Ghostly Games and Wicked Fun for Halloween

I love games.   I love playing every kind of card game and board game.   Game night was a tradition in my family that I have passed on to my own family.   It is a way of bonding with friends and family that draws everyone together in fun.   My favorite games are quite traditional.  I love scrabble and Words with Friends on my iphone is my favorite app.  I love hearts and chess and monopoly deal, but for Halloween I've discovered some new games that bring out my ghoulish nature.  They also reveal my dork side as much as they reveal my dark side.   They are cute and creepy and make the season more interesting.   I turn out the lights, light some candles, and get out these games for a a ghostly giggle in the dark hours of night:

1. Spooky Tales: This is my favorite. This game seems somewhat simple but brings out the dark side of everyone involved and is hilarious even at the worst of times. It consists of a deck of card with various beginnings, ends, segues, and topics on them. So your starting hand might have a couple beginning cards one of which reads,"There was a two headed pig born on my father's farm last night, but that was not the most unusual thing about the pig......." It might also contain a zombie card, a cheerleader card, and drum made of human flesh card. In order to win the game, you have to compete with other players to lay down your cards and make a coherent story and be the first to use all of your cards. The stories that people come up with are disturbing and hysterical. It makes every night an adventure. The game even includes a flashlight with sound effects.

2. Munchkin Zombie: The Munchkin games are a world unto themselves. They are a fairly simple card game that pokes fun and pays homage to role playing games. I don't care for role playing games, but this card game makes me giggle happily every time I play it. The zombie version of this game is brilliant. You will battle horrible adversaries like girl scouts or cafeteria ladies with your own large intestine or with someone else's left leg. This is a definite dark delight for anyone who likes zombies.

3.  Munchkin Cthuhlu:   This is another permutation of the Munchkin Game.  This is probably one of my favorites.   I love Cthulhu and playing a Cthulhu card game makes me happy.  You can become a cultist and fight terrible gods like the great unpronounceable terror.  You get to use wonderful weapons that make no sense while going completely crazy. 

4.  Oh No.... Zombies:   This board game puts you in a small town.  You are trapped and surrounded by zombies and have to fight your way out, or surrender to the zombie hoard.  Have fun trying not to get eaten as you race to the end of this silly and crazy game.

A Headless Ghost in the Night

In the small town off Fayetteville, there is an old ghost story.   This is the type of ghost story that has passed into legend and come to define the folklore of the region.   It is the the story of the Vander Light.  I have heard several different versions of this story, but I share the story that was told to me.   The Vander Light is a lonely ghost.   It is a ghost that has been wandering the train tracks since the 1800s.   According to legend,  years ago a young man named Matthews took a train ride.   The young man was a smoker, as was common in those times.   He stepped out of the train car and out into the area between the cars to have a smoke.  Just as he was lighting his cigarette, the train his a bump and he was thrown from the train.  The young man fell at just the wrong angle.   His head hit the car and his body was tossed to the ground below the train.  He was decapitated on impact.    Matthew's head was forever lost to him.

It is said that ever since this time,  anyone who wanderers along this lonely stretch of train track can catch a glimpse of this young man at night.    He walks along the tracks he was killed on carrying a lantern.   Those that see him can see him in front of them for only a minute.   He appears to be searching for his lost head in the darkness.   When the observer gets to close to the young man that has come to be called the Vander Light,   he vanishes into the darkness.    If you turn around,  you can see him standing behind you, watching you and waiting for the parts of himself he has lost in the darkness.

Clusterfuck

As a 3L, one would assume I've somehow managed to get my act together with regard to law school...

And they'd be wrong.

Without fail, I overload myself, overwork myself, underwork on things I should DEFINITELY be working on, and overall seemingly attempt to get my life as close to the description of clusterfuck as I possibly can. And that's just the beginning.

I spoke the other day about how things were starting to get hairy. I'm now freaking out about how little I feel like I've accomplished, and how much I still have left to do. I've got Trial Comp starting tomorrow and have to write a closing statement and finish a direct. I have witness prep also. Oh, and "senior pictures" tomorrow.

Let's not forget the teacher that is making my life a living hell by scheduling class to run til 6:00 instead of 5:00 (I'm leaving at 5:00, I've almost decided). And BOA, who has someone not related to the damn competition sending out emails and usurping my committee head by trying to call meetings regarding subjects he knows nothing about. Oh yeah, and the fact that I have clients coming in uninvited to talk to me about their cases. And trial in a WEEK where I'm repping a child against two felonies.

Add on top of that I have a friend's birthday party(esque) thing tonight, my house is a disaster, and I have approximately FIVE GAZILLION memos to file to write, and I'm starting to unravel a little. AND WE HAVE, LIKE, NINE WEEKS OF SCHOOL LEFT IN THIS SEMESTER.

But on the up side, I made my school's traveling negotiation team.

And Drop Dead Diva's finale is on tonight....

Still Busy

In my last post I said there was plenty to keep us busy and I wasn't wrong. In case you haven't heard, Reader's Digest magazine are running a 100 word story competition.

Cornerstones also have a competition. Send in the first 100 words of your manuscript to win a critique on your full-length novel.

Had a call from a lady at Erewash Writers' Club with news of another workshop in November. Only £3-50 including buffet so that sounds a worthwhile exercise.

As if I didn't have enough to do I've been persuaded to become Nottingham Writers' Club's assistant treasurer. I don't know anything about keeping accounts but, as I'd already ducked a few other requests to help out, I thought I couldn't turn down this one. As it turned out the treasurer himself didn't turn up on Wednesday so I had to hit the ground running by collecting fees from non-members. That meant going home on the bus with twelve quids worth of loose change in my pocket. At least no mugger would want to run off with that weighing him down.

Found out I was just out of the top three with a highly commended in the Didsbury Arts Festival short story competition. The theme was 'maps' and once I had worked out a story I enjoyed writing it. At least I have another story I can put away and possibly use another time. I hope they are going to put the winning entries on the website so I can see what I was up against.

Crystal Masaru Meth Lawyer

This one comes with a Divorce Decree, Collaborative Law Agreement and a photo ID. Oh boy!

From: Crystal Masaru

Subject: Re: Enforcement/Collections Divorce Settlement

Currently am living in South Korea for an assignment and Bloombeg Masaru lives in Seattle, Washington. Due to the time difference (+13hrs EST) it is a little bit difficult to determine the best time to call you. We agreed under a Collaborative Law Agreement attached to this mail for a onetime cash settlement of $623,000.00USD to his credit, he has paid me $122,000.00USD but still owing $501.000.00USD. He is aware of my intention to seek legal actions. I will be pleased to provide further information on this matter on request. I have already advised him I am planning on retaining your firm. Kindly send me your firm’s retainer agreement so that we can proceed. Thank you and have a pleasant day.

Regards,

Ms. Crystal Masaru
Address: RM741-10 Haengsin-dong, Deokyang-ku, Goyang Kyunggi, Seoul, Korea.

The Five Most Chilling Real Haunted Houses

All ghost stories hold unending fascination for me, but the ones that contain the most mystery are the haunted house stories.  I know I'm not alone in this because there seem to be unending movies and books written about Haunted Houses.  The list is long and prestigious.  The terror held by house hauntings is unique.   You are bound to the haunted location by financial obligation, family, and sentiment.  It is your home that holds the shadows and that can't be easily escaped.  The ghosts or dark spirits can catch you in bed, with your children, and in the shower.   There is a unique vulnerability to being in a haunted house.   So here is my list of the most compelling house haunting stories I've heard.  I've written about many of these haunted houses before, but revisiting them still sends shivers down my spine.

5.   The House on Larabee Street:
This haunting story has always been one of my favorites because it does not have a history.   The haunting on Larrabbee Street has often been compared to the Amityville case, however, the house on Larrabee Street didn't have the history the Amityville house had.   It is a haunting that is unexplainable.   The spirit that haunted  Allen and Deborah Tallman came from nowhere.  

The Tallman's found their dream home on Larabee street and the house slowly turned evil.   At first, the family began to get sick and sickness became nightmares and ghosts and monsters that crawled in and out of the woodwork tormenting the family and their children until they finally flee there home.  For a more  detailed write up on this fascinating haunting you can go to:
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2010/01/haunting-on-larrabee-street.html

4.  The Demon in the Shadows:
This is a haunting I learned about during an interview for Haunted North Alabama.   A young woman came forward and told me she wanted to talk to me and the story she told me was chilling.   This young woman bought a lovely home with her husband and the house immediately showed signs of haunting.  Doors opened and closed on their own.  Light bulbs exploded.  Phantom mists tormented the woman and her family.   Finally, the woman would wake in the morning to find deep gashes in her back where the hostile entity had clawed her.   She and her family had to flee their home.  The complete write up for this haunting can be found in Haunted North Alabama.

3.   A Haunting in Conneticut:
This is one of the most famous hauntings.   It was made into a movie, that was not true to the facts of the actual haunting, but was still an interesting movie.   The real haunting in this case began with a house that had been a funeral home.   The eldest son of the family that moved into this home was driven slowly mad by a hostile entity that lived in the house and when he went to an institution the entity turned to the rest of the family.   Psychics involved in this case say an old evil lived in this house that preyed on the living.   An exorcism was performed of the house and the case resolved, but the family still moved .  You can read more about this case at:
http://www.thecabinet.com/darkdestinations/location.php?sub_id=dark_destinations&location_id=the_haunting_in_connecticut_house

2.  The LaLaurie Mansion:
 This infamous haunted house was home to the famous Madam LaLaurie.  Madam LaLaurie was a sadist and the things she did to her slaves in this New Orleans Mansion are beyond horrific.  She sewed slaves together and removed their appendages and reattached them to other places.   After a fire, the community discovered Madam LaLaurie's sadism and she fled, leaving behind her a trail of ghost stories and a house that is so haunted it screams with ghosts.  You can learn more about this ghoulish haunting at:
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2009/12/this-is-famous-ghost-story-and-any.html

1.  Hull House:
This is another haunting that was so famous it inspired a movie.  Hull House is tucked away neatly on a campus in Chicago.  It was founded by Jane Addams as a refuge for displaced young woman.  Jane Addams was a remarkable woman and the work she did for those in need is admirable on every level.  That is why she hated that Hull House became most known as the house where Satan's baby was born.  According to legend, one of the young women living in this house gave birth to a demon spawn in this house.  Ever since then tails of ghosts and paranormal activity surrounding this location have proliferated.   Hull House is a popular stop on the Chicago Ghost tours and is one of the few places I've photographed in which I got something that looked like a ghost on film.  The story behind Hull House was the inspiration for Rosemary's Baby.   Learn more about this one at:
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2009/12/this-is-famous-ghost-story-and-any.html


I know there are many other house hauntings that aren't on my list.  The Winchester House, Lemp Mansion,  Whaley House, and The Myrtles Plantation all have wonderful haunted histories, but these five are my favorite and the they have stories that give me a chill every time.   For me, this is the perfect time of year to revisit some of my favorite haunted house stories.  With October around the corner and Halloween in the air,  a little scare is the perfect way to set the mood for the season!

To learn more about haunted houses you can go to this link and read more:
http://www.halloweenexpress.com/ghosts-and-haunted-houses.php

Great loves (or, YOU DON'T KNOW ME!)

Everyone has their own quirks and idiosyncrasies, particularly when it comes to things they like. I am no exception, although my gleefulness when I encounter one of my favorite things may rival that of a child on Christmas day, while simultaneously coming across as weird. Really weird. One of my favorite things is the first day of school, particularly when I was younger, because it always smelled different. And we had to wake up early when we weren't used to it, so it felt different too. And because I got fresh school supplies.

To this day, I love looking at a fresh sheet of paper, just ready for my writing. Same goes with index cards. And brand new planners. 

I love anything that comes in the mail. My boyfriend (Leonidas) thinks my obsession with checking the mail every single day (and sometimes, admittedly, twice a day) goes beyond the scope of normal behavior. I say, WHO CARES? (And I absolutely love bubble wrap that packages are wrapped in. I'm six years old. And what???) This may also be attributed to the fact that Maxine eschews checking the mail, and I could have had TONS of mail just sitting in our PO box, just gathering dust. Gah.

I love new mascara. Something about taking the brand new wand out and putting on that fresh coat....oh yes. Same with most new makeup, really (but mascara is seriously the best). Hair products are in this same category. I just want to go home and use them. 

New books that haven't been cracked yet, especially when they are leather. Especially not when they are legal related. 

Chips and salsa from a particular Mexican place in town, which has precisely the right amount of cilantro in the recipe. Oooh, and mixing queso with the salsa in a separate bowl (which Leonidas finds repulsive).

Printing out papers and stapling them and having them so fresh and so clean-clean. 

One of my most favoritest things in the entire world? FALL. Growing up in the deep south, I never experienced seasons like we do up here. Our leaves didn't slowly change colors. You just woke up one morning and they were all shriveled up and dead on the ground. I love cold weather. AND TURTLENECKS! (I don't know what my obsession with turtlenecks is, other than when I was young and my family was poor thrifty, we would get the 3/$30 deal from the Penny's catalog in all different color turtlenecks. And I thought I was the SHIT. And a few years, I demanded and received penny loafers. To this day, I still love penny loafers. Maybe that should have been my mom's clue I was to someday become a lawyer.) And I love that first day when you wake up and go outside and your breath fogs! It's delicious.

I know I mostly do legal stuff. And perhaps the next one I write about will be what I love about the law. But I don't think it will make me as happy, as the list is shorter. And comes with all kinds of qualifiers. 

Right now, I'm just content with listing the things that make me unabashedly, unqualifiedly happy to be alive.

Because sometimes, they can seem worlds away. Which is just ridiculous.

Poor Decision-Making Lawyers of Tomorrow (PDMLT)

My very first day in my Legal Writing class, my classmates and I were expected to stand up and tell everyone else our name, where we were from, our undergrad degree choice, and why we chose law school. Below are a list of reasons people gave...(and my reasons for shooting many of these rationales down)

1) "I want to help people"--while this is certainly a worthwhile endeavor, many burn out before they even truly get started. If you want to help people, you need to reassess this job, because the law isn't fair, and sometimes it isn't even just. Bleeding hearts? They break.

2) "I want to make money'--HA. If you do, somehow, make 120K a year, I hope you like NOT having a life. And doing menial work. And generally not having time to enjoy the money you've made. Of course, considering how difficult it is to even obtain a job, the amount of money ain't exactly enticing.

3) "My parents are both lawyers"--Maybe you'll at least have a job after law school. You'll also be practicing in their shadows for the rest of your life. Or have to listen to them talk about how you messed something up.

4) "I like to argue"--So does my mom. That doesn't mean she's schlepping off to law school every single day. This is probably the stupidest reason EVER to go to law school. You want to force others to put up with your bad habits because you believe it's necessary to the practice of law? Ever heard the phrase you catch more flies with honey? Well, I'm not in the business of catching flies, but if I were, I wouldn't be doing it by screaming at them.

5) "I've wanted to do this since I was 5 years old"--I wanted to be a unicorn when I was five years old. What do five year olds know, anyway?

6) "I didn't want to have to look for a job in this shitty economy"--legitimate enough, but have you read about the job opportunities that await us after law school? They're not looking so hot. And now you have an extra 70K of law school debt riding on your shoulders. 

7) "I can't do anything with a degree in Women's Studies"--again, true, but why the hell didn't you think of this BEFORE you finished undergrad? I've also found that people going to law school because their undergrad degree sucks are generally not that interested in the practice of law.

And my favorite one (and probably the most legitimate reason for one of my incredible peer's decision to enroll)?

8) "Have you ever seen My Cousin Vinny?"

New Season

Thanks to several of you fellow bloggers out there plenty of competitions have been brought to my attention recently. Plus, with both my writers' clubs in full swing after the summer break and a few workshops coming up there's plenty to be getting on with.

The domestic cricket season has ended and all three cycling Grand Tours are over for this year so there's nothing to distract me from getting down to work.

But wait a minute. The Rugby World Cup has just started, England's cricket tour of the subcontinent will be coming up soon and my own pedal-powered racer is beckoning me from the garage.

Aaaaargh!!!

Searcy State Mental Hospital and The Horror Novel That Has Been Lost in Its Shadows

  

A year and a half ago, I decided to write a blog. I had just signed a contract with Lachesis Press to publish my first novel, Circe, and that was my inspiration for Ghost Stories and Haunted Places.   Circe was inspired by the hospital I did my internship at, Searcy State Hospital in Mt. Vernon, Alabama.   I didn't believe much in ghosts when I worked there, but I knew the place had to be haunted.  The very walls oozed with some unseen presence and whispered of ghosts.   My book, Circe, has had a long and complicated road.  It was the first book I wrote and I've had three books published between the writing of Circe and its publication, but it looks like it might actually be published this October.  I'm thrilled and terrified, because Circe is my darkest work.   I always have to love it, no matter how the book does, because it inspired this blog.  Yet ,Circe is a book that haunts me.  It has been  struggle to publish and took me years to write.  It has been my most difficult book, but here it is, hopefully, ready to be published in October.    So as I get ready to see this lugubrious horror novel in print,  I thought it would be appropriate to re post my blog post about the location that kept me up so many dark nights writing and dreaming of the monsters that might lurk in the shadows of Searcy State Hospital.  

Searcy is one of my favorite haunted places. I did my internship here a very long time ago and I fell in love with it's history and it's white chipped walls. Everything about this old hospital spoke to me. It was even more remarkable because most of those who worked there and lived there every day were oblivious to it's history.  Searcy State Hospital is located in Mt. Vernon, Alabama. Prior to being a state hospital the old hospital has a long and dark history that is very difficult to find, but easy to see upon casual observation. The hospital is encased in long, chipped, white walls that seem as old as anything in the United States. From outside these walls, you can see a battered watchtower that gives testament to the fact that the hospital is in the same location as a 300 year old fort. The fort bears witness to American history. It was originally a French fort and then a Spanish Fort. It switched hands during the Louisiana Purchase and became a US fort. After the US took possession of the fort it was converted to a military arsenal and became known as the Mount Vernon Arsenal.

The Arsenal switched hands again several times and was taken by the Confederates during the civil war only to be passed back over the United States again in 1862. From 1887 to 1894, The Arsenal became a Barracks and was used as a prison for the captured Apache people. The most famous of the Apache people to be held in these barracks was Geronimo. There is a door in the lobby of the old hospital that is labeled as the door to Geronimo's cell.   It is beautiful and intricate.  Sadly, history notes that Geronimo was not kept in a cell during his stay at Mt. Vernon.   He was allowed freedom to wander the barrack, so the door is just a lovely bit of folklore.  The infamous Aaron Burr was also held at this secluded prison at some point after his notorious gun fight.


In 1900 the Barracks were transformed once again and the prison became a mental hospital. Searcy hospital was built as the African American mental hospital in Alabama. Conditions in the hospital were beyond questionable and at one time there were over 2000 patients in the crowded hospital and all were seen by one psychiatrist. All patients were expected to work in the fields.

The hospital was desegregated in 1969, but it’s history is all around it. The hospital is still in used today, and although the residents live in new buildings, many tell stories of ghosts and devils that linger in the white walls and abandoned buildings that surround the new facilities. These stories are usually ignored, because the patients are crazy, but I’m not the only sane person who saw a few ghosts while they were working there.

Hopefully, the book really will be released this fall.  I've had several contracts on Circe and watched them dissolve.  It has been ten years since I started writing this book and thirteen years since I saw the haunting walls of this fog encased institution.  Thirteen is a good number for a horror novel.

Our Dearly Departed

I'm not sensitive to ghosts and I'm not easily spooked, but last night I just about jumped off my sofa.  I was sitting on my couch, watching television like a giant slug.  I heard the dogs barking and looked up at the cat walk.   Both my dogs were chasing what looked like a person walking across the catwalk.  I went crazy.   I was alone in the house very late night with my children and seeing a strange person wandering down the hall being pursued by my frantically barking corgis was enough to set me off.   I went to grab a weapon and pursued the intruder up the stairs.  I was armed and dangerous.   Both my children were upstairs and I didn't want anything touching them.  Suddenly the dogs stopped barking and wandered down stairs.  I did a thorough search and found nothing up stairs.  Both my children were sound asleep and cocooned under a nest of covers.  The house was still and all was quiet.  The dogs slept.

This left me with a bit of a mystery.  There was clearly someone upstairs.  My dogs saw it.  I saw it.  It was an adult person.   I sat down to ponder whether or not both the dogs and I had accidentally ingested LSD when my husband came home.  He reminded me that his mother had died two years ago last night.  He was sad.   I had completely forgotten about the day because I forget all birthdays and anniversaries by default, but now I had to wonder if my unexplained event and the date were related.  I've heard stories of ghosts that only return on the anniversary f their death.  Perhaps this is what I saw.   I saw my mother-in-law going upstairs to check on the grandchildren she loved so much.   I hope so.  There is actually comfort in that thought.  There is comfort that somehow those who have left us can still come back and check on us and make sure we are alright, that they can love us from afar even if we can't always see them.  It is certainly more comforting than my accidental ingestion of LSD theory.  Either way, I'll light a candle for my mother-in-law today.  She and I had our differences, but I miss her now that she is gone. 

And so it begins...

My classes have started piling up. I'm in far too many organizations. And I've signed up for entirely too many competitions.

I have approximately eight clients in my legal clinics. Of these, the ones I want to call do not and the ones I do not want to talk to do....over and over again.

Additionally, I have a job interview coming up in a place I'd really, REALLY like to work (note I said in a place, not a firm). Cover letter is due by noon today.

But on the up side, it's a lovely 51 degrees outside this morning, I got eight full hours of sleep last night, and I'm relatively good-looking.

Maybe I should repeat that in the mirror this morning three times.

Or maybe I should start my day off right....with a shot of tequila.

Happy Thursday, y'all.

Ethicality....it's all relative

So I passed the MPRE after being pretty damn sure I had failed it back at the beginning of August. And I not only passed it, but I passed it by a pretty decent margin! Before I start bragging though, maybe I should consider how the MPRE is actually scored.....

In states across America, people are required to pass this little test with 50 real questions and 10 questions with which they've designed to torture future test-takers . You are scored on a weighted scale, with 50 being the lowest score and 150 being the highest (because I guess a 0 would be too brutal, right?). The highest score required in our great nation to practice is an 86, for the holier-than-thou states of California and Utah (yeah right). In order to get a 100, you have to get anywhere between 32-37 questions right. There's a five question zone because difficulty of the test determines type of scaled scoring. But just to clarify, this constitutes as a 64%-74% "grade," depending on how moronic the particular people are that are taking the test. This awesome site provides an awesome chart that puts the median at about 97, although it's actually lower for August test-takers. This means that the average person is about 70% ethical. Since I am "math-adverse" and don't like discussing statistics (eye twitching is not a good look for me, folks), I'll leave the standard deviations to this guy. (For the record, I'm actually above the curve in ethicality, although I'm pretty sure that means nothing in the practice of law.)

This does NOT take into consideration that to actually pass this thing everywhere, you only have to make an 86. Based on some of my fuzzy math (100/34=2.941 THEN 86/2.941=29.24), I calculated this to mean that in order to practice law, you honestly only have to be 58.5% ethical.

Which is a failing grade on any test I've ever taken.

But trust us....because we're lawyers.

Is a Person Really Haunted or Are They Mentally Ill?

This is a question I deal with a lot.   Sadly, a large number of mentally ill people suffer from delusions of persecutions by demons, the dead, or other supernatural entities.   The devil and demons torment those that suffer from any number of psychotic disorders and medication and proper mental health treatment can help these people live a normal life and take their demons away.  Modern medicine is a miracle in most cases.  People who might have lived locked up in a mental institution 50 years ago can now live relatively normal life free from the terror of the demons that live in their mind.

As I watched some odd show on TV about a young man being tormented by a demon that researchers thought was connected to his haunted house,  I realized that the line between haunting, possession, and true mental illness is blurry to many.  The young man on the show demonstrated classic symptoms of schizophrenia.  He was at the right age for his first psychotic break.  He was having command hallucinations.  His thought patterns were disorganized and he was no longer rational.  To me, this wasn't a haunting, it was a young man who needed help.   For sceptics, this is the obvious answer to all hauntings and demon possessions.  It is easy to say mental illness is the answer.  However,  I think there are ways to see a difference between the supernatural and the natural affects of mental illness.  Obviously, many psychiatrists and therapists don't feel this way, but I think when diagnostic criteria for a mental illness aren't met and treatment doesn't work, other things could be considered.

First,  lets talk about mental illness.  In order to be diagnosed with any mental illness a cluster of symptoms has to be present.  So someone who is describing the ghosts of the dead tormenting them in the absence of other symptoms could really be seeing them (in my opinion).   Here are some examples of  the diagnostic criteria for some mental illnesses in which delusions of ghosts and demons and paranormal events are common:

Paranoid Schizophrenia:
1.Characteristic symptoms: Two or more of the following, each present for much of the time during a one-month period (or less, if symptoms remitted with treatment).

Delusions
Hallucinations
Disorganized speech, which is a manifestation of formal thought disorder
Grossly disorganized behavior (e.g. dressing inappropriately, crying frequently) or catatonic behavior
Negative symptoms: Blunted affect (lack or decline in emotional response), alogia (lack or decline in speech), or avolition (lack or decline in motivation)

2.Social or occupational dysfunction: For a significant portion of the time since the onset of the disturbance, one or more major areas of functioning such as work, interpersonal relations, or self-care, are markedly below the level achieved prior to the onset.

3.Significant duration: Continuous signs of the disturbance persist for at least six months. This six-month period must include at least one month of symptoms (or less, if symptoms remitted with treatment).

 
Schizotypal Personality Disorder:
A.   A pervasive pattern of social and interpersonal deficits marked by cognitive or perceptual distortions indicated by 5 or more of the following:
1.  ideas of reference
2. odd beliefs and magical thinking that are inconsistent with cultural norms such as belief in clairvoyant, telepathy, or a sixth sense.
3.  unusual perceptual experiences, including bodily illusions
4.  odd thinking and speech
5.  paranoid ideation
6.  inappropriate or constricted affect
7.  behavior or appearance that is odd, eccentric, or peculiar
8.  lack of close friends other than first degree relatives
9.  excessive social anxiety that is associated with paranoid fears rather than negative judgements about oneself.
 
Psychotic features can also be present in mood and other disorders that could lead to delusions of persecution from otherworldly forces.   However, when looking at a functional person who believes in ghosts or the supernatural and sees things haunting him the easiest way to determine if he might be really mentally ill or just haunted is to ask if meets other criteria:  Is the person normal otherwise?  Do they have successful, happy interpersonal relationships?  Do they make sense when they talk to you?  Can they hold down a job?
 
An example I have is of a fellow I worked with some years ago in one of the three cities I've worked in.  I worked with this fellow for a long time and he was completely resistant to treatment.  He was a father of three who had a stable job and a happy marriage.    He had no symptoms of bizarre behavior and had many friends.  Out of the blue, a ghost began to torment him.  He went to seek medical help.  He had been in and out of hospitals and never had any medication worked.  As a professional, I couldn't say this, but I had to wonder if his ghost may not have been real?  He was a normal fellow in every other respect and no treatment worked.   He was not superstitious and didn't believe in ghosts himself so he was confounded and angry as to why the mental health community just couldn't help him.
 
I've interviewed many people who have described persecutions by demons and ghosts and haunting.   I've written their stories and I've believed these people, but skeptics and other professional always ask me how I know these people aren't just crazy.  I always answer with the above.  They were otherwise normal, healthy, balanced people.   They had no history of mental illness and when they left their house or escaped the haunting situation they were able to return to a normal life.  It is simple.   Many sane and normal people describe paranormal experiences and once mental illness and natural phenomena are ruled out,  the alternative has to be considered, and maybe that is the most terrifying possibility of all.

I remember....

Like many others, where I was when the Twin Towers went down will forever be branded into my mind.

I was sitting in my ninth grade English teacher's class chatting with her before the bell rang. She always kept CNN on in the morning, and all of a sudden, there were reports of an airplane crashing into the World Trade Center. I specifically remember saying out loud  "Oh my God; what a horrible accident." When the second plane hit, we both realized it was not an accident. And that's when the entire world changed.

Every television in our school was on that day. No one assigned school work. We just sat. And watched. Quietly. Our entire state was on high alert because of the nearby military bases, and as we saw the buildings fall, knew that there were people still inside, we began to realize that there was more to worry about than what we were wearing for homecoming. We saw true heroism. We saw those willing to risk their lives for others and for their country.

The last three years of law school, I have had the same professor read my class a transcript of what occurred on Flight 93: about the group of people that chose to fight their hijackers and died in a Pennsylvania field, rather than in Washington, D.C., when their plane crashed. The strength of the human spirit never fails to amaze me, and that story has never become trite.

It may have occurred ten year ago, when I was only 14 years old, but I remember.

And I will never forget.

Diana's Settlement Attorney

From: Diana Hamasaki
Date: September 8, 2011


 Dear Counsel, Thanks for your email. I am presently living in South Korea and My ex husband Craig Hamasaki lives in your jurisdiction. My ex and I agreed under the Settlement Agreement attached to this email for a one-time cash settlement of $623,000.00 to his credit, he has paid me $122,000.00 but still owing $501.000.00. He is aware of my intention to seek legal actions. 
I have already advised him I am planning on retaining your firm. Proceed and send me a copy of your service retainer fee agreement so I can preview and go through the terms and conditions of your firm also send along the mode of remittance. Thank you and awaits your soonest response. 
Best Regards, 
 Diana Hamasaki 


 Address: 209 Migeun-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Korea Tel. 82-31-656 7883

Black Stick Men

The world of the paranormal sometimes seems unending. Supernatural beings spring from folklore and urban legends and chance encounters on dark roads at night.  Sometimes, these stories seem so real they can be unnerving.  The stories that people tell of encounters with black eyed children, ghosts, demons and shadow men are chilling and make you reluctant to wander alone at night.   Other times, the stories of paranormal beings just leave you scratching your head.

I feel this way about black stick men.   I keep an open mind, but the stories I've heard of these paranormal entities leave me wondering.  Black stick men are a relatively new phenomena.    According to witnesses, these men are unnaturally tall and so thin that they are two dimensional.   They look like stick figures drawn by a small child in kindergarten class.  They have no facial features and are a blank slate.  They are said to watch people.  They don't move fast or attack their victim, but instead slowly follow behind them from a distance.   Those who have seen them describe feeling overwhelmed by fear and indicate that ignoring the creatures seems to be the fastest way to get them to leave you alone.   One gentleman described seeing one of these stick men on a walk at night.    He glimpsed the stick man with the light of a flashlight.  He didn't describe any fear or action on the part of the figure.  He only described it as there, watching him.  This tends to be the standard description of these phantom creatures.  They watch and they wait and what their purpose could be is as mysterious as the creatures themselves.

There are many theories as to what these stick men are.  Some say they are ghosts or demons and others say they are alien visitors sent to observe us.   I'm not sure what they could be, but this is one paranormal creature I tend to think might exist more firmly in the mind of the observer than in the real world.  Of course, I am often wrong.

The Ghost Train

Some settings lend themselves to ghost stories.  The swamps of Louisiana, Southern Mississippi, and Alabama seem to call to ghosts with their moist, muddy fingers.   The lonely castles of old Europe whisper of secret histories that feel like a sanctuary for ghosts.  The darkened streets of Chicago with its history of mob rule and murder, bring to life the ghosts of all those that have died there in fire and tragedy.  And to the North, the icy landscape of Canada brings to mind ghosts lost in fog and snow.

The Ghost Train in Saskatchewan is one of the most famous ghost stories in Canada.   Saskatchewan is one of the warmer provinces of Canada.  It receives more sunlight than any other province and its summer temperatures can be almost as high as the temperatures in the United States.  This warmth doesn't stop St. Louis, Saskatchewan from being home to a famous ghost train, however.    In 1929, a CNR engineer was checking the train tracks by St. Louis.    He was taken by surprise and hit by a train.  He was lost in the headlights of the train and his ghost is said to wander the tracks to this day.

A multitude of people have described seeing ghostly lights by this stretch of track for over 80 years.  These lights are attributed to a phantom train that has been brought back by the dead engineer's ghost.  Late at night, travellers and explorers who stand by the track can see lights coming down the tracks and then vanishing into the mist.   These lights have been described by skeptics and believers and have even been caught on film.   Nonbelievers look for some earthly cause to explain the lights, but many say this will never be found.   The ghost train comes in the night and for many the only explanation imaginable is that this stretch of track is haunted.

Don'tgiveafuck

For some classes, you tab. For others, you read the footnotes. And for many, you don't do jackshit.

Or maybe that's just me.

Forgive my absence for the past few days. I started working on a cartoon outlining one of the many reasons I hate law students. And then I realized I cannot draw. Which means that my attempt at a cartoon will come soon. And I will have warned you. (So don't bitch at me when my stick-figure lady has lopsided boobs or is drawn to a physically impossible scale.)

As I was writing earlier: different classes (even those not in law school) require different things. The more you like a class, the more willing you are to do those things. In the vein of honesty, though, I'd like to clarify something regarding these so called "lovable" classes: people generally don't love classes because of the subject matter. They also don't love them because "they learned so much." Many will credit the teacher for a class being amazing. My opinion? Classes are dependent upon the people in them.

Take, for instance, one of my criminal classes. Don't get me wrong: I love criminal work. Love getting my hands dirty, learning the gory details, then figuring out the pieces to the puzzle. But this particular criminal class? I would rather gouge out my eyes while setting myself on fire and jumping off a cliff ala Denethor of LOTR than be present. The people, quite simply, make me shudder to even think of the next class period. Perhaps it isn't the people singularly, but as a whole. Or perhaps I just need a cocktail to enjoy the class a little bit more, especially if people are going to twist my words when I note certain things that are detrimental to a prosecution's case. I really think the thing that makes this class so unbearable is the fact that I would otherwise absolutely love the course if it weren't subjected to a complete lack of don'tgiveafuck from those around me. Or, you know, if they'd read the GD BOOK.

Then there's the classes in which I don'tgiveafuck. For those, I do try to read. I do not, however, attempt to answer questions. Because I understand that my don'tgiveafuck can be annoying to others. If I am forced to answer a question, I do so quickly. But since we know that no professor asks me a question (go back and read "The Plan" if you need to know more about my tactics), that doesn't happen. See? I strive to make the learning experience pleasant for those around me.

Clinic classes are also completely dependent upon those in your group. I'm lucky enough to have some great teachers for those classes. For the most part, the people in them are pretty good too....because it's hard to have a case of don'tgiveafuck when people's futures are literally in your hands. I can honestly say, however, if I ask a question to a peer hoping for a real answer while in said clinic, the answer "I don't know" while not looking up from their texting does piss me off. Particularly when they do know but don'tgiveafuck enough to take two seconds to simply process my answer and respond intelligently.

I hope don'tgiveafuck ain't catching.

Because I hear 3Ls are particularly susceptible to this condition......

The Ghosts Lost in Time at the Petit Trianon

 

The French Aristocracy spent a considerable amount of time trying to get away from the people they ruled.  The first French palaces, where the kings would live, were in the center of Paris.   The need to escape the mob drove the ruling class to construct the palaces that are now The Louvre, which was on the outskirts of the city.  When the city pressed to tightly on these palaces,  the French kings moved to Versailles, which is quite far from the city.   Finally, even Versailles was too much for Marie Antoinette,  who decided to have her own Petit Trianon built.   In a time of financial strife, when the people were starving, the little Marie spent a small fortune creating a refuge for herself far from the people.  Maybe this is why the French Monarchy came to such a dark end,  the monarchy seemed to spend more tax money trying to escape the people than trying to help the people.  The people starved, suffered and died but the monarchy and aristocracy just kept building more and more expensive palaces further and further from anyplace they could see the suffering of the people.

The Petit Trianon is amazingly beautiful.  Marie Antoinette made it a little piece of heaven, but it is soaked in blood and forever a symbol of the aristocratic oppression of the French people.  It is not surprising that this disquieting place in known to be haunted and lost in time.  It is not only known for its numerous ghosts, but also for its strange time slips.   A plethora of ghosts have been seen wandering the serene grounds of this sanctuary.  Workers in eighteenth-century clothing are seen milling about.   Marie Antoinette  and her many visitors and friends have been seen in the building and gardens.   Strange noises have been reported throughout the Petit Trianon.  Phantoms call this small palace home.

One of the most interesting stories from the Petit Trianon involve a group of people that went into the building at the turn of last century for a tour.  The building, which had once been crowded with people, suddenly became very empty.   The silence was uncanny and the group wandered for what seemed like forever trying to figure out what had happened.  Finally, a lovely lady appeared seated on a terrace.  As they approached the lady, a footman came and drove them out off the terrace into a crowd of people.   As they left, they realized that not only had no time passed since their arrival and their departure, but the woman they had seen on the terrace matched the picture of Marie Antoinette perfectly.

K Attorney Rises

From: Gary Hossa Subject: Breach Matter Date: September 4, 2011 12:28:25 AM PDT Hello Counsel, I am inquiring about the possibility of your firm representing me in the litigation of a loan matter. Debtor: Eric Madison Amount: $288,000.00 Amount 80,000 Balance $208,000.00 plus 7.75% annual interest. If you or your firm can be of any assistance, please get back to me at your earliest convenience so I can send you related documents. Your's Truly Gary Hossa Tel: 289-888-1869 Email: garyhossa240@gmail.com

A Real Friend

Just when I thought nothing much was happening as far as my writing was going, something turned up. I have quite a few submissions 'out there' to magazines, competitions and agents but nothing has come back for a while. Even a rejection would be almost welcome just to prove my entries aren't disappearing into some Royal Mail black hole.



Then Saturday morning I had a reply from People's Friend. Not an acceptance unfortunately but not an outright rejection either. The first thing that impresses me with PF is their response time. I posted my submission second class on Tuesday and received the reply just four days later. Previous recent submissions have also been acknowledged (rejected) within a week so this wasn't just a one-off.



The letter from Shirley Blair explained very clearly what they liked about the story but also why it wasn't quite suitable for PF. Some suggestions were offered for the dialogue and the ending and I have been encouraged to amend the script and resubmit. I'm not aware of any other magazines that do this.



I must admit I've found it hard to find the right balance with PF. They have a traditional readership but still deal with themes such as crime and hardship. It's not all domestic issues and romance. So I suppose I'd better get on with it. Hopefully my first story in PF isn't too far away.