Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Humorous Tombstones: Making Your Last Word a Funny One

The Washington Post has published an article by John Kelly, describing some of the humorous tombstones created for Eleanor Herman, a historian and author who lives in McLean, Virginia, and for some of her relatives.

When Eleanor  and her sister Christine buried their mother in 2001 at Baltimore’s Lorraine Park Cemetery, they were told tombstones are cheaper if ordered in bulk. So the sisters decided to buy their own at that time. They also got one for their Uncle Walter, whose grave in the family plot had been unmarked since his death 17 years earlier. They chose appropriate sayings for each.

Ancestry.com: Behind the Scenes with Santa Claus

King Richard III's Grave Possibly Discovered In The UK

Archaeologists searching for the grave of King Richard III say they have found bones that are consistent with the 15th century monarch's physical abnormality and of a man who died in battle. (See my earlier article at http://goo.gl/uT41Z that describes the search.)

Richard Buckley, co-director of the University of Leicester's Archaeological Services, said the bones are a "prime candidate" to be Richard's. The remains are now being examined and the team hopes that DNA can be recovered to aid identification.

Researchers are not yet saying that it is King Richard III pending further tests. However, preliminary examination does look hopeful. William Shakespeare, writing more than a century after Richard's death, described the king as "deform'd, unfinished." Researchers said the skeleton displayed spinal abnormalities consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance.

Purchase a Bit of your Irish Ancestral Homeland

Whether you are from Ireland or even if your family emigrated from the island several generations ago, you can now own a wee bit of Irish soil. You don't even have to go to Ireland to see it. You can keep it on the mantlepiece or anyplace else you wish.

Yes, this is a bit of a joke. It isn't worth... well, dirt. However, for anyone with a sense of humor, Auld Sod Gifts is selling a canister of real Irish soil from County Tipperary.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Found on a grammar school test paper: "A census taker is a man who goes from house to house increasing the population."

Golf at the Funeral Parlor

From an ad posted by the Ahlgrim Family Funeral Services in Palatine, Illinois:

The Smell of Old Books for Your Kindle

I must admit that I love the smell of old books. Sure, I also like the technology of today's e-book readers. I appreciate the lower prices, the ability to carry hundreds of books in a tiny package, and the ease of adding new books to my personal library. e-Book readers can do all that and more. Yet, I somehow miss the smell of an old, leather-bound book.

Once again, technology steps in. Thanks to a product called Smell of Books™, you can finally enjoy reading e-books without giving up the smell you love so much. Smell of Books™ ships in an aerosol can and is described as "a revolutionary new aerosol e-book enhancer." I'm not so sure about the word "revolutionary," but I think I'd like to try this product just to see how it works.

The product is available in several aromas:

• New Book Smell
• Classic Musty Smell
• Scent of Sensibility
• Eau You Have Cats
• Crunchy Bacon Scent

I think I might skip the "Eau You Have Cats." Somehow, I also doubt if the smell of bacon will substitute for an old book, even if it is bound with pigskin.

Ancestry.com's "Behind the Scenes with Santa Claus"

Ancestry.com teamed up with Santa Claus to help bring a little holiday cheer to the company's fans. This is a little sneak peak behind the scenes of Ancestry.com's interview with Santa. Santa even discusses his family tree.

Careful, he's checking the Naughty List for the second time.

Warning: make sure your tongue is firmly planted in your cheek when watching this YouTube video at http://youtu.be/2VvNPah0BUI or click on the image below:

The Useful Cemetery

I guess it is reassuring to know that a cemetery is useful. I'd shudder to think that a cemetery might not be useful. As proof of its usefulness, here's a picture of the entrance to the Useful Cemetery:



Hint: the cemetery is located in Useful, Missouri.

What is an Indirect Descendant?

Over and over, I hear or read the phrase, "He is a direct descendant of..." OK, if someone is described as a "direct descendant," doesn't that indicate that there is also an "indirect descendant?" If so, what is an "indirect descendant?" I don't think there is any such thing.

Actually, it seems to me that the phrase "direct descendant" is redundant.

Genealogy with the Lockhorns

The Lockhorns' web site has a cute cartoon involving genealogy. Copyright laws prevent me from posting the cartoon here but I can legally post a link to it: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/comics/index.html?feature_id=Lockhorns&feature_date=2010-08-14

Tracing Your Genealogy According to the Onion

Here are a few quotes from TheOnion.com:

Building your family tree can be a fun and rewarding activity. Here are some tips to help you get started:

• There are many web sites and software packages out there that can help you trace your family history without having to deal with Grandma.
• If you are of European descent, don't be surprised to find that your ancestors were a bunch of bored, repressed, self-loathing people with blockish physiques.
• Keep in mind that entire branches of your family tree can be taken out with a simple Magic Marker.

Genealogy Research in the Year 2060

Let’s fast-forward fifty years and look in our crystal ball. You know the one: the crystal ball that has 1024-by-768 pixels. It is a winter evening in 2060 A.D. at the Rencher Memorial Genealogy Center in Salt Lake City. Alan Mann III is working the evening shift, answering calls from people interested in their ancestry.

Sitting in his cubicle, Alan hears the VoIP phone ring. He swivels in his office chair and touches a button on the micro-headset in his ear. Through the room’s integrated sound system we can only hear one side of the conversation:

I Don't Want to Say the Water Was High, But...

You may have read about the flooding in the past couple of weeks in the northeastern United States. The waters have now receded in most places but the situation was serious for many.

A homeowner not far from where I live has had a 30 or 35-foot boat parked beside his house for months. The house and the boat are on the side of a normally small stream that flooded far beyond its banks in recent weeks. A sign on the front lawn has said, "Boat For Sale." The homeowner recently replaced that sign with the following:

Newspapers Must Be Kept Alive as Print Editions

Printed newspapers are dying left and right, being replaced by online news and broadcast news. Yet there are reasons to keep print media alive. You may be happy getting your news online, but for some citizens the loss of the printed page will have a profoundly life-altering impact.

The Onion News Network presents its best argument for keeping print media breathing. Listen as a panelist describes life without thousands of old newspapers … at http://www.theonion.com/content/video/how_will_the_end_of_print?utm_source=videoembed or click on the image below.

Signs You've Had Too Much of the 21st Century

The following is floating around the Internet. Author unknown:

1. You try to enter your password on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 4.
4. You e-mail your colleague at the desk next to you to ask if they're ready to go to lunch.
5. You chat on-line regularly with a stranger from the U.S., but you haven't spoken to your next-door-neighbor yet this year.
6. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends is that they do not have an e-mail address.
7. Your idea of being organized is multiple colored post-it notes.
8. You hear most of your jokes via e-mail rather than in person.
9. When you go home after a long day at work you still answer the phone in a business manner.
10. When you make phone calls from home you accidentally dial "9" to get an outside line.
11. You now think of three espressos as "getting wasted."
12. You call your son's beeper to let him know it's time to eat. He emails you back from his bedroom, "What's for dinner?"
13. Your daughter sells Girl Scout Cookies via her web site.
14. You didn't give your valentine a card this year, but you posted one for your e-mail buddies via a web page.

Email in the Good Old Days

The above image is used here with permission of the copyright holder.

Man Attends Own Funeral

CNN has a story that every genealogist can identify with: verifying the accuracy of death information is critical. Two weeks ago, on a day celebrated in many countries as the "Day of the Dead," Ademir Jorge Goncalves, a Brazilian bricklayer walked into his own funeral.

The sight of Goncalves alive shocked relatives, some of whom tried to jump out of the windows of the funeral home in southern Brazil.

An Interesting NASCAR Tombstone

The "My Good Life" blog is written by Mark Aubrey. He has posted some pictures from the Greenwood Cemetery in Greenwood, Johnson County, Indiana and one of them caught my eye. I collect pictures of unusual tombstones so I had to save this one. Perhaps you will also.

This tombstone shows a picture of a Mr. and Mrs. Davis with what probably was a major item in their lives: a stock car. Having the race car also pictured on the tombstone is a nice touch, in my opinion. However, if it was my tombstone, I think I would have left off the logo of one of the commercial sponsors.

Genealogy: Similar to Cocaine, Amphetamines, and Other Drugs of Stimulation

Slate, the online magazine, has a story about how searching the Internet and keeping up with events through instant communication can fulfill biochemical needs within our brains. Research has shown that anticipation and simply "wanting" can stimulate dopamine production in the brain, and an Internet full of answers plays right into that.

The story describes the searching for information, and I suspect that includes searching for genealogy information, both online and off. While not specifically stated in the article, my guess is that seeking and finding genealogy information also stimulates dopamine production. Don't you feel a "high" when you find genealogy information that has eluded you for some time?