Good night 😴 “ There are no superior races. Examine a man brain. It tells you nothing about his race. Test his blood. It tells you nothing about his race. Healthy blood plasma can save the life of any wounded soldier of any color. Nor does skin color mean a thing.” Humphrey Bogart

I'm writing history. The micro-history behind the big overview. The stories you don't know. The women who need their moment. It's one of my small acts of rebellion while we watch history gets scrubbed & altered. #genealogy

One more read & I'm submitting this book chapter. It's 3,000 words longer than they'd like. They're lucky I didn't submit the version that was 3x's this long 😀 I need a beer.

And the challenge is: can I finish my book chapter while watching non-stop Olympic coverage? Sigh....

And they wonder why we protest.....

2025 Wisconsin State Genealogical Society Fall Conference! “Time Warp Genealogy” at The Inn on Maritime Bay, Manitowoc, WI October 10-11, 2025 – Host- Manitowoc County Genealogical Society More details at wsgs.org/2025Fall #genealogy

Conference on Post World War II Dutch Immigration to North America, June 26-28, 2025, Holland, MI. Info at dutch-americans.org #genealogy #dutch

1,200 mile, 2 week research trip through Iowa. Many libraries, archives & historical society and 1,000+ scans later I think I have solid material to write my mag article. Now to process it all 😀 #genealogy

Anyone interested in Post WWII Dutch Immigration to North America: conference in Holland, MI June 26-28 Info at: dutch-americans.org #genealogy

Fellowship #2 lecture completed. New research for lecture in June involves appr. 1,566 Dutch refugees in the 1950s. Sigh. SO many people. # genealogy

One small piece of resistance I can do as a genealogist: continue to find/document/write & lecture about Holocaust survivors, POWs, the untold stories of women. #genealogy

I'm seeing too many similarities to the pandemic. Isolation, fear, conflict. I'm binge watching old TV shows & eating stuff I shouldn't. Anyone else?

Twitter is back up & the misogynist theobros will live to eat each other one more day.

Just to add to the veerrryyyy long list of asinine things happening these days...... #genealogy

Really. I'd like to set myself on fire. But I'll settle for some ice cream.

What does it feel too timely that my research is uncovering stories of those who survived concentration camps? It would be sobering on any given day. In present circumstances it feels.....too real. #genealogy

Hmm. Tracing Dutch refugees to the U.S. mid 50s. Have now uncovered a # who are listed at Yad Vashem with stories; & twin sisters who survived Westerbork & Bergen-Belsen. Not where I thought this project would take me. #genealogy

Cheap retail therapy: found a dress (could be used as a lightweight coat) for $4.99 (thrift store splurge). Checked it online & it currently sells for $310. I'm good with that.

This weekend of free access to newspapers . com has me frantically searching for more info on 100s of Dutch refugees who immigrated in the 1950s. Lecture & book chapter will be well sourced! #genealogy

I'm aways pleasantly surprised when documents from the late 1700s are legible. Not finding clues to the who/why of 4th GG's murder however. Unfortunately the only records in Bocholt Germany that might help can only be searched in person...sigh #genealogy

I don't know who murdered my 4th great grandmother - or why. But I just received a nicely researched story about the event based on the court reports. Oh, the fascinating stories of our ancestors we were never told 😀 #genealogy

If any of you are in the Phoenix area a fabulous new exhibition opened at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens: Toward 2050. You can walk the labyrinth of almost 5,000 pieces that address climate change. (My pieces are in the inner circle!!)

I highly recommend this. It is compelling & disturbing & an education we all need. @tialevingswriter.bsky.social

The e-mail I just got from the "United Nations Compensation Committee" seems on trend, don't you think? ....

Today my words of encouragement came from the Congo. If you think the new policies don't affect the rest of the world - they do. If you think they aren't paying attention - they are.

Cool. Ice storm/snow/slush predicted for Wed. Good excuse to hunker down & try to ignore what's going on outside my doors,

Hooo baby! I just discovered the National Archives of India! That's a rabbit hole I wasn't anticipating. (I'm researching Americans who were nurses, drs, teachers, etc there) #genealogy

There is a need for basics: Be a Helper. That's it, just be a helper.

I WILL go through a couple hundred more scans of source material to write my fellowship lecture. I WILL.. #genealogy #writers

@maryrisseeuw.bsky.social Well.... damn. I just found a record that my 4th great grandmother was found stabbed to death in 1799. #genealogy

They've become far more unhinged than I thought possible in the last 24 hrs.

Jan 20, 1961. A blizzard the day before. Temperatures well below freezing. Without a coat or hat, JFK gave a speech we still quote today. Robert Frost, 86, recited a poem. Steinbeck and Hemingway and Rothko were among the VIPs. A million people gathered in the cold to hear it. This is the precedent.

Great. Thought I had another day before the polar vortex descends, but NOooooo. It will hit by 10pm tonight & not release it's frigid hold until Wednesday. Maybe I'll actually get much needed research/writing done......maybe.

Trying to make contact with descendants of someone who perished in a ship disaster in 1847. I've been researching this disaster since 1996 & have always hoped I could make this happen.

Just received an invite to be interviewed for a podcast in the Netherlands to discuss Dutch immigration to the US. (specifically from the Achterhoek/Gelderland). Makes me laugh that I've done more podcasts in NL than in the U.S.

The windchill is -11. I think the 30-40 flights of stairs I normally do will have to suffice once again.

In the early morning in my warm bed & safe city I am harshly reminded that wars still rage, fires burn & many are homeless & hungry. We can all do something to share what we have....with no judgment or blame.

We should all aspire to have a eulogy given for us as moving & profound as what Jason Carter has just delivered for his grandfather.

New #genealogy rabbithole for today: I've connected the writers of a collection of untranslated immigrant letters to the family of an immigrant on board a ship disaster in 1847.

Jimmy's here in Heaven, and let me tell you, it's rare to meet someone who got the 'love thy neighbor' part so right.

Do I start the 3 lectures I need to research/write? Finish the mag article? Sew? Make art? So many choices....so little motivation 😀

I've got abt 6" of snow to shovel (sigh). In between that adventure I think I'm going to see what I can uncover about Dutch immigrants in the 1950s and the untold stories of women. Onward!

Sigh. If you're going to flood TV programming with mediocre holiday shows/movies, could you at least fill OnDemand slots with everything Masterpiece? Please?

Today I WILL finish the art work I promised for an exhibition. It must be mailed tomorrow. I will NOT be sidetracked by the work I need to finish for the pop up shop on Wednesday. THEN I can go back to research.

So....do I drive an hour to meet friends for lunch if the wind child is -20 to -25 tomorrow???

Untold women's stories: Genealogy, women in missions #RCA /Dutch Reformed Church, homesteaders, the list grows: when you uncover one, you discover how many more there are to find. #genealogy

I want to spin in a circle & become Wonder Woman. I can do that.....right???!!!

I'm off to spend the day with some of the young adults who are part of my chosen family. This makes me very happy 😁

Yesterday I barreled my way through organizing research papers, finished a lecture proposal, scads o' email, organizing new jewelry for a popup in 3 wks & cooking enough to last for 4-5 days. Will I be equally a productive today?! Sigh....

Been exhausted from a daunting schedule for months. No more procrastination; there's art work to finish, research to do & lectures to write. Does declaring it publicly make it actually happen??!!!