eBooks, Used Books and Me...

eBook or paperback. Amazon or Barnes and Noble. To be or not to be. The great philosophical thoughts of the ages.

Now that I have started using my eReader reader (Pandigital + Barnes and Noble) I am faced with the reality of my addiction to used books on Amazon. I received gift cards for both Amazon and Barnes and Noble over the holidays and found myself torn between the two retailers.

There is nothing more fun than seeing how many used books I can buy with a set amount of money. Browsing my Wish List on Amazon and then looking at Amazon's suggestions based on my browsing and buying habits is like letting me loose in a candy shop. For my $35 gift card I bought 5 books and one new movie!

I decided to apply my Barnes and Noble gift card to my 'e' account on their website. I do not quite understand why I had to designate it for 'eBooks', but I did not read all the disclaimers that closely. I knew I would find something I wanted. This is where the fun is limited - NO USED BOOKS! Mmmm an entire industry gone! I decided to search for Christmas and genealogy related books. While there were many Christmas books, there were not a lot of bargains and to my dismay there was only one genealogy eBook. The experience was not a lot of fun.

I do have two 'new' books to read on my eBook but I also have those 5 'new' books arriving from Amazon. I tend to pick up the paperbacks quicker than the eBook, so I may never finish George W's book "Decision Points" or start Elizabeth Edward's "Resilience". But I have started reading my newly arrived paperback "The Roosevelt Woman" from Amazon.

I do need to start working on my genealogy again, so reading may become a luxury. And there still are a few Everyday Genealogy Calendars left to sell!







I recommend "The Roosevelt Women". It has a great family tree to help the reader understand the relationships and it written in a very easy to read style.

My Secret Holiday Addiction

Cheesy Christmas movies, is there anything better? Every year I search through the bins of Walmart, Sam's and Best Buy to see if there is some black and white Christmas movie I have never seen. I do searches on Amazon for Christmas movies I have to see if a recommendation will come up for a movie I do not have, and I am never disappointed.

From "A Christmas Wish", "It Happened on 5th Avenue" or "Christmas in Connecticut" I am hooked. While the movies in black and white hold a particular place in my heart, watching Arnold in "Jingle All the Way" always brings a smile to my face. And I cannot decorate the Christmas tree without Chevy Chase's National Lampoon's Christmas.

The newest addition to the bargain bins are collections of Christmas episodes from classic television series. Watch McNale's navy capture the Japanese while bringing toys to an orphanage or Samantha and Darrin help an orphan believe in Santa Claus. For a real treat you can watch an anthology of all the Saturday Night Live Christmas skits.

So what does all of this have to do with genealogy or family history? I could try to find some profound hidden meaning, but I just like them. While my son Clayton does not share my passion, he does admit to enjoying National Lampoon's Christmas. My granddaughter Tori refuses to watch any of y black and white movies, but the Home Alone and Santa Claus movies are watched every year.

Family traditions are important whether it is the family silver that is used on the dinner table, the hand made ornaments on the tree or the reading of "The Night Before Christmas" on Christmas Eve.

Oh, and Tori did pick out a movie to add to my collection this year: "The Muppets Christmas Carol"! She never really warmed up to Bill Murray's version "Scrooged"!

Merry Christmas!

For more ideas on exploring and creating your own family traditions visit http://www.everydaygenealogy.com. Use the code BLOG for free shipping.



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Catching Up: Doctors, Holidays and Everyday Genealogy!

Where to start?

I spent 4 weeks this fall on short term disability. I went through various doctor appointments and procedures in an attempt to find a resolution for the problems with the nerves in my neck and arm since the car accident. There was the culture shock of going back to work. I picked Thanksgiving week to return so I would be able to ease into work with a short week. It was a good plan and I am now back at work full time.

My granddaughter, Tori had an recurrence of CRMO (a rare bone condition) and had to spent her birthday in All Children's Hospital. She is a real trooper and if a child has to be in the hospital All Children's Hospital is the best facility around. She is now on a new protocol and doing much better.

Then came the biggest problem of the holiday season. How do you decorate for Christmas with cases of calendars in the living room!

Yes, Everyday Genealogy calendars are populating the area in the living room where the Christmas Tree usually stands. With some creative arranging and a hand truck Chuck has managed to move the calendars so we can put up the Christmas Tree!

Chuck's parents will be arriving soon so I am busy converting the office into a guest room. They are here to celebrate the holidays and warm up from the cold and snow of Minnesota. We are also anticipating the 100th birthday of Theresa Steigerwald Steinkellner, Chuck's great aunt the day after Christmas. The genealogist in me is waiting to see how many 'new' relatives I can find at the party!

And this morning I received a great birthday present! In today's Sunday Tampa Tribune Sharon Tate Moody wrote about the birth of the Everyday Genealogy Desk Calendar! If you would like to read the article follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/33evp7k

Everyday Genealogy: Ice Storms, Snow Storms and the Next Generation of...

Everyday Genealogy: Ice Storms, Snow Storms and the Next Generation of...: "I remember the winters growing up in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago as if they were yesterday. Ice storms, snowstorms and those beloved..."

My Wish List for the Holidays: Bluetooth, a Heat Lamp and Nellie Evans Album

The holidays are here and everyone is busy making their lists and checking them twice. I make it even more difficult for family and friends because my birthday is also in December. What to get Pattie?

This year I am asking for practical items - my new car came with Bluetooth so I have asked my son to 'activate' it or whatever needs to be done so I can use it. I may suggest he start with Chuck's car first to make sure mine goes smoothly.

I asked Chuck to install a heat lamp in the master bathroom. It seems either the winters in Florida are getting colder or I am getting cold easier.

While both of these items are all about me I would give them up if only someone would locate Nellie Evans photo album! I saw it once and should have grabbed it, but I didn't and now I don't know when it will surface again.

Nellie Neilson Schultz Evans is Chuck's great great grandmother and quite an elusive figure. She was born in Philadelphia in the 1856 and died in DuPage County Illinois in 1935. The one and only time I saw the album I had not started researching the Schultz family.

One afternoon Chuck's mom showed me Nellie's photo album. The only people she could identify was Nellie and her second husband Wilson Evans. I remember that Nellie was always the shortest person in the pictures. There were others, but at that time I had no idea who they might be. Now years later I think I might be able to identify more of the people and possibly date the photos based on the clothing and surroundings. So, what is stopping me?

Chuck's parents moved to Minnesota soon after I saw the album and never finished unpacking. Nellie's photo album is packed away and stored in the rafters of Chuck's younger brother Carl's garage. There is no time table as to when the boxes will be unpacked. The other issue is what the condition will be when it is found.

If there is a genealogist in your family the most precious gift you might give them is sitting in your closet or locked in your memories. Family pictures, original records (birth certificates or service records) diaries or a platter used to serve holiday meals will be appreciated much more than something bought at the mall.

If you do not have a family artifact to share I will put in a plug for my 2011 Genealogy Calendar - Everyday Genealogy. With 365 tips, hints and ideas it will aid everyone in their genealogy research. If you use the promotion code BLOG shipping will be free. You can click on the title of this article or go to http://www.everydaygenealogy.com to check it out.

Happy Holidays
Pattie

Thanksgiving - Then and Now

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, whatever happened to 'Over the river and through the woods?"

I remember sitting in the back seat of my parent's car driving to Grandma and Grandpa's house on Thanksgiving Day. It was not a long drive, maybe 15 minutes but the anticipation was great. I remember singing the song in my head wondering how long it would take to get there in a carriage and how would the horse know the way?

Grandma made the best dinners and I always looked forward to them. Plus I would get to see Perry and Eddie (Aunt Mabel's sons) and Butch and Cathy (Uncle Newt's children). I was the youngest but they did not seem to care. Sure Eddie pulled my ringlets one year and Butch teased me but since I was an only child it was great to be part of the extended Pahlke family.

All the adults and children were in their Sunday best - shirts and ties for the men (old and young) and dresses or suits for the women/young ladies.

There would be a bar set up and Uncle Sandy would be making cocktails for the grownups. We would take out the Chinese Checkers and all five cousins would play. I learned quickly that being the youngest did not mean I would get any special treatment.

Finally it would be time to eat. There was a grownups table and a children's table. Sometimes there would be additional people there to share our meal and they would usually eat at our table.

It was a very traditional Thanksgiving meal and I always ate more than I should. There was one dish I never tried... Mince meat pie. I never understood what a mince was and had never heard of that type of animal so I stuck with pumpkin pie!

It is important to remember and record our family traditions. I have many pictures of Thanksgivings and Christmases at Grandmas and I treasure them and the memories. My cousins will always be young in my memories,Grandma will always have that twinkle in her eye and my dad will be napping on her couch after dinner.

Now that I have my own family what is our family tradition? I am hosting "Turkey and Texas Hold'em" for our family and friends on Saturday! Not quite my grandmother's Thanksgiving.

BTW - my sister Mary was born when I was nine years old. She and I both consider ourselves 'only children'. Mary's traditional Thanksgiving dinner is pizza. Her husband Tony is an expert at creating incredible pizzas.

The Continuing Adventures of my eReader and Me

Oh that eReader of mine! I have been working with it for the last week trying to decide if I was going to keep it or send it back. At one point I was VERY happy I had bought the 'extra' warranty because I almost threw it against the wall.

Then I started thinking - why did I have to read books with it? That was when it became fun.

I am going to have a vendor table at the Florida State Genealogical Society Conference to sell my pet project "Everyday Genealogy - the Desk Calendar" and was trying to come up with display items. AH!!!! My eReader supports jpegs and has a 'Slide Show' option.

Since my friend Pam Treme and I will also be promoting our 'Technology Tamers' training programs I set about gathering jpegs. For Everyday Genealogy I collected the various jpegs I have for the calendar and the iPhone app. For Technology Tamers I went into our PowerPoint Presentations and saved various pages as jpegs (an option in the Save As feature in Powerpoint).

Within an half hour I was loading these jpegs onto my eReader and WHAM I had a slide show. The eReader has options for the speed of the slide show and the transitions. And best of all my eReader came with a stand. I now had a display for my vendor table.

So, what else is my eReader good at doing - besides reading books? It also has a web browser so I decided to set up some of my favortie genealogy websites (Mmmm www.everydaygenealogy.com) to help answer questions that may come up.

Last but not least, I did load some books - mine and Pam's. The eReader can import PDFs that you, the everyday person creates. Pam and I have both created Family History Books and Pam has created work books for some of our classes. Now we will be able to show these books at our vendor table without carrying them around.

So, I guess I'll keep the eReader - I may even read a book on it one of these days!