How you can tell a genealogist from someone who's not interested in family history? The genealogist is the one unconsciously turning her head and slowing down when driving by a cemetery. We just can't help it. On a cross-county trip, my husband can tell what direction we're going by where the sun is. I can tell by looking at a cemetery (I'll explain how later).

Police officers have eyed me warily because I spend a lot of time hanging out in cemeteries, wearing jeans and a black T-shirt emblazoned with a bright, white skull with wings. Though the police may be skeptical, gang members adore me and have offered me honorary membership. I'm actually wearing a 17th-century winged death's head, a popular piece of art carved on gravestones back then, but I just know that one of these days I'm going to be “hauled downtown” for questioning.