One last search for information on the woman who would become my paternal grandmother, and wham … found them. Another spelling error, this time on the original form. Ethel is not spelled Eathel anywhere I know of.

Joe C. (56 y.o.) and Katie M. (43 y.o.) were married and living in … Dobson Township, Arkansas. They had two children: Ethel R. (18 y.o.) and Lester L. (15 y.o.). They owned their own home, and it was worth a whopping $450 and appears to have been on the same state highway my grandfather and his family lived on (gee, wonder how my grandparents met). They did not own a radio. Joe and his parents were born in Tennessee. Katie was born in Arkansas, but her parents were born in Ohio (father) and Indiana (mother). Both kids were born in Arkansas. They could all read, write and speak English, and Joe worked in retail … a grocery store, to be precise.

Now that is certainly more than I have ever known about Little Mam’O’s family. She died when I was about 6 months old. Ovarian cancer for which she allowed herself to be used to test new treatments that are now perfected and standard. I’m so proud of her for being so brave … can you imagine what chemotherapy was like when they were first starting to study it? Yikes. My grandfather died when I was in fifth grade. I never really got to know them well, and the rest of the family not at all (though I do know they are weird and slightly insane).

Oh, and because many of you probably don’t know: My dad’s parents were Little Mam’O and Big Pap’O. My mom’s parents were Little Pap’O and Big Mam’O. But really, since they were rarely in the same place at the same time, they were just Pap’O and Mam’O. Though Big Pap’O was always called that, because he was BIG (oil rigger who worked offshore — big and beefy and strong as hell). Where those names came from, I have no idea. I have never met anyone else who called their grandparents Pap’O and Mam’O. Now that I think about it, it seems weird.

Anyway, enough with the family history. I just wanted to get this all down so when I lose access to the database in a few days, I wouldn’t have to pull it out of my unreliable memory.

UPDATE:

Called mom to tell her I found Little Mam’O’s family and she told me how my grandparents met. It seems that while working in the fields, my grandfather kept seeing “this skinny little thing” walking by, and one day he said “that’s it, I’m marrying that girl.” Apparently he loved telling that story about the “skinny little thing” walking down the dirt road every day.

Holy hell. Ancestry.com has the 1930 census information up for free use for three days, so I thought “Hey, let’s look up my dad’s side of the family,” because we know next to nothing about them and wouldn’t it be nice to know something. How hard can it be to find them? Ha! Famous last words.

I’m going to have to email Ancestry.com and tell them their transcribers can’t read plain handwriting. My search would have been far more fruitful had they not misspelled the last name by one letter. It’s so obviously an “o” and not an “a” it isn’t funny.

Anyway, here’s what I found out:

Nat T. (48 y.o.) and Nola (38 y.o.) were married and living in Dobson Township, Arkansas (near Pitts) in 1930. They had a lot of kids. I never knew this. John Ray (my grandfather, not yet married to my grandmother - 21 y.o.), Fred D. (19.y.o.), Maurine (who I hear died young - 14 y.o.), Nelson (11 y.o.), and Dewie (5 y.o.).

They rented their home on State Highway XXXX (can’t read it), and they lived on a farm … and naturally, Nat was a farmer and the male children of reasonable age were farm laborers. They did not own a radio. Except for the 5 year old, they could all read and write, and they all spoke English. Every last one of them was born in Kentucky.

Though the census forms don’t say it, I happen to know the farm had cotton and rice and pigs. I also happen to know that though they may have been renting the farm in 1930, they had to be renting it from a family member. I know this because when I was a small child, there was a huge squabble over it when some old relative died. Thankfully, after making the trek to Arkansas to take part in the squabble, my parents just walked away from it all. What the hell did we need part of a run-down rice and cotton farm for anyway. When I find the photos from that trip, I’ll post them and you’ll see what I mean.

I now know more about my dad’s side of the family than I ever did before, and I still really know nothing at all.

It’s interesting to compare the census data for dad’s side with mom’s. Mom’s family were a bunch of German immigrants who owned their own home (and a radio - what an interesting thing to have on a census), didn’t speak English (but could read and write it — yeah, they spoke English, they just didn’t want to), and my grandfather worked as a bookkeeper at a tannery (which he bought just a few years after this census and owned until it burnt down — some drama there, as a rival and family member did the burning down supposedly). It’s pretty easy to tell who was doing better than whom, isn’t it? Funny that in the end, everyone ended up dirt poor.

Well that was a fun way to spend a few annoying hours, and now should I ever want to look further into the Blalock side of things, I have a decent starting point. Not that I didn’t know Kentucky was the root of all Blalocks. That place is THICK with them. I wish I could have found something about my grandmother Ethel Ruth, but even searching nationwide, I find nothing at all. Who knows what outback, in-the-woods sort of place they lived in.

And the “T” in my great-grandfather’s name? Tiberius. Yes, just like Captain Kirk.

UPDATE:

In 1931, Nat and Nola had another baby … Leslie Stanford. Nola’s maiden name was Walker. In 1900, Nat and his parents lived in Calloway, Kentucky.

Time goes on and things change. Those places you think will always be there suddenly aren’t. I am heartbroken to announce that I just heard The Backroom, a heavy metal and rock club here in Austin, will be closing at the end of July. Even though Lin and I haven’t been there in years, that place holds a special spot in our hearts and lives. It’s the place we met, became friends, kissed for the first time, went on our first dates, and in general the very foundation of our early relationship. It was home away from home and the place where everyone we knew hung out. Now it’s going to be replaced with condos, and the only thing we will have to remember it are the hurricane glasses bearing The Backroom logo that we snuck out of the club when we first moved in together. I think we have an ashtray or two as well.

I guess sometime before it closes we’ll have to make one last trip there to sneak around in the dark corners and lock lips like the old days. Better take some photos too … and play a few games of pool … and a few video games … and maybe sneak out a glass or two.

I am freaking devastated. I never, not once, thought The Backroom would go away.

Well, at least all the signatures on Kinky Friedman’s petition to get on the ballot for November were passed. I’m going to get to vote Kinky after all!

It’s getting dark and cloudy and there’s a ton of thunder rumbling around. I think I’ll go take a nap. I need a nap.

Why do I have to do the research and pre-shopping for a digital camera for my mother? I have already spent a month on this, found someone selling a new, in-the-box, camera exactly like Lin’s (which she liked a lot) on Amazon for just the right price, but she refuses to order it now because she read on article in the newspaper saying that some people have been getting ripped off on camera sales at eBay. Yeah, well Amazon Marketplace isn’t eBay, and when someone has several years and thousands of very positive feedbacks, and you are buying through Amazon, your chances of getting screwed are about zero. But no … she won’t trust my word that if she wants that camera she should order it now. Well since she won’t, and I want one just like it, I am going to order it for myself (provided it’s still there when I have the spare money).

So now she wants me to research new models of Olympus cameras for her. She’s not going to find one for $150, that much I can tell you, and she doesn’t want to spend any more than that. The bottom line isn’t that she is afraid she’ll get screwed, because I told her if somehow she managed to get screwed by the seller, I would personally handle the issue with Amazon and the seller myself. No, it’s that she always has to have something better than what we have … unless we suggest it (like my recent suggestion that she replace her ancient computer with a Mac Mini). I’m not inspired to do her shopping for her. For heaven’s sake, walk into any store that sells digital cameras, look at them, read what they do, determine if it does what you want it to do, decide if the price is right and freaking buy it. She already knows she wants an Olympus, because they are good cameras, so half the research battle is done. Pick the one you like and press on.

But this is what I get for calling to ask her where my dad’s parents were living in 1930. One day I will learn to email her with these questions and wait the week or two it will take her to write back. Ugh.

My wonderful husband gave me a ride to the vet to get the cat food. How sweet, because you know I wasn’t looking forward to it. Fuzza just finished off a good portion of duck and peas and is now settling in for his afternoon nap. I hope he keeps being excited about feeding times. His tummy seems to be getting a little heavier, so I think he’s gaining some weight. I sure hope so.

While it was nice not having to drive this morning, I had planned to stop at a few stores on my way home just to goof off and do some window shopping. Now I’ll have to work up the desire to leave the house again, and as we all know, when I am at home, getting me to leave the house is almost impossible, if there isn’t any pressing need to do so. I have no need to go to any stores aside from wanting to do a little shopping therapy. Not that I wanted to go crazy or anything. I just wanted to price some paper-crafting tools, most especially a paper cutter. I am tired of trying to cut straight lines with scissors. I am completely incapable of doing it. I’ll be going along just fine, and then my hand will twitch and well … so much for a perfectly straight cut.

But I doubt I will be able to get myself out of the house this afternoon. It’s so damn muggy and hot outside, and from what I saw on the trip to the vet, the traffic is heavy today. Yes, I can always find a justification for staying in my nice cool house.

Besides, I’m feeling somewhat “meh” today. Not physically bad, but mentally. I just didn’t sleep all that well last night. I kept having the same weird dream where I grew huge black feathery wings and then I flew all the way to New Zealand, landed in Kenno and Janno’s yard, and knocked on their door. When they asked how I got there, I unfurled my wings, and they were all “oooh” and “aaah” … and then I would wake up. Every time I fell back to sleep, I’d have the same dream or some variation of it. Just weird.

I need to make some artist trading cards to send to M, so I think I might go sit in the kitchen and stare at my supplies and contemplate that for a while. I’ve been having the urge to paint too, but the kitchen is still in such a state of disarray … clean but cluttered, as I call it … that just getting set up to do any painting or drawing would take at least a half hour. By then the urge will have probably passed. Better to just work on the cards, seeing as that’s the clutter that is taking up all the kitchen space. I have way too many paperwork tools … I need a new storage box. Hmmm … maybe I can convince myself that getting a new storage box is an actual need and get myself out of the house later today.

It’s already Thursday?! Where the hell did the week go?!

Dammit. I have to haul the trash to the curb. Well, at least I remembered before the sun came up, and it was too late.

I really don’t know where the week went. They say time flies when you are having fun, but I assure you I wasn’t really having any fun … so where did the damn week go!

I suppose I should haul the trash out to the curb and get myself to bed. I do have to get up early and go to the vet’s office for cat food in the morning, seeing as I somehow managed to put it off all week. Ugh. Procrastinating is one thing, but procrastinating and completely losing track of what day of the week it is? That’s totally unacceptable.

Lin is completely stressing out about work. The cat is grumpy. My mom is in a talkative mood. I have a raging headache and stuffy nose from my mold allergies (this is why I hate high humidity). Basically, this day isn’t going so well. I knew it wouldn’t when I woke up feeling so blah and lifeless.

Thanks to Dawna, I did score an invite for a starter account at Vox … a new blogging site. I am still toying with the idea of not hosting my own web site. Sure I have always liked having total control of every aspect of my web site, but my desire to do that has diminished the last year. Now I really just want to sit down and write and not have to think about designing anything or keeping my code updated or finding ways to make the software do what I want it to do. If I found the right service, I might give a hosted blog a try. Vox looks interesting, and hopefully I will get an upgrade to a standard account sometime, so I can try out the blogging aspects of it. You never know, I might just love it.

Livejournal is undergoing some changes as well, and since I can’t decide if I want to pay for another whole year or not (it’s not really expensive, but I do try not to waste money), I think tomorrow I’ll buy another few months so I can see what the new changes bring. I don’t think LJ will ever be a service I use exclusively, but once again, you never know.

What I do know is I have almost no desire at all to deal with the inner workings of my web site anymore. I thought that would pass, but it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Just working on that new site design I have been working on for some many months is like pulling teeth. I’d much rather spend my time working on more tangible arts and crafts these days, I guess.

And I have been working on more tangible arts and crafts lately. One of these days when the planets are properly aligned, the camera is at home, and the sun is out, I’ll take some photos to post. Mostly it’s been collage and paperwork and a little knitting and a little painting/drawing thrown in for good measure. You know me, I get bored easily.

I think I’ll go pop the top on a Dublin Dr Pepper and move to the couch to play some Harvest Moon. That’s what I intended to do earlier, but then the phone rang … and then it rang again … and then I noticed that a few hours had been spent yapping on the phone. Ugh. I need to play a video game!

And because I am feeling totally lazy and uninterested in food, tonight we are having Marie Callendar’s pot pies. When I opened the freezer, those were the only things that looked good to me. They really are good too. The little ones are fine if you make a salad with them, but the big ones are a meal unto themselves. If you don’t mind lazy microwave foods, give them a try … really filling and quite tasty too.

OK, really going to go play that game now. Heaven knows there’s nothing but reruns on the TV, and Lin is working in the den, and his stress level is about to make MY head explode.

If it’s small, plastic, silly and totally useless, you know I am going to love it. Being cute is just a plus, and in the case of Cubee Singing Animals they are REALLY cute. I must possess these useless critters.

I found them at Consumating while blog-hopping. Go there and you can see a video of them in action.

Didn’t make it to the vet this morning for the cat food. I am blaming it on a measure of drama that happened last night and the fact that I totally over-ate starting at dinner. I made a big steak dinner, was still hungry so I had a corn dog, was still hungry so I had a plate of tater tots, and this morning I felt like a python that had swallowed a goat. All my body wanted to do was remain horizontal and digest. The cat still has food for today, but I have GOT to go tomorrow morning. I could go do it now, but when I stepped out on the porch a few minutes ago, the heat and humidity nearly floored me. I really wish it would please just rain now and get it over with. I don’t mind hot weather so much, but when it’s all sticky and humid, it makes me not want to move about outside at all. The sir just feels too thick to breath.

I’m actually feeling all sorts of strange today. I really do think it’s from over-eating. I really did stuff a lot of food in my mouth yesterday. I was just so hungry all day, and so I ate when I wanted to eat. Not a bad thing really, but that doesn’t fit in too well with my “take it slow and build back up to being an eating machine” idea.

Oh well. At least I’m not feeling quite so hungry today.

In other news, my husband is a git and several of my friends are idiots. Nothing new really, and that’s about all I am going to say about it … for now. I’m going to go eat some yogurt and play a video game, because I am in a peevish mood, and anything I say beyond this point will either be bitchy or whining.

OK, how about a meme! That’s always a sure sign that I have nothing of interest to talk about, but this one is a little interesting. Strix said she tagged whoever wanted to do it, so I guess I want to, and it’ll be easy seeing as I only have 7 songs in my Faves playlist at the moment.

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your livejournal along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to.

Oye Como Va - Santana
Smooth - Santana & Rob Thomas
Low Rider - War
Yo Solo Se Que Solo No Se Nada - Jeremias
La Familia - Vallejo
Downtown - Vallejo
Rock Americano - Vallejo

Are you seeing a theme there? Yes, I love Latin and Tex-Mex music.

And I also tag whoever wants to do it.