Archive | November, 2007

29 November 2007 ~ View Comments

Thursday Thirteen: Experiences with Dead people.

In a recent post, I mentioned that dead people talk to me. A lot of people asked me about my experiences with dead people.

Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen #9 : My experiences with dead people.

Dead people are just like live people. In my experience, they don’t have missions. They rarely have unfinished business. Mostly, they want to tell their story and have their experience remembered. They want to matter.

Please know that I take all of this with a huge grain of salt. Who knows what’s real? These are just my experiences.

1. Lady on the stairs. (Background: We live in a house built in 1907 in a neighborhood that has seen good times and really bad times. The house was remodeled in 1983. An architect purchased the home from the estate of an elderly woman who lived alone in the house for decades.)

The first night we stayed in our current home, I got up to let Rose out in the early morning. Rose flew done the stairs and waited for me on the first floor.

Standing at the top of the stairs, I saw an elderly woman fall down the stairs, then lie on the landing. Her hip broken in the fall, she lay on the landing until she died. I saw this like watching a movie. The next night, standing again at the top of the stairs, I stood with my feet solid on the ground. Without warning, I felt as if the rug was literally yanked out from under my feet. I’ve never had that experience before or since. I flew into the air, down the stairs and landed where she fell. She told me she was there for three days before she died.

2. Guy who shot himself: (Background: We were looking for a house with a Realtor. She took us to this location.)

While D and the Realtor were upstairs, I wandered downstairs. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, I turned to my right into a galley room. Standing in the doorway, I saw an elderly man with a white beard dig through the cabinet in front of him. He turned to look at me, smiled slightly then raised an old handgun to his temple and pulled the trigger. The handgun looked like a war trophy or possibly an heirloom. The mess from the wound was incredible. I ran up the stairs and out of the house. Our Realtor contacted the owners to make discrete inquiries. She said they were very tight lipped about what happened to the last owner.

3. Hit and run motorcycle accident. (Background: I was driving up a street in Denver with a graphic artist who was helping us in the Open Grove. We passed a tree that had candles and flowers all around it. The graphic artist started crying and I asked her what was going on. She said that just the night before a young man was killed by a hit and run driver.)

I saw a young man standing next to a tree holding a motorcycle helmet. He watched the people come and drop off flowers or light a candle. When he realized I could see him, he said: “I didn’t know. I just didn’t know that life was over in an instant.” I saw him once more and he said the same thing. They never found the driver but the young man seems to have moved on.

4. Crooke Patterson Mansion (part 1): (Background: I officed in the Croke Patterson Mansion for almost two years. The mansion is considered to be one of the most haunted buildings in the Western United States. I did not know this when we moved in to start my fledgling psychotherapy business.)

Croke Patterson Mansion

The red dots on this picture are circles around orbs (i.e., spirits)

The story is that a doctor married a young woman. They moved into the house. One stormy night, the doctor was called away from the house and his pregnant wife. When he returned, she had killed herself and buried the baby in the mansion.

That’s the story. This is the story that the ghost on the second floor told me. She said that she was the child of the woman. She was five or six when her mother married the doctor and became pregnant. She was in the house when her mother went into labor. Her mother died in labor, as did the baby. She stayed with her mother for five days waiting for her mother to wake up. When the doctor returned, he took the child away from the house and they never returned. She returned after she died because she was certain her mother would come back to the mansion.

5. Lady in the bedroom: We lived in this house for a couple months, when one morning I woke up to find a woman standing over D. She was wearing a yellow dress and a hat circa 1900s. Rose, who sleeps next to me, growled and lunged for the woman. The woman had such a malicious look on her face, as if D. had done something to her, that I freaked out a little bit. I don’t really know what happened next, but a large yellow hole opened and sucked her into it. When she was gone, Rose lay back down and went to sleep.

6. Acupuncturist mother: I went to see a new acupuncturist. Laying on the table face up, I could see a female spirit flying around in the ceiling fan. I asked her if someone she knew had died lately. She started crying and said that her mother had died over the weekend. The mother didn’t say anything. She just laughed and played in the wind of the ceiling fan. I told the acupuncturist that her mother was happy and the acupuncturist seemed relieved.

7. Croke Patterson Mansion (part 2): I was frequently in the mansion by myself working on a Saturday or at night. One Saturday, I could hear voices talking to each other in the mansion. It was like a conversation you can hear but not quite make out the words. I went from room to room, office to office looking for the voices. I asked the girl spirit (of #4) on the second floor. She shook her head and looked frightened. I continued through the mansion until the voices led me to the basement. Finally, I heard the voices in a small closet in the basement. When I opened the door, the wall move back and forth. I don’t think Scooby Doo moved faster. I ran out of the basement and out of the mansion. We were told later by a psychic hired by a TV station that there were demons in the basement.

8. Waiting for her soldier: (Background: we were having trouble selling a duplex we owned. The duplex was built in 1942 and served as U.S. Air Force officer family housing during World War II.)

We decided to do a ghost space clearing at the duplex. When I sprayed salt water in a particular corner, Rose and the dog in-law (we were dog sitting) began to bark. A female came out of the wall. She said that she had moved to the duplex right after she married her Air Force husband. He left for Germany soon after. He told her that he would return to her. She stayed all this time because she was waiting for her husband to return.

9. Client’s sister: (Background: A client of mine’s sister died at a young age. I saw this client two days after her sister died.)

I met a client late one night. She was crying into her hands when I could see something moving around the room. I don’t exactly remember what happened next. But what I remember is that my client was able to have a conversation with her sister through me. When I (for lack of a better words) came to, my client was not crying and felt a great sense of peace. Her sister told her about a book or a journal which my client found when she got home. I felt blessed that I was able to help – even though I’m not exactly sure how.

10. Yoga in the basement: (Background: I participate in a Yoga Cooperative. We usually meet at Cheesman Park but since it’s been cold, we moved into the basement of a coffee shop for a couple weeks.)

At the end of our yoga session, the instructor began to lead people through a light stream visualization. You know the kind – light through the top of the head, etc. Anyway, as people opened themselves to the “light” I notice a group of spirits enter the basement room. They were pressing their faces against people’s faces. So rude. When I opened my eyes and saw a face in front of mine, I was pissed. As people calmed down, the spirits began to flit around the room – like birds or trapped wild animals – almost mocking the calm. We never went back to that coffee shop.

11. Dad’s Green Orb: (Background: My father had been ill for some time. My oldest sister had him moved to a nursing home. He died a little more than 24 hours after being moved to the nursing home.)

At 2:33 am on July 22, 2002, I opened my eyes from a sound sleep. I’m not sure what woke me. I just opened my eyes and saw a green orb. It was about four inches in diameter and floated above me. It lingered for a while then floated off. My little sister called at 2:45 am to say that my father died. I woke up every morning at 2:33 am for at least six months.

12. Croke Patterson Mansion (part 3): (Background: It’s Halloween and your office is in one of the most haunted buildings in the Western states. What would you do? We hosted a large Halloween party!)

In preparation for our Halloween party, we decided to hang pumpkin lights along the stairway to the basement. The stairway is dark and needed a little light. Every time I set the hammer down, it would move. When I say move, I mean it moved up and down the stairwell. While I never saw it move, I’d look for it at the top and find it at the bottom. I look for it at the bottom and find it at the top or in the middle. Creepy!

13. Ghost Hunting University and Murder Room: (Background: Two women were murdered in a hotel. Ghost Hunting classes are held at the hotel. The instructors say that they are helping the police resolve this cold case.)

We entered this room with what’s called a Thomas Edison Box (the equipment on the table in photo on the left). The box gives off white noise which the ghosts can use to create sound.

In a series of dramatic events, the teacher said that he would help these spirits “move on”. We as a class got together and he talked the spirits through this experience. He said that it worked, but who knows? He still runs classes at this hotel and says he talks to these disturbed spirits. My experience was the spirit stood right in front of me then turned to see a familiar spirit which took her out of the room.

I took these pictures with our camera. You can see the orb.

Orb

Thomas Edison box – and orb.

 

Face in orb

Can you see the face here?

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It?s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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28 November 2007 ~ View Comments

Fix my life? Take a class.

I was taged by Odat for this meme.

The rules are as follows:

Devise a list of 5-10 courses you would take to fix your life. (If only it were that simple!)? It’s more fun to be in classes with friends, so include one class from the person who tagged you that you’d also like to take. Tag five other people.

1. Conversational Dog. I don’t mean some Cesar Milan communication with dog. I mean actual – this sound means “shut up” then you repeat the sound. I’m willing to put the work. I bet Odat would take that class with me.

2. Wiggle your nose and clean the house. Let’s face it. Samantha Stevens had some skills. First, she’d have to teach me how to wiggle my nose. I bet the rest would come in 10 or 12 easy lessons. Wanna take that class with me?

3. Accept the unacceptable. My life would be easier if I could just go a long a little bit. Someone is nasty? I could just shrug my shoulders. Sister acts crazy? That’s her problem. Child is abusive? Oh well. I’ve just never been able to accept the unacceptable. I either have to try to repair the situation or walk away.

4. How to become a best selling author. I know there are classes and books about this topic. But I am being literal here – do this, then do that and whaa la! Best seller! Guaranteed success!

5. Wiggle your hips. I’d love to be able to wiggle my hips like Ciara does in this video. I’d love to be able to do this for a number of reasons. First, my hips hurt. If I could wiggle like that, my hips wouldn’t be so sore. Of course, the hip wiggle is sexy as hell. I would have less pain AND be sexy as hell. I bet you want to take this class now!

Feel free to join me in these classes. We’ll take them together.

I tag:

Grace at Sandier Pastures

Awareness

She became a butterfly

Harlekwin at Boho Wrap

Meems at Simply Momtastic

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27 November 2007 ~ View Comments

What? More controversy??

ARG!? If you can believe it, Harlekwin took the documented actual photo of Big Foot:

Bigfoot?

and changed the filters.

Harlekwin refutes the BigFoot claim with this picture.

New filter on Big Foot picture

Is she insane?? Of course this is Big Foot.? Sheez.

Should we kick Harlekwin out of the nerdiverse?? It’s up to you. What’s your vote?

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26 November 2007 ~ View Comments

Rock on.

Recently the CEO presented me with the Rockin’ Girl Blogger award.

Rockin? Girl Blogger

In an effort to live up to this award, I have prepared a “What everyone needs to know when they go to a Rock Concert” guide.? My intention is to help you enjoy your next venture to a rock concert.

1.? If you are going to an outdoor concert (like Red Rocks), you should wait at least an hour after the doors open. ? People get really drunk, take G or whatever, throw up and pass out.? Most of this happens within the first hour of a concert.? You can miss all of this by going a bit later.

2.? Don’t let your husband know that the lead singer is trying to pick you up.? While it’s always a good idea to keep your husband in the dark about such things, if he finds out that the lead singer is after you, you won’t get to see that band again.? Ever.? I know this because… uh… it happened to a good friend of mine.? Yeah, a really good friend.

3. ? Want a great seat?? Wanna burn some karma?? Every venue has a great handicap area.? It’s up close, not vomit, very great seats.? We saw a number of concerts during the year that my ankle was in a cast.? If you’re desperate, and don’t mind the bad karma, they sell those walking casts at medical supply.? I’m karma conservative so after that year, we haven’t tried it.

4.? Always look at a band’s MySpace page before attending the concert your friend says is really “great” and you “have” to see.? No matter how much you might love them, some people simply have bad taste in music.? Better to know that up front than after paying 40 bucks to get in.

5.? Bring your phone.? You can text your friends on the lame screen.? More importantly, because of smoking bans, you can’t light your lighter to show your appreciation.? Fire up your clam shell cell phone and rock on.

Cell phone

6.? Wear sensible shoes.? If the band is any good, you are going to be jumping, dancing, running for drinks and standing for long periods of time.? I usually wear my Dansko clogs in the winter or my Dansko sandels in the summer.? Sometimes I wear my stilettos but only on special occasions when I don’t have to walk the next day.

7. Boys are rude at these concerts.?? Concerts can be total testosterone fests.? You have to expect that the guy behind you is going to feel you up or will make you push against him to get by.? I know this because… uh… it always happens to this good friend of mine.? A quick thumb in the ribs always works.? That’s what… uh… my friend always does.

8.? People are not supporting the devil here.? I know some of you Baptists are raised that this gesture:

Hand Gesture

or alternatively this gesture:

Hand Gesture 2

is a gesture for the devil.? But it’s not.? I don’t know exactly what it means, but the cool kids raise their hand over their head to rock.?? Practice this hand gesture at home then rock on.

9.? The naked neighbor works security.? Just remember that that security guy who’s driving you crazy might be MY naked neighbor. He’s having a tough time.? Walk away.

10. Winter is a great time to rock.? Traditionally, bands play in the summer and fall.? A lot of bands play Europe in the winter.? However, bands that are just starting to make it – like Fall Out Boy, American Rejects, Plain White T’s, the Fray – will play smaller venues in the winter to try out their tour.? Keep an eye out and you can see some amazing acts.

I do hope this guide helps you enjoy your next rock concert.? Concerts can be so incredibly fun.? Enjoy!

I am passing along this award to the following Rocker Girls.

ADW at Hooters and Other Tales of Woe.

Bottle Blonde at Confessions of a Bottle Blonde.

Kelly at Cheaper than A Happy Meal.

Samantha K at Sports, Soap and a Wandering Mind.

I’m just thinking these gals can tell us a lot about rocking.

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24 November 2007 ~ View Comments

Carbs.

All right. I love them. Little white rolls. White potatoes. Sourdough bread. Pie crust. Harp Beer. Fried waffles with ice cream. Ahhh….
What can I say?

I love them.

But after watching this? Cobbler is off my beloved carb list.

Happy blurry carb induce fog day!

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21 November 2007 ~ View Comments

Gratitude.

I was going to do a bit TT on cool stuff.? But when the temperature is below twenty degrees, my mind only comes up with “blah, blah, blah, blah”.? So next week will be brilliant.

I don’t think there’s anyway for me to express my gratitude for the friends and community that has sprung up around this blog.? I see each of your bright and shining souls as beacons in the madness of this world.? Thank you for shining your light in my life.

I love this world and this human experience.? I feel so incredibly bless to have the chance to live in this time and place.? I am amazed that I get to watch the world transform.

The one thing I know for sure is that I am blessed to be here.

I am blessed to know you.

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21 November 2007 ~ View Comments

I can relate.

Turkey ?You only love us for our  breasts?

“So I know you,” the clerk at the pharmacy says beaming ear to ear.

“Yeah, how’s that?” I ask looking up from signing the form.

“We work out at the same time at the same gym.”

“We do?”

“Yes.? I see you there every day.”

“You do?” I ask.? “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

This exchange happened yesterday.? I was totally busted for being a snotty bitch.? I don’t look at anyone at the gym.? I only talk to the people I know – which is like two people (well trainers, are they people?)

Of course, I blushed and apologized profusely.

Still, if I was a turkey, I’m pretty sure he’d have me for Thanksgiving.

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20 November 2007 ~ View Comments

For Fuck's sake.

You’ve probably seen this photo:

Bigfoot?

Oh come on. What rock do you live under?

It’s Bigfoot! This photo was taken by a Pennsylvania hunter, Rick Jacobs.? And a controversy is brewing.

You see, the Pennsylvania Game Commission says that this is a “mangy bear”.

For fuck’s sake. It’s Bigfoot.

I know you’re probably full off all the torture controversy, Iraq controversy, Presidential controversy, and the controversy controversy.

But really.

This is Bigfoot.

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20 November 2007 ~ View Comments

Something to be proud of.

Blue Cosmo

Denver is the drunkest city in the United States… again. Colorado Springs is the third drunkest city in the country. Aurora is number nineteen.? This makes the state of Colorado the” drink until you drop” state.

London has Big Ben. New York City has Broadway. Los Angeles has PH.com. Seattle has coffee and rain. Dallas has big blond hair. Miami has great Cuban food.

Denver?

Oh yeah, we know how to get shit faced on a regular basis. I could not be more proud.

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18 November 2007 ~ View Comments

Yeah, like there's only 7….

I was tagged by No Nonsense Girl to reveal 7 Random and/or Weird Facts about Me meme.

Like there’s only seven…. ;)

1. I learned to read when I was 2 1/2 years old. I was under a significant amount of stress and surrounded by books. Sitting on my caretaker’s lap, I started to read.

2. I read by symbol. Because I learned to read on my own, I read by symbol not letter. Each word is a unique symbol but not a sound. If I have to read out loud, I must translate in my head then speak.

3. While we’re on the topic of reading, because I read by symbol, I can read words that are upside down, sideways. In other words, if it’s a word, I can read it. You cannot imagine how useful this is at museums, concerts or reading anything on someone’s desk. You’d be surprised what you can learn by reading words that are upside down.

4. I rarely went to class in High School. I realized my first semester in high school that they compared the note signatures to the forms. My father didn’t care if he signed the form or not. I signed his signature on every form from then on. I also signed copious number of slips for myself (and my little sister btw). I went to class to take the tests. I did the homework. But I mean really: free pass, boring class and beach or mountains minutes away. What would you do?

5. Dead people talk to me. I don’t really know how to explain it. I thought that everyone could do it. Spirits are just like people. They have stories to tell and mischief to get up to. They talk to anyone who can hear them – just like people. For me, it’s fairly random. If a spirit’s there, they talk to me. I usually try to help them move on. In my experience, spirits hang around for 3 reasons: 1) they were so confused by dying that they missed the usual pattern. This happens in murders or sudden deaths. 2) They are frightened of what happens next. Or 3) They have something to say. Usually they want someone to know what happened to them. There was a spirit in our house who wanted me to know that she fell down the stairs and lay there (mostly unconscious but alone) for 3 days before she died. After she told me, then showed me how it happened, she moved on.

6. I like some really lame pop music. Right now, I’m quite fond of Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad album, particularly Rehab and Good Girl Gone Bad. Ne Yo’s When You’re Mad makes me laugh out loud every time I hear it. Ciara’s Get Up is on my workout play list. I’m not sure why this music is lamer than Seether, Breaking Benjamin, Trapt, or any of the other bands I listen to. It just is. I like it anyway.

7. I light a yellow candle when I’m working. I love candles. In the last six months, I have taken to lighting a yellow candle near my computer. I just lit an orange and lemongrass candle. I am warmed by the yellow flame. Weird, but true.

Now the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they?ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I tag:

Heart in San Francisco
The CEO
FuriousBall
La Cubana Gringa
Janet at Fond of Snape
Josie at C’est La Vie
Kelly at Cheaper than a Happy Meal

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