I believe I have met my match in genealogical research, most especially with Irish ancestry.  I took a break one evening and decided to see if I could follow Annie's mother's line back any distance.  All I can say is there was definitely a reason she was in the D.A.R.  The line had been traced by multiple people or family groups and there was so much well researched data available that within about five hours I had gotten back, in a direct patrilineal line to a married couple, the husband of which had parents born in the very late 1500's.  They weren't Irish.

Irish ancestors must be the most difficult people on earth to trace in all of genealogy.  I have come to the conclusion that there are only about a dozen surnames in all of Ireland, and roughly eight male given names, possibly less.  Further, they sort of trickled into the USA until the Potato Famine, at which time half the country emigrated.  In the 1880 US census I thought I had discovered the right Nolan family living in Baltimore.  Husband listed as M J Nolan and wife Bridget, first son John born at the right time.  The other four children were the right ages and very close to what I thought they were named, they were living near the East Coast (along with probably 87.341% of the other Irish immigrants of the time) but I remember clearly my family having a special attachment to Marblehead, MA, and at least it was fairly close.  I suppose I should have suspected something.  Of course they settled along the East Coast.  They came from that direction! 

If my estimate of the commonality of Irish male names is anywhere close, I had a 1 in 96 chance of finding an Irishman named Martin Nolan wherever I looked.  Just in case I might possibly be wrong, I started on the Indiana census for 1880 where I knew the family I was tracing eventually lived.  How odd.  Martin and Bridget were exactly where they were supposed to be in Indiana also, along with all the children falling perfectly into place.  Fire, and water from extinguishing it, ruined virtually all of the 1890 Federal Census, but there they were again in 1900, missing one or two who had married and needed to be traced independently.  In addition, there are familial connections and marriages to Ryan and Regan lines.  Nice, easily located Lithuanian names, there, huh?  I have gotten far enough afield to try to find one of the Ryan brothers through a model ship he made and named the "Peanut Vender" (sic) which was a popular song written in the late 1920's or in 1930.  He was a Lakes mariner but the model appears to be a passenger vessel rather than an ore ship.

The model was made by one Ryan brother and the house paint on wood artwork above it was done by another Ryan brother.  The photo was deliberately oversaturated to define smaller details.  The man who painted the picture was the same one that taught me much about life, like how to shoot bumblebees out of the air and to take nobody's word, even his, that it is a good idea to release a live skunk from a trap.  I am left as the final caretaker of such heirlooms as these and and as a documenter of the lives of people who had no offspring.  I must do this.  I just have a hell of a lot to learn yet before I am able to do it right.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2009, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh:  but the earth abideth forever.  The sun also riseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose." - Ecclesiastes Chapter 1

The Office Web Apps Team announced the beta launch of its free, online version of some of the component apps of Office 2010.  The announcement on the MSDN Blogs includes a 20 minute interview with Chris Bryant from Office and was posted by Nick Simmons, Program Manager, Office Web Apps.  It can be found here on the MSDN blog site.

The interview explains how to request an invitation to use this online service for your own Live SkyDrive.  It is there, but not completely clear for a novice.  A clearer explanation and short video of how to achieve this is available in the article, Get Access to Web-based Microsoft Office Apps Now! which is available on the Digital Inspiration web site and clearly outlines the procedure for requesting Office Web Apps.

Yes.  I'm selfish enough that I made my request and was approved before writing this post.  I don't know if there are currently different versions but Word, Excel, Power Point, and OneNote appear to be included on my SkyDrive.  I haven't played with it yet, so I'm off to explore.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2009, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid. Human beings are incredibly slow, inaccurate, and brilliant. Together they are powerful beyond imagination." – Albert Einstein

Talking about: Today's Global Sound Healing Event

as originally posted by Annie B. Bond on the Care2 community website.

"This Is A Four Directions Call

Date: Sept. 21. The International Day of Peace ; and the Fall Equinox.

Where: Online at the Temple of Sacred Sound, designed by world sound healer Jonathan Goldman, or wherever you are.

When: Noon New York City time (12 PM EDT).

Who: Any and all.

How: One minute of silence at noon to honor the International Day of Peace’s moment of silence. At 12:01 p.m. we will start the toning, until 12:05 or longer if you want.

What: We’ll sound the “AH”–the universal sound of love and appreciation–or “MA,” the sound of Mother Earth–in order to assist the creation of peace and healing to the planet.

Our intentions–our feelings, visualizations and beliefs–are encoded upon the sounds we make. Sound has the power to focus and amplify our thoughts, prayers and meditations. When we project the energy of love and appreciation while sounding the “AH” on Sept. 21, we will be able to shift and raise consciousness and awareness on a global scale. –Jonathan Goldman

Sound Your Support: Sign in, sign on, join with your support, and share links!

Highlights
*Track the raising of the consciousness of the people on the planet via Princeton’s Consciousness Project.

*Honor the direction of the West before toning, with Betsy Stang’s blog.

*Sign up for Deepak Chopra’s discussion of sound and mantra the week prior in Soular Energy Daily newsletter.

*Share and discuss, find ways to help, in Care2’s Peace and Healing group.

*Read the blogs about sound healing by Deepak, Jonathan Goldman, and more, in Care2’s Global Healing/Spirituality channel.

* There will be a special Internet radio broadcast;taking place at 11 AM NY Time (11 AM EDT) one hour before the Global Sound Healing Event with Jonathan Goldman and guests.

A Four Directions Call

This is a call to all people of spirit who wish to join in a global linkage for Peace as noon rolls across the planet on the vernal Equinox. We request that you add to your observances a minute of chanting the sound of “MA” in appreciation for the Earth, her gifts and all her children.

In all traditions, “MA” is the root sound for mother, “AH” is the sound of appreciation.

The goal is to help create a wave of healing resonance that will sweep across the planet. It is a time of great peril and trauma on this fragile world. Can we, for a moment, come together with one heart, one mind, one voice and one intention in a tone of healing?

Please in whatever tradition you are gathering for this event, will you commit to a moment of global unity for all our relations.
–Betsy Stang" 

I don't generally use large portions of other authors' works, and then not without attribution.  I feel relatively safe from having any of my own words used in the order in which I wrote them.  Who would want them?  In this case, I didn't feel that I could express the ideas contained in this article any better than was already done.  Beyond that, if you follow the initial title link to the Care2 site, you will find many areas of interest which you might want to read or even become actively involved with.  I have been a member for about three years now, and have had the satisfaction of expressing my opinions to politicians, heads of corporations and agencies, signing petitions, and generally making my opinion noticed.  I don't agree with all of their causes and I'm sure they would not agree with all of mine.  That doesn't matter.  Choose what you believe and support it.  Remember to Pay it Forward.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2009, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

“We did not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we have borrowed it from our children.” - Chief Seattle

I've not written this

Brains won't work on vacation

There's no haiku here

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2009, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

“Cats are dangerous companions for writers because cat watching is a near-perfect method of writing avoidance” - Dan Greenburg

Assassin Synapse

Deep sulcus cover

Covert ops within the brain

Trigger memories

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2009, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time". ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

The big day finally arrived last Thursday.  I got out of the apartment for more than half a day at a time.  This day had been awaited with much anticipation and no small amount of trepidation for over three months.  It had been carefully prepared for by getting my grocery shopping done earlier in the week and a careful cost estimation such that I should not exceed my budget too badly.

The day was so special that I even luxuriated in a full bath, rather than the shower which I almost always take.  This unnerved Bittle and Stinky.  They are used to hearing water spraying for a few moments and then staying out of my way while I try to dry myself, remain upright, and see without my glasses all at the same time.  On this occasion, however, I simply submerged and temporarily disappeared.  When I again surfaced, there were four concerned looking eyes looking over the edge of the tub, presumably relieved that I had reappeared and the cat food supply would would not be interrupted.  They did continue to circle the general area, however, until I resumed what they considered normal behavior; cursing while shaving the area of my neck under my beard.

I donned my best pair of Levi's, a tattersall shirt, my Frye high top boots and then began the pre-flight checklist.  Wallet?  Check.  Belt?  Check.  Pants zipped?  Check.  Teeth?  (Yes, I have forgotten them.)  Check.  Cell phone?  Check.  Car keys?  Check.  Reassure The Boys that I'll be back?  Check.  Ready for launch.  Out the door and off I go to arrive at my destination at the prearranged time.  What on earth would prompt such actions and preparation by Doc, you may ask.  I had to get my front brakes fixed.  The wear indicators had been making an increasing, intermittent scraping noise which intensified with wheel speed and of which I did not approve. 

Not so interesting, huh?  Well, it interested me!  I had never owned a front wheel drive vehicle before this Cavalier and had little idea how costly a noise this might prove to be.  At the repair check-in desk I described the symptoms, complete with hand waving, pointing, and sound effects.  The repair manager seemed unimpressed.  I further explained the nature of the noise and how I thought I probably had a bent brake rotor or broken caliper assembly.  He said, "Uh huh.  Do you want anything else checked"?  The check engine light is on.  "OK.  We'll take care of it.  Are you going to wait for it?"  Yeah, unless it's going to be here over the weekend.  An altogether too blasé attitude as far as I was concerned. 

I went to set up a semi-permanent encampment in the waiting area.  I had brought a large Pepsi and a software manual to fill the tedious hours.  I may be a slow reader, but I was quite surprised when the proposed repairs and estimated costs were brought for my approval by page 18.  I maintained my usual level of suspiciousness, but after reading the materials, readily agreed to the proposal.  I signed, he left, and I went back to reading.  By the time I got to page 37, he was back with the final bill.  The problems had been repaired and the car had been test driven.  What can I say?  There were several screenshots I had to study in detail and I was distracted rather badly by the back two feet of a beautiful new yellow Corvette which I could see from my seat.  I had staunchly resisted the temptation to wander into the showroom and drool on it.

An amazing experience then occurred.  Replacement of the rotors (which were delaminating), pads, a repair of the throttle body, and the replacement of an inline fuel filter and gas cap had been been accomplished for a little over 1/3 the amount I had prepared myself for in advance.  Even though my questions about senior discounts or any from various auto club and other organizations were to no avail, I remained a happy ex-camper as I escaped the waiting room.  As I accessed the roadway and immediately exceeded the speed suggestions repeatedly as I tested the brakes, I remained very pleased.  No screeching noises were heard, no check engine light seen, and from what I could tell, throttle performance was improved.  I was so overcome with delight that I went on a spontaneous shopping spree at a local surplus store where I bought eight unique paper clips, 20 button batteries, and a cheap one-meter measuring tape.  There was no stopping me.

When I returned to the apartment complex, checked my mail, and entered my dwelling, I was greeted enthusiastically by Bittle and Stinky.  They looked at each other in a "He's back" sort of way.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2009, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz," ~ Janis Joplin.

Following on my last post about the effects of anhedonia, I would like to ask a question of anyone who feels "old".  I thank all of you for the suggestions, empathy, and kindness shown in your comments.  "Old" is to some degree, a state of mind, but it is also a reality of life with which we must deal.  People clearly perceive age in different ways and through the colored glasses of different belief systems.  There seem to be clear differences between genders, whether one has a partner, one's state of health, financial resources, and how they fill their time.  I'm sure there must be many more factors than that, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind.  Surely a couple who are both in relatively good health and financially independent will have different views and possibilities open to them than a widowed male who has minor health problems and "enough money to get by on", but nobody to share a life with or even someone to talk to.  Leaving depression and religious beliefs out of this comparison, actuarially the couple has a much higher probability of living longer than the widower.

The question I am asking is what do you do or have to make your lives happier, more satisfying, more productive, or just better in general?  Not what you think I should do, but what is actually helping you or what you enjoy doing or being.  Please feel free to respond in a message or an email if you do not wish to leave an answer as a comment.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2009, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"As I give thought to the matter, I find four causes for the apparent misery of old age: first, it withdraws us from active accomplishments; second, it renders the body less powerful; third, it deprives us of almost all forms of enjoyment; fourth, it stands not far from death." – Cicero