T'art

Ghosts Hunting on a Budget

Chartres Street, New Orleans

I frankly admit that I am skeptical of ghosts. I can trace this skepticism to my childhood where my three brothers were constantly trying to scare me.  As a child I was more afraid of someone jumping out from behind a door than I was of ghosts, the Boogieman, or Sully jumping out of my closet.  Of course, today I no longer have-this childish phobia because they live in another state, my brothers not the doors.  I have also removed all the doors from my house and have nothing but macrame bead curtains.  I was not scared to hunt ghosts in New Orleans and thought that some equipment might broaden our perspective.

Contrary to popular belief it is not necessary to use expensive equipment in your hunting.  There are some cheap ghost hunting items that you probably have around the house.

Barometer - many believe that ghosts or apparitions change the air pressure.

Digital Thermometer - this can record drops in temperature although in New Orleans I don't think it is possible to get any hotter.  And it can monitor your temperature when you have the shit scared out of you although a blood pressure cuff might be more helpful.

Candle - placed in haunted areas and used to record unexplainable breezes. Note: Do not eat red beans and rice prior to using this method.

Powder - this is used to dust floors, windowsills, and thresholds and see if it's disturbed.  For lessons on Demon Dusting please refer to the movie "Paranormal Activity 1"

Notepad and Pen - used to log details and results of the investigation and comments such as. "Yes, we are crazy", and "Boy is this boring".

Flashlight - fairly self-explanatory especially for walking along New Orleans old, cobblestone streets.  I wouldn't call the streets in New Orleans uneven they are more unstable.

Compass - ghosts are thought to create electric and magnetic disturbances.  If a compass goes crazy for no reason it could be a sign that something otherworldly is nearby or that fellow ghost hunters medication has worn off and we need to wrap it up for the day.

Control Object - sometimes the best way to detect a ghost is simply to ask it to make itself known.  If the spirit is willing to cooperate, it will need a control object to concentrate on like a Slim Jim or a bag of porkrinds.  Although it would be my luck that I would get the only vegetarian ghost in New Orleans. Actually, I thought about putting Jay in a straight jacket and then asking the ghost "Hey, if your really there unbuckle my partner"...haha

Turkey Baster - I also thought about bringing a turkey baster to use as an ecto-container to quickly and simply vacuum up some other worldy mist, not that big, fat slimer guy.  Now that I think about it a turkey baster must be to an Ecto-PlasmaBox as a chain saw is to a nail file.

As we made our way down Chartes Street we used our equipment to target hotspots and then waited to see if ghostly apparitions appeared.  Nothing happened.

To be Continued...

 

Photography: Loretta Savage      Fellow Worker: Bootsie Wells

 

Phantoms of the French Quarter

Lalaurie Mansion, 1140 Royal St., New Orleans

After my ghostly experience at the Broadmoor Hotel, I was intrigued to be sent to New Orleans, often considered to be the most haunted city in the USA.  There are many explanations for this ranging from the historic to the absurd.  For instance, one person told me that New Orleans was settled in 1718 by the dregs of the French penal system, consequently it was more violent.  More violent than, say, Detroit?  I also heard that it was more haunted because of natural catastrophe. Worse than the Chicago fire or San Francisco earthquake? Age? St. Augustine, Florida was settled in 1565.  Drama? Definitely not more than Washington D.C.  Actually when the slave trade arrived in 1719 it brought not only slaves but their culture.  The majority had religious beliefs deeply rooted in spirit and ancestor worship.  Consequently ghosts have always been part of Louisiana's landscape.

I was hoping to do a little ghost-hunting in New Orleans, Home of Humidity, because the key to ghost hunting is location, location, location and murders and slave burnings and hangings and other physically and emotionally traumatizing events.  My buddies, Jay Sweet and Tim Trainor agreed to come with me. And we decided to start at the most haunted location in the French Quarter; the Lalaurie Mansion.

                   Ghosthunters
I did not want to use photos as the sole criteria for determining whether a place was haunted, I intended to go one step further; I would send in Jay.  Jay is a retired Marine and I felt this would determine his value as a ghost hunter.  I intended to stay outside, taking notes, across the street.  After all, someone has to stand on the sidewalk and listen to the screams.  This way I could make detailed observations when Jay was blown out of the chimney in small pieces...maybe that's not a ghostly encounter...just that nut from Fargo with the wood chipper.  In any case, we were hopeful to capture a ghost on film and came up with this criteria for an authentic, set aside logic and reasoning, ghost shot.

a. No flash

b. No insects, lint or hair on the lens

c. Our sobriety level

We did capture a 'mist' in the photo below which could be a ghost or mist from nearby Lake Pontchartrain which appeared to be quite large and unheated, similar to the pool at our hotel.  The many reported sightings here at the Lalaurie Mansion probably have simple explanations like swamp gas, weather balloons, or UFOs from other galaxies.  Haha! Good job, ghost hunting crew! That certainly was reassuring!

We moved on to St. Louis Cemetery #1

To be continued....

 

Photography: Loretta Savage  Researcher: Bootsie Wells

 

Cities of the Dead

The above ground tombs in New Orleans are often referred to as 'Cities of the Dead' which kind of sounds like an Indiana Jones movie where you and Harrison Ford go to New Orleans and fall into a hole to hell.  In actuality, early settlers struggled to bury the dead because the water table is so high.  Dig down just a few feet and the grave becomes soggy, filling with water.  To this day, unpredictable flooding still lifts the occasional coffin out of the ground.  This is why I would rather eat old linoleum then step foot inside one of these creepy cemeteries made of houses.  The older cemeteries in the city are St Louis Nos. 1,2,and 3 and it was cemetery 1, which contains the grave of VooDoo Queen Marie Laveau, to which we were headed.

Flowers for the Dead

Tim, who is an all-around swell guy, suggested a bar on Bourbon Street rather than the St Louis Cemetery 1. His reasoning and I quote "Dead people aren't very good conversationalists",  Yes, going to haunted places to investigate a haunting is a pesky chore.  But as a compromise we stopped for drinks at LaFitte's, the Absinthe House and the Cat's Meow-all conveniently on the way.

Headstones vs. Houses

Cities of the dead are charming during the day with the hum of the city all around.  The cemetery is still and contemplative, quietly holding onto it's secrets.  But at night it becomes a strange black and white world.   The mausoleums and statues create weird shadows, you're more on guard and nervous; naturally Jay and I agreed that we would only go into this cemetery at night under a special set of circumstances, such as we have been told to make a ransom payment there. 

Kevin Costner

In normal cemeteries you subconsciously realize you are walking over the dead but it's more like a park.  You half expect to see Kevin Costner in a field playing catch with his father and then you go back to your hotel.  In a traditional cemetery 'something' would have to claw through six feet of dirt to get you and drag you back to the underworld, well not ghosts just Zombies and the Living Undead.  It's always been rather difficult for me to tell Zombies and those who have gone through the James Mason school of acting apart. Haha...I know that was awkward but that's how most of my jokes work.  In the 'Cities of the Dead' an Apparition, Zombie, or Demon could come flying out the front door...and you would have no time to get away.  It's simply unsettling.

Brush it off like it ain't no thang.

Again we didn't find anything conclusive.  The whole cemetery had an atmosphere of being not quite of this world and existing strangely outside of time, kind of like Charlie Sheen.  But the busloads of tourists would have none of our deductions, quite emphatically insisting they saw 'something'. No matter what fact you give them about ghosts they'll still work it into bat-shit-crazy!

            

To be continued...

 

Photography: Loretta Savage     Administrative Assistant: Bootsie Wells

 

DCC-Handmade Chipboard Pendants

On the first monday of every month a talented group or artists and designers, Designer Craft Connection, post a project.  This month the theme is handmade jewelry.

There are many arguments to making your own pieces: it's creative and unique, you can be self-taught, make gifts, or extra-money.  But, why buy standard department store jewelry which has been mass-produced, when you can customize your own pieces for around the same price?  Right now jewelry is one of the hottest categories in the growing design-it-yourself market as it can be extremely personal and highly configurable. Jewelry lets you mix and match almost every median.  Whatever your motivation you don't have to spend a million bucks to look like a million bucks:

Chipboard pendants: prime pieces both front and back.  Adhere favorite image to front and trim. Adhere origami paper to the back of the chipboard and trim. Let dry completely. cover with several coats of varnish.  Glue on bail. Add chain. 

 

DCC-Signs of Spring

After the long, snowy, Colorado winter I long for a sign, any sign, of Spring.  If you look hard enough you'll see them all around you.  Although many involve birds and flora, I believe the ones that are the most subtle are the true sign of a new season: bees and butterflies.  It takes some effort and luck to find them but it all helps convince me that Spring is coming sooner than later.

Coaster Butterflies

Cut butterfly shapes out of coasters.  This also works with heavy-duty cardboard boxes.  Fruit and vegetable boxes tend to have the brightest colors. Glue different sizes together. Wrap with wire for body leaving enough on top for antenns. Glue a round magnet on the back.

 

Easter Basket

Although we celebrate the theological significance of Easter in many ways I love exploring the secular aspects of this very ancient holiday.  The tradition of a bountiful Easter basket goes back a long way before our modern consumer driven version.  Spring has always been seen as a time of rebirth and blessing and the fertility godddess Eostre (or Oestre) was sometimes depicted carrying a basket of eggs.  Easter baskets were brought to the USA in the 18th century, along with the Easter hare or bunny to fill the baskets, by German settlers.

Supplies: Sizzix Scoreboards XL Die #656142 Cupcake Holder by Eileen Hull

Core-dinations card stock-gem citron, white chipboard, burlap, adhesive, twill, lace, and yellow ribbon, assorted brads, Easter candy.

Instructions: adhere yellow card stock to chipboard.  Using spray adhesive glue burlap to chipboard.  Cut out cupcake holder and assemble,burlap side out, according to die instructions. Add ribbon for handle and fill with candy.

CraZy TACKz - glass problem solved!

          

A friend of mine told me about a brand new product at CHA 2012 - a 'patented' Tack with a Hook. These nifty little hooks are called CraZyTACKz and have thousands of possibilities.  I immediately put them to use organizing my reading glasses.  I keep a pair of glasses in every room and they are constantly misplaced.  With CraZy TACKz they are kept neatly on the wall.  Now if I can only REMEMBER to hang them up....

Pot of Gold

Of all the tantalizing prizes in our history - the Leprechaun's Pot of Gold - has to be the most intriguing.  According to the Irish legends the leprechauns spend all their time busily making shoes and store away all their coins in a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If ever captured by a human, the leprechaun has the magical power to grant three wishes in exchange for their release or will give the pot of gold to anyone who follows the correct procedure.   And although my odds of finding a pot of gold is probably the same as winning the Powerball, 1 in 195,249,054 and I have a better chance of being hit by lightning, I'll go on looking and dreaming about them just the same.   I know rationally that I will never find a large cauldron full of gold coins but my mind will never tire of spending the imaginary jackpot.

This project uses: Sizzix Scoreboard Die Cupacke Holder by Eileen Hull #656142

Can of cans

 

In every effort to make the world a better place the key ingredient is yourself.  Everyday when I jog or walk my dogs I pick up aluminum cans, bring them home, and deposit them here: in the can of cans.  I live close to downtown so they are fairly easy to find. Depending on the price of aluminum, a can of cans will fetch approximately $15 at the recyclers.  I wait until I have several trash bags full before I ask my husband to take them down to the Recycling Center.  As inspired by John, Karen, Emma and Karl Burniston, I took the money I received the last time to make a micro loan at  http://www.kiva.org/lend.   I loaned $30 to the  The Esperanza Group  to buy chickens and pigs. 

I believe that every gesture matters.

I believe that even the smallest act of compassion can have a large impact, even picking up trash.

But most of all, I believe in dignity and respect for every person in the world.

Join the movement at kiva.org.

Coin Purse Redo

I love buying old coin purses at thrift stores and giving them a different look by sewing patterns of vintage buttons on them. What's not to love, it's like a pocket, only less convenient!