Jazmee27 
|
The Devil You Don't Know
=====
I told Mom I was getting ready to watch “The Devil You Know.” “I like that,” she said. “Barack Obama has this thing in his campaign that people are more afraid of the devil they don’t know than the devil they know.” Tomorrow, she wants my interpretation of the statement. ‘Trouble is, you could assign several meanings to it.’
- It could pertain to people, whereas we trust people we know and mistrust those we don’t.
- Or it could pertain to information: we trust sources we know to be reputable, or brands we know to be “good,” or advice from a person we trust.
- It could be taken to mean a group, rather than an individual.
- A company or business could be put into this category.
- The list goes on and on.
|
Reply #2201. Oct 30 12, 9:09 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
Burnt
======
For a moment, drops of gravy dropped to the floor—but only in my imagination. This time, it was sausage—and not turkey—and spaghetti sauce—not gravy. And nothing fell to the floor, though I tipped the container—a reflex action, I suppose. ‘It splattered on the pantry, the microwave, fell underneath… and who knows where else.’
My left hand only hurt briefly, then felt fine—it didn’t blister or anything. So, as close as it was, it could have been so much worse.
[steam]
|
Reply #2202. Oct 30 12, 9:12 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
Curtis
======
I’d tried to read the message last week, but for whatever reason the computer wouldn’t let me—or was it the email. So this morning, I resolved to try again—and I was successful. Curtis:
- Remarked how good it was to hear from me
- Suggested I play the TV in the background while riding the bike
- Encouraged me to go back to school to finish my degree
As far as the last is concerned, it’s not as easy as all that. ‘I want to go back, but there’s a transportation issue and an administration issue—and online courses are out because “JAWS is incompatible with everything!”’
|
Reply #2203. Oct 30 12, 9:14 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
Zweier's
======
I didn’t order food from Zweier’s last week as I had plenty of food from Wal-Mart. So, this week I went back to my weekly deliveries.
I don’t even have to prompt the delivery guy anymore to give me the price. As soon as he’s done helping me put the food away, he picks up the list and tells me the amount.
[That was the other guy]
|
Reply #2204. Oct 30 12, 9:19 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
Extra Tired
======
“I don’t know why, but I’m extra tired.” This Mom said to me as we conversed this evening over the phone.
Before we hung up I yawned and she asked me if I was going to make it. “What kind of question is that?”
Then she yawned, and I asked if she was going to make it: “I don’t know. That’s just it.” After suggesting she take a nap, we hung up.
|
Reply #2205. Oct 30 12, 9:21 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
Deadly Women for November 4
======
The first episode starts out with a story from Tennessee. In 2006, Pastor Matthew couldn’t have been happier with his wife, Mary. Little did he know she was hiding a deadly secret: “Mary falls prey to financial fraud… and she can’t bare to admit her failure to Matthew.” So she comes up with a plan: she’ll shoot him while he sleeps, then claim she killed him in self defense. “Then she took her three little girls, packed them into the car, and drove off” to the beach.
|
Reply #2206. Oct 30 12, 9:22 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
======
The second segment occurs about ten years previous, and is about yet another woman who values money more than life itself. “Trading love for money has been a game Rebecca’s been playing since she was a teenager.” After meeting Bruce, she continues to “play the field, sleeping with anyone other than her husband-to-be.” A few weeks after their marriage, Rebecca decides she wants a divorce from Bruce, but she doesn’t realize she’ll lose so much by taking that step. And so, on to plan b:because she’s unwilling to do so herself, she convinces two of her relatives to kill him for her.
|
Reply #2207. Oct 30 12, 9:23 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
======
The third story begins with the byline, “be careful who you fight with.” It’s about Betty, who falls hard for Dan, but after becoming a successful attorney he begins sleeping with his secretary. Dan and Betty were divorced—at which time she lost everything, including custodial rights. “Linda taunted Betty beyond comprehension, sending her letters and wrinkle cream.” Utterly demoralized, Betty “enters her ex-husband’s house to make a dramatic statement.” Supposedly, the plan was to shoot herself—but instead she shoots Dan and Linda. “Linda is killed instantly. Her husband of six months survives for half an hour before choking on his own blood.”
|
Reply #2208. Oct 30 12, 9:25 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
======
The next hour was the one from last week in which I missed the end of the first segment and the beginning of the next. Before that, what I’d missed was that Laurence had broken up with Lisa Michelle prior to raping Lori—who only spent time with him because “she felt sorry for him.” And Lori diddn’t defend herself against Lisa because she was afraid she’d hurt the other teen’s unborn child. And the part I missed due to Mom’s phone call was right after Lisa Michelle attacked Lori, and she was dying in the apartment she shared with her mother—Hazel had been called away, presumably by her daughter’s school, but she rushed back home when she felt something was wrong with the whole thing. “I went to her side, and at that point I saw her throat had been cut… She was able to whisper to me, ‘Michelle did it. Michelle did it.”’
|
Reply #2209. Oct 30 12, 9:26 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
[could that last paragraph have been more confusing?]
======
The second segment, the part of it I missed, begins with the sentence, “baby faced looks can be deceiving.” One other statement I missed was “Daphne was destined to kill someone.” People were intimidated by the teen—and the young woman liked that. ‘Her own father took a restraining order out against her.’ “When a child hits a parent, it is a very significant event.” Later, the “graphic descriptions” that I thought frightened me so last Friday were as follows:
- ‘On May 27, 1997, Daphne and Christopher, after drinking heavily all day, meet Michael by Strawberry Fields and lure him down to the lake..’
- “Both teenagers are armed with knives.”
- “His nose was almost severed, his wrist was almost severed, he had six stab wounds to his chest and heart, there were slashes across his face, his lungs collapsed, there were forty inches of intestines floating nearby, and blood all around him”
|
Reply #2210. Oct 30 12, 9:28 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
[Assessment]
======
The third segment may have gotten to me, too: it was the story of the classmates who murdered the 16-year-old “new kid,” just because the one girl was jealous, then attempted to dispose of the body by first setting it on fire and then dissecting it. “I think Sarah was a stone cold sociopath… defiant to the core.”
[Seems to me that as the "scary story," and not the other one--except for the fact that it so clearly paralleled one of my stories.]
|
Reply #2211. Oct 30 12, 9:31 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
======
The 10:00 show was all new: “These deadly women murder those who love them most.” First up, the story of a young mother named Robin. “She claimed she needed to get away from Randy… that he was attacking her.” Her friend, out of the kindness of her heart, “offers her shelter,” never suspecting Robin’s claims are untrue. But she’s found out after her house burns to the ground, and all she’s worried about is money: “Robin has been stealing bingo money for months,” and had “taken out five insurance policies on her two children [ten-year-old Joshua and eight-year-old Tabitha] and Randy worth well over $1,000,000.” And that’s not all: “She has lost another child in a fire,” six-year-old Keith. “The only thing people ever meant to Robin was a nice pay day.”
|
Reply #2212. Oct 30 12, 9:32 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
======
Next is a tale from ’72. The first thing I thought when I heard the name Mary Beth was, ‘why does that name sound so familiar?’ Then I realized: ‘I read it online in the profiles of women who killed their children!’ “When people look at a woman, especially a mother, they do not see a killer.
|
Reply #2213. Oct 30 12, 9:33 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
======
According to kidshealth.org, “One of the most harmful forms of child abuse, MBPS was named after Baron von Munchausen, an 18th-century German dignitary known for telling
outlandish stories… In MBPS, an individual — usually a mother — deliberately makes another person (most often his or her own preschool child) sick or convinces others that
the person is sick. The parent or caregiver misleads others into thinking that the child has medical problems by lying and reporting fictitious episodes… Typically, the perpetrator feels satisfied by gaining the attention and sympathy of doctors, nurses, and others who come into contact with him or her and
the child. Some experts believe that it isn't just the attention that's gained from the "illness" of the child that drives this behavior, but also the
satisfaction in being able to deceive individuals that they consider to be more important and powerful than themselves… Frequently, the perpetrator is familiar with the medical profession… Even the most experienced doctors can miss the meaning of the inconsistencies in the child's symptoms. It's not unusual for medical
personnel to overlook the possibility of MBPS because it goes against the belief that a parent or caregiver would never deliberately hurt his or her child.”
|
Reply #2214. Oct 30 12, 9:57 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
======
The third segment’s about a woman “pushed over the brink.” In the ‘90’s, Cora falls in love and marries Xavier, and the couple have four children. “She’s always willing to lend a hand… he’s a doctor and she his office manager… In just one year, she has siphoned off $100,000” from the business. Add to that her alcohol addiction, and you have a disaster waiting to happen. “Cora probably needed hospitalization.” Unfortunately, her devoted husband is not so devoted: “Xavier’s having an affair.” Somehow, Cora finds out and “threatens to harm herself… Xavier tries to convince his wife to seek professional help.” But the end, when it comes, happens over a dispute over how to discipline one of the children. On the night in question, she “puts the children to bed,” convinced that her husband’s “left her forever.” She first shoots eight-year-old Michael and five-year-old Christopher once in the back of the head then proceeds to her remaining son‘s room and shoots him twice before “turning him over so his face would be the first thing her husband would see… It was an act of revenge because she was taking away from her husband the things he cared for the most.” Then, in a final act, she shot herself—but survived the suicide attempt and was prosecuted. “The only child Cora spares is baby Gabrielle.”
|
Reply #2215. Oct 30 12, 9:59 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
11/4: Georgette
======
Georgette called to ask if she can come over next weekend. From what I gather, she’s broke. “I get paid next Thursday.”
[and...]
|
Reply #2216. Oct 30 12, 10:01 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
Spoke to Georgette tonight
Have aplan to get together Saturday and order salads from Marco's
|
Reply #2217. Nov 08 12, 12:11 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
Time for more stories from the archives (still in 2011)
Dinner (11/6)
======
Mom and I made plans to meet for dinner before doing the wash. So imagine my surprise when Uncle Michael showed up with her. I don’t know what he got other than eggplant fries, but he shared some with me—I remember the time he offered me calamari, but I declined and then was upset with myself later for not having tried it. “Not bad,” I commented. ‘It’s weird because I’m pretty sure I don’t like eggplant.’
I got a breaded, fried chicken sub, and noticed right away something wasn’t right with the bread. I normally like their bread—it’s the homemade kind—but not that night!
|
Reply #2218. Nov 16 12, 11:37 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
11/7 - Hair Cut
======
I got my hair cut—or, as someone once got mad when I said “cut,” “hair trim.” The woman who did it was Renee, who has an identical twin named Becky who also works at Holiday. And Becky’s the one who, last week, did Grandma’s perm.
------
Funny... it was Edy who flipped out at "hair cut:" "You didn't get it *cut,* you got it *trimmed*." [Uh... what's the big deal?]
|
Reply #2219. Nov 16 12, 11:42 AM
|
Jazmee27
|
Lunch
======
I treated Grandma and myself to Macdonald’s, as it’s right in the same complex where Holiday is. I got a grilled chicken sandwich and fries. Between the two of us, the price was $13 or $14.
As we were coming up in the elevator, this gentleman got on at the second floor and walked to the back upon learning we were for five. “Smells good,” he commented as we got out, “bring extras?” “Dream on,” I shot back, and he laughed.
------
Good times :)
|
Reply #2220. Nov 16 12, 11:44 AM
|
Legal / Conditions of Use
|
Play Now! 
: