A Spooky Start to the New Year
2006, the Year of the Dog, is getting off to a strange start. It seems that I've always been blessed and/or cursed with a life that just won't behave like that of most people. I keep going through phases of weirdness. I'm not (necessarily) referring to my own behavior, either. I mean that periods of time pop up in which bizarre things seem to start happening all at once. This is starting to seem like such a period.
If I were to go into detail about all the odd things that are happening, this post would end up being VERY long. It's not one big thing so much as a lot of little things. There are a couple of minor issues regarding my health. There are bigger health issues involving a number of people close to me. Unexpected things are happening at work. I seem to be starting to have prophetic dreams again. My muse, normally at a peak this time of year, seems to be at a dead stop. (Even worse, not long ago I spent hours at my keyboard and guitar composing and arranging a new song only to wake up the next day to find it totally wiped from my memory.) From time to time strange things happen in the house that could qualify as an X-Files subplot or could merely be a combination of coincidence, imagination, weather, aging timbers, and a frightened little boy.
Then there are the pictures.
I gave my wife a new digital camera for Christmas. It's a pretty good one, too. It has been taking her a while to get around to using it much, but she has snapped a number of pictures, mainly of our New Year festivities. The camera has a good lens and a very sophisticated autofocus and light-adjusting system. All of the pictures she took turned out really well...except two.
Those two were the only ones that she took of me. One of them is really blurry...kind of spooky looking, actually.
This is the other one. At least it's clearly recognizable. It's me with my children at the mon (Chinese gate) of Kashima Shrine during our New Year visit. I'm holding a bag of traditional good luck charms and talismans (mostly gifts for other people). The arrow is for our own house. It's kind of a funky effect, I think, but it's still strange that all the other pictures my wife took (including some of the children taken just before or just after that one) were crystal clear.
Why am I thinking of the movie "Ring"?
If I were to go into detail about all the odd things that are happening, this post would end up being VERY long. It's not one big thing so much as a lot of little things. There are a couple of minor issues regarding my health. There are bigger health issues involving a number of people close to me. Unexpected things are happening at work. I seem to be starting to have prophetic dreams again. My muse, normally at a peak this time of year, seems to be at a dead stop. (Even worse, not long ago I spent hours at my keyboard and guitar composing and arranging a new song only to wake up the next day to find it totally wiped from my memory.) From time to time strange things happen in the house that could qualify as an X-Files subplot or could merely be a combination of coincidence, imagination, weather, aging timbers, and a frightened little boy.
Then there are the pictures.
I gave my wife a new digital camera for Christmas. It's a pretty good one, too. It has been taking her a while to get around to using it much, but she has snapped a number of pictures, mainly of our New Year festivities. The camera has a good lens and a very sophisticated autofocus and light-adjusting system. All of the pictures she took turned out really well...except two.
Those two were the only ones that she took of me. One of them is really blurry...kind of spooky looking, actually.
This is the other one. At least it's clearly recognizable. It's me with my children at the mon (Chinese gate) of Kashima Shrine during our New Year visit. I'm holding a bag of traditional good luck charms and talismans (mostly gifts for other people). The arrow is for our own house. It's kind of a funky effect, I think, but it's still strange that all the other pictures my wife took (including some of the children taken just before or just after that one) were crystal clear.
Why am I thinking of the movie "Ring"?
posted by The Moody Minstrel at
11:59 PM
16 Comments:
I always thought that if I worked at a video store, and someone rented "The Ring", I would remember the customer's phone number, and then call them a week (exactly 7 days) later with a mysterious voice.
If that had happened to me, I'd probably still be naked and screaming in the woods somewhere.
(Wait, why naked?)
By
DewKid, at 2:45 AM
Say, you mentioned two pictures, but I only see one....
By
DewKid, at 2:46 AM
Oh nevermind - you didn't say you were showing both....
tahnbau - a Christmas tree for Ndaus.
By
DewKid, at 2:47 AM
Answer NO. 1 You are simply having a string of bad luck.
Answer NO. 2 You have pissed off a major demonic power.
Answer NO. 3 The National Security Agency has selected you for monitoring, because you are an American living abroad, and are currently bombarding you with radiation from their sattelites.
Answer NO. 4 THE END TIMES ARE APPROACHING! Think about it. Ariel Sharon pulls Israel out of Gaza, and nearly dies of a stroke. What have you done for Or against Israel lately?
...You have a cyborg skeletal structure that interferes with the camera's focus...
...You have had a memory chip failure in your cerebral implants...
...You planted cabbage, and it grew upside down...
...The Secret Order of Tesla has selected you as a candidate for their secret UFO society...
By
Anonymous, at 10:40 AM
It probably has to do with HAARP resonating with your body. You need a tinfoil hat. I can loan you mine.
On the other hand it could be prolonged exposure to Enya's music.
By
Pandabonium, at 2:15 PM
MM, I'd go with Pandabonium on the Enya music. haha......
It's probably nothing to worry about. Don't read too much into it.
By
HappySurfer, at 7:48 PM
Dewkid
Yeah...why naked?
The other picture was one taken in a different location in the afternoon of the same day, i.e. broad daylight. It was blurred almost to the point of being unrecognizable. I didn't see much point in wasting bandwidth on it.
Pa've
Those are all interesting possibilities, especially the cabbage. However, I have to admit that I was actually hoping against all odds that you WOULDN'T try to use this as yet more "evidence of the end times". I guess it seems like every noteworthy event over the past two millennia has set someone screaming, "THE END IS NEAR." I might as well qualify, too.
Pandabonium
In my college days I was actually told by both pagans and Wiccans (who didn't know each other!) that I was "gifted" and tended to radiate magic/psychic/natural energy. Several different groups tried very hard to get me involved for that reason. I did my best to keep my distance, but still encountered a lot of strangeness. It appears to have followed me here (but no cultists trying to convert me, thank god).
Happysurfer
I'm sure you're probably right. Still, as long as I can remember, especially since my late elementary school days, weirdness has tended to come into my life in waves. All I can do is ride it out till it passes...and listen to lots of Enya.
By
The Moody Minstrel, at 8:10 PM
Because you are in Japan. I'm thinking of Pontianak. Anyway i thought it was a good shot, at least it brings out the "feel".
Warm family outing in cold weather :)))
By
@ロウ 。LOW@, at 9:44 PM
I see what you mean, Steve! Definitely around the bend! *wink* hehe
By
Anonymous, at 2:43 AM
haha.. she need more practice on the camera and definitely a firmer focus.
BTW, the year of the Fire Dog only start on 4 Feb 2006, so what you are experiencing is the farewell effect of the Water Chicken.
Saying about this Water Chicken, a check showed that for every water chicken year, there will be flood, lots of rain,,, which we are experiencing this few weeks..
Strange how can al old book predict the future and the past?
By
Robin CHAN, at 10:15 AM
Oh, no...that obscure, African tribe has returned!
By
The Moody Minstrel, at 6:28 PM
spooooookiieeeee...
hehe, a lot of my photos taken by other people were also blurred, and I blame the people of not having steady hands, kekeke...
happy new year!
By
YD, at 7:53 PM
I'd blame my wife for having shaky hands except that every other picture she took (that didn't include me) that day...and she took a lot...came out crystal clear.
Now I have a new problem. I have lost all e-mail capability. Obviously my browsers still work, but neither of my e-mail accounts have been functional on either Netscape Mail, Outlook, or Thunderbird since Wednesday evening. The programs tell me that the POP servers have been located but will not respond. Then the programs won't exit...and I can't shut them down from the process window, either. My settings are all in order, and my virus scanners and firewall insist that nothing is wrong. It's bizarre...
Fortunately, my new Yahoo BB account is accessible using my browser, so I may just switch over to that.
BTW, it's supposed to snow again tomorrow, too...much harder this time.
SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By
The Moody Minstrel, at 12:18 AM
Moody,
I have had problems with netscape also, which is why I went back to hotmail.
However, despite your protection software, you simply can't ignore the possiblity that you have a virus.
There is a new virus out that INHABITS PICTURES, so update all your virus scans and check again.
By
Anonymous, at 10:25 AM
Of course I meant to say that Enya would cure the problem.
Also neglected to say that in spite of the blur, you have cute kids.
By
Pandabonium, at 4:11 PM
Counting from today, how many days has it been from the day you took the photo?
Seven?
Spooooooooooky... muahaha
By
YD, at 7:33 PM
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