• Name
• This date
• Your current age
• Address
• City/State
• Birthday
• Birthplace
• What are you most thankful for this year?
• Favorite color
• Favorite food
• Foods that are definitely not your favorite
• Favorite song or songs
• Favorite band/musician or singer
• Favorite book
• Favorite television program
• Favorite movie
• Favorite movie star/celebrity
• Favorite sport
• Favorite subject in school
• Favorite recess game
• Favorite place I’ve been
• Where I dream of going one day
• Favorite hobby
• Favorite pet
• Favorite place to hang out
• Favorite possession
• Favorite hero/heroine (person I admire )
• Favorite dream
• The best thing I ever learned was…
• Who were you named for (first name and/or middle name)?
• Favorite vacation memory
• Favorite bedtime story
• What collections do you have?
• To this day, what do you consider your most important achievement?
• Name an important award or honor that you received.

Did we miss anything you think we should ask? Feel free to contribute to the list in the comments section below.

We’ve also added a better formatted version of this questionnaire to the Learning Center, but unfortunately, the printer-friendly function isn’t acting very “friendly.” (a.k.a., It’s busted.) But you can copy/paste it into a word processor, and then add or subtract questions, reformat, and customize it for your family. Click here to access our not-so-printer-friendly version. ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving!
Juliana and Lou

I got an interesting e-mail this morning and I thought I’d throw it out there for discussion. It brings up a very interesting and valid concern for all of us as we try to preserve the story of our families. Here’s what Jana had to say:

My adult children often say, “I’m blogging this!”  You know, we genealogists cherish old diaries, letters, family bibles, talking 8 mm film and photos and the like.  They all contain such useful information of a life lived.  I have old color slides and old video tapes that I need to digitize. 

But,  I wonder how we are going to incorporate e-mail, Facebook, My Space, Digg, the contents of iTunes or a MP3 player and countless other things, into our childrens’ growing electronic genealogy? Isn’t that part of their lives–”the Dash between the dates?” We need a magic, dynamic hyper-link!  

Let me give you an example. I have a daughter-in-law, a war widow from this current war, that blogged her courtship with her first husband–and so did he!  There was a gap of about two years, while she mourned, without any mention of his death in 2004 and then the blogging resumed when my middle son began dating her. It’s a part of her life, her recent past.  And for me, it is intertwined with my Family.  Not only is she my daughter-in-law, her late husband was my youngest son’s best friend–and my Grandson is named after him!  

Electronic records…it’s something to think about….and something that needs to be resolved.

Jana Wirch-Wright

So how are you preserving your family’s “electronic diaries” and memorabilia? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Please post your ideas in the comments section.

Sorry for the blog silence, but I’ve been trying to catch up after a lovely week off of work. We were blessed with some great weather, and my daughter and I took a trip to Chicago to take in the aquarium and meet my husband for dinner.

While I was out, Megan sent me a heads up that some interviews Chris Haley did on RootsTelevision with some of the youngest members of our genealogical community at this year’s FGS Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Click here to view the interviews.

It’s really wonderful to see kids getting involved at such a young age. My daughter has been taking an interest and at that same conference got involved with the FGS youth organization, Future Genealogists. With kids like these taking an interest at an early age, the future of genealogy is looking very bright!

Last week many of you wrote and expressed an interest in the twenty questions Kim mentioned in her quick tip regarding sending questionnaires to family members. She was kind enough to share it with us (Thanks Kim!) and here they are: 

1. What is your full name, date of birth, and place of birth?
(Include city, county, state, and country)

2. Where do you live now? (City/State) How long have you lived there? (more…)

Got a story to tell? That’s what the StoryCorps wants to hear. It’s a national oral history project started by award winning radio producer Dave Isay.  Almost three years ago, Isay built a booth in Grand Central Terminal in New York with the aim to interview anyone and everyone. Now you can stop being nervous about interviewing Great-Grandma Ethel. The StoryCorps will help you. It’s a great way to keep those kids from driving you crazy on school vacation. What are you waiting for?

If you live near a StoryCorp booth or one of their mobile trailers is in your area then make a reservation and stop by with your Granny to see how easy it is. Go to their website www.storycorps.net, click on Participate, followed by Record an Interview and set up an appointment. In February StoryCorps began a six month 10 city tour. A list of cities being visited by their mobile studio is on their website. More than 5, 000 people have participated in the tour thus far. That’s a lot of tales. (more…)

by Megan Smolenyak

Yes, I know – you’re too busy to squander time on the internet, but give yourself a few minutes off to play with your name at Behind the Name.  It’s oddly fascinating.  Of course, we’re all interested in our own names, but who knew there was so much to learn about them and so many ways to tinker with them? (more…)

by Megan Smolenyak

The last time I wished I were an 11-year-old boy was — well, never.   But right now, I’d like to swap places with one.  Why?  Free DNA testing.  I’m not kidding.

ScoutMedia
In one of the more unusual arrangements I’ve heard of, free Y-DNA testing is being offered for active Boys Scouts of America.  To learn more, go to ScoutMedia (http://www.scoutmedia.org/) and click on the “free DNA/genealogy test” link toward the upper, left-hand corner.  There you’ll be taken to a page explaining the SMGF/BSA Participation Special.  It’s a multi-step process, but will save the usual $100-$230 for a mid-range test (that is, one with 20-some-odd markers). (more…)