6th Guest Column on Shades Of The Departed Posted!

The sixth guest column has been posted on Shades Of The Departed! You can read it here. Enjoy!

Just A Friendly Reminder ...

I just want to remind everyone that entries for this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern Europe are due by May 19th. The topic for this edition will be on a female ancestor from that region.

Some Interesting Keywords Used to Find My Blog ...

As I have mentioned before, I use Google Analytics to keep track of how many people visit my blog on a daily basis. One of the features of this service is that keywords used to find my blog are tracked. I hadn't looked at the different keywords used in awhile, and discovered that most of the keywords used relate to topics I had posted on. I did, though, find a few interesting posts, and I thought I would just post some of the interesting and strange keywords that I noticed:

• Jessica Scahill
• so punctuation
• "stolen by Ancestry"
• "Jessica*"" world history"
• a summary of the random family book Jessica
• analysis of poem picture puzzle piece
• Barbara Ainscough youtube
• call of the wild, buck's personality traits
• Eastern European facial features
• facial characteristics of Eastern European people
• genealogy more my mother or father closer to traits
• How do I find my ancestors?
• George Edward Detwiler
• Jessica Caroll Salem II
• Jessica death huntingdon co.
• What kind of people where [sic] in the know nothing party?
• useful technologies in the old days
• What's my ancestry?

I realize this is quite a few keywords to list, but these were the ones that caught my attention. I found a couple of the search terms to be funny, but some of them did not make any sense to me as they do not relate to anything that I had posted.

A German From Russia: Caroline's Story

I don't know very much about her. All I really know about Caroline (I'm mentioning only her first name to protect the privacy of others.) is that she was born somewhere in the Russian Empire, possibly in present-day Lithuania, and that she spoke German. Ethnically, she was a German, and a Lutheran.

As I said before, I don't know much about her as she died way before I was born. What I do know is that she came to the U. S. through Ellis Island in 1902, and that she lived in Detroit, Michigan from then on until she died. Hopefully, I'll be able to find out more about her as I continue to do research on her.

Update on FamilySearch Lab's Record Search

I just happened to take a look at FamilySearch Lab's Record Search today, since it had been updated yesterday. A couple more records were added and the log in requirement has been removed. That's right; one does not have to log in into the Record Search to view the databases anymore.

First Edition of the Smile For The Camera Posted!

The first edition of the Smile For The Camera carnival has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition is belles and beaus.

Happy Mother's Day!

I just want to wish everyone a happy Mother's Day! Enjoy!

Finally ...

Earlier this week, I mentioned that I was unable to access my Google Analytics' report for my blog. Well, I was finally able to access it today. I just happened to save my settings for the analytics, and I was then able to view my report. So now I can keep track of my blog again.

Another Update On My Dog ...

Today, Ben had his stitches taken out. He was fine, and he is doing well. His wound is healing very well, but he has to stay inside for another week before he can run around with Casey.

A New Poll Created!

In lieu of a comment left on one of my posts, I have created a new poll. The question is: What Color Is Easier For You to Read? Your choices are:

• Black
• Dark Shades: Red, Blue, Green
• Normal Red, Blue, Green
• Any color

You have a week to vote, and you can only choose one answer. I appreciate any help. I want to make sure that everyone is able to read what I post. Any suggestions are always welcome. Thanks!

5th Guest Column at Shades Of The Departed Posted!

The fifth guest column at Shades Of the Departed has been posted! The author of this column was George Geder. You can read it here. Enjoy!

And Other Genealogy And History News That I Forgot To Mention ..

Earlier this week, I posted on genealogy and history news that I had noticed (either on blogs or on internet news wires), but I realized later that I had forgotten to mention a few other news articles. Among the news that I forgot to post on are:

• A World War Two Veteran Passes Away In Hotel, Leaving Over Two Hundred Grand in Cash.
• Bone Fragments of Czar Nicholas II's Two Missing Children Found. (Also see Shelly and John's reactions.)
• GINA Bill Passed.

I think that is the rest of the news relating to genealogy or history. If I have forgotten an article, please let me know. Thanks.

Random Question ...

Has anyone else had problems accessing their Google Analytics data results today? I have not been able to see the report all day. I keep getting an error message. Is this the same for others or am I alone?

Summer Challenge: Book Review One

As some of you might remember, I decided to participate in the summer challenge to read five non-fiction books. Well, I've already finished reading the first book. (What can I say? I'm a fast reader.) I'm not sure if I'm supposed to post these reviews as I finish reading them, or if I'm supposed to wait until the end of the challenge. I guess I'll just make another post when I'm finished that links all of the five reviews together.

The first book I chose to read was Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations by Charles Wilkinson (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005). The book is 383 pages long, excluding the end notes, index and bibliography, and probably falls into the category of Native American Studies or recent U. S. History. (The back of the cover lists it as a cultural studies/Native American studies.) Anyhow, the book deals with the experiences of Native American tribes over the past fifty years or so, and how the Native Americans were able to strengthen their tribes and culture over this time period. In addition to explaining events that occurred in the last half-century, the author gives background history on the struggles that Native Americans have had over the past several centuries. The book as covers the different policies that the Department of Interior and U. S. government had implemented to deal with Native Americans, especially to get Native Americans to assimilate into American society.

Overall, I thought the book was quite interesting. I did learn quite a bit about the past several decades about the history of the movement for Indian rights, and I also learned more about the policies that the U. S. government had enacted to deal with the Indians. I chose to read this book as I did not know very much about Native American history nor very much about the policies that the U. S. government created. Since Native Americans are only briefly mentioned in most U. S. history textbooks, I wanted to learn more about the role that Native Americans played in U. S. history and about how the Native Americans were treated. In all, I think this is a good book for someone to read if he or she is interested in learning more about Native American history.

Update On My Dog ...

In case anyone was wondering how my dog is doing, I thought I would post about it. Ben is doing much better, and I think he is back to normal. He is definitely not in pain anymore, and he can move around quite well.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Update

I thought I would just let everyone know that I plan to start up the Genealogy and History Thoughts Columns again. I don't know exactly when I'll start up again, but I plan doing so soon.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Today is Cinco de Mayo, and I just want to wish everyone a happy Cinco de Mayo! I don't know too much much about Cinco de Mayo. All I know is that the day is connected to the Mexican army defeating the French who had invaded in the 1860s.

A Couple of Articles Related to History or Genealogy ...

Over the past week or so, I happened to notice a couple of news articles related to history and/or history. The articles I noticed are:

• A very sad and tragic story about the death of a U. S. Civil War collector.
• DNA testing of the bodies buried in Friedrich Schiller's Grave.

I didn't notice any other news related to genealogy or history, but if I missed any articles, you are more than welcome to leave me a comment with a link to a story. Thanks!

47th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 47th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition is in honor of Mother's Day and is on our Mother's education. (Or the education of a female ancestor.)

Happy Birthday!

I just want to wish my brother a happy birthday. Justin, if you're reading this, I want you to know that I have been thinking about you. I hope today is a wonderful day for you.