What Would It Take...?

I don't scare easily. I have been the lead investigator in many investigations. At the actual event, I have taken the lead in another sense because I trod through without the slightest hesitation whereas many will not.

More than once, following a night of investigation, I have been asked: is there anything that frightens you?

Well, just about the only thing that could have me wanting to run screaming from a house while vowing never to return would be a tantruming toddler who refuses to sleep two days in a row...

Seriously, however, the 'paranormal' doesn't frighten me...anymore. Certainly, when I was much younger, my curiosity about what was happening to me was tinged with a bit of fear because I simply didn't understand. Now, there are still aspects of my abilities that I don't understand and, in these cases, fear has been replaced with a desire to learn.

Declining and Reclining

Representatives from a clothing chain/store contacted me this past week: they wanted me to participate in a tarot-reading event. They already have a psychic but wanted one with a good reputation instead and, according to them, I am highly reputable. Blush.

I declined. Suffice it to say that I'm very busy.

I couldn't stay awake at around 6:00 a.m. this morning. So, Scully kindly poured coffee into me. Later in the day, while Mini-Me napped, I kicked off my shoes to watch Ju-On: The Grudge.



I have to say that I didn't find it frightening at all; however, I felt compelled to continue watching it.

What fascinated me most were the glimpses into Japanese culture: the architecture, especially, held my attention.

I didn't realize that it was based on two other films.

If you're interested, here is the official website.

I must note that I've not seen the U.S. remake starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.



I think I have to watch it now.

Just Today Stuff

There are many readings tomorrow and maybe even getting my kitchen floor washed by my mother. She likes to do it and I don't know why.

It was a difficult day for myself and Mini-Me. There were tantrums and difficulties with sleeping and shopping.

While in line at the grocery store:

"Oh! Did your daughter lose her shoe?"

The baby is screaming and won't be consoled. Now, she's kicking.

"No, thanks. I have it here..." By way of apology for the scene, I find myself beginning an explanation:

"It has been a hard day..." We walk out and leave the grocery bags on the counter.

I had a difficult time with many other things, including trying to return business calls, requests for appointments. Somehow, when Scully came home, I was able to start supper, feed the baby and book some appointments.

Interesting To Me

Having done many hundreds of readings, I think I'm still surprised by people who come to a psychic not once but two or three times and still try to test the person.

Examples in point:

(1) people book back-to-back appointments with a "friend" who is actually a spouse or a family member;

(2) people try to conceal the identity of the person(s) by whom they were referred.

To be honest, it doesn't matter to me. The thing is, I ALWAYS know. I call the party on it and we move on from there.

I could understand doing this the first time visiting a particular psychic. What about the second and third times? This is costing the person(s) money. It can't be a matter of trust; otherwise, why would someone come back?

I think it's time for bed.

The Veil

I can't help it. I shop the DVD bargain-bins all the time. You will note several of my past "findings" have been mentioned.

Well, today, I did it again. After three readings, I had a good amount of time to head over to the plaza. At the hardware store, I found, The Veil. It has been hailed, apparently, as "one of the greatest television series that was never aired."



Featuring Boris Karloff--who assumes several roles--it contains five "spine-tingling episodes" of "freaky phenomena" in black & white.

If anyone has any information about when it was filmed, please let me know. I'm being lazy, actually, since a simple search would fill me in. I'm tired. I hit the ground running at 5:30 this morning and now I'm complaining, too.

Good night.

One Step Beyond



While browsing in a bargain shop yesterday, I found a 3-episode DVD of the 1959 show. I was elated!

The disk sleeve declares: "These are "real stories" of the supernatural featuring twisted tales of ghosts, disappearances and other explained mysteries. Truth or fiction? You make the call."

The episodes featured:

The Affair
Anniversary of a Murder
The Boxer

Topper (1953)



I also found one of my favourite TV Series as well. (Based on the film series which was based on the novels by Thorne Smith.)

The episodes featured:

Second Honeymoon
Trip to Lisbon
The Proposal

I paid one CDN dollar per DVD.

Happy May Day

From Miscellanea & Ephemera:

My mother being Irish, she used to tell me all about May Day while I was growing up. I like to acknowledge it in some way.

The Return of May

Hail! fairy queen, adorned with flowers,
Attended by the smiling hours,
'Tis thine to dress the rosy bowers
In colours gay:
We love to wander in thy train,
To meet thee on the fertile plain
To bless thy soft propitious reign,
O lovely May!


'Tis thine to dress the vale anew,
In fairest verdure bright with dew;
And harebells of the mildest blue,
Smile in thy way;
Then let us welcome pleasant spring,
And still the flowery tribute bring,
And still to thee our carol sing,
O lovely May!
Now by the genial zephyr fanned,
The blossoms of the rose expand;
And reared by thee with gentle hand,
Their charms display;
The air is balmy and serene,
And all the sweet luxuriant scene
By thee is clad in tender green.
O lovely May!

Felicia Dorothea Browne Hemans (1793 - 1835)

Happy May Day! I have no May Pole (just one in my memory from Barbados) and I haven't washed my face in May Dew (said to make a plain woman beautiful) or walked barefoot in the dew (said to ensure healthy feet).

Read more about Irish culture and customs on this day.

Maybe I will go wash my face...

***

Don't tell my other blog, but I DID go out and run barefoot in the dew...and even washed my face.

When Good Ghosts Do Bad Things...

Two members of my family were complaining bitterly the other day about teaspoons: they couldn't find one among dozens bought in the last while.

It was then that I spoke of Collin, a ghost hanging around their home. I am familiar with the ghosts of my family's home but I had not seen him before.

I told them to say, "Collin, enough is enough. Give us back our spoons!" The next day, behold, there were all the spoons in the kitchen, dozens of them.

The following day, however, my sister wondered where the cat was. She is an indoor cat and nobody thought to look for her outside. There she was, however, at the front door, scratching to get in. Nobody had opened the doors throughout the day.

Collin is being a pain. However annoying, he is harmless.

O What A Day

I had a pretty good day of readings yesterday. This means that my mother, who comes to babysit, did not drive me completely crazy. She even washed my kitchen floor.

Curiously, a woman who has pestered me for a reading for months--back and forth with rescheduling, etc.--did not show for her appointment. I might have to get tough with people who don't show: Scully suggests that, should someone call to reschedule AFTER having missed an appointment without notice, I should tell the person that the appointment will need to be prepaid.

I think he's right. At the moment, I'm booked far in advance and people wait so long for an appointment that the particular appointment slot yesterday could easily have gone to someone else.

The other appointments--repeats--went really well.

Our living room where, at the moment, I conduct my readings is starting to look normal again since the new sectional sofa arrived.

Amityville Horror (2005)

Add this to my list of movies to see.

I realize that the rumours have been swirling for many years about the authenticity of reports of the family's experiences; however, even if a hoax had occurred, it wouldn't mean that the house isn't haunted.

I found the original movie truly creepy and, trust me, it takes a lot to frighten me.

Article

I've been writing an article for this blog and your patience is much appreciated.

I don't get many opportunities to write or to read these days, but I have been trying to get some done everyday. Thank you, Caillou. Mini-Me loves Caillou and looks forward to a video at 9:00 a.m. each day. Her naps have all but disappeared.

Leaping Up or Forward

Another radio show on Sunday. I guess it went pretty well: people mostly asked about recovering lost jewellery. I was approached by another radio host to do another show on another station.

I wasn't myself. I think that when I have been away from reading and writing, my equilibrium is disturbed. I need books. I need to write.

I have been working steadily on my house, a house that, according to an acquaintance "looks like a psychic should live here". I think that was a compliment.

The house is not ancient (1920) but it is surrounded by original terraces of moss-covered stone. The enclosed porch spans the entire width of our large house and the backyard stretches for one quarter of an acre. The original carriage house at the back would have accommodated perfectly a 1920's car but it is used largely as a shed by us.

I hope that, by now, your eyes have not glazed over due to boredom and that you will permit me one further indulgence: a brief discussion of how I decorated the front porch: vintage lace and linen, old wicker and wrought iron, ferns with other lush plants. I can't help it: the messier and more rustic, the better.

I hope to read and write out there -- during Mini-Me's naps -- this spring/summer.

Ghosts / Calls Waiting

Yesterday felt like the longest day that I'd had in a while.

My father-in-law called to see if I needed any help.

"You sure do have a lot on your hands. A sick husband, a baby..."

"Don't forget a business. I have a business, too."

(He laughed sympathetically.)

"If you need any help, just give us a call."

I need a bath, I thought. And a walk.

With a baby into everything and throwing tantrums and toilet training, returning calls requesting appointments was difficult and fraught with obstacles. I did manage to book several appointments. (This is actually a daily reality.)

Sleep is restless. Ghost dreams alternate with parental-anxiety dreams. Lately, when a ghost tries to communicate this way, I feel like saying, "Just leave a message and I'll get back to you."

As For Myself, Restless

Oft have I seen a timely-parted ghost...
(Shakespeare, The Second Part of King Henry the Sixth, Act III, Scene II, line 169)

My ghost dreams last night were pretty intense.

There were hundreds, all at once, marching through the streets. I got the impression that they had all died at the same time, in the same tragedy. They were protesting something but I woke before I could discern what it was.

I told a woman, also a ghost, about those that I had seen marching. She was so preoccupied with the contents and state of her last life that she would not listen to me.

Frustrated, with a sense that I could not accomplish what I was supposed to have done, all the while being absorbed in this latter ghost's activities, I woke.

Oftentimes, the psychic don't get to rest even when they sleep...

Capturing Castles

From Miscellanea & Ephemera blog:

Jeesh, I have been away for quite some time. I have been working on some reviews that I hope to post soon. Otherwise, there's not much to tell you.

I confess to having bought some really good books lately, some vintage and others new. (Said items bought in defiance of a moratorium and said moratorium was issued by yours truly. Well, I'm changeable.)

Most recently, I bought I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith, published 1948. (Dodie Smith also authored 101 Dalmations). It's a book that I have been considering for quite some time (every Monday, actually, at the local store). What finally convinced me to take the leap was finding a movie based on the novel. Now, I'm intrigued.

Now, not only have I not read the novel, I also haven't seen the movie. I will have to come back to this. Soon.

Poor Scully...

It must be difficult living with someone who makes strange announcements all the time.

"There's going to be an accident on your way to work today in X. There are multiple cars but you're not involved. It's just...kind of close to home for me."

"Huh? Okay." Off my husband goes to backslashdotcom all day and he doesn't really think about my prediction.

At the end of the day, he comes home, I greet him and we go about our evening routine. During a commercial break, he says, "Oh, yeah. You were right. There was an accident in X, multiple cars. It really made traffic bad."

Dublin - Malahide Castle

I need to make mention of a good little article that describes Malahide Castle, the oldest inhabited castle in Ireland:

...its 800-year-old family history is haunted with many
unseen and unknown spirits and their presence is made to believe in
every room.

I always wanted to live in a castle while growing up. It just seemed...fitting. My life was naturally filled with so many gothic elements that no one could have blamed me.

At any rate, it would have been difficult to heat, nigh impossible to decorate with any great fidelity to its originating architectural period and my interest in the gothic is now pretty much confined to literature and film. I do have to admit, however, that I love a good thunder-and-lightening storm.

Here is the said article printed in the Economic Times of India.

Movies To Watch

Having a baby in the house now means that I often have to choose only one of these options when there is spare time:

(1) sleep
(2) eat
(3) bathe
(4) write
(5) read

I should add one more option: (6) watch a movie.

Over the past few months, I have accumulated some DVDs that I would love to watch. Though not in this order, this is the list of movies that I will have to make time to watch:

13 Ghosts (1960)
The Invisible Ghost (1941)
The House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Dominique (1978)
Carnival of Souls (1962)
Death at Love House (1976)

As you can tell, I appreciate the older film. There are some classic movies of the 1970s centred around "reincarnation" that are really very good. I will list these later.

The Things That Make You Laugh...

I've spent most of my dream-life receiving information from ghosts and this has increased even more so in the past two years. I don't know why they come to me with information. That's just what happens and--though it can be uncomfortable at times--I don't find it frightening in the least.

The other night, I dreamt that my CAT was smoking a CIGARETTE and it completely freaked me out! Since the baby has come to live with us, I guess I feel like I'm not taking the same degree of care of my cats that I used to. They still get my attention but it now has to be shared with a baby who DEMANDS my constant attention. So, could my cats really be running wild and getting into trouble ? :-)

Holding Up, Hanging In

Wow, babies are incredible and absolutely demanding, darling little creatures. I can't believe how much my life has changed in a month. For one thing, I am up at 4 or 5 a.m. daily. That never used to happen. For another thing, there is this amazing little being demanding my utmost attention at all times. What is more, I don't seem to have much time for myself. Because I also run a business, I have professional responsibilities. I must say, however, that a bath feels absolutely luxurious when I get to have one. I also have a very helpful husband: Scully changes diapers, plays with and tends to her needs very wonderfully when not at work.

I was finally able to resolve the scheduling conflicts and now have a babysitter for my reading days.

There has been no time to read and no time to watch cool movies though my movie pal assures me that she is holding my place for me. I need to get to a movie soon.

Though much of my learning lately has revolved around baby, I've learned some startling professional things as well: I'm considered "famous" by people in the city and surrounding regions. It is true that people have come from way up north and from far south, but I didn't take it to mean that I was "known". Strange, as I've said before, as long as I FEEL anonymous, I'm ok with it.

Every now and then, however, something intrudes on my feeling of anonymity. This time, my sister related a conversation she had with some of her new acquaintances:

"My sister is a professional psychic and she's on television, radio, etc. a lot."

"Oh, yeh? What's her name?"

My sister's answer garnered this:

"Oh, she's your sister? I've heard she's good."

Well, now my blushing commences for having typed this, I'm still shocked. I always am.

Always one to make me laugh, my sister asked if I ever had the feeling that people are staring at me. "Well, they sometimes are!"

Tele-Vision

I did have another TV appearance -- national -- another live question-and-answer. It went well. Lots of calls, then lots of appointments.

The hardest part for me was getting ready: I needed a babysitter to keep Gigi company while I got ready. Wow, it was such a luxury to sit in a bath for more than 3 minutes. I was there to feed her and brush her teeth with her but mostly my mother-in-law cared for her. I'm going to look into this babysitting thing. My husband and I would like to have a date.

My mother comes up to babysit so that I can get my readings done during the week. Yay! It works out.