Celeste Moncure, a back up goalkeeper, holds the distinction of being one of only a handful of players that I saw from beginning to end at UCONN. As a matter of fact I may have been the first person she saw at UCONN and one of the last she saw at UCONN.
For that reason, I really liked Celeste. I also really loved that she was from California. I think it's cool to have players from that far away attend UCONN.
Celeste loved Kemba Walker. When she visited UCONN she mentioned that. I remember her coming to our game at Oakwood against St. John's. I tried to fool her during an interview with her by telling her that one of our players had Kemba visit their room during the beginning of the year. Hopefully Celeste knows that's not true, even though the person who told me the story claimed that Celeste believed and that another gullible goalkeeper did.
Celeste wanted to be interviewed and I am glad I was able too in the brief time she was in Storrs. My favorite part of her interview was when she started to impersonate someone and then Coach walked in on us during the interview. Celeste went from impersonating a teammate to going "and now coach is here." That made me laugh.
I was also thrilled she got to travel to St. Johns and experience life on the road. One thing I remember most about Celeste is that she really wanted me to wear a watch at practice so I could tell her what time it was. I don't wear watches, and she would get on me for not doing that.
Celeste was a really nice person and was also entertaining. Everyone seemed to really like her. She also did a good job in the talent show. I wish her the best and hope she meets Kemba Walker one day.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Patriots Sign Ditka as Defensive Back to Shutdown Victor Cruz
The New England Patriots will sign Mike Ditka of Da Bears of the city that begins with a C and ends with an O and has hicag in the middle.
Ditka will play defensive back for the Patriots and will shut down Victor Cruz.
With Ditka the Patriots win the Super Bowl.
I have the Patriots winning.
DA BEARS...because that SNL skit is just really funny.
Please lord, please forgive me for using your name in vain, and don't let anyone who reads this actually believe that the Patriots sign Ditka.
Ditka will play defensive back for the Patriots and will shut down Victor Cruz.
With Ditka the Patriots win the Super Bowl.
I have the Patriots winning.
DA BEARS...because that SNL skit is just really funny.
Please lord, please forgive me for using your name in vain, and don't let anyone who reads this actually believe that the Patriots sign Ditka.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Quick Picks
I don't like to waste time.
Giants
Patriots
I'll go with a Super Bowl rematch from a few years ago.
P.S. to all the experts who picked the Packers...you should have just used HISTORY as a guide. History predicts the future. If you look to the past you will notice that every year there is this unbeatable team, that looks amazing in the regular season. I'd say 66% of the time the best regular season team doesn't make it to the Super Bowl. Usually a team at the end of the season gets hot and starts winning.
Look who faced one another, the top regular season team in the league, vs. a team that is really coming together and is red hot in the New York Giants. History tells me that most of the time the hot team has won. That's why I picked the Giants...I picked the Giants to win this game if it happened on January 1st. STATS are not the best predictors for games, history is.
Giants
Patriots
I'll go with a Super Bowl rematch from a few years ago.
P.S. to all the experts who picked the Packers...you should have just used HISTORY as a guide. History predicts the future. If you look to the past you will notice that every year there is this unbeatable team, that looks amazing in the regular season. I'd say 66% of the time the best regular season team doesn't make it to the Super Bowl. Usually a team at the end of the season gets hot and starts winning.
Look who faced one another, the top regular season team in the league, vs. a team that is really coming together and is red hot in the New York Giants. History tells me that most of the time the hot team has won. That's why I picked the Giants...I picked the Giants to win this game if it happened on January 1st. STATS are not the best predictors for games, history is.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Tebow can't let us down
The most important thing for Tim Tebow as a person is to remain as perfect to the outside world as he portrays himself to be.
In other words he can't be like Tiger Woods or many other famous athletes and people who are portrayed as perfect people, but in reality aren't.
Tim Tebow needs to act as he preaches and be as close to perfect in his actions as possible to give confidence to people that there are really good people out there.
This is a simple post, but with an important message. If Tim Tebow isn't who he claims to be then I don't think it will be possible for anyone to believe in anyone in the world of entertainment and politics to be as good of a person as they try to portray themselves as.
Cynicism will completely take over if Tim Tebow isn't really who we think he is. Many are already cynical, but I think everyone will be if Tebow fails us.
Tim Tebow also has an enormous amount of pressure on him now to be perfect. He has the spotlight on him all the time and he has to always be perfect. That's difficult. Just think about all the times you lose it and curse. Tim Tebow can't do that anywhere outside of his house. The pressure of being Tim Tebow is not a pressure I would ever want or wish on anyone else. Imagine having to always act perfectly every time you are outside of your house.
In other words he can't be like Tiger Woods or many other famous athletes and people who are portrayed as perfect people, but in reality aren't.
Tim Tebow needs to act as he preaches and be as close to perfect in his actions as possible to give confidence to people that there are really good people out there.
This is a simple post, but with an important message. If Tim Tebow isn't who he claims to be then I don't think it will be possible for anyone to believe in anyone in the world of entertainment and politics to be as good of a person as they try to portray themselves as.
Cynicism will completely take over if Tim Tebow isn't really who we think he is. Many are already cynical, but I think everyone will be if Tebow fails us.
Tim Tebow also has an enormous amount of pressure on him now to be perfect. He has the spotlight on him all the time and he has to always be perfect. That's difficult. Just think about all the times you lose it and curse. Tim Tebow can't do that anywhere outside of his house. The pressure of being Tim Tebow is not a pressure I would ever want or wish on anyone else. Imagine having to always act perfectly every time you are outside of your house.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Next Up - Clark
I did say I would write about former players and that is going to continue with Erin Clark.
Clark was a person and player I always liked. She's a really nice person who you could always have a conversation with, and also, I would also say is unique, and by unique I mean that in a good way.
Clark was probably the third person I met on the team once I started working with them. Cory was the first one I met. Next was Ally.
I remember feeling very out of place at first. I would hide behind the fence gate that would be the entrance to the field. I felt safe there as a newbie. I had a fence behind me, and a fence gate to the left of me, so I felt like I had my own comfortable plot on the field where I could be without disturbing anyone. (This is actually where I have ALWAYS sat and put my stuff. I think Dorn put stuff there too...but I always walk through the gate on the field and go right, away from the bench, and place my things.)
I remember sitting at my spot and before practice one day Clark introduced herself to me. She asked if I was that guy who was writing about the team. Something like that. I said yes and that's how we began to get to know one another.
Clark was one of my first few interviews because I felt comfortable around her. I believe her interview was the week before the South Florida trip because I remember telling her I was jealous I couldn't go. Her interview was awesome. She was one of the best interviews I had.
(I've ranked them, or started to rank them...the best interview actually occurred this year, and I doubt it could be topped...ever, especially in terms of length, or fun)
I spoke to Clark about an array of things, and I'd have to read the transcribing in order to remember what exactly we spoke about. The thing I remember the most though was actually transcribing the interview. Clark gave great answers, they were just long answers, which I loved, but also increased the amount of time I spent in transcription. I remember spending over an hour listening and typing and editing, and I remember being worried about finishing the interview and then doing homework.
And then doing homework...So my priorities were um, well uh. I had a 3.7 that semester so it must have worked out!
Now Clark's goal in 2009 against Wake Forest was off the top of my head, my second favorite goal of the season, only second to Taylor's NCAA winner. Clark looked like she shot right out of a cannon and headed right for a Wake player and just stole the ball from her. She was possessed when she entered that game and stole that ball. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that once she took the ball that she was going to the net and scoring. Clark did a slight juke at the end to get past one final defender and easily scored what would be the match winning goal. Her goal was so memorable because of how she took the ball away from Wake. It was the equivalent of LeBron stealing the ball and going untouched to dunk it. I loved that goal, and it was one of my favorite goals that I saw in all my years watching the team.
Clark was someone I always thought was great at taking players on. I also remember her running all over the field to score several of her goals. Her 2010 goals against St. John's and Yale had her running with the ball forever. Her St. John's goal was somewhat similar to St. John's in a way because if I remember correctly she stole the ball around midfield again and just ran and ran. Clark's 2010 goal against Syracuse was also memorable because it was so quick into the game. I blinked and we were winning, which was a nice feeling.
Clark also liked to slide. One of my favorite clips of any player that I captured on film is her doing three straight slide tackles against Penn State. It always represented working hard and never giving up to me and I threw that into as many highlight videos as I could without being obnoxious about it.
I remember Clark best for the things off the field though, which I might say for most players I knew pretty well to be honest.
I think of Clark has someone who is artistic. Clark took a floral arrangement class and she would always bring in flowers to the office. Needless to say I was always impressed with the work she did, even though I had no idea how she did it, nor what flowers were used. Mary really loved them too, and every time she brought in new flowers they were the talk of the office when I was there.
Clark also makes me think of Golf. She plays and I believe worked at a course. I remember sitting and talking about golf and my new golf driver during preseason. I was going to the driving range and working on my swing a lot then, so it was nice to have someone to talk to about it. I also constantly compared my driving ability to Clark's too. She told me she won a driving contest with a drive of 210 yards. I was so impressed because when I first started playing I couldn't hit it 150 yards. Now I believe I can hit it 275 when I really swing...(although sometimes I doubt the markers) but for a while when I was learning to swing correctly I was going...ok, 10 more yards until you can reach Clark's drives.
Clark also is unique, and in a good way. Last year on Valentine's Day she made Valentine's for everyone at work. (She was working in marketing) Clark gave me a Valentine card and I still have it in the office, pinned up. I'll certainly take it with me to my next office. It was her own unique way of showing appreciation to those around her.
Clark also impressed me because I remember her talking to me about wanting to work in athletic marketing on campus as a junior. It was awesome to see her go from talking about it, to actually doing it. I was so happy for her when she told me she would be helping out Athletic Marketing as a senior. I also remember teaching her a few things I knew about photoshop. She was a natural though. After a few minutes I said she should just start using it, and that she didn't need my help. I had her teach me a few things in the spring when she was working for athletic marketing because she knew things I didn't know. She actually helped out a good deal with lacrosse's marketing last year.
Clark was a wonderful player and person, and someone I really enjoyed helping out as a part of the program. I wish her well and know she is well on her way to doing great things.
I also bet I'll think of more things about Clark later, but for now these stories are what come to mind.
Clark was a person and player I always liked. She's a really nice person who you could always have a conversation with, and also, I would also say is unique, and by unique I mean that in a good way.
Clark was probably the third person I met on the team once I started working with them. Cory was the first one I met. Next was Ally.
I remember feeling very out of place at first. I would hide behind the fence gate that would be the entrance to the field. I felt safe there as a newbie. I had a fence behind me, and a fence gate to the left of me, so I felt like I had my own comfortable plot on the field where I could be without disturbing anyone. (This is actually where I have ALWAYS sat and put my stuff. I think Dorn put stuff there too...but I always walk through the gate on the field and go right, away from the bench, and place my things.)
I remember sitting at my spot and before practice one day Clark introduced herself to me. She asked if I was that guy who was writing about the team. Something like that. I said yes and that's how we began to get to know one another.
Clark was one of my first few interviews because I felt comfortable around her. I believe her interview was the week before the South Florida trip because I remember telling her I was jealous I couldn't go. Her interview was awesome. She was one of the best interviews I had.
(I've ranked them, or started to rank them...the best interview actually occurred this year, and I doubt it could be topped...ever, especially in terms of length, or fun)
I spoke to Clark about an array of things, and I'd have to read the transcribing in order to remember what exactly we spoke about. The thing I remember the most though was actually transcribing the interview. Clark gave great answers, they were just long answers, which I loved, but also increased the amount of time I spent in transcription. I remember spending over an hour listening and typing and editing, and I remember being worried about finishing the interview and then doing homework.
And then doing homework...So my priorities were um, well uh. I had a 3.7 that semester so it must have worked out!
Now Clark's goal in 2009 against Wake Forest was off the top of my head, my second favorite goal of the season, only second to Taylor's NCAA winner. Clark looked like she shot right out of a cannon and headed right for a Wake player and just stole the ball from her. She was possessed when she entered that game and stole that ball. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that once she took the ball that she was going to the net and scoring. Clark did a slight juke at the end to get past one final defender and easily scored what would be the match winning goal. Her goal was so memorable because of how she took the ball away from Wake. It was the equivalent of LeBron stealing the ball and going untouched to dunk it. I loved that goal, and it was one of my favorite goals that I saw in all my years watching the team.
Clark was someone I always thought was great at taking players on. I also remember her running all over the field to score several of her goals. Her 2010 goals against St. John's and Yale had her running with the ball forever. Her St. John's goal was somewhat similar to St. John's in a way because if I remember correctly she stole the ball around midfield again and just ran and ran. Clark's 2010 goal against Syracuse was also memorable because it was so quick into the game. I blinked and we were winning, which was a nice feeling.
Clark also liked to slide. One of my favorite clips of any player that I captured on film is her doing three straight slide tackles against Penn State. It always represented working hard and never giving up to me and I threw that into as many highlight videos as I could without being obnoxious about it.
I remember Clark best for the things off the field though, which I might say for most players I knew pretty well to be honest.
I think of Clark has someone who is artistic. Clark took a floral arrangement class and she would always bring in flowers to the office. Needless to say I was always impressed with the work she did, even though I had no idea how she did it, nor what flowers were used. Mary really loved them too, and every time she brought in new flowers they were the talk of the office when I was there.
Clark also makes me think of Golf. She plays and I believe worked at a course. I remember sitting and talking about golf and my new golf driver during preseason. I was going to the driving range and working on my swing a lot then, so it was nice to have someone to talk to about it. I also constantly compared my driving ability to Clark's too. She told me she won a driving contest with a drive of 210 yards. I was so impressed because when I first started playing I couldn't hit it 150 yards. Now I believe I can hit it 275 when I really swing...(although sometimes I doubt the markers) but for a while when I was learning to swing correctly I was going...ok, 10 more yards until you can reach Clark's drives.
Clark also is unique, and in a good way. Last year on Valentine's Day she made Valentine's for everyone at work. (She was working in marketing) Clark gave me a Valentine card and I still have it in the office, pinned up. I'll certainly take it with me to my next office. It was her own unique way of showing appreciation to those around her.
Clark also impressed me because I remember her talking to me about wanting to work in athletic marketing on campus as a junior. It was awesome to see her go from talking about it, to actually doing it. I was so happy for her when she told me she would be helping out Athletic Marketing as a senior. I also remember teaching her a few things I knew about photoshop. She was a natural though. After a few minutes I said she should just start using it, and that she didn't need my help. I had her teach me a few things in the spring when she was working for athletic marketing because she knew things I didn't know. She actually helped out a good deal with lacrosse's marketing last year.
Clark was a wonderful player and person, and someone I really enjoyed helping out as a part of the program. I wish her well and know she is well on her way to doing great things.
I also bet I'll think of more things about Clark later, but for now these stories are what come to mind.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
I take that back
Other members of the Odd Fellows, like my ancestors, (I don't plan on joining if you are wondering) would include William Jennings Bryan, a politician that ran for President as often as he could, Charles Lindbergh and five Presidents. (Grant, Hayes, McKinley, Harding and FDR)
You learn new things everyday.
Will get back to sports soon.
You learn new things everyday.
Will get back to sports soon.
Bocce
My favorite Playstation Move game is probably Bocce. It's really quite sad.
I'm also not even Italian, but I really enjoy Bocce the video game. So I'd probably like it in real life.
Also this is funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoQcB6-UNWQ
I'm also not even Italian, but I really enjoy Bocce the video game. So I'd probably like it in real life.
Also this is funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoQcB6-UNWQ
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Found Em
The entire goal of my ancestry research for me was to find the burial spot for our relatives.
I succeeded mostly by myself, but got some help. I'll explain why I needed help later.
I found the cemetery easily. My mom helped me with directions and how to get there. It was easy for me because you can get to the cemetery easily from my grandma's old house (grandma with no relation to family I am looking for) in North Greenwich.
I took the Merritt Parkway and got off on the exit right on the border of Greenwich and New York on King Street. I went North and went past my favorite airport, Westchester County Airport (HPN) and then turned onto Bedford Road in North Greenwich. I drove past my grandmas old house and then proceeded to get to Rte 433 and then Rte 22 in Armonk. I took Rte 22 down about 6 or 7 miles to the cemetery in White Plains.
I parked in the cemetery and began searching, as I was completely unaware as to where in this medium sized cemetery my family was buried. I searched and searched and searched by foot. I finally found my surname after 10 minutes and got excited, but I read the names on the graves and saw they weren't the ones I was looking for. I kept scouring and scouring. I read tons of names and couldn't find the family. I found my surname several other places, and still they were all the wrong people. Finally after about an hour I was beginning to get frustrated and walked towards the cemetery office with about 10 minutes left before it closed.
Finally, a short walk from the cemetery office, I found my relatives. I found all of them except my great great grandfather who committed suicide. I knew he had to be buried somewhere in this cemetery, but didn't know where. I asked since the office was about to close. I got in just in time and I found out that my great great grandfather, who committed suicide is indeed buried with my relatives, but is in an unmarked grave. That's not all that surprising since families are not proud of individuals who kill themselves, especially back then.
The reason I feel comfortable talking about it is that it's so far removed from our family. We knew little about him (and we know why). To us it was interesting and almost funny to read and talk about. We have a picture of him and to us we now have a great story to tell ADULTS. However, back then, to his family, you probably didn't say a word about my great great grandfather.
I might name a dog after my great great grandfather. If the dog is a good dog, maybe I'll name a son after him to make his name good again.
OR maybe not.
"Honey"...wait "Sugar" (just kidding) I think we should name our son after my great great grandfather.
Really, what was he like?
"Uhh, um, well, uh he shot himself four times and poisoned himself to death."
"Hell No" followed by slapping for not taking child naming seriously enough.
But I really would like to honor my relatives that for so long I knew nothing about. I mean they are part of my life since I did discover them. It just is hard to tell your child that you named them after someone who committed suicide. I wouldn't feel good if I was named after someone who committed suicide.
My great great grandfather was actually not the only one who was buried in unmarked graves according to the cemetery records. Apparently one of my great great grandfathers sisters and all of his children (apparently five children) who died young or in infancy are also buried there.
One thing I learned from the grave stone is that my great great great grandfather was a member of the International Order of Odd Fellows. There is some symbol on his grave that according to something I found on google apparently means he is a member of this fraternity I guess.
I will say Odd Fellow doesn't shock me when talking about these relatives. Everything about them has been odd.
Apparently this group of people are all about F, L, T. Those initials were found on some iron plaque/stake next to my great great great grandpa's grave. The F, L, and T stand for Friendship, Love and Truth.
My first thought when reading this is that my great great great grandpa was a member of a Cult of Hippies. Reading those three things made it seem as if they were founders of the 19th century version of Haight Ashbury, or about to start their own version of Jonestown. I believe that my great great great grandfather and two of his sons were big into this group. After reading their about us it seems like the I.O.O.F. is innocent and good enough organization. It says they are about selflessness and about giving more than receiving. That's all I know about that. That's probably all I want to know about that.
I also realize, with the help of wikipedia (I trust this entry) that the name of the place where my great, great grandfather was born no longer exists. It's either at the bottom of a reservoir or near it.
I also hope that weird things don't start happening to me since I visited the graves of these long estranged family members. I'll start to believe their ghosts are following me.
Anyway I think I far exceeded my expectations through all of this research I did and I am content to take a break for now. I'd love to go past my great great great grandfather and find out about other relatives, but I will probably have to conduct my research from now on in White Plains and Westchester County.
Finally there is a small connection between Rte 22 and our soccer team (and a bigger connection between my mom and dad's side of the family that I didn't realize). I'm not making this up, but I realized as I was driving on Rte 22 that I lead the team to an A&P grocery store in Armonk on the way to the BIG EAST tournament in 2010 that is off of Rte 22. We needed a place to eat and the internet (Thank goodness for Peter Pan that trip) told me that there was one in Armonk off exit 3 of 684. Armonk sounded like a good place to me.
My parents were married there in Armonk (at the time I didn't know why they were married there) so that's probably why Armonk sounded good.
It also turns out that I discovered today that Armonk and that grocery store is about a five to ten minute drive from my grandmas old house in North Greenwich. I know I could have gone on a run from my grandmas old house to the store. Chances are good that I had actually already been to that grocery store in Armonk before. It's one of the places my grandma would shop for food. I would spend time with her when she would babysit me when my parents would go out.
So as it turns out there is good reason I got off of exit three and chose the A&P in Armonk. There was some intuition because as it turns out that A&P store was probably a place I had been to at least once before and was just five minutes from my grandmas house.
I knew 684 was close to my house, but I didn't know it was so close to my grandmas..(grandma on other side of family from research I did)
On top of that, Rte 22. where the A&P is off of, is also the same road, although another six or seven miles down the road, that my relatives that I didn't know about are buried on. On top of that the entire area on the border of New York and Connecticut is where my fathers side of the family comes from. My great great grandfather was even born very close to that A&P. It's funny how things like that just all come together by accident.
I succeeded mostly by myself, but got some help. I'll explain why I needed help later.
I found the cemetery easily. My mom helped me with directions and how to get there. It was easy for me because you can get to the cemetery easily from my grandma's old house (grandma with no relation to family I am looking for) in North Greenwich.
I took the Merritt Parkway and got off on the exit right on the border of Greenwich and New York on King Street. I went North and went past my favorite airport, Westchester County Airport (HPN) and then turned onto Bedford Road in North Greenwich. I drove past my grandmas old house and then proceeded to get to Rte 433 and then Rte 22 in Armonk. I took Rte 22 down about 6 or 7 miles to the cemetery in White Plains.
I parked in the cemetery and began searching, as I was completely unaware as to where in this medium sized cemetery my family was buried. I searched and searched and searched by foot. I finally found my surname after 10 minutes and got excited, but I read the names on the graves and saw they weren't the ones I was looking for. I kept scouring and scouring. I read tons of names and couldn't find the family. I found my surname several other places, and still they were all the wrong people. Finally after about an hour I was beginning to get frustrated and walked towards the cemetery office with about 10 minutes left before it closed.
Finally, a short walk from the cemetery office, I found my relatives. I found all of them except my great great grandfather who committed suicide. I knew he had to be buried somewhere in this cemetery, but didn't know where. I asked since the office was about to close. I got in just in time and I found out that my great great grandfather, who committed suicide is indeed buried with my relatives, but is in an unmarked grave. That's not all that surprising since families are not proud of individuals who kill themselves, especially back then.
The reason I feel comfortable talking about it is that it's so far removed from our family. We knew little about him (and we know why). To us it was interesting and almost funny to read and talk about. We have a picture of him and to us we now have a great story to tell ADULTS. However, back then, to his family, you probably didn't say a word about my great great grandfather.
I might name a dog after my great great grandfather. If the dog is a good dog, maybe I'll name a son after him to make his name good again.
OR maybe not.
"Honey"...wait "Sugar" (just kidding) I think we should name our son after my great great grandfather.
Really, what was he like?
"Uhh, um, well, uh he shot himself four times and poisoned himself to death."
"Hell No" followed by slapping for not taking child naming seriously enough.
But I really would like to honor my relatives that for so long I knew nothing about. I mean they are part of my life since I did discover them. It just is hard to tell your child that you named them after someone who committed suicide. I wouldn't feel good if I was named after someone who committed suicide.
My great great grandfather was actually not the only one who was buried in unmarked graves according to the cemetery records. Apparently one of my great great grandfathers sisters and all of his children (apparently five children) who died young or in infancy are also buried there.
One thing I learned from the grave stone is that my great great great grandfather was a member of the International Order of Odd Fellows. There is some symbol on his grave that according to something I found on google apparently means he is a member of this fraternity I guess.
I will say Odd Fellow doesn't shock me when talking about these relatives. Everything about them has been odd.
Apparently this group of people are all about F, L, T. Those initials were found on some iron plaque/stake next to my great great great grandpa's grave. The F, L, and T stand for Friendship, Love and Truth.
My first thought when reading this is that my great great great grandpa was a member of a Cult of Hippies. Reading those three things made it seem as if they were founders of the 19th century version of Haight Ashbury, or about to start their own version of Jonestown. I believe that my great great great grandfather and two of his sons were big into this group. After reading their about us it seems like the I.O.O.F. is innocent and good enough organization. It says they are about selflessness and about giving more than receiving. That's all I know about that. That's probably all I want to know about that.
I also realize, with the help of wikipedia (I trust this entry) that the name of the place where my great, great grandfather was born no longer exists. It's either at the bottom of a reservoir or near it.
I also hope that weird things don't start happening to me since I visited the graves of these long estranged family members. I'll start to believe their ghosts are following me.
Anyway I think I far exceeded my expectations through all of this research I did and I am content to take a break for now. I'd love to go past my great great great grandfather and find out about other relatives, but I will probably have to conduct my research from now on in White Plains and Westchester County.
Finally there is a small connection between Rte 22 and our soccer team (and a bigger connection between my mom and dad's side of the family that I didn't realize). I'm not making this up, but I realized as I was driving on Rte 22 that I lead the team to an A&P grocery store in Armonk on the way to the BIG EAST tournament in 2010 that is off of Rte 22. We needed a place to eat and the internet (Thank goodness for Peter Pan that trip) told me that there was one in Armonk off exit 3 of 684. Armonk sounded like a good place to me.
My parents were married there in Armonk (at the time I didn't know why they were married there) so that's probably why Armonk sounded good.
It also turns out that I discovered today that Armonk and that grocery store is about a five to ten minute drive from my grandmas old house in North Greenwich. I know I could have gone on a run from my grandmas old house to the store. Chances are good that I had actually already been to that grocery store in Armonk before. It's one of the places my grandma would shop for food. I would spend time with her when she would babysit me when my parents would go out.
So as it turns out there is good reason I got off of exit three and chose the A&P in Armonk. There was some intuition because as it turns out that A&P store was probably a place I had been to at least once before and was just five minutes from my grandmas house.
I knew 684 was close to my house, but I didn't know it was so close to my grandmas..(grandma on other side of family from research I did)
On top of that, Rte 22. where the A&P is off of, is also the same road, although another six or seven miles down the road, that my relatives that I didn't know about are buried on. On top of that the entire area on the border of New York and Connecticut is where my fathers side of the family comes from. My great great grandfather was even born very close to that A&P. It's funny how things like that just all come together by accident.
Don't always make fun of kickers
Here is a cool story about 49ers place kicker David Akers, former kicker for the Eagles. He has had to overcome a lot in this past year.
http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7446366/rick-reilly-david-akers-amazing-year
http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7446366/rick-reilly-david-akers-amazing-year
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Interesting Place I Visited
Question - What do you call a bus full of lawyers with two empty seats that falls off a cliff?
The answer:
A perfectly good waste of two seats.
Question - How do you stop a lawyer from drowning?
The answer:
You take your foot off his ass.
Not my jokes, just passing them on. My legally blonde cousin is going to law school in Portland, Oregon so we heard lots of lawyer jokes at Christmas from my Uncle and cousins. (I'm sure they are working on blonde lawyer jokes as we speak)
My cousin is really smart, but some in the family give her a hard time.
I got her lawyer joke "Where is the only place in the world where there can't be negligence?"
Answer "A duty free shop"
An element of negligence is a duty to do something. If a teacher had "no duty" to keep their students safe than their could be no negligence if a teacher didn't keep their students safe.
Anyway today I went to a special place. The records room in my town hall. It's in the basement. There are no lights. It's the place where ALL of the land grants in the history of the city are kept. There are also books of deaths, births, marriages, military service etc. It's a researcher and historians paradise, and with land records, also the dream place for lawyers. As we all know lawyers are a large part of the purchasing and selling of land.
The reason I went was to see if I could find any evidence of our family selling land after my great grandfather married an Irish Catholic. My hope was to see estates transferred after the death of a relative. In this sense, I failed. I really didn't find anything, although I also don't think I did the most exhaustive search either. I could stay researching for hours in that office, but I can't spend my life doing that. I needed to workout, so that got me out of their by 1pm.
Anyway it was really fascinating to look through everything. What I found out about my relatives is that the entire family in the late 1890s was involved in a lawsuit about a mortgage (and I believe them not paying). One of my relatives, (don't remember who and didn't think it was important enough to record when and who) was involved with a lawyer by the name of Homer Cummings in a property transaction. Homer Cummings was the 55th Attorney General of the United States, serving under Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Cool little fact there.
My Great Great Great Grandmother apparently died and her estate was part of the lawsuit. What I read was a little fuzzy because it was all written in script and also used legal jargon from before 1900. I could use my father's help in understanding it.
Apparently the family held property (don't know if it was a house, business etc.) by Hoyt and Summer Streets downtown. What is fascinating to me from my research is just how land was assigned back in 1900. They did measurements. My family had something like 170 feet by 50 something feet. It was fairly exact in measurements. However, the actual location was quite interesting. It was to the west of Jebediah's property (making up names of people so you get the idea) south of Sebastian Hoyt and to the west of the estate of the late Eliza. It's extremely difficult to know EXACTLY where the property borders were, and it's funny how general the information is. My parents house would be for example to the South of the Parkers, North of Paolo, and West of the DeFilips, Pyschiatrist and Neffs. East of the people in the red house.
It was funny to me that I was in there researching. I was CLEARLY the youngest person in the room. At one point I am fairly sure I was the only non-lawyer in the room. One lawyer was frantically searching for information.
Also don't forget, whatever the property lines are on record at the town clerks office is the property you have. The record there is all that counts. My dad taught me that today.
I hope my dad picks up where I left off in a way, or that we work together, because I really have such a bad idea of what the property claims we found are talking about.
I looked through Grantor and Grantee Books too. They are in series. They basically list all property transactions in the City (I am from one of the largest cities in New England apparently...and the 4th largest in Connecticut). There are series of books that detail names with property transactions as either the grantor (seller) or grantee (buyer) of property.
Once I found my family members names in the Grantor Book I would find another book number and subject such as Mortgage, Tax Lien, Warranty or Miscellaneous with a book number and page number with the actual contract or information on the land and property.
Then I went and found the book with the information and went to the page number and found whatever information I could. It was amazing to me how thorough and well organized the information was kept. Also amazing how someone wrote in script the information in the 1890s about family property claims.
Also found out that some of my family members didn't pay their taxes (I think they are Ron Paul fanatics) as they were cited in a Tax Lien book. I couldn't find the Tax Lien book though that talked about what property there was a lien against.
I didn't find out everything that I was looking for, but I found some interesting information. This information however wasn't as exciting to me because it's so hard to keep track of land from the 1890s of relatives and to figure out what property they had. It would have to be a long research project. Maybe when I am 70 I will visit Stamford again to go over everything.
I also did look through death certificates. This was a little bit harder to do than property because I needed to get a key to get access to these locked books. I did see my great great grandfathers death certificate and he did indeed kill himself like the newspaper said he did. I also confirmed his parents names, and their date of birth and location of birth.
There is some more I could research, but I think it would make more sense to come back to it at a later date. The amount of time required to look through everything will be immense. I'm hoping another relative who is retired or almost retired can pick up where I left off.
The last thing I did today was go to the firehouse downtown for the first time. My great grandpas picture used to be hanging up there, but unfortunately my dad and I couldn't find it. My dad thought it was up as of ten years ago when he last visited the fire house.
The answer:
A perfectly good waste of two seats.
Question - How do you stop a lawyer from drowning?
The answer:
You take your foot off his ass.
Not my jokes, just passing them on. My legally blonde cousin is going to law school in Portland, Oregon so we heard lots of lawyer jokes at Christmas from my Uncle and cousins. (I'm sure they are working on blonde lawyer jokes as we speak)
My cousin is really smart, but some in the family give her a hard time.
I got her lawyer joke "Where is the only place in the world where there can't be negligence?"
Answer "A duty free shop"
An element of negligence is a duty to do something. If a teacher had "no duty" to keep their students safe than their could be no negligence if a teacher didn't keep their students safe.
Anyway today I went to a special place. The records room in my town hall. It's in the basement. There are no lights. It's the place where ALL of the land grants in the history of the city are kept. There are also books of deaths, births, marriages, military service etc. It's a researcher and historians paradise, and with land records, also the dream place for lawyers. As we all know lawyers are a large part of the purchasing and selling of land.
The reason I went was to see if I could find any evidence of our family selling land after my great grandfather married an Irish Catholic. My hope was to see estates transferred after the death of a relative. In this sense, I failed. I really didn't find anything, although I also don't think I did the most exhaustive search either. I could stay researching for hours in that office, but I can't spend my life doing that. I needed to workout, so that got me out of their by 1pm.
Anyway it was really fascinating to look through everything. What I found out about my relatives is that the entire family in the late 1890s was involved in a lawsuit about a mortgage (and I believe them not paying). One of my relatives, (don't remember who and didn't think it was important enough to record when and who) was involved with a lawyer by the name of Homer Cummings in a property transaction. Homer Cummings was the 55th Attorney General of the United States, serving under Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Cool little fact there.
My Great Great Great Grandmother apparently died and her estate was part of the lawsuit. What I read was a little fuzzy because it was all written in script and also used legal jargon from before 1900. I could use my father's help in understanding it.
Apparently the family held property (don't know if it was a house, business etc.) by Hoyt and Summer Streets downtown. What is fascinating to me from my research is just how land was assigned back in 1900. They did measurements. My family had something like 170 feet by 50 something feet. It was fairly exact in measurements. However, the actual location was quite interesting. It was to the west of Jebediah's property (making up names of people so you get the idea) south of Sebastian Hoyt and to the west of the estate of the late Eliza. It's extremely difficult to know EXACTLY where the property borders were, and it's funny how general the information is. My parents house would be for example to the South of the Parkers, North of Paolo, and West of the DeFilips, Pyschiatrist and Neffs. East of the people in the red house.
It was funny to me that I was in there researching. I was CLEARLY the youngest person in the room. At one point I am fairly sure I was the only non-lawyer in the room. One lawyer was frantically searching for information.
Also don't forget, whatever the property lines are on record at the town clerks office is the property you have. The record there is all that counts. My dad taught me that today.
I hope my dad picks up where I left off in a way, or that we work together, because I really have such a bad idea of what the property claims we found are talking about.
I looked through Grantor and Grantee Books too. They are in series. They basically list all property transactions in the City (I am from one of the largest cities in New England apparently...and the 4th largest in Connecticut). There are series of books that detail names with property transactions as either the grantor (seller) or grantee (buyer) of property.
Once I found my family members names in the Grantor Book I would find another book number and subject such as Mortgage, Tax Lien, Warranty or Miscellaneous with a book number and page number with the actual contract or information on the land and property.
Then I went and found the book with the information and went to the page number and found whatever information I could. It was amazing to me how thorough and well organized the information was kept. Also amazing how someone wrote in script the information in the 1890s about family property claims.
Also found out that some of my family members didn't pay their taxes (I think they are Ron Paul fanatics) as they were cited in a Tax Lien book. I couldn't find the Tax Lien book though that talked about what property there was a lien against.
I didn't find out everything that I was looking for, but I found some interesting information. This information however wasn't as exciting to me because it's so hard to keep track of land from the 1890s of relatives and to figure out what property they had. It would have to be a long research project. Maybe when I am 70 I will visit Stamford again to go over everything.
I also did look through death certificates. This was a little bit harder to do than property because I needed to get a key to get access to these locked books. I did see my great great grandfathers death certificate and he did indeed kill himself like the newspaper said he did. I also confirmed his parents names, and their date of birth and location of birth.
There is some more I could research, but I think it would make more sense to come back to it at a later date. The amount of time required to look through everything will be immense. I'm hoping another relative who is retired or almost retired can pick up where I left off.
The last thing I did today was go to the firehouse downtown for the first time. My great grandpas picture used to be hanging up there, but unfortunately my dad and I couldn't find it. My dad thought it was up as of ten years ago when he last visited the fire house.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Poison and Bullets Fatal - Family Stories
I bet you never expected this to be a title for a blog entry.
I never did.
I'm sure a lot of people will read this based on the title. It's about my family, and it's actually interesting enough that you might read it.
I've been doing research on my family and the descendants of my last name. We didn't know much about our relatives much beyond the 1900's (well until now) and this always made me curious. I think my dad was curious too but he jokingly warned me that you never know what you might find. I really wanted to find things out though. My families last name is in the name of a street in my city and there is supposed to be a relation. Yet we didn't know the story behind the street.
The story went that our great great grandfather disinherited my great grandfather for who he married and thus was not going to get the land by that street. That story is a little more foggy now.
Anyway, in trying to search for more information on my relatives and names, dates of birth, burial grounds etc. I decided to go to our town library and look for obituaries in the town newspaper. They have all of the newspaper articles on microfilm going back to the 1800s.
I found a place on the libraries website that listed the names of people with my last name and the date of their obituary. I was able to find my relative. I got the microfilm and started looking.
According to records my great great grandpas obituary was on the front page on January 6, 1902. I read a headline that said "Poison and Bullets Fatal", and read other headlines and couldn't find the obituaries. It was driving me crazy.
Then I re-read "Poison and Bullets Fatal" and saw my relatives name.
Things just got a little more interesting.
The second headline said my relatives name followed by "Died in Hospital Late Saturday Night."
I thought to myself, 'wow, what did my relative do to get shot and poisoned?'. I figured someone killed him.
I was wrong.
No one killed my relative. The third headline read "Suicide Due To Despondency"
OHHHHHHHHH
Jeez
This is even more interesting than I could ever imagine, and it might help explain why we know so little about him other than his name. Then again that might not be the reason or only reason we know nothing about him.
As I read further I was surprised at my reaction. Here I am reading about my great great grandfather who died 86 years before I was born and I found myself having tears come to my eyes. I never knew the guy, yet he is a direct relative of mine. He shares my name, I couldn't help but feel bad for him. I found reading the article sad, and funny because my dad said "you never know what you might find." Boy was my dad correct so I called him right away with the news and he found it interesting.
It turns out that my great great grandfather was a really bad shot. The understatement of the century as he apparently fired four shots into his head, yet none of those shots proved to be fatal. They were apparently all scalp wounds. Since the guns didn't kill him he apparently poisoned himself with laudanum. He apparently did this in a hotel room in the Stamford House.
The Stamford House happens to be right near by, possibly even right next to where my father works. Who knew before today?
Four shots and poison. He was desperate to kill himself. He apparently wrote a note but it was not revealed who he wrote the letter too. He apparently mumbled something about "Lawrence" before he died. As far as I know there is no one named Lawrence in our family that he could have been talking about. (Maybe it will reveal itself)
My relative apparently had been suffering from rheumatism and other complaints. He apparently had to give up his business and at that time he became melancholy and brooded a great deal. To complicate things we believe that he had five kids, and his first four all died. We know his youngest son went on to be my great grandfather. Apparently two of my relatives sons died within a week of Scarlet Fever in 1888. One died at age three, the other, the oldest boy, at age six. At the time of his suicide he was separated from his wife Minnie (my great great grandmother). Minnie was applying to get a divorce.
What complicates our family story somewhat is the fact that when my relative committed suicide in 1902, his youngest son was only 14, and not married. Therefore it stands to reason that he wouldn't have disowned his son for marrying an Irish Catholic since he wasn't around to see his youngest son get married.
Who disowned my great grandfather. Well, we still don't know.
Maybe it was my great great grandfather's brother Chauncey, who was quite successful and actually lived to age 89, who disowned my great grandfather. (We hadn't ever known of a male relative of our last name to have lived past 58 until we heard about Chauncey)
That had made sense to me, until my father pointed out in the obituary that I had printed out that Chauncey's funeral was to be held at his nephews house. The obituary said that his only nephew was my great grandfather. Would my great grandfather have had a funeral for his uncle who disinherited him? I don't know if that makes sense. We may never know exactly why or who disinherited who, when and why.
It's a mystery, but atleast today we were able to clear a few things up.
I admit, I feel like a detective on Law and Order, or that I am writing the script for a show. This research has been quite interesting. I think this article might actually be interesting enough for people not in my family to read.
I never did.
I'm sure a lot of people will read this based on the title. It's about my family, and it's actually interesting enough that you might read it.
I've been doing research on my family and the descendants of my last name. We didn't know much about our relatives much beyond the 1900's (well until now) and this always made me curious. I think my dad was curious too but he jokingly warned me that you never know what you might find. I really wanted to find things out though. My families last name is in the name of a street in my city and there is supposed to be a relation. Yet we didn't know the story behind the street.
The story went that our great great grandfather disinherited my great grandfather for who he married and thus was not going to get the land by that street. That story is a little more foggy now.
Anyway, in trying to search for more information on my relatives and names, dates of birth, burial grounds etc. I decided to go to our town library and look for obituaries in the town newspaper. They have all of the newspaper articles on microfilm going back to the 1800s.
I found a place on the libraries website that listed the names of people with my last name and the date of their obituary. I was able to find my relative. I got the microfilm and started looking.
According to records my great great grandpas obituary was on the front page on January 6, 1902. I read a headline that said "Poison and Bullets Fatal", and read other headlines and couldn't find the obituaries. It was driving me crazy.
Then I re-read "Poison and Bullets Fatal" and saw my relatives name.
Things just got a little more interesting.
The second headline said my relatives name followed by "Died in Hospital Late Saturday Night."
I thought to myself, 'wow, what did my relative do to get shot and poisoned?'. I figured someone killed him.
I was wrong.
No one killed my relative. The third headline read "Suicide Due To Despondency"
OHHHHHHHHH
Jeez
This is even more interesting than I could ever imagine, and it might help explain why we know so little about him other than his name. Then again that might not be the reason or only reason we know nothing about him.
As I read further I was surprised at my reaction. Here I am reading about my great great grandfather who died 86 years before I was born and I found myself having tears come to my eyes. I never knew the guy, yet he is a direct relative of mine. He shares my name, I couldn't help but feel bad for him. I found reading the article sad, and funny because my dad said "you never know what you might find." Boy was my dad correct so I called him right away with the news and he found it interesting.
It turns out that my great great grandfather was a really bad shot. The understatement of the century as he apparently fired four shots into his head, yet none of those shots proved to be fatal. They were apparently all scalp wounds. Since the guns didn't kill him he apparently poisoned himself with laudanum. He apparently did this in a hotel room in the Stamford House.
The Stamford House happens to be right near by, possibly even right next to where my father works. Who knew before today?
Four shots and poison. He was desperate to kill himself. He apparently wrote a note but it was not revealed who he wrote the letter too. He apparently mumbled something about "Lawrence" before he died. As far as I know there is no one named Lawrence in our family that he could have been talking about. (Maybe it will reveal itself)
My relative apparently had been suffering from rheumatism and other complaints. He apparently had to give up his business and at that time he became melancholy and brooded a great deal. To complicate things we believe that he had five kids, and his first four all died. We know his youngest son went on to be my great grandfather. Apparently two of my relatives sons died within a week of Scarlet Fever in 1888. One died at age three, the other, the oldest boy, at age six. At the time of his suicide he was separated from his wife Minnie (my great great grandmother). Minnie was applying to get a divorce.
What complicates our family story somewhat is the fact that when my relative committed suicide in 1902, his youngest son was only 14, and not married. Therefore it stands to reason that he wouldn't have disowned his son for marrying an Irish Catholic since he wasn't around to see his youngest son get married.
Who disowned my great grandfather. Well, we still don't know.
Maybe it was my great great grandfather's brother Chauncey, who was quite successful and actually lived to age 89, who disowned my great grandfather. (We hadn't ever known of a male relative of our last name to have lived past 58 until we heard about Chauncey)
That had made sense to me, until my father pointed out in the obituary that I had printed out that Chauncey's funeral was to be held at his nephews house. The obituary said that his only nephew was my great grandfather. Would my great grandfather have had a funeral for his uncle who disinherited him? I don't know if that makes sense. We may never know exactly why or who disinherited who, when and why.
It's a mystery, but atleast today we were able to clear a few things up.
I admit, I feel like a detective on Law and Order, or that I am writing the script for a show. This research has been quite interesting. I think this article might actually be interesting enough for people not in my family to read.
Half and Half
.500...ugh
Lets just get this out of the way
Saints
Patriots (Not Tebowing to him just yet...if he wins this one I'll stop picking against him, and claim that I was named after him)
Ravens
Giants
Lets just get this out of the way
Saints
Patriots (Not Tebowing to him just yet...if he wins this one I'll stop picking against him, and claim that I was named after him)
Ravens
Giants
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Challenging history
So I did some more research today.
Like I said I have a one track mind. I work weird hours, at all hours on things if they really interest me.
My dad has a Billy Club/Police Night Stick that he was told came from a relative that was a New York City Police Officer. He had thought it came from his father's mother, who was the oldest child in her family. How exactly she would get a night stick from a relative I don't know. The way my dad had thought he had understood it doesn't make all that much sense. I just don't see how his grandmother would have ended up with a night stick.
It makes much more sense that the night stick actually came from my father's great, great grandfather who was a police officer in New York that we recently found out about. I think it makes more sense for the night stick to have traveled from a father to a son, to a son, to a son, than for it to have gone some convoluted route involving mothers. I know this is sexist, but these times were sexist...I don't think women normally get billy clubs passed down to them.
Another one of my crazy theories is that my great grandpa got the night stick from his father or relative as a gift when he became a fireman, or became a "man"...before he got himself disinherited. I would think that this Billy Club would have had to have been given to my great grandfather before he was disinherited if the club came from that side of the family, and not another.
We also heard that this New York City police officer or another relative police officer we don't know about, threw three people into a well.
I wonder if there is any attachment between this and the Orange Riots that broke out in New York City in the 1870's that took place between Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants. It's plausible, but I had also heard the three thrown into the well may have been Italian. (Hopefully I don't have a tragic accident because of this now..Sopranos joke there) Either way it wound be interesting to read about the riots since it would appear that a relative could have been involved as a police officer in trying to restore order to the riots.
I also found out that my relatives lived around what is now the Upper East Side. They were certainly not rich, as in 1870 my great great great grandfather wasn't listed as owning property and had an estate property worth $600. His son apparently had estate property worth $1,000. They lived in the 19th Ward in Manhattan. The financial figures seem to be in the middle of those on the census document I saw.
One premise that I will challenge, and be interested to learn about is who disinherited my great grandfather for marrying an Irish Catholic. He was apparently disinherited upon his marriage, although we are unsure if it was because he married an Irish person, or a Catholic or both. We will probably never know. There was a five year difference between the birth of my great grandpa's first child and the death of his father (great, great grandfather Orrin). In other words, it would appear to me based on the records that I have seen and logic, that chances are fair that his father didn't live to see his son marry an Irish Catholic.
What confuses things even more is that it would appear as if there was a divorce that took place between my great grandpa's parents before my great grandpa went and married an Irish Catholic.
If there was a divorce or death before the wedding it would have probably left my great grandpa's ties to his father's family with his Uncle Chauncey. Chauncey seemed to be a well to do person in society. He was a treasurer in a club. Today I found out he owned a market, the "People's Market" on Main Street in Stamford. My family knew that a relative had owned a Market in town, but we didn't know it's name or where. Solved that mystery today.
Chauncey might have had a good business mind and realized that he might have wanted to distance himself from my great grandfather for at the time embarrassing the family. It's just a theory, but if the records confirm my assumptions it would seem to be a plausible alternative to his father disinheriting him.
I want to find Orrin's grave! That would help with dates. Somewhere I saw his death date as 1902, when my great grandpa was 14. Somehow I don't think my great grandpa was married at 14.
I read about Chauncey and Orrin and found out that they were also interested in their genealogy because they apparently traveled to a huge reunion in Stonington, CT in 1881. It's seriously amazing what you can find on google...including a picture of Chauncey and the store that he owned. Google also helped me find a book written about Stamford that mentions Chauncey as someone who was the descendants of one of the oldest families to be from the Greenwich/Stamford Connecticut/New York Border.
So guess what...so am I! We were lucky enough to be some of the descendants of the oldest settlers of some of the most valuable property in the entire country. We were not lucky enough to benefit financially from that fact. Hence why not having a job lined up yet is quite troublesome.
Chauncey was apparently born in Connecticut, but moved to New York to be educated. (Imagine leaving Greenwich today to be educated in New York City...times change)
Forgetting about Chauncey now...who was also apparently a jeweler later in life according to my grandpa's story (Coming second hand from my father...who apparently said his dad remembered being a young boy and seeing Uncle Chauncey at the train station to go into New York to work as a jeweler)
I've been told that my Grandpa knew everyone in town, and I believe it, seeing that his mother had six other live siblings (four died at childbirth/youth too) who also had large families. My grandpa probably had at least 20-30 cousins if not more. I'm probably related to half the Irish people in Stamford somehow. Maybe all the Germans, which is what I am mostly.
Like I said I have a one track mind. I work weird hours, at all hours on things if they really interest me.
My dad has a Billy Club/Police Night Stick that he was told came from a relative that was a New York City Police Officer. He had thought it came from his father's mother, who was the oldest child in her family. How exactly she would get a night stick from a relative I don't know. The way my dad had thought he had understood it doesn't make all that much sense. I just don't see how his grandmother would have ended up with a night stick.
It makes much more sense that the night stick actually came from my father's great, great grandfather who was a police officer in New York that we recently found out about. I think it makes more sense for the night stick to have traveled from a father to a son, to a son, to a son, than for it to have gone some convoluted route involving mothers. I know this is sexist, but these times were sexist...I don't think women normally get billy clubs passed down to them.
Another one of my crazy theories is that my great grandpa got the night stick from his father or relative as a gift when he became a fireman, or became a "man"...before he got himself disinherited. I would think that this Billy Club would have had to have been given to my great grandfather before he was disinherited if the club came from that side of the family, and not another.
We also heard that this New York City police officer or another relative police officer we don't know about, threw three people into a well.
I wonder if there is any attachment between this and the Orange Riots that broke out in New York City in the 1870's that took place between Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants. It's plausible, but I had also heard the three thrown into the well may have been Italian. (Hopefully I don't have a tragic accident because of this now..Sopranos joke there) Either way it wound be interesting to read about the riots since it would appear that a relative could have been involved as a police officer in trying to restore order to the riots.
I also found out that my relatives lived around what is now the Upper East Side. They were certainly not rich, as in 1870 my great great great grandfather wasn't listed as owning property and had an estate property worth $600. His son apparently had estate property worth $1,000. They lived in the 19th Ward in Manhattan. The financial figures seem to be in the middle of those on the census document I saw.
One premise that I will challenge, and be interested to learn about is who disinherited my great grandfather for marrying an Irish Catholic. He was apparently disinherited upon his marriage, although we are unsure if it was because he married an Irish person, or a Catholic or both. We will probably never know. There was a five year difference between the birth of my great grandpa's first child and the death of his father (great, great grandfather Orrin). In other words, it would appear to me based on the records that I have seen and logic, that chances are fair that his father didn't live to see his son marry an Irish Catholic.
What confuses things even more is that it would appear as if there was a divorce that took place between my great grandpa's parents before my great grandpa went and married an Irish Catholic.
If there was a divorce or death before the wedding it would have probably left my great grandpa's ties to his father's family with his Uncle Chauncey. Chauncey seemed to be a well to do person in society. He was a treasurer in a club. Today I found out he owned a market, the "People's Market" on Main Street in Stamford. My family knew that a relative had owned a Market in town, but we didn't know it's name or where. Solved that mystery today.
Chauncey might have had a good business mind and realized that he might have wanted to distance himself from my great grandfather for at the time embarrassing the family. It's just a theory, but if the records confirm my assumptions it would seem to be a plausible alternative to his father disinheriting him.
I want to find Orrin's grave! That would help with dates. Somewhere I saw his death date as 1902, when my great grandpa was 14. Somehow I don't think my great grandpa was married at 14.
I read about Chauncey and Orrin and found out that they were also interested in their genealogy because they apparently traveled to a huge reunion in Stonington, CT in 1881. It's seriously amazing what you can find on google...including a picture of Chauncey and the store that he owned. Google also helped me find a book written about Stamford that mentions Chauncey as someone who was the descendants of one of the oldest families to be from the Greenwich/Stamford Connecticut/New York Border.
So guess what...so am I! We were lucky enough to be some of the descendants of the oldest settlers of some of the most valuable property in the entire country. We were not lucky enough to benefit financially from that fact. Hence why not having a job lined up yet is quite troublesome.
Chauncey was apparently born in Connecticut, but moved to New York to be educated. (Imagine leaving Greenwich today to be educated in New York City...times change)
Forgetting about Chauncey now...who was also apparently a jeweler later in life according to my grandpa's story (Coming second hand from my father...who apparently said his dad remembered being a young boy and seeing Uncle Chauncey at the train station to go into New York to work as a jeweler)
I've been told that my Grandpa knew everyone in town, and I believe it, seeing that his mother had six other live siblings (four died at childbirth/youth too) who also had large families. My grandpa probably had at least 20-30 cousins if not more. I'm probably related to half the Irish people in Stamford somehow. Maybe all the Germans, which is what I am mostly.
Read This
First of all, it means something when I hear Barry Sanders, a player I grew up watching, has a son who is about to play in college now. It means I'm getting older.
However, just read this, it sort of angers me. Sanders commits to Stanford, a great school, that I hope he gets in to. A Stanford degree should do wonders for him.
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/recruiting/football/story/_/id/7436402/espu-150-barry-j-sanders-commits-stanford-cardinal
What angers me is that he is committing to this school without knowing if he has been accepted. It's a two part process. You have to get in to the school and be offered to be on the team. He's got half of that done. You shouldn't announce anything until both things are accomplished because the getting into Stanford should be the most important thing he is celebrating, not just being on their football team. The education matters. I assume that Mr. Sanders is well educated. I am not here saying that he should be punished. My point is that society seems to overlook the fact that athletes need to get into a school academically as well as athletically. Some student athletes are actually turned away for academics.
However, just read this, it sort of angers me. Sanders commits to Stanford, a great school, that I hope he gets in to. A Stanford degree should do wonders for him.
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/recruiting/football/story/_/id/7436402/espu-150-barry-j-sanders-commits-stanford-cardinal
What angers me is that he is committing to this school without knowing if he has been accepted. It's a two part process. You have to get in to the school and be offered to be on the team. He's got half of that done. You shouldn't announce anything until both things are accomplished because the getting into Stanford should be the most important thing he is celebrating, not just being on their football team. The education matters. I assume that Mr. Sanders is well educated. I am not here saying that he should be punished. My point is that society seems to overlook the fact that athletes need to get into a school academically as well as athletically. Some student athletes are actually turned away for academics.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Horrendous Day
Horrendous day for UCONN Basketball.
I haven't been impressed yet by the Men. I've been easier on them because they won the National Championship last year. Last year's team was different and you knew it early on in the season by watching them play. This year's team seems to lack energy and that worries me in a big way. I've been propping them up based on talent, and said they would be an Elite Eight team. What I have seen in the last two games, losing to New Jersey teams, indicates that they aren't that, at least right now. The team has the talent to turn it around, but they worry me because they don't seem to have some ingredient that they had last year. They have to turn it around. These two losses are inexcusable and embarrassing.
The Women also were disappointing today. I'm not as worried about them as the men, but still they also were missing something today, and haven't impressed me their last few games. I still expect them to make the Final Four though. I'll give them a pass for today's game. They will learn and grow from it. I just haven't seen this team give away a game like this...ever.
Both of these teams are good and have a lot of potential. I hope this is just a bump in the road.
I haven't been impressed yet by the Men. I've been easier on them because they won the National Championship last year. Last year's team was different and you knew it early on in the season by watching them play. This year's team seems to lack energy and that worries me in a big way. I've been propping them up based on talent, and said they would be an Elite Eight team. What I have seen in the last two games, losing to New Jersey teams, indicates that they aren't that, at least right now. The team has the talent to turn it around, but they worry me because they don't seem to have some ingredient that they had last year. They have to turn it around. These two losses are inexcusable and embarrassing.
The Women also were disappointing today. I'm not as worried about them as the men, but still they also were missing something today, and haven't impressed me their last few games. I still expect them to make the Final Four though. I'll give them a pass for today's game. They will learn and grow from it. I just haven't seen this team give away a game like this...ever.
Both of these teams are good and have a lot of potential. I hope this is just a bump in the road.
Twitter has taught me
One thing Twitter has taught me is thought I don't follow sports nearly as much as other people. Or atleast I don't seem too. Some of my friends are commenting about every college football and basketball, NBA and NFL game. Even NHL games come up.
I don't know enough about the NHL. With NBC's move to Stamford I think of job potential if I knew more about the NHL. Might have to work on that. I can't watch college basketball if UCONN doesn't play because I just don't care about other games. NBA is just over kill for me. I have to be so bored to watch that.
It's too much for me to be honest. I love watching sports, and probably watch more than the average person. I watch less than I used too though. I just don't get the same joy watching athletes I don't know, than I do working for and with athletes I do know.
I feel like I can only casually follow most games, like I am doing now. I have a hard time focusing on games without my favorite teams in it. If the Cowboys are on I can watch non-stop. If the Mets are on, I can be glued to the TV. Same for UCONN. NASCAR I can actually focus on, and Golf too. Soccer is hit or miss for me. I was glued to the Women's Soccer college cup. I also enjoy watching Arsenal and premier league soccer from time to time. But sporting events in NBA or NHL or even the NFL with teams I don't care about are really hard for me too watch.
I actually enjoy watching old games from when I was growing up more than some current games. I like watching the Cowboys play the Giants at the Meadowlands in 1995. I found some tapes of the 2003 Cowboys with Bill Parcells I've put on while working out. Even put on some of the 2002 Mets, who were AWFUL.
I don't know enough about the NHL. With NBC's move to Stamford I think of job potential if I knew more about the NHL. Might have to work on that. I can't watch college basketball if UCONN doesn't play because I just don't care about other games. NBA is just over kill for me. I have to be so bored to watch that.
It's too much for me to be honest. I love watching sports, and probably watch more than the average person. I watch less than I used too though. I just don't get the same joy watching athletes I don't know, than I do working for and with athletes I do know.
I feel like I can only casually follow most games, like I am doing now. I have a hard time focusing on games without my favorite teams in it. If the Cowboys are on I can watch non-stop. If the Mets are on, I can be glued to the TV. Same for UCONN. NASCAR I can actually focus on, and Golf too. Soccer is hit or miss for me. I was glued to the Women's Soccer college cup. I also enjoy watching Arsenal and premier league soccer from time to time. But sporting events in NBA or NHL or even the NFL with teams I don't care about are really hard for me too watch.
I actually enjoy watching old games from when I was growing up more than some current games. I like watching the Cowboys play the Giants at the Meadowlands in 1995. I found some tapes of the 2003 Cowboys with Bill Parcells I've put on while working out. Even put on some of the 2002 Mets, who were AWFUL.
Family Stories Part II
The most interesting story I heard was that my grandma's brother knocked up someone in high school (In 1921/1922) and then married the girl he knocked up. Their wedding gift was actually a house. Not bad. They only had the one child that brought them together, and it actually turned out well. He was apparently an almost perfect son who would end up being a chemical engineer. The funny part about the knocked up part is that apparently my grandmas brother and wife were very conservative, well behaved, quiet, perfect "pitch fork picture" people who you could never imagine conceiving a child before marriage.
It's stories like these that you don't want to lose. (Although some in my family might be embarrassed to talk about it..but I think most of them are LONG LONG dead...and if they are alive, they certainly don't know google) They help bring the people in the family trees alive. Plus it's a great story. I learned this while traveling through Ridgefield today. We also stopped at a few cemeteries in Ridgefield and I took notes of who is buried where and why they are important.
Also found out my grandmother was scared and uncomfortable around one of her cousins because he was apparently quiet and sneaky...and maybe a little too touchy feely.
My grandmother also didn't appreciate that one of her cousins would sit on my grandpas lap at family gatherings, sometimes with a drink in hand. Some relatives thought my grandmas cousin had a crush on my grandpa.
My father uncle and I also toured around the old Family Farm that we know nothing about. Absolutely nothing. We still know nothing, other than that there are a lot of HUGE houses currently there. Too bad our family was never really going to inherit it.
I am searching for grave information on several relatives that we don't know about, but recently found out about. I wonder if any were buried by the old family farm. We can't really walk around the old farm to see old buildings or structures and just explore because it's all private driveways and roads. Roads with gates. This is an exclusive place now. It probably wasn't quite as exclusive when family had it.
At the time you could have been cash poor and land rich.
Family (way way back) also had land by Round Hill Rd in Greenwich, CT which is one of the most expensive places in the country. However, no family we ever knew owned it and when they did it was probably not worth anything close to what it is worth now.
The land that family owned, especially the one with the Hill named after us in Stamford/Greenwich border became valuable when New York and the U.S. economy became really powerful. Powerful people would commute in to New York from our part, or have summer homes. That is where the expensive property comes from.
One of our relatives apparently sold a family farm in Pound Ridge (my grandmas cousin) for peanuts. She was no good with money. It is rumored however, that the house that was in the families possession at one time served as a place that took care of wounded Revolutionary War veterans, and I had heard, Red Coats.
Apparently my paternal grandpas side of the family may have had two New York City Police Officers in its history. Definitely one according to a census.
My dad's side of the family, especially the Irish side seemed to have lots of roots in the Catholic Church in various capacities. I learned that at the time, when Irish were immigrating into the country, that Irish people would gravitate to the church and would adore priests because priests were the only educated people that the Irish knew. The church served as a great resource to Irish people.
It's stories like these that you don't want to lose. (Although some in my family might be embarrassed to talk about it..but I think most of them are LONG LONG dead...and if they are alive, they certainly don't know google) They help bring the people in the family trees alive. Plus it's a great story. I learned this while traveling through Ridgefield today. We also stopped at a few cemeteries in Ridgefield and I took notes of who is buried where and why they are important.
Also found out my grandmother was scared and uncomfortable around one of her cousins because he was apparently quiet and sneaky...and maybe a little too touchy feely.
My grandmother also didn't appreciate that one of her cousins would sit on my grandpas lap at family gatherings, sometimes with a drink in hand. Some relatives thought my grandmas cousin had a crush on my grandpa.
My father uncle and I also toured around the old Family Farm that we know nothing about. Absolutely nothing. We still know nothing, other than that there are a lot of HUGE houses currently there. Too bad our family was never really going to inherit it.
I am searching for grave information on several relatives that we don't know about, but recently found out about. I wonder if any were buried by the old family farm. We can't really walk around the old farm to see old buildings or structures and just explore because it's all private driveways and roads. Roads with gates. This is an exclusive place now. It probably wasn't quite as exclusive when family had it.
At the time you could have been cash poor and land rich.
Family (way way back) also had land by Round Hill Rd in Greenwich, CT which is one of the most expensive places in the country. However, no family we ever knew owned it and when they did it was probably not worth anything close to what it is worth now.
The land that family owned, especially the one with the Hill named after us in Stamford/Greenwich border became valuable when New York and the U.S. economy became really powerful. Powerful people would commute in to New York from our part, or have summer homes. That is where the expensive property comes from.
One of our relatives apparently sold a family farm in Pound Ridge (my grandmas cousin) for peanuts. She was no good with money. It is rumored however, that the house that was in the families possession at one time served as a place that took care of wounded Revolutionary War veterans, and I had heard, Red Coats.
Apparently my paternal grandpas side of the family may have had two New York City Police Officers in its history. Definitely one according to a census.
My dad's side of the family, especially the Irish side seemed to have lots of roots in the Catholic Church in various capacities. I learned that at the time, when Irish were immigrating into the country, that Irish people would gravitate to the church and would adore priests because priests were the only educated people that the Irish knew. The church served as a great resource to Irish people.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Family History
One great way for me to save information on my past is to type them here, where they can never be lost.
For those, almost all of you, who don't care, stop reading.
Anyway today was a family history day since my Uncle is in town. My father and he talk about old stories and that helps piece together family history.
One of the mysteries in my family comes from a surname that we weren't sure how it arrived.
My great grandfather was completely disinherited as an only surviving child (on what is now..not so much then..VERY valuable land on the Greenwich/Stamford border) because he married an Irish Catholic. With this disinheritance we really had no idea about his own family. The only thing we knew were the names of his parents. We didn't know where his parents were buried (We atleast have a clue for a town as of today) nor really know about my great grandpas aunts, uncles and grandparents.
Google and someone else's research really aided us. I was able to find the marriage in the family that explains a surname that showed up in our family and has now continued to be used in family names for five generations. I was also able to find out the name of my great grandfathers, grandpa or my great, great, great grandpa Floyd. He is the person who married into the surname we were wondering about.
Hopefully I will learn more in further research. I am pretty desperate to find out where my great great grandfather is buried because I believe that finding his burial place might give us a clue about his family that was cut off from the rest of my family when his Methodist son married a Catholic.
I can't imagine how big of a deal this must have been at the time. My great grandpa probably broke his parents hearts. He was the last person born in his family in the 1880s. His three older siblings all died young. His parents must have felt blessed to have had him survive, the only surviving child, and then just absolutely crushed when he married a Catholic. I bet if I find my great great grandpa's grave that he will be turning over in his grave, showing me his rear and giving me the finger at the thought of a Catholic with his last name tracking him down.
Speaking of this religious divide in my family, my dad's cousin married a man who was divorced. Because of this the church said that parishioners should avoid his dance studio in town. Imagine that happening in 2012?
I also found out that my great great grandpa's brother Chauncey worked in New York and was a jeweler...(That story conflicts with a record that showed him as a butcher, but he could have changed professions later in life) Apparently my grandpa or great grandpa (If I had to guess great grandpa) remembered seeing Chauncey at the train station to go into New York for his job.
One thing I did today was to drive with my father and uncle around town and see all of their old stomping grounds. You learn a lot from that and their stories. I saw the house my dad grew up in. My dad was able to tell such a great history of the city. He knew who lived in what house, and as a commercial realtor he also knows the history of all of the businesses in the city. He should write a book about our city. As someone who was born, raised and lived in the city his whole life he has an immense amount of information to pass on.
On this trip I also found out that there was at one time, hopefully there still is, a photo of my great grandpa (who I, nor my father met) in the Fire Station downtown. He was a fireman and they had random photos of old firefighters up.
We also went to the family plots at the cemetery. I learned that originally the plots were supposed to be for my great grandmothers family. However they didn't pay the cemetery their dues so my grandpa and grandma paid for it and we over took it.
My dad's Aunt was the town drunk. She was fine until she married the wrong guy. The guy she married was a drunk and turned her into one too. The guy she married was so drunk once that he fell into a snow bank and fell asleep drunk and then lost his foot because of it. My dad's aunt was also apparently famous for walking into bars drunk and then saying she was the sister of my grandpa who owned that business downtown. My grandpa apparently abhored that, and no wonder. He did apparently say he was very much thankful that she married and had a different last name than he did.
I've also heard that when she was drunk that she was really mean and that she would curse a lot. My uncle remembered learning many words from her. There is also a story that my grandma loaned $168 to my dad's aunt so that she could get her 1968 Chevy fixed. She was broke at the time I guess and couldn't believe it would cost that much money to fix her car. The story goes that my grandma was hoping she wouldn't pay her back because that way my dad's aunt would avoid coming back for more money. If she repaid than she could come back asking for more.
Another one of my dad's aunts moved out of town. My father only saw her once, at his father's funeral. Apparently his father (my grandpa) called her the smart one for moving out of town.
My grandpa died of a heart attack while on jury duty. He had a heart attack previously in his life and was hospitalized after that. He was told not to exercise by his doctors after that. Not exactly what would be recommended now. It's also no wonder he died of a heart attack because he returned to smoking two years after his hospital visit and he was famous for having rolls with lots and lots of butter later in his life. Growing up however, my grandfather was an Eagle Scout and in great shape. That just changed as he got older.
My grandpa also once pointed out a man on the street to either my dad or uncle. He said "You see that man over there. He has no teeth." When asked how he knew that my grandpa responded "I knocked them out." Apparently it was a friend of his who got boxing gloves as a gift and I guess my grandpa tried out the gloves to see if they worked, and they did. (I bet this story gets really embellished in coming generations...I may have unknowingly done some, but that's fairly accurate. He did apparently say he knocked them out)
My Uncle was able to give me the only two things I know about my great grandmother, my dad's paternal grandmother. Apparently she was known to be really tough. My Uncle's only VIVID memory of her is that one day she went "Hey Billy, come here. Come flush the toilet for me." What a wonderful memory.
Hopefully you leave better memories than that for people. My dad's paternal grandmother is also partly responsible for my name. I am named after my father. We have the same first name and same middle initial (but different middle names). My dad was named after his paternal grandmother's relative (I believe uncle). Our names differ on middle names. I was told my parents met a nice young man who they liked who had a name that began with T.
My dad's paternal grandmother also charged my father everytime he would use the phone at the house. I've heard the story go two ways...One way is that my dad's paternal grandmother (my grandpa's mother) came into my grandpas business and used the phone and my grandpa asked for the nickel to use the phone to get even with his mother who charged. The other way I heard the story is that my grandpas mother just gave him the five cents. When one of my grandpas workers saw this they gave him a hard time for charging his own mother to use the phone. He was just getting even.
My grandpa once (I've heard this story tons of times) punished one of his employees who locked himself out of the shop by making him climb through the window for a week. This sort of "memorable" punishment, which I laugh at, also inspired me this year to come up with a good way of making a freshman remember to get her shin guards. She left them at the field after her first practice. I didn't want this to be a habit so I brought them back with me to the dining hall and then put them on a plate by the desserts and told her to go get dessert.
My grandpa seems to be a bit of a clown or light hearted at times. Apparently if someone would call the house at the wrong time he would pick up and say "Tokyo Bridge Builder." At the time it was (and probably still is) obscenely expensive to call Tokyo. If someone thought they were calling Tokyo back when my grandpa was alive they hung up really quickly, or so the story goes. The other one he would use is "Sergeant O'Rourke - Main Desk." He would pretend to be a cop. Also effective at getting people to hang up.
When we got home my dad took out a knight stick that was a relative of ours. He was a New York city cop way, way back. He also apparently beat up three guys and threw them into a well. That's a family story that you treasure, and should.
On my dad's mother's side I found out that a relative was one of the first investors in Roton Point. It's a ridiculously expensive beach club. It would be nice if we still had connections to it. I think my father looked into getting a membership and judging by the price he mentioned, I am glad he didn't.
For those, almost all of you, who don't care, stop reading.
Anyway today was a family history day since my Uncle is in town. My father and he talk about old stories and that helps piece together family history.
One of the mysteries in my family comes from a surname that we weren't sure how it arrived.
My great grandfather was completely disinherited as an only surviving child (on what is now..not so much then..VERY valuable land on the Greenwich/Stamford border) because he married an Irish Catholic. With this disinheritance we really had no idea about his own family. The only thing we knew were the names of his parents. We didn't know where his parents were buried (We atleast have a clue for a town as of today) nor really know about my great grandpas aunts, uncles and grandparents.
Google and someone else's research really aided us. I was able to find the marriage in the family that explains a surname that showed up in our family and has now continued to be used in family names for five generations. I was also able to find out the name of my great grandfathers, grandpa or my great, great, great grandpa Floyd. He is the person who married into the surname we were wondering about.
Hopefully I will learn more in further research. I am pretty desperate to find out where my great great grandfather is buried because I believe that finding his burial place might give us a clue about his family that was cut off from the rest of my family when his Methodist son married a Catholic.
I can't imagine how big of a deal this must have been at the time. My great grandpa probably broke his parents hearts. He was the last person born in his family in the 1880s. His three older siblings all died young. His parents must have felt blessed to have had him survive, the only surviving child, and then just absolutely crushed when he married a Catholic. I bet if I find my great great grandpa's grave that he will be turning over in his grave, showing me his rear and giving me the finger at the thought of a Catholic with his last name tracking him down.
Speaking of this religious divide in my family, my dad's cousin married a man who was divorced. Because of this the church said that parishioners should avoid his dance studio in town. Imagine that happening in 2012?
I also found out that my great great grandpa's brother Chauncey worked in New York and was a jeweler...(That story conflicts with a record that showed him as a butcher, but he could have changed professions later in life) Apparently my grandpa or great grandpa (If I had to guess great grandpa) remembered seeing Chauncey at the train station to go into New York for his job.
One thing I did today was to drive with my father and uncle around town and see all of their old stomping grounds. You learn a lot from that and their stories. I saw the house my dad grew up in. My dad was able to tell such a great history of the city. He knew who lived in what house, and as a commercial realtor he also knows the history of all of the businesses in the city. He should write a book about our city. As someone who was born, raised and lived in the city his whole life he has an immense amount of information to pass on.
On this trip I also found out that there was at one time, hopefully there still is, a photo of my great grandpa (who I, nor my father met) in the Fire Station downtown. He was a fireman and they had random photos of old firefighters up.
We also went to the family plots at the cemetery. I learned that originally the plots were supposed to be for my great grandmothers family. However they didn't pay the cemetery their dues so my grandpa and grandma paid for it and we over took it.
My dad's Aunt was the town drunk. She was fine until she married the wrong guy. The guy she married was a drunk and turned her into one too. The guy she married was so drunk once that he fell into a snow bank and fell asleep drunk and then lost his foot because of it. My dad's aunt was also apparently famous for walking into bars drunk and then saying she was the sister of my grandpa who owned that business downtown. My grandpa apparently abhored that, and no wonder. He did apparently say he was very much thankful that she married and had a different last name than he did.
I've also heard that when she was drunk that she was really mean and that she would curse a lot. My uncle remembered learning many words from her. There is also a story that my grandma loaned $168 to my dad's aunt so that she could get her 1968 Chevy fixed. She was broke at the time I guess and couldn't believe it would cost that much money to fix her car. The story goes that my grandma was hoping she wouldn't pay her back because that way my dad's aunt would avoid coming back for more money. If she repaid than she could come back asking for more.
Another one of my dad's aunts moved out of town. My father only saw her once, at his father's funeral. Apparently his father (my grandpa) called her the smart one for moving out of town.
My grandpa died of a heart attack while on jury duty. He had a heart attack previously in his life and was hospitalized after that. He was told not to exercise by his doctors after that. Not exactly what would be recommended now. It's also no wonder he died of a heart attack because he returned to smoking two years after his hospital visit and he was famous for having rolls with lots and lots of butter later in his life. Growing up however, my grandfather was an Eagle Scout and in great shape. That just changed as he got older.
My grandpa also once pointed out a man on the street to either my dad or uncle. He said "You see that man over there. He has no teeth." When asked how he knew that my grandpa responded "I knocked them out." Apparently it was a friend of his who got boxing gloves as a gift and I guess my grandpa tried out the gloves to see if they worked, and they did. (I bet this story gets really embellished in coming generations...I may have unknowingly done some, but that's fairly accurate. He did apparently say he knocked them out)
My Uncle was able to give me the only two things I know about my great grandmother, my dad's paternal grandmother. Apparently she was known to be really tough. My Uncle's only VIVID memory of her is that one day she went "Hey Billy, come here. Come flush the toilet for me." What a wonderful memory.
Hopefully you leave better memories than that for people. My dad's paternal grandmother is also partly responsible for my name. I am named after my father. We have the same first name and same middle initial (but different middle names). My dad was named after his paternal grandmother's relative (I believe uncle). Our names differ on middle names. I was told my parents met a nice young man who they liked who had a name that began with T.
My dad's paternal grandmother also charged my father everytime he would use the phone at the house. I've heard the story go two ways...One way is that my dad's paternal grandmother (my grandpa's mother) came into my grandpas business and used the phone and my grandpa asked for the nickel to use the phone to get even with his mother who charged. The other way I heard the story is that my grandpas mother just gave him the five cents. When one of my grandpas workers saw this they gave him a hard time for charging his own mother to use the phone. He was just getting even.
My grandpa once (I've heard this story tons of times) punished one of his employees who locked himself out of the shop by making him climb through the window for a week. This sort of "memorable" punishment, which I laugh at, also inspired me this year to come up with a good way of making a freshman remember to get her shin guards. She left them at the field after her first practice. I didn't want this to be a habit so I brought them back with me to the dining hall and then put them on a plate by the desserts and told her to go get dessert.
My grandpa seems to be a bit of a clown or light hearted at times. Apparently if someone would call the house at the wrong time he would pick up and say "Tokyo Bridge Builder." At the time it was (and probably still is) obscenely expensive to call Tokyo. If someone thought they were calling Tokyo back when my grandpa was alive they hung up really quickly, or so the story goes. The other one he would use is "Sergeant O'Rourke - Main Desk." He would pretend to be a cop. Also effective at getting people to hang up.
When we got home my dad took out a knight stick that was a relative of ours. He was a New York city cop way, way back. He also apparently beat up three guys and threw them into a well. That's a family story that you treasure, and should.
On my dad's mother's side I found out that a relative was one of the first investors in Roton Point. It's a ridiculously expensive beach club. It would be nice if we still had connections to it. I think my father looked into getting a membership and judging by the price he mentioned, I am glad he didn't.
What I learned from video
I just saw some home video of me from 1996.
It was just after a blizzard hit. Apparently I was a slave in the video, or atleast my dad made me seem like one. He had the camera and was talking about the snowstorm and our walkway. Apparently the walkway needed more shoveling so he yelled for me to shovel more snow.
Then I got into a snowball fight with my uncle. I threw a snowball into the driveway and my dad said "Don't throw it into the driveway because your just going to have to shovel it again."
Clearly you can see just how much fun I had in this blizzard.
I guess this helps to explain why I usually enjoy working and why I would consider "hanging out" a weakness of mine. I think I am bad at hanging out, although I think I have improved at it.
In some ways there is some evidence that I was raised to not have fun and to not waste time and be unproductive.
It was just after a blizzard hit. Apparently I was a slave in the video, or atleast my dad made me seem like one. He had the camera and was talking about the snowstorm and our walkway. Apparently the walkway needed more shoveling so he yelled for me to shovel more snow.
Then I got into a snowball fight with my uncle. I threw a snowball into the driveway and my dad said "Don't throw it into the driveway because your just going to have to shovel it again."
Clearly you can see just how much fun I had in this blizzard.
I guess this helps to explain why I usually enjoy working and why I would consider "hanging out" a weakness of mine. I think I am bad at hanging out, although I think I have improved at it.
In some ways there is some evidence that I was raised to not have fun and to not waste time and be unproductive.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Stupid Sports Story
Here is a stupid sports story to pass on to others.
It's about LeBron James and his birthday cake...which apparently cost $3,000...
I will never pay that much for a cake...ever... I would make it on my own if I had too.
...Would help if I posted the link
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/LeBron-James-rejects-his-3-000-birthday-cake-a;_ylt=AvqIVI38_Sisoy1ZVL3TKw68vLYF?urn=nba-wp12773
It's about LeBron James and his birthday cake...which apparently cost $3,000...
I will never pay that much for a cake...ever... I would make it on my own if I had too.
...Would help if I posted the link
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/LeBron-James-rejects-his-3-000-birthday-cake-a;_ylt=AvqIVI38_Sisoy1ZVL3TKw68vLYF?urn=nba-wp12773
Monday, January 2, 2012
Steph Labbe's New Year Resolutions
Steph Labbe has always been a wonderful blogger, and writer. She's the athlete I most wanted to see when I attended my first UConn Women's Soccer game.
Anyway, I LOVE her New Years Resolutions...I think they are spectacular. She wrote them for Our Game Magazine.
http://www.ourgamemagazine.com/?p=3749
One interesting thing Steph talked about was not checking her phone when she wakes up in the morning.
It got me thinking about people who are attached to their phones. The people I REALLY DON'T GET are those who bring their phones with them to the gym. You can't effectively work out while checking out groupon. You can't run while texting back and forth with someone. Part of the reason I enjoy working out is to get away from the world. I can't understand why anyone would want to bring their phone to the gym with them.
Anyway, I LOVE her New Years Resolutions...I think they are spectacular. She wrote them for Our Game Magazine.
http://www.ourgamemagazine.com/?p=3749
One interesting thing Steph talked about was not checking her phone when she wakes up in the morning.
It got me thinking about people who are attached to their phones. The people I REALLY DON'T GET are those who bring their phones with them to the gym. You can't effectively work out while checking out groupon. You can't run while texting back and forth with someone. Part of the reason I enjoy working out is to get away from the world. I can't understand why anyone would want to bring their phone to the gym with them.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Why I hate the New York Giants
The team I dislike the most in all of sports is the New York Giants.
They finish just above the Yankees somehow. For a while it was the Yankees, but since they constantly choked they didn't bother me as much at the end of the decade.
The reason I can't stand the Giants more than any other team in sports is because of one of their fans...
We don't need to spell out his name. Don't want him to google himself.
He is quite possibly the dumbest person I know. Ok maybe dumb is unfair...I think he's in law school. He's just crazy and insane and extremely annoying.
He wrote a letter that he posted on facebook, to Tom Coughlin stating that he should cut a cornerback because he thought that corner stunk. He told Coughlin he should listen to him because he lead his intramural team to a championship in college.
You see the idiots we have to deal with in sports?
He is annoying as a fan. He is the fan you love to hate. BIASED to a degree that makes him as committable as a human who records themselves singing love songs while kissing squirrels at the park. I expect fans to say their team is going to win and that the referees had a bad call or two, but at the same time you should be able to take a step back and congratulate or respect the other team. This fan can't. It's why I hate the Giants so much.
He claimed he actually intimidated former Cowboys guard and future Hall of Famer Larry Allen, at a Giants game by looking him in the eyes. He thought that because of that he was part of the reason the Cowboys lost. Because someone who can Bench Press 690 plus pounds is afraid of a six foot 170 pound non-athlete.
This fan stated that Kerry Collins is a hall of fame quarterback. Excuse me?
He stated the most asinine remark in the history of sports, that Tiki Barber was a better running back than Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher. Tiki Barber was a great running back. He WAS NOT better than the NFL's all-time leading rusher. There are a few you could list as better or atleast as good as Emmitt and they would be the likes of Jim Brown, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton ....not Tiki Barber.
This is the sort of fan that also enjoys rubbing things in. That's what's most annoying about him. He rubs it in so much.
The Giants were better than the Cowboys this year. Victor Cruz is a phenomenal wide receiver and Eli Manning is an amazing quarterback who has grown a lot, and is someone I respect. I can say that. I can admit that.
This fan can't and he is so annoying and in your face that I LOVE seeing the Giants lose. I can't stand the Giants because of this one fanatic. He is the Ahmadinejad of sports fans.
They finish just above the Yankees somehow. For a while it was the Yankees, but since they constantly choked they didn't bother me as much at the end of the decade.
The reason I can't stand the Giants more than any other team in sports is because of one of their fans...
We don't need to spell out his name. Don't want him to google himself.
He is quite possibly the dumbest person I know. Ok maybe dumb is unfair...I think he's in law school. He's just crazy and insane and extremely annoying.
He wrote a letter that he posted on facebook, to Tom Coughlin stating that he should cut a cornerback because he thought that corner stunk. He told Coughlin he should listen to him because he lead his intramural team to a championship in college.
You see the idiots we have to deal with in sports?
He is annoying as a fan. He is the fan you love to hate. BIASED to a degree that makes him as committable as a human who records themselves singing love songs while kissing squirrels at the park. I expect fans to say their team is going to win and that the referees had a bad call or two, but at the same time you should be able to take a step back and congratulate or respect the other team. This fan can't. It's why I hate the Giants so much.
He claimed he actually intimidated former Cowboys guard and future Hall of Famer Larry Allen, at a Giants game by looking him in the eyes. He thought that because of that he was part of the reason the Cowboys lost. Because someone who can Bench Press 690 plus pounds is afraid of a six foot 170 pound non-athlete.
This fan stated that Kerry Collins is a hall of fame quarterback. Excuse me?
He stated the most asinine remark in the history of sports, that Tiki Barber was a better running back than Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher. Tiki Barber was a great running back. He WAS NOT better than the NFL's all-time leading rusher. There are a few you could list as better or atleast as good as Emmitt and they would be the likes of Jim Brown, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton ....not Tiki Barber.
This is the sort of fan that also enjoys rubbing things in. That's what's most annoying about him. He rubs it in so much.
The Giants were better than the Cowboys this year. Victor Cruz is a phenomenal wide receiver and Eli Manning is an amazing quarterback who has grown a lot, and is someone I respect. I can say that. I can admit that.
This fan can't and he is so annoying and in your face that I LOVE seeing the Giants lose. I can't stand the Giants because of this one fanatic. He is the Ahmadinejad of sports fans.
2012 Sports Predictions
A lot of babbling idiots make sports predictions.
Lots of people who know nothing about sports, write about them like they do.
I'm going to join them and make some very uninformed, out of the know, idiotic, and hopefully correct predictions.
1. Golf explodes, Tiger Woods wins TWO majors and between Tiger, Rory McElroy and company, golf and the PGA will see their interest go up.
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the Daytona 500. The streak that everyone talks about in NASCAR, the fact that Dale Jr. hasn't won in so many races, will end after the first race of the season.
3. NIKE will make NFL jerseys popular to wear again. I see this as the biggest DUH of all my predictions.
4. The Miami Heat will win the NBA Championship.
5. People will be talking about Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps again...the London Olympics are here.
6. The US Women's Soccer Team WILL WIN GOLD at the Olympics. Canada wins Bronze.
7. The Mets will finish in last place in the NL East.
8. Rex Ryan will shut up, or we will stop listening, if we haven't already.
9. The Red Sox will rebound and make the playoffs, The Yankees won't win the World Series. I don't know who will win the World Series, maybe the Red Sox. All I do know is that baseball's popularity will continue to slowly decline.
10. The Knicks and Rangers bring back some life to Madison Square Garden in the spring. The Rangers go to the Stanley Cup Finals
11. The Jerry Sandusky case only gets worse.
12. College Sports continue to deal with scandal, but not as much as in 2011.
13. Courts rule that West Virginia has to play in the BIG EAST for the next few seasons. Conference Realignment calms down, although there will be plenty of rumors involving BIG EAST football schools. Those rumors will also have some solid foundation to them.
Lots of people who know nothing about sports, write about them like they do.
I'm going to join them and make some very uninformed, out of the know, idiotic, and hopefully correct predictions.
1. Golf explodes, Tiger Woods wins TWO majors and between Tiger, Rory McElroy and company, golf and the PGA will see their interest go up.
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the Daytona 500. The streak that everyone talks about in NASCAR, the fact that Dale Jr. hasn't won in so many races, will end after the first race of the season.
3. NIKE will make NFL jerseys popular to wear again. I see this as the biggest DUH of all my predictions.
4. The Miami Heat will win the NBA Championship.
5. People will be talking about Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps again...the London Olympics are here.
6. The US Women's Soccer Team WILL WIN GOLD at the Olympics. Canada wins Bronze.
7. The Mets will finish in last place in the NL East.
8. Rex Ryan will shut up, or we will stop listening, if we haven't already.
9. The Red Sox will rebound and make the playoffs, The Yankees won't win the World Series. I don't know who will win the World Series, maybe the Red Sox. All I do know is that baseball's popularity will continue to slowly decline.
10. The Knicks and Rangers bring back some life to Madison Square Garden in the spring. The Rangers go to the Stanley Cup Finals
11. The Jerry Sandusky case only gets worse.
12. College Sports continue to deal with scandal, but not as much as in 2011.
13. Courts rule that West Virginia has to play in the BIG EAST for the next few seasons. Conference Realignment calms down, although there will be plenty of rumors involving BIG EAST football schools. Those rumors will also have some solid foundation to them.
Happy New Year
Happy New Year. 2012 is bound to be a big year for me. It will hopefully be the first year I am fully employed, but at the very least it will more than likely be my last year as a full time student.
I wouldn't rule out thinking about law school or going for an MBA, but at this point in my life I'm tired of school work and want to apply things.
I may also be moving far, far away this year for the first time. For all I know I could be leaving New England for the first time in my life. (I've actually left New England...I've spent a couple weeks in a Hawaii and three in Florida before...and been to 34 states, but I haven't really left New England as a place to live)
I wouldn't rule out thinking about law school or going for an MBA, but at this point in my life I'm tired of school work and want to apply things.
I may also be moving far, far away this year for the first time. For all I know I could be leaving New England for the first time in my life. (I've actually left New England...I've spent a couple weeks in a Hawaii and three in Florida before...and been to 34 states, but I haven't really left New England as a place to live)
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