The Shins

After bitter and crushing disappointment last year, I finally got tickets to see The Shins this summer. I hadn't been this excited about a show since Duff and I went to Interpol at Hammerstein. McCarren Pool in Williamsburg was the location. Are The Shins one of my favourite bands? I'd be ashamed to say no. What would that say about my musical tastes! The lads were in adorable matching outfits. James Mercer is the singer, but the short one is definitely the boss. He was a jolly little chap. There was a lot more bass and drums than on the records which gave the songs a bigger, exciting, arena-filling sound. I think they played them all. Oh and they completely fluffed Pink Bullets. We were all swaying in rapture, when Jimbo tripped over the words and it all came to a grinding halt. A few giggles from the boys and they picked it up, only to fluff it AGAIN. And we just loved them all the more! I was almost too happy to breath.

Then Mike proposed a little pizza for dinner...

And here are a couple pics of me for good measure...

I love these t-shirts

Hot off the press: Capitol Records has just signed Interpol. These guys are one of my top favourite bands. We'll release their third album next year. I'll get to work on that!! I'm so excited.

Lauren and I were (a little) obsessed with Interpol for a while there. She lived probably like two streets away from them and we even saw Paul Banks on 11th street. And that was the show where we saw David Bowie in the audience. Oh, this is almost too good to be true.

Auugghhh! I just got my paycheck and I'm paying nearly 29% income tax. That can't be right! For that sort of money, I want a free national health service and every homeless person in NYC put up in the Ritz Carlton for the night.

I think I got duped at my orientation because they suggested I claim only one exemption on my W-4. I sent in a new one the other day bumping that up to three, but I guess it hasn't taken effect yet. I need cash to move apartment. The government is only going to spend it on bombs. This is SOO unfair.

Jonathan just rang me to announce that he has lost his first tooth!! We have one ecstatic little boy on our hands. It wasn't easy to get a picture as he's been bouncing round the house all evening in fits of delight, but here he is, Mr. Gappy himself:

It took him a couple weeks to get it out. He's squeamish like me and he let it hang in there till it fell out rather than him pulling it. So tonight the tooth is going in a special tooth pillow (a bit of foresight on the part of Father Christmas this past year), hopefully to be exchanged for some bright shiny coinage he can spend on their daytrip to Brighton tomorrow. I hear the going rate for a tooth these days is about two quid. We asked what he wanted to spend it on and he replied, with accompanying sound effects, "the slide that goes round and round and round and round". He's referring to the helter skelter on Brighton Pier. I used to love going on that when I was a kid, despite the mild terror of being over the water as you wooshed around the far side of it. It's a REALLY long way down, but even that couldn't stop us hurtling back up the steps to have another go.

I told Jonathan he should have some fun with his gap, whistling and squirting water through it. Lucy says there's definitely a bit of a lisp going on there and Jonathan himself declared, "it's tricky to speak properly." He can't wait to show all his friends, and I suspect the people on the train tomorrow are going to hear all about it.

On a side note, Jonathan told my brother last week that he loves him very much, so much so, in fact, that he, and the rest of the family, are his third favourite thing. The running order: "trains, Chilli's, then family, and tunnels." I'd say we placed fairly well over all.

Uh oh

In case you haven't heard, there was a bit of a plot underway, involving the destruction of US airliners flying from London to major US destinations. New York, as usual, was top of the list. This one comes a little too close to home, seeing as I'm going to London in just over two weeks, coming back in early September. How soon they were planning to execute this is unclear, but it's quite possible I've just had my life spared. Thank you MI-5. I've been watching the third series of Spooks on DVD this week. Suddenly it's not just entertainment. These are the people who keep us in one piece. Good work, my friends.

I don't intend to change my travel plans, but I am a little rattled at the moment. I'll tell you one thing though. I'm flying on American Airlines this time (one of the airlines that was targeted), but in future I think I'm going to stick to Pakistan Airlines or Royal Jordanian. I figure I should get myself onto an airplane carrying as many Muslims as possible. I'm sorry if that sounds a bit naughty... but think about it!!! And here's another thought. If some fanatic punk decides to blow up the plane I'm on, guess what, it's me** that's going straight to heaven, not him. SO THERE!!!!

**In the interests of humility, I would like to say that I am by no means sure, merely hopeful that I wouldn't go straight to hell. I try. I have much to improve.

I emailed my family yesterday to complain about their lack of interest in my blog and the absence of comments on my posts. According to my site meter, Dad and someone in England, either Mum or Lucy, had a look later in the afternoon. Keep it up!

Then today I received the following message from my charming brother:

"GET STUFFED!!! Will continue to read at monthly intervals in order to leave outdated posts that no one except you will ever see."

I have one thing to say to that: "COBBBLERRRSS!" My brother is such a punk. I love it. He makes me laugh like mad. I was going to go back on my threat to embarass him, but, oh, go on then...

Is he just cute as a button!

For a recap of my exciting Saturday morning, I refer you to the NYCBros.

Jonathan rang me this afternoon to ask a favour, which I duly granted. How could I possibly say no to my baby. Then I was looking at some pictures of my friends, and it got me thinking about what Jonathan will be like when he's all grown up. He'll have girlfriends and jobs and - hopefully - fashion sense. He's got his grandfather's genes so fashion sense is probably a given. I wonder where he'll live. Although Jonathan is concerned about it, I don't think he'll end up in prison, but he could be just about anywhere else. I hope he'll have wonderful friends and lots more crazy Bovee children. Can you imagine... one day I'll a great-auntie!

Blimey, it's hot! The "feels like" bit on the weather report says it's well over 100 degrees. Humidity is about 150,000%. And the air conditioning in my office isn't working properly. It's got to be at least 80 degrees in there, if not worse. The electricity company has been issuing warnings for six days now, telling us to conserve energy or there'll be power outages. Today, it was so bad on the east side, the police were patrolling the streets making announcements through their megaphones telling us to turn off lights and conserve power. We could hear them out on 23rd street. It was like something out of a disaster movie. "The end of the world is coming. Please don't use your blenders unless you absolutely have to!"

Oh, Canada?

I spent the weekend upstate. A gang of us (Byron, Kristian, Keila, Sara, Paul, David and Rebecca) went to Palmyra for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. The drive up there took us through leafy northern New Jersey, the infamous Scranton, PA (we're all rabid Office fans), Syracuse (a fairly attractive "Northern, industrial town") and along the nearly exit-free I-90, the New York Thruway. Despite torrential rain and a horrendous traffic jam, we still managed to arrive in Palmyra in plenty of time to tour the sights before the pageant.

We first stopped at the Palmyra temple. It's a fairly standard temple design, except for one very special feature. The window behind me looks out onto the Sacred Grove. I think we were all immediately struck by the thought that we were walking on turf once trodden not only by Joseph Smith, but also the prophet Moroni nearly two thousand years ago. I think it's no coincidence that this place was chosen for such an important work. Unlike so many areas once rural that have now been swallowed up by development and sprawling cities, little Palmyra remains nearly as sleepy as it was when the Smith family arrived two hundred years ago. Any more town and the hustle and bustle would disturb the tranquility of the place. Today, we can return and still feel the strong presence of the Spirit. Even with all the pageant tourists, it was peaceful and still. And look there's Moroni up top, still keeping watch over it all.

We also went to the Smith farm and the Sacred Grove, and then into town to see the Grandin press. It poured with rain as we ate our dinner, so we bought sweatshirts and bin bags to protect ourselves against the elements during the pageant. The rain let up just in time for the pageant which was wonderful. I tried to take pictures, but the light wasn't sufficient. This is the best I managed, the opening scene:

After overnighting in Rochester, we went on to Niagara Falls on Sunday morning. I had a feeling there would be trouble at the border. I shalln't go into the details here, but I hope that this was the first AND last time I'm interrogated by US border patrol.

Here's the bridge over the river to Canada. Won't be crossing that again anytime soon!!
So instead of viewing the falls from the Canadian side, we got to see the falls up close on the US side. We walked onto Goat Island (such a romantic name, no wonder this was a honeymoon mecca!) which is between the American Falls, pictured above, and the grander Horseshoe Falls, below:
There are more pictures on flickr. We tried to find the spot where Superman rescues the dopey boy in the film. It's a shame we didn't have time to do the boat ride or the Cave of the Winds, but we had an enjoyable time, despite Keila's hair reaching near record-breaking temperatures. This was all followed by a long drive home. I was navigating, and despite taking us the wrong at least twice, everyone made a point of saying what a great job I was doing. I must say that I have some really terrific friends!!

The afternoon temperature in New York:

The afternoon temperature in Luton:

What's going on?! Luton is on the same line of latitude as like way up in Hudson Bay. They're having crazy weather in England. I heard on BBC radio that temperatures in the London Underground had reached 47 degrees in some trains, that's 116 in Fahrenheit. Shame I'm missing out on that!

I've never been a huge fan of sweeties and candy, but I do love a nice creamy, fruity dessert now and again. Thanks to Drew and Joanne for a great barbeque on Saturday. The highlight was definitely Drew's baking. We had strawberry shortcake, fresh peach pie and a cake in the shape of a sandcastle. Delicious!

Congratulations to me

I have been accepted into graduate school, the masters in human rights programme at University College London.

I'm not going. Obviously. But I am quite chuffed with myself for having got in.

The letter came yesterday. I had expected them to write and offer me an interview, at which point I could say thank you, but I withdraw my application. I had been dreading the interview, so it would have been a relief to be able to back out of that. But instead, they looked over my application and decided to take me sight unseen. That's kinda cool.

London loves

A year ago my city experienced one of its best days and then immediately one of its worst.

On July 6 we won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics. It was a euphoric day. I put up a giant poster over my desk on which I'd drawn the London logo. When I broke the news to Jonathan he shouted for joy at the thought that one day he would be 12, and he was pretty chuffed about the olympics (or 'lympics as they're known in our house) taking place right on his doorstep as well. He immediately wanted to go out and start training to run in the 100-metre dash. Lucy informed him he would be going to bed instead. Nice try, Jonathan!

The next day the bombs came and there really wasn't much to smile about for a long time. The poster came down and I just felt sick for days. But you know what, no one gets to spoil our city and no one gets to spoil our lives. Lucy and Jonathan went into central London just two weeks after July 7. She didn't want him to be afraid. London is so much part of our lives and he needed to know that it was safe. The longer they waited, the more he would worry. They rode the Thameslink from Luton station(just as the bombers had done), got off at Kings Cross and onto the underground. They spent a few tense minutes sitting on the train which for some reason was being held in the station. Worried looks were exchanged between the passengers, but finally the doors closed and the train pulled out of the station. Jonathan declared, "It's alright. There aren't any bombs anymore." Everyone relaxed visibly and smiled at a little boy's innocence.

I have a good life here in New York, but London will always be my home. Some days I'm really homesick. I just want to be in England and talk to people who now what "lubbly jubbly" means and know that they make bogs in Stoke-on-Trent. BBC radio via the internet is my lifeline. But I think how lucky am I to get to experience both these wonderful places. There's more for me to do here in New York. I have wonderful friends in this city that I don't want to be without. And thankfully, I worked out a deal with EMI when I took my new job so that I get to go home for more than a week at the end of August. I'll be with my family, breath English air, ride the underground and watch Jonathan train for the 'lympics.

So ends my first week of permanent employment at EMI Music North America. It's been a short, but hectic week. I'm trying to get my head round all my new duties as well as keep the lid on projects I am carrying over from my old position. It hasn't been quiet for even one moment! Suddenly people are sending me emails not asking me if I could look into things, but telling me I will resolve problems and handle pressing issues. I am responsible for stuff! It's a little scary, but it's all good experience. I'm enjoying the challenge of it.

All this has come at a cost, however, and I will miss my friend Joanne very much. Joanne got a terrific job offer as a Director of licensing at a music company near her home in New Jersey. No more commute into the city for her! I certainly know how nice that is. I don't miss riding hot sticky trains into London every day. We had a nice lunch at Pipa last Thursday to say cheerio.
Joanne has been a terrific friend to me over the last two years. We will of course stay in touch and already have plans for adventures together, include one seriously fancy birthday lunch. As a side note, Joanne became an auntie for the first time on Thursday evening when her best friend Kristen gave birth to a beautiful little boy named Aidan. I look forward to meeting the little fella.

"... their faith in their prayers was that this gospel should be made known also, if it were possible that other nations should possess this land; And thus they did leave a blessing upon this land in their prayers, that whosoever should believe in this gospel in this land might have eternal life;
Yea, that it might be free unto all of whatsoever nation, kindred, tongue, or people they may be." (D & C 10:49-51)

Michael's birthday weekend

The weekend's excitement began on Friday when Michael and I trekked over to Prospect Park in Brooklyn for a free (although we had to "donate" $3) concert. Matt Pond PA, one of my favourite bands, was playing on the bill. We plunked ourselves down on the muddy grass with no view other than of people's behinds. I entertained myself between sets with taking pictures of the soon to be birthday boy.
Our enjoyment of the music was slightly tempered by the rapid approach of dark, ominous clouds from all directions. Huge gusts of wind blew leaves and little branches down from the trees and everyone sat there just waiting for the clouds to burst and drench us all in seconds. Thankfully, the rain didn't start until the moment we headed down the steps into the subway on our way home. It was close!

Safely back in Manhattan, I left Michael at Rector Street to join Jill, Kim and Crystal to go see The Devil Wears Prada at Battery Park. We all enjoyed the movie, especially Meryl Streep as the formidable Miranda Priestly, but left the cinema feeling hopelessly underdressed and in desparate need of new shoes and handbags.

Saturday was one of the busiest and one of the most enjoyable days I've had in the city. Here's a rundown of the days events:

11.00 Kelly and I go to brunch at Spanish restaurant Pipa to celebrate my new job (more on that to come).
12.00 We stop by Banana Republic. Kelly comes away with some extremely flattering denim shorts.
13.00 We return home so I can commence work on Michael's birthday cake (white cake with double cream frosting and raspberries) and we watch the sad, but inevitable defeat of England on penalties.
15.30 Kelly and I join Michael and his brothers Stephen and Jeff at 42nd street to see Superman Returns. We all enjoy it so much we're about to burst with joy! I think it was everything we all hoped it would be. There is action and excitement, actors enjoying every moment of their roles, and to my surprise, powerful messages about the relationship between humankind and our real Father and Saviour respectively.
19.00 We temporarily part company, with Kelly heading to the temple, me to the apartment to collect the various parts of Michael's cake and the lads head down to Lombardi's pizza on Spring Street, where they join our friend Gretchen from 2 Gold. I show up with a bag full of cake pieces and we enjoy pizza at the first restaurant I dined at in New York. It was in January 1998, and Cathy Brown and I were straight off the train from Washington DC.
20.30 We all head downtown to the Mulcock brothers' apartment on Gold St for cake and the opening of presents. Michael's brothers are very excited about his first birthday with them in NY and they shower him with gifts. He is also delighted to receive an iPod nano from his Mum. It is the size of a mere speck of dust! Then, we gorge ourselves on cake.
22.30 It's off to The Culture Club for a night of eighties music and unbridled eighties dancing. Michael has been dreaming of going to Culture Club since the day he arrived in New York. Sadly, age has barred him from enjoying this, one of his most beloved past times, but today he is 21 and he presents his ID with pride. We all go mad with delight, dancing and singing, playing air guitar and posing for photos of ridiculous amounts of enjoyment.

Mormon money

Dad found the niftiest thing on eBay yesterday. It's a $3 bill printed by The Kirtland Safety Society and signed by a Mr J. Smith Jr and a Mr S. Rigdon. Now why do those names sound familiar?! Oh, and it was selling for a bit over $8,000.

Joanne has been trying over the last year or so to persuade me of the importance of commencing an engagement with a weighty piece of high grade carbon, ie a diamond. I don't particularly care for the look of diamond engagement rings. Mum never had one and I thought them clunky and frankly rather unsightly when I first noticed them on womens' fingers. Joanne promised that when I got a look at the REAL thing my feelings on the matter would change and we decided we would do a field trip to Tiffany's one lunchtime to see what it really means to sparkle. We almost didn't make it as Joanne is leaving EMI at the end of this week, but we managed to squeeze it in a little adventure yesterday.

I will freely admit to being dazzled. Engagement rings and wedding bands have their own floor and we toured around all the display cabinets, Joanne describing to me all the different cuts and settings. They all danced with light and colour, and even despite some shapes and settings that weren't all that appealing, the diamonds themselves were beautiful. My favourite cut was definitely the emerald cut:

Now, I haven't been completely seduced. As much as I fell in love with these gorgeous little rectangles, I still don't particularly want to one. Not as an engagement ring anyway. If for no other reason, I wouldn't want to feel obligated to have to wear the thing. And the cost is so frightening. I think I would still be more than happy with a pretty little ring from the antique jewelry stalls at the Portobello Road. But if my future husband ever did happen to find himself with a spare $7,000 sloshing around in his bank account, then an emerald diamond for his stunning wife might be just the ticket.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

I forgot to ring my Dad on his birthday yesterday (I have no excuse) so to make amends I'm going to gush about him.
This is Dad in his younger days. It's sort of how I remember him as a child, with a bit less hair perhaps. The advent of the eighties brought his hair above his ears, but thankfully, the moustache remained pretty much intact! It did disappear for a few years when I was a teen, but it's back for good now!

Dad is definitely the grooviest guy I know, in fact, he's the complete package. He really does know EVERYTHING. He used to tell us that when we were little and we didn't believe it for a second, but now I'm convinced it's true. He's smarter than me even, so that ought to tell you something. He's curious about everything and will never tire of learning new things. I know that doesn't jive with what I just said in the previous sentences, but if you knew my Dad, you'd get it.

He's loving and kind. He's very generous, and a shopaholic, and I've done very nicely out of that. He's very open and friendly and likes to get to know new people. No one moves into our ward in Saudi Arabia without being be-friended by my Dad. He can get along with just about anyone. He sees potential in people and helps them to develop it. He thinks he's really funny. And he is.

He's a bit of a chatterbox (and he likes to call himself that) so thank goodness for internet phone service. He's never jealous of us kids or my Mum and will gladly send us off on a whirlwind trip to some city he himself would love to visit while he sits at home in Saudi Arabia. He's just happy that we've been able to do something he knows we'll enjoy. And best of all, he was clever enough to pick the grooviest girl in the world to be his misses.

Did I mention he's devilishly handsome?!

World Refugee Day + 3

In honour of World Refugee Day this past Tuesday I wanted to tell you about something really cool I heard about in a podcast from Wisconsin Public Radio.

They're called Lifeline Radios. The radios have been developped specifically for use by children in developping nations; they are easy to use and virtually indestructible. In Africa, the radios are primarily distributed to communities of children, most of them Aids orphans. The programming gives them vital information on health care and Aids prevention, as well as instruction on farming techniques and animal husbandry. So many of these children are the head of their household with no parent or guardian to instruct them in how to care for themselves and their siblings. For many of these children the radio serves as a comforting, parental voice that reassures them and even helps them get to sleep at night. The radios are shared among a community so it brings people together to listen and work together as a community.

As I was listening to this programme, I was reminded yet again how much Heavenly Father loves and wants to care for ALL his children, not just those of us lucky enough to live in relative luxury in the developped world. He has found ways to help them by inspiring people to develop technologies and set up programmes that help people to support and care for themselves. With all the turmoil and suffering in the world, it is comforting to know that He isn't ever giving up.

If you want to know more about the Lifeline Radios, go to the Freeplay Foundation website. It costs $55 to sponsor a radio. This includes the purchase of the radio and it's delivery to the community with training and instruction on how to use it.

My first broadway show

Michael and I went to the theatre last night, along with his brother Stephen and a friend. It might have been a double date. I'm not sure. It would be cool though, as that would be another first for me. The show wasn't outstanding, but it was entertaining enough and the seats were pretty comfortable. We had a laugh and for $5 you can't really top it.

I haven't thought much about going to the theatre since I've been here. Strange, as theatre is such a part of the city. I've had a couple offers to join Stephen and company (he gets heavily discounted tickets through some sort of theatre organisation he's a member of) but have always had to decline for one reason or another - he always seems to call when I'm in Jersey with Joanne. Anyway, now I've been once, it's peaked my interest. I'd really like to see Alan Bennett's play The History Boys but that just won a Tony so no doubt the tickets will be hard to come by.

Continuing our occassional series on Bovees holding other people's babies, here I am with Joanne's friend Neil's little son Jonas. Jonas is nine months old and we have been following his adventures via his own blog since the very day he was born. I have been pestering Joanne for months to fix up a lunch date so we could meet the little fella in person and yesterday we were finally granted an audience. As we walked into the restaurant and caught our first glance of Jonas, live and in person, we gasped in delight. It was like meeting Mick Jagger or the Queen, only like way better.

Jonas has just started walking, and was desperate to get down on the floor and show off his new trick. Just one problem, he's hidden all his shoes. He likes to play with them and has stashed them somewhere in his apartment where his Mum can't find them,, so he came into town from Brooklyn shoeless. No worries, I took him for a little walk around our table with him walking on my feet. It didn't work so well, but he did find the activity mildly amusing and it produced a photo-worthy grin.

Stephen had asked me to send him any pictures I had of Mum as a baby, but I think everyone needs to see these.

She really hasn't changed much.

Somebody is broody

Jonathan is desperate to be a big brother. He'd even settle for becoming a cousin. There's no immediate hope on either front, unfortunately, so he's having to make do with fussing over other people's babies. Here he is on Saturday holding our Luton friend Aleysha Freeman's son Jayden, born just that morning. Jonathan has always been good with babies, holding them very carefully and dispensing gentle kisses. He's a natural.

I've finally come face to face with the real life gangs of New York...

Yeah ok, not really. This is just my gang of friends playing a game called "Family Business". It's a mobster card game where you put out contracts on people and have mob wars and try to rub out everyone else. It could get rather vicious, but we're all just too nice for that.

This is Kristian and Jill politely murdering each other's mobsters. Now, don't get me wrong, we definitely play to win and there is plenty of rivalry. There's also lots of good-humoured ganging up on people and obliterating them.

The World Cup 2006 starts in just ten days! I know most footballers are spoiled peacocks, but playing for your country is a bit more inspiring than playing for your accountant, so I always enjoy following international competition. I've decided to support England this year. It's Sven's swansong, David Beckham's hair is weirder than ever, how could I resist.

Just in case England crash out early on, I need a backup team to follow - hopefully - to the finals. It all depends on how the tournament goes, but I am considereding Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands as alternatives, but I favour Italy because they have the best outfits!

Finally a post with pictures!

Saturday, my friend Michael and I ventured up to the north end of Central Park. I've never been up there before so it was a genuine adventure. First, we had to make our way through five blocks of Spanish Harlem (the gentrification hasn't made it quite that far up yet!). We entered the park through the Conservatory Garden (unimpressive) and then wandered round the Harlem Meer. We were in search of ducks, as Michael is a fan of fowl. These are New York birds, aggressive, lots of attitude. You can't tell from the picture, but I promise, they were being pushy.

Saturday in the park is all about couples out for a stroll.

It was a beautiful day. We walked down through the park, past the Loch and North Fields to the reservoir.

Genevieve contemplates the beauty of the city.

Michael contemplates ducks.

We were tired after ten blocks of park (I don't want to hear it!), so we caught the bus down the west side to 72nd street to see the Dakota Building and Strawberry Fields. The Imagine mosaic attracts a sizable crowd, equal parts tourists and weirdos. And then we were done with the park and proceeded downtown to Gold Street for some lasagna and Arrested Development.

Attention weather fans! It is monsoon season in New York. It's been raining since Sunday night, and this morning it was chucking it down. There's no wind this morning so it hits the ground straight on and bounces up about three inches. The streets corners are like little inland seas. And clever Genevieve had left her wellies at work. So I swam this morning, picked a fight with some brainless girl who wouldn't let a chap with a cane past first on a narrow stretch of pavement, and just hoped my poor old brown boots wouldn't disintegrate before I reached Park Ave. Sorry I'm not decorating this post with pictures of dark, swirling waters. If it keeps up til tomorrow, I promise to get it all on pixels.

Bruce's clone

Lucy has just found Jonathan reading the yahoo weather reports for Salt Lake City and Dallas. Guess who he's been hanging around!

I want to go on this!

Jonathan is definitely a Bovee

He annouced to Lucy today: "I want to try lots of new things!"

He was hungry for toast when they got home from school today so Lucy decided to show Jonathan how to use the toaster. Excited about his new skill, he decided to go whole hog and made himself a cheese sandwich, slicing/butchering the cheese with one of his little kiddie knives. "Isn't this a nice sandwich?!", he declared, and promptly gobbled it all up.

Oh and Jonathan has adopted three ducks. He made the mistake of feeding them some bread a week ago, and now they hang out in front of the flat. If they're elsewhere on the block and Lucy and Jonathan appear, they come hustling over to see them.

Things are getting a little tense at work. Our Director is on maternity leave, so my boss Aileen has taken on a lot of her work. It's causing her to get quite stressed and because Aileen and I work pretty closely it's starting to rub off on me as well. I'm picking fights with publishers and sending emails that couldn't possibly be mistaken for being polite. The rest of my life is going very well, I've been having heaps of success with my family history research, I've had two terrific weekends in a row, I've been reading the Book of Alma which has been spiritually uplifting, and yet, I'm feeling anxious and aggressive here at work. I'm happy and fun loving at home and about town, but as soon as I get to the office I tense up and start looking for trouble. And as those who really know and love me (well, you'd have to) know, when I go looking for trouble, I always find it.

I found this on an ancestry.com message board. It's from a book of biographies of Beaverhead County, Montana pioneers. Martin Barrett is the uncle mentioned in Ellen Mulherin Ducie's obituary, and the reason she went to Montana.

"Martin Barrett, Bannack, b. 2 Feb 1840 in Mayo Co., Ireland[I have his death certificate]. At the age of 8 he went to Canada with his parents. In the fall of 1859 to St. Joseph, MO. In 1860 to Salt Lake City and back, driving an ox team in a train. In 1861 to CO. While in Canada he learned the trade of tanner and currier, and attended common school. Arrived MT Spring 1863 and with Joseph Shineberger located his present ranch. He remained on the ranch whle Shineberger went to mining. They disolved their partnership after 8 yrs. Mr. Shineberger going to Red Rock and establishing his stock business. Mr. Barrett had mined in CO for two years - on 6 Aug 1867 he married Miss Alice E. Cook [I have her death certificate as well], at Sims Este's place, Red Rock. In 1879, he was elected councilman, served one term and was re-elected in 1884. He has 1,160 acres of hay land, mostly, from which he cut 500 tons; as near as he can estimate has from 1000 to 1500 head on his ranch and range. He is one of the oldest and most successful stock men on Horse Prairie." (1885)

Alice and Martin had no children of their own, but adopted a son, Robert, about 1900.

I've been thinking a lot about the origins of the Bovees and also about our connection to the Church. Cornelius Bovee came from New York and settled in Jackson County, Wisconsin sometime between 1850 (when he's in Lewis, Pinkney County, NY census) and 1859 when his youngest brother Silas N Bovee is born in Wisconsin. He came with his parents Nicholas Jonas and Orinda Bovee and five other siblings, his grandparents Nicholas and Mercy Bovee, and his two uncles Zebulon Bovee and Silas Lewis Bovee and their families. So the whole clan upped sticks and went to farm western Wisconsin. Today I discovered that Jackson County was also settled a few years before by a large group of Mormons. I don't think our Bovees went to Jackson County because they were Mormons, but they must have had contact with these early Saints, possibly even married into their families. I don't know why, but all this intrigues me. As we know, Cornelius' children weren't the nicest bunch, and yet three of his grandchildren and their spouses found their way into the Church. It just seems like we Bovees are supposed to be Mormons. I don't think it's an accident.

And some other things:
I discovered yesterday that you can do a free search of the index of deaths in Minnesota from the last century and order the certificates (only $8) right there online from the Minnesota Historical Society. I requested certificates for uncle Alton Bovee and Herman Narr. And they come in less than two weeks.

I also found in the California death index one Agnes Chadwick Parramore (daughter of Elizabeth Ducie Chadwick who went to San Fransisco). Mum will remember an ill-fated attempt to find her birth certificate in England. The online index shows her mother's maiden name as Ducie.

It's been a good weekend for genealogy!!

Wisconsin trip

Madison is an attractive and relaxed little city. I had enough time to stroll around the downtown and tour the beautiful Capitol Building. I sat by the lake on the university campus and tried not to be my usual frenzied self for just a little while. The weather was perfect, with blue skies and light breezes.

As for research, the trip was definitely worthwhile. Here are the main things I uncovered:
-Death certificate - Sarah Ann Baldwin Patterson
-Obituary - Sarah Ann Baldwin Patterson (Davis is a red herring, her maiden name was Baldwin, I now have her place of birth in Ashtabula, OH and discovered that Charles Patterson's family lived in WI - if you look at daughter Samantha's wedding certificate a Samuel Patterson was a witness)
-Obituary - Samantha Luellen Patterson Brown
-Birth Annoucement - Lillian Adelia Narr
-Muster Roll - Charles H. Patterson and brother Lysander A. Patterson
-Compiled Service Record - Charles and Lysander Patterson
-Land Platt Book records, Jackson County - Cornelius and other related Bovees
-Birth certificate - Helen Grace Bovee
-Birth certificate - Fred Lawrence Brown (Lillian's youngest brother)
-Marriage certificate - Silas R. Brown and Hannah Dolph (his third wife)
-Fairchild, Eau Claire Co. cemetery transcription Details of graves LeonardBovee (brother of George Bovee) wife Jeanette Bovee and 3 children, also Edward Bovee nephew of Cornelius and cousin of George

I also have transcribed birth records for more of Lillian Brown's siblings and loads births/deaths/marriages for Bovees, mostly siblings, nephews and cousins of George and Cornelius Bovee. I now have a long list of follow up tasks, including writing to a number of cemeteries and institutions. So not only have I come away with various bits of new information, but this trip has also opened up several new avenues of investigation.

Part of a river is named after our family. The Bovees settled Hixton and surrounding areas of Jackson County, Wisconin.

I'm still in Madison, but I have some time on my hands so I'll tell you all about something I found today. Compiled Civil War Service record for Charles H. Patterson (my great, great, great grandfather) shows he joined up in August 1862 along with his brother Lysander (didn't know he existed!). There's a description: Charles was rather tall at 6'1, with brown hair and blue eyes and a fair complexion. He lasted just over a year and a half in the infantry and in late 1863 he and his brother deserted. Guess he got fed up and decided to leg it! The brother got clean away, but Charles was later arrested and spent the next year under lock and key at the attractively titled Fort Swelling in Minnesota until he was dishonorably discharged. I did giggle. Anyway, he may not have been much of a soldier, but at least he was good looking.

Today was my first real sick day. I've never spent a whole day away from work because of illness. I've gone home sick, and I've started the morning with a migraine and then later in day (why? I'm not sure) still gone into work. But today was an exception. I was taken ill last night and decided to be kind to myself and spend the entire day at home resting. I spent nearly the whole day sleeping or drinking gatorade. It's now 11 at night and having slept most of the day, I'm quite alert. It will be a little while before I go to bed, but I think be able to sleep the night through alright. I ate baby food this evening, thinly sliced banana and cream of rice, but dined vicariously by watching a show on PBS called Daisy Cooks. She roasted yellow peppers on her stove burners, slow cooked potatoes in a tomato sauce in a frying pan and poached clams, scallops and shrimp in white wine, garlic and parsley sauce. Ah, I intend to eat well when I get my stomach back!

The Snuggly is nice, but this is how you cart a baby around when you've got crap to get done.

J's Holidays

J, ever the pint-sized techno pioneer, has a blog, J's Holidays. I don't think many of the other little six-year-olds at St. Matthews Infants School can boast such an accomplishment. It's actually Mummy writing the copy, but J has full editorial control. So now we can all read reports on his exciting holidays at Bruce and Kathryn's house and view progress on the ever expanding earthworks that once passed for our back garden.

I pyewed you

I played X-box for the first time last night. The gameboy thing keeps me out of trouble on a Sunday night, but I thought I'd see what all the fuss is about with these big fancy toys. I was mildly rubbish at Crazy Taxi, but I'm sure I wasn't the first New York cab to drive on the pavement. I was at 33 Gold st visiting John Tarbet, so I had to play Halo 2. I used to look down my nose at shooting games, but once I got the hang of it (well, not really, I still spent a lot of time looking at the ground or spinning around) it was wicked fun. I even finished with more kills than little NYC Bro on the second game!

Uh-oh, now when I come home this summer I'll be begging to go to Demetri's as well.

New toy

Commercial radio is unmitigated crap. They torture me with it at work (although it's not been so bad of late). Seriously though, if I worked at the post office, they'd all be dead by now. So I've been listening to internet radio for a while. BBC 6 is pretty good, but I really like radio stations you can play with. Pandora let's you set up different radio stations based on an artist or music style and then plays songs it thinks have similar "genetic" characteristics. You can skip through a lot of songs, and if they play a song you don't like, you can tell it to banish the song forever. Today I had to kill a Death from Above 1979 cover of Bloc Party's "Little Thoughts". It was just getting on my nerves.

Irish origins

O'Brien: "This family derives its name and descent from Brian Boru, King of Ireland, who was slain at Clontarf, in the year 1014. By his victories over the Danish invaders and their Irish allies, Brian raised his clan, the Ui Tordealbhaigh [probably pronounced "Davis" or perhaps "Johnson"], to a position of pre-eminence among the Dalcassians, and laid the foundation of the greatness of his posterity, who became not only the ruling family in Thomond, but one of the most powerful in Ireland. Some of them were kings of Munster, and some of all Ireland. Their possessions included the whole of Co. Clare and large portions of the counties Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. They divided into several branches, the principle of which were: the O'Briens of Ara, in the north of Co. Tipperary, whose chief was known as Mac i Bhriain Ara; of Coonagh in the east of Co. Limerick; of Podelbrien, now the barony of that name in Co. Limerick, whose chief stronghold was Carrigogonnell, on the Shannon; and of Cumaragh, in Co. Waterford, who had extensive possessions along the Cummeragh mountains comprising the valley between Dungarvan and the Suir. O'Brien is now one of the most common surnames in Ireland. "
from Woulfe, Patrick. Irish Names and Surnames. Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son, Ltd., 1923, p442-3.

Mulherin: "des. of Maolciarian (servant of St. Ciarin), the name of an ecclestiastical family who were erenachs of Eaglais beg, at Clonmacnoise, and of Ardcarne, in Co. Roscommon. A branch of family seems to have settled in Donegal sometime before the end of the 16th century. The name at that period was most frequent in Westmeath, Roscommon and Donegal". p 597-8.
I guess some of them then wandered into Co. Mayo.

Roche: "in Irish Roiste, Norman 'de la Roche', Latin 'de Rupe', i.e. of the rock, from residence beside some proiminent rock; an old Norman surname. Families of this name settled in different parts of Ireland, but the best known were those of Cork, Limerick and Wexford. In the first named county, the Roches obtained by marriage the district about Fermoy known as [something in Irish I couldn't transliterate], or Roche's Country; the head of this family was Viscount Fermoy. The Roches of Limerick were a wealthy and respectable merchant family."
p 274-5.

Costello: there are too many appearances of Costello in the book to pinpoint the origin, but there is a Barony of Costello in Co. Mayo, which is where I'm hoping to place Mary Costello.

Tales from the olden days

Jonathan enjoys stories from the past, or the "olden days" as he calls it. He and Lucy recently discussed one of the most famous episodes from English history.

J: Mummy, did Henry the Eighth have four mummys?
L: No, he had six wives.
J: What happened to them?
L: I think he divorced two, one died having a baby, one survived. The other two died.
J: How did they die?
L: Are you sure you want to know? It’s not very nice. Well, he had their heads chopped off.
J: Ewww, gross. That’s not very nice, is it? Hmm. And what about Ann? Did they break up?

He's in the book

I found some directories for the city of New Bedford on Ancestry.com and I found over fifteen entries for Frank Paul and various family members. I knew great-great-great grandfather Frank had owned a grocery business, which I'd hoped to locate, and I knew he lived for several years at 128 Acushnet Avenue, near the waterfront, but I've found some exciting new information in these directories. This is the first one, from 1869. Frank owned two shops and it gives the addresses.

In 1873, Frank had focused his business interests and had just the one shop. And he'd moved. Look at the bottom, Joseph Paul, a confectioner was occupying the other shop and lived with Frank. I don't know who this is, perhaps a brother.

In later years, the directory also includes Frank's children Charles, Emma and Florence. Florence started out as a proofreader and by 1908 had worked her way up to editorial assistant for the Standard (the local rag I assume). I guess proofreading is in the blood!

And the final entry for Frank, in 1917.

As I said, I have about fifteen of these. They're like a little travelogue of Frank's life, showing all the places he lived and worked.

Dad talked me out of Ohio

I wasn't actually there yet, he talked me out of going in the first place. So I might go to Madison, Wisconsin instead. I have to figure out if it's worth the cost of the trip.

Costello ain't no Italian name

For those who know little of the thrills of family history research (ye poor, wretched beings), I am sure you will be delighted to learn that although certain branches of a family can yield little or no information at a given time, often they appear to be a complete deadend, sometimes they suddenly explode and you start to uncover one thing after another.

The Costello clan (John Ducie's mother's family) are like that. We didn't know for the longest time what Mary Costello's nationality was for sure, and once I knew she was born in Ireland, I figured that was probably all I would ever know about her and her family. Not true. The Costellos are suddenly all crawling out of the woodwork. I tried again yesterday to find the main Ducie family's passage to the US from England in 1862. And again, I couldn't find anything. John's eldest sister Mary, however, hadn't come with them, she had gone to Ohio in 1857. So I looked just for her, and her I found, on a ship called the Jacob A Westervelt which sailed from Liverpool arriving in New York on 19 Oct 1857. That's the year she listed as her date of immigration on the 1900 census. The age matches as well, and the name on the passenger list above her is Patrick Costello. I know it's her, because three years later on the 1860 census for Chippewa, Ohio, Mary and her new husband John Schoenberger (of the Mary Ducie obituary) have a lodger named none other than Patrick Costello. Why did they pick Wayne County, Ohio? Two families above Mary, John and Patrick is the William Costello family. It looks like Patrick and Mary Ducie followed her family to Ohio.

And there's something more. I was looking at the 1861 census in England to see if any of Mary's Costello relatives had been living near them in Staffordshire in England. I found a Winifred Costello aged 70 living as a lodger in Rowley Regis, in the village of Bakersfold. I thought hang on, that's familiar, and so when I went to the page before, it was the Ducies. They had a lodger with the rather florid name of Malachy Gilleroy living with them, the last name on that page, and so I hadn't thought to look for more family over on the next page. Is that Mary's mother? Possibly. The point is, I now have all these Costellos to look into and if one of them had the foresight to record exactly where in Ireland they came from, then I have the place where the Ducies originated as well.

It snowed...

here.

The 'lympics

On the telephone this morning...

Auntie Genevieve: "Jonathan, do you know what's happening today?"
Jonathan: "err... it's the winter 'lympics starting today" (in that tone that says why are you asking, i can't believe you don't know, oh good grief)
Auntie Genevieve: "So are you going to be watching skiing all day tomorrow?"
Jonathan: "My head will be next to the tv all day and all night and all day! I'll turn into a zombie." (hmm, where did he hear thatI wonder?!)
Auntie Genevieve: "well, it's only 1 hour and 5 minutes till it starts"

And then after spinning the phone on the table, "are you feeling dizzy and sick?", he ran off to get the kitchen timer so Lucy could set it for 1 hour and 5 minutes. Apparently that's his new thing, setting the timer for absolutely everything. Lucy says it's become obsessional. Oh good, my little boy is a crazy man!

Got time on your hands?

If you're looking to warm up your brains and your funny bones, here are some links to my favourite radio programmes on the Beeb.

The Now Show This is a weekly news/satirical show in the vein of Bremner, Bird and Fortune. The stand-up spots are hilarious, but the songs by Mitch Benn are the best bit. You might have trouble following some of it if you're not up on British news, but you can always catch up here.

In Our Time The history of ideas. There are at least a hundred programmes in their archive. I've learned about everything from the Babylonian alphabet to artificial intelligence.

Excess Baggage Indulge your wanderlust. You can listen to all fifty tales of adventure and exploration in the archive listed on the right side of the page. My favourites are Lost Languages and Michael Palin.

Mark Kermode My film review fellow. Sometimes he gets really worked up about things and goes off on one. I love it.

Eco Istvan

Aspersions have been cast - you know who you are - on my veracity, or perhaps sanity. A figment of the imagination never mucked up our laptop - you know who you are - or left such a huge indentation in the sofa. So here's the proof, this is he, my enormous little brother.

Jonathan discovers google earth

So after Joanne and I had hours and hours of fun playing with Google Earth (strictly on our lunch break of course), I installed it on the laptop in Luton so we could play with it there. Last Thursday, Lucy and Jonathan discovered it. They looked up Luton, my address in New York and Granny and Grandpa's house in Saudi Arabia, and more importanly, the Surf House and the water slip and slide thingy on the RT beach. Jonathan went mad for it, and when they'd done with familiar places he announces "now, let's look up Australia". He knows about Australia?! So they checked our Sydney, Melbourne, and all points intriguing on the Antipodean isle.

I suggested their next "trip" should be to Rome, they have beautiful, clear pictures of all the best sites - you can see the hole in the Pantheon and the columns in St. Peter's Square. Any recommendations for other closely-photographed destinations?

I have a new calling

As of yesterday, I'm no longer a Gospel Principles teacher, I'm now our ward's Family History Committee Chairperson. Yep, I'm the bosslady in charge of family history. I think it's a good fit. We have a new ward goal (one name cleared per member - not too hard), and our new Elders Quorum president Jeff Mulcock is keen to work with me to get his lads properly involved in family history. We have some newly baptised members who need to get started and plenty of others who I plan to recruit, if for no other reason I'm curious to learn about their family background. The previous chairperson was my roommate Kelly, so it'll be an easy handover!!

The Pattersons

My Charles Patterson death certificate yielded some extremely useful clues. It gives his place of burial as Hancock, Wisconsin. There is only one cemetery in Hancock and a complete transcription is available on the internet. Charles is buried in plot B89 along with his wife Sarah Ann and two young children. I already had a date of death for the children from great-grandmother Lillian, but had no idea when Sarah Ann Davis had died. It's 1914, so I can request a death certificate from the state and hopefully find out who her people were. I was also able to match Charles to one of two possible 1850 census records I'd found some time ago. The return is from a county in Ohio, listed on the certificate as his birthplace, the age matches the certificate, and it lists the father's birthplace as Connecticut which also matches the certificate. You have copies of this census image - it's in the folder Brown-Patterson and it's called 1850 Census Charles Patterson possible, but I can't remember if it's 1 or 2. The cemetery record noted that Charles was veteran of the Civil War. There are only two Charles Pattersons who served in the Wisconsin regiments [go to this site and enter Patterson, Charles, Wisconsin in the search fields]and one of them is a Charles H. Patterson!!

Great expectations

Jonathan has declared his ambitions for the future. He wants to be a footballer and then a king, so he can "be in a pyramid". [The other night we watched a television programme about the building of Kufu's great pyramid tomb in Egypt.]

I am resolved

to do the following in this New Year:

- get meself proper educated
- stop discussing LDS dating: it is a tired and worn out subject to which I humbly admit I can contribute nothing that hasn't already been said
- decide once and for all whether or not to let my hair grow out, again
- do eastern Ohio
- spend less money at restaurants and more time reading

Pretend the date above is 25 December

We had a happy Bovee Christmas here in Luton! Jonathan didn't wake up til 8 o'clock (did Lucy drug him?). I got TWO stockings this year. Mum found a lovely bag in Past Times and just couldn't resist filling it up with goodies along with my usual angel stocking. We spent much of the day opening presents: we don't like to rush, else you miss seeing what everyone else has got. That's my favourite thing about Christmas is seeing what the rest of my family have come up with as gifts for each other. Often they're very clever, and with all of us travelling to different places there's usually some exotic and beautiful presents from distant lands. This year it was Germany, Lativa, Lapland, Hungary and Hawaii. Before presents we watched The Nativity, after all, a bit of religion at Christmas never hurt anyone. I am so happy to be able to spend a whole month with my family. We had a few squabbles the first few days, which is only natural, but by today (and even better by the real today!) we've adjusted to crowded quarters and remember why we've all come so far to be together. Oh, and on Boxing Day Jonathan and I used all his new Brio to build the greatest railway ever imagined.

Happy Christmas to you all!

Thirty years today

My Mum and Dad were married thirty years ago today, 20 December 1975. Here there are, the happy couple:

We had dinner together in Soho. They then went on to see The Producers at the Drury Lane Theatre.

I'm proud of my parents and I just hope I can be like them after thirty years. They're kind to each other and they look after one another. And they have created a wonderful family. Happy Anniversary!

Proof that Santa Claus is real

I have photographic evidence!!! Lucy and Jonathan went to Lapland on Friday to meet the most famous bearded man alive. (Sorry Lauren, he's spoken for!)

Here is Father Christmas' office...

And here is the man himself giving a present to Jonathan, which turned out to be a beautiful four winds hat.
Don't the reindeer look cheery! They know the big night is coming soon.

Back by popular demand

Sorry it's been a while since you last heard from me...

I had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. Kelly and I took a turkey and a dozen other bits and pieces along to our ward's dinner. There were 26 happy and well-fed people there. On the Saturday, Ian and I ventured up to Harlem for dinner at Sylvia's famous soul food mecca on Lennox Avenue. I had her special recipe ribs - more delicious than anything has any right to be - with potato salad and black-eyed peas. The atmosphere was terrific, music and families, and we even got to meet Sylvia!

I've been doing some Christmas shopping, trying not to freeze to death (Ian can attest that I came very close last night!) and just generally being very excited about Christmas and getting ready to go home. Oh and I was offered another job at EMI, but I turned it down again. I don't want to risk my resident status in England (for university tuition) by taking a permanent job abroad, but it was nice to know I was very much their first choice. My friend Joanne has moved out of our team to a different job within our department, so it should mean more responsibility for me from now on. I'm pleased about that.

The very defnition of good-lookin'

Lucy's Berlin pictures are finally on the web.

What Bovees look like

There is a family tree on Rootsweb that includes Cornelius Bovee and Hannah Pettis and their children, including great-grandfather George. There was a note to say that the creator of this entry, Richard Rhode of Minnesota, has a photograph of her. So I just emailed and asked if he'd mind sending me a copy. Turns out it's a family portrait with Cornelius, Hannah and their youngest son Truman.

I recall, Central Park in fall...

Thanks to Dad for suggesting a trip up to the observation deck of the GE Building in Rockefeller Plaza! Ian and I went during lunch yesterday, still in time to see the beautiful autumn colours in Central Park. It was a perfectly clear day, almost too bright. We also had a terrific view of the Empire State Building. We took loads of pictures, here at the best ones. There are also some pictures of Lauren, who was in New York this past weekend.

Why I don't just love my family, I really like them as well: Reason 1

My birthday was 1 October, and I just received a birthday card from Stephen. The front of the card reads: Birthday, Birthmonth, I was close. Enclosed with the card is a keyring with my initials GB in big gold, glossy letters. And the message in the card reads: One year older and yes... still an Ol' Git! I also saw this keychain and had to go back and pick it up. After all, who couldn't use a Del-Boyesque personlized key chain." Thank you, Stephen! I love it.

Stephen invariably reads my posts about three weeks after I've written them, so most of you probably miss the pithy comments he leaves. This one is my favourite, all the way at the bottom.

Guess what I have

Do you remember the faded picture of John and Ellen Ducie and baby Moina in some publication detailing his many achievements? Well, it turns out there was an original photograph, and Bob had it. And he gave it me!!!!! What a treasure. And it belongs to me. Dad, you can have it . . . but you'll have to prise it from my cold, dead hand.

Bob gave me one other picture to keep, of grandma Bobby and a little bubba named Bruce. She wrote on the back: Bruce & Mama 7/20/47. Look at all that hair! Seems to be a Bovee trait.

I also have about 15-20 pictures I borrowed to copy. There are some nice pictures of Phyllis and her children. Bob always seems to have a cheeky little grin on his face, it's really sweet. There are some of great-grandfather Alfred and Ann LeDuc. There are pictures of Evelyn as a baby and with Phyllis's family. And there are some pictures of grandma and her sisters as children; there is even a picture of a two-year-old Phyllis pushing her dolly pram around the back garden of their house in Montana. Here is one I scanned already. From left to right: Mary, Phyllis, a friend, grandma Bobby, and another little street urchin, probably in Jackson Heights. I love the grin on grandma's face. Aren't they lovely, all three of them! Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Boston: part 4

I spent the weekend in Boston staying with Bob. I left Friday morning and had the afternoon to spend at the archives. I researched some vital records and then headed up to the Charlestown branch of the Boston Public Library. I thought they might have a local history and genealogy section. I was wrong. They had few books of slides with old views of Charlestown and I got to see two or three pictures of Main Street as it would have been in Michael O’Brien’s time. It certainly wasn’t worth the schlep from the T Station. Oh well. I think the Main Public Library or the local historical society might be a better bet. (I’m trying to write this on the way back into New York. The highways in the Bronx are horrific; Basra to Baghdad is probably a smoother ride!)

Later I met up with Bob and after dinner I got him to fish out all his pictures and family papers. He had a biography piece on Alfred O’Brien from a book entitled “History of Montana.” We'll have to locate the book when we go to Montana. It's quite long, so I'll email the text of the article. The information on his parents is mostly fantasy. Bob and I have a theory about this. Phyllis had told Bob that she was brought up as a Protestant and that when she married his father, she had to convert to Catholicism. Odd, as both of Alfred’s parents were definitely Catholic. Perhaps when he went off to Lehigh University to study engineering, he realized that his social and carers prospects were better if he weren’t a Catholic. Then he went off to Montana where he married Moina Ducie in a Roman Catholic ceremony - well, her Irish parents would have seen to that - but the article clearly makes every attempt to expunge his Irish famine immigrant background. Perhaps this explains why neither Bobby or Phyllis new anything of their aunts and uncles… Alfred had become somewhat estranged from them. By 1928 he was in Connecticut and then New York, that’s not so far from his family in Massachusetts and yet there seems to have been little contact. The article also has some useful - and I assume relatively accurate -information about his siblings. One sister was married to an artists. Perhaps this is our Boston Public Library fellow!

Saturday, we drove to New Bedford. We stopped first at the public library where I spoke to the chap at the Genealogy Department. He told me that Frank Paul's original name could be Paulinho, rather than him having dropped it completely. He told me that he may have come to New Bedford without his family, as a cabin boy on a whaling ship, especially if he had an older brother who was also a crewman. I told him that Frank was from Pico and he said that there are only twelve parishes and that the Church has microfilmed all their baptismal records, so it wouldn't be impossible to find him. The Azorean records list the child's name, parents and godparents, and grandparents, so it would be a real find! They had copies of the Catholic St.Mary's Church records, so we looked up both of Frank Paul's marriages and the baptisms of some of his children. They give the child's middle name which often wasn't recorded on the civil records and the godparents for each child. I have a photocopy of my gt-gt-grandmother Mary Ann's baptismal record from 1859. We went to Frank Paul's address from the 1900 and 1910 census, 128 Achushnet Avenue, but while many of the old Victorian clapboard houses in the neighborhood have survived, Frank's house has been replaced. We also didn't have much luck at the cemeteries, but I now have the contact information so I will phone them on Monday.

We had dinner with some of Bob's friends that evening, which I really enjoyed. It was nice to spend some time getting to know Bob. I have so little extended family, so it's a real treat to talk to someone who knows us and our background. He loaned me a lot of pictures to scan, so I will let you know when you can look at them on my flickr account.

Some good news

Most of the female names I’ve researched in Boston and New Bedford have been extracted and the names and dates entered in Familysearch. None of the ordinances had been done yet, except for just one or two names where the baptism has been done. This was really frustrating as I had wanted to do the temple work for all these women. I was afraid that they would be irretrievable. So I made a list of them all and took it with me to the temple on Thursday to see what could be done. The temple recorder told me that if I bring all the names prepped as a Temple Ready file, he can print the ordinance cards there and I can do all the work. I was so happy I was literally jumping for joy right there in the office. (I realise that isn’t really the done thing in the temple, but perhaps I’ll be forgiven…) Most of these names are children of Michael O’Brien and his sisters. The one I’m most pleased about is my own great-great grandmother Ellen Mulherin. Her baptism was done in the London temple in 2003, but I will be able to do her endowment and seal her to her parents. And on the subject of Ellen, I have a real treat for you, and will post it as soon as I can get it scanned!

Boston: part 3

I went to Boston again last week. I found Michael O'Brien's will at the Probate Court - they just handed me the original. It's only one page. He left everything to be split equally between his seven children. There's a court document that lists the names and addresses of all seven, which gave me the married name of two of his daughters. His total estate was worth $6,360.24. I tried one of those online old money calculators and it comes out as anything between $75,000 and $250,000. It all depends on whether you compare the consumer price indices or the increase in per capita income, something, blah, blah, I don't know.

I couldn't find anything at the Boston Public Library on Maurice Flynn, so I went up to Holy Cross Cemetery and wandered around in the wind and rain, but managed to find the family grave just as the rain let up. I got some good pictures. And in the evening I went to the Boston temple to do the endowment for Eliza Roche there in her adopted home. I've been in touch with Bob and I'm going back again this weekend to stay with him.

Mary Costello Ducie Collier?

Grandma wrote to Wayne County, Ohio requesting a death record for Mary Ducie, but they responded saying no record was made. They said this was common, but I thought it rather odd, especially around 1900. So last night I was looking in Familysearch for any record of her, and I found an extracted marriage in 1879 in Wayne County, Ohio for William Collier and Mary Ducy. This is two years after her husband Patrick died in 1877. I then looked up this William Collier in the 1880 census to check the age of his bride. He is listed as 45, his wife Mary as 65 and born in Ireland. She's the right age and how many Mary Ducys could have been floating around Wayne County, Ohio. So I shall see if I can get ahold of the death record for Mary Collier to see if she was born Mary Costello. I had also thought it odd that both her daughters upped and moved to Montana and abandoned her in Ohio on her own. Perhaps they didn't.

Vertigo Tour 2005

Ian and I were so high up in the arena last night, right at the front of the balcony, that vertigo was very nearly was the word. The show was amazing. It was my first big arena show. I sang along with 20,000 people. The stage was reallly cool, it had an elliptical walkway. Keane played about six or seven songs, and Tom Chaplin's beautiful voice filled the huge space. U2 can play like nobody I've seen. And I know Bono is the big star and he wrotes thought-provoking poetry, but I think The Edge is the best thing in that band. OK, they're all amazing. A bit of politics from anybody else would be cloying, but from them it's OK. They put their time and their money where their mouths are and actually try and do something to improve the lives of the world's impoverished and forgotten peoples. We certainly got our money's worth. U2 played for well over 2 hours and we both heard our favourite songs. It's amazing the memories that come up with different songs, the Gulf War, boarding school, things going back half my life ago.

Jonathan gets to grips with history

As they're reading a bedtime story about dinosaurs, Jonathan says to his Granny:

I know what the Jurassic period is - that was a long, long time ago. I know a lot of things about a long, long time ago. And I was only born in 1999!!

You've never had it so good

Have you noticed my new links on the right hand side? There's some thrilling stuff. Do go exploring!

Genevieve, U 2 shall go to the ball

As of this morning, I am the proud possessor of a ticket for the U2 show at Madison Square Garden next Monday. I've never been to such a huge show and what a way to start, with band a like U2. I've been listening to them as long as I can remember. And the opening act is Keane, a British band who write beautiful songs. I can't believe I'm getting both in one go. Hurrah for me. I'm really quite chuffed.

Ten Keys to Understanding Isaiah

The Prophet has asked us to read the entire Book of Mormon before the end of this year (read this). I started a bit late so I'm a little behind the schedule, but I've read to 2 Nephi 9 and it's going well. I can honestly say that I'm enjoying it as well as learning from it. I encourage you all, dear readers, to do the same. I especially implore my beloved family members; I promise you can make time if you try. You too Stephen; you could have family scripture study with Vincent! Teach him to say "remember, remember" and "repent" as well as "hello" and "who's a pretty boy then".

The Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi always present a challenge, but church leaders have told us that these are some of the most important passages of scripture for our times, and it is imperative that we study and understand these prophesies. While researching my recent sunday school lessons on the Second Coming, I found an article written by Bruce R. McConkie called "Ten Keys to Understanding Isaiah". I promise you will find this helpful.

Boston: part 2

I went up to Boston again this weekend. Last time I was a tourist, this time I was on a mission! I had two goals: find naturalisation records for Frank Paul and Michael J O'Brien and confirm to the identity of everyone buried in the O'Brien family plot at Holy Cross Cemetery.

Friday: I went to the National Archives (you know, the guys who have the Declaration of Independence) New England regional office to look for naturalisation records. The building was way out in Waltham, at the end of the bus line and then a couple miles walk. I can't be sure about the Michael O'Brien records I found: there were three possibles which I narrowed down to one most likely. I definitely found Frank Paul's petition for citizenship in which he renounces his loyalty to Luis I, King of Portugal. I found out his date of birth, but, even better, he signed the document himself. My great-great-great-grandfather wrote this:

I met Bob for dinner, he picked me up in his new hybrid car - it was very exciting for me - and we went to the North End, the Italian neighbourhood. We traded family stories, well he told stories and I related dates and facts that I've turned up. He was ever so excited to discover that his great-great grandfather was Portuguese! We had a really nice visit. He is a lot like Dad, chatty and friendly and he gets excited about things. And he invited me to stay with him when I go back in a couple weeks, so we can talk a lot more about the family.

Saturday: I spent the day at the Massachusetts Archives looking at birth, marriage and death records. I found the birth and death records for all ten of Michael O'Brien's children. I also confirmed the relationship to Michael of the three non-O'Brien's he was buried with:

- Maurice Flynn (age at burial: 58years) - husband of Michael's sister Mary. Like Michael and his sisters, Maurice was born in Ireland. A painter by trade, he married Mary O'Brien in 1864.
- Benjamin Flynn (1 month) - Maurice and Mary's son.
- Isabella Caldwell (3 years) - daughter of Michael's sister Annie and George W. Caldwell. Isabella had a twin sister Rose. I found her parents marriage in 1869 and Annie's death in 1893.

I spent hours at the archives, cranking the wheels of the manual microfilm readers. I had achy limbs and back yesterday! It was such a successful day. I have at least two more days worth of work to do there, looking for the rest of Mary and Annie O'Brien's children as well as the marriages/deaths/children of Frank Paul's many offspring. I can't wait to go back.

My best friend has left town and i'm really bummed

Lauren moved home today. I'm not terribly pleased about this. I came to New York because I wanted to be with people like me. Although I did meet some terrific people, my first eight months here were pretty quiet, and then I met Lauren. She has been the center of my life here in this city. We've done so many things together, although so much of our time has been spent just sitting around her apartment, watching movies, listening to music, talking over things. And that has been the most fun. I'm not very good at writing, or even talking, about my feelings so this will have to do for now. Perhaps I'll write more in the coming days.

We met this morning for something to eat and to say goodbye. I took some pictures of our little gang. Aren't we adorable?!

Boston: part 1

I shall be spending quite a bit of time in Boston this season. I have two family history research trips coming up in the next month, so it was nice to spend this past weekend there as a tourist. Lauren and I decided to throw caution to the window and try out the super cheap Chinatown bus service. It wasn't scary and our bus didn't blow up even once. Myung Lee kindly provided the accomodation. So, armed with a pop-up map of Boston we set out to explore. Friday night we had dinner and dessert off Harvard Square. Saturday we walked the Freedom Trail, taking in all the old burial grounds and churches of colonial Boston. Sunday we had lunch at Ye Olde Union Oyster House, purportedly the oldest restaurant in America, and then spent the afternoon in Cambridge. I think we were a bit disappointed with Harvard. I guess I thought everyone would have some aura of genius about them. But they looked like any other group of students playing Sunday afternoon frisbee on the college lawn and listening to, frankly, stupid music. I think perhaps when I do my human rights course next year I'll write my thesis on why playing stupid music in public violates another person's human rights. Then I'll submit it to the UN for international codification.

I took eleven photographs. Please view at your leisure.

Portuguese feast and Irish famine

I'm branching out in my family history research. It's time to do a little background reading for historical context. There are at least three families that were Irish famine immigrants so I've found a couple books about the famine and immigration. I'm also getting a book about the Portuguese in New Bedford to learn more about Frank Paul's family. I'm also going to the New York Public Library research divisions up on 42nd street to look at reference materials and some old maps of New Bedford to find the cemeteries and streets mentioned on vital records. I love this sort of thing, echoing libraries, dusty archives, pouring over documents looking for little nuggets of information. It's worth all the sneezing!

Back in the USSA

Arrived back in New York last night. Got to bed at 12.30 and, of course, was wide awake at 6am. I didn't used to suffer much from jet lag when I was coming back and forth for school/university, but the advancing years are taking their toll. Can't sleep comfortably on the plane anymore either. Moan, moan, moan.