Blog

mostly personal anecdotes where I sometimes try to be humorous

(maybe not always, Not everytime, but sometimes)

  • A Big Blue Mess 2014 Video Recap

    Here’s a photo/video recap of my various shenanigans over 2014. Huge thanks to Bruce Thiesen at Ram On for the inspiration and encouragement. (In other words, he’s the guy to blame since I would never have had the idea to create a recap video on my own.  In fact, go to his blog to point fingers…

  • UN!! Or How the Great Leader Ruined my Birthday

    I don’t have anything new or interesting to offer regarding the pulling of The Interview, but that’s not stopping me from typing words.  That’s right, if Michael Moore can say something funny about it, then I certainly can type a long winded blog piece that rambles a bit then ends abruptly.  That’s how I roll.…

  • Don’t Let the Door…

    I’m a Texan – 5th Generation, which puts part of my family here some 30 years after the state gained its independence – an independence hard won through the sacrifice of some of my family (if you really stretch the term “relative” and ignore some basic genealogical truths, but I digress (or I rant, one…

  • A Rose by Any Other Name

    My question to the group was fairly straight forward, “Has there been a proven Y-DNA link between my ancestor and a certain ill-tempered curmudgeon on the Mayflower?” I’ve been told by several people that one exists, but when I start asking for the proof what I get in return is anecdotal. One of the big…

  • Ancestry

    It started out as a little thing.  I had heard of National Geographic’s Genographic Project through an acquaintance. The project focused (and continues to focus, there’s now a 2.0 version) on deep ancestry from an anthropological perspective and how people began to  populate the earth.  It traces DNA migration patterns using genetic mutations to follow…

  • Sam Update: For Lori

    Lori of Dotopotamus fame promised she’d give me an update on her life if I provided one on Sam.  Ok, she may not have worded it exactly that way or even close to that, but that’s how I’m interpreting it. My brain is a fantastical place! Who or What is a Sam? Since I may have magically…

  • An Introvert’s Rant

    There are two things I must love doing, because I do them a lot.  I love telling myself horror stories while I’m in the shower and I love thinking of the most irritating things guaranteed to keep me awake if I’m woken up in the middle of the night.  Well, it’s 2:29 am and since…

  • Squirrely’s

    During my summer vacation, which sounds more like a three month holiday away from school rather than a few days out of town, we decided to a make stop.  Truth be told, we made several along the way to New Orleans, because one of the more awesome traits I inherited from my mother (that did…

  • Family Update: My Summer Vacation

    It’s that special time of year when I use my blog to update my family and friends in a way that will bore the snot out of you if you don’t know me personally (and likely if you do, but you’ll feel forced to trudge through out of fear I might present you with a…

  • My Secret Talent

    I’ve always suspected I’m secretly great at something.  The problem is that I haven’t quite found that thing I’m great at.  Over the years I’ve learned it’s not drawing, writing, photography, improv, film making, pottery, gymnastics or tennis, but I’ve never given up hope (as you can tell).  Earlier this year I decided it might…

  • An Adventure

    On the drive into work the other morning I was lamenting not having any good adventure stories to share.  I was coming to grips with having finally reached the bottom of my story well and preparing to settle for sharing quips about the giant mug of water I’ve been drinking daily (well, it is really…

  • Mommy, I Want to Be a Pariah When I Grow Up

    When I was younger, I wanted to be a ballerina, a few years later it was an architect, then a mythologist (which my cousin kept trying to explain wasn’t a real thing), then a museum curator, then finally a “who’s hiring?” I never consciously chose “pariah”. I guess I never dared to hope that I’d…

  • Foster Needed – Austin, Texas

    My good friend Julie has an amazing opportunity of a lifetime – a chance to practice medicine in New Zealand for a year. The downside, aside from not being able to see her at all during that time and only getting to live vicariously through her adventures, is that she can’t take her beloved dog…

  • Cousin Removal Explained – Now with Pictures!

    One of the most confusing terms when talking about family relationships and Family Trees is the term “removed”. People will consciously avoid it opting for a second or third cousin reference, because it’s seemingly too confusing. Well, a long time ago, because I’m quite an accomplished nerd, I decided I needed to conquer it if…

  • Calling all Greens/Singletons/Robbins/Swinsons/Baileys/Howards/Touchstones/Webbs

    First, let me introduce myself, I’m Beth. I’m the granddaughter of Jim Swinson and Elizabeth Cearley. You can read the reasoning behind my posting my family information on a blog in the previous post or by clicking here. I’m looking for more information on our family – from stories to photos to very simple things…

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