I had my third class last night and we were discussing genealogy resources, including online resources.  We were discussing access to computers and the instructor asked the class the class, as a matter of passing, if everyone had access to the Internet.  There were several people who raised their hand who didn't - ok, I can understand this to a certain extent,  about 75% of the class is over the age of 55. Not all have sons/daughters who are on-call tech resources to overcome all the perceived challenges of getting online. A bit surprised by this, however, he back peddled and then asked if they had access to a computer, at least three people said no. Lastly, one woman raised her hand and said not only did she not have access to a computer, she had never typed. 

Now stop and think about this one...she had never typed.

For the audience reading this, of course you have access to a computer and probably consider typing, as I do, like breathing or walking, it is just something you do without thinking....but when this women said she had never typed, it really made me pause and think about how much of my world revolves around typing and what I would if I couldn't/wouldn't.  Even if I take away any part of a "career" revolving around a computer, I still pay all my bills, write letters, check the weather, organize my pictures and a multitude of other small thinks, everyday. I feel my world would be very lonely and inconvenient without the computer and an effective method of input, like the keyboard.

It really gave me a new perspective into understand how the other half lives.  I guess I have never been so acutely aware of the digital divide as I am now, especially now when I think about her every time I sit down at my keyboard!

BTW - even after this discussion in class I overheard she was still debating if she should do the class for credit, which includes a 7-10 page (typed) essay!

Too bad I got rid of my old Brother electric typewriter with a floppy-drive I had from high school. At the time this was quite the leap forward for me and I had been saving it as a sentimental museum piece, but just couldn't justify saving it any longer - it would have been a great high tech gadget for her! :) 

Since it has been almost a whole eight months since I finished my Masters, it must be time to start another class!  Yes, its true, I have taken up the books again and started a Genealogy & Family History class at University College Dublin.  It meets once a week for 10 weeks and covers all aspects of techniques, resources, and theory.  While I have been doing our own family history in small bursts of research, I hope this helps me develop a more methodical approach and helps me to utilize the Irish sources while we are here in Ireland. 

I do have to admit I am not holding my breath, however, on finding much in the archives here as the 5 branches of Reeves's Irish family we have been able to trace back to Ireland (basically from the point they arrived in America) all left the island between 1730 through 1790.  This far back and the records become irregular at best, either being destroyed or dispersed or never collected. I also still have my research cut out for me in the states to confirm what has been passed down in family records is what exists in official records.  I have found a fair amount on www.ancestry.com already as they have the biggest, and I do have to say, impressive, amount of access to digitized records.  We have even been able to find some of the listings of Reeves's ancestors who fought in the Civil War and the American Revolution.

Family history is a fascinating pursuit -  what is it about human nature which causes us to seek out the past? Why do we need to feel connected to something greater than ourselves?

Do we seek out answers from the past to discover who we are today? Or is it that we need the reassurance we too will be remembered by someone else in the future to give meaning to our own lives?

Hmmmm, too many heavy thoughts... "Math, is hard. Let's go shopping"*! :)

*Source: Barbie Folklore

We have been graced with the presence of two of our friends here in Dublin in the past month.  First, Max, my friend from Colorado (we go way back to high school together) came to stay for 5 days. We had a really fun time going up to Northern Ireland and the Giant's Causeway & Carrick-a-Rede Bridge .  We were blessed with some pretty nice weather and we able to enjoy the spectacular views and natural wonders. We also visit Trim Castle where a small portion of Braveheart was filmed - so of course we had to watch the movie the last night Max was here. :)

We also had the pleasure of our friend Christopher's company from San Francisco, who made a spur of the moment trip out to visit us in Ireland, as well as have a reunion with his university chums in London. It was very fun to have him here to catch us up on life in California as well enjoy his energy and getting to know him better.  This really was the first time we have gotten him all to ourselves so we had a great time getting the "story of Christopher/Spencer" as well as some great advise on a few thing we have been mulling over.  More of that to come later.

So, the Little B&B is open for business and we hope you all come and visit while the Inn is open for business!

We have just scheduled our next trip - while the winter weather is still at bay, we are off to Belgium on my Birthday (Oct. 4).  I SO love the fact we can schedule these last minute trips and get great deals.  We are flying into Brussels and going to dinner at Comme chez soi, the first 3 star Michelin at which we will have eaten - very excited about this dinner so I hope it is a fun birthday treat.

We will be there 4 1/2 days so plenty of time to see Brussels and hopefully do a couple day trips to Antwerp and Bruges.

After a month of non-stop going I am enjoying a few down days before the fun starts again!

The last week of September I was off to Belfast for the Society of Archivists Conference and annual general meeting.  I took the train up which was really a nice experience and let me see a bit of the countryside. I had forgotten it was a bank holiday in the UK (of which Northern Ireland is part) on the Monday I arrived and I have to say it really did seem like a ghost town.  I had arrived the day before the conference so I could do a little touring about and walked from one end of the town to the other.  I did a boat tour of the harbor ad saw the areas where the Titanic was built as well as the botanic gardens and city hall. 

The conference itself was very interesting and different than those is the states. Each "session" has 3 speakers, but there are no breaks so it makes it difficult to mix & match conference sessions.  Also, everyone goes to lunch, tea, dinner in one big group - a bit too much togetherness for me.

I ended up coming back a day early since I got a second interview for a position at the National Gallery of Ireland - still waiting to hear....

The next day we were off to Germany!  There is so much we did I will just highlight a bit here....

We met Reeves's parents in Dusseldorf and saw his old house which is now an Italian restaurant!  We did a bit of touring about, saw the area where his old school was (now a whole new complex of building) and then went to dinner in the altstadt (old town) at a restaurant which they used to frequent 25 years ago.  Some good traditional German food to start the trip.

 Reeves Family's old house - now an Italian restaurant

We had a bit of a misadventure on our way to the Harz mountains.  While zipping along on the autobahn our car started loosing power and we were forced to pull over and wait almost 3 hours for a tow truck to rescue us and get us to a new car.  We had to be delivered to the nearest airport to pick up a new car because it was a Sunday of a holiday weekend - not the easiest when you are trying to get things accomplished. 

Our broken down Peugeot - if you are offered one as a rental - JUST SAY NO! (even the rental agent said this!)

So we ended up getting into our hotel just in time to celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary dinner a bit weary but no worse for wear.

We stayed in the tiny town of Ilsenburg, which was a nice central spot to visit the scenic town around the area.  Our first day was spent in Goslar, the town were my family called home over 100 years ago.  My great-great-grandfather was a master gun-maker here in the late 19th Century and his wife and children came over to America in 1909 after he had passed away.  It was a picture-perfect town which had been untouched by the bombs of WWII and its 14th-16th Century building had been beautifully restored.  It was fascinating to think my family had walked these same streets, gazed upon the same churches and lived their lives in this perfect little town.

 Overlooking the town of Goslar      Us in the town square of Goslar with the Rathaus (city hall) behind

To break up all the touring we took a half day hike the the Harz national park.  Gorgeous deciduous forest with wonderful varieties of wild mushroom and blackberries everywhere.  While we didn't try the mushrooms, the berries were delicious! The afternoon was then spent in the town of Werigerode, another charming town whose town square was bustling with a local market day. 

On a side note, the hotel in which we stayed was very charming.  The breakfasts & dinners were taken in this wonderful glassed conservatory overlooking the lake on which the hotel was situated.  Our room was on the top floor which was set into the roof line with 2 dormer doors, also looking over the lake.  While we had to watch our heads so we wouldn't run into the 300 year old beams running through the floor to the roof peak.

Our hotel in Ilsenburg -  Zu den Rothen Forellen

The next day we were off to Hamburg. What an interesting town and much larger than I expected. We took a boat tour of the gigantic and active port. A statistic they told us was that a ship comings into a port in Long Beach would take 5 days to turn around (unload and load) and only 12 hours in Hamburg! They didn't say why this is (security, unions, etc.) but it did underscored the efficiency.

In the courtyard of the Rathaus in Hamburg

Our hotel in Hamburg was quite a treat - it was the Hotel Abtei and is a converted stately home which was furnished with real antiques. It had a Michelin starred restaurant that seated only about 10 people.  We had a wonderful and lavish dinner there one evening.  The breakfasts too were quite elaborate with silver teapots and Christophe flatware.

The front elevation of Hotel Abtei in Hamburg  The sitting room which is attached to the dining room

Reeves and his mother, Rhea, at cocktails before our dinner at Hotel Abtei

Our next destination was Lubeck, northeast of Hamburg and built on an island.  Greatly influenced by maritime production, being set close to the Baltic Sea, we had a fun dinner at the Shiffergesellschaft, a place which still hold meetings of the shipbuilder's guilds.  The building was spared the WWII bombs (unlike 1/3 of the island) and is over 350 years old.

A view of the ceiling of the Shiffergesellschaft and the model ships - the oldest dating to 1607

En route to Berlin we stopped by the beach to see the Baltic sea and for me to collect a single seashell to add to my collect. There were the most charming wicker beach chairs punctuating the sand, but it seemed far too cold, even in the brilliant sunlight, to ever imaging this as a "seaside" resort.

 Seaside at Travemunde on the Baltic Sea

We spent the rest of the day at the town of Schwerin and their castle - amazing afternoon with a brilliant blue sky punctuated by fluffy white clouds - quite the backdrop to photograph the castle set on an island.

Schwerin castle in the glorious afternoon sunlight

Berlin was our last destination and we arrive just in time for dinner at the hotel.  Reeves and I had only one full day in Berlin as real life was waiting, but Reeves's parents stayed on for a week of lectures and tours. 

A soggy morning at the Brandenburg Gate - can you see the rain on Reeves's glasses?

The day we were there it poured rain in the morning which after a quick run by the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate, drove us into the German History Museum.  Just opened a couple years ago in what was former East Berlin, this is one of the best museum displays which I have ever seen.  Germany, obviously, has a very turbulent and tragic history, especially in the past 100 years and the philosophy behind the collection was not to dictate a point of view, but present evidence which asks questions of history and the viewer so they can conclude their own ideas and "truth". The collection was also a great combination of textual documentation interspersed with physical objects - I have never seen such a collection which draws so heavily on its written archival  history. Definitely a must see if you are in the Berlin area.

It was a very fun and busy trip and has inspired me to start reading more of my German history.

As of Saturday, July 14th 2007, we have been living in Ireland one year.  It really doesn't seem like it could have gone any faster, but when I think back we sure have experienced some great things.  As a bit of a review and a way of sharing, here are a few of the highlights....

Travel:

August 2006 - Amy was our first guest and we went to Edinburgh, Scotland for a few days.

September 2006 - Reeves & I went back to Redmond, WA as he need to have work meetings

October 2006 - Reeves & I visited Salzburg, Austria - a first for both of us.  It was a trip over my birthday and we went to the opera the night of my birthday - another first for me!

November 2006 - Reeves & I visited Rome, Italy - over Thanksgiving we had some great authentic Italian food.

Christmas 2006 - We stayed with Reeves's sister Beth & family and his parents and other sister and family all joined in the festivities

January 2007 - Reeves was back in Redmond again

January 2007 - I went over to Oxford University to do a weekend paleography workshop and Reeves met me with the car.  We then drove into London where we stayed for a couple days, then a drive over to Wales for a few days and up to Hollyhead for our car ferry ride back.

February 2007 - I visited Amy in NYC and the two of us visited Boston for a few days - another first for me to see Boston. 

March 2007 - We joined the whole Little clan in Akumel, Mexico for some sun, surf and sand.

May 2007 - Reeves & I were back in the states for 2 1/2 weeks.  Reeves had two conferences and some work in SF, Seattle & Redmond and then we had a week in Mountain View/San Jose to visits friends and attend my graduation from SJSU for my masters.

June 2007 - We drove over to the West of Ireland, Connemara, specifically Westport, Delphi, Clifden & Cong to see some of the countryside for the first time.

Hobbies:

We have started getting into our family history project.  While we are still in the beginning stages of research, we can trace Reeves's family back 8 generations on at least 4 lines and 5 generations on my side.  We are looking forward to visiting some of the local Ireland archives to uncover some of Reeves's Irish relatives.

I have just started trying to oil paint.  While I have done many craft projects throughout the years, this is the first time I have tried painting - so far so good...well, at least I am having fun even if you can't tell what I have painted yet! :)

While Reeves has enjoyed photography for quite awhile, I just got my own digital SLR camera with which to play.  I am looking forward to our trip to Germany in September to practice with more techniques.

We have a ton of pictures I am trying to digitize.  While I haven't gotten into a systematic method for doing them all, I have at least begun.  I hope to get some of the older ones done before the colors completely fade - especially those from the 70s which were poorly processed and are yellowing. 

Career:

I think the biggie in this category would be I finished and graduated from grad school!  I still can't believe it is over after the extreme amount of stress at the end, but I have been relishing the ability to just sit and read for pleasure at a whim! 

While I still can't find someone to pay me for working, I have been working hard volunteering at the National Gallery of Ireland since the end of February. I have really enjoyed working with the Pembroke Estate Project but mostly I have really enjoyed establishing my own sphere of being.

To occupy one day a week, I have also been volunteering for an archeological conservatory who works out of the labs at University College Dublin.  Just this week we we to the National Museum to use their room-sized x-ray machine to x-ray dozens of artifacts. The reason for this is partially to determine what is worthy of conservation as well as to discover anything for which she need to be careful with while conserving. 

I have also joined the Irish Society for Archives and the Society of Archivists, Ireland chapter (it covers the UK & IE) - I am going to the AGM this August which happen to be in Belfast this year.  I am very curious to hear the discussions as what I have seen here seems to have a much greater emphasis on historical practices over the US's concentration on archival theory & practice.

While I also wanted to write about our Irish cultural discoveries, I am afraid I am typed out for the evening and that will have to wait for another day...

We have been in Ireland almost a year now (yikes! My how time flies) and we had not yet been more than about an hour beyond Dublin. All of that changed last week when we spent 4 days and 3 nights in the West of Ireland, specifically at the Delphi Lodge and the surrounding attractions and outdoors. As soon as I saw a tiny article in a magazine on the lodge, I knew we had to stay there and as luck would have it, the stars aligned and they had space right away!

The lodge is in the middle of the wilderness and draws fishermen from all over the world. I really didn’t even know this until we were there, but I guess it is supposed to be world-class angling. The best part of the trip, beyond the amazing rural setting, were the group dinners. Every one sits down at 8 pm at one long table, after a nice cocktail hour in the “piano room”. The people were fascinating and the first two evenings we were up quite late chatting. In addition to the lovely company, the food was fabulous and they had at least 6 house dogs who would visit us at the breakfast table and at cocktail hour – heaven!

If you are coming to Ireland, I highly recommend staying here....

  The Delphi Lodge & the Lough just outside the front door.

Our room was located with the two windows just to the above-right of the front door.

  Cocktail just as we arrived on the front lawn.

  A few of the guests at one of the facinating dinners.

I'm first for cocktails!

....and of course, the doggies, including two precious new puppies born March 28!

Right now we are mid-trip in Redmond, WA and I thought it was as good of time as any to try and start to blog again.  We really have been having a nice trip so far. Well, I should re-phrase that a bit – I have been having fun and Reeves has been productive.  He attended the eMetrics conference in San Francisco and the MS Business Intelligence conference in Seattle.  While he has been working long days, I have had a fabulous time playing with my friends.  While staying in SF I was able to do a few things I haven’t done before.  Trina took me on a wonderfully guided tour of Chinatown including a yummy lunch of Dim Sum. She is now officially “Travel Trina” not just WebTrina anymore!  We also did an afternoon lunch at the remodeled Cliff House – what a clear and perfect day for a three hour lunch!

Now that we are in Seattle/Redmond I have been able to spend time with Leslie.  She came into Seattle and we did a little shopping and sat by the bay and had a lovely afternoon chat in the sun.  Reeves and I were able to spend Saturday wine tasting around Redmond/Woodinville (found a new wine I like – Red Sky) with Leslie and Jason and a really great dinner at the restaurant Purple Café and Wine Bar in Woodinville.  

Can’t wait till we are both officially on vacation starting on Wednesday night as well have many fun events planned with our friends in the week to come!

…Reeves and I had just walked in the door from him picking me up from the airport when the doorbell rang and a large padded envelope was delivered for me.  It was my diploma for my masters signed by all the appropriate officials, including the “Governor of California and President of Trustees”…. Arnold Swarzenegger.  It is still hard enough for me to reconcile he is the Governor, but signing my academic diploma is just too weird!