Random Thinking

The image above (click the image for full view) is from a book that has been in my family for over 200 years. My family on my father’s side is originally from what is now the Czech Republic but at the time they left (late 1860′s) it was Bohemia, a part of the Austria-Hungary Empire. The book itself is in the possesion of my brother (the first-born child). The image is taken from a copy of the book.

The book is a notebook with unruled pages (although some of the pages were manually ruled at some point). The cover was made by apparently re-using old paper by glueing the sheets together and covering with a dark brown paper. The cover is splitting at some of the edges revealing the paper underneath, which looks like some kind of handwritten bookkeeping sheets.

The book is a family history. The book lists the births and deaths of various members of our family going back to 1794. The earliest entries are in Czech and the later entries are in English. The existence of the book itself is surprising since literacy was not that common in the late 1700′s but apparently someone in my family could read and write.

The image is from the first page of the book. The handwriting makes it difficult to read but I am in the process of trying to get it translated. The last person in my family who could read Czech died in the 1970′s. Fortunately I do know some people from Brno in the Czech Republic so I am hoping they will be able to help.

Do you have a book like this in your family? How far back can you trace your ancestors?

Update: I spoke to one of my friends in Brno, Czech Republic and she told me that she thinks this is an old dialect of German and not Czech. It was not unusual for educated people in Bohemia to read and write German because the Emperor was Austrian. So I do not have a translation yet.

[ Mood: Amused ]
So you are a corporate lawyer returning home from Hawaii after a well deserved vacation. It’s 85 degrees out in Los Angeles (29 for you metric people) and you are lugging three suitcases through the airport to make your connection. You end up sitting and waiting for two hours in a terminal where the air conditioning isn’t working. Finally, you get on a plane and sit down to enjoy the cooler temeratures and maybe a drink. The next thing you know, you are being thrown off the plane because you are smelly. Well, duh! What would they expect after having you bake in a hot terminal for two hours?

This actually happened to a guy from Germany who was thrown off a British Airways flight from Los Angeles to Germany. He sued for the cost of the having to stay in a hotel overnight plus the cost of the extra day of missed work. The case was rejected for two reasons.

First, the guy didn’t show up. Apparently he was stuck in traffic.

Second, according to the court. “the airline’s terms and conditions made clear they could bar passengers because of their smell.”

The smelly guy apparently has the right to appeal so I will be sure to keep my nose alert for further developments.

Michel’s dad is still in the hospital. The hospital has been doing its best to kill him but he is too tough for them. He has had two episodes of low blood pressure plus a clot that had to be surgically unblocked. They have completely fouled up his care. Michel and her siblings hired a private aide to sit with Pop at night because they don’t trust the hospital to take care of him. The sooner he gets out of that dump the better.

Meanwhile, I came down with strep. No big surpise since it has been floating around the house. My throat hasn’t been too bad but the fatigue it causes has been a big problem. I was practically falling asleep at my desk on Tuesday. I stayed home Wednesday and Thursday and slept most of Wednesday. I still feel very tired.

Beth’s guitar instructor called and cancelled this week because he has the flu. So that is two weeks in row she has missed. I’ll be glad when this week is over. Thank goodness next week is a short week.

And today is my brother’s 59th birthday. Not that he ever calls or anything and I’m sure he doesn’t know about this blog but happy birthday Ed.

[� Mood: Very Sad�]
It has been an awful few days. Michel’s dad went into the hospital for what should have been a fairly simple operation and the hospital has been screwing up right and left. Michel has had to fight with the administrators to get her father some care. The hospital had no record of what medications he takes, had no idea that he has high blood pressure, had no idea that he is on medications to prevent clotting, and didn’t even have a simple record of his health situation in general. We have had to go into Brooklyn twice to try to get things straightened out and we might have to go back again tomorrow. He was supposed to just be in for a day or two but now he won’t be getting out until Thursday. Today his blood pressure bottomed out and it took Michel two hours to get hold of a doctor to explain the situation. We need to get him out of this hospital.

[� Mood: Happy�]
It was 70 degrees on Long Island yesterday with an amazing crystal clear blue sky. The leaves have turned color and lots of them have fallen to the ground. You can see my front yard (left) is covered with them but there are still quite a few in the trees. The bus is Mikey’s bus. I took this picture just after he was picked up to head off to school.

The picture to the right is outside my office building. The trees here still have plenty of leaves and have turned a brilliant shade of red and orange. The sunset last night was a flaming red, orange, yellow, green, and blue deepening into the darkest, most intense shade of blue.

Meanwhile both kids are home today with strep throat. Beth just seems to get sick way too often. Michel brought both of them to the doctor without too much trouble. And I forgot to leave the stroller for her and she still managed! Anyway, I need to cancel Beth’s guitar lesson. I don’t think Tony (her teacher) wants to get strep.

[� Mood: Amused�]
I finally found a club that I want to join. It’s the Dull Men’s Club. They describe themselves as:

And what are the "simple, ordinary" things? How about watching videos of grass growing? Or an analysis of the direction that baggage carousels turn? Or discovering the history of soap? Or how about an article about a guy whose job is to watch paint dry?

Yes, the Dull Men’s Club is exactly the club for me. Now what did I do with that employment application for that paint drying job?

[� Mood: Happy�]
Senate control and House control to the Dems. This was a major rejection of Bush’s policy in Iraq. He has dragged us into a war because of:

1) WMDs that didn’t exist.
2) Ties to Al Queda that didn’t exist.

And now he has been made to pay. The Republican Party has become a regional southern party. Without the support of the southern states, the Republicans wouldn’t even be close.

The first casualty of the election is Donald Rumsfeld. He has resigned and Robert Gates, a former CIA director, has been nominated to take his place. So much for having the President’s complete support.

Update: Second casualty… Speaker Hastert will not seek to be Minority Leader.

[� Mood: Scared�]
[� Currently: Watching CNN�]

Did you vote? I voted on my way to work this morning and the place was empty. Eight election workers and me. Of course, there aren’t any contests that are in dispute in my district.

So I am now sitting here watching the election returns. So far the Democrats are looking good. Democrats are winning some House seats that no one expected and have picked up three Senate seats. There are four Senate seats that are open and the Democrats need three of them. They all look very close. It might be a long night.

Update: 8AM – Democrats have solid control of the House. Two races for Senate (VA and MT) are still undecided. Democrats need both to control the Senate.

Another birthday has arrived! Beth is off today because of Election Day but she made the extreme sacrifice of getting out of bed before noon to wish me a Happy Birthday before I went off to work. Beth and Michel bought me new Vans sneakers. You can see a picture of them above. They are actually very cool looking and very comfortable. All I need now is a skateboard!

[� Mood: Amused�]
[� Currently: Watching election coverage�]
Someone had to be the world’s worst poet. It’s just a matter of plowing through the mass of poetry out in the world and finding that one person who has achieved something that no one else has been able to achieve… a level of “banality, execrable rhymes and appalling scansion” that far exceeds all other contenders. But this is no mean feat, for not only must someone write exceedingly bad poetry but they must be willing to brag about it so that it becomes publicly known!

William Topaz McGonagall was no shy wallflower. In 1877, McGonagall decided that he was a poet. McGonagall even tried to get Queen Victoria to name him as Britian’s Poet Laureate! Very quickly McGonagall became famous because he was “so giftedly bad he backed unwittingly into genius”. His public readings “were so awful that they left audiences rolling on the floor with laughter, and on several occasions sparked riots”

His worst work is usually considered to be The Tay Brige Disaster.

But my personal favorite is one about New York City, Jottings of New York :

McGonagall is in the news because a lost work, a play, has been discovered. A three act melodrama by the name of Jack o? the Cudgel (or The Hero of a Hundred Fights), the play has been described as possibly the worst work of the worst author. Apparently McGonagall planned to star in the play although he was also described as an awful actor. According to his Wikipedia entry:

McGonagall fans everywhere are no doubt abuzz with excitement! So on this Election Day as we pull the levers to continue our Democracy, let us celebrate the man who gave us the genius of The Famous Tay Whale.

With thanks to Petrona for pointing this out!