So in my 7th grade tutee's health class, they are discussing mental illness. Oy. I'm trying to undo the whole stigma thing as well as untangle the confusion, from a health class! I told her to google my cousin, who has BPD (bipolar) and is now on the board of directors for NMHA or whatever it is called. Her notes included their url. My cousin fucking testifies before Congress on the behalf of the mental health partity act. She's 23. She kicks ass and so does her mother, who fought for her daughter's life starting at 15 when everyone else fucking failed them. Ahrg. I don't know how much detail to give a 11-12 year old besides this, and that it is an illness, not a personality failure. The teacher seems to be giving the rote info without much conviction. Ahrg.

Go you, sara!

ION, cute puppy on puppy-at-heart video: [link] from my favorite dogs-on-flickr poster: [link]

I'm so very happy for sj and Teacup Guy that I just have to x-post my congrats to her over here. YAY!

Honestly, I'm doing the best I can, but I feel like I'm inadequate for this particular job.

sarameg, you're not inadequate. You're helping. No one signed you up for this. Every bit is extra, and I believe you'll do it as well as you can.

My sister and I are 9 plays into a Scrabble clone. 1/3 of those plays were rack-clearing words.

Okay, dinner. I think I have leftovers around here somewhere.

I'm confident doing the math and science and social studies and even english. Frankly, mental health lectures are something I don't want to accidentally give bad info on. Too important to people I care about, you know? I only hope that by making the connection to my cousin, it opens a new road for the teacher (it did for a different teacher and my work.)

I think your errors will be better than some of the "right" information about mental health. Dude, at least you know it's a minefield.

Congrats on the engagement! And, hey, tow trucks can be romantic-- that's where my cousin met her husband of many years!

How far back have various people gotten with their ancestral tracking?

I've got one line back 16 generations, to a Thomas Culton who lived (b. 1480) and died (d.1524) in Beeford, Yorkshire. I have a bunch of lines that go back ten to twelve generations.

One of the best things I ever did was post my family tree online. It has generated an incredible number of contacts over the last nine years, and prompted several branches of my family to record and preserve family stories, photos, and documents that would otherwise have been lost.

One of the best things I ever did was post my family tree online.

I need to put my genealogy back online, but I can't afford another website. Maybe I can find a free hosting aimed at genealogy.