I didn’t think writing my first post would be so hard. I’m quite good at letting my thoughts run riot in my head and like most people have a novel inside me waiting to be put down in print. But here it is, 10 days after I set up the blog and do you think I have anything formulated and ready to commit to paper. I don’t think so.
So I’m just going to go for it and bang something out so I get past the first hurdle. Forgive me if it doesn’t make much sense yet, eventually it will.
Grave Digging
I like grave digging. And by grave digging I mean family history or genealogy as it commonly known. I’ll be honest I don’t do it because I want to know where I came from. I know my parents are my natural parents and I know that my parents parents are their natural parents. I don’t feel the need to find someone famous in my lineage and to be able to lay claim to them.
I like the hunt. I like being able to connect this person with that person. I like being the detective, searching for proof that this person belongs here or proving that they don’t. Actually, I wish that a few more people spent time proving that someone doesn’t belong in their tree but that rant is for another day. In our family history there are two stories from different branches that lay claim to our being related to people of note. I have managed to prove that in one instance we don’t but in the other instance the jury is still out (although I’m saying “not guilty, m’lord”).
I have many peeves about genealogy but I’m not going to go into them today as the peeves need to be formulated and well thought out. They can not sound as if they come from a raving lunatic even if in reality they are. No, my main peeve, which is a relatively new peeve I must admit, is the way that most people pronounce “genealogy”. It is is ‘ge-ne-A-logy’ people, not ‘ge-ne-O-logy’. I will admit, my friend pulled me up on the pronunciation a few months ago and since then I have become a real stickler. If you know me you can imagine the yelling that goes on when I’m watching ‘Who Do You Think You Are USA’. Nobody, and I mean nobody, on that programme pronounces the word properly. So do yourself a favour and the next time you say ‘genealogy’ say ‘alogy’ not ‘ology’.
Rugby
I like my rugby and in years gone by one could almost call me a rugby tragic. But the last couple of years I’ve become bored with rugby, both national and international. It has become repetitive and hum drum. Which is why I was quite glad that the Springboks beat the All Blacks last night. I know that’s a blasphemous statement but so be it. I feel the All Blacks are starting to go back to their arrogant ways (think 2003 Rugby World Cup) and after reading an article on Stuff yesterday I hoped that the Boks would kick their bottoms. They didn’t necessarily kick their bottoms but they have definitely given them a wake up call. All week the ABs said the same old cliches about respecting the opponents blah, blah,blah. But in their hearts they didn’t believe it and thought the Boks would be another walkover, especially after the way the Boks played against the Wannabee’s last week. Read the article here that really annoyed me.
Well, I’ve passed the first hurdle. My writing can only get better, you would hope.