Happy Haunting!

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

What WAS That?

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

Do you believe in ghosts? I do. I think I see them out of the corners of my eyes. Not always. Just sometimes. Always down stairs in the den near the tv. There is frequently something moving past me and I see it out of the corner of my eye. When I try to look at it directly, I see nothing. But something is there moving. Sometimes low to the carpet/ground, sometimes in mid air. Moving slow but normally a quick flash right by me.

I remember whenI first moved into this place 11 years ago, I was still in the process of moving in and unloading boxes, all of a sudden the room kind of filled with static? If that makes any sense. Not static I could see, but static I could hear. Crackling noises. I saw big things moving out of the corner of my eye along with the static. Wierd.

I am glad that is all I see. I have had my share of seeing things. When I was a child, I saw lots of things and spent a lot of time in fear at night in my mother's house. Things lived there. Things not so good. Things not so bright. When I was little something spooky my way came...the thing that was darker than dark haunted me for a long time at night. I am so glad that is over! You just don't know.

Excerpt from a past post about the thing that was darker than dark.

In addition, there were at times when I would wake up and the room would be in total darkness--which it should be as it was night, but...big but...there would be a shadow of a body or person that was even darker than the room standing over my bed. Right over me. I remember thinking I was still dreaming and would blink my eyes to clear then but the figure never left. It was darker than the room that was in pitch darkness but
I could see it because it was so much darker than the room. I called it "the thing that was darker than dark." I have come to learn it was a shadow ghost.

I began sleeping with the bible and praying for a long,long time before going to sleep. I would sleep with the bible in my hands and would wake up with it still there. This went on for about a year. I began to sleep with the light on and would be fine until my mom would turn the light off. I would wake up later with the thing that was darker than dark standing over me. It was like he was waiting. Waiting for me to make the least mistake and maybe then I really would have my head spinning around in real life like Linda Blair.

One night or very early morning I woke up in the darkness and the thing that was darker than dark was right over my face leaning down over me. I froze and did not move. I closed my eyes and prayed. Everytime I opened my eyes it was still there. I lay frozen there for about an hour. I turned my head ever so slightly to the left so I could see my clock. It was about 4:30am. It was summer and I knew daylight would be coming soon. I did have the bible in the bed with me. I decided to move, turn on the light and read the bible. Maybe that would make it go away.

In one quick move I sat up, turned on the lamp next to my bed and began to read the bible out loud. I read the bible outloud until the sun came up. Once the sun was up I read outloud for another hour. I then turned off the light and went to sleep in a sitting up position. After that episode of reading the bible outloud, the thing that was darker than dark, that had been standing over my bed each night for over a year never came again. I never saw it again.

When we moved into the house I grew up in with my parents, we found out AFTER the deal was final that the prior occupant killed himself in the house. Gun, blood everywhere. Suicide. It was a troubled place. At one time I truly believed my mother was possessed. Something would come to her at night and she was like a crazy person at night. That was when she would verbally and mentally abusive me. The hours from midnight to 3am were not sleeping ones for me. All of a sudden I would be awakened by my mother. She would flip the overhead light on and the fun would begin. I would look into her eyes and not see the eyes of my mother. Instead, I would see glowing red eyes that changed. Sometimes they would be hers, but mostly at that time, they were the demon's. I know she was possessed. She was crazy! And I am not making this up. She really WAS possessed. Those eyes had a red glow.

I vowed never to ever sleep in that house again when I left. I did not for many years and when I did I never slept in my old room. Things seemed to calm down in the house. Things are still there though. I remember coming to the front door and standing on the stoop a few years ago and hearing footsteps from inside. Well I thought that my mom or dad had seen me drive up and was meeting me at the door to open it. The footsteps stopped at the door but the door did not open. I then heard a child humming a tune...not a tune I had ever heard before or could ever imitate. I peaked in the front window as the grandkids were there.. maybe it was one of them. I saw noone.

I rang the doorbell and in a minute the door was opened by my mother. All had been in the back of the house. Noone was up front near the door. Not anyone human that is. Later that day I observed my nephew smiling and waving to absolutely nothing in the hallway as we all sat in the den. (the humming child?) I asked my mother about it and she said she had seen him do that as well. He was smiling and waving to something we could not see quite often and he was not old enought to tell us what. I just prayed it was nice.

Yes. I go believe in ghosts! They are real. I also think that there are angels watching over us as well. When you get that feeling that something is not right or you may be in danger, go with that feeling. That might be an angel or a friendly ghost watching over you.

BOO!

Sexual Harrassment

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

We all work at a place where there is a policy. But outs is not quite like this one. Check out the link. Very funny!

Here is the link for the new policy:

Sexual Harrassment Corporate Training Video

Jazz Vocalist Shirley Horn Dies at 71

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.


NPR
Grammy-winning jazz vocalist and pianist Shirley Horn died Thursday at a nursing home outside Washington, D.C. She was 71.

Horn began her career in the 1950s -- and made it big when she opened for Miles Davis in New York City in 1960. Davis, notoriously suspicious of singers, was in love with Horn's whispery voice.

She went on to top the Billboard jazz charts and win virtually every major jazz award, including a Grammy for best jazz vocal performance in 1998. It was for her tribute album to her mentor, Davis.

Some of her heartfelt ballads included "The Very Thought of You," "My Heart Stood Still" and "I Got Lost in His Arms."

Horn did not set out to be a singer. "It was an accident," she explains. "What I remember first in my life is playing the piano. That's when I was four years old. I'd go to my grandmother's home. She had a parlor with a great big piano. The parlor was for company, and it was closed off with French doors. It was always cold, but I didn't want to do anything but just go in there and sit on the piano stool. I wasn't interested in playing with the kids outside. After several years of this my grandmother told my mother to get me lessons."

Horn discovered the allure of her singing when, at seventeen, she was playing in a local restaurant/night club. "One night close to Christmas, this older gentleman who would regularly come in for dinner came with a teddy bear as tall as I. Somehow I knew that was for me," she recalls. Indeed, the patron sent her a note saying "If you sing 'Melancholy Baby' the teddy bear is yours." "I was very shy and it was hard for me to sing," Horn says, "but I wanted that teddy bear." More here!

I will be loading her last cd ( You're My Thrill) into my ipod from itunes.

Are You Psychic?

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

After taking this test, Psychic Card Test, I have no psychic ability at all. I got 1 right out of about 20 tries. I do not think this is s true test. I know I do have some. My mother does. Read about that in:

Late Night Phone Call

Vitrual Voodoo

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

Here is something kind of halloween creepy! Coworkers bugging you? Mad at an old boyfriend? Well, maybe Virtual Voodoo is for you. All sort of spells and odd things at that site. I guess it would be use at your own risk. I have heard rumors that if you do this voodoo stuff, that energy comes back to you at a force multiplied. Creepy!

What Cute Animal are You!?

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

You Are A: Duck!

Found in many lakes and ponds, ducks are a common site the world over. Known for their famous quack, ducks tend to congregate in flocks or go off on their own in pairs. As a duck, you may seem friendly at times but will not hesitate to bite if someone is bothering you. Your love for travel and your ability to swim are some reasons why you are a duck.

You were almost a: Pony or a Bear Cub
You are least like a: Groundhog or a ChipmunkCute Animals Quiz

Hate is Alive and Well

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

The new Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, described today how he has received racist letters, some smeared with excrement, since his election as the Church of England's new number two earlier this year.

Dr Sentamu, the Church's first black Archbishop who will be installed at York Minster next month, said that he did not believe Britain was a racist country and said he did not know whether the letter writers were fellow Anglicans or not because the abusive missives were anonymous.

He told BBC Radio 4 that his response was to pray for God's love and mercy for the letter writers.

The Archbishop, who in common with several other recently installed bishops is deliberately opting for a more informal "inauguration" rather than enthronement at the Minster, said: "It has been terrible. Some of it has been awful."

Asked if he felt angry about the hate letters, he said: "Yes, particularly when they had human excrement in them. I don’t want to have those sorts of things and I say ‘Why do people do this?’

"I don’t know who they are. They don’t tell you. They simply say ‘I am Mr White X’ and ‘Nigger go back - this is what you’re like and where you come from’."

He added: "In the end, when I get these letters, I actually pray for the people who have written them." The Uganda-born Archbishop said he had received many letters of support from people in York, urging him not to be disheartened by the abuse.

More here: Times on Line

Horror for These Times

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

Right now when the weather is cool and rainy , nothing is more relaxing than a good book. I especially love horror and sci-fi. Right now I am reading Great Irish Tales of Horror by Peter Haining. This book is not a "shriek and things that go bump in the night" kind of horror book. It is more like gothic horror. The horror is understated and you really have to think about it.

I have three favorites that stand out in my mind from the book. The Child Who Loved a Grave, by Fritz James O' Brien is the first. This story is about a boy who is a loner who has made the love of life a grave. He tends to the grave and when someone comes to dig up the grave and rebury the bones that are there, he dies the next day. Very creepy!

The 2nd great tale from this book is The Unburied Legs! Doesn't that title say it all? It is by Gerald Griffin. Imagine 2 well shaped legs cut off just above the knee wearing leather buckled shoes, dancing, climbing and scampering among the moors.

Arachnophobia is another tale that sticks in my mind. It is by Catherine Brophy. Can we say mother issues? Those issues finally ended with the daughter killing her "spider" mother in the shower by drowning. She deemed herself cured of atachnophobia after that!

Normally I am into Stephen King. I have just about all his books in hardback. Be sure to check out Great Irish Tales of Horror. It is a good book. It is a "thinking" horror book.

Thelonius Monk and Coltrane

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

In November 1957, an unprecedented lineup of jazz artists performed at New York City's famed Carnegie Hall. Now those long-lost recordings have been found, revealing a gem of a set with two giants of the jazz world -- Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane.

Tapes made by Voice of America for a later radio broadcast that were located at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., only earlier this year.

At the time of their performance that night, both artists were at the height of their powers -- and their best moments in the spotlight were still to come.

More here

The Origins of Halloween

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

I was searching the web for Halloween info and came upon the origins of halloween at The History Channel. Very interesting. I did not realize it started with the Celts. I had heard about the Druids.

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

Sacred Celtic Trees

For information on Druids today: OBOD

Interesting reading about the Druids

August Wilson Dies of Cancer at 60

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

NEW YORK Oct 2, 2005 — Playwright August Wilson, whose epic 10-play cycle chronicling the black experience in 20th-century America included such landmark dramas as "Fences" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," died Sunday of liver cancer, a family spokeswoman said. He was 60.

Wilson died at Swedish Hospital in Seattle, surrounded by his family, said Dena Levitin, Wilson's personal assistant. The playwright had disclosed in late August that his illness was inoperable and he had only a few months to live.

"We've lost a great writer, I think the greatest writer that our generation has seen and I've lost a dear, dear friend and collaborator," said Kenny Leon, who directed the Broadway production of "Gem of the Ocean" as well as Wilson's most recent play, "Radio Golf," which just concluded a run in Los Angeles.

Leon said Wilson's work, "encompasses all the strength and power that theater has to offer." "I feel an incredible sense of responsibility on walking how he would want us to walk and delivering his work."

Wilson's plays were big, often sprawling and poetic, dealing primarily with the effects of slavery on succeeding generations of black Americans: from turn-of-century characters who could remember the Civil War to a prosperous middle class at the end of the century who had forgotten the past.

The playwright's astonishing creation, which took more than 20 years to complete, was remarkable not only for his commitment to a certain structure one play for each decade but for the quality of the writing. It was a unique achievement in American drama. Not even Eugene O'Neill, who authored the masterpiece "Long Day's Journey Into Night," accomplished such a monumental effort.

During that time, Wilson received the best-play Tony Award for "Fences," plus best-play Tony nominations for six of his other plays, the Pulitzer Prize for both "Fences" and "The Piano Lesson," and a record seven New York Drama Critics' Circle prizes.

"The goal was to get them down on paper," he told The Associated Press during an April 2005 interview as he was completing "Radio Golf," the last play in the cycle. "It was fortunate when I looked up and found I had the two bookends to go. I didn't plan it that way. I was able to connect the two plays."

ABOUT THE MAN

Born on April 27, 1945, August Wilson grew up in the Hill district of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His childhood experiences in this black slum community would later inform his dramatic writings, including his first produced play, Black Bart and the Sacred Hills, which was staged in 1981.

Then, in 1984, August Wilson was catapulted to the forefront of the American theatre scene with the success of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, produced at Yale and later in New York in 1984. The play was voted Best Play of the Year (1984-85) by the New York Drama Critics' Circle.

Wilson continued to work in close collaboration with Lloyd Richards of the Yale School of Drama, and by early 1990's, had established himself as the best known and most popular African-American playwright. Wilson also set for himself a daunting task--to write a ten play cycle that chronicles each decade of the black experience in the 20th century. Each of Wilson's plays is a chapter in this remarkable cycle of plays and focuses on what Wilson perceives as the largest issue to confront African-Americans in that decade.

His second play, Fences--set in the 1950's--tells the story of Troy Maxon, an illiterate garbage collector who has become embittered by a white-controlled system that has denied him the baseball stardom he feels he deserves. Fences opened on Broadway in the spring of 1987 to enormous critical acclaim and earned Wilson his first Pulitzer Prize.

In April of 1988, Joe Turner's Come and Gone opened on Broadway, again to enormous critical acclaim. This play--which documents the 1910's--tells the story of Harold Loomis, a black man cruelly imprisoned for seven years by the white authorities for an unknown offense. Finally free, Loomis sets out in search of his wife Martha who he hasn't seen in ten years. Joe Turner's Come and Gone was voted Best New Play of the Year by the New York Drama Critics' Circle.

The Piano Lesson--set in 1930's--opens with the arrival of Boy Willie at his sister Berniece's house. Willie dreams of buying the same Mississippi land that his ancestors once worked as slaves, but in order to raise the capital for this purchase, he must convince his sister to part with a family heirloom, a piano that is both a reminder of the family's enslaved past and a tribute to their survival. The Piano Lesson was named Best Play of the Year by the New York Drama Critics' Circle. It also earned Wilson his 2nd Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as a Drama Desk Award.

Wilson's other awards include the New York Drama Critics Circle Award (1985, 1987, 1988), the Whiting Foundation Award (1986), the American Theatre Critics Award (1986, 1989, 1991), the Outer Circle Award (1987), the Drama Desk Award (1987), the John Gassner Award (1987), the Tony Award (1987), the Helen Hayer Award (1988), and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1987, 1990).

TIME LINE OF HIS LIFE

April 27, 1945:

Born Frederick August Kittel to Daisy Wilson and Frederick Kittel, a red-haired baker who emigrated from Germany at 10. The fourth child of six, his siblings are: Freda Ellis (the Hill), Linda Jean Denoya (Swissvale), Edwin Kittel (Dormont), Donna Conley (Erie), Richard Kittel.Family later moves to Hazelwood then back to the Hill.

1959:

Only black student in Central Catholic High School; threats and abuse drive him away. Connelley Vocational proves unchallenging.

1960:

Drops out of Gladstone High School 10th grade when a teacher accuses him of plagiarizing a 20-page paper on Napoleon. Gets his own education at the library and on the street.

1962-63:

Enlists in U.S. Army for three years, leaves after one.

1963:

Varied jobs - porter, short-order cook, gardener, dishwasher.

1965:

Discovers the blues - Bessie Smith's "Nobody Can Bake a Sweet Jelly Roll Like Mine."

Death of biological father, Frederick Kittel; changes name to August Wilson.

Buys his first typewriter ($20); writes poetry.

Moves into rooming house on Bedford Avenue.

1968:

Co-founds Black Horizon Theater with Rob Penny.

1969:

Death of stepfather, David Bedford.

Marries Brenda Burton.

1970:

Daughter Sakina Ansari Wilson born (Jan. 22).

1972:

Marriage ends.

1976:

Vernell Lillie directs his "The Homecoming" for Kuntu Theater.

Sees "Sizwe Bansi Is Dead" at Public Theater, his first professional play.

1977:

Writes "Black Bart and the Sacred Hills."

1978:

Moves to St. Paul, Minn., with advice of friend Claude Purdy; lands job writing for Science Museum.

1980:

Fellowship at Minneapolis Playwrights Center.

1981:

Marries Judy Oliver, social worker.

1982:

National Playwrights Conference at O' Neill Theater Center accepts "Ma Rainey"; meets O' Neill chief Lloyd Richards, who goes on to direct his six plays on Broadway.

"Jitney" staged by Allegheny Repertory Theatre in Pittsburgh.

1983:

Death of Daisy Wilson.

1984:

"Ma Rainey" opens on Broadway.

1985:

"Ma Rainey" wins his first New York Drama Critics award.

1986:

Reunion of Centre Avenue Poets Theater Workshop with Maisha Baton, Rob Penny, etc.

1987:

"Fences" opens on Broadway, wins Pulitzer, grosses $11 million in its first year (Broadway record for a non-musical).

Kuntu stages Pittsburgh premiere of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

1988:

"Joe Turner" opens on Broadway.

Lectures at The Carnegie's Man and Ideas series on "Blacks, Blues and Cultural Imperialism."

Appears on Bill Moyers' "World of Ideas" (PBS).

1989:

"Fences" first Wilson play staged by Pittsburgh Public Theater.

Named 1990 Pittsburgher of the Year by Pittsburgh Magazine.

1990:

Speech at 1990 Pittsburgher of Year award.

"Piano Lesson" opens on Broadway, wins Pulitzer Prize.

Marriage ends; moves to Seattle.

1991:

"Three Plays by August Wilson," University of Pittsburgh Press.

1992:

Receives honorary degree from Pitt, speaks at Honors Convocation.

"Two Trains Running" opens on Broadway.

Tour of "Piano Lesson" plays Fulton Theater.

1994:

Marries Constanza Romero, costume designer.

"Piano Lesson" filmed in Pittsburgh.

1995:

"Piano Lesson" broadcast on Hallmark Hall of Fame.

1996:

"Seven Guitars" hits Broadway.

Revises "Jitney" for professional premiere at Pittsburgh Public Theater.

1997:

Public debate in New York City with critic Robert Brustein on status of black theater.

Azula Carmen Wilson born, Aug. 27.

1998:

Convenes Dartmouth conference on African American Theater that establishes African Grove Institute of the Arts; major "gathering of the tribes" planned for 2002.

1999:

Honored at 100th anniversary of Hill District Branch Library (March 18).

Round-table discussion with three other black playwrights at Public Theater. Marion McClinton says, "August is Michael Jackson at this table."

Named by Post-Gazette as top Pittsburgh cultural power broker.

"King Hedley II" premieres.