Dead people that piss me off.

We've spent several months now trying to trace our family roots in Scotland.

Ick.

My father passed away a couple of years ago now and while he was alive he forbade us from searching for his family, he didn't really believe in all this genealogy crap, even though my mother had traced her line extensively. She even earned her UE status, which is short for United Empire Loyalist - a direct descendant of Tory Loyalists forced from their homes at the start of the American Revolution.

In doing that research we found that some of our ancestors endured hardships that today none of us could imagine. They had everything they owned confiscated, and with only the clothes on their backs they walked to Upper Canada from Schoharie County, New York. It was called the year of starvation, and some of my ancestors died en route. They ended up in Fort George just north of Niagara Falls claiming refugee status. The British Government eventually granted land to the loyalists. Some of my ancestors joined the British Forces, some the Indian Department, and still others joined Butler's Rangers - an infamous 'commando' unit, known for harassing the American rebels in the Finger Lakes area, with the help of Native Canadians. Later, some ancestors moved inward and settled on the north shore of Hamilton, where Inco Steel is now. During the war of 1812, some fought against the Americans.

Obviously, there's more, our personal histories are fascinating for many reasons and each one is special to each family. I could go on about the McCombs and Depew lines of our family, but their not the ones pissing me off.

It's the Wilson line.

Dad left Scotland in 1951 for Canada and left his family behind. My feelings about that are irrelevant, but it happened. He left his family and forbade us from looking for them, but once dad passed our curiosity got the better of us. We know a lot about them - their names, address growing up, marriages, deaths, and more, but there's a huge roadblock in the way of going any farther. In Canada, many organizations have devoted their volunteer time to transcribing genealogical information and making it available online. Here, we have found census records, cemetery transcriptions, court records, military records and more. All online, all free. We've even found websites that are devoted to posting the actual pictures of tombstones from around the country.

Scotland doesn't like doing this. They want money. There are very few resources for amateur genealogists in the British Isles, so finding anything over there is almost impossible unless you're willing to pay up, which I'm not. We have spent some money on some records, but it's not enough.

My ultimate goal is to find my living relatives in Kilmarnock Scotland. I have cousins, aunts, uncles and more there, and I'd love to find them. It doesn't even matter to me if they want nothing to do with us, but putting the pieces together is important to my family. So the dead people have pissed me off. They have taken their secrets with them and to date we have no way to unlock them.

So if anyone has any ideas or clues as to where we could look, please let me know. I would just like to know where my roots are.

Cheers.

Bipolar People

I've been trying to deal a lot lately with the fact that I'm diagnosed Bipolar. The thing that pisses me off about it is that it's for life. The condition, while not debilitating, is annoying. Kim has been quite vocal about the fact that one hell of a lot of artistic people over the years have had the same condition, and I thought I'd share them with you today.

So here goes...

• Buzz Aldrin, Astronaut
• Sophie Anderton, model
• Adam Ant, musician.
• Emilie Autumn, musician.
• Andy Behrman, author of the book Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania.
• Max Bemis, frontman of the band Say Anything
• Maurice Benard, actor.
• Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist and mathematician.
• Adrian Borland, British musician.
• Russell Brand, comedian and actor.
• Andrea Breth, German stage-director.
• Jeremy Brett, actor.
• Frank Bruno, boxer.
• Barney Bubbles, graphic designer.
• Robert Calvert, musician, former Hawkwind frontman.
• Alastair Campbell, press advisor.
• Georg Cantor, mathematician.
• Jim Carey, Comedian and Actor.
• Dick Cavett, television journalist.
• Iris Chang, historian and journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle.
• John Clare, poet.
• Kurt Cobain, musician.
• Neil Cole, former Australian Labor party politician.
• Francis Ford Coppola, Director
• Rosemary Clooney, singer and actress.
• Patricia Cornwell, American crime writer.
• Robert S. Corrington, theologist.
• Michael Costa, former Australian Labor party politician and Treasurer of NSW.
• Vincent Crane, keyboard player of Atomic Rooster.
• Ray Davies, musician: The Kinks
• Disco D, record producer and composer.
• DMX, rapper.
• Mike Doughty, musician.
• Robert Downey, Jr., actor.
• Charmaine Dragun, former Australian journalist/newsreader.
• Richard Dreyfuss, actor.
• Patty Duke, actress.
• Carrie Fisher, actress and writer.
• Larry Flynt, Publisher
• Connie Francis, singer.
• Stephen Fry, actor, comedian and writer.
• Justin Furstenfeld, Lead singer of the band, "Blue October".
• Peter Gabriel, Musician.
• Alan Garner, novelist.
• Paul Gascoigne, English footballer.
• Mel Gibson, actor and director.
• Matthew Good, Canadian musician.
• Philip Graham, publisher and businessman.
• Macy Gray, musician and actor.
• Graham Greene, English novelist.
• Ivor Gurney, English composer and poet.
• Terry Hall, lead singer of The Specials.
• Linda Hamilton, actress. Star of the Terminator movies.
• Jimi Hendrix, Musician.
• George Francis Handel, Composer
• Robert Hansen, serial killer.
• Mariette Hartley, American actress.
• Jonathan Hay, Australian rules footballer
• Ernest Hemingway, writer.
• Kristin Hersh, musician, formerly of rock band Throwing Muses.
• Abbie Hoffman, political activist.
• Marya Hornbacher, writer.
• Jack Irons, drummer, formerly of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam.
• Kay Redfield Jamison, clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
• Daniel Johnston, musician.
• Andrew Johns, Australian rugby league player.
• Lee Joon, Korean actor and musician.
• Chris Kanyon American professional wrestler.
• Kerry Katona, English television presenter, writer, magazine columnist and former pop singer with girl band Atomic Kitten.
• Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy
• Otto Klemperer, conductor.
• Margot Kidder, actress.
• Patrick Kroupa, writer and hacker.
• Vivien Leigh, actress
• Jenifer Lewis, American actress.
• Bill Lichtenstein, print and broadcast journalist and documentary filmmaker
• Jack London, American author.
• Demi Lovato, American actress, singer, Disney star.
• Gustav Mahler, Composer
• Arthur McIntyre, Australian artist.
• Kristy McNichol, actress.
• Burgess Meredith, actor.
• Eric Millegan, actor.
• Kate Millett, author.
• Spike Milligan, comedian.
• Ben Moody, musician. The former guitarist from Evanescence.
• Seaneen Molloy, Northern Irish blogger.
• John A. Mulheren, American financier, stock and option trader and philanthropist.
• Edvard Munch, artist.
• Robert Munsch, author.
• Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher.
• Florence Nightingale, nurse and health campaigner.
• Sinéad O'Connor, musician.
• Phil Ochs, musician.
• Bill Oddie, naturalist, comedian and television presenter.
• Ozzy Osbourne, singer. Lead singer of Black Sabbath and his self-titled band.
• Cheri Oteri, actress. Saturday Night Live Cast Member.
• Craig Owens, singer for American band Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows.
• Nicola Pagett, actor.
• Emma Parker Bowles, model.
• Jaco Pastorius, jazz musician.
• Jane Pauley, TV presenter and journalist.
• Edgar Allan Poe, poet and writer.
• Jackson Pollock, American artist.
• Odean Pope, American jazz musician.
• Gail Porter, British TV presenter.
• Emil Post, mathematician.
• Charley Pride, country music artist.
• Rene Rivkin, entrepreneur.
• Barret Robbins, former NFL Pro Bowler.
• Axl Rose, lead singer and frontman best known for Guns N' Roses.
• Richard Rossi, filmmaker, musician, and maverick minister.
• Robert Schumann, German composer.
• Nina Simone, American singer.
• Michael Slater, International Australian cricketer.
• Tony Slattery, actor and comedian.
• Phil Spector, Music Producer
• Sidney Sheldon, producer, writer.
• Sting, Musician
• Tim Smith, rugby league player.
• Peter Steele, frontman, Type O Negative.
• David Strickland, Actor, Suddenly Susan.
• Poly Styrene (real name Marion Elliot-Said), singer.
• Stuart Sutherland, British psychologist and writer
• Mackenzie Taylor, British comedian.
• Michael Thalbourne, Australian psychologist and parapsychologist.
• Steven Thomas, American entrepreneur.
• Gene Tierney, Academy Award nominated actress, Best Actress (1945).
• Devin Townsend, musician, Strapping Young Lad, The Devin Townsend Band.
• Nick Traina, singer.
• Timothy Treadwell, American environmentalist and bear enthusiast.
• Margaret Trudeau, Canadian celebrity and ex-wife of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau.
• Mark Twain, Writer
• Ted Turner, Media Mogel
• Tracy Ullman, Comedian, writer
• Ludwig Von Beethoven, Composer
• Jean-Claude Van Damme, actor.
• Vincent Van Gogh, artist.
• Townes Van Zandt, singer-songwriter.
• Mark Vonnegut, author.
• James Wade, darts player.
• David Walliams, actor/comedian/author/charity fundraiser.
• Ruby Wax, comedian.
• Scott Weiland, musician. (Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver)
• Pete Wentz, musician. Fall Out Boy.
• Delonte West, American basketball player.
• Mark Whitacre, business executive described in the true story movie, The Informant..
• Brian Wilson, musician, founding member of The Beach Boys.
• Robin Williams, Comedian, actor.
• Jonathon Winters, Comedian, actor.
• Amy Winehouse, musician.
• Virginia Woolf, writer.
• Catherine Zeta-Jones, actress.

So there you have it, according to Wikipedia (I wasn't in the mood to put that much research into this). It's common among artistic people, unfortunately, some of these guys didn't end up well, but that's because either they didn't manage it, or it was so severe that their lives were consumed by it. There's some missing from this list, but there too many to list.

Now I don't feel so different.

Cheers.

The Wife's new blog

Second post today, but I have to tell everyone, my wife Kimberly-Ann, had a blog for the longest time but she had to pull it down for a few reasons. She's back now - visit her at wilsonworldinexile.blogspot.com

Feel free to antagonize her.

Cheers.

Random things

I woke up this morning to find my oldest home from school, he slept in, so he was called in. As a trade off, he's today's slave. He gets to fold laundry. Hee hee.

The youngest is in the kitchen (which is wrecked anyway), making Kim a belated birthday cake. She has the recipe open on the computer and is coming over now and then to check ingredients, a short time ago she started yelling that the cake broke. Of course hearing the word cake, we all rush in to find chocolate chunks. Everywhere. Now I don't worry about her cooking, she loves doing it, at 10 years old she would randomly go bake a cake with homemade icing on a Saturday; she's done this before many times. So this morning's fiasco was quite a surprise. She tried to take them out of the pans before they cooled and they broke into a thousand pieces. Iain handed a chunk to Kim and said Happy birthday. Nice breakfast.

Young one is at it again, trying to fix the damage, I'm sure we'll have some sort of cake today. Kim's birthday was on January 5th, but that was pre-zombie removal and she couldn't eat, so we promised her we'd take care of things once she recovered.

It's been a week now since her surgery and she's doing great. Yesterday we went to the hospital to have her staples removed, I was amazed how fast that went - only about 10 minutes once she got into see the nurse. Then we hopped a bus and went to Wal-Mart. I wasn't crazy about a 45 minute bus ride, I'm still not used to not having my car. On our way to the stop, the snow hit hard and we couldn't see across the street, by the time we got off it, it was sunny. Stupid weather. Still too friggin' cold out though, I can't wait til Spring. Today it's a balmy -17.

So today is a lazy day - except for the slave. Young one has a PD day and is heading off to sleep at a friend's house tonight, I have to clean a destroyed kitchen, Kim is doing something with clothes, and the slave is taking a break and reading a book. He will be shovelling the walk soon. The house seems active and so far, content. It's a nice feeling. I haven't decided if I'm getting dressed today though, I may not - I may not in protest of winter.

Cheers.

Things of old, and what to do with them

My wife Kimberly-Ann is recovering from surgery this weekend, she had her gall bladder removed. She's been lovingly referring to it for the past few months as 'the zombie inside me'. Now that the zombie is gone, she is in pain, can't move much, and is popping pain pills, but she's still trying to take care of the world. We (kids and I) are trying to get her to understand that it's her turn to be taken care of. She put this surgery off because of my bout with the hospital of late, and that took it's toll on her. She couldn't eat any solid food for months and what she did eat didn't go down well. Now she just has to relax and recover. But relaxing isn't in her vocabulary - she wants to take care of us. Last night I went through another attack, and while curled up on the couch trying to wish it away, she was trying to help me through it. We're both slightly busted. We will recover and become normal again, she will eat and I will get back to work, in time.

In the middle of all of this, my sister asked me to come over and go through some heirlooms from our parents as she is downsizing her accommodations in the next several weeks and has no room for everything. A fair request, but lousy timing. My parents' collectibles seem to be the last thing on my mind this weekend. But it got me thinking, and looking around my own home, just how much stuff we hang onto. Holy crap.

I don't blame her for wanting my brother and I to take some of this stuff, it's full of memories of our parents who are now gone. Things we grew up with or collected over the years, or has some other meaning - like the basket of toys our kids played with at Nana and Papa's house when they were toddlers. We still have that basket, and surprisingly enough, the kids. But that request got me thinking about our own home, and I'm sure my brother is thinking it too. Family heirlooms and keepsakes are a direct reflection on one's family tree.

Our parents collected stuff, Kimberly-Ann's parents did the same, my sister's in-laws did the same, my brother's in-laws did the same and so on down the line. Somehow or other, all this stuff ends up with us collectively. This weekend my father in-law was down helping out with Kim; to which I am grateful for, and of course the conversation eventually turned to stuff in various homes in London (where Kim's family still lives) that was destined for our home someday. Kim's heirlooms.

So what does one do with this stuff? I am a pack rat, I have difficulty getting rid of anything that has any sort of memory attachment, obviously my sister has the same problem. It's not a bad thing though, we've rarely ever had to buy furniture! Right now I'm using my mother's desk to type this, beside me is my father's favourite chair which sits next to Kim's grandmother's china cabinet. Behind me is one of the three bookshelves that sat in my parent's dining room - each one of us got one. In the living room is my mother's favourite lazy-boy chair, their coffee table, and antique sofa and chair that we figure is about 80 years old and has been re-upholstered, a marble topped washing stand (part of a three piece bedroom set at least late 19th century, the other two pieces are in other rooms), and a corner trinket shelf that was hand-made by Kim's grandfather when he was a young man. The only thing in the living room we've purchased is the TV unit, which is made of particle board and will not last another five years. That's just two rooms. I'm grateful for the inheritance of these objects, to me they're priceless, but the entire house is like this. We still hang ornaments on the Christmas tree that my grandmother made 40 years ago, I have a ton of my dad's books, and Kim still uses her grandmother's electric hand mixer which incredibly enough is still in the original box!

Stuff today is crap. It's made to break so you have to buy new stuff. Great marketing strategy - let's rip people off and fill our landfills with garbage that should still work considering what was paid for it. I can't count how many coffee makers I've gone through since I got married. All junk. But if I want to make a cake, I know the mixer will be there for me! We have entire drawers full of electronics chargers, because every electronic devise uses a new style, we have two TVs in the basement that don't work anymore and I just haven't found the opportunity to toss them, I have power tools that last about four battery charges, then you can't buy new batteries, I have this, that and the next thing that is busted, going, or on my list of things I should never have even looked at.

But the heirlooms are still here.

Why do we hang onto these things? Why do we even hang onto trinkets that have no practical use? Last year I wrote this, and now I find myself revisiting that story. I still use the sugar container. The broken lid has been thrown away and it's a constant reminder to me that some things still hurt when they're not here. We hang onto these things because we can't always hang onto the one's that gave them to us. Sometimes we must make a separation, sometimes we must let go. For a family of pack rats, that's not easy.

My sister is purging but doing it the right way, trying to find homes for the things that matter. Yup, some of it is for sale, if you're interested in what contact me and I will pass the message along to her. But a lot of it is a lesson in letting go. That's a lesson I'm not ready to take yet, even though it's inevitable.

On a brighter note, Kim is doing better, so long as the pain meds are near. She's getting up with a little less pain each time and last night I made her grilled bacon and cheese burgers - she requested that as her first solid food since August. I was all to willing to comply.

Have a great day.