Indiana Dillmans: Geneameme

Showing posts with label Geneameme. Show all posts

Monday, July 27, 2015

When I Was Young, Part 3 of 3

Alona Tester of LoneTester HQ geneablog has a geneameme up. It looked interesting, so I’m going to play along.

“Like it or not, life today is a whole lot different from when we grew up. And as genealogists and family historians, we are mindful of recording our own history, yet so often it doesn’t happen, and sits in the “I must do that” list.

So this “When I Was Young” geneameme has been created to allow you to record at least some of your childhood memories. This series of 25 questions will take you back to your childhood as it asks questions about the games you played, what school was like, what heirlooms you have from your childhood, what books or stories you remember from back then … and a whole heap more.

So if you’d like to record a little of your own childhood history, feel free to take part in my “When I Was Young” geneameme.”

Since the list is 25 questions long, I decided to split my response into parts. In this last part, I’ll do the remaining questions.

Do you remember what it was it like when your family got a new-fangled invention? (i.e. telephone, TV, VCR, microwave, computer?)

Our telephone was old. Rotary, party line, etc. until after I moved out. We got a color TV when I was about 4 years old. I remember watching some stuff on it when we lived on the farm. That TV lasted until I was a teenager. It was a Philco model. We got all of 4 or 5 channels!

I don’t remember specifically when we got most of these items. I do know we got a VCR fairly late, and a microwave as well. In fact, our oven heating element burned out at one point, so we cooked with the microwave a lot for a long time.

The first computer we got was a Timex Sinclair 1000, a tiny membrane-keyboard device with a whopping 2K of onboard RAM plus the and-on 16K RAM expansion pack! Mom and Dad got it as a gift for listening to a time-share spiel and gave it to me. It had a Z80 microprocessor CPU and the connection to the RAM pack was flaky, so if you bumped it at all, you lost everything as it rebooted the machine. This would invariably happen after typing in about 80-90% of a long program…

Did your family have a TV? Was it B&W or color? And how many channels did you get?

As mentioned, we got a color TV when I was about 4 years old. We did have a black & white model before that. And 4-5 channels on a good day. Channel 2 was KTCA public broadcasting. Channel 4 was WCCO, the Minneapolis CBS affiliate. Channel 5 was KSTP, the Minneapolis ABC affiliate. Channel 9 was KMSP, an independent station out of the Twin Cities. Channel 11 was the NBC affiliate. It changed call letters at some point, and is now KARE, but I don’t remember for sure what the original letters were.

If we turned the antenna, we could get KCCO, the Alexandria feed of WCCO and another CBS affiliate.

All of these channels were weak, and on bad days would be quite snowy. On good days, they came in pretty clear. We were about 60 miles away from the towers.

Did your family move house when you were young? Do you remember it?

We moved several times when I was quite young, but I don’t remember it. The last was when I was about 5, almost 6 years old, we moved from the farmhouse into St. Cloud, where we stayed put. My brother is still living in that house today, though my parents did finally move out to an apartment a year or so ago to get away from the home maintenance burdens.

Was your family involved in any natural disasters happening during your childhood (i.e. fire, flood, cyclone, earthquake etc.)

We weren’t affected by any of these directly, although there were tornadoes in the area, and one specific tornado event devastated a mobile home park a few miles away. Those places sure seem like magnets to a tornado.

Is there any particular music that when you hear it, sparks a childhood memory?

My musical awareness starts in the 1970’s, although I enjoy music from the 50’s and 60’s as well. But the new stuff was all 70’s AM Radio Gold, and later arena rock. No real memory sparkers here. Oh, one particular song by Chicago reminds me of 3^rd grade, when they did a dance unit in Phy Ed, they used Wake Up Sunshine for the music. I enjoyed the song then, and still do today.

What is something that an older family member taught you to do?

That would be parents. They taught me everything parents usually teach their kids to do. No special hobby or other stuff, just general. My father was a sports nut, and I was emphatically not, so that didn’t translate. Mom worked nights a lot, so wasn’t around sometimes to teach, and in any case, she wasn’t into space and science like I was. Different interests.

What are brands that you remember from when you were a kid?

If it says Libby’s Libby’s Libby’s on the label label label you will like it like it like it on your table table table…

I am not now, nor was I then, a big Brand fan. Many of the brands then are still around now, though a few have changed, or been absorbed by larger brands.

Did you used to collect anything? (i.e. rocks, shells, stickers … etc.)

At one point I had a collection of stamps – all cancels from envelopes. Nothing of any value. I’m sure I collected other stuff from time to time, but never seriously.

Share your favorite childhood memory.

Honestly, childhood wasn’t all that great for me, I don’t have any favorites I can think of, other than what I’ve already talked about above. I’m sure I had lots of good times, but in my memory it’s all blended into that time I’m glad is over and done with. Things that stick out tend to be less pleasant memories like neighborhood bullies, etc. I was the proverbial 98lb. weakling, and learned how to run or evade the bad kids.

A special thanks goes to Randy Seaver of Geneamusings blog for running this geneameme in his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun series, where I saw it and decided to play along.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

When I Was Young, Part 2 of 3

So if you’d like to record a little of your own childhood history, feel free to take part in my “When I Was Young” geneameme.”

Since the list is 25 questions long, I decided to split my response into parts. In this second part, I’ll do the second eight questions.

What games did playtime involve?

Many of the usual kids’ games. Kickball, cops & robbers, etc. I used to play outside a lot as a kid, which would probably amaze people who know me now. We used to ride our bikes all over the place. This was before the era of the 24-hour news cycle that got parents in a panic about letting their kids out of their sight for more than half a minute. The sad part of this is that even though I would let my kids go out and do stuff, they don’t leave the yard much. I think they’ve absorbed through cultural channels that it’s no longer okay to go off and have adventures without parents around. And I think that’s a sad thing.

Did you have a cubby house?

If you mean a fort or playhouse, no. We didn’t have suitable trees, nor really any other workable places to build such.

What was something you remember from an early family holiday?

My parents took us to Mt. Rushmore when I was about 12 years old. I still remember the campground we stayed at on a hill overlooking Rapid City, SD. I took my kids on that same trip when they were in that age range. The campground is still there, though we stayed at another place.

What is a memory from one of your childhood birthdays or Christmas?

Birthdays weren’t super memorable for me, nor are they a big deal now. I know I had a few birthday parties when I was younger, but I really don’t remember them much. I had one cake with little plastic space ships and other toys on it once. I have a summer birthday, so I never got to have a birthday party in school the way some kids did. I usually brought cupcakes or something on one day anyway, just to celebrate.

Christmas was always fun for getting new toys for presents. I remember one year my brother and I inadvertently found some of the Christmas presents early, and we got found out, so we didn’t think we would get the presents because Mom was angry. We did get them anyway, one item was an air hockey setup. Most years we got to open one thing on Christmas Eve night to keep us from bugging Mom about opening the rest until Christmas morning.

What childhood injuries do you remember?

I didn’t get many. One I do recall was from when I was quite young. I was being given a ride on the back of a bike from a girl (memory now fails if she was a relative or a family friend’s daughter) and somehow my right foot got caught in the rear wheel spokes. Crashed us both to the ground. They ended up taking me to the doctor, and put a cast on it for a couple of weeks because they weren’t sure if it was broken or not. Turns out it wasn’t.

What was your first pet?

First I remember was a cat named Cigar. I remember almost nothing about her, as she died when I was just turning six in 1972. After that, we got a dog, a Pekingese-Terrier mix named Angel. She was with us for many years. I don’t generally go for small lapdog types, but she was a sweetheart.

Did your grandparents, or older relatives tell you stories of “when I was young ..?”

I don’t recall this being a facet of my youth. In fact, we lived far away from any relatives, so we only got to see them once or twice a year, and then the grownups spent their time talking together, not really with the kids much. Only later, when doing genealogy questions, did I get older generations to open up about their youth.

What was entertainment when you were young?

Saturday morning cartoons. Going to the movies was a special treat. We mostly made our own entertainment as kids, playing in the neighborhood. I did like to read a lot.

I'll post the next set of questions and answers in a future entry.

A special thanks goes to Randy Seaver of Geneamusings blog for running this geneameme in his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun series, where I saw it and decided to play along.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

When I Was Young Geneameme, Part 1 of 3

Since something obviously went wrong last time I tried to post this, I'll try it again.

Alona Tester of LoneTester HQ geneablog has a geneameme up. It looked interesting, so I’m going to play along.

So if you’d like to record a little of your own childhood history, feel free to take part in my “When I Was Young” geneameme.”

Since the list is 25 questions long, I decided to split my response into parts. In this first part, I’ll do the first eight questions.

Do you (or your parents) have any memorabilia from when you were a baby? (i.e. baby book, lock of hair, first shoes etc.)

I doubt they still have much more than photographs. I’m pretty sure, because they moved out of their house into an apartment a bit over a year ago, and downsized a lot during the move. I know Mom used to have a picture frame assembly of an upright 8x10 frame (which contained my 1 year picture if I remember correctly) on a horizontal shelf. The shelf itself held my bronzed baby shoes. I don’t know what happened to that, but I remember it clearly. Mom also had a baby book with lots of scrapbookish things. Being first child, my life got documented. Later kids never get as much of that sort of documentation done.

Do you know if you were named after anyone?

Sort of, yes. My father is Dana Eugene Dillman. My name Daniel was taken from Dan, which was shortened from Dana. My middle name is Gene, short for Eugene. I have never liked my middle name. Mom mentioned once that she had another middle name in mind, and told me what it was, and I remember preferring it to Gene, but I have since forgotten what it was.

And do you know of any other names your parents might have named you?

Aside from that potential other middle name, no.

What is your earliest memory?

I remember climbing onto the wing of a small airplane to get in. Mom took me for a ride in a small plane in Sioux Falls, SD when I was two and a half years old. It’s possible this is a false memory, but all of the other planes I remember from childhood were Cessnas with upper wings, not something you would climb on to get in the plane, so I am personally convinced this memory is real.

Did your parent/s (or older siblings) read, sing or tell stories to you? Do you remember any of these?

I know Mom read a whole bunch of Dr. Suess and Berenstain Bears and such books to me when I was little. I had no older siblings. I still love those books, and bought a large number of them for my kids when the time came. I still have a bunch of them in a box for when grandkids start arriving.

When you were young, do you remember what it was that you wanted to grow up to be?

Here’s an easy one. From very early, say 1^st grade or so, I wanted to be an Astronaut. In fact, I was very outspoken about it. All of my friends and teachers knew about it, such that when one teacher announced a free showing of a movie to be held one weekend, and said the film was The Reluctant Astronaut (a Don Knotts picture), every head in the class turned to look at me. That whole thing fell through when it became clear that NASA wasn’t going to be putting a lot of men in space at the end of the Apollo Program.

During high school, I got interested in photography, and aimed for that. In fact, I went pretty far, as I enlisted in the Navy as a Photographer’s Mate. I spent almost six years doing photography and photofinishing. However, doing photography the Navy way is a great way to burn out the creativity of a photographer, and I ended my enlistment and virtually did not pick up a camera for almost a decade afterward. I had to have my arm twisted to take pictures of my kids when they were young.

Lately, I have renewed my interest in photography, shooting mostly animals, landscapes and concerts.

Did you have a favorite teacher at school?

For elementary school, I would have to say it’s a close race between Ms. Dooher in 3^rd grade and Mrs. Knettel in 4^th grade. Mrs. Knettel would probably edge out for the win. She cared enough about the geeky science kid to go out of her way to find extra-curricular learning tools for me.

In high school, Leroy Pauley was hands down my favorite. He was the German teacher. I took three years of German from him, largely because he made his classes fun and interesting.

How did you get to school?

In elementary school, I took the school bus. It usually picked us up at stops a block or three away, depending on which year and so forth.

Starting in 7^th grade, I walked or rode my bike to school. It was a mile or less to both Jr. and Sr. high. Just had to be careful crossing the highway.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The Bloggers' Geneameme

I missed this last Saturday when Randy Seaver used it for his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun exercise, but since it wasn't his to begin with, I grabbed it from the source and will participate. Better late than never, and all that.

The source is Jill Ball's Geniaus blog, a genealogy blog from Down Under. She's frequently got good posts, so if you haven't checked her blog out yet, you should do so ASAP.

Here's the exercise:

What are the titles and URLs of your genealogy blog/s?

Indiana Dillmans
http://indianadillmans.blogspot.com/

Do you have a wonderful "Cousin Bait" blog story? A link to a previous blog post might answer this question.

I don't. I've had a couple of nibbles, but nothing that lead to a significant or lasting exchange. That's one reason I'm posting all of the 'On This Day' posts, hoping someone will hit on names when they search.

Why did you start blogging? Is there someone who inspired you to start blogging?

I actually started blogging a separate IT oriented blog. It was part of a job searching group exercise at one point. Since I wasn't working, I had time then to do more genealogy, and I decided to post what I knew about, both in terms of family history data and technology articles for genealogy people. I don't think there was any particular person who encouraged me to do so.

How did you decide on your blog/s title/s?

At the time I started it, the bulk of the people I was researching were my Dillman ancestors, most of whom were in southern Indiana near English. Once I got most of that information and moved on to other branches and locations, I started to regret the title, but not enough to change it.

Do you ever blog from mobile devices? What are they?

I have Android devices. I've had phones and a tablet. I've played briefly with the Blogger app, but input is still frustrating compared to a PC. I have a bluetooth keyboard for the tablet, but that necessitates carrying around another piece, which is inconvenient. I've also got a Windows laptop, which I have used extensively to post, especially the 'On This Day' series.

How do you let others know when you have published a new post?

Generally, I don't. My goal isn't a huge reader base. I've tied it to a Google+ page and Twitter, but as far as I know, that hasn't generated any readers.

How long have you been blogging?

Since January 2011, if memory serves. There was a fairly long hiatus in there at one point. There are approximately 600 posts at this point.

What widgets or elements do you consider essential on a genealogy blog?

'I Recommend' as I like to highlight some of the blogs that I read or have influenced me with my blog.
The Blog Archive widget, so people can look through past articles - and they have.
The copyright/use widget which tells people what they can copy with my permission. As a photographer who has shared some photos on the blog, this is important.
The Google Genealogy Search tool.

What is the purpose of your blog/s? Who is your intended audience?

Purpose is family history of my lines and my spouse's lines.
Secondary purpose is technology information and use suggestions for other genealogists.
My intended audience is people associated with my lines to share research, and other genealogists/geneabloggers.

Which of your posts are you particularly proud of?

I did a few on scanning, and a few on digital photography. People seemed to get some benefit from the information in them.

How do you keep up with your blog reading?

I used Google Reader until it closed up. Now I use Feedly to follow all of my blogs.

What platform do you use for publishing your blog/s?

Blogger.

What new features would you like to see in your blogging sosftware?

Perhaps an offline app I could use, then upload/sync.

Which of your posts has been the most popular with readers?

In terms of page views, it's this Open Thread Thursday article about Copyright by a landslide. And of course, mentioning it here is likely to boost the view count even more. The next closest one has about 25% of the page views as this one. In terms of comments, it's more likely one of the 52 Weeks or Advent Calendar series posts, or possibly the aforementioned articles about scanning and digital photography.

Are you a sole blogger or do you contribute to a shared blog?

It's MINE, ALL MINE!! Hehehe.

How do you compose your blog posts?

Rarely. Lately, the 'On This Day' series are basically lists generated by one of my genealogy softwares (Rootsmagic). When I started the blog, I had more time to write, and that was mostly done by sitting at the computer with a topic in mind, then writing about it. I tend to write what I already know, so research is limited. Lately I've felt the itch to write substantive posts again, but time has been the limiting factor.

Do you have any blogs that are not genealogy related? If you wish please share their titles and URLs.

Yes. Well, sort of. As I mentioned above, I started an IT themed blog first. It's still there, but I haven't posted to it in ages, and I'm not going to list it. It was really mainly an exercise for a job search group I was involved in at the time.

Have you listed your blog/s at Geneabloggers?

Oh yeah. If I hadn't, I'd have ZERO readers. Thomas McEntee is a wonderful resource for building your blog, and if you don't list with Geneabloggers you're missing an enormous potential audience.

Which resources have helped you with your blogging?

Geneabloggers. For everything.
Randy Seaver's Geneamusings blog has neat exercises every Saturday.
Several other genealogy blogs I read for ideas and to keep up with what's happening in the community.

What advice would you give to a new Geneablogger?

Geneabloggers. Go now. List your blog. Read all of the stuff he has about starting a blog. Follow as much of his advice as applies to you.
Read a bunch of other genealogy bloggers to get a feel for the community. Network with those bloggers if you can. Later, if time requires, you can cut down the number you keep up with, but to get started read as many as you can.
Look for blogging prompts such as the 52 Weeks series and the Advent Calendar series. Participate in those. They'll help you find your 'voice' and generate your own post ideas.
Write about what you know. That will get you going while you research more stuff to write about.
Images seem to attract readers. See the Geneabloggers Wordless Wednesday prompt. You can post an image (with or without words). Those tend to be well received on my blog, and there is almost no work involved, as long as you already have the images. Scan your old family photos! But be careful of copyright issues.

The links to responses can be found at : http://geniaus.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/feeling-love-responses-to-bloggers.html

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ancestors Geneameme

Thanks to Jill Ball of Geniaus for starting this geneameme. Thanks also to Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings for making this a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun! My list is annotated as follows:

Things I have already done or found
Things I would like to have done or found
Things I haven’t done or found

Can name my 16 great-great-grandparents (Well, I can if I have my software open...)
Can name over 50 direct ancestors (Same as above.)
Have photographs or portraits of my 8 great-grandparents (I have 6 photos of the individuals, two I have only photos pf their tombstones.)
Have an ancestor who was married more than three times
Have an ancestor who was a bigamist
Met all four of my grandparents (One died well before I was born, I met all of the others.)
Met one or more of my great-grandparents (all but one died before I was born, and I did meet that one.)
Named a child after an ancestor (my eldest is named for his mother and father, does that count? Its his ancestors, not mine, so technically I guess it doesn't count unless he does his own copy of this meme.)
Bear an ancestor's given name/s
Have an ancestor from Great Britain or Ireland (My Day line is from Great Britain, among others.)
Have an ancestor from Asia
Have an ancestor from Continental Europe (Many Germans, some from Luxembourg.)
Have an ancestor from Africa
Have an ancestor who was an agricultural laborer (Couldn't even tell you how many are listed as Farmer on census documents... Lots.)
Have an ancestor who had large land holdings (Define large land holdings. One or more may qualify.)
Have an ancestor who was a holy man - minister, priest, rabbi (A number of them, of a few denominations, none recent.)
Have an ancestor who was a midwife
Have an ancestor who was an author
Have an ancestor with the surname Smith, Murphy or Jones (I have Smith ancestors, as I would bet a good number of American people do.)
Have an ancestor with the surname Wong, Kim, Suzuki or Ng
Have an ancestor with a surname beginning with X
Have an ancestor with a forename beginning with Z (Zachary (2), Zak, Zander, Zane, Zion, Zita (2), Zoey and Zula (2) all start with Z.)
Have an ancestor born on 25th December (I have 16 people with known birth dates of Dec. 25th of various years.)
Have an ancestor born on New Year's Day (I have 14 people with reported birthdates of Janueary 1st of various years.)
Have blue blood in your family lines (No royalty here, at least not proven. There's a very conjectural possibility that my Day line actually descends from Welsh nobility, but I've not seen any proof.)
Have a parent who was born in a country different from my country of birth
Have a grandparent who was born in a country different from my country of birth (My lines have all been in the United States for quite some time. Come from early colonial times.)
Can trace a direct family line back to the eighteenth century (Oh yeah. See #27.)
Can trace a direct family line back to the seventeenth century or earlier (1604, Ipswich, Suffolk, England, Robert Day. He's pretty well documented. Others date earlier, but documentation is scarce.)
Have seen copies of the signatures of some of my great-grandparents
Have ancestors who signed their marriage certificate with an X (I'm sure some did, but I don't have many marriage certificates yet.)
Have a grandparent or earlier ancestor who went to university (Direct line? No. Others have.)
Have an ancestor who was convicted of a criminal offense (Not to my knowledge.)
Have an ancestor who was a victim of crime (Doubtless, but none I have solid documentation for. Several anecdotal stories exist.)
Have shared an ancestor's story online or in a magazine (http://indianadillmans.blogspot.com)
Have published a family history online or in print (A whole family history? not as a story or even a complete "book" or report. My tree is online in several places.)
Have visited an ancestor's home from the 19th or earlier centuries (No, but I may have an opportunity forthcoming! I'm probably too chicken to ask.)
Still have an ancestor's home from the 19th or earlier centuries in the family (Would be nice, as my great-grandfather Clyde Day had a nice farm spread back in his day.)
Have a family bible from the 19th Century
Have a pre-19th century family bible