The country of Canada seems akin to your little brother...the one that is several years younger and hangs around you and your cool high school friends. The one that can be amazingly annoying, but your mom makes you let him hang around. Most times he's just annoying...sometimes he's absolutely hilarious and brings the house down when he pulls some crazy stunt. Tonight, though, that 'little brother' pulled off the best 'tongue in cheek' situation I think I've ever seen.
On opening night at the Olympics, steeped in tradition, four famous Canadian athletes come out to light the torch, but one of the arms doesn't swing up and suddenly a major faux pas has happened. It was an embarrassment to the whole country. At the closing ceremony a 'clown' dressed akin to a repairman on Super Mario Brothers came out and proceeded to fix the arm, raise it and allow the athlete to light not only her arm, but the other three also. It was a hit! So funny.
I love the humbleness of the Canadians...although tonight they're probably trying to hold it over the Americans in men's hockey. Seriously though...sometimes you want that little brother to truely impress your high school friends and make them split their sides laughing.
Tonight...yeah, they pulled it off! (And...only the Canadians would wear those crazy hats!)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Who do you think you are?
NBC has been promoting a new show that will air following their Olympic coverage called, "Who Do You Think You Are?" The premise of the show is a genealogist discloses to famous celebrities their family history and introduces them to their families. The show is produced in conjunction with Ancestry.com...a web page I'm very familiar with!
I LOVE genealogy and the study of the past. I can't remember when I became intrigued by my family history...perhaps when I heard my grandparents talking about their parents, siblings, neighbors, and "goings on" in the community. No matter, I've probably spent somewhere near 40 years investigating my family! I do recall asking my grandparents what it was like when they were kids. What games did they play? What were their chores? They were wonderful people and very patient to answer all the questions of a nosey 10 year old.
I've discovered some very interesting people in my past and in my husband's past. This picture is of my great grandparents and their children. My grandfather is the tall young man in the upper right hand corner. Oldest child of William Harrison Chenoweth and Dollie Swise Chenoweth, Elzie Chenoweth went on to marry Vera Viola France and become my grandparents!
The funny thing about finding family pictures is I see in the faces of my ancestors, the faces of present family members. My grandfather and my dad (Dean Chenoweth) and my cousin Derek Litchfield all look very similar. The curly-haired young lady on the far left is Bertha Permelia Chenoweth, but my grandmother often remarked how my sister, Cathy Chenoweth Onion's hair looked just like Aunt Bertha's.
My husband's great-great grandfather, Johann Marold and my husband look surprisingly similar in the face. Are we just the same faces used over and over?
We've had family members who have plotted Louisville, Kentucky; settled the middle of Kansas; gave their land up for an Army base; went west for the Gold Rush and disappeared; fought indians on the plains. Family who came to America on a boat to thrive or flee abuse or find a new life as a gardener. I'm sure we had our fair share of horse thieves, robbers or lawmen. Heck, we even had a World Champion Bronc Rider!
This is what makes family history - genealogy so much fun. We ARE a product of our family and their lives. Why not discover the story of your family? Start with what you know. Ask living family members the names of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and start putting together your tree. Venture onto Ancestry.com and you can get a lot of help from others who connect to your family. Nothing is as exciting as discovering someone who is your family member..someone you never knew about.
I LOVE genealogy and the study of the past. I can't remember when I became intrigued by my family history...perhaps when I heard my grandparents talking about their parents, siblings, neighbors, and "goings on" in the community. No matter, I've probably spent somewhere near 40 years investigating my family! I do recall asking my grandparents what it was like when they were kids. What games did they play? What were their chores? They were wonderful people and very patient to answer all the questions of a nosey 10 year old.
The funny thing about finding family pictures is I see in the faces of my ancestors, the faces of present family members. My grandfather and my dad (Dean Chenoweth) and my cousin Derek Litchfield all look very similar. The curly-haired young lady on the far left is Bertha Permelia Chenoweth, but my grandmother often remarked how my sister, Cathy Chenoweth Onion's hair looked just like Aunt Bertha's.
My husband's great-great grandfather, Johann Marold and my husband look surprisingly similar in the face. Are we just the same faces used over and over?
We've had family members who have plotted Louisville, Kentucky; settled the middle of Kansas; gave their land up for an Army base; went west for the Gold Rush and disappeared; fought indians on the plains. Family who came to America on a boat to thrive or flee abuse or find a new life as a gardener. I'm sure we had our fair share of horse thieves, robbers or lawmen. Heck, we even had a World Champion Bronc Rider!
This is what makes family history - genealogy so much fun. We ARE a product of our family and their lives. Why not discover the story of your family? Start with what you know. Ask living family members the names of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and start putting together your tree. Venture onto Ancestry.com and you can get a lot of help from others who connect to your family. Nothing is as exciting as discovering someone who is your family member..someone you never knew about.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Did Lysacek "channel" former UCLA Coach John Wooden?
I admit it...I'm a schmuck for watching men's figure skating. My mom LOVED to ice skate...I, however, did not possess the ankles to handle it. I looked something like Bambi on the ice...it's okay. I've learned to deal with it.
Maybe that's why I was overwhelmed with the grace and athleticism of Men's Gold Medalist Evan Lysacek. (A shout out to the Illinois guy!) It can't be easy to skate that well at the height of 6'2"! Those are some long limbs to swing in spins...
I was most impressed with his statements after the short program and the following day. He stated he was just trying to do the best HE could...he wasn't watching to be better than Plushenko or better than anyone else, his goal was to set a personal best. UCLA Coach John Wooden often pushed his players to be the best they could be personally. To paraphrase his statements (I hope I'm accurate on this), he asked his players to play the best game they possibly could, ask themselves if they had done every thing possible to play the best game, and eliminate all the mistakes they could. He said practice is where champions are made. "Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."
Wasn't that what Evan was saying? He was saying I did my best. I worked hard every day. I put everything into it I could.
On top of that, when the Russian Silver Medalist was critical of the performance Lysacek presented, Evan didn't respond back with any negative comments. He was very cordial and kind and said, he too didn't like losing and no doubt that clouded some comments Plushenko made. In his interview with Bob Costas, he emphasized that Plushenko had shook his hand and congratulated him after the announcement. He never once claimed he was "disrespecting" him. Evan knew he had given the best he had to offer and the judges agreed!
Congratulations for your class, Evan. I hope you get a lot of endorsement jobs! I could think of a few companies that need that character right now, but that's another blog!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tuesday is important in Illinois
Illinois....Land of Lincoln. That's our claim to fame and it's on our license plates, (we we tongue in cheek joke that our ex-governors could me making in prison) but corruption is also a dark cloud that hangs over our state. George Ryan, Rod Blago, heck I even remember the infamous Paul Powell! That's a name from Illinois' governing past!
How did a state that prides itself on having Abraham Lincoln as its native son get so far off track? I wish I knew...because then I'd know how to fix it quickly. I do know one way to help make it more honest and work to improve it....VOTE.
Tuesday is primary election day in Illinois. I'm just like you....tired of the phone calls telling me to vote for this candidate or that candidate. And while I'm at it, if you're a candidate don't tell me what the other guy is doing wrong. Tell me what YOU'RE going to do. Actions speak louder than words. But we've got to take a step to move forward and sometimes that can be a little painful.
Just a side note to all of you elected officials. I've noticed in life you get more done when you work with others. You have to compromise a little; win the battle to later win the war. Louis L'Amour once wrote, "Victory is won not in miles, but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later win a little more." The people in Illinois would like you to remember that also!
Now we've got ourselves in one heck of a mess. We can't pay our bills, we can't pay what we have promised to pay others, we've sat and argued and bickered and pointed fingers too long. ("We" referring to the state of Illinois of which I am a concerned resident!)
It's not going to be easy. It's not even going to be fun, but we'd better get our house in order and quit spending for things we can't pay for. We can't make promises we can't fund. We're going to have to be more independent and maybe turn down some programs that we may have to pay for later....but we're going to have to get it done.
So, as far as a candidate for Governor of the State of Illinois. I'm looking for John Wayne. Yep, JOHN WAYNE! He'd better have some gumption and when he gives his word, he'd better mean it. He better think of others first, not himself or herself (although we don't have any female candidates this time). He'd better be ready to fight hard for what he believes in and not worry if people "like him". As my parents used to say, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." He'd better be tall, strong and pretty darned independent.
To the rest of the 13 million people who live in this state, get busy. Pitch in. GO VOTE. Don't take it for granted. If you want to get us on track, THEN GO VOTE on Tuesday. You can't sit idly by thinking someone else will fix your problems.
Enuf said....
How did a state that prides itself on having Abraham Lincoln as its native son get so far off track? I wish I knew...because then I'd know how to fix it quickly. I do know one way to help make it more honest and work to improve it....VOTE.
Tuesday is primary election day in Illinois. I'm just like you....tired of the phone calls telling me to vote for this candidate or that candidate. And while I'm at it, if you're a candidate don't tell me what the other guy is doing wrong. Tell me what YOU'RE going to do. Actions speak louder than words. But we've got to take a step to move forward and sometimes that can be a little painful.
Just a side note to all of you elected officials. I've noticed in life you get more done when you work with others. You have to compromise a little; win the battle to later win the war. Louis L'Amour once wrote, "Victory is won not in miles, but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later win a little more." The people in Illinois would like you to remember that also!
Now we've got ourselves in one heck of a mess. We can't pay our bills, we can't pay what we have promised to pay others, we've sat and argued and bickered and pointed fingers too long. ("We" referring to the state of Illinois of which I am a concerned resident!)
It's not going to be easy. It's not even going to be fun, but we'd better get our house in order and quit spending for things we can't pay for. We can't make promises we can't fund. We're going to have to be more independent and maybe turn down some programs that we may have to pay for later....but we're going to have to get it done.
So, as far as a candidate for Governor of the State of Illinois. I'm looking for John Wayne. Yep, JOHN WAYNE! He'd better have some gumption and when he gives his word, he'd better mean it. He better think of others first, not himself or herself (although we don't have any female candidates this time). He'd better be ready to fight hard for what he believes in and not worry if people "like him". As my parents used to say, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." He'd better be tall, strong and pretty darned independent.
To the rest of the 13 million people who live in this state, get busy. Pitch in. GO VOTE. Don't take it for granted. If you want to get us on track, THEN GO VOTE on Tuesday. You can't sit idly by thinking someone else will fix your problems.
Enuf said....
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Finishing 2009 in 2010
Last year (2009) in farming had to be one of the most difficult, challenging and tiring! My mom and dad finally finished harvesting crops today! We hope to finish soon.
Are you kidding me? TODAY! Yep today! January 30, 2010...the rest of their 2009 corn crop was harvested.
It's days like today when survival is the word that comes to mind. Can we just hold on, survive, make it another day to finish up. Can we just stay safe, not break anything, not lose our minds!
There's nothing quite as satisfying as sitting down after a LONG fall/winter harvest to know you've finished.
Crazy thing is...won't be long we'll be looking at planting again! Here's to a more productive, less challenging and less wet 2010 crop year!
Friday, January 29, 2010
ipod, ipad, idunnoknow!
So yesterday Apple messes with our minds and shows what the new iPad is going to look like. (Please hold all jokes here...Heard them ALREADY!)
It's a very intriguing idea, but still doesn't have things I'd like....what no USB? Can't even attach an external hard drive or DVD player?
You mean I have to sync it to my other computer? But I thought it was supposed to replace my laptop?
No flash memory? Heck, I don't get it?
AT&T service? This is rural ILLINOIS, people! AT&T is like finding a leprechaun around here.
I want the BURGER KING iPad...you know...Have it your way. Maybe the King could deliver it to me with great fanfare and I could have it customized with a big picture of my family on the back of it.
Everybody wants us to compromise...can't have this, but you can have that.
Can't eat this, but you can eat that.
Well...there you go. I'm not willing to compromise away what I want. So when the day comes that I can put together my own computer/laptop/iPad...whatever you want to call it, I might actually want to buy one!
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