Category: Other

OK, so nobody told me when I started blogging that I would get to play tag.  I was tagged by Diane Haddad over at the Genealogy Insider (she’s with Family Tree Magazine).  I’m supposed to answer these questions about myself, and then tag 5 more blogs.

10 Years Ago I …
1. Moved into my current home
2. Worried about the future of Family Origins
3. Stressed as my oldest son got his driver’s license
4. Visited Hearst Castle
5. Watched my youngest son play outfield by laying down picking dandelions (aren’t scrapbooks wonderful)

Five Things on Today’s To-Do List
1. Work on RootsMagic 4
2. Eat lunch
3. Work on RootsMagic 4
4. Eat dinner
5. Work on RootsMagic 4

Five snacks I enjoy
1. Chips and salsa (everything else is a distant second)
2. Vanilla bean ice cream
3. Pizza (anything less than a full pizza is a snack)
4. Various nuts (pistachios, cashews, etc)
5. Peanut M&Ms

Five Places I’ve Lived
1. Albuquerque, New Mexico
2. Mountain View, California
3. San Jose, California
4. Sandy, Utah
5. Mapleton, Utah

Five Jobs I’ve Had
1. Newspaper boy
2. Carpet layer
3. Technical gopher at Air Force Weapons Lab at Kirtland AFB
4. Senior Engineer at Stanford Research Institute
5. Programmer of genealogy software

Five Blogs I Tag
1. Janet Hovorka at The Chart Chick
2. Kimberly Powell at About.com (I pick on her every time)
3. Dick Eastman at Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter
4. Holly Hansen at the Family History Expos Blog
5. Lisa Louise Cook over at the Genealogy Gems Podcast

I just got back from the RootsMagic cruise late last night, and have been feeling a little melancholy.  I found out while I was gone that a good friend had passed away.  Many of you may know Art Lassagne, owner of The Gold Bug, and the publisher of AniMap.  Art passed away September 29, 2008.

If you have ever been to one of the national genealogy conferences, or even some of the smaller ones in the west, you know Art from his flowing white hair and his infectious smile.

Art is the guy who taught me (and my wife Laurie) what a good steak is supposed to taste like.  At every conference we would go to dinner together, and Art had researched where the very best steak in town could be found.

It really hit home Saturday when I received an email that booth selection for NGS had opened.  For years Art and I would immediately call each other when selection started so we could both get good spaces.  So when I got the email, my first thought was “I need to call Art”.

I’m really going to miss Art, probably most of all in Mesa Arizona in November which would have been our next conference together.

So Art, even though it was your turn to buy dinner in Mesa, this one is going to be on me.

Now this was unexpected.  The Chart Chick and Renee Zamora both tagged us with the “I love your blog” award.  I know this isn’t a “new feature” article, but it made me feel good and I already have another article just about ready to go (on Custom Reports in case you are wondering).

The rules for the award are:

1. Can put the logo on his/her blog

2. Must link to the person who gave the award

3. Must nominate 7 other blogs and link to them

4. Must leave a comment on each of the nominated blogs

Now of course we got tagged towards the end of this phenomenon, so the blogs I really like and read have all been tagged already.  So I won’t worry about that and will just name some of the ones I enjoy reading.

1. The Genealogue – I’m sure Chris has been tagged dozens of times, but if you haven’t read his top ten lists, you don’t know what you’re missing.

2. Kimberly’s Genealogy Blog – The About.com genealogy guide covers every aspect of genealogy, and she’s a sweetheart on top of it.

3. Eastman’s Online Genealogy Blog – The first genealogy blog I ever subscribed to.  I actually was on his very first newsletter email he sent many years ago, so I’m one of the EOGN natives.

4. Teach Genealogy – Pat Richley’s (aka Dear Myrtle’s) website designed to help you teach genealogy.  This link is to her actual site where you can access the blog and other information.

5. Family Matters – “Tech support for the Family Historian”.  Combining family history and technology.  This is a blog after my own heart.

6. ThinkGenealogy – Mark came up with an idea for RootsMagic 4 that we are still trying to figure out how to implement.

7. Bishie Hotline – OK, so this one is completely out of left field.  This is my daughter’s web comic blog.  Most of the time I don’t even understand it since it involves Japanese anime characters and seems to be geared towards “fangirls”, but I love my daughter and her creative abilities, and therefore her blog.