Ancestry

[HighlyIrregular II]

Here's stuff about my neanderthal side. I prefer milk chocolate and I don't like heights but whatever.

You have more Neanderthal DNA than 64% of other customers.
Neanderthals were prehistoric humans who interbred with modern humans before disappearing around 40,000 years ago.

Summary
Scientific Details
What does this mean?

You inherited a small amount of DNA from your Neanderthal ancestors. Out of the 7,462 variants we tested, we found 248 variants in your DNA that trace back to the Neanderthals.

All together, your Neanderthal ancestry accounts for less than ~2 percent of your DNA.

You have Neanderthal DNA that may influence your traits
This report highlights associations between your Neanderthal variants and your traits, but it does not explore how other factors may be involved — such as your many other DNA variants, your environment, or your lifestyle.

You have two variants associated with
having difficulty discarding rarely-used possessions.

You have two variants associated with
being less likely to have a fear of heights.

You have one variant associated with
being less likely to have hitchhiker's thumb.

You have three variants associated with
being a better sprinter than distance runner.

You have two variants associated with
being less likely to prefer salty foods over sweet.

You have one variant associated with
being less likely to have a chin dimple.

You have one variant associated with
having more dandruff.

You have two variants associated with
eating leafy greens less frequently.

You have one variant associated with
being more likely to prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate.

You have one variant associated with
being less likely to sneeze after eating dark chocolate.

Neanderthal Facts
The word “Neanderthal” is a nod to a 17th-century German theologian named Joachim Neander and the secluded valley (Thal) he loved to visit. Nearly 200 years after Neander’s death, peculiar bones were found in the valley — initially believed to belong to a human with bone deformities (it was, in fact, a Neanderthal). It wasn’t until 1886, when two nearly complete Neanderthal skeletons were found in Belgium, that the scientific community recognized the remains for what they were — a unique flavor of human.

[starjots]

Yup, I was initially excited about having above-average amount of Neanderthal genes, but they revised me down to average.

Speaking of which, 23andme should be able to track Denosovian genes as well. Might be good for marketing to the Asian market considering that's where half the world's population lives.

[starjots]

My sister ended up with some old photographs from my grandmother via my aunt who recently died. She lent them to me and asked me to do something with them.

So I started working on my ancestry again after a five year hiatus. The best photos are being scanned and posted online in the hope that other distant relatives doing genealogy might benefit from them as well.

The best photos are from the 1920s and 1930s -- somebody back then, perhaps my grandmother, had a decent camera and knew how to compose and focus a shot. They also had their pictures taken at studios from time to time. So I thought I'd post a few here at reduced resolution and discuss why I think they are interesting.

Webb Sisters Small.jpg (166.02 KiB) Viewed 13212 times

Taken about 1922. My grandmother and her sisters. I knew all of these people as old ladies. There is something very neat about seeing people in their prime, just starting out on their life's journey. These women/girls were born and raised on a farm in Texas. But clearly, they still liked to dress up a bit.

[starjots]

Medah and Chester Small.jpg (152.24 KiB) Viewed 13209 times

Taken around 1933. The photo itself isn't dated, but I know who the people are and when they were born. Babies are especially useful here for dating.

This is my grandmother's sister in law and husband in Portales, New Mexico. This photo reminds me of classic depression-era dustbowl pictures. This photo was taken during the depression and in the dustbowl area and this is a farm. But then you see the guy's smiling and wearing a suit, they're driving a decent car and everyone looks clean. They are going to be okay.

The composition of this photo is amazing.

[Catoptric]

Medah and Chester Small.jpg

Taken around 1933. The photo itself isn't dated, but I know who the people are and when they were born. Babies are especially useful here for dating.

This is my grandmother's sister in law and husband in Portales, New Mexico. This photo reminds me of classic depression-era dustbowl pictures. This photo was taken during the depression and in the dustbowl area and this is a farm. But then you see the guy's smiling and wearing a suit, they're driving a decent car and everyone looks clean. They are going to be okay.

The composition of this photo is amazing.

I was just going to just upvote though wrote too much.

That is pretty good. The photo looks very reminiscent of that time in particular, and practically everyone who lived through it was affected by it. My grandmother would retell how of the 11 children she grew up with (in Indiana,) they dove into an outhouse trying to retrieve a half-dollar coin that was gifted to her by an uncle (who never had children of his own to gift money to.)

When my grandmother was old enough to leave Indiana to work in a grape field in California, it still seemed reminiscent of a John Steinbeck novel.

[aether]

Ancestry is wild. I recently learned that a major part of my deep ancestry is German-Norse. Being surrounded by a very different kind of culture has been tough, to say the least.
Funny enough, I came up with the name ‘ae’, aether, and it turns out that might not have been a coincidence.
I had been using æ (called ash) subconsciously, without realizing its ancestral weight.
Here are some words that use the ash (æ):

Æthelborn Noble-born Regal, Anglo-Norse
Æsirblóð Blood of the gods (Æsir) Mythic, Norse
Ættvakr Ancestry awakens Saga-style
Ætherkin One with the upper sky/spirit Spiritual, highborn
Ælfwyn Elf-joy (real Old English name) Mystical
Æscpath Path of the ash tree Druidic, rooted

"The æther remembers."
“Frá germönskum og norænkum rótum em ek kominn.”

[HighlyIrregular]

I closed my 23andMe account and blocked my half brother on my phone. Just wanted to know, not to deal.

[Senseye]

I closed my 23andMe account and blocked my half brother on my phone. Just wanted to know, not to deal.

23andMe has pretty much closed itself. Well, I guess not really, companies can come back from Chapter 11 filings.

Out of curiosity re: your half brother, why did you want to know? From the perspective of - you were curious if a person existed, but don't care they do vs just not being curious in the first place.

Unless you mean, you kind of got to know your half brother, and blocked him because you don't like him.

[HighlyIrregular]

Out of curiosity re: your half brother, why did you want to know? From the perspective of - you were curious if a person existed, but don't care they do vs just not being curious in the first place.

Unless you mean, you kind of got to know your half brother, and blocked him because you don't like him.

I'm suspicious of his motives, he was getting too close (texting me every month or two, telling me about his daughter, calling me brother at least a dozen times when I never called him brother once), asking to meet up (arranging a day then copping out, and recently - over 6 months later - not getting back to me when he said he would to arrange another day, though that could be because I ignored his telling me about his daughter's birthday and he thought I was rude, or because I told him I found a good diner in Allentown and he may have had something fancier in mind and was hoping I'd meet him somewhere closer to him though he's said by me is OK). I had delt with his attempted closeness and simply avoided texting him and underplayed his family news. I texted him pics of my apt when he asked, and last time I texted him was to tell him I left 23andMe, when I mentioned I'm not nearly as social as some of my other relatives. I don't remember initiating correspondence any other times but I probably did a couple more times within a period of years.

I let him refer me to a real estate agent when I sold an apartment so he knows I have some money from that. He suggested I make out a will. I said when I do everything's going to charity. He said he's doing that too except for some family members who need the money. Need or not, he has a wife (assuming they're still together) and a kid, so that's normal, but putting the thought of a will and him in my mind at the same time does not bode well for him.

[Senseye]

OK, so more the latter. You did actually get to know him once you found out about him. I would have been a bit puzzled if you had not had any interest at all. But I can see that just having a DNA connection does not imply a free ticket to an interpersonal relationship.