pepper | (no subject)

There's nothing quite like coming back from a weekend AFI to find a whole bunch of new reviews on an old story. *smooches

supplyship for reccing me*

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Went to visit my mum in Worcester this weekend. I love travelling by train (well, by daylight, anyhow: it's a bit boring when all you can see out the window is the reflection of the carriage). There are lots of craft shops in Worcester, and I'm jealous - there's remarkably few in Oxford. There also seems to be a lot of shops that... well, I've never seen such a concentration of pink frills, floral patterns, and aprons with pictures of cupcakes printed on them. The unicorns.... oh god, the unicorns...

Whilst I was there, I learnt a lot about my mum's side of the family - my aunt has been seriously researching the family tree, visiting distant cousins, joining websites, looking in... wherever it is you look for this information. She's managed to trace people as far back as the 15th century, which... wow. Mostly names and dates, but some interesting details, some of it only previously held in the memories of elderly relatives. Lots of deaths from silicosis (the "miner's disease" - lungs destroyed by breathing in coal dust - lots of Welsh miners in my family) and TB. Some awesome names, such as Adolphus and Gwenllian. Occupations included a governess, a scattering of clergymen, a puddler (don't ask me, I've no idea either), a wheelwright, a couple who ran a fish and chip shop in Liverpool, and a Special Envoy to Copenhagen, who died childless and left all his money to Cambridge University, but said in his will that if any heirs did subsequently appear, they were to receive one shilling. Nice guy.

I wish someone would get it into their head to research my dad's side of the family. Not me, right now: I have far too many projects on the go. It'd probably be very difficult, though - they were mostly farmworkers, as far as I know, and too poor to have gravestones. They won't have made much of a ripple in recorded history.

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I want to say something about the recent, serious, important, and occasionally mindbogglingly stupid discussions on race and othering and writing and all that, but really, I don't think I have anything to add. I'm reading, and wincing when I recognise things that I do and don't do. I'm trying to listen and learn. Great love to

rydra_wong for amazing services to humanity in gathering links.

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I have only heard Puddling used in a couple of situations. One is to do with Iron and Steel working ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puddling_furnace#Puddling_furnace

and then there is the one used when making ponds and canals where you use clay to waterproof them ...

http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/section/2443

(this was before waterproof linings of plastic were made of course!)

Ah - well, could be either of those, I guess. It was someone... late 19th /early 20th century, I think he was. I forget exactly.

The unicorns.... oh god, the unicorns... *chortles* Ahem... you don't wanna know what went through my mind there.....really... ^_~

...Yes, I'm pretty sure I don't. ;D

lol Twilight fanfic. All I'm gonna say ^_~

Geneology can be quite interesting! My grandpa on my dad's side was really interested in tracing his and my grandma's ancestry - I think they found out where in Germany/Austria/Czech Republic most of their predecessors lived before they came to America. And apparently, though this is only substantiated by a letter at this point, I'm distantly related to the composer Dvořák :D

Oh, cool - and how appropriate for you! My most famous relative seems to be Special Envoy guy (although A is first-cousin-two-or-three-times-removed to a playwright whose work I greatly admire, so I can marry him for his connections *g*). I do find geneology interesting - I wish I had the time or energy to devote to researching my family properly, but it's that or fandom. :D

*lol* Yes, I can definitely say I was pleased to find out that I am most likely related to a super awesome composer :D For the most part, though, my relatives were all farmers (at least on my dad's side). That's really cool about the playwright relatedness though!

If you step back and think about it, genealogy is kinda like a real-life version of fandom... O_o

Ooooh. I like traveling by train, too, although we don't do that much around here. *g* And family history is cool! I kinda think sometimes that it would be cool to trace some of mine, but never get past asking my mom, who says she'll "get me what she's already done" someday. Hee.

Also: Unicorns have been proven to lead to ponies! Use caution!

I'd love to travel further by train, but you can get from one end of the country to the other in half a day or less (well... depending on train services, that is). They're too damn fast! I was researching for a fic I never finished, once, and decided I'd love to travel on what I think is called the Crescent route - down the east coast from New York to somewhere in Mississippi, I think it was. Something like that.

And, yes, these definitely looked like they might be the Ponies sparkly friends. Ugh.

Hee, bet you were surprised when you looked at your email inbox! :D *smooches back*

I love traveling *your* country by train; I found it to be a remarkably easy to use system. And as you say, the daylight views are wonderful, especially when you get out into the countryside. Glad you had fun in Worcester (though the unicorns sound um, a bit scary)!

bet you were surprised when you looked at your email inbox!

I'm glad someone mentioned where it was from, or I'd have been left wondering who'd been saying nice things about me. *g*

Yeah, the trains here are pretty good, mostly (well, they can be HORRIBLE, but I think it's relative). The journey between Oxford and Worcester goes through some gorgeous scenery - you forget how much of the UK is countryside until you travel by train. I always want to get out and go have a walk. :)

I am a direct decendant of John Cleland who wrote Fanny Hill, a book whose importation here in the States was the subject of a well-known obscenity case. I think of him everytime I fail spectacularly in trying to write porn.