Talk 20 Slides 16-20

Wow, did life get busy. Shortly after my talk my Daddy passed away. And, as I felt things slowing down from all that comes with that we had the opportunity to purchase a downtown building after a 2+ year search. So, here we are in July!

Let's wrap up the slides.

Slide 16: Eastside Cemetery & Talking Tombstones

Eastside Cemetery is also the location for Talking Tombstones, an annual fundraiser of the Hutchinson Theatre Guild. Since 2007 actors have portrayed the lives of over 50 people buried at Eastside. Many of them were prominent citizens responsible for the development of our city.

Others were stories that needed to be remembered like the murder of the 5 Moore children and Laura Fife, a young black girl that fell to her death from the roller coaster in Riverside Park, present day Carey Park.  

Mark your calendars for October 24^th for the 9^th annual Talking Tombstones and support your local theatre guild.

Slide 17: Cemetery Sign Project

In 2009 I coordinated a project for the Reno Co Genealogical Society to place signs at 17 cemeteries in the county that did not have one. Through a grant from Honoring Our Ancestors and fundraising efforts we were able to complete the project.

The signs were installed by cemetery caretakers and members of our genealogical society, Dwayne & Vivian Gobin and Jay and Jeannie Moore.

This was an important project, not only to help researchers find a cemetery, but especially for those burials located in rural and remote locations, including fields that are farmed around them.

The Hutchinson News and The Clarion helped us share our project with the community.

Slide 18: Cemetery Bookshelf  
I have a small library of books that offer informational, educational and entertaining cemetery resources, including several on signs and symbolism.

Among my favorites are:Stories in Stone, Forever Dixie, Going Out in Style by Douglas Keister; Soul in the Stone, Cemetery Art from America’s Heartland by John Gary Brown;  And books about some of the wonderful cemeteries I’ve visited like Bonaventure in Savannah GA that was featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. And, Bellfontaine in St. Louis, as one book notes is filled with Movers, shakers and scalawags. 

Slide 19: Love in the cemetery
We can find much more than death in the cemetery. Sometimes we find love. Jon is a civil war re-enactor and Kristen was a reporter for the Hutchinson News when they met at Eastside Cemetery.

It was during a headstone dedication for John Crooms, a civil war veteran born into slavery in Kentucky and died a free man in Hutchinson in 1922.

Jon & Kristen are getting married this Spring.

Slide 20: Where to find me
To date I have photographed over 360 cemeteries across 13 states, that total thousands of photographs. I share bits and pieces on my blogs, Digital Cemetery Walk  and Eastside Cemetery while I continue to add to my collection of photographs, maps, brochures, books, interment lists and anything else cemetery related.

I almost started my talk with “My name is Gale and I collect dead people.” Instead, I’ll leave you with this:

Cemeteries offer an afternoon of discovery and History remembers the famous-----genealogy remembers everyone.

Social Media Changes

A while back I felt a social media overload and deleted my Google+ account. I couldn't find a way to make it work. I think I've figured out how I can now separate the two things I blog/do the most: genealogy/cemeteries and photography.

I officially launched my photography business this year after I spent last year preparing on the business side while stepping down, letting go and resigning from many things in order to make more time for fewer tasks, with big hopes of doing a better job on each. I still haven't decided if my Piney Woods & Prairie Winds genealogy blog will come out of hibernation or not.

So, with all of that said here is where I'm active these days:

• Digital Cemetery Walk {you are here}
• Eastside Cemetery: Blog for my "pay it forward" project, researching the oldest cemetery in our city.
• Gale Wall: Blog where I share what doesn't fit anywhere else... recipe and misc photos.
• Gale Wall Photography: My business - Blog, Facebook and G+ Page.

Many of you were in my G+ circles and had me in your circles. Please add me again. Thanks!

Now, I think I've figured out my Google Reader dilemma. For now I've chosen Feedly for my PC and Android. It's on my iPad but I'll see if my Feeddler app continues to work.

No spam here....please

Blogger is doing a great job in blocking spam posts. I received the email notification on my phone and was happy to find that each time they did not make it to my blog comments.

Thank you, Blogger!

Blogiversary

Happy Birthday to me!

Today marks four years I have been sharing my cemetery walks with you. Thanks for joining me on the journey.

Now, who wants cake?

Blog Stats

Why do the blog stats report like they do? These are the ones provided by Blogger that were activated in May 2009.

Specifically the keywords shown when displaying by:

Now: Presuming that exact moment I selected "now"
Day: Feb 6 to Feb 7
Week: Jan 31 to Feb 7
Month: Jan 8 to Feb 6
All Time: May 2009 to Feb 2012

These keywords were searched and a link to my blog was clicked on.

Now

Day

Week
Why isn't all from Day here in the Week?
Who is searching for ME?

Month
Why isn't others from week here in Month?

All time
Why doesn't it have ALL of the others?
Sure wish I could select a time-frame!

Most of these I can see why a link to my blog was provided since I can recall blogging about the subject.

I need to go back and pay more attention to the stats provided by Site meter, which has been installed much longer than the Blogger stats.

And, I sure would love for those that landed on my blog to leave a comment. Many times I have more information than what is posted.

Organizing

Circle Me!
Cemetery/Genealogy
Photography

I posted this earlier on my G+ stream.

Raise your hand if you have more than one blog.

I do! I blog about cemeteries, genealogy and photography. To organize myself online I decided to create a master blog to refer others to and let them decide which of my blogs they want to read. It also gives me a place to share something that isn't specific to my other blogs.

I created a QR code for the master blog [and placed it on my other blogs]. I plan to have a card made with this code, my email and cell phone number. Now it will be easy to share how to find me.

With the ease of creating QR codes I have some other ideas...more on that later.

Here is where I made my code: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Stop by and see what I'm talking about!

Oh, I downloaded my reader "Scan" for free from the app store for my iPad. When I upgrade my BlackBerry to Android this weekend I'll find a reader for it.

~cross-posting on my blogs~

No smart phone with a QR reader? Click Here

He Understands!

Last night I realized my son does understand my love of cemeteries when I received this short email:

"Look what I found not too far from post"

 I giggled as I replied "Ha ha. Been there. Keep looking."

What he didn't know was that during our visit in May, when he returned from Afghanistan, I had to find something to fill those hours he was busy and I too found [and quickly visited] this cemetery just a few miles outside of Ft. Campbell.

Now, this realization probably won't prevent future "eye rolls" but you never know, because hey, I recently discovered that my husband subscribes to this blog and reads my posts! There may be hope for my guys yet.

Aged 500

I'm aged 500..........500 posts that is!

I started this blog in September 2008. It was my way of sharing the interesting cemeteries and headstones I find on my cemetery walks. I never would have guessed it would lead to being voted as a best genealogy blog for 2011 by Family Tree Magazine readers.


Crawford Cemetery

Here's hoping you'll remember me for the next 500!

Confirmed: Nuts!

Most of you that read my cemetery blog are also genealogists. Well, I've done it. What you ask? Put my own genealogy research back at the top of the list. I have been involved in other things for too many years and I haven't done much research.

I have found many ancestors through the census, wills and dusty old marriage books. I know that many others are waiting to be discovered.

I'm starting with moving my data, the hard way, to RootsMagic, which I've had sitting quietly on my computer for too long.

I plan to share this on a new blog: Piney Woods & Prairie Winds

Piney Woods & Prairie Winds: Southern Girl Marries Midwestern Boy

There isn't much there, yet. I do have a list of the direct ancestors that will make an appearance. Since it's been a while that my files have been opened and used it will be like rediscovering the treasures I've filed away in the past.

I hope you'll stop by and visit me as I continue my journey.

What do you do?

I follow a lot of blogs. And on different subjects like: cemeteries, photography, genealogy, cooking, etc. I wonder if anyone ever looks through my list and finds one with an interesting name and clicks on it? Then I wonder what they think when they land on one, after another, that is stale and hasn't had a new post in a very long time. Do they bother with many more? Isn't this hurting those hidden jewels on my list that post and share good things on a regular basis?

I'm sure most people start blogs with good intentions only to let it fade to memory. A good example is when The Graveyard Rabbit Association hit the web and new blogs were popping up daily. Sadly, many of those blogs haven't had updates in a long, long time. I'm not picking on anyone, just using this group as an example since I'm posting this on my own cemetery blog. We all go through dry spells or life happens, like what is going on with my daddy's health that requires a lot of my time.

So, is it time to do some blog following cleaning? I think so. Not a fun task to add to my to-do list. But I think it will better serve me and others.

And, that leads me to wonder...do I follow your blog? If not, tell me so I can correct that. I appreciate each and every one of you that take time to read what I share.

What do you do, if anything, about your blog following list?

This is the face of genealogy.

Posting at the request of Geneabloggers.

Jessie Nell Howard Snell - My Grandma
Sara Estelle Snell Stafford - My Mama
Both are loved and missed.

You can read about the purpose of this post HERE.

That was weird

Not sure what happened with two of my blogs. I was working on posts, signed in, when I got a message those blogs didn't exist anymore. What? Huh? Sure they do.

I got a Google screen which gave me a message about suspicious activity and to change my password.
Anyone else have something weird like this happen? I've never had a virus and freaked. All appears okay now. Let's hope so.

Family Tree Magazine 2011 Best Genealogy Blogs

I had a great start to my weekend. My husband came home from being out of town and took me to dinner. I had a facebook chat with my son. We are so excited that he returns home from Afghanistan in less than two weeks. And in the mail was the new issue of Family Tree Magazine. My blog is on page 23 as one of the 2011 best genealogy blogs for the cemetery category. I never would have guessed back in 2008 when I created my blog that it would find itself highlighted in my favorite genealogy magazine. It really is an honor. There was also an article on the FTM website about the 40 best genealogy blogs.

Thank you to everyone that voted for me. If you are visiting my blog because you found it listed in the magazine please leave me a note in the comments section so I will know that you stopped by. I hope you enjoy your visit here and will sign up to follow me as I share interesting headstones and cemeteries from my cemetery walks.

Stop by the Family Tree Magazine site where you will find many genealogy tools!

Blogger Dynamic Views

Blogger is offering 5 dynamic views for our blogs:

• Mosaic  
• Flipcard  
• Timeslide  
• Sidebar  
• Snapshot

If you have the correct settings you can see your blog in 5 new views by adding the word view to the end of your url. Example: digitalcemeterywalk.blogspot.com/view

I looked at mine and while they are new and pretty, they don't include any of my sidebar items. There is a note in one post that advertising and other options will be added in the future.

Try it out on your blog and let me know what you think. Sidebar and Snapshot were the two I liked the best.

Learn more here:

• Link 1
• Link 2  
• Link 3

EDIT:

I thought I'd show you 2 screen captures of this blog in Sidebar and Snapshot. Once you add the word view to the end of your url the new view will have a drop down menu [top right] where you can change and see all 5 views.

Other additions:

"...soon be able to customize and use for your blog..." is what the announcement said. So some people may want to change the overall appearance and layout of their blog. I guess it really depends on what you blog about and how it would be viewed in the new option.

Here is my wish list for Blogger:

Enable us to move all blogs under one sign-in / dashboard. I have 4 blogs - 2 on each sign-in / email.

Able to separate the blogs we follow, somehow. I have a genealogy / cemetery blog and follow blogs like that. I have a photo blog and follow blogs like it as well. My dashboard jumbles them all together.

Asking too much?

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog followers. I hope you'll stop by often and take a cemetery walk with me.

2011 Family Tree Magazine 40 Best Genealogy Blogs

Woo hoo! I made the list. Thank you to everyone that voted for me and for stopping by to take a cemetery walk with me.

You can read all about it HERE!


Edit:
At the time of the vote I was also the managing editor of the Graveyard Rabbits Online Journal. I recently retired from that position.

A snipped portion of the announcement.

Change

I don't make new year's resolutions. I did, however, make myself a promise and that was too simplify my life in the coming year. Life and health demand change. To do that required many hard decisions and letting go. Not all were genealogy or cemetery related, but a few were.

I have resigned as the editor for the Graveyard Rabbit Association Online Journal. I enjoyed interacting with others that share an interest in cemeteries. I do plan to continue to author the column "Photo Monument" as well as this blog.

Are you the next GYR online editor? If you have an interest drop footnoteMaven a note.

I'm looking forward to what this year holds for me. Most importantly, my son returning home from Afghanistan, safely.

PFC Rodney Clayton Wall
101st Airborne - Afghanistan

As a creature of habit...change can be hard. But I think I'm up to it.

Thank you new followers

Thank you to my new followers. I appreciate you spending a little time with me.

Last Day To Vote

Click on the FTM badge above to go to the voting form.
My blog is in section 2.

Thank you to everyone that voted for me. [fingers and toes crossed!]

Remember to vote for me and others

Remember to vote in the 2011 Family Tree Magazine top 40.
My blog was nominated in the cemetery category in section 2.

Details on this post.

Thanks!
Gale