Audiobooks Club: Nonfiction

newdem1960 for Readers and Book Lovers

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday October 18, 2012 · 8:00 PM PDT

2012/10/18 · 20:00

Greetings fellow Kos-listeners! As someone fairly active at a couple of online audiobook forums, it seems as though fiction gets the lion's share of attention. Not to say that there isn't a popular market for non-fiction, but it often seems … overlooked and under-appreciated to nerdy me. For those who've never tried listening to a non-fiction book, or have done so and regretted it (there are some real clunkers out there!) , I'm offering up this diary to help you ease into things with a few suggestions that should work out well as introductions. I do belong to Audible's monthly credits plan, although many libraries offer free downloadable books, as well as ones on CD's. Finally, I debated as to whether to include some memoirs (or more accurately “true life” stories) here, deciding in favor of doing so, although I realize they're a somewhat different experience. I've linked to the books' entries at Audible, though I believe they should be available through one's public library system. Over the squiggle and off we go …

newdem1960

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday October 16, 2012 · 5:38 PM PDT

2012/10/16 · 17:38

I had to ask about an ad that just came across my teevee set during MSNBC's pre-debate vamping:

An African-American man opens, with his wife and child in the background, talking about how he's black and tired of hearing that black people "don't want to work" when he's been laid off. Okay ... I figured that it was an ad against the black = lazy myth. Oh, HELL NO! He then goes full throttle about how "immigrants steal 'black' jobs" not "American" ones, but specifically "black" ones. He said it, flat out, implying nothing!

This ad by Numbers USA made NOM seem like rank amateurs on the wedge front. My point in this mini-diary is to ask whether this has been discussed and I missed it? Somehow, I think I would've seen reference to it.

Colorado: stunning news!

newdem1960

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday April 13, 2012 · 3:03 PM PDT

2012/04/13 · 15:03

If this has been covered already, I'm happy to delete this diary. I don't shock easily, but either PPP is totally fecked on this one, or Mizz Maggie needs to start seriously cranking out those resumes. From their numbers released earlier today:

A majority of Coloradans are actually willing to take it a step further and just legalize gay marriage. 53% of voters in the state think gay marriage should be legal to only 40% who believe it should be illegal.

newdem1960 for Genealogy and Family History Community

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 30, 2012 · 9:05 AM PDT

2012/03/30 · 09:05

Genealogy & Family History Community

Leave the blood feuds at home

I don't have a lot of documentation on my family (in terms of land records, newspaper articles, etc.), but there are a fair number of photographs ... and stories. And where there aren't those, well, I'm not shy about letting my imagination fill in any "gaps" about what may have been true (noting same). So, I was pleased to take up a spot during Womens' History Month to relate the stories of several of my ancestresses, few of whom had much to do with farming, or pioneering. Many of them were ... suburban stay at home moms, long before the minivan was ever on any drawing board. The first group contains one individual who gave up outside employment upon marriage, one who entered the labor force later out of necessity, and a third whose story ... had issues, as they say. Read More

My GOP morning - tales from a WA caucus

newdem1960

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 03, 2012 · 2:21 PM PST

2012/03/03 · 14:21

I had debated about whether to attend until just about the last minute. However, the junkie in me realized that I was really curious to see who'd attend a Republican caucus in such an overwhelmingly Democratic area. Moreover, the average voter age from what I gather is probably under 30. There are no pictures, as I was concerned about drawing attention myself as an outsider.

newdem1960 for Genealogy and Family History Community

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday January 27, 2012 · 9:05 AM PST

2012/01/27 · 09:05

Well, folks, I’ve returned from visiting my family in Florida, coming back with a photo I’d needed to write a diary I’d long planned on the subject of my German ancestors - my fourth contribution to this group. However, I’m in a bit of a muddle: there’s enough material for two diaries on this family, but I’ve already written about my paternal grandmother’s line for two of the last three postings (suicidal dentist Ural Traub and Michael Holihan’s sort-of wife). Wanting to move on to other branches in future, I’ll be condensing a fair amount material that might work better as two diaries; so, apologies if I seem to be jumping around a bit.

newdem1960 for Genealogy and Family History Community

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday November 25, 2011 · 9:05 AM PST

2011/11/25 · 09:05

You’ve heard of those essay questions that begin, “Compare and contrast [this and that]”? Well, I thought I’d do something along those lines with my paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother’s families, circa 1880. The former group was better documented, with lengthy obituaries and such (not that those did anything to dent the brick wall behind them), while the latter relies more on stories from my mom. Before we begin, I should mention that, according to my father, his grandfather wasn’t very fond of his relatives, so I haven’t got any photos available; my mother’s extended family were close, though I don’t have photos of the specific branch relevant to today’s story. I’ll just have to fill in the details as best I can …

newdem1960 for Genealogy and Family History Community

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday September 16, 2011 · 9:05 AM PDT

2011/09/16 · 09:05

Like many folks, I've got brick walls on different parts of my family tree: a great-great grandmother who died young with barely anything to go on, but her name and place-of-birth on her son's birth certificate (“London, England” doesn't exactly narrow things down much), a 4x grandfather whose parentage appears nowhere in otherwise heavily-written-about New Jersey Dutch records (beamed down by Scotty presumably), and a couple of other similarly challenging backgrounds. This week's story features a fellow whose “details” consist more of legend than fact; frustratingly, the last person who might've been able to shed at least some light on his situation passed away a generation ago.

newdem1960 for Genealogy and Family History Community

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday July 29, 2011 · 9:05 AM PDT

2011/07/29 · 09:05

Permit me to introduce you to my great-great uncle Ural Stillwell Traub (1874 – 1917), whose genealogical trail has included dumb luck, a Random Act of Genealogical Kindness, and the administration of quite a shock for a living family (not mine). I’d love to include a picture of him, but as will become clear, I wasn’t intended to get as far as I have, let alone be that fortunate.

Uncle Ural was the brother of my father’s mother’s mother Grace Stillwell Traub Holihan, whose own story could serve as serious fodder for historical fiction plots – I plan on returning to her, with pictures, at a later date; but first, here are the two things about Ural my father claimed to know:

1) When it came time to name the boy, Pa Traub spun the globe, and his finger hit on the Ural Mountains. He only tried that trick once; the other kids all had regular names – no Aunt Bolivia nor Uncle Indus.

2) Ural was a dentist.

RSS

Audiobooks Club: Nonfiction

I'm not easily shocked but ...

Colorado: stunning news!

Eight Women ... and a baby!

My GOP morning - tales from a WA caucus

GFHC Open Thread: What's THAT doing here???

Go North, Young Man!

Who was this woman exactly ... and why is she in my tree?

When the internet uncovers what they did their best to hide