The real reason there is now a Moon Phase in my sidebar...

It was a 97% Full Moon last night.

A Full Moon on Father's Day, imagine that...

"Devo" showed up after work to hang-out. When he decided to leave around 11:30 p.m. we loaded up his truck with some junk from Sarah's room, that I had gotten permission to put in a dumpster at work.

In the process of tossing a bed frame into the dumpster, I got hung up on the webbing and my wedding ring finger got CRUSHED between the frame and the dumpster. UGH!

Both ERs were busy so we went to Albany Med. where they supposedly do trauma best in the area.

I got to spend quality time with my EMT Son for the next 4 hours in the ER at Albany Med.

I painted the outside of his truck on the ride there. (He needs new tires and shocks I think.)

A very pretty Dr. Katherine Sullivan gave my local anesthesia, washed my wounds and stitched 3 stitches into my finger, which I have to have removed in 8 days. She looked allot like my friend Dennis' daughter but she professed no relation.


We got home around 4ish and I missed a day of work today.

I have been trying to blog about the Donegal-Diver connection on my Dad's side all day but its not going so well.

Blogging one-hand-hunt-an-peck is NO FUN....

obeedúid~
16/june/08
Bloomsday!

"...I've lost the last day and a half...."

It's Sunday... Father's Day... I was writing a letter yesterday to Alan McKinny in Killaloo when I found this site:

Click to visit Site.

The Sites PR states:

"A virtual prelude to the real world experience that awaits you!

Welcome to iSpyNI.com, a new internet portal that showcases the best that Northern Ireland has to offer using stunning full-screen, high-resolution immersive video photography.

The keystone of the iSpy concept is the virtual tour or immersive photograph as we prefer to call it - fullscreen 360-degree photographic panoramas, which allow the user to pan left, right, up and down - a far superior format than the standard photograph as it gives the viewer a real sense of actually 'being there'.

Our Mission is to provide the most immersive and engaging experience of Northern Ireland's tourism assets on the web, bringing the real world to people's desktop across the globe.

No 3D modeled environments, no frills, no lies. See exactly what our photographers saw. Stand where they stood and discover places you may never have seen by traveling through space and time without moving from your desktop."

~

The best VRs actually have the sound of water running and birds singing! Try the Roe valley ones in Full Screen Mode.

My favorite is "Downstream at Carrickrocks, Roe Valley Country Park."

(Careful... You can get dizzy in full screen if you spin around to quickly...)

THIS IS TOO COOL!

I've lost the last day and a half!!!

I can't wait for October!

~

obeedúid~
15/june/08

...Six degrees of addendum...

As I am sitting here I am watching a commercial for Channel 10 News with "Mark O'Brien".

The day before yesterday, I was talking to a Cutter from the Meat Dept. in the Hannaford Supermarket I work at in Voorheesville N.Y., his name is also Mark. As it happens his Mother's maiden name was "O'Brien." His people came from Cork to Menands N.Y.

Yesterday, I was chatting with a Truck Driver for Sure Winner Foods Ice-cream distributors out of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts warehouse. I mentioned that I had been to Lenox last weekend searching for O'Brien's.

View Larger Map

"Did you stop at O'Brien's Market?" he said.

"Yeah, how did you know?..."

"I used to work for him and his father when I was younger up in Pittsfield..."

"WELL, HIT ME IN THE HEAD WITH A BRICK!" said I....

obeedúid~
13'June/08

The Lenox Genealogical Mystery Tour:

My brother Richard and I just returned from Lenox Mass. and I'm remembering the three things my Dad used to say about the O'Brien's.

1) "O'Brien is like Gaelic for "Smith" or "Jones"... There's a million of us!"

2) "In the neighborhood your Great Grandfather grew up in in Brooklyn; if you threw a brick out the window you were likely to hit an O'Brien in the head."

3) "When the Good Lord was explaining the rules, the room was so crowded with Irishmen that the O'Brien's ended up standing behind a door.... All they heard was: "Go Forth and Propagate..." and we've been doing just that ever since....

~

I was late getting to Church today because I forgot to switch over my belt to the shorts I changed into because of the Heatwave we are experiencing. It gets very humid in our Church so believe me shorts were a priority! A belt was a MUST as my ivory white knees are hard enough to look at, let alone anything else that might have inadvertently seen the light of day....

I should have known this was the way things would go for the rest of the day.

~

After Church it took forever for me to get my act together. I kept forgetting things.... My Cellphone, my maps, my coffee, my cell phone again then my coffee again etc....

~

When I got to Mom's house to pick-up Richard it was almost 12:00. We stopped at McDonald's for Burgers AND THAT COFFEE that I left at home!

Then we got gas and I left the tank door open. I couldn't see well enough to get out of the parking lot and someone had time to pull up next to us to point out the gas tank door. Good thing too 'cause it gave traffic time to clear while I got out and slammed the gas tank door closed....

We got on the Northway and turned onto I-90 just as a Mini-van full of Kids made a last minute swerve in front of the car in front of us!

~

We took 90 to the Taconic without insident, but we got off at the wrong exit and ended up in the vicinity of Chatham. I vaguely knew where I was from my "Hippy-Youth" but I had left the detailed trip map at home on the computer unprinted....

Enter Richard's GPS....

(I know what your thinking... ..."at the next intersection turn left... you are going the wrong way, at the next intersection... recalculating... as soon as you can make a U-turn and go back.... ARGH!")

Eventually we found ourselves taking the back roads (NOT THE FASTER HIGHWAY ROUTE I WANTED...) and along the way we passed through West New Lebanon where my son Devin is stationed on the weekends as an EMT. He was on a call so I left a message and did a virtual wave....

~

The GPS finally got us to Lee Mass. but it kept trying to get us to go into Lenox from Stockbridge and I knew I wanted to come in from Rt 20 and go passed the Hubbard street house first. So I winged it and we finally persevered long enough to reach the intersection of Rt 20 and turn left and North. BUT, I missed a bend in the road and had to U-ee again going through Lee. We used the GPS to find the turn for Hubbard but it was my innate unconscious sense of direction that I should have listened to in the first place that actually got us there!!!!

~

The house on Hubbard was hard to figure out and someone was in the driveway that I thought was the house but I was a little slow in approaching the guy so he went into the house before I could get out and ask questions...

We went on down to Franklin Street to see if we could have better luck on Church Street. As we got out of the car it began to rain. My 1876 map was printed from my Inkjet printer and I had forgotten to put it in a Baggie to protect it....

We parked in the back parking lot of an Italian Restaurant and I rolled the Map up and stuffed it in my shirt, took a slug off of my coffee and we headed out into the rain. The first place we tried was "The Gifted Child" Toy Store but the owner wasn't there. We spoke with the young girls in charge and left a note but their xerox didn't work so I could leave a copy of the map. They were really nice to us and I decided to pick-up a gift for Sarah while I was there. This was just the kind of place we used to look for when she was little when we were on vacation. If this was actually where the O'Brien's lived it would be neat for me/her if it turned out to be a place like this. They had "Ugly Dolls" and I buy them for her when I can even though she is now an adult. Daddoo can be senti-mental sometimes. BUT HEY! THATS MY JOB! And she will ALWAYS be my little "Baby-girl".

I bought a pack of "Ugly Doll" Postcards as well because she likes "Posts" also. I figured I would send her one from here as a surprise.

~

We went next door to an upscale clothing shop where we met two women who were delightful. After some chit-chat about the difficulties of Irish Genealogy they called up a longtime resident who knew enough about the street to convince us that the Gifted Child Toy Store was our place.

So we stood across the street and took pictures with our cellphones. I checked out my blog on my phone the other day and I think I contracted a virus because some of my photo's are corrupted. Here is only one of two that I have been able to upload so far:

Yes, that is my finger in the foreground!

I went back in and bought Sarah the Ugly Doll named "Wage". He's named that because he is the only Ugly Doll who has a Job. He works in a Grocery Store and most people don't know he works there, even the owner's. Appropriate one might say don't you think?

~

So off we go looking for the Loeb grocery store, looking for a postage stamp, and a place to Pee 'cause the Coffee wants to be left behind again. The people there were friendly, looked around in their personal stuff for a stamp even but alas...

No stamp, no bathroom. We promptly bought eats and a 64oz bottle of Berkshire Beer for Devin as his souvenir and began again to look for anyplace to relieve ourselves gracefully and with dignity.

Down the street and around the corner we found a Restaurant and I got nervy enough to ask if we could use the facilities. When I was done and Richard was taking his turn, I got "Chatty" with the Manager out front on the steps while I was waiting.

"Where abouts in N.Y. are you from?"

"Voorheesville"

"I'm from N.Y. as well"

"Where?"

"West New Lebanon."

"Really? My son works out of there as an EMT for Empire... He's not built like me though, he's much taller."

(I pull out my Cellphone and show him a picture...)

"Yeah, Yeah, I know him, He used to come into the hardware store when I worked there... Nice Guy too..."

(I AM NOT MAKING THIS STUFF UP BELIEVE ME!)
~

We think maybe there will be a vending machine for stamps at the Post Office but there isn't. We amble down the street towards the Mobile station as a last resort....

WHEN WE CAME UPON THIS!

Yes, that's my finger in the foreground again...

Owned and operated by John J O'Brien! His people came there by way of NY as well. Brooklyn I think he said. I wonder if he has ever heard the one about the window....

We exchanged numbers and E-mail addresses and wondered off in the direction of the car with a smile on our faces and a "well, I guess we were not supposed to find a stamp after all..." frame of mind!

~

Back in the car again, we headed up to the only Cemetery we could find on the map. The "Church on the Hill" Congregational Cemetery. I think we looked at every stone in the next hour or two. While we were wandering we met a young man taking pictures. He and his mother are writing a book about famous people buried in the area. I gave him my info in hopes that I might someday get a look at the finished book. Nice Guy too. I asked him if there was a Cemetery for Saint Ann's down on Main Street but he wasn't sure so we headed off in that direction to see what we could find on our own.

~

I asked a women in the parking lot if she could point us to the Saint Ann's Cemetery and she did so under the duress of a tired child who wanted her attention. Having been there myself I waited patiently. We missed the turn at first but found it easily by the baseball field just where she said it would be.

BANG! O'Brien's everywhere! I took a picture of Richard standing next to a large stone with his name on it with his camera cause mine was beginning to act weird at that point. I called Mom and started asking her for some names... She said that she thought maybe there was some info in a folder at her house and come to think of it she thought we really should be looking further North around Pittsfield.

~

We got in the car and Richard fired up the GPS. It was time to go home for dinner. The GPS started right out telling us to go in the direction I knew was wrong, so I headed back to 2o instead. It continued to yell at us so I told him to turn it off. My orienteering payed off and we took the major highways back home to Albany and Mom's house in Guilderland.

~

I opened up the file Mom had not mentioned before and found another Goldmine! Among other things there was an invitation to the Wedding of "James Richard O'Brien" of Pittsfield Mass in 1925.

Click to view larger.

I looked into it on Ancestry and GUESS WHAT!

ROAD TRIP!

I only hope the O'Brien's there are as nice as the ones we met in Lenox.

~

Oh yeah, Devin called after we got back wondering if I wanted to stop by on the way home. I told him we had taken the Highway and I mentioned his souvenir.

"A what?!! ...how many ounces? A Gallon Bottle? I'll stop by after my Ravena shift to check it out. See you then, by!"

"...Love-ya Man! Later...."

obeedúid~
08/june/08

Tripping the Lenox Genealogic....

I have been playing around with Google's Street View.

...Its weird to drive past my house in the past...

They must have done Voorheesville last fall by the look of things. It was a cloudy day in my part of town. If you face the Hardware Store as you pass it by, a red car zooms out of the parking lot and disappears right before your eye's... BLIP!

They must have switched hardrives at that point or something.

~

I got to thinking maybe I could do Google Street View in Lenox Mass. and find the locations on the map that I posted in a previous posting The Costly Christmas Donybrook Affair:

But alas no Street View for Lenox just yet. It ends on the Mass Pike some distance west of Albany.

I did find this though on Ancestry.com:

Its from an 1896 Town of Lenox Street Directory.
No street house numbers though.

And this was in the 1948 Directory:

If you look in the upper right hand corner you can see Michael and James D. O'Brien listed as Field Drivers. It seems that a "Field Driver" (according to the Dunstable, MA town website) is one of a town's traditional positions. Field Drivers take up untended animals such as horses, sheep, goats, swine, asses, and cattle going at large in public ways or commons or unimproved land not under care of a keeper and impounds them. The town votes each year to have the Selectmen appoint these officers.

~

With no house numbers to work with I tried other options on Google Maps. I did some Trip-plotting in Satellite Mode. You can zoom in to see the area I found and posted previously to compare and locate the two locations indicated in the 1856 map. I like the Panoramio feature and you can use it by clicking on the more button and checking the photo option. This will also show you a photo of the Church on the hill graveyard nearby.

Heres the map I created:

View Larger Map

If you zoom in you can compare it to the other map in the previous blog mentioned above.

It's only an hour away... Maybe a "Sunday Drive" is in order....

Maybe even some Grave Rubbing!

Thats Rubbing not Robbing Casline!

:)

obeedúid~
07/june/08

Limited Short Run Handmade Book Promotion!

BUY MY BOOK!
Yes folks this is a SHAMELESS PLUG!

Send $7.00 or 4.50724 EUR or 3.56532 GBP to:

"When from the heart we sing:" Chapbook
P.O. Box 216, Voorheesville N.Y. 12186-0216

...in an envelope with your return address clearly marked (Preferably typed) and I will send you a copy of my book.

ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!

Tracking and listing the various destinations is a part of this protect that will be posted in the sidebar of this blog!

The farther afield you are the better!


What other's who know have said about my book:

Ron Povaldi said: "...a testament to years of writing. Really fine work."
Alan Casline said:"...buy his Poetry Book... I could use the return on my investment..."


obeedúid~
02/June/08

The 1200 year old Irish Joke:

So it seems that the Christian Philosopher John Scotus Eriugena (John the Irishman) was after havin' a bit of drink with Emperor Charles the Bald one day….

When up says the Emperor if you please:

"Tell me John, What separates the Irishman from a fool?"

…and don't you know John Scotus says to the emperor bold as you please:

"Only the table Charles me boy, only the table."

The Costly Christmas Donybrook Affair:

We have booked our Airplane tickets for October and purchased a Bed and Breakfast package. As we build our Itinerary I have been searching my best friend Steve's Ancestry to see if we can visit parts of Ireland where his people come from as well as mine and my brother's.

~

Last night I found an interesting item about Steve's ancestor Catherine Kennedy in a transcription from the Troy Daily Times August 6th 1860:

POLICE COURT--Before Justice PARMENTER:
- Elizabeth STOKES and Catherine KENNEDY, disorderly conduct; two small girls; lectured and discharged.

~

I found it on GenWeb and while I was on I decided to search my father's family in Lenox Mass.

This is what I found there:

The "County Atlas of Berkshire, Massachusetts. From actual survey by and under the Direction of F. W. Beers, Published by R. T. White & Co., 36 Vesey Street, New York, 1876."

These Maps are Beautiful! And guess what I found in the upper right hand corner of the map of Lenox!

My Father's Father's Father's Father's
Place of Business on Hubbard Street!

His home was down on Church Street.

I'm gonna have to go get some colored ink to print this whole map out and have it framed for my wall along with my Killaloo maps!

~

Then I began searching The Berkshire County Eagle for anything relating to My Father's Father's Father's Father: James O'Brien.

I came across this article dated Friday Morning January 1 1858:

West Street is located in the lower left of the map
and can be seen by clicking on the link
to the Lenox Map provided above.

This reminds me of a scene from my father's favorite movie "The Quiet Man". I wonder if they were "..talking a little treason..." and tippin' a wee bit o' Poitín...

The episode concluded with this indulgence under the heading of "Local Intelligence" in the Friday Morning Jan. 15th, 1858 issue:

$51.07 was ALLOT of money in 1858; but I guess that's what you get when you Celebrate Christmas in the afternoon with a Donybrook!



obeedúid~
20/may/08

Age: 20, height: 6'3", Complexion: Light, Eyes: Gray, Hair: Brown.

On or about 4/15/08 I received from my 3rd Cousin Barbara Ledbetter, Copies of James Gilmour's military papers from the National Archives and Record Administration.**

This one in particular grabbed me right away:

(Click for a larger view)

The description of James fits several Males in my family tree! My Son Devin is 6'3" tall, his hair is Lt. Brown and he has blue/gray eyes...

My Son Devin as a Child.
(Blue eyes, Lt Brown hair.)

My older Brother Kevin James O'Brien, who was my son Devin James O'Brien's God Father, was 6'3" tall, and had blue/gray eyes...

Kevin James O'Brien
10/may/1950-08/july/1996

This is a carte de visite of our Great-Great-Great Grandfather Robert Gilmour circa 1870?:

Here is a Circular Parlor Photo 6" in diameter I know to be Robert Gilmour:

Robert Gilmour
1833-Nov/1912

This photo is hand painted and the eye's are (...You guessed it...) Blue/Gray.

So I know all this and it's rumbling around in my head at work the day this new information arrived. The first thing I did when I got out of work that afternoon was go to the Library and start looking at carte de visites that I know are contained in the Time-Life Civil War Series and labeled as unknown etc. etc.

Thats where I found this:

This isn't a great scan, its from a xerox of the printed carte de visite, but it could well be our James Gilmour. Here is why I think it is: Hight, Coloration of the hair, Similarity of the facial bone structure and the Pistol.

No less than three of James' letters to his Brother Robert mention the "Pistle" that Robert purchased for him when he went off on his "Sojourn in the South" and the apparent loss of said "Pistle" as a Gambling dept, or through some other carelessness never fully explained but eventually resolved between the two of them as regrettable and unfortunate.

A section of a Poolsville Maryland letter;
dated August 24th 1861: that mentions his "Pistle".
(Later letters hint at another story other than the one mentioned here.)

Here's a transcription, the spelling is James':

"I received

your litter from Lieut. Beard he said that

he could scarcly get rid of you you were

so glad to see him he gave me the

cartriges but as I lossed or rather got

my pistle stolen from me I

was sorry that you troubled yourself

but the[y] will be of service to Frank as

he has his yet but you need not find any

more."

~

While I was there looking through The Time-Life Civil War Books, on the same oversized bookshelf contained the book "Out of Ireland" by Kerby Miller. So I picked it up and placed it on the table, and it opened up to a letter from Ireland! From one "William Dever" of Donegal....

As it happens, I have a Dever ancestor from Donegal named Sarah, who had a Father named John, whom I believe was the brother of this writer!

So was I there to find the carte de visite or was it this letter?

...gunna have to sidetrack through Donegal on the way to Killaloo this Fall at any rate!!!

~

I have been reading and studying "How the Irish Saved Civilization." by Thomas Cahill of late. "Emigrants and Exiles" by Kirby A. Miller is next. (Based on his extensive historical research of Irish Emigrant letter's.) All 648 pages of it.

I wonder who I'll find in there!

obeedúid~
04/may/08


[**and I started to write about it back on the 15th, but I've been working on Mom's side (the Southern Catholic/Irish Contingency) for Mother's day. Time was consumed, blogs have been backlogging...it happens...]

God Gives "The High 5 Sign!"

I haven't posted for awhile.... been working on the Burn's side of the family tree for me Mum for Mother's day. Added somewhere between 50 and 75 new ancestor's over the course of the past week! It's been fun but I haven't gotten much sleep....

After a full day of work and a cup of coffee for dinner, I was up at the High School with Brandon for Boy Scouts when I walked outside to call Dawn.

Thats when I saw this hovering in the sky....

Ok, so it spread out a little by the time I remembered I had a Camera-phone, but it sure looks like God Givin' the High 5 to me!!!

Yeah, I know, we all find our affirmations where we are looking for them... But "Hey!" It was just what I needed after a long week without sleep! I'm just glad I had the phone to prove to myself I wasn't seeing things... I wasn't was I?

Who knows, I suppose you could even say he was waving:

"Hello! Mark, remember me? I'm still here..."

(OK, OK, ...at least I didn't see the Virgin Mary in a Bathtub!)


obeedúid~

Walk up the street
to a life with meaning.

Proverbs:9:6

What the...? ...is a Quinquagenarian?

A few weeks ago, I was wondering... well, if you call someone who is Eighty years old an Octogenarian; what would you call me?

Someone in his or her "Fifty's" as it were.

So, I looked it up. Then I tried to pronounce it.... ("!") Then I had the Computer pronounce it instead. Then I walked around the house muttering it to myself for a few hours and I still could not pronounce it!

This was when I realized that the reason I had never heard of the word before; was because if you can't say it; you forgot it!

A few years ago when I tried to stop swearing I inserted "ARRRGH!" for the expletive.

For my "Fiftieth" this year my Daughter knitted me the Jolly Roger Sweater you will soon see in this video.

Because sometimes, I still lapse into the "Pirate Voice" around the house...

( ...am I really admitting this in public?!)

GUESS WHAT! ...muttering to myself in the "Pirate Voice"

I managed to say it!

And here I am at the "Poetry-Pot-Luck-Luncheon-for-Voorhees -villian-Old-Fart-Poets" trying to popularize this silly word:

"Quinquagenarian":

Dennis says I have found My Calling and my Future Vocation!

(...well, maybe with a lotta practice and a good Agent.... )

:)

...I also posted it on youtube.com.

(...somehow I don't think the word "Quinquagenarian" is going to go "Viral" as they say....)


;)

obeedúid~
12/Apr/08

Alright, I tired, but I could't resist....

(I'm Sorry...)

I was lying there... thinking about this...
I couldn't sleep... so I did this:

(I know, I know...)

I apologize already!


~

There Liza Coffin in my Tree

her name was Lizzie as you see

She married Silas on a whim

and raised a family with him

There Liza Coffin in my Tree

It's kinda creepy you'll agree

and if I go out on a limb

you must forgive me if I trim

a branch or two to make you see

at some point I was bourgeoisie

Her mother's maiden name was Glynn

that makes a Coffin next of kin

~

There Liza Coffin in my Tree

her name was Lizzie as you see

When she was looking for a thrill

it seems that Silas fit the bill

There Liza Coffin in my Tree

She came from far across the Sea

Her name was Gilmour way back then

her older brother's name was Jim

They say she's lying up there still

somewhere in Maine upon a hill

I'm not related to a Coughing

I am 3rd cousin to a Coffin!

~

...just for kicks I looked them up:

Yes, there are actually "live Coffins!"

(...I'll bet they hear that joke quite often….)

obeedúid~
02/Apr/08

It's a gift!

I admit it. Sometimes I can make an "April Fool" of myself. Just for a laugh! But sometimes I don't have too; God does that for me, and I'm O.K. with that.

~

Sometimes the sky opens up and God; or whatever superior being you believe in, drops one in your lap and says: "Here you go, this is from me, I thought you might need it. I hope it makes you happy... See you next time; have a nice day!"

Thats the way I felt when I was transcribing a letter from Robert Gilmour to his wife Mary written in 1865, when he mentioned a friend of his back in Ireland named John Selfjudge. He was a Shanachie. (Pronounced: sha na key.)

I thought to myself, "Self, this is a gift, you just couldn't make this one up!"

It seems that I did however, because the other day when I was searching for Robert Gilmour's Naturalization Papers on "Footnote.com". I found someone named John Selfridge, so I returned to the original letter to check my transcription: It seems that unbeknown to conscious me, I made that one up! (Or as I prefer to believe: God helped me make it up....)

I'm going with this one though. I have come to think of him that way. After a year of knowing him as John Selfjudge in my mind and in my manuscript, I don't think I could change his name at this point. I think he would be happy with it; having been a tale swapper. He would appreciate the literation, savor the irony, enjoy the contradiction, tasting the gift of it in his mouth as if it were a dram of "whisky" and "...feelt the waff o it!"

I've never been good at creating believable character names for my stories. They always look made up to me.

~

For some time now, I have been searching for a married last name for Robert Gilmour's older sister: Eliza or Elizabeth Gilmour. Trouble is, once a woman came to this country and married then took her husbands name; she pretty much dropped out of the census data. She is a character in my novel, and at this point I was ready to attempt in my own inadequate way to make one up.


The only thing I knew about her was that she once told my Grandmother that she disliked being called "Lizzie" so naturally I shied away from that.

Then I got this E-mail from my 3rd cousin Barb. She sent me a table which I will attempt to use when I go to Killaloo to trace our ancestor's birth data. (I'll try Barb, honest I will!) In the table was some data from the 1880 census, that she found about Elizabeth's name, when looking for Robert's Mother Jane (Glynn) Gilmour. (spelled Gilmore in the census data) Barb found them both in Freeport, Cumberland, Maine:

I looked at it and said to myself: "This is a gift!"

It seems her married name was "Lizzie Coffin" and her husbands name was "Silas Coffin". O.K., so I was a little creeped-out at first. I mean, I have an ancestor named "Coffin"....

My daughter saraH reacted in a similar way. First she said"Eww". Then she added: "Thats creepy, but in a cool sorta way!"

So I'm thinking: "Yeah, thats right... It's a gift! I never could have made this up!" It's like a character from an old Vincent Price Movie, or a Steven King Novel, or better yet, A Spaghetti Western!

I'm rolling it around in my mouth right now... I'm appreciating the literation, enjoying the contradiction....

I only hope that ol' "Silas Coffin" doesn't turn out to be an Undertaker... I don't think I wanna taste irony of that! It might be creepy, in a Rod Sterling sorta way....

~

..."Here you go, this is from me, I thought you might need it. I hope it makes you happy... See you next time; have a nice day!"

obeedúid~
01/Apr/08

Can I be the Provenance?

God bless my Grandmother Sarah Pollock (Gilmour) O'Brien and her sister; my Great Aunt Ann Gilmour. They were Pack rats, they saved things, things like electric bills, furniture receipts, and even Embalmer's bills!

I intend to spend the next couple of blogs exploring my Grandmother's/Grandaunt's collection of ephemera. But for now I'll start with something I found within an envelope among other unrelated things; and a question for "The Antiques Roadshow Crew...."

First the question, a little story and then: the something.

The Question: "Can I be the Provenance?"

The little Story: During "The Sixties" when I was "o wain" ("bak-ina-day") my younger brother was hit by a car in front of my parent's house, and for that summer I was sent off to Long Island to my Grandmother's house at 7 Drew Street in Hempstead, Valley Stream.

7 Drew St. ( Fall, 2007)

In the back yard behind the house
can be seen the Sycamore Tree Me Da planted;
that we all climbed and referred to as "The Family Tree".

While I was there, I used to walk around the corner to the "Five and Dime" so I could buy penny candies and look at but not buy Comic Books. One day on the way home, I walked along the RR tracks kicking stones. Then I saw it! A $5 dollar bill! It was more than I ever had in my pocket of my own EVER! It could buy a lotta Comic books! I was so energized I jumped right over the tracks! Narrowly missing the 3rd Rail!

Well, after I proudly showed off my newly bulging bankroll to Grandma; and she told me just what that 3rd Rail was all about: I was grounded. I was only allowed to stay on the property and not to go to the Five and Dime unaccompanied.

So I spent the first few hour's of the first day, in the backyard, in the Sycamore we called "The Family Tree"; carving my initials as far up the tree as I could get next to my older brother's initials.

Then I went down into the basement and rummaged around for awhile. I found some old Signet Novels and I read for the length of a bored pre-teens concentration span. I worked my way through all the "Junk" (Boy do I wish I had one tenth of that stuff now!) from the back of the house to the front.

Along the front wall there was a stack of some old picture frames and a mirror. I pulled the old picture frames towards me and held them up so I could look at the mirror. THEY FELL FORWARD at me and I just barely stopped them from knocking me down underneath them.

When the mirror came away from the wall, A TRAP DOOR WAS REVEALED!

So I carefully moved the picture frames and the mirror over to the side and jiggled at the door. As it pulled away cobwebs stretched like bubblegum in the sun until they gently snapped and fell to the floor in a swirl of 30 year old sift.

I crawled into my mysterious Pirate Cave on my hands and knees to find: empty wooden Barrels, Silt covered bottles and earthenware demijohns encased in a wickerwork covering.

"A Demijohn in Wicker."

(The Barrels were of no surprise to me; as I knew my Grandmother's Father, and his Father, and Father before that: were Cooper's. But what were these things doing in there?)
Later that night I asked Gram: "What's all that stuff down in the cellar under the front porch?"

"Oh," She said in her high pitched "Tee-hee" -Grandma -shaped -voice: "...that's where your Grandfather used to make Wine during the 20s...."

This is My Grandfather: James C. O'Brien,
My Father: James G. O'Brien,
and My Uncle Robert E. O'Brien.
On the front Steps in front of
the aforementioned Porch slash Wine Cellar.
(Circa: 1930 Something.)

And that my friends was filed away under amusing stories about my summer with Grandma to tell my children.

UNTIL LAST WEEK. When I came across this in an envelope with my Great Aunt's Will among other things:
The Something:

Grandpa O'Brien's Bootleg Wine Recipe.
Typed on Grandma's old typewriter?

So this is where I ask again: Can I be the Provenance?

The Fondement as they say?

Yeah, so this recipe makes 20 GALLONS OF WINE!
Do you think my Grandfather was operating a "Shebeen in Valley Stream"?
His Father (or Grandfather) owned a Saloon in NYC (I'm not sure yet; perhaps both even.)

This is O'Brien's Sample Room on Hudson Street in N.Y.C. circa 1865.
(And may or may not be the right place)
This scan was taken from "The Time Life Civil War Series"
devoted to the "War on the Homefront."
I found it while looking for other things
pertaining to the Gilmour brother's....

So, there is precedence. See the Demijohns? See the Barrel? For all I know the recipe was handed down. I guess I'll never really know.

My son and I plan to cut down the portions to a manageable amount and give it a try sometime this year.

Perhaps it "Will make quite a nice drink, but not as good as real wine."
And we' ll open up our own Shebeen and call it "Provenance".

obeedúid~
26/Mar/08

Slainte! and "Guid forder!"

Luck O' The Irish 3/17/ 2008

For me, the "Luck O' the Irish" has always been linked to the Tithes that Bind.

My friend Dan gave me some scratch-off lottery tickets for my 50th B-day. I won a whopping total O' $9.oo ...which I promptly turned back in for 5 more tickets that were worth $0.oo. I had fun but I won nothin'.

I never had any trouble stopping myself from buying lottery tickets. Me Da always said: "Unlucky at cards, lucky in love."

About 12 years ago; shortly after Me Da passed on, I met Tom Roe. He took me under his wing, (as he had done for many men over the years) through Boy Scouts and the United Methodist Men. One night when I missed a Committee Meeting and I was elected to the office of Advancement Chairman. I later found out that Tom nominated me. It seems he saw something in me I had not yet recognized. Lucky thing that?

I went on from the Scouts to Youth Ministry. Tom became my Mentor and my son Devin's surrogate Grandfather. He helped me through a divorce, helped me feed my kid's by letting me do odd jobs for him when I needed extra money, listened when I needed spiritual guidance and encouraged me to get back out there and "Find a good woman." Lucky thing that?

"The Luck O' The Irish" that is what I call it. The Ties that bind.

Over the years I have taken 5 troubled youth into my home. So far 4 of the 5 have been the better for it. (...you can't win every time....) People ask me why I do it. (take a troubled kid in, take on his troubles...)

I try to see in them what Tom saw in me....

Today, on 3/17 I went to visit Tom's widow Joyce in a transition Health-care Facility. Turns out she was in room 3/17. (oh yeah, when Tom had me cutting wood or something else; Joyce was making me Homemade Applesauce to take home to the kids.)

When I left room 3/17 I felt "Lucky", Lucky to know Joyce Roe, Lucky to have known Tom. Lucky to have raised my son and daughter with the love they return to me ten fold. Lucky to have friends and family who love me as I love them. Who cares about cards. I'm Lucky to love!

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth;
Love your neighbor as much as yourself.

Happy Saint Patty's Day!

May you too, know the Luck O' The Irish!

It's Official!

This came in the mail today:

I'm Old. Card carrying old.

"Old-Card-Carrying-Obeedúid~-Guy!"

Thats me.

It's O.K. though.

WHOOOOMP!

I'll never give up playing the Air-guitar!

...and my Led Zeppelin-turrets still scars the crap-outa my kids!

Peace-Ouch!
obeedúid~
08/mar/08

Yes obeedúid~, God has a sense of humor... Or, "The Strange Mystery of The Conspicuously Absent Alan "The Bird" Casline..."

O.K., so I turned the "BIG FIVE OH!" last week(March 2nd). And Saturday night March 1st Dawn threw a party for me with close friends and family. I enjoyed myself immensely. Nothing like people you know and love to make these hurdles easier.

We had Pizza and Beer, (Soda for the little ones) And after I opened all the cards and presents...

(THANK-YOU EVERYONE!
FOR YOUR THOUGHTFUL GIFTS
AND SILLY CARDS TOO!)

In anticipation of my 50th birthday I contemplated for a week or so just what I should do to "...Not Go Gentle into that good night..."

...Well, BOZO had been of some discussion of late in my E-mails and I actually admited that when I was in Collage I was a member of an unauthorized fraternity named "The Royal Order of the BOZO's". ...and, that my Brother BOZO's referred to me as: "Phi-O'bus-BOZO." (...I was the Spiritual Leader of course; as I was paying my own way through school and I didn't want to party myself right out the door!)

...So,I asked everyone to put on "BOZO the Clown" noses so I could take a group picture to remember it all. Here are some of the pictures courtesy of Barbara Vink's Camera:

The left side of the room featuring my lovely daughter
front (and a little off center...) ;)
Alan "The Bird" Casline conspicuously absent.

The right side of the room featuring Dawn! Front right.
Also, Alan "The Bird" Casline conspicuously absent.

Dan and Tony.
Featuring Burkie's Shirt coming out of Dan's head!
at Alan "The Bird" Casline's table no less....

The Bates Family minus Kevin.
They don't know Alan "The Bird" Casline
so I won't ask them what happened to him...

Nope, thats not Alan "The Bird" Casline either.
It's DevoBOZO just back from
the mystical land of Middle Smurf....

This would be the owner of the camera,
eminent poetess, scholar and mathematician.
But not the conspicuously absent Alan "The Bird" Casline...

~~~

Oh yeah, I took the pictures so
I'm conspicuously absent as well!
I can fix that though:

Here he is folks, "Phi Obus Bozo!" alias "Card Carrying Old Guy!"
Not, of course, the conspicuously absent
Alan "The Bird" Casline...

(Hey do I look scary or what?!!!)

And just to prove that God does have a sense of humor my Church Buddies saved their noses and brought them to church the next day. (Good thing I still had mine in my coat pocket...)

When the Lay Reader (Steve: pictured above against the wall with his daughter Sam in the photo of the right side of the room) asked the congregation to pass "the Peace of Christ" they all stood up and put their noses on!

Best one liner of the day goes to Pastor Brian: "...and now I have to Preach to you BOZO's?"

As a special Birthday present Pastor Brian allowed me to help serve communion with him and Steve.

BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER!

Pastor Brian later admitted to me that he was afraid Steve and I were going to help serve with our noses on too! Even when I was doing "Clown Ministry" I wouldn't have done that though. I love to laugh but I do have a serious side as well. :)

~~~

Later that day I went over to Mom's house and she let me take home some family artifacts to scan. Yeah, so you think God has a sense of humor? Guess what my Great Great Great Grandfathers lawyer's name was....

Yup! Thats right! Bullwinkle!

Think about it. Bozo & Bullwinkle!

Now look at the both of them side by side:

Is it me or do these guy's look related?
Come-on look at the ears!
Look at the nose! (O.K., so I Photoshoped the nose...)
But hey! LOOK AT THE EARS! er, horns?

Bullwinkle is supposed to be a cartoon character !
...not my GGGGrandfather's lawyer!

:0

obeedúid~
11/Mar/08
(I started this thing on 03/mar but life has been busy....)

P.S.: If anyone finds Alan "The Bird" Casline tell him I am plowing my way through the 1885 edition of "The Complete Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson." (a particular favorite: "SUPPOSED CONFESSIONS of a second rate mind." )

;)

PS,PS: This is what Burkie and Sullivan look like from the floor apparently:

I don't know who was down there taking this picture
but I'll bet they were having fun!

Perhaps it was:
the conspicuously absent Alan "The Bird" Casline...
I know he was present at the party;

...but for some reason
there are no pictures to prove it!
He must have been in stealth Mode....

Wherever he was
it's one of the great
unsolved mystery's
of the day!

~~~

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light!"
~Dylan Thomas~

~~~