Betsy Phillips's Blog, page 536

Cemeteries and Parks and Such

The Durards Do Think They are Elizabeth's Descendants!

Granny Rat's descendants claim she was born July 24, 1740 and died February 7, 1856. She also, according to family lore I've been able to find, had at least the following children:

By Timothy Demonbreun (1747-1826)

William Demonbreun (1783-1870)

Jean Baptist Demonbreun (1788-1872, who may also be Felix. If not, then Felix in here someplace.)

Polly Demonbreun (1792-1842)

By Joseph Durard (maybe 1740-1812)

Joseph Durard (about 1793)

Betsy Durard (about 1794)

Timothy Durard (about 1795)

Lewis Durard...

So… This is Weird

I was here all morning. The Butcher was here all afternoon. He went outside to mow, but the dog stayed in the house.

I came home and I looked in what is left of my box of books and I noticed one was back cover up instead of front cover up. No biggie. I assumed the Butcher either took it to look at it or whatever.

So, I ask him if he enjoyed it. He said that he had not looked at it.

He said, "Maybe it was always turned over."

I said, "I don't think so. I took a picture of them. They were all face ...

An Open Letter to Tom Humphrey

Dear Tom,

This is completely uncalled-for and disrespectful bullshit:

Remarkably, one can find, for example, a blogger who emphasizes being pro-choice on abortion declaring she sees no difference between McWherter, who is pro-choice, and Haslam, who is pro-life – although neither candidate is zealous about espousing his position. She was upset that McWherter had shown some sympathy for people opposing construction of a mosque in Murfreesboro.

Who? Who is this "remarkable" blogger? How...

Who's Watching the Women?

I've been following the latest "My god, people are fat!" debate in the feminist blogosphere with interest. For those of you not up to speed, it started here at Feministe. I'll say, as a brief side note that, as much as this post sucked, I agree with Maia that the comments were, for the most part, heartening. This is a big change from even a few years ago, to see people have the courage to speak passionately and intelligently about their position. But I also think it's in the comments where...

What I Found in the Methodist Cemetery and a Long Sidetrack about Elizabeth Bennett

Let's take a minute and bring everyone up to speed. Timothy Demonbreun had a bunch of kids with his wife. It then appears she was kidnapped by Indians. While she was away, I think it's likely Demonbreun presumed her dead (but wasn't sure), so he took up with Elizabeth Hensley/Bennett/Himmsley and they had some kids. When Teresa showed back up, Elizabeth married Joseph Duratt/Durard/Durand. Elizabeth had a tavern up on Paradise Ridge somewhere called "Granny Rat's" so I would guess that she...

I Saw an Actual Ghost in the Baptist Cemetery

Just Passing This Along

Katie Granju has an update on the investigation into her son's death. I can only say that I knew the "she's crazy!" thing was coming and that this quote in the story is very, very odd. The medical examiner says, "We actually removed the organs and looked at (them) in our hands. Which do you put more weight in, an X-ray or actually holding the organ in your hand?"

But an X-ray is a picture. If it shows broken bones or masses or whatever, it's not imaginary. I'm sure some things are clearer...

The Other Reason I'm Tickled a Dog Ate My Book As It Was Being Read

It just seems like something that would happen in a Calvino book. You are reading a book you like and, as you read it, your dog eats it so that you can't ever go back and see what it said, you only have the memory of it.

A City of Ghosts owes a great debt to Calvino's Invisible Cities. Invisible Cities is a collection of stories about many different fantastical places that might all be the same place, stories told by Marco Polo to Genghis Khan. A City of Ghosts is a collection of stories...

Critics are So Hard to Figure Out

Is she saying that she really liked my book or that she hated it so much it had to be destroyed?

(Private note to Sully, the dog in question: If that means they have to buy another copy, good dog. Good dog.)