Creekside Chatter

Nevertheless, in November 1896, two boys bicycling on the South Beach (present-day St. Augustine Beach) observed the carcass of a sea monster washing ashore. It was reported to Dr. Dewitt Webb of the St. Augustine Historical Society who undertook an investigation. The monster was described by a South Beach hotelier:

“The head is as large as an ordinary flour barrel, and has the shape of a sea lion head. The neck, if the creature may be said to have a neck, is of the same diameter as the body. The mouth is on the underside of the head and is protected by two tentacle tubes about eight inches in diameter and about 30 feet long. These tubes resemble an elephant’s trunk and obviously were used to clutch in a sucker like fashion any object within their reach.

“Another tube or tentacle of the same dimensions stands out on the top of the head. Two others, one on each side, protrude from beyond the monster’s neck, and extend fully 15 feet along the body and beyond the tail. The tail, which is separated and jagged with cutting points for several feet, is flanked with two more tentacles of the same dimensions as the others and 30 feet long. The eyes are under the back of the mouth instead of over it.”

At first, it was believed merely to be the head of a sperm whale. Later it was proclaimed by Yale Professor Addison Emory Verill to be a new species of giant octopus which the professor proceeded to name after himself even though he had never viewed it.
Later investigations have been undertaken by learned individuals from the University of Florida. Some have confirmed that it was a giant octopus; others and the most recent saying that it was a very large piece of whale blubber with a portion of the whale hide still affixed.

Thus, the mystery remains.

The Google gadget for WorldCat is back! If you have a Google account, add the updated Google gadget for WorldCat to your iGoogle page.

There are some things in nature that strongly represent motherhood to me, such as sweet little nests and cute green pea pods. Like my wire bird nests, I also wanted to create a unique pendant of peas. The pea part was easy, I’d simply use beads strung onto a headpin and the pod topped off with a bead cap.

Adorable! Would you believe she made it from an old shoe? Cathe has a blog full of gorgeous designs and delightful ideas.

The best part of file-syncing app Dropbox is its ubiquity: files are on your computer and on the web. If this isn’t enough for you be sure to check out SendToDropbox, a simple web app that allows you to email any file and have it end up in your Dropbox.

Here’s how it works: you authorize Send To Dropbox to interact with your Dropbox account and you are given a unique email address. Any attachment sent to this unique email address is automatically added to your Dropbox.

I love Dropbox and with tools like this it only gets better!

The Department of Veterans Affairs is offering bronze medallions to attach to existing, privately purchased headstones or markers, signifying a deceased's status as a veteran. The new item can be furnished instead of a traditional government headstone or marker for veterans whose death occurred on or after Nov. 1, 1990, and whose grave in a private cemetery is marked with a privately purchased headstone or marker. Next of kin will receive the medallion along with a kit. For more information on VA-furnished headstones, markers and medallions, visit the VA website. Instructions on how to apply for a medallion are on the VA website at www.cem.va.gov/hm_hm.asp. Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from the VA website at www.cem.va.gov or by calling VA regional offices toll-free at 1-800-827-1000.

Improvements include brightness control, two-page landscape view and the ability to delete samples. They have made "improvements" to reading periodicals, but I haven't checked that out yet. This is turning into a very nice reader.

Photo courtesy of McLean family

The plane (bottom) of Navy Lt. Jeff McLean is refueled over Pakistan by the plane of his wife of one year, Christine McLean, whom he has not seen in six months. The photograph was taken by his wingman. The refueling rendezvous was a chance encounter on Jeff’s final mission.

This is a great story! Thanks to Blackfive (http://blackfive.net) for passing it on.

A loved one dies. You get things under control by notifying family and friends, working with a funeral home for the physical remains, and generally getting everything done that needs to get done. You may even get the obituary taken care of for the newspaper, if you still have a local newspaper. But one thing that our culture hasn’t really figured out yet is how to celebrate a past life online. At some point soon we’ll start having an awful lot of dead people around. I’m very sure Google and other search engines will start to filter for deceased people search. It won’t be long at at until we have way more dead people online than live people online.

Legacy.com has partnerships with newspapers to turn obituaries into online sites to commemorate the deceased, but they are more than a little cheesy in their cash extraction procedures. Other services like venture backed Respectance is less aggressive about getting money out of loved ones, but the site design is very dated and there’s still that leave-a-bad-taste-in-your-mouth feeling.

1000Memories launches today, a new service funded by Y Combinator that is trying to bring some dignity to the deceased online. There’s a big focus on design at 1000Memories. Here’s an example site, the great uncle of one of the founders.

Visitors are first presented with a big picture of the deceased, presumably that one image that best captured his soul and personality. From there it’s easy to navigate to your next step as a reader, and sign a guest book. You can also invite others to the page at that time.

But what makes each site really rich are the stories and pictures that loved ones add to the site. Some are silly. Others rip tears from your eyes. But it helps fill out the picture of a man, and it helps family and friends remember that man more richly.

As a family historian, I would love to see a better way to share the life of a loved on with family and friends near and far. Michael Arrington's article describes a site with a lot of promise. It's worth a closer look.