Book of Me Prompts – February 2018

Posted on February 1, 2018 by Julie Goucher

© 2017 Julie Goucher

Welcome to the second set of prompts for the 2018 Series of the Book of Me. You can read when the prompts are published and about the few changes at my earlier post HERE

There are five prompts each month and you can undertake as many or as few as you wish to.

  • What do (or did) you do?
  • What makes you tick?
  • What do you read?
  • What do you collect?
  • What do you dislike?

If you have any questions or want to share thoughts or a blog link, if you decide to share via a blog (remember to, that you don’t have to share to take part in the series) then please leave a comment. Further discussion is also happening in the closed Facebook Group.

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Introduction to One-Name Study Course

Posted on January 31, 2018 by Julie Goucher

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The next Introduction to One-Name Studies course at Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd starts on 13 February 2018.  The course is taught online and welcomes students across the globe.

Here are the Lesson Headings:

  • About One-Name Studies
  • Surnames and their History
  • Core Records you will need and Information gathering
  • Analysing and making sense of your data
  • Practical aspects of running your own One-Name Study

banner_page_head  Those who sign up for the course and are not already members of the members Guild of One-Name Studies will get FREE Guild Membership for the remainder of the financial year.

Each lesson includes exercises and activities; a minimum of 1 one-hour chat session per week.

Course Length: 5 weeks
Start Date: 22 Aug 2017
Cost: £49.99

To book your place on the course, please visit the Pharos Website

taoons

Whilst it is not recommended reading for the course, obtaining a copy of the Seven Pillars of Wisdom – The Art of One-Name Studies would be very useful to those undertaking a One-Name or Surname Research.

 

Posted in Introduction to One-Name Studies (Pharos course 901), One-Name Studies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Favourite Book(s) #5 The Reverse Immigrant by Alfred Zappala

Posted on January 27, 2018 by Julie Goucher

I have reviewed this book before, back in 2011 and you can read that review here.

Since then I have read the book twice more since then and really enjoy it. I have also read the other books by Alfred and enjoyed them also.

This is the story of Alfred, indeed being a reverse immigrant, leaving the US and living in Sicily which is the reverse of the journey made by Alfred’s ancestor.

This is a great book, contemplative, funny and informative.

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Favourite Book(s) #4 – The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

Posted on January 24, 2018 by Julie Goucher

I first saw this book in the shop window of a bookshop in Australia when I was there in 2012. There was something about the title and the book cover that made me venture inside and pick up the book.

Deciding it was definitely a future purchase I made a note of it so that I could order it once I was back home as I already had enough luggage weight!

When I got back home I ordered the book and started reading as soon as I could. It tells the story of the author whose mother has been diagnosed with Cancer. During the time of his mother’s treatment they read a number of books together, shared thoughts and conversation. At the back of the book there is a list of all the books they read together or discussed during the time of treatment.  It is a sad book in places and yet is also a rather special, about a very special relationship between a mother and her son.

I can imagine that writing the book was a double-edged sword for the author, happy memories and discussion on one side with a way of coping with grief on the other. It is one of my favourite books.

Posted in Books, Favourite Book(s) | 1 Comment

Favourite Book(s) #3 – Artist’s Way: A Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self by Julia Cameron

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Julie Goucher

I came across this book some time ago and recently bought the 2016 anniversary edition. The book was originally released in 2006.

If you read the reviews on Amazon they are quite mixed, some feel it is too religious, others say it is about right. My view is that the messages within the book are worthwhile reading whether you are very religious and devout or not. You need to look beyond those details, undertake the tasks and think.

The book runs over twelve weeks and comprises of text to read, quotes, tasks to undertake and something called Artist’s dates, which are essentially doing something alone that you would not normally do and to embrace the experience.

We are also introduced to Morning Pages whereby you sit and write three pages of notes without any conscious focus on things. I use this as a brain dump, I write all my frustrations, moments of anger, irritations etc. I have done this pretty much every morning for 10 years. I described my processes in this post.

For me this is about my creative self and renewing that.

Posted in Books, Favourite Book(s), Stationery, Filofax, Journals & Notebooks | 2 Comments

Genealogy and Google Calendars

Posted on January 12, 2018 by Julie Goucher

Today I received, like I do most days an email from Google reminding me of tasks and appointments that are coming up. I rarely use Google calendar in this way, so mostly the emails say I have nothing scheduled. I prefer pen and paper!

Today however, it reminded me that I have an eye test next week. I glanced at the date and checked, because yes I do as it happens have an appointment next week, on a different day, with a different optician  and in a different part of the country.

So, someone with my exact name has an appointment with an optician in the heart of Goucher territory, which is Derbyshire. I rang the number on the Google alert and they confirmed that yes there was an appointment and confirmed the email address which happens to be mine.

I left a message for this person inviting her to email me because it is rather curious that they should reside in county in which my husband’s ancestors hailed from. Of course the bigger question is, how safe are Google calendars?

Posted in Goucher/Goacher One-Name Study, Miscellaneous, Surnames | Leave a comment

Introduction to One-Name Studies starts 13 February 2018

Posted on January 11, 2018 by Julie Goucher

Julie Goucher's avatarJulie Goucher ~ Anglers Rest

logor

The next Introduction to One-Name Studies course at Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd starts on 13 February 2018.  The course is taught online and welcomes students across the globe.

Here are the Lesson Headings:

  • About One-Name Studies
  • Surnames and their History
  • Core Records you will need and Information gathering
  • Analysing and making sense of your data
  • Practical aspects of running your own One-Name Study

banner_page_head  Those who sign up for the course and are not already members of the members Guild of One-Name Studies will get FREE Guild Membership for the remainder of the financial year.

Each lesson includes exercises and activities; a minimum of 1 one-hour chat session per week.

Course Length: 5 weeks
Start Date: 22 Aug 2017
Cost: £49.99

To book your place on the course, please visit the Pharos Website

taoons

Whilst it is not recommended reading for the course, obtaining a copy of the Seven Pillars of Wisdom…

View original post 18 more words

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Favourite Book(s) #2 – Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks

Posted on January 10, 2018 by Julie Goucher

The moment I heard of this book I put it on advance order at Amazon and then waited for the release date. The book arrived on the release date and I immediately delved in.

The book is made up of a collection of stories all written on his collection of typewriters. Which is refreshing in this modern age of laptops & tablets. As an actor Tom Hanks is very versatile and I wondered how his writing would pan out.

I was not disappointed. I could “hear” Tom Hanks reading it as my eyes moved across the page and I digested the words. Because the stories are not linked it is an easy book to dip and out of and re-read favourite stories. I do hope we hear more from Tom Hanks as an author and whilst I rarely listen to audio books, this is one that I would like to hear especially if read by Tom Hanks.

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17 in 2017

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Julie Goucher

Courtesy of Pixabay

The idea for 17 from 2017 comes from Christopher Allen who has a presence on both YouTube and Instagram. In this post I am going to share the 17 things that I have enjoyed through 2017. There is a mixture of Books, Podcasts, Video’s, Magazines, Presentations, Societies and a couple of other pieces. They mainly reflect both my genealogical and reading interests and I hope you will enjoy these; they are in no particular order.

  1. YouTube Channel – Christopher Allen I stumbled across Christopher’s channel in the early weeks of January 2017 whilst looking for something that I cannot recall, but related to Filofaxes. The channel and the attitude of Christopher is very refreshing and the underlying message is kindness. I recommend checking out Christopher’s channel.
  2. I have been following this YouTube Channel for several years now and it belongs to Jen Ross of Pretty Neat Living
  3. I discovered my third option in the summer of 2017, it is the In The Moment Magazine which is published here in the UK and is available to people everywhere! It is rare these days that I take out subscriptions, but I have done so to this magazine. The image here is the January 2018 edition which arrived with me a day or so ago.
  4. Presentation which was delivered by genealogist Tessa Keough to the Southern California Genealogical Society at their Jamboree in June 2017. This was one of the sessions that was streamed and available to watch for a week or so after the event. The title of the presentation was Famine to Plenty and was a fascinating presentation to hear. I watched it

    Copyright Tessa Keough

    live and was also able to take opportunity to listen again during the free access period. It was one of the top five presentations that I heard for 2017.

  5. Next up is a piece of software, called The Next Generation or TNG which is a way of displaying the GEDCOM files produced by our genealogical software.
  6. Facebook Groups are a great way of connecting with others who are interested in the same things as we are. I have been a member of a number of genealogical groups on Facebook for years and especially those that represent researching in Italy & Sicily. Just recently I connected with someone who is researching the same family as I, although her direct line left Sutera and went to the United States. Isn’t the internet wonderful!
  7. Families in British India Society (FIBIS) is a great organisation and I think I have been a member for about 13 years. I have several lines that spent decades in India working for the Honourable East India Company and FIBIS have a great members area and numerous indexes to view.
  8. The Guild of One-Name Studies also features on my list. I have been a member since 2002 and am a current Trustee. What is special about the Guild is the ethos of members assisting members and that is refreshing in this modern age.
  9. The Italian American Podcast has fast become a favourite and I have been listening since the beginning. Whilst I am not in the US I do have Italian ancestors that went to the US and love this podcast. Episodes are released on Sunday’s.
  10.  Linking in nicely with the next favourite is Antenati which has made available lots and lots of Italian records. Not all are online, but it does mean that those of us with Italian ancestors can begin our research. Use this site in tandem with FamilySearch and it is much easier to research.
  11. And that links further to GetLinks which is a Portugese site which makes it much easier to download the records, en-mass
  12. The next four are all books, The Writing Diet by Julia Cameron
  13. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead which I was introduced to by Christopher Allen
  14. The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee
  15. Seeking Sicily by John Keahey
  16. A lovely broach cast in Silver and was a present from my
  17. husband. You can see a picture of it HERE
  18. This lovely Candle from the Royal
    Horticultural Society Collections  in a lovely gentle rose fragrance.

 

 

That is it for the favourites for the last year. Depending on feedback I might do an 18 in 2018, but you will have to wait & see!

Disclaimer – Links to those mentioned are purely for information and I do not financially benefit.

 

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Favourite Book(s) #1 – Home the Story of everyone who ever lived in our house by Julie Myerson

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Julie Goucher

Julie Myerson did not set out to research her Victorian home in South East London. She was actually researching for a nineteenth Century novel and stumbled across the 1881 Census return for her home.

She discovered that her home at the time of the census was occupied by an author, his wife and their three children who were the same ages as her own.

I heard this on BBC Radio 4 and knew it was one of those books that I had to have. When it arrived I devoured it in about three days. The author set out to write a fictional novel to be side tracked by discovering the people who lived in her home 100 years previously. Her journey begins though with what led her to purchase this house from the previous owner sometime in the early 1980’s.

One of the poignant statements in the book comes from Julie Myerson’s daughter “….it’s not really our house at all, is it, Mummy?” Asked Chloe soon after I’d started on my project. “It’s like we’re just the top layer. And one day there’ll be another layer right on top of us, squashing us down”…….

When I think about it, I think Chloe’s statement is right, we are, in addition to being owners & residents, caretakers in a historical vessel.

Posted in Books, Favourite Book(s) | 3 Comments