%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |   Here you will find my daily journal of small stones and inspiration! |
|
I hope you will take the time to enjoy my blog! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
From "Invalid Item"  by A Guest Visitor :Anybody want to try to write a blog entry, using this news story as the research material? Could be a banana cocktail or two in it for you. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/04/08/reports-cincinnati-monkeys... While I have no idea if there really are monkeys roaming around a cemetery in Cincinnati, I do know that better proof could have been discovered. First, is there any evidence of monkeys swinging from the trees? I mean certainly where there are bears, there is bear scat, there should be monkey dung around somewhere. At least one of those monkeys must have taken a crap defecated somewhere in the midst of the tombstones. My main issue is with the quality of the images. Why is it that a phone camera can spot a booger nose hair from 100 feet away, but when you REALLY need the evidence the images aren't worth s*** anything. I mean every time something interesting is "seen" the images turn out crappy at best. The UFO's are shaky, the monkeys are blurry, Bigfoot ends up being a hazy blur. How can cameras that are so sophisticated and up taking such terrible images at the most inopportune times? Look internet sensations, you are not fooling us. The fact that the images are distorted doesn't substantiate your claims, it makes them more unbelievable. How 'bout you stop with the monkey business and take accurate picture of normal things and STOP WASTING MY TIME! |
| 11 April 2021 A startling revelation has been made in the murders of the Sims family in Tallahassee in 1966. It turns out that the grandmother of Helen Sims was Sarah Briggs, the daughter of the captain of the Mary Celeste. The Mary Celeste was a British-American ship headed to Genoa in 1872. The ship was found devoid of passengers and crew, afloat near the Azores Islands. The crew, captain, and captain's family were never found, however, a revealing diary was discovered on the Island of Flores in 1999. This journal, purported to be written by Sarah, the daughter of Capt. Briggs was discovered in a mansion on the island. From the entry dated 28 August 1887, Sarah, evidently the daughter of the captain of the Mary Celeste, suggests that the ship's cargo included priceless jewels, meant for the Vatican, sent by the Italian Mafia. The captain and crew stole the jewels and the crewmen who survived, along with the captain's wife and daughter took a life boat and sailed for the Azores. After living with her mother, Sarah married and moved to Florida under an assumed name, Amy Blighton. Amy died at the age of 67, leaving behind 4 children and nine grandchildren, including Helen (Blighton) Sims. Evidently, the Italian Mafia never forgets, or forgives, a betrayal. The family lineage of the Sims was discovered and a hit was made. Whether the jewels were ever found will never be known, since the only reference to them is the journal entry of a 17 year old girl. Obviously, the jewels themselves were never reported missing from the Mary Celeste, since they were being smuggled to Italy. The fact that two such mysterious cases are intertwined seems to be quite a revelation, and without the journal as evidence, could well be deemed a figment of a fiction author's imagination. word count - 308 The Sims Family Murders in Tallahassee On October 22, 1966, Robert and Helen Sims and their daughter, Joy, were found dead in their Tallahassee, Florida home by the Sims's oldest daughter, Jeanie, when she returned from a babysitting job. “A massive search was launched to find whoever committed the crime,” a local news station recounts. But the Sims had no enemies, there was no discernible motive to the crime, and although there were suspects, no one was ever charged. Tell us what happened, who did it, and why. Did you do it? |
| The function of the Plain of Jars located near Xiangkhoang Plateau, Laos has recently been discovered by anthropologists from the University of Anthropological Scientists of Somnia (U-ASS). While studying cave paintings near the site they found depictions of activities resembling a popular game show WipeOut!. The urns, it seems, were used to house giant posts that were set up as part of the course. The course included the giant balls, a sling-shot type game, several moving walls and a mud pit. From the cave paintings, the anthropologists surmise that the competition winnings consisted of the women from neighboring villages rather than money. The most revealing cave painting shows the urns with giant poles emerging from the base. These pole had round objects attached and in the paintings, people are shown bouncing off of the balls. Unfortunately, for the ancient competitors, safety precautions were not taken. A burial site has been unearthed just north of the Plain of Jars, and the bodies that have been studied were found to have multiple broken bones. These injuries are consistent with injuries that would have occurred during a WipeOut type competition without any safety measures. A video of the television program has been included with this article to demonstrate the types of activities that may have occurred. Several wedding altars have been unearthed in the area as well. This evidence, according to the scientists, proves that the object of winning the competition was to secure a mate. Several local villages still use this type of competition to win a mate. However, the men engaging in the activities are less likely to lose their lives, thanks to the use of ropes, pulleys, pools of water, and padded suits. Although the men do not lose their lives, they are ostracized and can no longer reside in the village. https://youtu.be/MqGh1sTpZPg word count - 302 Plain of Jars Location: Xiangkhoang Plateau, Laos More than 2,000 large ancient stone jars are spread across a plateau in Central Laos. Some stand 10 feet tall and weigh several tons. Archaeologists estimate the jars are 2,000 years old, but their purpose is unclear. The most common theories are that they were used as funeral urns. What do you think these urns were for? |
| It was a foggy night in mid-December, 1900. The three lighthouse keepers at Flannan Isles lighthouse has just settled into a round of poker after checking the beacon lights at the top of the tower. They could hear the waves smacking against the rocks. It was a mesmerizing sound and the keepers struggled against the heat of the fire and the hypnotizing noise to stay awake. They needed to ensure the light stayed glowing to guide the ships through the seas. Just as James folded out of the round and Donald raised his bet, they heard the noise. The noise started low, like a moan and then rose, like a song. The three men dismissed it, thinking it was the wind beginning to blow in from the sea. Thomas won the hand, took the matchsticks from the center of the table and got up to stoke the fire. Sparks flew as he stirred the ashes and threw another log onto the fire. He poured three mugs of coffee and grabbed a bottle of Scotch as James dealt the cards. Each man put a matchstick in the ante and picked up their cards. Again, they heard the noise. Only this time it was several voices that they heard, or so they thought. Each voice singing her own song, but yet only one song. It was beautiful. The men put down their cards and went to the doorway, knocking down a chair as they went. Opening the door, they felt the cool sea air press against them. Now, there was no wind yet the songs continued. Each one coming from a different direction. James grabbed the lantern and the three men went into the night. Soon the voices reached a fever pitch and could be heard getting closer to each other. They sounded like women, but certainly there were no women on the island. There were only the three men. Holding the lantern higher, James noticed a figure near the shore on one of the jagged rocks. She was naked, with her long hair billowing behind her. Within minutes she was joined on the rock by two other women, who had seemingly jumped from the waves onto the rock. The men were astonished and at first, thought the Scotch had caused the vision, but then they had yet to open the bottle. As Donald gazed at the images, one of the women beckoned to them. Soon, the song began again. The men believed it was the most beautiful song they had ever heard. Overcome by the singing and the sight of the women, they entered the water. The waves crashed over the men, throwing them against the rocks. Bones were broken as the weakened men tried to reach the rock where the women continued to beckon them. The song continued as each man lost his life. Their bodies, bloodied and mangled, drifted out to sea, never to be seen again. The sirens on the rock stopped singing and began to wail, waiting for another opportunity to sing their song again. word count - 508 The Flannan Isles Lighthouse Disappearances In 1900, three keepers of the Flannan Isles Lighthouse off the west coast of Scotland disappeared under the strangest of circumstances. The lighthouse was manned by a three-person team (Thomas Marshall, James Ducat, and Donald MacArthur), with a fourth man rotating in from shore. On Boxing Day (December 26) of 1900, the relief keeper arrived to find none of the lighthouse keepers present. The only sign that anything was amiss was an overturned chair near the kitchen table. No bodies were ever found, which has led to endless speculation. Theories range from drownings to abduction by foreign spies, a ghost ship, or a giant sea monster. Whatever happened back in December 1900 at the Flannan Isles Lighthouse, we may never know. So, tell us what happened to the lighthouse keepers! |
| 28 August 1887 We have been on the Island of Flores for 15 years now and no one suspects a thing. I have been told the story of how we arrived here but it seems surreal. Father died on the lifeboat, along with two of the crewman, or so I am told by my mother. We had been on the Mary Celeste, traveling to Genoa with a shipload of riches. No one in New York realized how priceless the cargo aboard the ship had been. Jewels were hidden in the galley, jewels headed to the Vatican, secured by the Sicilian mafia. My father and his crew were headed to Genoa to hand over the fortune to the Italian mafia, who in turn were to personally deliver it to Pope Pius IX. However, my father had other, better ideas for the fortune. One evening, around 1 December, 1872, my father loaded the lifeboat with the jewels, the crew, my mother, and myself. He left the ship at partial sail and set off onto the night. My mother has told me on numerous occasions that the ship looked as if we were all taken from her with no struggle, perhaps by a monster from the depths. According to mother, the seas were smooth until the third night, when waves crashed over the edges of the the small raft. Two crew members were lost that night. Over the edge they went, my mother says it was the waves that carried them, but a fortune split among 6 is greater than one split by 8. She tells me that my father was lost due to illness just as the Azores came into view. However, she never cries when she tells of this horror, and Uncle Pete, one of the crew, who happens to live with us, grins as she tells the story. ~Sarah word count - 309 Ghost Ship: The Mary Celeste On December 4, 1872, a British-American ship called “the Mary Celeste” was found empty and adrift in the Atlantic. It was found to be seaworthy and with its cargo fully intact, except for a lifeboat, which it appeared had been boarded in an orderly fashion. But why? We may never know because no one on board was ever heard from again. In November 1872, the Mary Celeste set sail from New York bound for Genoa, Italy. She was manned by Captain Benjamin Briggs and seven crew members, including Briggs’ wife and their 2-year-old daughter. Supplies on board were ample enough for six months, and luxurious—including a sewing machine and an upright piano. Commentators generally agree that to precipitate the abandonment of a seaworthy ship, some extraordinary and alarming circumstance must have arisen. However, the last entry on the ship’s daily log reveals nothing unusual, and inside the ship, all appeared to be in order. Theories over the years have included mutiny, pirate attack, and an assault by a giant octopus or sea monster. In recent years, scientists have posed the theory that fumes from alcohol on board caused an explosion that, as a result of a scientific anomaly, did not leave behind signs of burning—but was terrifying enough that Briggs ordered everyone into the lifeboat. Give us your opinion of what happened. Maybe you were even there? |
| In the 1930's, on the outskirts of Pomerania, Poland, a young entrepreneur had an idea to start a business in the midst of the Great Depression. He decided to plant a grove of pine trees in the hopes of selling them to local villagers for a small fee at Christmas. He thought he had considered everything it would take to build his enterprise. He researched how many acres he would need, how many feet apart the trees would need to be, the irrigation system needed for the area,and when to plant the trees to make sure he had purchasable trees each season for years to come. What he hadn't planned on was the bears and the bears ended up being the one thing he should have considered. He planted the saplings in rows at the distance recommended in the books he had read. They stood straight in the sunlight, and barely swayed when the spring wind blew. They grew healthy and strong until the summer of the second season. That was when he noticed that the trees were bent at the trunk. Just about two feet above the ground, they each had a bit of a bend. He tried to surmise what caused the trunk to bow out. He gathered strong stakes and tied the trees but the next week when he went to check on them, sure enough, the stakes were broken and the trees were bent. No one in the town could figure out what was happening but he worried about the future of his investment. One day he ventured out to the grove in the very early morning, when the dew was just lifting off the underbrush. That was when he encountered the bears. They were at his saplings, and they were the ones bending them. The bears were scratching their bare bear bums on the trees. As they rubbed up and down,side to side, wiggling their behinds, they were bending the trees. Our young entrepreneur was so delighted at the sight of these innocent creatures that he left them be. That is how the Crooked Forest became the home of the bent trees, and the bears come each summer, not just to scratch their bums but to sit in the old crooked trees. 377 word count The Crooked Forest Location: West Pomerania, Poland This Polish forest lives up to its name, with hundreds of peculiar pine trees. Several hundred pine trees were planted there in the 1930s and grew with an almost 90-degree bend at their base, making them look like fishing hooks. Some believe that a technique or human tool was actually used to make the trees curve this way, while others speculate that a winter snowstorm or some other damage could have given this fascinating forest its interesting shape. Give us your own creative reason why the trees are this way. |
 Log in to Leave Feedback |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
