Family History Blog » Current events

Nat’l Genealogical Society Conference in SLC in 2010

admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:10:53 +0000

Great news for all you family history nuts in Utah! The National Genealogical Society will be holding its annual Family History Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah at the Salt Palace Convention Center on April 28 to May 1, 2010. The conference is expected to deliver workshops and speakers on family history work international and American. The conference will even include a mini-performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Sounds like fun to me! Anyone else planning on being there?

Is Holiday Travel Worth It?

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:08:53 +0000

Call me idealistic or old-fashioned. When I think of Christmas, I think of gathering with my family in our living room around a well-lit tree to open presents. Having Christmas at a cabin or in a hotel room just does not sound like Christmas at all. And yet I hear of families who travel to Paris or a tropical resort to celebrate the holidays. Instead of gathering around the family dinner table, they go to a restaurant somewhere. While the thought of warmer weather does sound nice, celebrating anywhere but at home does not sound like Christmas.

Take make matters worse, this usually requires holiday travel. If it requires flying, they are in for a hearty dose of lines, delays, and stress- enough to dampen even the most robust holiday spirit.

So what do you think? Are you okay with travelling to exotic locales to celebrate the holidays? Or would you rather just stay put at home sweet home with your loved ones and a roaring fire?

The Road a Tribute to Family Bonds

admin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:53:07 +0000

Cormac McCarthy’s haunting novel The Road gets the Hollywood treatment this week. For those unfamiliar with the Pulitzer-prize winner and Oprah’s Book Club selection (don’t hold that against it), it tells the story of a father and son roaming the remains of North America after an unexplained cataclysm turns everything to sooty ash. The story is as grin as it sounds and then some. Some of the material is hard to stomach but this isn’t Mad Max or Terminator. At its beating heart, this is a story about the sustaining power of love, especially the love of parent and child.

The film, starring Viggo Mortensen and Robert Duvall, has earned an R rating, likely because its depictions of cannibalism, which is constantly looming presence in the book. This may turn off many viewers and it’s a shame really. Nothing in the book warranted a R; even the most gruesome details were only fleetingly mentioned. Unfortunately, this means many parents will not watch this film with their children. Fortunately, there is always the book. And, as everyone says, the book is usually better than the movie.

I give The Road my highest recommendation. The prose is incredible. The arc of the relationship between the Man and the Boy is both epic and incredibly intimate. More importantly, The Road places family at the very center of man’s survival. It highlights the co-dependent relationship between parent and child- child needs parent for physical succor, but parent needs child for salvation. This book easily made my top 5 of all time list.

So, if you’re willing to brave the R rating, the story and the essence may still be intact, but visually you may get more than you bargained for. If you’d rather just read the book, I guarantee you a beautiful, sobering, exciting, and thought-provoking read.