To The Admins of It's Our Tree.Com

Dear Sir or Madam:

Someone should really tell your public relations/marketing people to change your emails. I mean, it's nice that they've been short, sweet and to the point, but seriously, do you really expect people to read these emails? Was it your intention to make your marketing emails look like spam? If it was, CONGRATULATIONS! You've succeeded!

Come on, now, you must have received those truly spam emails from Jamaica and other countries. You know the ones that ask recipients to send them cash to free their leaders from oppression? Or to build their economies? Do you realize that your marketing emails look just like these spam mails? And do you realize what most sensible people do with those spam emails?

They block them! Yup. I know this for a fact, because it's exactly what I do with them. And I'm so incredibly average that I know all about what average people do: They block spam emails.

So what do you think I did with your emails that look just like those spammers trying to get me to send money to their banks? Yup, that's right. I blocked your address.

Of course, I didn't realize your site is a legitimate genealogy site until I saw your site discussed on my favorite genealogy blogs. How would I know your emails were legit when they look just like the spam emails I get from other countries asking for money?

Okay, I think I've made my point. Change your marketing techniques. It can only help your cause.

The Underground Cemetery: Fact or Fiction?

The 58th edition of The Carnival Of Genealogy is posted! This edition asked participants to relate a story that represents the eeriness of Halloween without revealing it's status as fact or fiction.

My own entry can be found HERE. The story surrounded these two women:

Let's start with the women's identities, which my story stated were my paternal grandmother's aunts. Well, this could be true, but fact is I have no idea who these women are! I do suspect they are from the HODICK or NAHADIL lines, but I can't prove it. I do also suspect that, if they are relatives of my father's mother, they are at the cousin level, not the aunt level.

So what about the underground cemetery story, stating that the bodies were buried 12 feet underground and the plaque buried six feet above the coffins? That would be weird, wouldn't it?

Were the women dared to go in there to prove there weren't ghosts in the shack? Heck I dunno, but what little we can see of the building looks crickety enough to withstand such a story, doesn't it?

So what was the "hoooo hoooo" the women reportedly heard?

That was the howl of laughter the women heard in their premonition about this FICTIONAL story!

Thanks to my fans for partaking in this fun activity! Head on over to the COG now to read about other genea-bloggers' tales of Halloween!

Getting to Know Me

Sheri at the Educated Genealogist tagged me for the newest Meme going around Genea-blogger land. I'm to answer the following prompts (5 answers each) and tag 5 bloggers.

***10 Years Ago I........

1. Had FINALLY finished my Bachelor's degree.
2. Was as broke as I am now with a Master's degree.
3. Was tired.
4. Was working my life away.
5. Was terrified to touch a computer.

***5 Things on Today's To-Do List......
1. Write a blog post of Blog Action Day (running out of time here!)
2. Work on my special project I can't talk about (did this).
3. Work (did this).
4. Play with the dog (did this, though not as much as I'd have liked)
5. Watch the Presidential Debate (just finished).

***5 Snacks I Enjoy........

1. Potato Chips and Dip
2. Tortilla Chips and homemade salsa
3. Ice Cream
4. Potato Chips and Ketchup
5. Watermelon.

***5 Places I Have Lived......

1. Garlow Road in Niagara Falls, NY
2. College Ave. in Tempe, Az
3. Libra Drive in Tempe, Az
4. Speedway Blvd. in Tucson Az
5. Oracle Road in Tucson Az

***5 Jobs I Have Had.....

1. Courtesy Clerk at ABCO (let go after grand opening)
2. Counter Person at Godfather's Pizza (walked out at 10 p.m. on New Years Eve)
3. Cashier at Target (quit after 4 years to move to Tucson)
4. "Teaching Parent" at residential school for deaf students (quit after 12 years after graduating)
5. Social Worker (still plugging away)

Now the hard part, tagging 5 others!

1. Cat at "Diggin' Up Dirt"
2. Dru at "Find Your Folks"
3. Julie at "GenBlog"
4. Cindy at "In My Life"
5. Let's see if I can offer Donna a distraction as she's this close to getting her baby, and get her to do this tag "Waiting For Lauren Elizabeth"

The Underground Cemetery?

These two women, aunts of my father's mother, Mary HODICK, are laughing in this picture. The story is told that the shack they are leaning against was built on a buried cemetery. That's right. A buried cemetery.

Now doesn't that sound like a no-brainer? A buried cemetery, according to gramma, was kind of like the underground. Oh stop laughing, this is how gramma explained it. You know how they refer to secret maneuverings of secret organizations as The Underground? Gramma said this was the same concept, only it was an underground, or secret, cemetery holding the remains of black sheep ancestors of the residents of Nanticoke, Luzerne County, PA. No one wanted to admit to a sense of family or loyalty to someone the town abhorred, yet they firmly believed it was an abomination to not have a Christian burial.

So they secretly held funerals and services for those loved ones who'd gone far astray, and the black sheep were buried twelve feet below the ground with a flat cement-like plaque that was also buried beneath six feet of earth. To you and me it'd look like an empty lot with a shack. To my grandmother's family, however, it was a place of mourning for the truly lost souls.

So why are these women laughing, you might ask? Because they had been dared to go into that shack up there as a way to prove there were no ghosts in there. Grandma said they'd gone in, but only got in far enough to close the door behind them. It was pitch black in there except for one thing: a virtually sheer, glowing image of a woman that looked just like Helen, the woman on the right in the picture. They bolted out only to find their brothers at the door laughing at their prank of reflecting a worn-out night-gown in front of a mirror, so it made the image -- now with a head from the women inside -- look like Helen.

Helen and her sister Tina yelled and screamed at their brothers until they ran away. Once they were gone, they couldn't stand up straight, their knees were shaking so badly. Once they collected themselves, they burst into laughter themselves.

Until a "hoooo hooooo" sound echoed from within the shack, sending Helen and Tina chasing after their brothers!

This post was submitted as an entry to the Halloween 2008 Carnival of Genealogy.

GeneaBlogger Yearbook

Wow! What fun this has been! The challenge I put forth for the genea-bloggers for this event was to go to Yearbook Yourself and upload a photo of yourself to the site to have it create a lifespan yearbook, if you will. There are some pretty interesting and funny photos in here! Heck, there were some of mine that I liked better than my current day style! Here's a look at the Geneablogger Yearbook!

Kathryn Lake Hogan of Looking 4 Ancestors created her styles for the Yearbook, too! Check it out to see if you'll roll over laughing like her boys did.

Midge Frazel of Granite in My Blood thinks GeneaBloggers "Take the Cake" when it comes to crazies! She even took it a step further and dolled up the photo a bit at her site!

Julie Cahill Tarr of GenBlog put together quite the collection at her site. You've got to see this classic yearbook layout! Is Marsha Brady in the house? :).

Linda Stienstra posted a photo at Facebook that best aligned her with the year of her graduation! Gotta admire a gal not afraid to announce her age! Course, I'd be willing to bet Geneabloggers as a whole aren't "age-shy"!

Jennifer Jones Regan employed a similar tactic and posted two photos at Facebook. One was almost the year she graduated and the other another Marsha Brady flashback!

Ben Sayer, our resident Mac guru and author of the blog MacGenealogist.com, also participated in this nostalgic event! Check out his look HERE.

SheriFenley of The Educated Genealogist joined the Marsha Brady bandwagon and then some! See her great photos HERE.

You have to see Thomas MacEntee's entry on Destination Austin Family. Just how does a geneablogger come to be? Check it out and you will see (hey, I'm a poet and don't know it!).

And what collection wouldn't be complete without the GeneaDiva? She doesn't fail us here, so go over THERE and take a gander at how she put Olivia Newton-John to the test!

Marsha! Marsha! Marsha! Oh wait, THIS PHOTO of Paula Hinkel for some reason brought to mind JAN Brady! Remember Jan's wig? Paint it black!

Now HERE is an entry that took a rather unique turn. Richard Cheek of The Cheek That Doth Not Fade included a real photo of himself in the same year as one of his Yearbook Yourself photos! What a great post, and I can't wait until the weekend when I'll have time to add his blog to my blogrolls!

Many thanks to all those who participated in this activity and to those who read about the experience. It was a fun way to break up the week! If you created a Yearbook Yourself photo or post and it isn't listed here it's likely because I didn't know of it (and hopefullyl not because I missed it!). Post a link under "Comments" for others to enjoy!