audience and managed to get 161 million views on her Facebook Live video about a Chewbacca mask. Maybe she should consider a presidential run in 2020.
more detail at today’s ny times story: Trump TV Offers (Fledgling) Framework for Potential Media Future
The night of the 3rd debate they had a minitrump tv and raised 9 million dollars
I think he would do it if he won or not He can cut out the middleman and just ask for money without doing anything perfect job for a fat lazy pig
kgc, anyone say where the 9 million goes? the campaign? personal expenses? will it be reported to fec?
allegedly to the campaign
SJ,
Nice post….glad to see you….
Since quantum physics was discovered and now that we know that all things that exist are vibrations…..words….are the most powerful thing that we can have……..if you use words and vibrations together ( as a tool for healing)…you can heal yourself of any illness……….or just get off to a great day each morning…….take a cpl of deep breaths……and say out loud the word>>>JOY in your mind while having your eyes closed……and feel the meaning of the word thru vibrations in your whole body….i say it a few times during the day to myself……it is blissful..u can say any word….and wait a few seconds (dont repeat i t) and feel it also to modify behavior.
Pat, sorry if i have ever said anything that was hurtful to your……….on another thought….im thinking that silence is the most harmful……i try to listen to the mute……
My Mother and Father had to be tortured to get any family info from them…..used to sneak a listen to the adults when they talked about things….now that i know almost all about our families history……wow…..could write a large book about it…..had a great aunt, (she was a doctor/and cowgirl) that shot a cpl of cowboys for coming on to her too strong…she shot at the ground they were standing on….but they got the picture……..I think that she would have voted for the mean women hillary for sure……
solar, from you to me, felt only good vibes … hope it’s vice versa
Now the condom does nothing but whine about the advantges that Clinton has…..poor Kelly Ann Condom a big fat liar
“…mean women Hillary…” – Solar
Or as sara palin would say, “Momma Bear.”
Not having kellyanne is a YUUUUUJE advantage. Believe me, I know.
I’ll bet the deadbeat agrees with me.
I only know as far back as my grandparents. Since all of my family (except a brother and sister) are in Canada… I expect one of my cousins to care enough to look into family matters.
Hey… I don’t care who wins the WS. Last night, I was rooting for Lester when he was on the mound… and rooting for Miller when he was on the mound. The fact that I was rooting for both teams didn’t even occur to me until this morning. But if I were an Indians fan… I wouldn’t count my chickens before they hatch. The Cubbies lost the first 2 games of the NLCS and then came roaring back to win the series…. just sayin’….
Go algonquins My younger brother died a few years ago and he was a big Indians fan his neighbor just did a wonderful post in his honor
Mrs. Greenspan and lizard boy can’t wait to trash Clinton – jeeze what a pair of Clinton haters I hope they take vacations during the inauguration
Kelly Ann Condom is a perfect example of the why the paid political class is not a good thing. She is on record saying terrible things about Trump from her time with the Cruz campaign. All she brings to the table is smarm and whatever the lie of the day is she is a good soldier — a good German soldier but what does she care because her real money comes from the Hedge Fund Guy and she did her real job for him– Trump started out saying he would be the guy the Hedge Fund managers fear the most and ended up being their best friend.
The whole campaign reeks of sleeze at every level — they are the QVC of politics
History? The family business helped build the stadium where the Tribe did its work last night. I think it was originally named Jacobs Field after the then owner of the team.
Rr, I ain’t counting chickens. But CLE has to win 1/2 of the remaining 6 games to win and CHI has to win 2/3 of them. Then again, CHI won 9 games more than CLE to get there.
KGC
Bunch of slave holders on my US tree in the 1700s. One whole branch of the Scottish line managed to get themselves outlawed with a name ban, but all of us Whites, Blacks, and Browns still remember Rob Roy MacGregor fondly while the Durward side ruled Scotland for awhile. Mixed amongst it all wanders traveled the world with branches now in US, Canada, South Africa, and Australia and any other place where the sun wasn’t setting on the British Empire.
The stories are half the fun.
Go, Algonquins !
sjwny, thank you for the great thread. sorry to mess it up with a vid, but it’s not often we get to see how a very big and growing segment of the electorate gets to hear from and about the candidate in words they more fully understand. words matter.
It was Jacobs field and it was sad to hear they sold (rented) the stadium name
Cleveland’s totem used to be the spiders. They musta figgered Indians would be less offensive.
Trump tv? Hell, I never even watched the Apprentice horse manure.
Trump tv? Stick it, Orange-utan.
Fenway Park is named after the area that the stadium sits in… the fens… aka… the swamp. I’m glad the current ownership knows better than to ever rent or sell out the name… if they or any other ownership tried… there’d be rioting in the streets of Boston.
Go Indians! Go Cubbies!
But most importantly…. Go Patriots!
Pat, thanks for the great mean women vid on gordo and flaca show……
Change the he for she, and the his for hers…..this is what the Rump must be a thinking all of the time now….he squints an awful lot no?
“Brooding, squinting, staring
I could not hit the mark
He walks in like a wanton monarch
With a crooked stick
And makes His Mark”
solar, sadhguru? ahh yes, the realm of the mystic in all of us.
Renee: I was doing the same thing last night LOL! I felt bad for Lester he had a tough night. Andrew was fabulous as always. Happy for Tito (Terry) but wouldn’t count the Cubbies out just yet.
KGC: Sleeze should surely be the “word” of the day. No other way to describe Stumpy and his campaign. If I were to use another “word” to describe him it would be evil. There is nothing good about him. His little venture into the TV faux news biz is not the least bit surprising. It was his end game all along. A medium whereby he can continue to dupe the public and make money until he dies and goes to hell!
sjwny: Re the family story I alluded to…The story my great grandfather told us all for years, in French, was about his father. He emigrated from France to Canada sometime in the early 1800s I think. He was one of the last members of a large family and at some point his brother, who was some sort of noble in France, died and left his title and estate to my great great grandfather under the stipulation that he had to live there for at least 6 months of every year. My great great grandfather had a large family of his own (18 children) and did not want to uproot his family to live in France so he declined and supposedly the estate was turned into a convent or some sort of religious estate. Always wanted to find out if any of it was true, but like someone else mentioned, I’ve been lazy. I did start to look into the family many years ago but once I got to a place where I had to shell out some cash I stopped. I guess you could say I’ve been lazy and cheap LOL! So that’s the story.
Speaking of stories and words…I have a rant! I wish tv and movie writers would stop writing for stupid people!!!! I started watching an episode of a show that, so far, has been written intelligently. I turned it off after less than 2 minutes. Picture this…A bunch of rich swells at a dinner/cocktail party-a guy argues with his fiance loudly and she runs out of the party-he runs after her-she gets way ahead so he stops following her-she runs down the street in her flashy evening gown and sparkly jewels-runs into an alley and, being tired from all that running, starts slowly sauntering down this dark empty alley that doesn’t seem to lead to anywhere. Seriously??? How stupid do you have to be to buy any of that!!! End of rant!
Speaking of family history, I just ran across this
Donald Trump’s grandfather Friedrich Trump ran a restaurant, bar, and brothel in British Columbia.
She, in her high heels, outran him by three furlongs. Fortunately, there was a dark alley where she could drip sweat unobserved.
Little did she know, what she thought were the rough cobbles and malodorous trash of the dim passage were actually the magenta polyps and nauseating reek of vile Nyarlathotep’s prehensile tongue.
…she was just happy to have a quiet place where she could stroll and gather her thoughts…Meanwhile back at the gathering, the man decided not to go back into the room, because he was tired and upset, so he just went home.
xr: Maybe we could make some money submitting hack scripts around Hollywood LOL!
Granny, please observe the post looming eerily above your last effort.
Sometimes words are not needed to hear someone you know inside out……..my best bud…that i enlisted on the buddy system with in 68………..he and i were riding in my car………after some time…i asked him what?….he said “i didnt say anything”…..i said, its how you didnt say anything……then he told me something that i didnt like to hear……listen to the mute……later going for a little walk about……
The second paragraph wasn’t there when I commented.
Solar got me thinking of a monologue : I don’t mind you giving me the silent treatment. It’s the tone of your silence I resent.
Granny, I figured that adding the 2d paragraph would muddle things, but I went ‘n’ did it anyway. Sorry.
Did someone say Fountain Pen?
Pens are the only way to write. Ink fingers are good for you. And no smell.
These are not mine.
Ms Bronc,
You mean you stole ’em ? snicker
Happy Birthday, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Many more.
Just got home & read the wonderful comments. Everyone is so intelligent, funny, dear. I love it when we write from within.
Francona is much more patient than I would be with Bauer. He’s given up 2, isn’t in control and should be sit ting IMHO.
Well hush my mouth. Francona just pulled Bauer.
xr: No worries, they were good “words” 😀
Cubbies are returning the favor…5th inning shut out so far Cubs 4 Indians 0
Just teasing, Ms Bronc. Sorry.
Cubs doing well tonight . Tribe is asleep .
This story is for Renee. It is from “Old Time Tazewell” which described the various families in one town during the 1800s. Lucinda Armstrog Rose (1811 – 1891) was known within that community as a weaver. Her daughter was my grandmother, who taught me how to do “hem stitching”, not as well as Lucinda, but an appreciation of the art was passed along.
So cool to see my Spencer at the top of the article. He really appreciates it! This is a Malamute with a soul! Greatest dog I’ve ever had the privilege to be owned by ;o) I am attaching a pic from yesterday with Spence and the Dr.Mrs. V.
As an educator, High School Social Studies, I can honestly say that my kids are exhausted by all of the crap surrounding this election. It’s interesting – the red-neckers – the “Trump’s #1” kids are fairly quiet. No more bullets to fire – I think they’re afraid the other kids will take them out back behind the gym and beat the snot out of them, he he he thank you Joe B!
The Latino’s really don’t have anything else to say right now. I think they know it’s a foregone conclusion that Trumpdom is over.
We used to spend the first few minutes of class every morning looking at the RCP averages and the 538 predictions – the kiddo’s loved this part of the class – just not interested any more. Perhaps Cheryl Crowe is spot on? We’re going to have an election day ballot in my classes – and tally the results – discuss the next day. I told the kids that I WILL NOT tell them who I support until after the election. Most of them know, but some or the African American kids think I’m closet Trump cause I’m an older white guy (what racists ;o))
The “uber-smart” kids from my AP classes are also over the election. They’re really looking at future stuff and seeing our country as the future and not the present.
Things aren’t as bad as they seem!
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