Backwards and in high heels

One of my heroes died yesterday.

Most of you non-Texans who knew Ann Richards at all, knew her for her remarks about George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Democratic Convention:
"Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."

But she was so much more. She grew up during the Depression, fortunate enough to have a father who told her she could be anything she wanted to be. With that in mind, she joined a debate club. And the rest, as they say, is history.

A honeymoon campaigning for a Democratic candidate. Raised 4 children. Travis county commissioner. Recovered alcoholic. State treasurer. Most famously, only the second-ever female governor of Texas. A favorite of the press corps, who loved covering her because they never knew what might happen (like taking up a Harley when she was almost 60). Her favorite comment about the difficulties of being a woman in politics: "Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels."

She was a classic Texas lady -- a heart as big as the state, and at the same time, tough as nails.

Vaya con Dios, Governor. Heaven's a little brighter now, and Texas a little darker.

July 4th Trivia

(come to think of it, not so trivial)

Did you know that one of the reasons given, in the Declaration of Independence, for the break with King George, was "for depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury"?

["King George" -- coincidence? I think not.]

And good night to all you wonderful folks at the NSA.

A (Very) Short Review of Minnesota Baseball

• Lewwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• The St. Paul Saints ROCK
• The Metrodome looks much bigger on TV than in does in person.

And last, but not least:

• Train.

State of the Union Address - a comment

If I had just 1% of that b.s. to spread around my rosebushes, I'd be a shoo-in for the blue ribbon at the State Fair.

Stupid Evangelical Tricks, Jan. '06

He's baaaaack!!
__________________________________________________________
Robertson says Sharon's stroke is God's punishment

The Reverend Pat Robertson says Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's massive stroke could be God's punishment for giving up Israeli territory. The founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network told viewers of "The 700 Club" that Sharon was "dividing God's land," even though the Bible says doing so invites "God's enmity." Robertson added, "I would say woe to any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course." He noted that former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. Robertson said God's message is, "This land belongs to me. You'd better leave it alone."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Q: When Mr. Robertson goes to his Just Reward, what will we do for comedic relief?

2006 -- Some Modest Proposals

To be honest, I never keep my New Year's resolutions. But am I going to let that keep me from proposing resolutions for all of us? Not a bit!

Vote. Every chance you get.

Leave a little more space between your car and the one in front of you.

We are surrounded by idiots. Learn to deal with it without raising your blood pressure.

Turn off the vacuum cleaner, or the computer, or the TV, or the iPod. Sit outside on the grass and watch the sun set. It will do you good.

If you aren't healthy, get there. If you are, get healthier. A new influenza pandemic IS coming. The only questions are: when? and how bad? The government will not be ready to help us, and the medical establishment won't be able to. There will not be enough hospital beds, there will not be enough respirators, there will not be enough medicines or enough doctors & nurses to administer them. We are on our own.

Watch more baseball.

If you can't take the vacation of your dreams this year, start planning it. You never know. A year ago, I never would have believed I'd have tickets to Ireland.

Be nice to someone who doesn't deserve it.

And then refrain from congratulating yourself.

Every single day, do something you truly love. Even if it's only for five minutes.

Plant something. We need more oxygen.

Learn something new.

Tell someone you love them.

Mean it.

Oh, Happy WhatEVER!

And people wonder why I bury myself in fiction and genealogy? Good grief, look at the latest tempest -- all about whether we should be saying "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas!"

(Aside: it must be nice to live so obliviously, that you think this is the biggest problem in the world.)

Note to the ayatollahs -- and yes, that includes you, Mr. O'Reilly -- the root of the word 'holiday' is, now brace yourself, "holy day." When you wish someone "happy holidays," you are wishing them a happy day for whatever they are celebrating, whether that be Christmas, or Hannukah, or Eid, or Kwanzaa, or Jiminy Cricket's birthday.

If anyone's going to complain about that, shouldn't it be the atheists?

So, in the interests of PC non-offensiveness, and not to forget inclusiveness, I'd like to wish you all the very best of days, every day, whether or not you or anyone else recognizes it as having some civic, personal, religious, spiritual, or commercial significance; and whether or not it has any reference to any putative deity or deities, or historical and/or mythological status of same.

Let's see Hallmark come up with a card for that one!

Blessed be, y'all.

Vote for Mama!!!

Go to time.com and vote for Mother Nature for Person of the Year, 2005.

Two reasons:
1) This award is for the "person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or for ill," during the past year. From the tsunami to hurricanes to earthquakes to tornados, Mother Nature certainly qualifies more than any of the other nominees listed.

2) Can't you just hear the fundies screaming? "You're promoting paganism!!!"
Anything that raises their blood pressure is, as Martha would say, A Good Thing.

Unexpected Gifts

Sometimes the answer to our desires is, "Sure, you betcha."
Sometimes the answer is, "You gotta be kidding Me."

And sometimes . . . sometimes God chuckles, and says, "Just you wait, girl. Just you wait."

---

I've always been quite the reader. Failing all else, I'll read the cereal box while I eat breakfast. And, like many readers, I used to fancy myself a writer. Heck, I even sold two stories. OK, so one of them never saw the light of day, but still -- somebody paid actual $$ for words I wrote.

But you know how it is, Life intervenes. Things happen, jobs take up a decidedly inconvenient amount of your time, new interests present themselves. And reading truly wonderful literature (Owen Parry, anyone?) can put a real damper on any illusions you may have about your own talent.

So, while I'm still an obsessive reader, I have faced reality: you'll never see my name on the shelves at Borders.

So, what, you may ask, is the "Just you wait" part?

My daughter is writing a novel. She sends it to me and some of her friends chapter by chapter.
And as an obsessive reader, I can tell you with no trace of bias, that it's good. It's very good. I've known that since I read her idea for the back cover.

But how good it is hit truly me full force this afternoon. I was reading the latest installment in the dentist's waiting room. And suddenly I was just blown away -- not that this particular moment in the story was different, or stronger, or more emotional. I was blown away by the totality of it, and by the realization that she is so very good at something I just toyed with. Brought tears to me eyes, boyos, it did, it did. This is what we all want for our children, right? That they have it better, and that they are better.

She is. You'll never see my name on the shelves at Borders. But you'll see hers.

You betcha.

Just you wait.

Ghoulies and ghosties, etc.

I've been asked many times, over the years, how I can read & watch "that horror stuff." Vampires and monsters and ghosts and clowns in the sewers and . . . Doesn't it scare me? Doesn't it give me nightmares?

Nope. Not really.

Consider, if you will:
Hurricane Katrina was an excellent dress rehearsal for Homeland Security; a dress rehearsal for their response to the next terrorist attack on the U. S.

Go ahead. Take a moment. Let that really sink in.

Gives you a nice warm fuzzy, doesn't it?

Nope. Horror fiction and horror movies don't bother me a bit. Bring on the monsters, bring on the vampires, bring on the things that go bump in the night.

Not nearly as scary as real life.

Mommy Dearest

We think we're so smart. We think we're so powerful. We think we're so important.

And then, every once in a while, Mother Nature decides we need a reminder. Sometimes, she just taps us on the shoulder and clears her throat.

But sometimes, it's a big ol' whop upside the head that leaves us seeing stars and looking for our teeth.


Yes, there were a lot of people who could have and should have left the gulf states when Katrina headed toward them. And why they didn't, those of us at a distance may never understand.

But there were many, many, many who could not. The children, the aged, the poor, the sick, and those who stayed to look after them.

And now, as we sit in our intact, air-conditioned homes, with our full refrigerators, and bitch about what this is doing to the price of gasoline, they are living on rooftops. Pushing through water you and I would be afraid to step into in a hazmat suit. Living with dead bodies, no food, no water, no sanitation. In a city that was once a jewel of the South.

http://www.redcross.org

Please.

S.E.T., August '05, Part 2

(CNN) -- Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson has called for the United States to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez . . .

O.K., Pat, I know it's VERY difficult, but I want you to THINK -- think very far back in your ministerial education, back when you actually believed in something other than your own arrogance:

Once upon a time, there was this guy in Palestine, who went around saying things like "forgive your enemies," "blessed are the meek," "blessed are the peacemakers."
Pop quiz, Pat -- who was that guy?

First we had "What Would Jesus Do?"
Then "Who Would Jesus Bomb?"
I guess now it's time for
"Who Would Jesus Assassinate?"

Remember When . . .

Remember when everyone thought that gas hitting $1.00/gallon would mean the End of Civilization As We Know It?

Remember when the Republicans thought a President should be impeached for lying to the public?

Remember when a woman who lost a son in battle was a Gold Star Mother, immune from attacks on her character?

Remember when those who thought fighting a war was the right thing to do, went down to the recruiter's office and signed up?

Stupid Evangelical Tricks, August '05 Edition

I think this story speaks for itself, and needs no comment from me.


Group to protest homosexuality at military funeral
Thursday, August 4, 2005
By Jon SeidelSpecial to the Daily Southtown
A Baptist group from Kansas has announced it plans to picket Friday at the funeral of Spc. Adam Harting.
Portage, Ind., police learned about the group's intentions by fax Wednesday.
"We're doing everything here to ensure the safety of everyone involved," Chief Cliff Burch said.
The Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, is not specifically targeting Harting, who died in Iraq last week.
It pickets at military funerals all over the country, saying God is killing U.S. soldiers as punishment to America for allowing homosexuality.
The group also has announced plans to picket at military funerals in Minnesota, Alabama and California this week.
It protested in Valparaiso, Chesterton and Gary in 1998 after a gay-awareness poster was allowed in a Chesterton classroom.
Army Sgt. Bob Jaso, military liaison to the Harting family, said the group tries to provoke physical confrontation with mourners.
Because the funeral home and cemetery where Harting will be buried are private property, Jaso said, pickets will not be able to get any closer than the sidewalk across the street.
"Even if they yell something, they're still going to be far enough away that they can be ignored," Jaso said.
At other funerals, Jaso said, people were able to block the group from being seen.
Harting, 21, a 2002 graduate of Portage High School, died July 25 in Samarra, Iraq, from an explosive device.
He was a member of the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 42nd Infantry Division, based in Fort Stewart, Ga.
The Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana

Fourteen

Fourteen Marines killed in Iraq today.

That was all it said, the link on cnn.com yesterday. You know, in the little section at the bottom of other stories. It wasn't even at the top of its section; it was second, after a link to a story about the shuttle spacewalk.

Fourteen Marines killed in Iraq today.

Fourteen Marine reserves. All from the same Ohio unit. A unit that had already lost five just on Monday. Fourteen Marines, killed "when a huge bomb destroyed their lightly armored vehicle, hurling it into the air in a giant fireball." (Associated Press)
And note, please, the phrase "lightly armored."

Fourteen Marines killed in Iraq today.

So, what did you do last night after work? I fed the animals. Watered the plants. Looked at microfiche viewers on Ebay. Rejoiced that my favorite Twins player saved the day.

No funeral to plan.

No friends and relatives to call with the bad news.

No child to hold, and try to explain why Daddy won't be coming home.

Fourteen Marines killed in Iraq today.

I wonder what the Liar-in-Chief did last night.

Once Upon a Time in America

Don't you just love holiday weekends? No, really, I'm not being sarcastic (surprise!). A little time to relax, maybe catch a game; grill some steak once the temp drops below 100; sleep a little late in the morning.

And maybe, just maybe, reflect a bit on the meaning of this particular holiday.


Read this.
Please.
It's important.

Or at least, it used to be.

And the reason for this is . . . ????

Jonathan Flores just graduated last year from John Jay High School in San Antonio. He was a polite kid, active in his school, with twin kid brothers who idolized him.

"Flores . . . was killed Tuesday in Iraq by a roadside bomb near Fallujah."

There were no WMDs.

There was no link between Saddam and 9/11.

But Jonathan Flores is dead. Another sacrifice to the egos of a few megalomaniacs with way too much power and way too little humanity. Another sacrifice to making the reputation of a man who doesn't want to be known as just "the son." Another sacrifice, in short, to stupidity.

Jonathan was only 18 years old.

Only in Texas

Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages -- gather 'round, for I have a confession to make:

I have been disrespectful of the Texas Legislature.

Yes, I know, it's difficult to believe (unless, of course, you happen to have read the previous post). But I assure you, it's true. I have joked about their incompetence. I have bewailed the start of session. I have referred to Will Rogers' comment about not writing jokes, just reporting on Congress.

Mea culpa, mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.

But I have seen the error of my ways. I have turned a new leaf. I have . . . oh, enough already. You want to know what caused this change of heart, don't you?

The Texas Lege, folks, has now set a new standard of speed and efficiency. A new standard which I defy any other state body -- nay, even the U.S. Congress -- to meet, much less exceed.

In the waning hours of the current session, a committee was needed to iron out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the same bill. The committee would have to work out a compromise, write and issue a report and get it to the reps so a vote could be taken. With mere hours to go, House Speaker Tom Craddick named the House members of the committee on Saturday morning. A very short deadline, as the session was due to end Sunday.

But not to worry!! In an unmatched display of a heretofore-unseen sense of urgency, the committee's report was printed and distributed on Friday!!! Yes, you read that right, the committee wrote, published, and distributed the report before the members were even named!!!

And to add to their glory, the humble public servants who managed this miracle insist upon anonymity. Not one single person is claiming credit for this feat.

Take that, you other 49 states. Only in Texas!!!!

The Texas Lege

God love 'em. Certainly nobody else with a brain could.

OK, put yourself in this position: you are a legislator in a state with, among others, the following issues:
* kids are dying regularly because Child Protective Services is massively underfunded and understaffed;
* teachers are up in arms because you're trying to cut their pensions when you just voted yourself a $6000 raise:
* your state contains at least one of the fattest cities in the universe;
* an abysmal high school dropout rate.

So, what's your priority?

Why, isn't it obvious? Passing a bill to put a ban on same-sex marriages in the state constitution.
It gets better. The sponsor of the bill, with a perfectly straight face, claimed that the bill "is not anti-gay."

*sigh*

I recall, in the Gospels, harsh words from Jesus about hypocrites, and about those who look down on others as "not as good" as themselves.
But homosexuality?

Not one single word.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

So, what is it with genealogy, anyway?

Sure, some people just dabble in it. They start with Grandpa and work back; they may sit down and do a Google search on a rainy day; and eventually, when they hit a dead end, they give up and watch "The Apprentice."

And then there are the rest of us. The ones who live, breathe, and dream it. The ones who wake up at 3 a.m. wondering, "Did I ever check 19th century Kentucky land records for him?" The ones who see a request for volunteers & say, "I can fit in one more project!" (at least, until the dust bunnies start mutating).
Like Glenda, who types up old Rochester, New York newspaper articles at an amazing rate, & sends them to the Monroe County list so the rest of us can find our ancestors (or just read fun stories about life in the "old days").
Like the Smiths, who took Microsoft Access as a base and developed an entire software program just for the small subset of genealogists who do one-name studies.
Like Julia, maintaining a whole inter-related series of webpages for the Cornwall OPC project, while still looking for volunteers for the 'orphan' parishes.

You laugh?

My current projects:
The general family history, of course. Working backward and sideways in all directions. Currently featuring 3,751 persons in the database, with more contributions from distant cousins sitting here awaiting input. Not to mention the two books of Ohio records that should be arriving in a couple of weeks (have to find ggg/grandma Fannie Strickland's maiden name, you know -- how else will I trace her family back?).

The One-Name-Study for Samble and variants (Sambel, Sambell). Why? The earliest-known ancestor (in an English-speaking country so I can actually do the research) is a Samble. Not that common a name, so quite possibly all related.
And the earliest Samble record (currently) is found in the little parish of Landulph, in Cornwall, which brings us to --

The Landulph OPC project. Cornwall genealogists started the Online Parish Clerk project in the 1990's, with the goal of every parish having an OPC to collect and transcribe parish records. (The project is now catching on in some other areas of England). So, I have here a set of scans of Landulph's parish records, going back to 1540. Of course, I wimped out and started with the most recent and most legible, but eventually, it's Latin, here I come!

Transcribing the 1870 Wilson County (TX) census for Rootsweb. Why? Just for grins, I guess; I've got no ancestors here.
Actually, there is a reason. I have found so much info on my ancestors that would not have been available to me if someone hadn't transcribed it and put it on the internet -- it just seemed like I should do something for the home county. And I should be done in a couple of months, so I can strike this one off the list (of course, I already have my eye on another project to replace it . . .).

And speaking of Rootsweb, I belong to the legion of volunteers who administer the mailing lists and message boards; our main duties being to keep the spammers and other idiots away. If you have small, quiet lists & boards, like I do, it takes very little time.

Last but not least, currently on hold but not forgotten, The Lamberts of Southern Illinois. Which I am very much afraid will someday branch out into The Lamberts of Tennessee. Because I AM going to find more of Hezekiah's family someday. Whether they like it or not!!

OCD?
You decide. I don't have time. There's some faded 16th-century handwriting to be deciphered . . .