I love lists, especially subjective ones such at 'the best this' or 'the worst that'. They provide swell fodder for discussion and debate. Here's a good one from The Politico...
The 50 Greatest Political Moments of the Last 50 Years
The Politico, 4/8/08
Good fun. Try Elf-ing or Scroog-ing yourself.
Today I had a good idea. A great idea really. I had just finished a really great book, and typically I would have happily shelved it, content to have another good book in my personal library. But having discussed this book with a friend, I thought to make it a gift to him, which is a nice thought. But I then imagined him finishing it, and happily shelving it with his books, rather than it being happily shelved with mine, and the thought had less appeal. I don't know why, I guess I'm selfish. But here's where the idea came in. What if I gave the book away, on the condition that the recipient would likewise give it away when he finished it? And here's where the idea gets a cool, tech twist... what if you could track where it went?
Certainly such an idea can't be that original I thought, and some searching online found that it was not. I found a few web sites that facilitate the free swapping of books by mail, but that's not what I was looking for. I wanted to turn a book loose, to be found, read, tracked, and turned loose again. I found my idea, already in full fruition at BookCrossing.com. The site offers all of the features I was looking for, and so I registered my book, and gave it to James. Tonight I printed up some labels to use for future releases, the first of which will be my own book, which will be set free in the wilds of Washington, DC tomorrow. May it find a good reader, and be passed along many times.
Five years ago, I entered five dollars into the Where's George site. None have yet had any of their travels recorded. I hope the books I release do better.
For me, one of the most satisfying parts of my hobby of exploring family history is finding and visiting the burial sites of my relatives. And I have a growing album of photos from such visits. While these visits sometimes can provide new information, more importantly they give me a sense of connection and satisfaction. Regardless of anyone's individual beliefs in an afterlife, I know that one sure way to live on after death is in the memories of others. And I like that.
As nice as these cemetery visits are, it's not always possible to make them. And that's where a great site for Genealogists and Graveyard enthusiasts can be a big help. Find-A-Grave is a virtual cemetery in which information matching burials in real world cemeteries. For example, you can find information about my brother Sean, and my Great Grandmother Myrtle on the site.
One feature that's available on Find-A-Grave is to request a photo. If there is a burial for which you're interested in seeing a headstone photo, you can submit your request on the site. The request will be sent to registered users who have agreed to be photo volunteers that live near that cemetery. I have submitted a few such requests, but to earn the favor, I wanted to do the same for someone else. And I recently got the opportunity when a request to visit Hardens Hill Cemetery and photograph a particular headstone arrived in my email.
Thanks to the Google Map that showed the location, it was easy to find our way to Harden's Hill Cemetery, unexpectedly nestled in some woods at the end of a cul-de-sac in a development just minutes from our home. My daughter Colleen joined me on the hunt, and we quickly found our subject, Theodore Reid. I took a bunch of photos, and added all of them to the appropriate internments on Find-A-Grave. The oldest burial we spotted at Harden's Hill was in 1905, the most recent in 2005. And by the flowers all about, it was obvious this is not a forgotten cemetery. But even when there's not human visitors, we learned that there are others keeping watch.
I think this is a very smart thing for the Post to do. Recognizing that bloggers are more likely to be offering some commentary about the news, rather than breaking new news, these links to bloggers who are discussing their stories enhance the news that the Post is providing by showing how it contributes to the online conversations and debates of the blogosphere.
And it can lead to some interesting connections. When I recently wrote a posting titled 'Holy Ignorance' which commented on an article I read in the post about the development of a 'Creation Museum' being built in Ohio, the first comment posted in response came from the web developer who manages the web site for the Creation Museum. I'm pretty certain he wasn't a regular on my humble blog, but found his way there from the list of links from washingtonpost.com.
Wow, I need to pay closer attention to my log files. I had noticed that I was getting a bunch of referrals coming from The Daily Kos, but hadn't bothered to look into why. And a photo from my Flickr album of my daughter and I in the hot tub is my #1 most viewed picture among my Flickr photos, and again, I was unsure why. I guess I thought maybe lots of folks on Flickr searched the 'hottub' tag looking for more attractive subjects. But no, that wasn't it.
Tonight I finally stumbled across the answer. In the comment thread following a posting by Senator Kennedy on The Daily Kos, skeptics sought to determine the legitimacy of Kennedy's campaign domain, did their online sleuthing, and shared their dossier on me in their comments. Happily, when Kos' Commenters subjected me to their background check, I seem to have passed their Dem Cred test. Thank goodness for that. I wonder if any of them bought my book, or at least a casey.com t-shirt :-)
So, today I spotted a Google Ad in my blog, linking to the campaign of Democrat Bob Casey. Casey is running for Senate in Pennsylvania as a challenger to the Republican incumbent Rick Santorum. It appeared at the top of yesterday's post about my daughter's parade comments to a Republican elephant.
I couldn't be more pleased with the placement... a Casey, a Democrat, online advertising for his campaign, against Santorum, and right here on my humble site. Well done Bob!
Chris Casey // Just another 40-something, family man, politico, techy, Mac-using, marathoning, iPhone loving, hiking, hot-tubbing, beer drinking, family hunting, left-leaning, life loving guy, just like all the rest of 'em.
