Karen L. Syed's Blog

Why WikiTree?

You may have gathered from my previous post that I have recently immersed myself in WikiiTree. You may, or may not, care why, but I’m going to tell you ayways.

I have been working on my family tree for more than 30 years (yes that goes back to before I got my Tandy TSR-80 computer.)

Yup, me, my mom, and my grandma would spend hours at the library and writing letters to relatives we barely knew. We kept everything on notebook paper and all the info we got was pretty much about direct relatives.

Fast forward to now and I sit here on my trusty laptop after hours of tryng to find relationships, connections, and other information on me and my relatives. WikiTree has a huge directory of profiles and family trees that are added and maintained by volunters who take genealogy very seriously. One of the things I like best about WikiTree is that is offers countless opportunities to work with other people. There are special projects for different locations, ethnicities, and surnames. They have a wonderful collection of famous and notable peope, and they make it easy to find your personal (or in many cases, lack of) relationship or connection.

Finding those famous connections gives you research points that can possibly lead to filling in blanks in your tree. This has been the case for me many times. And it’s not just about famous people. Today I was able to make a clarification on my personal tree regarding my 9th great grandfather, Anthony Colby (1605-1660), who happened to be one of the original settlers of Amesbury, Massachussetts. He came over from England in 1630 as one of the first immigrants beginning the Great Puritan Migration.

Are you working on your families history? It’s really quite fun, and more than a little interesting. But beware, it can also be incredibly addictive. If you are a genealogist. I’d love to know what you are currently working on.

Me, James Earl Jones, and WikiTree

I have to admit, until recently I have only dabbled on WikiTree, but lately I’ve been using it to add names to my tree. When I hit a roadblock I go into WikiTree and see if it has info I don’t. I ALWAYS find things that help me with my research. I get names and places and so much more that I use to find references and documents for citations. I feel like I have so much catching up to do.

Like today, I added James Earl Jones to my tree. A lot of people ask me why I “bother” with genealogy. They say “it’s not like it’s a real tree.” Ack! It couldn’t be more real. A family tree is a road map of where you come from to where you are. I am particularly interested in “famous” ancestors because it feeds my imagination.

Mr. Jones is a stepping stone for me to see if I can build any other connections with my Jones lines. I have the indirect link, but I am at a roadblock with my 3rd great grandfather on my father’s side. It’s a long shot, but an avenue I have not tried before.

If anyone has any connections to George Henry Jones b. 26 May 1926, Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee > Eugene Franklin Jones b. 8 Sep 1896, Tunica, Mississippi > Israel Jones b. Dec 1872, Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee > Washington Jones b. c 1831, Rockingham, North Carolina, please let me know.

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Review of The Artifact Hunters by Janet Fox

The Artifact Hunters by Janet Fox

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Due to a lack of good mysteries that I haven’t read, I have been reading mysteries for kids. This one by Janet Fox, while not exactly a mystery, was excellent. I prefer not to read fantasies, but like I said, desperate.

The kids in this book are well developed and true to life, even with their gifts. The villains are truly wicked. With adventure, a little bit of history, and some fun, this book is perfect for kids and adults who like an exciting read.



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Have They Ever Been Fat?

[image error]I am disgusted. I just spent an hour on Pinterest looking for exercises that I can do to help lose weight and work on some problem areas. Here are the problems.

1. I weigh 240 lbs.

2. How the hell do they think I can get down on the floor and twist like a frickin’ slinky?

[image error]3. Running in place with high knee kicks? Really? Bend forward and touch my nose to my knees? You’ve got to be kidding!

4. The marketing for weight loss geared toward the obese is shameful and insulting. What the hell is the fascination with having a bubble butt. And back in my day having a bubble butt was a very bad thing.

5. Why don’t trainers and fitness “experts” come up with more than six exercises that obese people can do until they lose enough weight and/or inches to be able to get up and down of the floor without pulling every muscle in their damn bodies?

6. Do the advertisers really believe that all of us fat people are inspired by the pictures of all those anorexic looking women with boobs way to big for their bodies?

Let me tell you, I’m not impressed and trying to come up with an effective exercise program that is plausible and the my body can actually do is FAR MORE stressful than being fat.





Just sayin’.

Color me Thinner

TOPS #307 31 Aug 2018 Presentation

For more than 4000 years, people have been using color therapy to cure/treat physical and mental health issues. Being non-invasive is a bonus for many who have larger amounts of weight to lose, as it eliminates the need for dangerous surgeries. Colors work on vibrational energy. The energy affects the pituitary gland, which affects the entire metabolism.

As with anything, please consult your doctor before you make any life-altering decisions concerning the treatment of your health. Color therapy has not been studied enough scientifically, but there have been proven results. There is no guarantee it will work for you, but you won’t know if you don’t try.

APPETITE SUPPRESSANTS

[image error]Have you ever considered the affect your refrigerator light has on your eating habits? The color BLUE is said to help suppress your appetite. Consider changing the light bulb in your refrigerator to an economical blue light.

Other ways to incorporate BLUE into your weight loss regime is to use BLUE dinnerware, or try changing your dining room color scheme to BLUE.

COMMITMENT  

[image error]Many of us have a difficult time staying focused on our weight loss and maintaining healthy eating habits. It is thought that wearing YELLOW shaded sunglasses for a half an hour a day will help to enforce your focus on eating healthy. Because of its intensity, YELLOW will also help those of us who might be a bit more sluggish to find the energy we need for a healthy lifestyle.

DETERRENTS

[image error]One of the worst times for losing weight is Fall. It is not clear how many people suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). It is often called the “winter blues.” Whatever you call it, SAD can be crippling for those trying to lose weight. The basic symptoms of SAD are:

Depressed mood
Lack of interest in activities
Tiredness and fatigue
Difficulty sleeping
Change in appetite
Feeling irritable
Inability to concentrate
Guilt or low self-esteem
Thoughts of suicide

Some claim that SAD is responsible for an increase in the craving of carbs. One thought is that the lack of sunlight decreases our serotonin levels. There was a time when research thought a bright white light was the best treatment for SAD, but discoveries are leading us in the direction of BLUE light. By increasing the amount of light we get during the SAD season we can fight off the urges to eat.

ART THERAPY

Another way to use color in your weight loss program is by actually coloring. This simple task serves us well in many ways. First of all, it is a distraction. I personally find that when I color I am less interested in eating. I am so focused on my work that I have even forgotten to eat a meal.[image error]

Other benefits from art therapy might include:

Perception and self – perception-helping to focus on the now and to understand the relationship between our physical body and our emotions
Personal integration –helps to improve self-image and to understand more deeply our conflicting emotions
Impulse and emotion control – pretty self-explanatory
Changes in behavior – helping us to change behaviors directed at ourselves as well as others
Insight and comprehension – helping to turn non-verbal emotions into actual words

CONTRADICTIONS

I’ve saved the color RED for last because there is confusion among researchers as to how this colors actually affects us. Some say RED helps reduce the appetite, but I, and many others, believe the opposite. RED is a stimulating color, making it a prime choice for restaurant owners to use in their marketing. If you look at the line of fast food joints who implement this color, I think you will agree. Who doesn’t get a twinge of hunger when they see a giant sign for:

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Kentucky Fried Chicken
Krystal’s
Checkers
McDonald’s
Wendy’s
Arby’s
Chic-fil-A
Bob Evans
Hardees
Pizza Hut
Dairy Queen
Burger King
Pizza Hut
Sonic

Are you seeing a pattern? These places have used the STOP mentality by incorporating RED into their signage and marketing. When we see these signs, our minds, that have been trained by RED STOP signs, tell us to STOP. We know that what we will find inside those doors will be unhealthy, bad for our overall weight, and probably not satisfying, but we will go in anyways. The key to this is STOP. Red may be the color of passion, but it is not in our best interest to be so passionate about food.

Puzzle Piece Found

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That’s my daddy! George Henry Jones.

As some of you may know, I have been working on my family tree for about 30 years now. This has been no easy task since I have just mixed ethnicity. For those not in the know, My father was a Negro and my mother was Dutch. I have had great success in tracking my mother’s lines, but my father’s have been…challenging.

Over the last three weeks, my friend and I have been driving from state to state searching our roots. One of my most difficult line is my father’s lines. The are Negros from Mississippi, North, Carolina, and Tennessee during the slave era. OY.

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Karen, Michael, and Jeannie Jones 2018

At any rate, this past week I went to Lansing, MI to see my sister and brother. Jeannie, Michael, and I share a father. I got to spend a week with my sister about 30 years ago, but had never met my brother. Last week was the first time the three of us had EVER been together at the same time. To tell you it was incredible does not do it justice. It was like finding a part of myself.

[image error]As my sister and I sat looking through pictures, I found something I had long ago given up hope of finding. Jeannie had run across a picture and she didn’t know who it was. I knew immediately upon looking at it that it was me and my father. I felt like I had won the lottery. My whole life I have ever only had one picture of my father, none of us together.

For nearly three weeks, we drove across so many states and hit so many libraries, and the last night of my trip I discover the piece of the puzzle I have been missing. Actual proof of me and my father together. What a glorious feeling.