Begin at the Bottom
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Sunday
29November98
11:59 am
The LA Times had an article on computerizing your family tree, which I
showed my mother. I feel vindicated for her unsupportiveness...
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Saturday
28November98
9:36 am
LA is in the middle of a fair sized rainstorm, and I can hear all of the
plants singing their thanks. I am home alone until late afternoon
and will try to enjoy the time to myself. I do have to work on an
essay due Tuesday.
Why is it that we don't take time for ourselves? Of course there is always something else to do. But why is personal time not cosidered to be of an equal importance.
Writing a diary is a bit boring when one has no crisises in one's life. I have straight As, will be 21 in a number of days, have a wonderful boyfriend with whom I have fought 4 times in our 13 months together, get along well with my family, am graduating (with honors) in May... Life is good, and that always gets me a bit worried. But it has been going strong for a while, so I am keeping an optimistic outlook.
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Friday
27November98
3:39 pm
Thanksgiving went well. We had a 6-year-old guest, nephew of a
family friend, who joined us and informed us repeatedly that our whole
family is nuts. I just had the best bowl of cherries I have ever
tasted. The book gets mailed out this evening.
11:23 pm
A long day of work. Dinner with my mom and Howard, her boyfriend of
10 years. I am up to my eyeballs in resources. Tomorrow will
be relaxing.
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Thursday
26November98
Thanksgiving
12:02 am
This year we are supposed to have a nice calm family Thanksgiving with
just my mom, dad, brother and me. I will be happy for the small
event, for I will spend all of this morning (after I sleep and awake)
working on the book.
I am planning on applying for a scholarship to go to Israel next year (with not much hope of getting it) and have also submitted a business proposal to create an extensive website. I really have no idea what I will be doing next year, and June isn't so far away...
11:39 am
I am slaving over the book... well, not really slaving. The
revision process is enjoyable. At the same time, I am preoccupied
with my family tree, trying to form connections to disparate souls in my
mind...
_________________ 11:55 pm Today was satisfying because I did a wonderful interview for the
upcoming reprint of my mom's and my book. The interviewee was a
student at my former high-school who set up internet diologs between
Israeli and Palestinian students to promote peace in the Middle East.
He was so genuine, and the conversation has a real charm wherever
his youth shows through.
Wednesday
25November98
I am well. The drive down from Berkeley was wonderful. He
and I had an extensive talk about religion, which has always been an
uncomfortable subject between us. The differences in our religions
matter little (I am Jewish and he is the son of a Lutherin Minister), but
I am not very religious at all and he says he thinks about god every day.
Since religion never comes up in our conversation, I feel like I am
missing out on a huge part of him. Finally getting to talk to him
about it made me feel much closer to him.
_________________
Tuesday
24November98
10:06 am
Today I head for LA...
_________________ 7:23 pm 9:51 pm
Monday
23November98
I am very much looking forward to Thanksgiving break. I need the
short away time from school. I have pretty much shut down as of
late, especially in terms of school work. But I am sure I will be
rejuvenated come next week.
Now I get to go home. I am very much craving some soup. I
just need to survive tomorrow...
_________________ 7:23 pm
Thursday
19November98
My family tree meanderings [the only thing that occupies me during
my long slow work shifts] have led me to learn that a gubernia is a
province of the Russian Empire. I am searching for something like
Valena gubernia, Krementz, Uvedza, Russia. Since these words
clearly aren't spelled right [if a search in a search engine produces no
matches, it doesn't exist], I am having to serch for some list of
gubernias, which I have not been able to find. I may just make my
own. There's a little project.
Gubernias:
Another site
provided this definition: "A gubernia was a geographic unit roughly
equivalent to a state, subsequently replaced by the term
oblast." I learned that gubernia can also be spelled
gubernyia, and I am still tring to figure out if you can also use ubernia.
A yezdnuy gorod is a district town. I even found Russian
documents for sale. I also found more maps.
_________________
Wednesday
18November98
4:52 pm
Since I am still engrossed in my family tree (334 people!), I have been
collection further resources, such as a
map collection, a
German-Russian history chronology, a chronology of
Russian history, and GenServ Sample Search
Request Form.
_________________
Tuesday
17November98
9:59 am
Again I give myself 15 minutes to print a word document in the facilities
and agan it takes forever. The facilities are so frustrating, and I
work here!
_________________
Monday
16November98
11:00 am 7:13 pm
I had a lovely weekend. Cindy's
birthday party on Saturday night was a total blast!
I watched The Right Stuff over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed
it. Tonight I went and got cheap Chinese take-out before coming to
work. I was eating my veggie chow mein while walking, but I had to
sit down to eat the spring rolls. I got in a solitary mood eating
alone on a cold bench in the dark. I thought of travelling to a far
away country all by myself, or even just moving somewhere like Boston,
where I will know no one. I would have to make little rituals for
myself and get all settled into a whole new way of doing things before I
started inviting people into my universe. Sometimes I get so exited
about the idea of decorating a brand new apartment. I long to move -- to have a clean start.
_________________
Saturday
14November98
3:17 pm
The deadline for the book grows nearer and the assignments are about to
pile up, but life is grand. The family tree has hit 329 people.
I spent an hour on the phone with my sister this morning (she's in
Florida) and I am going out for Japanese food tonight with my roommate in celebration of her 28th
birthday. She wants to get all liquored up on sake. It
should be fun. Two of her ex-roommates are coming, so if nothing
else, we can swap Cindy stories.
_________________
Thursday
12November98
10:31 am
Quote of the month:
By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote. In fact, it is as difficult to appropriate the thoughts of others as it is to invent. -- R. Emerson
9:34 pm
In searching for the name Arkin I found that he is a gargoyle.
_________________ 11:23 am I have e-mailed two complete strangers asking them if they are related
and willing to provide information. I would be a bit wary of
recieving such an e-mail, so I have done my best to provide plenty of info
on who I am and how I think I am related. Only time will tell...
8:22 pm 8:40 pm
Monday
9November98
I have a two hour shift this morning, then I am going home to make myself
some soup and garlic bread. My boyfriend maganged to get sick,
despite all my protests to him being around me when I was unwell. I
am feeling good enough to dance today. I uploaded a new family tree
document; 279 people and counting... I had a little error with
the program, but I
e-mailed the author
yesterday and he got back to me immediately (in something like 20 minutes)
with a perfect fix. I was so impressed.
Today the internet holds a very big wonder for me. I was able to
locate my Fourth cousin twice removed by fishing around on webpages,
e-mailing, and a heaping spoonful of good luck! This morning I woke
up with no known connection to this middle-aged man in Florida (a week ago
I didn't even know of his existence) and now we are known blood relatives
of a common ancestor, who's children were born in 1876, 1886, and 1887.
I am sure that some find my fascination with my parentage to be a
ridiculous waste of time. I know my boyfriend finds it a bit
boring, but He is so good at humoring me. But I am completely
absorbed. This is fun!
I spent a good portion of my time at home today entering in the data I got
from this distant relative of mine. I enjoyed evey minute of it.
I just hope I don't talk about it too much with my friends.
I don't want to put them to sleep...
_________________
Sunday
8November98
1:32 pm
Who is going to be 21 in less than a month? Why, it's me!
I took a friend's shift, so I am again at work. My family has not been very good about giving me updates, which is bad, since I am so terribly excited. I have 277 people!
2:02 pm
I just came across Ahoy! The
Homepage Finder which seems like a great idea someone should have come
up with a long time ago.
2:46 pm
I am looking at Scott Kim's inversions gallery and am totally blown away by the infinity circle. He has a huge collection of beautiful ambigrams.
3:31 pm
I like pentaminoes a lot and wish there more more good sites online at which
to play games. Need I mention that I am bored?
3:46 pm
Now I am just counting the minutes until work ends, reading Japanese
English Advertising Slogans, and such.
_________________
Saturday
7November98
3:18 pm
Today's work shift has been spent on the web. I perused Lawrence Livermore's List of
Lists and BotSpot. I find chatterbots to be a totally fascinating
direction for computer and AI
technologies to be headed.
3:39 pm
My family tree has hit a whopping 277 people, so I am searching the Family Tree
Maker Online Search and the Internet FamilyFinder.
4:36 pm
I downloaded Sparrowhawk
to play with, although I am exceedingly pleased with the performance of Gene. Am
a little surprised at how popular family
tree research is, based on my family's response (What are you doing this
for? Why are you doing this? ...).
_________________
Friday
6November98
1:04 pm
I am in the office trying to scan some negatives yet again. I get
so frustrated when things don't work. Although my sprained toe is
now all better, I have been sitting out of dance due to this darn cold.
My very sweet boyfriend has been taking wonderful care of me, and
that has been especially helpful, since I have no energy. I am
debating whether or not to try dancing today...
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Thursday
5November98
6:48 pm
I am engrossed in reading an article on digital paper. I cannot believe some of the
brilliant inventions people come up with!
Quote of the day (by an unknown source):
An idea is not responsible for the people who believe in it.
_________________
Wednesday
4November98
4:29 pm
I am really sick today. I got less than four hours of sleep last
night. Cindy (my roommate) thinks
that was because of the caffeinated tea, but I think it was because I was
sick. Anyway, it didn't help me get better. So I sat out of
dance today. Now I am at work and not doing so hot. I have
managed to keep my chipper attitude, but I really want to be better now.
My family tree is up to 244 people! My mom hates it, but the rest of the family seems interested, and I am hoping for a lot of feedback...
5:27 pm
In fishing around on geneology sites, I have come across the 10,000 year calendar.
5:51 pm
Now I am playing with the JewishGen Family
Finder.
_________________
Tuesday
3November98
7:35 pm
I managed to get really ill today. Despite my cold-like symptoms, I
danced in both my dance classes (tissue in hand). I was aided by
double-strength caffeinated Earl Grey tea.
_________________
Monday
2November98
7:26 pm
I am very much enjoying my role as family historian. i set up a
little website for my family so they could look at different trees and
send me update information.
8:33 pm
I just did a search on my name and found a site that says you can see me
nude (or someone with my name) but requires you to pay to see. I am
so amused. Oh, I am
also on a directory of porn stars. I have to find this chick!
9:04 pm
I am now going to look at scholarships.
the family tree is up to 217 people!
_________________
Sunday
1November98
7:26 pm
We went and saw Pleasantville today. I have become totally
engrossed in my family tree and I stayed up way too late last night
working on it. Now I have to start collecting info from my
relatives.