Paranormal investigating is my favorite thing to do. From 1999 to the present I have stepped foot in over a dozen haunted places. I took two years off to finish my undergraduate but I’m back now and writing a book about my experiences.

I recently ran an add in the St. Louis Post and the Riverfront Times advertising if people were under a spiritual attack to email me with details. Well I have received several leads but one in particular is quite disturbing. The entity is supposed to have contributed to the death of one of the members of the family. I quickly pushed this haunting to the top of my list and will hopefully get a chance to investigate this before the end of the year.

Needless to say the family is scared to death and I do not blame them. I really want to help this family. I cannot explain this but I feel this is what I am supposed to do with my life - protect people from spirits. I have been protecting people from things my entire life and this is the one area I feel I can be of service the best. I think I will investigate this one alone - if anything happened to one of my friends I could never forgive myself. I can deal with it if my ass gets kicked but not if a loved one is touched.

When I was in college I saved a classmate from an abusive boyfriend that would show up at her dorm and beat the shit out of her. So the school threatened to expel her if it happened again and they did not want the police called because it would make the school look bad. How screwed up is that!!! Expel HER because she is being abused – what a dumb ass school!!!

So she calls me crying, not knowing what to do and embarrassed to show up at school with bruises all over her body, so I took care of it. Anyway I hid in her closet one night trying to catch him in the act and sure enough he starts pounding on the door trying to get in. She opens the front door and as he goes to hit her I jump out of the closet and beat his ass out the door, down the hall and into his car. He drove away and never returned.

So now I want to do these paranormal investigations to see if I can help people with this. My coworkers think I will get possessed or even worse, killed by a demon. I say bring it on!!! I’m not scared to die and I am not scared of any invisible force hurting me. If its my time to die then its my time to die.

The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long. I must have an adventure in my life in order to have fun. I cannot just sit around and let life pass me over. My marriage sucks and I’m not sure how long it will last so what have I got to lose. Anyway below are a couple of my favorite places I have investigated and a brief synopsis of each one. I will post more in the coming months – unless the demons kill me. LOL!!!

Cheney Mansion
Investigated in 1999 and 2000

My first paranormal investigations were in the Cheney Mansion. I was just learning and did not know anything. During the first investigation, lights would come on and a chair was moved. We did not see it move but we know the chairs were positioned perfectly around the dining room table and when we went back to the dining room one of the chairs was moved away from the table.

This was also the place I made my first psychic reading. Everybody entered one of the spare bedrooms but I just could not do it. When they asked me why I said I felt like if I did I would get trapped inside and it freaked me out. Later on we met the caretaker and she told us when Mr. Cheney would come home drunk they would lock him in this bedroom until he sobered up because he would destroy things. He would pound on the door all night long trying to get out.

During our second visit we actually used a Ouija board which I recorded the entire event with a video camera. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees from the moment we pulled the Ouija board out until we put it away. That night was the most active I have ever seen a Ouija board.

The Unitarian Church
Investigated twice in 2005

The Unitarian Church is the only place that terrified me. I hate to admit this being a paranormal investigator but I did go back a second time to conquer my fears.

Although I did not know it at the time, during my first visit to the Unitarian Church I was under attack from the moment I set foot inside the place. I felt drained upon entering and as the minutes passed I got to the point of near exhaustion. I felt something was following me the entire time and have some very disturbing orbs in my photos to prove it. The spot were the priest hung himself was a bad spot but nothing compared to the basement.

I am almost six foot five; I used to play football in December in my shorts so I never get cold. When we went into the basement which was built in the late 1700’s, I was so cold and I could not stop shivering. I also felt this enormous pain in my stomach that did not subside until I left the building. When I did leave I was VERY pissed off at myself for being scared; so I went back a second time within a few weeks with a much smaller group.

I had to conquer my fears so I took three of my friends during a very bad thunderstorm, and finally faced the force that terrified me. It was the perfect night for an investigation, the thunder and lightning was shaking the Church like an earthquake and four idiots were tempting fate in one of the notorious hot spots for ghosts in the Midwest. Plus we were just a few days short of the date of the priest's suicide. So while my friends were telling stories in the chapel I was wandering around just daring something to jump out at me.

A psychic friend of mine told me if I ever felt threatened to imagine myself in a beam of light, with the light being my protection. I laughed at the time but it really works. So I am walking around throughout this church by myself in complete darkness picturing myself radiating light like a sun. I was also thinking that if this ghost materialized I was going to run through it like some dumb ass wild berserker. I was still pissed off from being scared the first time and I remember thinking, “Come on you son of a bitch I dare you to show yourself!"

Well nothing happened this time. No attack, no sickness, no cold…nothing. In fact, the caretaker which had many encounters in this church commented; except for the storm, that night was the quietest he had ever seen it. Chicken shit ghost!!! Below are pictures of the mansion and the church.

The Cheney Mansion 

The Unitarian Church 

I have two cats – a male and a female (they are both fixed so I don’t come home to 10 cats) and I am convinced they are crazy.

Have you ever been petting your cat and put the same hand he just saw you petting him with under a blanket? He just saw me put it under the blanket but now he acts like it magically morphed into some kind of helpless animal and starts attacking it. Then I’ll show it to him again so the attack stops and then plunge it under the blanket and he attacks it again.

I bought a six foot cat tree with a perch at the top so now the male cat will often sit on that perch and stare at me for hours, often never blinking. I think I finally know what he is thinking. He is thinking if I was a little smaller and he was a little bigger he could easily kill me and how fun that hunt would be. He just has that look in his eyes. Maybe he is pissed because he finally figured out after a million times that it’s a hand under the blanket.

Also why do the cats insist on chasing each other when its bed time? They have all day in the house to play but after midnight my house turns into a kitty recess. Two cats make a lot of noise in a quiet house.

Two cats and an opened door between them equals many hours of fun. They both lay on their backs trying to get at each other from the quarter inch space under the door when they could easily walk around and swat the other on the head. I hate having uneducated cats!!

I also have a large picture-sized widow in the front of the house where the cat tree sits. So now both cats can stare out at the bird feeder dreaming about the kill. It’s funny because suddenly one will jump at the window smashing into it and plummeting down to earth. You’d think after doing this a thousand times they would realize the solid thing between them and the feeder cannot be penetrated but not crazy cats. Now, whenever I hear a loud thump from the living room I know what it is.

Recently, while wrapping Christmas presents I realized that a piece of scotch tape on a cats back equals many hours of entertainment. The yoga-like contortions rolling on the floor are hilarious. They just cannot rest until that little piece of tape is removed and they will stop at nothing to get it off. This is payback for the perch stares while envisioning my death.

Shaving time equals drinking time. While shaving I usually have a sink full of cats trying to block me from rinsing the razor while battling each other for position under the water. They saw me pour fresh water into their bowls not two minutes ago but they insist on pestering me. This is probably payback for the tape and the invisible barrier near the bird feeder.

Imagine this situation: one cat under the couch while the other cat is on the perch. The cat on the perch hears a noise under the couch and suddenly diverts attention from the bird feeder to the couch. He must be thinking one of the birds managed to somehow penetrate the invisible barrier and land under the large scratching post. He pounces only to discover the other cat. Dejected, he returns to the perch for more feathered fun. Suddenly, a noise under the couch......

Cats really like drawers. In fact, everytime a drawer is opened there is usually as cat jumping in; sometimes I do not see the jump so I will close the drawer trapping the cat inside. Then, when I hear my underwear "meowing" I open the drawer and find a cat. Actually, I am glad I do find a cat when I hear my underwear making this noise. I would hate to think what the alternative would mean.

The cat waits for me to shave. 

I think the beer is winning. 

Shadow guards the tree 

Piglet on her perch. 

I call the shot. 

Me and my pirate buds. 

My son and me 

The two crazy cats 

So you got the holiday blahs; from time to time I get those too. The hordes of family you only see once a year, all the old lady bad breath kisses on the cheek (some of them leaving a wet stain). When I get the holidays blahs, I have devised a system that cheers me up every time. I make a list of things, people and occupations that would suck worse than the holidays.

So repeat after me, “I am glad to be going to my family’s house during the holidays because it could be worse. I could be .........."

1. getting dropped off by my parents at Neverland Ranch for an evening of “fun”.
2. an altar boy for the Catholic Church from 1970-1990. (That sticky, gooey fun after the masses is not the candy canes.)
3. George Bush’s environmentalist friend. (I’ll bet ole Georgie doesn’t even send this guy a Christmas card anymore.)
4. Heath Ledger, just after signing the contract to play in Brokeback Mountain.
5. Jake Gyllenhaal, just after signing the contract to play in Brokeback Mountain.
6. a pregnant nun in Church.
7. Dick Cheney’s artistic hair stylist. (Nothing artful here just give him the number 2.)
8. a bill on Capital Hill sponsoring education, housing, the environment, criminal reform or healthcare reform. (No matter how much pork they would load up in this, you know its dead.)
9. the mayor of New Orleans. (Famous quotes: “Food.....we don’t need any food. Hey, why did it take you guys so long to show up?!!!”
10. counting on social security for my retirement.
11. a proctologist. (The only profession in the world where you work with assholes all day long but NOT be a politician or the administrative assistant to a corporate executive.)
12. a factory worker in China, or Mexico. (Your holiday bonus would be to work ONLY an 18 hour shift on Christmas Day.)
13. in a disaster area and counting on FEMA to save your life.
14. George Bush. ('nuff said)
15. a corpse at a necrophilia convention. (I might have hit rock bottom with this one.)
16. John Kerry. ('nuff said)
17. Bill Clinton. ('nuff said)
18. working for a health care insurer and being assigned to Wal-Mart. (No Christmas bonus for you!)
19. working for Wal-Mart. (Needless to say this would not be your only job if you wanted to head a household.)
20. Monica Lewinski's dry cleaner. (This chick saves everything!)
21. a cute and furry animal living on Ted Nugent’s property. (You’re dead!)
22. visiting the United States lovely resort at Guantanamo Bay.
23. the spiritual advisor to a pagan. (“It’s the Earth, dude!”)
24. Jeffrey Dahmer’s dietician. (Especially if your advice to him was to eat more red meat.)
25. a seat cushion at a Texas chili eating contest.
26. a Linux developer at a VB conference. (Oil and water!)
27. going to another Christmas again tomorrow.
28. a dung beetle. (This could be a good thing though. Considering the number of politicians and executives that are full of shit; a dung beetle would live comfortably in our society.)

Now do you see how lucky you are?

I think it is completely wrong for the government to monitor public communications without the consent of a judge. This was put into the Constitution as a form of checks and balances to prevent abuse. Well I sent an email to some friends of mine about a story regarding the government illegally tapping long distance phone calls to overseas and my notoriously right wing friend responded with the following:

Be careful what you say, the NSA may be eavesdropping on you, ya know, because of your terrorist ties. They've noticed that you've been sending emails to your cousin in Tehran, and noticed the phone calls you've been placing to Damascus. Oh, and the American Jihad 2005 mailing list you subscribe to that's hosted on a home server on an ADSL line in Detroit registered in your uncle Khalil Akbar's name. And they've seen you make online bank transfers to the Islamic Global Charity Fund. You and 99.99999% of all Americans fit this type of profile, which is what they're looking for. They have so many reasons to spend their time spying on you, using up precious space on their costly EMC storage servers, and doing voice pattern analysis of your communications on the $25 million Cray X1 they bought last year (which they upgraded to an X1E this year at a cost of $12 million), and then archive all of your communications data streams to their basketball court sized ADIC tape silos.

They want to spy on every American they can, because they have so many qualified personnel with sooo much idle time on their hands, and a totally limitless IT budget to keep acquiring more and more Cray, Sun, EMC, and IBM hardware and software. They never have budget constraints and cutbacks, or project deadlines. They don't have managers to answer to, asking them why they're wasting 8.37TB of space on their EMC Symmetrix (at a cost of $22,000/Terabyte) storing 2 years worth of digitized phone recordings of your entire extended family tree that resides inside the borders of the US. And the manager isn't questioning why they've spent 4,000 CPU hours on the Cray (at $1000/CPU hour) doing voice print analysis of your family voice data trying to match one of the voices to a known member of Al Qaeda they have on file. No, these NSA folk, they don't live in the real world. They can do whatever they want.

So be careful. They're DEFINITELY spying on YOU.

I love sarcasm and my friend's wit is outstanding but not to be outdone I responded:

My notoriously right wing friend, you could be right. I did dial that wrong number and Muhammad answered. I have probably been monitored ever since. I think they planted a bug in me because whenever the phone rings my butt makes a strange buzzing sound. Sure it could be the nacho cheese but in these trifling times it could be a counter terrorist initiative. I’m not sure how they got it in me but I had a bad feeling about that bidet in McDonalds last week. A bidet in McDonalds........how could I be so stupid?!

This Tuesday (we all get together every Tuesday for dinner) could one of you guys check and make sure there is nothing in there. I'm not trying to "Brokeback Mountain" anybody but I got to be sure they are not listening.

Also, I think there is a hidden camera in one of the bubble lights on my Christmas tree (sorry, in the spirit of political correctness I meant Holiday Tree). The light does not bubble anymore but it flashes. Last night I was unplugging the Holiday Tree in the nude when it flashed before I unplugged it. I figured since I was bent over they were trying to see if the microphone was still implanted in my butt. Man, I'm scared!!!!

I am convinced that most people in the United States no longer support or hold sacred the Constitution. I can prove this because on a daily basis people are swarming to limit the freedoms outlined in the Bill of Rights.

It is very disturbing that most polls show the majority of Americans are NOT in favor of free speech. When questions are asked such as “Should people be allowed to say whatever they want?” people overwhelmingly answered “no”. Even more disturbing is that many of these “no” votes come from students in Universities. Students are supposed to rage against the machine NOT for the machine. What is happening?

Our own government has turned against us by passing the Patriot Act without even reading it. But then, when they did read it actually supported it. Only the courts can authorize a search and you have to have justification for a search. I want terrorists brought to justice but not at the price of my basic rights. This is proof that fear can make people do anything.

Both our government and the people are now crazy. I can prove this because they actually told us we can defend ourselves against a chemical attack by using duct tape; even scarier is that the people believe it. They only way duct tape could affect the outcome of a chemical attack is if you wrapped it around your head and suffocated yourself before the chemicals killed you.

Also, why can’t people understand the right to the pursuit of happiness? As long as you do not hurt anyone you have the right to live your life in whatever manner makes you happy. Why must people enforce their standards of happiness on others? I have never understood this and I never will.

I will always fight for someone’s right to be happy, even if what makes them happy is not what makes me happy. This is the basic foundation of a free society and this is not negotiable. You do not have to condone an activity to allow someone else to do the activity but they should have a right to do whatever it is that makes them happy.

When I was a kid there was nothing greater than returning home on an early Saturday afternoon with a fistful of baseball cards and sorting them while watching Saturday Afternoon Baseball. Then, when the game was over it was off to the baseball diamond where we spent countless hours playing and trying to imitate our favorite player. Even in my adult life I continued to be a sports fanatic, often planning family activities around baseball, hockey and football games. But after spending most of my life addicted to sports I have come to realize that sports for the avid watcher is a loser.

Somewhere along the way, the sports players and franchises have robbed me to the point where I do not care for their product anymore. I cannot think of any other activity where a business can charge as much as they want for simple items and the mindless consumers swarm over it. A hockey jersey is $160, a beer at a baseball game is almost $8, just a soft drink is $5 and a hot dog is $4!!!! I cannot even afford baseball cards anymore!!

Every major professional sports team raids the wallets of the fans while promising nothing and delivering mostly nothing in return. Am I guaranteed a victory for my $200 night out? Do I get a discount if my favorite star has a bad night or if the team gets hammered by an inferior opponent? Now that the Blues are the worst team in hockey are the hot dogs and beer any cheaper?

Sports franchises not only sell losing but they sell it at a premium. In fact, let’s look at how many championships the St. Louis sports teams have won since 1975 (the year I started watching): Hockey (0), Baseball (1), Football (1). In thirty years, out of an estimated tens of thousands of dollars spent on jerseys, caps, shirts, shoes, cards, tickets and food, I got two championships.

I cannot think of any other activity where so much money is spent on a lost cause. But yet the fans return every year to throw their money at losing franchises that continue to sell mediocrity in support of players that clearly don’t care. Any other business would be bankrupt but not sports’ franchises; they continue to sell a losing product to a supportive fan base. Can you imagine promoting a business where you would get thousands of investors to give you millions of dollars year after year with no return at all? I think they would put you in jail for it but yet this is what sport teams do every year. How is this possible?

This is not all about wins and loses; where sports really hurts the average person is the price of inflation for everyday products. When "Player A" gets his $100 million contract, not only the fans pay for that but the entire community pays for it. Let me explain. Because of "Player A's" $100 million dollar contract, the advertisers of baseball pay outrageous fortunes to advertise on billboards, television and radio and they pass along the price of those ads to the consumer. Not only the advertised products are increased but everything around the product is now increased, making life more expensive for everybody.

The worst impact on society are these billion dollar television contracts given to baseball and football. This cost is passed on to not only the advertisers of the sports programming but the advertisers of the entire television network. This cost is then passed along to all consumers not just the sports viewers. Sports is the primary reason cable and satellite television prices have risen so high during the past decade and will continue to rise.

In my youth, watching a game was a great way to learn the sport because the announcers provided insights into the manager’s strategy and focused on good player’s technique. Now during every break, every second possible is spent on commercials; no more time for learning There are pop up ads all over the screen during the play, logos all over the players’ jerseys and billboards crammed in every inch of the stadium. It’s disgusting!!!

For my money sports are a big loser!! The only thing sports are good for is teaching youth’s good team work and life lessons but keep your kids away from the professionals. If we can stop this senseless addiction to sports maybe the price will finally come down to an affordable level; a level that will not hurt the entire community.

If the movie studios continue on their evil ways, they will be the next big loser. If I pay to see a film I should not have to sit through commericals; I do not pay to watch commercials. They even put commercials on the DVDs, and you cannot skip them. I have also noticed the commericals within the films are more blantant than ever before. The idiotic thing about this is that no one ever complains. Come on people!!!!

I'm in a rather good mood these days so I started thinking about some advice I read in a Management class. In a university commencement address several years ago, Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises, spoke of the relation of work to one's other commitments:

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends and spirit and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life. How?

1. Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.
2. Don't set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.
3. Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.
4. Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living our life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.
5. Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
6. Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us to each together.
7. Don't be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
8. Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.
9. Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going.
10. Don't forget that a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.
11. Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.
12. Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.
    

Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way. Yesterday is History, tomorrow is a Mystery and Today is a gift: that's why we call it - The Present."

My faith in CEO's might be restored.

I just read "You Can’t Be Neutral on A Moving Train" by Howard Zinn and I realized his interpretation of the term Neutral is different from mine. By the Way, this is an awesome book and I recommend reading it in addition to "The People’s History of The United States".

The definition of neutral is:

• neither moral nor immoral; neither good nor evil, right nor wrong
• impersonal: having no personal preference; "impersonal criticism"; "a neutral observer"
• not supporting or favoring either side in a war, dispute, or contest
• of something that is lacking hue; "neutral colors like back or white"
• possessing no distinctive quality or characteristics
• one who does not side with any party in a war or dispute
• lacking distinguishing quality or characteristics; "a neutral personality that made no impression whatever"

These descriptions of neutral are not really what I had in mind when I envisioned this blog.

When I use the term neutral in relation to politics, I just want the reader to understand that I swear allegiance to neither Democrat nor Republican, none to the “left nor the “right”. I evaluate issues and politicians on a case by case basis. I do not blindly follow a group. During war time I do take sides but my allegiance is to the group or individual that represents my values and morals. In fact, this is how I judge every issue or individual.

In today’s political arena there really isn’t any group that completely represents my values. The only commonality with the two political parties is they all support the upper class, the wealthier Americans. Very few times will you see a politician defending and supporting the poor or the lower class needs.

I have always believed the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few but this is not how America works. The needs of the richest people that buy the best lobbyists, politicians and judges outweigh everybody else. The true divide in America is between the upper class and the lower classes. This is proven on a daily basis with a variety of issues:

• Welfare is allowed for corporations but not for individuals.
• Professional athletes are adorned and paid as heroes while the soldiers, policemen, firemen and educators can never seem to get a decent living wage.
• A CEO earning over 450% of his employee's average salary can complain about the high price of wages, terminate half his company's work force, and then collect a record breaking bonus. Now I understand why the French citizens used to behead the rich.
• Copying is now stealing and the jail sentences are longer for copying than for stealing.
• Huge Corporations are allowed to merge to stifle competition and squeeze out jobs.
• NAFTA and CAFTA benefit the richest corporations while the majority of Americans loose jobs. As a bonus, the residents of these smaller countries are thrust into a new form of slavery.
• Credits laws do not protect the individuals but instead are written for the wealthier corporations. These rules are created to keep people in debt. You should never have to pay back a loan in which the interest exceeds (or even comes close) to the original principle – this is loan sharking.
• Employment laws are virtually non existence in America or these laws benefit the company not the individual.
• Your land, house and property can be taken from you at any time to build a shopping mall.
• “Beyond A Reasonable Doubt” has no meaning anymore as people are put in jail and on death row for little or no evidence at all. Usually the defendant cannot afford a proper attorney and looses the “game”. Unless you are rich and can afford a decent defense, then you can get away with murder.
• War is never waged with the upper classes children but with the children from the lower classes. The upper class kids are too busy with school work to be bothered with something as trivial as defending our freedom.
• Casinos are built with the promise of good jobs but in reality these jobs are the lowest paying of any skill and the tax money that was promised to schools never arrives. Meanwhile, the corporations win again by earning hundreds of millions in profits.
• The burden of keeping our air clean is passed to the drivers of cars by way of emissions testing; while the richer companies that pollute more in a day that most cities with cars polute in a week, have little or no standards at all.
• We declare war on terrorism and drugs, which is great, but how about a war on illiteracy, homelessness and hunger. I'll tell you why; because these help too many poor people.

People everywhere should have a voice and be heard regardless of how much money they have in their pocket. I am in favor of earning a profit but as a civilized society we should help people that need help instead of promoting and encouraging gross wealth.

I am neutral when it comes to party affiliation but I take sides on issues. I have values, morals and support candidates with similar values and ideas but I will not have blind faith in anything.