(G) Geneology

I have been looking into my family history for over 10 years.  I have been lucky to get a wealth of information.  Some of this information comes from ancestry.com, some from picking my mother's brain and my father's brain before he died.   The rest of my information came from family who have found me because of this endeavor.

Before I started, I had very limited information on both sides of the family.  Being an African American we tend to hit 'the wall' and we hit it early due to slavery and lack of records.  I've hit this wall on my mother's side because they hail from South Carolina.  The furthest I've been able to trace back on her side was to my great-great grandparents.  West King and Fannie Grabernale.  That was back to the year my great grandmother was born. My great grandmother was born on April 8, 1889 and her mother Fannie died on April 9, 1889.

However, on my father's side, I'm able to go back quite far.  Part of this reason is that they lived in New York and slavery ended in New York in 1824.  The furthest I've been able to go back is to my 3 time great grandparents on my father's side.  Gordon Salter was born a slave in 1785 in New York City.  He died a free man and that is most likely why I can find info on him.

My father's side was much easier to research.  I was able to find info on most of my 3 times great grandparents.  They had birth years that ranged from 1785 - 1833.

My family tree on that side not only goes far but wide.  I can't even input all the information I have on that side of the family.  My mother's side is not so far but it is wide.

Because of my 10+ year research family on both sides allowed  6 cousins to find me and we keep in touch.

The world gets even smaller when I learned one of my cousins works in the same company I do (In a different state).

And through them, I got some cool old pictures as well.

What does the ancestry.com commercial say?  "You don't have to know what you're looking for, you just have to start looking."

(F) Famous People who Resided in the Bronx

Lots of famous people lived in the Bronx. Some were born here.  Here is a short list of some of these people.  They are not in any order.  I only picked the ones out that people would know without having to go "who's that?"

Mark Twain (1835–1910) – author
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) – author and poet
E. L. Doctorow (born 1931) – author
Danny Aiello (born 1933) – actor
Alan Alda (born 1936) – actor
Woody Allen (born 1935) – film director and actor
Jennifer Lopez (born 1969) – singer,dancer and actress
June Allyson (1917–2006) – actress
Penny Marshall (born 1942) – actress and director
Garry Marshall (born 1934) – television and film director
Carroll O'Connor (1924–2001) – actor
Jerry Orbach (1935–2004) – actor
Al Pacino (born 1940) – actor
Chazz Palminteri (born 1952) – actor
Regis Philbin (born 1931) – media personality and television talk-show host
Rob Reiner (born 1945) – actor and film director
Red Buttons (1919–2006) – comedian and actor
James Caan (born 1940) – actor
George Carlin (1937–2008) – comedian
Tony Curtis (1925–2010) – actor
Peter Falk (1927–2011) – actor
Jon Favreau (born 1966) – film and television director and actor
Cuba Gooding, Jr. (born 1968) – actor
Neil Simon (born 1927) – playwright and screenwriter
Wesley Snipes (born 1962) – actor
Anne Bancroft (1931–2005) – actress
Ellen Barkin (born 1954) – actress
Tracy Morgan (1968-), actor, comedian
Mary J. Blige (born 1971) – singer-songwriter
Bobby Darin (1936–1973) – 1950s–1960s singer
Carly Simon (born 1945) – singer-songwriter
Ace Frehley (born 1951) – Kiss guitarist
Billy Joel (born 1949) – singer
Lou Gehrig (1903–1941) – Baseball Hall of Famer and New York Yankees first baseman
John Gotti (1940–2002) – crime boss

(E) Easter

Today is Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday).  In a few days it will be Easter Sunday.

We celebrate the religious aspect of it. We are in church on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Holy Friday and for the Easter Vigil.  I give myself a break on Easter Sunday.  That's the day we go secular.

My 13 year old daughter wants me to buy her an Easter basket.  I keep telling her she is too old, but she insists.  Here is her and her brother. She is 1 years old. My son is almost 21, no basket for him!!

(D) Documentary

I love reading non-fiction books and I love a good documentary.  One day, in my search for something good to watch, I came across this site  http://www.sprword.com/mustwatch.html.

There are so many documentaries on this page, it will take a while to get through.  Some of the ones I've watched from this site are:

Simply Raw Thin God on the Brain Secrets of the Occult I also watch them from other sources.  Some of my of my favorite documentaries are: Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead Triangle: Remembering the Fire Sweet Misery It Might Get Loud

(C) Christopher Walken

Ronald Christopher Walken just celebrated his 69th birthday on Friday, March 31st.

One of my favorite actors of all time.  I've seen 95% of his work.  He is a phenomenal and versatile actor, whose body of work spans from humorous to the creepy.  This man can play anything and everything, and he has.

I made a conscience effort to watch all of his movies.  Here are some recommendations:

The Happiness Cage (The Mind Snatchers) - 1972

Deer Hunter - 1977

Pennies From Heaven - 1981

Who Am I This Time? - 1982

Brainstorm - 1983

The Dead Zone - 1983

At Close Range - 1986

King of New York - 1990

The Prophecy - 1995

What to Do in Denver When You're Dead - 1995

The Funeral - 1996

Suicide Kings - 1997

$5 a Day - 2008

The Maiden Heist - 2009

Although I love him as an actor, there were a few misses:

The Addiction - 1995

New Rose Hotel - 1998

The Prophecy 3: The Ascent - 2000

Romance & Cigarettes - 2005

Domino - 2005

If nothing else proves his talent, he was in the worst movie ever made and still had one of the best line ever uttered on screen:

Det. Stanley Jacobellis: Man, you know what I'd love to do, right now? Go down to Marie Callender's, get me a big bowl, pie, some ice cream on it, mmm-hmm good! Put some on your head! Your tongue would slap your brains out trying to get to it! INTERESTED? SURE? 

You're probably scratching your head at that quote.  But it was the delivery that made it golden!

(B) Buried in the Bronx

I live in Bronx, New York.  I've lived here all of my life.  People don't know much about the Bronx other than what they see on the theater screen.  However, The Bronx has a lot to offer.  I am also a lover of cemeteries, I know, it's a strange fascination.  There are a lot of famous people buried in The Bronx.  Here are a few:

Frankie Lymon

September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968

Known for being the lead singer of the group "The Teenagers".

Lymon, a Baptist, is buried in Saint Raymond's Roman Catholic Cemetery in The Bronx.

I found it interesting that I was not the only one who placed a stone on his grave.  There were quite a few when I got there.

Billie Holiday

April 7, 1915 - July 17, 1959

Billy Holiday is buried in Saint Raymond's Roman Catholic Cemetery in The Bronx.

Diana Barrymore

March 3, 1921 - January 25, 1960

Born Diana Blanche Barrymore Blythe, she was the daughter of actor John Barrymore and his second wife, poet Blanche Oelrichs.  She is buried next to her mother at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

*Only partial headstone shot taken as it is very difficult to take picture at Woodlawn Cemetery without permission.

Joseph Pulitzer

April 10 1847 - October 29, 1911

Born Pulitzer József.  best known for posthumously establishing the Pulitzer Prizes.  He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

Miles Davis

May 26, 1926 - September 28, 1991

American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.  He is buried at Woodlwan Cemetery in The Bronx.

(A) April Fool (that would be me)

He got me. My friend Paddy got me this morning at 6:58am EDT.  I was just waking up and my phone bleeps with a message. It read...
"OMG, turn on the news, the elem(entary) school is on fire!"
I flew out of my bed and ran to the TV. I flipped through channels and saw nothing. I texted him back and asked which channel.  He writes...
1....
So I turn to channel 8 (which is 1 some towns and 8 in others).  The he texts me back saying
April....
I knew then it was an April Fools joke.  He's a dead man!!!

The French call April 1 Poisson d'Avril, or "April Fish." French children sometimes tape a picture of a fish on the back of their schoolmates, crying "Poisson d'Avril" when the prank is discovered.

Ancient cultures, including those of the Romans and Hindus, celebrated New Year's Day on or around April 1. It closely follows the vernal equinox.  In medieval times, much of Europe celebrated March 25, the Feast of Annunciation, as the beginning of the new year.

In 1582,Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian Calendar)  to replace the old Julian Calendar. The new calendar called for New Year's Day to be celebrated Jan. 1. That year, France adopted the reformed calendar and shifted New Year's day to Jan. 1. According to a popular explanation, many people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people began to make fun of these traditionalists, sending them on "fool's errands" or trying to trick them into believing something false. Eventually, the practice spread throughout Europe.