YUM!

Check out this week's Carnival of the Recipes.

Laughing Gas in 1823

Who would have thought of this use for nitrous oxide in the year 1823?

More Agreement about Cutcliffe

Everywhere I look, the sports editors and articles are agreeing. This one sums it up: "It's a sad day for Ole Miss."

I'm Not the Only One Upset . . .

I'm not the only person who is upset about the firing of Coach Cutcliffe. Looks like Archie Manning questions the decision.

Fire the Ole Miss Athletic Director

Okay, they fired Coach Cutcliffe when he had one bad season. He still has a winning overall record and brought some class to the team. I think we need to fire the A.D. who got rid of Colonel Reb and then Coach Cutcliffe. He's made a big mistake!

GIS Helps Communicate

As a family historian, I'm very enthusiastic about maps. Today's Knoxville News-Sentinel has a great article about Geographic Information Systems and their ability to communicate data effectively. [You'll probably have to register to see the article.] However, I want to mention a few of the Web sites they mentioned in the article and describe their use to genealogists. One was the Knox County (Tennessee) GIS site. They had ward maps which would show those voting districts which roughly parallel enumeration districts on the census. Another neat site was the Geography Network which allows users to search for an area they'd like to explore and find all sorts of maps for it. I also really liked the Appalachian Trail Conference Mapping site which gives great explanations of the uses of GIS.

Mincemeat Pie, Anyone?

I'll have to admit that Mincemeat Pie is not my favorite dessert. However, this article by a columnist is very interesting. I'd rather have pumpkin, pecan, apple, or that truest of Southern pies - Sweet Potato Pie!

Sunday Musings

We had a very interesting discussion in Sunday School this morning. We were discussing how people's abilities to resolve conflict so often turn to violence now. The point was illustrated by the Pacers-Pistons brawl, the Clemson-South Carolina field fight, and even an instance from a local high school. Then we also talked about the unsportsmanlike conduct such at the taunting on the field and how some coaches don't do anything about it - and how times have changed in that respect. We also talked about how kids are no longer in trouble at home if they get in trouble at school and how the parents blame the educators and believe everything their darlings say now even when the child's behavior is well-documented. We actually did manage to tie it into our regular lesson. However, as I was thinking about this, I also thought about something I learned this week. Our teachers can no longer teach about Thanksgiving the way it should be taught because it "doesn't meet a standard." I think it is time to change a few of the standards and get a little bit of religion back in them. Surely all religions offer some sort of Thanks. The Pilgrims were thankful for the harvest. What is wrong with teaching this? I'll probably continue this theme later.

Vols Over the Commodores

Well, my Vols certainly know how to give people cardiacs this year! They've had so many squeakers, that it isn't funny. The defense just needs a lot of help this year. We did manage to pull off a win over Vandy with our #3 quarterback at the helm. However, the game was a lot closer than it should have been. The Vols network named Parys Harrelson as player of the game, and he was one of the defensive players who did well. We get to go to the SEC championship game in Atlanta now to play Auburn in a rematch, I guess. I hope we do better than we did last time against them. I also hope we get some players healed before the big game. I'm watching the Alabama-Auburn game right now. Bama was leading at half time, but it's 3rd quarter now and Tuberville seems to have motivated his team at the half. They are leading right now 14-6.

14th Carnival of the Recipes

Instapundit had a great link today. I love cooking so I really liked this link to the 14th Carnival of the Recipes.

Ban Smoking in Restaurants

I wish they would ban smoking in restaurants. There's nothing worse than having to breathe the unhealthy second-hand smoke when you are trying to eat -- not to mention the fact that I'm highly allergic to the smoke. I went to Florida back in the spring. It was so nice to be able to eat in smoke-free environments. Smoking vs. non-smoking areas in restaurants are such a joke. Ventilation is so poor in most of them that you can smell (and choke) on the smoke in the non-smoking section (not to mention the fact that in some of them the areas are adjacent and if you happen to be at the next table . . .) The harmful effects of second hand smoke are well-documented. I don't care how strong the tobacco lobby is! It's unhealthy.

Eli Gets to Play

Eli Manning is finally getting to start for the Giants this weekend! All I can say is . . . it's about time. The Mannings are great!

Spurrier & Cocky?

ESPN is verifying a report in the Tennesseean that Steve Spurrier may be headed to Columbia, SC to head up the Gamecocks after Holtz retires. Guess that means all of us Vols will now have a new team to dislike! Somehow that Florida rivalry kinda fizzled out when Spurrier was gone. It's still nice to beat those Gators, but some of the emotion of the rivalry departed when Spurrier headed to the Redskins. Of course, Holtz hasn't officially announced his retirement, but it seems he's been hinting that if they could nab Spurrier as coach that he'd call it quits.

Great Smoky Mountain Photos

I was sharing with my class today about blogging. I was using Instapundit as an example of a political blog, thinking that many of them may have seen him on the local TV station on election night as the returns were coming in. When I got to his site, he had a link to a blog with some great photos of Mt. LeConte area. We definitely have gorgeous views in this area!

Interesting Article

I was reading the Clarion Ledger online today and ran across an article by columnist Orley Hood called "The Lesson: Our Present Is Filled with Our Past . . ." It's an interesting article where he reminiscisces about things as he sees them today.

Long Time, No Post

I haven't posted here in awhile because my life has been really busy lately. Hopefully things are returning to a somewhat normal state, and I'll be able to get the blog updated. I'm really tired of this year's election. As I have been reflecting on the presidential election this year, I remembered the words of one of my great aunts that she penned to her grandmother in Illinois after moving to Mississippi in 1896. She was speaking of the election and reported that "After 4 years of Democratic hard times, it looks like we are in for a season of Republican prosperity." Of course the president elected then was William McKinley. Of course, we haven't been in 4 years of Democratic hard times, nor do I really think we've had 4 years of Republican ones either (as some Democrats would have you believe). I think the thing that surprised me most about the letter of my great aunt was her report on how the vote in the county of Monroe in the state of Mississippi went. From her comments, it apparently went Republican, although I did not verify that fact. I had always believed that the "Solid South" pretty much voted Democratic all the way until recent times when it has had Republican leanings (since about Nixon). Interesting!

I'll try to post more in a day or two. I'm looking forward to the end of the political ads and media coverage of the election. If you haven't voted yet, please consider my choice!

Reflections of a County Coordinator

As a USGenWeb county coordinator, I get to see a wide variety of expectations from those who visit the Web sites. There are those who realize that the sites are hosted by volunteers who are doing what they can go make resources available for each county they maintain. There are those who are upset with the volunteers because there is something "missing" from data submitted by someone or from an out of copyright source that has been posted (or one for which permission has been granted to post although still protected by copyright). Then there are those who think that the county coordinators conduct on site genealogical research without charge.

In my years of working on my family history, I've learned that genealogy is NOT an inexpensive pasttime. I have made lots of on site visits to libraries, courthouses, and other local sites to conduct research. A good researcher knows that s/he must budget for these--gas, hotel rooms, copies, admission, food, etc. I've also spent a lot of money in postage and for copies of documents from the National Archives and state and county sources.

I am not bothered when it is a new researcher who just does not know where to begin their reserach. I try to offer advice on places to begin their research and offer tips for researching on location when I've done extensive research in a county myself. What bothers me are those researchers who want people to do their work for them.

There is so much stuff out on the Internet that is inaccurate when it pertains to family history research. I would much rather spend my time finding good sources like land deeds, probate records, and newspaper articles, etc. than relying on an undocumented GEDCOM that is probably so full of errors that it will literally lead you up the wrong family tree. If I use a GEDCOM, I do not merge it into my database. I won't put any of the information in my database until I can verify it in some manner. I sometimes add an "unattached" line if I see a line that based on my own research becomes interesting because of similarities in naming patterns, etc. that make me suspect a connection that I'll later be able to document.

So many of the message boards in one area where I research have become totally worthless because two or three people started collecting every family group sheet and GEDCOM for the county (undocumented, of course) they could and began to post information to the message boards any time they saw the name. Guess what? Members of the historical society who have documented these lines have estimated that about 50% of the information that these data collectors post to the message boards (and mailing lists) is erroneous. Besides that, these people have no regard for copyright laws or for privacy of living individuals. All of these are big no-nos in my book.

As family historians, we need to strive for excellence in our research. We need to make sure that what we publish is true. If something is not proven, we need to identify it as probable or possible or in some way indicate that the true conclusion may differ.

'Nuff said for now.

Sunday Thoughts

We had a fascinating discussion in Sunday school this morning. We were discussing Revelation 14 and got to the part of the mark of the beast. Discussion veered to some of the things going on with today's youth that closely resembles this. It's really quite scary.

I haven't done a whole lot of genealogical research this weekend, but I've cross-stitched quite a bit. I'm working on a Dimensions kit that I picked up some time ago. At one time I think I was overwhelmed by how big the project was. I've now got the ability to stick with projects for a longer period of time and know the importance of rotation of projects so that if you get tired of something, you put it out of rotation for a time and then move it back in. The second time I picked up the project, I got frustrated because I'd miscounted and had to "frog" quite a few stitches. This time I'm really enjoying it and think I'll make it through it! I still haven't decided what I'm going to do with the section where I was supposed to be using 3 threads and only used 2 for the water, but I can deal with that later. That was one of the errors caused by picking it back up after awhile but forgetting the water used 3 threads.

Need to prepare my lectures for Monday's class. Need to see if I can locate "fresh" material for them.

Can DNA testing help crack brick wall?

Our Thornton line has been stuck for years at a brick wall. No one can seem to determine who the parents of Richard Thornton are. I've been reading about the Thornton Y-Chromosome DNA Project and wondering if it might help solve the mystery of which bunch of Thorntons our line is descended from. I wrote an article in the most recent issue of The Thornton News telling family members about the project and what I thought it might be able to do to assist in our research. Without actually soliciting funds, one family member has already spoken up saying he'll donate towards having one person participate in the project. I really think if we can get enough support to sponsor a participant that we might be able to focus our research in more productive manners so the brick wall gets chipped away.

Watching the Hurricane

I've been spending a lot of time watching the coverage of Hurricane Frances. My heart goes out to those affected by the storm.

I had corresponded with a lady regarding the Harris surname sometime back. At that time, neither of us had positively identified our John J. Harris. Now we have both found that ours is the same one - the one in Dime Box, Lee Co., Texas. She's actually a direct descendant, and he's only the brother of my great grandmother. It's exciting to find a new cousin.