From dauntless_heart:
I will assign you 3 random, unplanned topics to chat about. Here are mine:


1- Genealogy
2- Harry Potter
3- Lacuna Coil


Genealogy
Genealogy is one of my first hobbies. My Dad got me started on searching out our family's history. I was his little sidekick, going with him to various libraries and courthouses, and carrying the folders since he couldn't manage them with his cane and later his walker. I have met several other geneaologists over the years. Some of them are collectors: they want a list of names that goes back as far as possible. Others are looking for prestige. They want to trace their heritage back to royalty or a Revolutionary War patriot or former president. My favorite are the story collectors. They want to know the person behind the names and the dates. What did they look like? Where did they live? What did they do? What were their hopes and dreams? What faults did they have?

My personal favorite story is the time my Mom's family occupied the court of the county where the family lived for over a year on a case of who owned the rights to a vegetable garden. The garden was on a several great-uncle Nick's property but the well that fed the property belonged to several great-aunt Mariah, who was his sister-in-law. During the course of the trial, it came out that Mariah was married to Nick's eldest brother who died during the civil war. The rest of the family left Mariah to care for her father-in-law who later left her the entire property which made Nick furious. Mariah was mad at Nick because years ago he had been engaged to her sister and during the course of the engagement, she had a child. Nick said the baby wasn't his and broke off the engagement. The sister couldn't find anyone in the county who would marry her, and she ended up marrying a man from Charleston, WV. The trial dragged on for 18 months, three surveys had to be made of the property since both sides accused the surveyors of bias, there were 20 witnesses, and the trial had to be paused to allow for lawyers from both sides to take the deposition of the sister living in Charleston. All of this happened because Nick wouldn't give Mariah any 'maters!

Harry Potter
Harry Potter is still one of my top three fandoms (Star Trek, X Files, and Harry Potter). I love the story and the characters. For starting off as a children's story, J.K. Rowling created some of the most multidimensional and memorable characters. Snape, Lupin, McGonagall, and Dumbledore are my favorite adult characters. I love Harry, Draco, Hermione, Luna, and Neville too. Harry and I are both 1980 babies so we grew up together in a way. I stopped writing fanfiction to focus on novel writing so I miss writing fanfiction.

I'm not a huge fan of the fantastic beasts movies although I actually liked the second one better than the first which puts me at adds with most of the fandom. I tend to be a second movie kind of girl. I loved The Empire Strikes Back, and The Two Towers.

Lacuna Coil.
Lacuna Coil is an Italian goth rock/symphonic rock band. I've been a fan of the band since the early 2000s and I'm happy to say that they are still touring and keep getting more popular. They've unfortunately never hit mainstream, but they have finally come into their own as a band. Thankfully, since the demise of Evanescence, I no longer have to hear comments about how they sound just like Evanescence. I love indie groups and finding out new bands. Some of my favorites are Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and Snarky Puppy.

I always love to hear new recommendations for groups to listen to!

 Book #1 of 2013

Title:  Rasputin and the Jews:  A Reversal of History
Author:  Delin Colon

Grigory Rasputin was probably one of the most controversial figures in the court of Tsar Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia.  An uneducated Siberian peasant, he rose from his poor background to become the spiritual advisor to the Tsar and Tsarina.  The Tsarina in particular was convinced that Rasputin was a healer and that he had saved the life of the heir to the throne, Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia.  As his influence grew, so did rumors and unease about his close relationship with the imperial family.  He was accused of being a fraud and a charlatan who used his powers of hypnosis to control the Tsarina.  When World War I began, both he and the Tsarina, who had been born in Germany, were accused of being German spies.  Ultimately, Rasputin would be assassinated by a cousin of the Tsar.  The imperial family would be murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918 to prevent them from being rescued by the white army.  After the communist takeover of Russia, the imperial family and Rasputin would be vilified.  While the characters of the members of the imperial family have been reconsidered since the fall of communism, Rasputin is still considered a villain and a charlatan out to make a profit off of the vulnerable Tsarina.  In the animated film Anastasia, Rasputin is portrayed as an evil villain out to destroy the imperial family.

Rasputin and the Jews is a modern examination of the life of Rasputin.  The sources used include testimony from Rasputin's contemporaries including the diary of his Jewish secretary, Simonovitch.  These sources paint a different picture of Rasputin.  Russia in the time of Nicholas II was horrifically anti-Semitic.  Jews were second class citizens who had limitations on where they could live, what careers were acceptable, and how many Jewish students would be allowed to study at universities.  Simonovitch wrote in his memoirs that Rasputin used his influence with the Tsar to encourage him to reduce the harsh treatment of the Jewish citizens of Russia.  In fact, Rasputin's pro-Jewish stance was probably one of the reasons that Rasputin was assassinated.  Colon also addresses several other criticisms against Rasputin's character providing evidence that most of the money that he received from the imperial family was given to charity and that Rasputin's hypnosis abilities may have legitimately helped Alexei with his hemophilia.

Overall, I found this book to be an interesting reconsideration on one of the most controversial characters in Russian history.  Ultimately, it is a reminder that history is often written by the victors, and that we shouldn't always take what is written in history books as absolute fact.  The book does make the assumption that the reader is familiar with Rasputin's history with the imperial family.  For that reason, I don't think it is a good beginning book on Rasputin and the imperial family.  However, if like me, you are interested in the fall of imperial Russia, I highly recommend this book as an important contemporary examination on one of the most important figures in the court of Nicholas II.