Monday, August 30, 2021

And This is the World

 

Yeah, I’m always busy, blah, blah, blah. But boy has it been one freakin’ crazy ride for quite a while now. Life is weird and wonderful. To celebrate this fact, I thought I would be a little more sharing of what I’ve been up to since 2018, and what I’m about to write may seem unbelievable, but it’s all true, and there are plenty of people who were there to prove it …

2018: During this year, I was being stalked by not one, but multiple psychopaths. I did not know these people, but they decided they were going to continually case out my property, live in my bushes, and overall try to terrify me. They even pinned a princess barbie doll to my tree with a dirty ol’ butcher knife.

Now, I’m a tough bitch most of the time, and I’ve had a plethora of stalkers, psychopaths, hills-have-eyes dessert hillbilly run-ins, and so much more! Needless to say, if it can happen to someone, it’s pretty much happened to me (my BFF claims we have a “weirdo anntenea”).

That’s just the normal stuff, the paranormal has been off the charts too. So, as 2018 progressed, I had someone trying to get in my window at night several times, people with knives lurking around my place at the witching hour, and eventually someone broke in and stole stuff. However, this person must have been scared off during the pillaging because I found most of my possessions in the bushes. I only ended up losing 1 camera, my drone, some flashlights, and a trail camera. The only thing I haven’t replaced is the drone.

I’ve lived most of my life alone, because technically I’m an introvert and like it like that (my friends disagree). But after all that happened, I was ready to get my family up here, which I’d been trying to do for quite a while anyway. You get to a certain age, and family becomes more important.

2019: My family moved up, we stayed in my little two-bedroom place until we found a new home, and of course, covid hit. I was trying to put together a crew to go filming for some projects, but circumstances like the above just put a damper on everything. My family and I bought a house, in a safe place, with lots of close neighbors. I finally got to de-stress.

2020: Spent a lot of time remodeling, getting settled into new place, and keeping away from the covid crowds. I’m fortunate that my job lets me work from home, which also lets me keep an eye on my mom, who is in her late 70s.

Toward the summertime, covid restrictions let up a little, and my brother, niece, and I went to the newly reopened forests. If you have heard of David Paulides, then you are aware of the Missing 411, and the term POS (point of separation). Well, I was lagging on a trail, and almost became one of those 411. Something huge and determined tried to knab me off and away. I’m not pulling your leg—my brother and niece were there. Bigfoot must like boobs. Anyway, I’m not going into details about it. If you want to hear my explanation of what happened, you can become a patreon over at Into The Fray Radio—Shannon LeGro’s podcast, where I tell it on episode 299. Shannon is a cool person too and I highly recommend her podcast for those into the paranormal. Will experiences like these keep me out of the woods? No, sir, it won’t.

2021: Still in covid lockdown-ish. I just got my second vaccine shot, which means I got out a little more. I’ve been wearing my mask in public, because to be honest, I don’t have much faith in other people’s choices/arrogance.

I do have cryptid observation trips planned, but mostly I just want to go camping. Trying to get people coordinated to go out in the woods at night to film is like bashing my head against a stone wall. I’ve tried several times now, and it’s just not happening, what with covid and what seems to be too many personal ulterior motives on other people’s agendas, I’m just not going in that direction until the stars align more. I’ve already spent too much money and energy trying to wrangle people together.

It’s time to get back to my core essence. What is this you may ask (or maybe not)? Well, it’s writing horror. I’ve currently got three feature length screenplays I’m working on and several short screenplays. The problem is, I keep writing a little on one, then go to the next, then deviate to something else. It’s a problem. It means no script is done yet, just all in stasis and various states of being completed. I suppose that means my focus in 2022 is to get at least one feature and one short completed, but really, I need to push to get them all completed and out into the world.

You know, the world is in this truly complex time right now. You can feel the changes … Earth changes, weather changes, conspiracies in full force, UFOs finally getting recognized by the mainstream, pandemics, wobbles and pole shifts—oh, my!

So, here we are, heading into 2022, and who knows what’s going to happen? Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to keep on plugging along and enjoying the things that make me happy, like friends, family, playing Fallout, and writing. See you all in 2022!

Monday, December 12, 2016

PARANORMAL 2017


Are you ready for next year?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on 2016, and your plans for 2017.

You haven’t heard from me on my blog because—as usual—I have been extremely busy. This last year has been pretty eventful—new job, family and friend matters, and putting in studio time, and next year is going to be something special.  My friend and I have been working hard towards putting together a new show for certain public broadcasting channels, and next year we will start filming. As many of my friends are aware, I’m very into everything paranormal—especially when it comes to stories and legends of monsters and faerie folk. Long before ghost hunting and monster hunting shows became popular, I was out in cemeteries and deep, dark woods doing my own amateur investigations, and I have experienced more than my fair share of the supernatural. So, I’m taking some of these experiences, and many others that are not my own, and my team of camera, audio, and investigators out to film some very interesting and scary stuff.

I’m not ready to announce the name of our investigative team yet, or announce their names, but I can say that our team consists of three investigators: Lead Investigator/Interviewer, investigator/intuitive, and our investigator/hired gun, and of course a small crew of cameras and audio. I will be behind one of the main cameras, and you will hear me from time to time sharing some of the important information about each adventure. We will be using drones, night vision, and all the usual contraptions for documenting any evidence—and we will be using the CSI methods of collecting physical evidence.

One of our first episodes will be based on an experience I had here in Oregon, in the woods. I can’t divulge too much information about it, but suffice it to say, I already have some interesting photos for this that I have documented certain aspects of what happened. We will also be interviewing other local experts in various fields including: a volcanologist, and other local paranormal experts.

We won’t be focusing on ghosts, or Sasquatch, but more on local myths and legends of the North West. We will do a few ghost hunting investigations to get some practice in with the team, and I will post those on our website once it is up and running.


Stay tuned everyone—next year is going to be an adventure! 

Monday, May 30, 2016

The Cure Portland 2016




Saturday May 28th, 2016 (all photos were taken by me, but feel free to share them as much as you want) was an exciting night for me. It was the night I finally had a chance to go see one of my favorite bands--The Cure. Now, I have many favorite bands, but this is one of the first that I really fell in love with back in the early 80's.

When I was really little, my family didn't play much music. If I wanted to listen to something, I had to beg my grandpa to put something on, or, occasionally my mom listened to John Denver, or Barbara Streisand--at least those were the two that got any real airplay at my house. So when VH1 started showing up on the tele, my mind was pretty blown away. In fact, there are three main bands that changed the way I viewed music. Okay, so I am going to digress just a little bit, because the only band that really made my mouth drop and go "WHAT IS THIS!" back in the 70's was Queen, who was introduced to me by one of my distant cousins. Moving on ...

I had this awesome punk rock baby-sitter for awhile, who I will never forget, because she was the next one to blow my mind with something new, and forever cherished--Oingo Boingo. That was another aha moment for me in discovering my musical tastes.

Then, about one year later, I was at Seal Beach. Standing outside a pizza shop, waiting on my sister and probably some cousins, my eyes immediately alighted on a flyer across the street. Sprinting over to the paper in the window, I had another moment of "WHAT IS THIS?!"

Wild hair and eyes heavy with make-up glinted from the flyer. The band was called Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the band playing with them was The Cure. I don't know what it was that drew me in so fiercely to that flyer, but I had to know who these bands were!

Not long after, I made a friend who looked pretty much exactly like Robert Smith, and he was a huge fan and had a beat up old tape with all of The Cure's older songs. We listened to that tape constantly. I was sold. There may not have been much of a Goth scene yet, be we were it. I was wearing capes and hanging with my Robert Smith look-alike. Life in the 80's was like one long, innocent goth party that never ended.




If you want to read more about The Cure, and Robert Smith, you can go to these links on wiki, there is so much written about them, that I really don't feel like I need to re-hash who they are, most fans have followed The Cure for a very long time:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cure

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Smith_(musician)



I've never given up my goth roots, and still attend whatever goth nights are happening in my area. The Cure is much loved. I feel very lucky to finally have seen them in concert, Robert Smith can still belt out a tune like non-other--music that rings from those tonsils like a dark, eldricht fay god of the void. Enjoy the photos.













Friday, November 14, 2014

Winter Comfort Food: Borscht

It's finally that chilly time of the year, when soup warms the soul and keeps away the colds. One of the best things about soups is you can add anything to them, and they almost always turn out delicious. We just had a freezing spell, and I wanted to make a soup using vibrant colors and hearty flavors. I decided on Borscht, and concocted a recipe using ingredients with healthy benefits. Enjoy my recipe!

Borscht

2 boxes of veggie broth
Canned beets or fresh beets (your choice, if canned I like to use the juice too)
Rhubarb (cut into small pieces)
Cabbage (regular or red)
1 whole sweet onion
mushrooms
colored carrots cut into smaller pieces
Potato cut into smaller pieces
Juice from 1 whole lemon
Pepper
2 bay leaves
a little dill (because you will be putting fresh dill as garnish when served)
2 tablespoons of Ketchup
a little salt

Garnish:
Sour cream and fresh dill

Throw this all in a big pot and cook until done. Serve with a dollop of Sour Cream and a little fresh dill. Yummy!


Saturday, June 7, 2014

Congratulations Oregon!

CONGRATULATIONS OREGON! 

I support same sex marriage. No consenting adults should have to be told they can't fall in love and get married. Equality in love, equality in life. 

Monday, January 13, 2014

A New Year


 
Happy New Year!

On the eve of the New Year, I usually spend it with friends. This year I opted to spend it alone in meditation and chanting. Sending out positive vibes sounded like the best way to ignite a new year that I intend to make a successful one. The results over the last few days have already been magical. Which brought me to an older blog post I planned on adding, but never got around to, it’s about Dowsing.

            This is a short blog post, but an important one. As you read it, I want you to ponder on the importance of using dowsing in other aspects of your life in which you want to improve this year. Align your energy with the earth’s, with the universe’s, and bring some of their energy back into you. We live on a tiny speck of a planet in a whole universe and beyond of massive amounts of forces we can tap into. Don’t shut yourself away from it.

 
No one knows for certain how long ago dowsing was first used, or what it was used for. Modern Dowsing’s applications are restricted only by the imagination of the user. The paranormal community uses dowsing for finding ghosts, while some use it for finding metals and other treasures. I’ve even heard of it helping in the repairing of springs and finding criminals. Perhaps the ancients used this method of divination for locating the perfect place to situate a well, or recovering lost cattle.

            Early dowsers where fond of Y or L shaped sticks, made from varying woods, usually hazel, ash, willow, peach, or oak. Today, angled rods of copper are popular, as are pendulums. My preferred choice of doodlebugging is a feather! I happen to have a love of finding and exploring caves—whether they are old mines or lava tubes, and I’ve had quite an interesting rate of success in finding caves by using a plain ol’ crow feather. Maybe dowsing is all in the mind of the individual, but there are many people who swear by this age old method of discovery.

            The reasons why dowsing is successful is as varied as its uses. Ley lines are one of the best known theories—the knowledge that the earth is lined with straight tracks of energy, and I dare say the very ancient use of feng shui.  One of my favorite books as a teenager ‘The View Over Atlantis’ by John Michell talks much about ley lines and other earth mysteries. Alfred Watkins is another person of note for reading up on ley lines.

            Besides my own use of dowsing with a feather, let’s hear some other stories by people who have delved into their own ‘tuning-in’ rod adventures:

Here are a few articles and organizations for dowsing:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17532-why-dowsing-makes-perfect-sense.html


http://www.britishdowsers.org

Books:
http://www.amazon.com/Old-Straight-Track-Alfred-Watkins/dp/0349137072/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336839376&sr=8-1

Monday, November 4, 2013

Finding Your Creative Passion Despite Life's Obstacles

 
Let’s face it; life is tough for most creative people. Usually it starts at a young age—we were daydreamers, outcasts, shy, and hated math. Logic doesn’t work for most artistic people, unless it’s the logic of colors bursting from an autumn tree, or a sunset ripe with mystery. From a young age, we learn to keep our heads down and fists up. Of course, this isn’t true for every creative/artistic person I know, but it is true for most of the wonderful people I cherish and love, simply because they never give up on art, no matter what.
 
Being a creative person myself, my whole life has been a challenge. I’m not being arrogant when I say this: most creative people see the world differently, and the rest of the world doesn’t always like it. So, how do we forge a path for ourselves? One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is to keep positive, and never let anyone else’s negativity force you away from what you love to do most. There are way too many avenues for artistic people to make a living, even if you’re working a regular ol’ boring day job; there are ways to make extra cash. Here’s a few: showing your art anywhere you can—bars (don’t laugh; as I sat having a beer one night, I watched two of the featured artist’s paintings sell, the trick is to make sure the cost of the art is no more than 50-150 dollars, when people are drunk, they think that’s a steal for art), coffee shops, teahouses, farmers markets, bookstores, and anywhere else you can imagine enough solid traffic to see your work.
 
Writers—there is a plethora of ways to get extra cash for writing online, just watch out for scams (with real online jobs, you don’t pay anything to get started). And for crafters there is etsy, and other places to start your online business. A little bit of research can take you a long way.
 
Relationships, I have found to be (sometimes) particularly hard on creative folks. If your partner has major issues, chances are, all your energy is going to be expended on this persons issues! And, you will be sucked dry from your creativity—get out of the relationship—trust me, you will thank me eventually. I speak from experience. It may be hard to be alone, but love yourself first, and then the right person—who will understand and support your quirks and creativity—will come along.
 
Take breaks often and get outside, or dance, or just roll around on the ground with your special furry friend. This will help the blood flow to your brain and keep you happier and more focused.
 
Don’t be overly judgmental toward other people and their work. This will only stunt your own creativity. Again, I say, stay positive. What you throw into the aether, determines what comes back around your way!