Here it is, February. By putting the snazzy Family History Writing Challenge badge in my sidebar, I committed to taking part in the genealogy marathon that the Armchair Genealogist is hosting, starting today.
Damn you, Armchair Genealogist for making that badge so snazzy that I coveted it!
The Preemptive Kvetch
What was I thinking? February is my busiest month, with a huge freelance writing/editing project due and a commitment to be on the culinary committee of the Tucson Festival of Books, which takes place in March. It’s also the month of Tucson’s huge Gem and Mineral Show and I rented out my guest room to one of the vendors. Having a semi-stranger in my house will require me to get dressed every day rather than lounging around in my bathrobe. I also need to keep my home from falling into complete squalor.
Feeling sorry for me yet? Or have I used up my sympathy quota in self pity?
Why This Challenge Is Good for Me
Coveting badges and kvetching aside, I know this is good for me. I am a perfectionist, an inveterate self-editor and tinkerer. But when it comes to meeting a daily word count, the perfect is the enemy of the good. I like being forced to put up 350 less-than-perfect words every day.
It will also force me to focus, as I promised in my New Year’s goals.
The Plan
I am going to explore the lives of Ezriel Kornmehl and Viktor Kornmehl, the two family members I introduced in the post The Doktors Kornmehl & Professor Freud. I’ll discuss the methods being used to investigate them, the brick walls I’m encountering, perhaps create a time line…. I imagine griping will be involved.
I’d like to concentrate on words. Finding pictures takes a long time and this is a writing, rather than a picture-posting, challenge. That said, today I have included a photo of Dr. Jill Leibman Kornmehl, genealogy detective extraordinaire and the source of much of the information I am going to be posting. Just so you’ll have a visual for future reference.
Alright Edie, I see the self-sabotaging setting in all ready!! And I must say the badge looks divine on your blog! Looking forward to reading about Dr.Liebman. Write on!
Ha — Self-sabotage is part of my writing process! Seriously, thank you for hosting this challenge, Lynn. I’m hoping it’ll get me to write a little more freely.
Good for you! I have failed almost every challenge I started this year so I wish you much better luck. Hopefully February will prove to be more focused and productive for us all.
Thanks, Kristine! And here’s to a productive February for you too!
I assume you have Jill’s Kormehl family tree contribution to http://www.turteltaub.com. Her husband and I are distant cousins and grew up together in Buffalo. I am connected because Mindl Kornmehl married Bernard Turteltaub presumably in Tarnow. How can I get a copy of Leonard Schneider’s book.
Abe, welcome! Did you also know Arthur Aronoff, who found Bernie Kornmehl through this blog too?
Getting hold of Leonard Schneider’s book is the $10,000 question. There are no copies left. I have not been able to get hold of one either. We are trying to convince him to do a new version, but he probably doesn’t want to go through this huge undertaking again. But perhaps you can get him to email you a copy of the family tree. I’ll contact you directly with his information.