NOTE: The RootsTech 2018 recap and Expo Hall visits will be posted over the next three days.
Randy Seaver posted this week’s challenge while many of us (including Randy!) were at RootsTech 2018 in Salt Lake City, so my post is a couple of days late. However, I love geneameme type activities, so I had to complete The Rootin’ Tootin’ True Confessions of Genealogists Quiz by Mary Harrell-Sesniak on the Genealogy Bank blog for this week’s challenge.
There are fifty questions in the quiz; my answers are in blue:
Give yourself a point if you have ever…
- X Gone to sleep reciting details about ancestors?
- X Photographed more than 20 tombstones?
- X Had an ancestral chart, family photo, coat of arms, ship of immigration (or similar) professionally printed or framed?
- X Figured out your kinship to someone famous?
- X Solved a stranger’s dead-end mystery for free?
- __Considered consulting a psychic about genealogy?
- X Taken a selfie in a graveyard or hugged a tombstone?
- __Probed the ground or used a divining rod to locate a missing tombstone?
- __Written your own obituary?
- __Created a birth, marriage or death notice (obit) for an ancestor who didn’t have one?
- X Eschewed the sunshine for valuable library/research time (or met the dawn while tracing your family tree)?
- X Celebrated a birthday, marriage or commemorative event of a deceased forebear?
- X Rescued (i.e., purchased) photos, medals or similar objects of someone not related to you?
- X Reunited lost artifacts with living relatives?
- X Centered a vacation around genealogy?
- X Traveled to meet a newly discovered cousin whom you met through genealogy research?
- X Tested your DNA?
- __Paid for others to get their DNA tested?
- X Worn clothing (t-shirts, jackets, hats) emblazoned with genealogy surnames, slogans, society names, etc.?
- __Upon their leaving the nest, converted your child’s bedroom (or personal space) into a genealogy room?
- X Spent more on genealogy in a month than groceries?
- X Collected odd records in the name of genealogy (for example, taxes)?
- X Added margin notations in books (error corrections, enhanced details)?
- X Mapped a forebear’s traipsings?
- X Traveled more than 100 miles for research (library, court house)?
- X Purchased something that belonged to an ancestor or that has his/her name on it (photo albums, homesteads, lineage society pins)?
- X Participated in a reenactment related to your ancestry?
- X Made something to commemorate genealogy (historical costumes, paraphernalia, needlepoint or model of an immigrant ship, painting, genealogy quilt)?
- X Joined more than five lineage or genealogy societies?
- __Overlaid an ancestor’s photo on that of a living person to identify a doppelganger (look-alike)?
- X Downloaded, emailed or shared genealogy jokes?
- X Purchased a book with only a small reference to your ancestry (100 words)?
- X Mentioned genealogy in your will?
- X Studied old handwriting or consulted with a handwriting expert so that you can read old documents?
- X Made a gen-tote of gadgets for on-the-go projects (portable scanning, grave cleaning, flash drives, notepads, acid free gloves)?
- X Taken a handful of dirt or a stone from a place significant to your ancestry?
- X Diverted a mealtime conversation to genealogy?
- X Initiated conversations about ancestry with complete strangers (outside of a genealogy setting)?
- X Researched the genealogy of complete strangers?
- X Transcribed an old document, or more than 500 genealogy records?
- X Joined a dozen or more social media genealogy groups?
- X Created a genealogy blog or a public tree (online)?
- X Published a family history book or distributed genealogy folders amongst the relatives?
- X Programmed gen-destinations (court houses, cemeteries) into your GPS?
- X Taken genealogy courses with the intention of receiving a certificate or other form of recognition?
- X Paid to attend genealogy conferences?
- X Searched surnames on eBay?
- X Scoured thrift or resale shops for genealogical finds?
- X Trespassed in the name of genealogy?
- X Dined anywhere but your dining table to avoid disturbing a genealogy project?
Scoring
50 points – You are awarded the “Rootin’ Tootin’” Genealogy Award!
40-49 – Hopelessly Hooked Family Historian Award
30-39 – Up and Coming Genealogist Award
20-29 – You Probably Took This Quiz Out of Guilt Award
Under 20 – You Need to Find Another Hobby Award
I scored 43 points – Hopelessly Hooked Family Historian Award, which is certainly true of me!
Ha, it’s telling me I took the quiz out of quilt! Linda, it sounds like you had a fantastic time at RootsTech, listening to the experts and meeting like-minded people. How do you manage to find time to write every day, as well as carry out your own research?