I've been pretty busy lately so not much time to post here but I thought I'd pop in real quick to let you know that a blog post I wrote got published on a Web site called Michigan's Otherside. If you're interested in the paranormal, check out their site. To see my blog post on their site, click here. Purty cool, huh?
The below info was taken from the Michigan's Otherside Web site. They are symbols you may see while in a cemetery. Thought you fellow graveyard walkers might be interested.
Dove - The dove is a very common animal symbol, mostly because of its Biblical meaning. Usually holding an olive branch which refers to Noah from the Bible. Also a symbol of purity and peace.
Willow Trees - Grief, sorrow and immortality.
Closed book - Many represent the bible but they can also stand for a life completed.
Curtains- Passing into another existence. Protection.
Broken Column - Life cut short and life coming to an end. A very popular symbol in cemeteries in the 19th century.
Praying Hands - Christian symbol.
Lambs - Innocence. Usually found on the graves of children and babies.
Flowers- Flowers have been used in burial ceremonies since the early days of civilization and before. Flowers have always held a soft spot in people. Their beauty and fragility is a symbol for life and love.
Fingers pointing up- A symbol of the soul rising to heaven.
Hands shaking - Matrimony. Sometimes there is one masculine hand and one feminine hand. Look at the sleeves of the hands. If there is no difference in the sleeves, then the hands are a symbol of being greeted into heaven or saying good-bye from earth.
IHS and IHC - Many times these letters are seen connected with each other. IHS comes from the first three letter of Jesus’ name using the Greek alphabet: Iota, Eta, Sigma. IHC stands for the same thing, but is Roman.
Now That's Nifty has done it again. They have a blog post with strange deaths from the last thirty years. Here are just a few entries.
This guy won my heart over...
1981: David Allen Kirwan a 24-year-old attempted to rescue a friend's dog after it fell into Celestine Pool, a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park on July 20, 1981. Despite numerous shouts from bystanders, Kirwan dove headfirst into the pool but was unable to save the dog. After managing to swin back to shore, he was helped out of pool, where his injuries became apparent - the exposure to the 200oF (93oC) water of the hot spring resulted in third-degree burns to 100% of his body and had also blinded him. After being led to the sidewalk, Kirwan reportedly stated: "That was stupid. How bad am I? That was a stupid thing I did." When one of Kirwan's shoes was removed, all of the skin came off with it. He died the next day at a Salt Lake City hospital. Although there have been at least 19 deaths due to scalding at the Yellowstone, this was the only known case where someone died after deliberately jumping into one of the park's hot springs.
I remember seeing a show about this...
1986: Over 1,700 people were killed almost instantly near Lake Nyos in Cameroon when a mass of approximately 100 million cubic metres of carbon dioxide that had collected at the bottom of the lake due to seepage from geothermal sources was suddenly released on August 21, 1986. The gas cloud immediately settled (carbon dioxide is heavier than air) and covered an area of up to 12 miles (20 km) from the lake, killing all oxygen-breathing life almost instantly - although the nearby vegetation, which consumes carbon dioxide and releases oxygen, flourished afterwards.
We all have our wishes...
2001: Bernd-Jürgen Brandes from Germany was voluntarily stabbed repeatedly and then partly eaten by Armin Meiwes (who was later called the Cannibal of Rothenburg). Brandes had answered an internet advertisement by Meiwes looking for someone for this purpose. Brandes explicitly stated in his will that he wished to be killed and eaten.
I haven't been on Blogger much lately because life has been so busy! It's 3am on Tuesday (technically it's Monday night for me) and I'm just now eating "lunch"! Craziness, I tell you!
So here's just a quick post on something I've had bookmarked for awhile. It's a mortuary novelty shop called Pushin Daisies. Just what would you find at a mortuary novelty shop, you ask? Well, you would find chocolate caskets, ice cubes in the shape of a skull and crossbones, or a towel with an outline of a dead body. If you really like the skull decorating theme, you can even get the below item. That's right people...clean your throne with style! Enjoy, my morbid friends!
Prepare for a long but important and serious post.
When I started blogging, it was a way for me to talk about things that I couldn't discuss with people in my life. Issues I have with family, friends, personal parts of myself. It was an online diary. A place where I could truly be myself and not be judged. If someone didn't like my blog, they didn't have to read it. Most of my interests, my belief system and who I am is not mainstream. While some people enjoy what I have to talk about, others choose to mock and ridicule and I just don't want to deal with their negative backlash. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all and leave my blog, please.
You may have noticed that I don't talk much about friends and I've been keeping my blog a bit more on the surface than what I used to. There are many reasons for this. One is that I've come to realize that people I know in real life may visit my blog once in awhile. I wouldn't want them to be hurt by the way I feel about things even though it would be nice to talk to them about it. Unfortunately, I've tried talking to certain people in the past and they didn't want to discuss these things. Most people I know would rather pretend something never happened and move on. I'm the type that wants to talk things out and resolve them as long as both parties are being rational. I've been editing my past blog content to eliminate things that may hurt someone or bother them. I've saved all the info and may open a private blog someday to be able to talk about these things.
About two weeks ago, I had a situation happen with a fellow blogger. I wasn't going to mention it on here because I felt the best way to deal with the situation was to move on and not waste my energy on this negativity. Yesterday, this person decided to start stuff up again and now I feel like I have to address it here.
I won't be saying who it is or what blog is theirs because that's just starting trouble. I will say it's a "she" but that doesn't give anything away because most of my readers are female. Nothing I say in this post will attempt to give away their identity.
This person started out as a friend that I met through the blog world. Eventually we began to communicate through email, postal mail and by phone. After awhile, I realized this was not someone I wanted to be friends with. There were many reasons that I decided this and I won't talk about them here because I don't want to give away this person's identity. I'm not that mean. I had tried to talk to this person and explain some of the things that were bothering me. Unfortunately, they didn't understand where I was coming from and I knew that things would never change. It was at that point that I decided to just end the friendship. I did this through email clearly stating the reasons why I was doing it because I didn't want to end the friendship and not have them know why. I didn't feel that I was harsh but the email I got back shocked me.
She attacked my character, my art/crafts and things about me that I had shared on this blog. She swore, called me names, etc. It was not the response I was expecting. I thought we could handle this like adults but obviously not. Think about personal parts of yourself that you have only shared with a couple people. Now imagine those people mocking what you shared. It's a low blow and not necessary when it has nothing to do with why the friendship ended. I wish I could explain in words how cruel this person was trying to be to me.
I recently did a post on how short life is. I choose to rid myself of negative people/situations whenever it is possible. Life's too short to deal with the bullshit. This is why I wasn't even going to post about the situation at all. Yesterday, this person began posting anonymously on my blog. I had a feeling it was her because of the location that showed up in my Feedjit and she was typically coming from her blog. I responded to her comments cautiously, in case it was her. Then she emailed me last night and I knew for a fact it was her because the email address had her boyfriend's info in it. Plus the "story" that she tried to recreate for this anonymous identity didn't add up. I responded to that email carefully. I received an email back where she confirmed who it really was and then she proceeded to start attacking me again. I really wish I could show you all how horrible the emails were but I won't do that. It's catty and immature and would give away who this is. Needless to say, I have not and will not ever respond to her emails that are of that nature.
A couple weeks ago, when our friendship ended, she had said she would never visit my blog again. Well, I could tell that she was visiting based on Feedjit and then her anonymous postings happened and she also started deleting negative comments that she had left on my blog before. I know that she'll probably read this. If so, I want to say...
Just leave me alone! Please, move on and stop with everything. Stop attacking my character and making me into this person that I'm not. Enough with the lies. Please use your energy on more positive things. There are so many causes in the world that you could be spending your time and energy on. Our friendship is done and you know why so don't try to make it into something it's not. Just stop.
I was back near my hometown last night. I don't get over there very often and figured I'd swing by the local cemetery to grab a couple pics. My cousin's headstone is in the cemetery I went to.
Ben died sixteen years ago in a car accident at the age of 18. From what I remember (I was 14 years old), the accident happened the week before his high school graduation. His girlfriend was driving them home from school and I believe they were following friends. They were driving on a curvy road and Ben's girlfriend lost control of the car and they went into a corn field. Ben's girlfriend was wearing a seat belt. He wasn't.
There are many images from that accident and the week after that I will never forget. There is one that I will mention here. The local news was doing a story on the accident and one of the pictures they took was of the corn field and school books were scattered around. It was just so sad.
Ben's brother accepted his high school diploma on his behalf. I can't imagine what that must have felt like for him. He was closer to my age. Now that I think about it, he must have relived that moment when he accepted his own diploma years later.
When my cousin was buried, they had one of his senior pictures engraved on the front. I've shared pictures of his headstone and others below.
Please remember to buckle up when you drive. It could be the difference between life and death.
A random headstone pic. I loved the effect at the top of it.
Another random pic.
My cousin's head stone with one of his senior pics etched in.
The poem etched into the back of my cousin's head stone.
I was going to do something I've never done...a link dump. I've decided against it though. Instead, I'm going to be giving you gothy/creepy/cool stuff to check out over days instead of throwing it all in one post. Some things just deserve more attention than a link dump. :)
The first find is:
This company specializes in perfume oils and they have some pretty unique options. Below are some of the scents I came across.
June Gloom 2009 - Bright summer flowers, fresh herbs, and a bit of citrus rind dampened by the scent of morning mist and rain.
Pink Plastic Flamingo - Pink sugar-crusted marshmallows, dandelion, and sap.
Blood - Essence of dragon's blood resin, thickened with myrrh and cherry, with a trickle of clove.
Burial - The Dark Side of Earth: deep, brooding forest scents, including juniper and patchouli. The scent of upturned cemetery loam mingling with floral offerings to the dead.
They even have scents based off of Neil Gaiman's work as well as Alice In Wonderland scents. The March Hare smells like "A twisted teatime tart: apricot and sweet clove". Yum!
According to their Web site, they open an actual shop on every full moon. If that falls on a weekday, they open from 7pm to 10pm. Sounds magical, eh? They do tend to joke a bit on their site so not sure if that part is true. This part is true, however...
With the exception of the products that contain honey, their items are vegan. They are all cruelty free. This is the best part, in my opinion.
They do tend to be a bit pricier but that's because you're getting a concentrated oil, they use really good ingredients and don't test on animals.
The second find I have to share is for all you gamers out there. I was closing out of a game the other day and saw this ad. I thought it was fake but when I looked it up online, it was real and pretty freakin' awesome. Check it out...
You can get Mana and Health potions. They're energy shots that are stocked full of vitamins! To get more info on what they're all about, click here. I plan on buying some once I have some moolah to spend.
Heads up that this is going to be an uber long post! But it should be entertaining so stick around. : )
I spent some time today in craft stores checking out materials for the craft show I want to do with my cousin next month that I talked about here. The bad news is that my initial plan has fallen apart. I was thinking about doing mosaic pots and cloth baskets. If I were to do the pots, I would need to put a higher price on them than I was originally thinking due to the cost of materials. I find that craft shows are like garage sales. Meaning that you can't get decent prices on the things you sell at them. The cloth baskets aren't looking very good right now because I can't seem to find the right material and if they don't sell, I don't want a bunch of baskets sitting around that are in fabrics that I normally wouldn't choose. I have to make something that appeals to the "normals" yet is still something I would like, in case it doesn't sell very well.
After wandering around for awhile, I came up with multiple ideas but all seemed to be too costly or time intensive for a craft show. They may be ideas that I could use if I ever start an online business though. So I'm sort of back to square one. I'm good at cross-stitch and can whip out a bunch of small ones in time for the craft show next month but I don't know if they will sell in these economic times. I have thought of an idea but it's something I've never done before and I could completely suck at it. If it works, I think I would make some good money on it. Here's a hint. : )
In one of my posts, I talked about how my new job had me scheduled as the only driver on Tuesday night and I was kinda' nervous. We ended up having a church come in and do a fundraiser that night and our dining room was crazy busy. Thank goodness I didn't have to deal with that! But because of it, there were tons and tons of dishes to be done, which I did have to deal with. Plus we had corporate coming to our store the next day so extra cleaning had to get done that we normally don't do (lights, oven, etc). The night manager ended up letting a cook stay on until close and they called in someone else just to do dishes. He worked on dishes for 3 hours straight if that gives you an idea of how many dishes we had to do. The night manager was really cool and helped me with prep so the night ended up going fairly well and we were out of there around midnight (we closed at 11).
Now you may be wondering what this "Draceneaology" is all about, hmm? Well my buddy Eve borrowed a meme from my buddy Diane where you post your name followed by "ology" and answer the below questions. Here are my answers!
***********FOODOLOGY***************
What is your salad dressing of choice?
ranch
What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
I haven't eaten in a restaurant in years due to my sensitive tummy but I like most restaurant food to-go. Today I had Chinese. Yum!
What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
I haven't had it in forever but I'm gonna' go with grilled cheese sandwiches!
What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Ham, mushrooms and extra cheese.
What do you like to put on your toast?
Jelly and real butter. I have this fantastic rhubarb jelly right now.
***********TECHNOLOGY***************
How many televisions are in your house?
Two...one in the living room and one in the bedroom. Although I only use the one in the bedroom a few times a year.
What color cell phone do you have?
Black and it lights up blue when I get a call/message.
Do you have an Ipod?
Nope...don't see the point.
***************BIOLOGY******************
Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Left! I think that means I'm a Southpaw or something? I'm ambidextrous with a lot of things though so you wouldn't necessarily know I'm a lefty unless you saw me writing.
Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Hmm...tonsils and a suspicious freckle.
What is the last heavy item you lifted?
Stacks of pans filled with dough...yesterday. I have a beautiful bruise on one of my arms from all the dough stacks I've been carrying. That'll tell you how heavy they are.
Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
Hmm...I'm gonna' go with "no" on this one cuz' I think they mean literally being knocked out.
************BULLCRAPOLOGY**************
If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
Yes, please!
If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Oooh...Dark Mistress Of The Night. Has a nice ring, yes?
Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
Hells no! What's wrong with you?
************DUMBOLOGY******************
How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
Zero! I'm goth for goth's sake.
Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
Hmm...a couple years ago at some holiday gathering? (My uncle is a cop.)
I'm a good girl, people, I don't break any laws EVER. Didn't believe that? Yeah, me neither. I'm just really good at not getting caught.
Last person you talked to?
My cousin.
Last person you hugged?
Vampire Kitini. Yes, he IS a person. Seriously, you don't want to argue this point.
**************FAVORITE-OLOGY****************
Season?
It's a toss-up between spring and fall.
Holiday?
Halloween...duh. Do you read this blog ever? hee hee
Day of the week?
I used to say any day that I didn't work but now that I have a fun job, I'm gonna' go with any day that I don't have to get up early for work. Sleeping is one of my favorite hobbies.
Month?
October
***********CURRENTOLOGY*****************
Missing someone?
Not especially.
Mood?
creative
What are you listening to?
Cradle of Filth
Watching?
Like Eve said in her answers, I'm watching my screen.
Worrying about?
Not making enough $$ at the new job. I hate bills!
I should say "no" to keep up my gothiness so "no".
Sleeping Alone Tonight?
Nope! I'll have Vampire Kitini and a giant teddy bear and really that's all I need cuz' boys smell and have cooties.
***************OTHER-OLOGY*****************
Do you always answer your phone?
nope
Its four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?
Depends on the night. Most nights I would really wonder. If it's a bar night, it's probably a friend wondering if I made it home okay. The bar nights have been few and far between lately though. Drinking is expensive!
If you could change your eye color what would it be?
Black...all black. I bought special contacts for that but they hurt my eyeballs so much I can't wear them. : ( BIG waste of $$.
What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic?
I haven't been to a Sonic since I lived in Ohio and don't remember adding any flavors. Lime comes to mind though now that I think about it.
Do you own a digital camera?
Yep and if you ask Diane, myself or anyone that's seen the pictures, I need a new one!
Have you ever had a pet fish?
A few. Gordo was the last one. He hung on for quite awhile. Even tried to commit suicide once. I got out of the shower and he was laying on the blanket next to the tank. He was a shimmery gray color when I got in the shower and he was dried and black when I got out. I thought he was dead so I went to scoop him up and he started moving! I put him back in the tank and he hung on for another few years. Never regained his original color though. True story.
Yes, but you really don't want to see them. Although I haven't tried since I've been lifting all that dough. I bet they look awesome now!
Can you do a chin up?
Not sure? I don't have anything around the house that I could practice on.
Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
excited
Do you have any saved texts?
Yep but not intentionally. My phone saves them all until I delete them and I just don't make that kind of effort when it comes to phone organization. That's my assistant's job. hee hee
Ever been in a car wreck?
Unfortunately.
Do you have an accent?
When I lived in Ohio, they said I did. I'm pretty sure that's from when I lived up north. Say ya' to da' U.P., eh? ha ha (Insider Michigan joke.)
What is the last song to make you cry?
Can't think of the last one. It's been awhile.
Plans tonight?
Catching up on emails/blogs. I've had a couple of crazy busy days.
Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
yep
Name 3 things you bought yesterday.
Let's see...a lighter for a co-worker, Taco Bell and that's it!
Have you ever been given roses?
A long long time ago in a galaxy far away. They sure were purty though.
Current worry?
Wondering what I'm going to do about next month's craft show.
Current hate right now?
Bills! I'm stuck because I can't get out of my mortgage or my car lease.
Met someone who changed your life?
yep
How will you bring in the New Year?
That's too far away to think about.
What song represents you?
I'm a mutt of multiple songs, like anyone is, but this one is pretty accurate. Plus I found a video of it set to Underworld. Even better!
Name three people who might complete this?
I have no idea!
Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?
It would depend on when and where I'd end up.
Have you ever dated someone longer than a year?
yep
Do you have any tattoos/piercings?
yep
Will you be in a relationship 4 months from now?
Time will tell. As of now, I'd say "no" because I have hang-ups about relationships but you never know when the right one will come along, or so they say.
Does anyone love you?
I think so. It's hard to tell if people mean the words.
Would you be a pirate?
Ahoy, matey!
What songs do you sing in the shower?
I typically don't sing in the shower but occasionally I'll belt out whatever happens to be stuck in my head.
Ever had someone sing to you?
yep
When did you last cry?
A couple months ago when I left a job that I had been at for eight years. I cried because of how horribly I was treated.
Do you like to cuddle?
The last time I cuddled, I enjoyed it but I'm not normally a cuddly type of person. As a friend once said, I'm like a cantaloupe. I have a rough exterior but I'm sweet on the inside.
Have you held hands with anyone today?
nope
Who was the last person you took a picture of?
I have no idea. Does Vampire Kitini count? Most of the time I'm taking pics of my surroundings.
What kind of music did you listen to in elementary school?
oldie's
Do you believe in staying close with your ex's/prospects?
Not usually. They are ex's for a reason.
Are most of the friends in your life new or old?
Brand new and shiny with fully poseable arms!
Do you like pulpy orange juice?
nope
What is something your friends make fun of you for?
My oddness. But then they're really not friends, are they?
First Job: The first paid gig I had was babysitting. The first job where I got taxes taken out was when I worked for a greenhouse.
First Real Job: I guess the first real job would be the one where you got health benefits and what-not so that'd have to be when I started working at a bank.
First Favorite Politician: I really don't like politics because of all the negativity but I did start paying attention to them when Bush was on his way out the door and Obama was coming in so I guess my first favorite politician is Obama.
First Car: A burgundy Bonneville that required frequent stops so that I could put water and antifreeze in to stop it from overheating and you had to literally kick the gas pedal if the car hadn't been run in a couple hours cuz' it would stick. Lovely! I've had new cars ever since then.
First Record/CD: For some reason, I really didn't want to move on from tapes to CD's so the first CD I ever got was Nimrod by Green Day.
First Sport Played: basketball
First Concert: MXPX I was pretty much in love with their stuff and they played locally a lot. Go punk rawk!
First Foreign Country Visited: I've never visited a foreign country. Someday though.
First Favorite TV Show:MacGyver I was so in love with Richard Dean Anderson. Still kinda' am. : ) I swear that man knows the secret to the fountain of youth.
First Favorite Actor: See above.
First Favorite Actress: I don't remember really being impressed with a female actress until recently. I'd have to go with a tie between Amanda Tapping and Rachel Luttrell from the Stargate series.
First Girlfriend/Boyfriend: The first "real" one was Fred.
First Encounter with a Famous Person: I've never met a celebrity but I met one of our news people one time. Does that count?
First Brush With Death: Probably the accident that happened when a guy ran a red light and hit the side of my car. My car got spun around a couple times and I ended up facing the wrong way on the street.
First House/Condo Owned: The one I live in now. Bought it a year ago.
First Favorite Radio Station: WSNX formerly known as Sunny FM. They were mostly pop and R&B. I've gone through many different musical tastes. Now, I like anything but country and jazz.
First Book I Remember Reading: Probably those silly Dick and Jane books.
First Meme You Answered on Your Blog: Sunday Stealing!
I was making my blog rounds today and Creepy Cupcakes had a cool post that I had to steal. : ) Click on the image below to be brought to a Web site where you enter your date of birth. It tells you who else died on your birthday (various years) and if there were any natural disasters that occurred in your birth year.
Natural disasters in 1980 1. Grand Island, Nebraska tornado outbreak 2. Kalamazoo tornado (K-zoo is an hour away from where I was born. I didn't even know about this until now!) 3. "More Trees Down" derecho (wind storm) 4. eruption of Mount St. Helens 5. United States heat wave 6. western Wisconsin derecho
Tons of people died on my b-day in various years but the only names I recognized were:
1999: Shel Silverstein - American poet & composer 1994: John Wayne Gacy - American serial killer (executed) 1977: Joan Crawford - American actress 1863: Stonewall Jackson - American Confederate general 1818: Paul Revere - American patriot 1774: King Louis XV of France
People who died in 1980: John Lennon - Shot to death by a mentally ill fan. For those who grew up under a rock, he was in The Beatles. : ) John Bonham - Choked to death on his own vomit after consuming a large amount of alcohol. He was the drummer for Led Zeppelin.
I'm going to making another "death" post sometime this week. Stay tuned.
So you've decided to become a vegetarian. You're not eating any meat, poultry, seafood, or by-products of animal slaughter. So the occasional Twinkie is okay, right? Wrong! If you look at the ingredients on a package of Twinkies, you'll see numerous items, including some you may not be able to pronunciate. Over 30 of the ingredients are either made in a laboratory or are derivitaves of things like coal tar or petroleum. I'm not making this up people. One of the ingredients you'll see is "vegetable and/or animal shortening". So guess what Twinkie uses? Beef fat. Yep, as you bite into that soft pillow of sweetness, you're eating lard from a slaughtered cow. Um, gross.
I talked about what happened with Travis the chimp in this story. Yesterday I came across two other recent situations involving primates. The first story comes from Planetsave.com:
A chimpanzee at Sweden’s Furuvik Zoo has been observed chipping at concrete to create discs to throw at visitors. He even made weapons at night to throw at visitors when the zoo opens in the morning.
While Santino the chimp’s retaliatory ways are amusing, they’ve also impressed scientists who believe this is the first evidence of a non-human animal being capable of making plans for the future.
“It implies that they have a highly developed consciousness, including life-like mental simulations of potential events,” said Mathias Osvath, a scientist who studied Santino for over a decade. “They most probably have an ‘inner world’ like we have when reviewing past episodes of our lives or thinking of days to come. I would guess that they plan much of their everyday behaviour.”
Osvath’s observations are only one of many studies that show that non-human primates are capable of some human-like thought. Another recent study showed baboons are capable of matching pictures and recognizing objects.
Unfortunately for Santino, the zoo didn’t think his stone-throwing ways were very cute. They’ve castrated the 31-year-old chimp, thinking it may lower his hormone levels and make him less aggressive.
The second story comes out of Thailand. Leilit Janchoom and his wife purchased a monkey named Brother Kwan. They bought him so he could climb trees and fetch coconuts for them to sell. Mr. Janchoom did not allow the monkey to rest and would beat him if he refused to climb a tree. It is thought that Brother Kwan eventually snapped and dropped a coconut on Mr. Janchoom's head, killing him on the spot.
Animals are smart, people, and you can't treat them badly or try to make a wild animal your pet because 9 times out of 10, they will get their revenge.
What goes on in the minds of people fascinates me. I came across an item on my local news Web site today and it was so bizarre that I had to know more. The story was about a 26 year old man named Andre Thomas (shown above) who murdered his estranged wife and two kids on March 27, 2004. Why did he do this? He claims that his family was possessed by demons, his estranged wife was acting like a whore and that his 4 year old son was the anti-Christ. The details of how they were murdered are in the article below. Afterwards, he went home, stabbed himself and then went to the police station. Thank goodness he turned himself in...who knows what else he would have done?
On April 2, 2004, while in lock-up, he poked his right eye out because it was God's will. How on earth did no one hear him doing this? I find it hard to imagine he poked his eye and pulled it out of the socket in silence. Can this case get any stranger? You bet...read on.
On March 7, 2005, he was found guilty of murder after just 35 minutes of deliberation. The prosecutors immediately wanted to try for the death penalty and they got it.
On December 9, 2008, he poked out his left eye and ATE IT. I wonder if God told him that just poking out another eye wasn't good enough, you had to eat it too?
From what I understand, he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and is currently serving time in a psychiatric facility while awaiting an execution date.
This article was written by a lawyer and a paralegal so it has more detail than the other info I've read on this case.
So what do you think? Is he really schizophrenic or was he just putting on a show to try to avoid a harsh punishment?
This is a continuation of my last post. The second movie I "rented" today was Mirrors with Kiefer Sutherland. I thought this was a good movie and the ending was not what I expected. There are a lot of horror movies out there that make inanimate objects frightening but mirrors are pretty freaky, if you think about it.
The first thing that comes to mind is "Bloody Mary", which I'm sure most of you have heard of. If you haven't, the story goes that if you chant the words "bloody mary" three times (or thirteen) while staring into a mirror in a dark room (or lit by a candle), that you will see the ghost of Bloody Mary. Mary was a supposed witch named Mary Worth who was executed long ago. There are many different versions with how to do it and what you'll see but that is the gist of it. I remember seeing a bunch of girls do it in the bathroom in junior high but I left before they stopped chanting because it freaked me out a bit but it stayed in my mind. I decided to try it one day that I was home alone...it worked. Although I didn't see Bloody Mary, I did see my deceased great grandpa. I will never forget that image. That was my first encounter with the paranormal. While living in that house, I would hear my name being called by a man but when I asked my dad if he had called me, he hadn't. Hmm.
It is said that you can see the future or find lost objects by using a mirror or pretty much any reflective surface, including calm water. I've heard of people painting a mirror black to use for magic or to see your inner self.
Mirrors have been seen as a way to trap spirits and demons. Before funeral parlors, the deceased would be in their own homes and when someone died, all of the mirrors in the house would be covered until the body was taken away for burial because if the deceased saw themselves in a mirror, they would be trapped. In the movie Constantine, a demon is tricked into looking into its reflection in a mirror and is forced to leave the possessed person's body and is trapped in the mirror.
You've heard that if you break a mirror, you'll have seven years back luck, right? Since mirrors can supposedly see and/or hold your soul, it was said that if you broke a mirror, part of your soul was trapped inside and since the mirror was broken, your soul was broken and that brought on bad luck. Apparently the Romans believed that your body renewed itself every seven years so it would take seven years for you to become whole again.
A mirror played a role in Snow White. Remember the witch would use the mirror to get answers to her questions?
Bram Stoker knew of mirror superstitions and incorporated that into Dracula. I can only assume he did this because it would make the vampire appear to be soulless because he cast no reflection in mirrors.
So the next time you look in a mirror, take a close look. What do you see?
What really happens when you die? Warning: This article does get a bit graphic. It is very informative though so please do read it and skip over the parts that may bother you. I thought this was a great article that gave a lot of information you don't normally get to hear about. Enjoy!
PS: The pic on the right is one that I took in the cemetery referenced in this post.
