New Look, New Purpose

And I have returned. Again.

So much has changed, and my blogs are definitely reflecting that. I have met many of the goals I wanted to, as well as worked towards others. However, the goals are only a secondary part of this blog.

I have always been interested in my family's genealogy, as well as the art of genealogy in general, and a few years ago, I wanted to start working on my family tree. I had worked on my theatre group's "tree" a number of years ago, but obviously my real tree has a lot more purpose. The theatre tree helped me learn how to do the research in a confined and focused setting, teaching me about using non-traditional sources to conduct research. This has served me well in my journey into the family past.

My uncle, or my mother's brother, has done extensive work on my maternal side's history, so I have decided to focus my research on my father's side, which holds a lot of mystery due to the lack of living relatives. Fortunately, the McGee's and their branches love to talk, so I have a lot of resources in the current generations.

To begin my search, I just filled in the people I could into an ancestory.com family tree. I spoke mainly to my father to fill in blanks. Now I am using a free trial subscription to Ancestory.com's Library Edition (through La Salle University) to do extensive data research. I have discovered so many things. It's positively overwhelming.

This blog's primary purpose will be to reflect on my research methods, as well as telling some of the most interesting tales from my family. It will also help me remember my steps and where I am missing information.

After a trip to Staples this morning, I purchased a 2" binder and heavy-duty Avery tabs. I need these supplies to last me a long time, as well as withstand whatever travel I might need to make. I hope one day I can do some international traveling to my family's homelands (England and Ireland) to trace the family even further back.

I hope I can help other genealogists on their journeys' as well.

Above: My grandma and grandpa on their wedding day, June 26, 1950.

I'm on my way...

I know I haven't written on here in a while, but goals are being achieved.

- I am going to North Carolina to visit my sister this weekend.
- I have been officially accepted to the Mid-Atlantic American Studies Conference.
- I was also accepted to a conference in New Orleans (another state goal).
- I got engaged!
- I'm doing well in school and on track to graduate in August.
- I'm going on a New England road-trip this summer.
- I'm performing in an Improv 101 show for alumni.
- I have more or less conquered my acne with medication and a new skin care routine.


So, I'm not so behind.

64. Vote for Obama in November.

Today, I met the first of my goals. I voted for Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the 2008 Presidential election. And they won. I have an incredible feeling of hope for America right now. It's not going to be easy, but I'm thrilled that he is the leader who is taking us through it all.

All my goal entailed was to vote for the guy. The winning is just a HUGE perk.

208 in 2008

First off, I realize I'm ripping this off of the lovely Miss Allison. In this situation though, it is simply imitation as the sincerest form of flattery. What an incredible idea! I picked slightly different numbers though for a variety of reasons. First, I wanted the number to be significant. 2008 was a big year for me, so why not commemorate it? Also, one section of 50 goals pertain just to traveling in the United States, so I needed to compensate for that. It's about 5 and half years, so I'm putting the end date at January, 2014. Some of these goals are little...some are huge. Whatever the size, I will attempt to document each one as best I can.

Here it is:

Gettin' Schooled
1. Earn Master's Degree in American Studies
2. Have a paper published
3. Present at the Mid-Atlantic American Studies Conference in Elizabethtown
4. Finish Barrick Collection database and get it online
5. Start on my Ph.D.
6. Teach school, either high school or college
7. Complete a NY Times Sunday crossword completely on my own.
8. Read the complete works of David McCullough

States Rights
9. Sail on an Alaskan Cruise
10. See the volcanos in Hawaii
11. Eat crabs in Maryland (Liz)
12. Drink in the French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana (Sara)
13. Visit Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida
14. Sample wines in Napa Valley, California
15. Have lobster in Maine
16. Munch on pancakes and maple syrup in Vermont
17. Stalk the real Josiah Bartlett in New Hampshire
18. Bask in the history in Boston, Massachusetts (Sara)
19. Remember the Alamo in Texas
20. Enjoy a weekend with Sarah in High Point, North Carolina
21. Tan in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
22. Cheer on the Yankees, the Bronx, New York
23. Be a history nerd at Monticello, Virginia
24. Watch the sunrise in Cape May, New Jersey (Sara)
25. Amaze at the Grand Canyon, Arizona
26. Drive through Yellowstone National Park, Montana (yes, part of it is there)
27. Frolick in the sunflowers in Kansas
28. Chill, literally, in Fargo, North Dakota
29. Snap pictures at Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota
30. Wade in Crater Lake, Oregon
31. Giggle at the Grand Tetons in Wyoming
32. Serve at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Rhode Island (Gwen, if you have a better suggestion, send it ahead)
33. Applaud a show at the Yale Repertory Theatre, Connecticut
34. Wiggle my toes in the sand in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
35. Hike a few miles on the Appalachian Trail, West Virginia
36. Honor an author at the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta, Georgia
37. Breathe the thin air in Denver, Colorado
38. Pretend I'm Elvis in Graceland, Nashville, Tennessee
39. Look for bluegrass in Kentucky
40. Cruise on Route 66 in New Mexico
41. Phone my old art history professor from the Spiral Jetty in Utah
42. Gamble in Las Vegas, Nevada (trite, but hey...I've never done it!)
43. Chow down on some Idaho potatos
44. Attend a tour of a beer factory in Wisconsin
45. See both parts of Michigan
46. Tour Ottumwa Iowa, home of Walter "Radar" O'Reilly
47. Listen to the mighty Missasip in...well, Mississippi
48. Pay my respects at the memorial in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
49. Rock out at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio
50. Spend time with my cousins in Washington
51. Nebraska
52. Arkansas
53. Indiana
54. Glide on the El in Chicago, Illinois
55. Whitewash with Tom Sawyer in Hannibal, Missouri
56. Minnesota
57. Alabama
58. View pop-art at the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
59. Greet Obama at the White House, Washington D.C.

Conquering My Fears
60. Fly across the ocean
61. Go to the top of the Empire State Building
62. See Ground Zero
63. Get a dog

Let's Do It
64. Vote for Obama in November
65. Get married
66. Go to Ireland
67. Go to the Louvre, Paris France
68. Drink at the Lapin Agile
69. Walk across Abbey Road (Sara)
70. Find a way to either the Oscars or the Red Carpet
71. See a Broadway show once a year
72. Find a job I love
73. See Billy Joel perform
74. See the Decemberists again
75. Meet Diane Keaton (hey, I can dream...right?)
76. Take piano / voice lessons
77. Become involved in theatre again

Being Crafty
78. Get my scrapbooking up to date
79. Make a quilt
80. Create a "tshirt blanket" (if this is successful...make one for sara)
81. Make a formal dress from scratch
82. Get posters dry-mounted and framed
83. Have Masque posters dry-mounted and framed

Movie Time
84. See all the films that won the Best Picture Academy Award
85. See the AFI 100 years films (all of them...)
86. Have a movie review or critique published

Afterthoughts (all the others)
87. Keep blogs updated
88. Run for public office
89. Get rid of acne / acne scars
90. Not miss a day talking to Jason (so far, so good...15 months and counting)
91. Try out for 'So You Think You Can Dance' (why not?)
92. Keep nails nice for 21 days straight (that forms a habit!)
93. Audition for a TV show or movie
94. Write a pilot episode and some other episodes for a sitcom
95. PHOTO PROJECT: At least one picture for each goal (including this one!)
96. Find a way to whiten teeth.
97. Pen series of humorous essays.
98. Finish REAL family tree
99. Attain Photoshop and become awesome at it
100. Improv somewhere again.
101. Compete on Jeopardy!
102. Make Masque family quilt (they know what I'm talking about)
103. Get eyes checked / new glasses (that will make most of these goals easier...sight is a wonderful thing!)
104. Make flower calendar for Oma
105. Construct 3 more collages

OK, I know this only about half of 208...but I need ideas! comment and send me suggestions!

Onward and upward.

Best. Week. Ever!

This week has been the best week ever...and it's only getting better.

Friday, Last: Went out with some fun people from school and had my first really good barhopping experience. Not to say that the others were bad, just sorta lame.

Saturday, Last: Amy's grad party, which was sweet. Strawberry daquiris, tubing on the Delaware, and fireworks! Amy's family is fantastico and it was good to see some Masque people again.

Sunday: The IHOR and friends Sunday night movie tradition continues. A crew of us went to see "Ratatouille" which was wayyy better than seeing "Evan Almighty" the weekend prior.

Monday: Monday is always great because of Quizzo. It was also the last Day ONE, which was sorta good (the kids were kinda sucking at this point...). I won the medal for having won the most end-of-the-day cheers, tied with Michelle and Michal. Woo. Also, we studied all day for Quizzo, reading the blog, looking up things that might come up, and we did really well. The first round was meh, but in the 2nd round, we thought we did well and jokered (for those of you who don't play quizzo at the Dark Horse, that means prior to the scoring portion of the round, you can risk doubling your points...you can only do it once per game.). Well, not only did we do well, but we went 10 for 10, doubling for 20! Also, we knew our Transformers and did well in the speed round because of it (the theme for the 3rd round was: Autobot or Decepticon). I felt especially happy that we did better than the team who comes everyweek called "The Decepticons". We did well in the 4th round, totalling at 32 out of about 43 possible points. My team and I (this week called: The Gryffindors), are studying again for next week, which is the 100th Dark Horse Quizzo. Daniel Radcliffe was also on Leno, making my night.

Tuesday: HARRY POTTER AT MIDNIGHT! It was fantastic. I was in awe. Also, I got to see it with some of my favorite people from all aspects of my life. Panda (also known as one A. Smith) came with me and my la salle people to what was easily the craziest movie going experience ever.

Wednesday: After work, it rained. I got soaked. I changed into warm jammies (yay!) and watched TV until 6, whence it was time for another installment of "Nachos with Nicole". Most of the RC's stopped by, as well as summer staff. Nicole makes a mean nacho and an even meaner guacamole. I went back to my room to watch Daniel Radcliffe on Conan. Bed as Thursday is...

Thursday: BREAKFAST AT IHOP! I love the rooty-tooty fresh and fruity breakfast, with apples. yum. alot of the RC's and summer staff came to say a final good-bye to Michal, who leaves for Poland today. The ride home was hellish. Scott had to drive around a garbage truck, almost bottoming out. After I was safely at work, I had lunch outside on the union patio for the first time in about a week. It was simply too hot to eat outside for about the entire month of July. I called Aunt Rosemary and my grandparents and my mom. After work it was time for HARRY POTTER 5: PART DEUX. in this episode, Nicole gets very lost on the way to King of Prussia and we could only shop for about 30 minutes. boo. The movie was just as good as the first time and dinner was great (I love steak and mashed potatos). Serena slept over and all was well. Emma Watson was on Conan. Yay!

Tonight I'm going out with lots of people for Sara's 21st birthday (finally!) and Sunday is the Decembrist's concert. Life is good.

mc...out!

I was bored

I took this quiz val sent me. I'm Prarie Dawn, which is good. That was also the link Val made me on her blog, so it works.

You scored as Prairie Dawn, Prairie Dawn is very mature and intelligent. She writes plays, directs them, and plays the piano. She leaves the acting to her friends. She likes studying and thinking about her future career. She's serious, but she can be spontaneous at times. She's a born leader, and she is a mediator. Prairie knows how to meet people and have a good time! Prairie Dawn 82% Rosita 82% Zoe 79% Ernie 75% Cookie Monster 75% Bert 75% Abby Cadabby 75% Elmo 64% Grover 61% Count Von Count 61% Telly Monster 57% Oscar the Grouch 54% Big Bird 50% Which Sesame Street Character Are You? (Many outcomes) created with QuizFarm.com

crazy busy!

well, faithful readers (again...mom), i have been quite busy, which would explain why i haven't really updated. i can try though. here are the highlights of the last few weeks:

- i went home for the first time since easter for sarah's graduation party. amanda came with me and we had a lot of fun.
- i've been to quizzo a lot and it's possibly my favorite thing in the city, next to the people and rittenhouse square.
- day one has been crazy! i've had 3 student groups, 2 family groups, and i've been "the mouse" (the host who scurries all over campus to make things run smoothly). i had 1 good group, 1 awful group, and 1 fantastic group. i've met some great kids and i've gotten really close with the summer staff, which is always good.
- last night, we went out for davey's 21st birthday. we went to dolce for dinner, where i managed to spend only $20 total (including tax and tip and whatnot). we went to sassafrass on 2nd street for a while, but then gwen and i left with mikey to go to tavern, which is a gay piano bar in the gay-berhood (which very openly exists in philly. the street signs are marked quite clearly). i didn't think i would sing, but the pianist asked if i sang 'wicked' and i answered 'yes' and he played popular. mike, gwen, and i have fans. :) i had such a good time.

that's really it. i'm working a lot this weekend and i have a lot coming up socially. summers in philly are really what they're cracked up to be.

m.c.