Follow Friday: Around the Blogosphere - November 26

Nothing seems to weave a common thread among genealogy bloggers more than a special day and Thanksgiving Day is no exception. I loved reading everyone's messages about what they are thankful for, Thanksgiving traditions and stories about family members. I also enjoyed the photographs and scans of vintage Thanksgiving postcards and images that everyone shared. Since everyone's blog posts yesterday were so fantastic, I can't possibly list them all, but you can read them all (or a sampling) by visiting the RSS feed provided by the blog roll from Geneabloggers. Begin reading now.

I do, however, want to highlight a couple very poignant posts from yesterday's offerings. First, the post made by the King of the Geneabloggers, Thomas MacEntee, on Destination Austin Family, in which he lists what he is thankful for. If I were anywhere near as eloquent as Thomas, that is what I would say. Randy Seaver's post on Genea-Musings also deserves top billing alongside Thomas' for what he is thankful for. Thank you, gentlemen! You both inspire me to be a better blogger, a better genealogist and a better person.

The other blog posts I enjoyed reading this week . . .

I Won NaNoWriMo from GenWest UK - about a limited time, self directed novel writing project. What a novel idea! Write a novel in 30 days! Maybe that's what I need to jump start my long held but never fulfilled dream of writing a book. Truly an inspirational challenge for writers and wannabe writers. Apparently there is also a challenge to do a 100 page screenplay.

If you haven't been following Bill West's Great American Local Poem and Song Challenge on West in New England, now is the time to begin. Bill has challenged bloggers to post about a poem, song, place, legend or person - there have been some amazing posts contributed to this project.

Twitter users will pick up some tips on Tweet Deck from Holly MacDonald on Spark Your Interest. If you've been baffled by Twitter, using Tweet Deck might help you use this social media tool to further your research.

DearMYRTLE shared a list of genealogy blogs worth following from the National Archives and Records Administration. I encourage you to sign up to follow all of them!

Mr. MacEntee gets another tip of the hat this week with his Writing Tips for Genealogy Bloggers on Geneabloggers.

James Tanner's Genealogy's Star has become one of my must-read blogs in recent weeks. This week he provided a thought provoking piece on how privacy laws impact genealogy.

The Free Genealogy Resources blog features online resources for free maps. Great tips!

Bringing a smile to my face this week was Nancy's Addendum from Dad on the Family Tree University blog. Dad sounds like he's a lot of fun! I definitely related to his comment about the greatest human drive is the urge to edit other people's copy. Dad had to have been a newspaperman; am I right?

Lisa Wallen Logsdon of Old Stones Deciphered wrote a piece for "There's One in Every Family" Carnival of Genealogy called Boy Hero Saves Life of Abraham Lincoln. She relates a wonderful journey about taking a piece of family lore and proving that the incident really happened - and a historical marker as evidence to boot!

Where Does It Go When You're Dead is an informative post from the Honolulu County Genealogical Society. What will happen with all of those heirlooms when you're gone?

Janet Hovorka, The Chart Chick, offers valuable advice in Safety Rule No. 3 for the Genealogy Playground.

As they like to say in radio, the hits just keep on coming. And I am amazed and inspired by the writing of the geneablogging community every day.