Obsession or Passion? (and is there really any difference?)

In my younger days as a Fortean philosopher, the only thing that seemed to be able to occupy my mind was reading or talking about aliens, UFOs, or ghosts. I was an ardent reader, but you would have been hard pressed to find a non-paranormal book in my hands at any given time. By the time that I was in high school, this trend didn't show any signs of stopping.

It had gotten to a point where my mother was afraid that I was obsessed with the paranormal, something she thought was quite detrimental to me.  Her biggest concern was the kind of people that I had begun hanging around with. They weren't criminals or anything like that, however they did like to cut class and smoke pot. Also they were, or at least considered themselves to be, Satanists and pagans. My mother was concerned that my interest in the paranormal had led me to associate with these people. Sadly nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact the paranormal never came up while I was hanging out with this group of people (I guess even then I was Closet Anomalist).

Nothing could convince my Mom that my interest (obsession) with the paranormal would not somehow end up with me truly becoming one of 'those' kids. So reacting as only parents can react, my mother  took all of my paranormal books away from me. Maybe I was obsessed because, and I guess I should feel embarrassed by this but strangely I don't, I actually cried when she took my books away from me. It was as though she was taking my identity or my foundation away. I suppose in high school, kids are trying to figure out who they are. Or at least they are beginning that process, because the same thing is said of college.

So there I was at the tender age of 14, crying because my world was literally shattering around me. No longer did I have the books that I could turn to in order to read about paranormal things, nor did I have those cool alien figures I showed off here. Luckily I still had the Internet, so I could at least stay up to date with some of the happenings in the paranormal world. But it felt so strange not having that aspect in my life. Because at that time in my life really all I had were my books on the subject. I walked around like a shadow of my former self.

Of course as time moved on I quit hanging around those kids, not so much because the 'influence' of the books were gone but because like most kids my taste in friends changed. And besides just because I didn't have the books didn't mean that I had quite thinking about the paranormal, quite the contrary actually. All during this time I was still running the PSA with my friends and brother; where each weekend we would go off looking for Bigfoot in the woods near our home, or looking for Chupacabra in the sewer systems below our subdivision.

Eventually my Mom would give me back my books, although she probably still thought that I was obsessed. Unfortunately I don't disagree with her too much. As a kid I definitely was obsessed. Not longer after I got the books back, I moved out and went to school for awhile. Eventually I dropped out and had to start life in the 'real world'. So there wasn't much time for Fortean stuff. In fact I was out of the 'field' for quite a few years as a matter of fact. I (un)fortunately missed out on the 'CARET' Drones fiasco and the equally amazing (simply because of its sheer audacity for story-telling) the 'Project Serpo' document releases.

It wouldn't be until about 2008 or so that I really picked back up on the paranormal. I've been at it ever since, but with a huge distinction from when I was a child. Unlike my younger days, now I spend time doing other things. Don't get me wrong, nothing fascinates me more than Fortean topics. But I take more time now to make sure that I have other hobbies as well. It's like my dad used to say 'everything is fine in moderation'. I think that's what happens to a lot of the personalities in this topic, they let the subject get to them too much.
Really it is OK to take a break every now and then and do something else. Hell as a perfect example, I was off Twitter and this blog for the majority of the day because I was busy playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. That is just one of my other hobbies. I do think Fortean topics are important and likely could hold the answers for some of the questions that we have as a species, but you know sometimes its OK to just play a game. So if there is a moral of this story I suppose it would be this; don't spend all day everyday reading this or any other paranormal blog. Go outside for a walk, watch a movie with friends/family, or hell just go out for a beer every now and then.

Well that's all I have for you tonight, until next time this is Tony Morrill the Fortean Philosopher saying, “ Take a break from the Fortean!”

Older and hopefully wiser

I was a pretty young child when I got interested in Fortean topics; although at the time I had never really heard that word. That story has already been told here and here. When I first began to read about aliens, UFOs, ghosts, and Bigfoot; I was hooked. I mean who wouldn't be right? The thing is at that young age (I was around 8 or 9 I think) I was positive that I was going to prove the existence of these things, scientifically, to the world. That's right, yours truly was going to go down in history as the guy that brought the reality of the paranormal to the average Joe on the street.

I know, its pretty funny even to me now as I am typing it. But keep in mind I was, like most kids I guess, kind of naïve about well life in general I suppose. Certainly I was naïve about Fortean topics. In order to 'solve' the problem of the paranormal; my friend at the time (again I was about 8 or so) Billy and myself created the PSA or Paranormal Society of America. The aim of this organization was to scientifically investigate claims of the paranormal. Soon we would recruit our younger brothers and the four of us proceeded to 'investigate' paranormal activity. We never really saw anything, nor for that matter did we ever really investigate anything, but we had a blast doing it. And through it I was slowly introduced to many of the concepts that I kept for years. Concepts that I have discussed many times, mostly about the ETH.

What's funny about all this, well OK there is a lot funny about this but I mean in a hindsight sort of way, is that I still have our 'Case Files' in my paranormal notebook (which I may share with you guys one day). My hope was that each PSA investigator was going to have their own notebook. Of course eventually the PSA kind of faded away as most things in childhood do. But still I held out the goal, I guess, or maybe desire to one day somehow 'prove' the paranormal. In a lot of ways I suppose that I was looking for some kind of validation. As I have recounted on this blog previously; when I was younger, other kids would often make fun of me for my interests in these paranormal topics. So, my reasoning went as a child, if I could prove the paranormal to these people they would have to apologize  to me.

But as I got older I began to start questioning that motivation. It definitely seemed like a selfish perspective to take. I mean my interest in the paranormal lead me to really think about life in really cool and exciting ways, so why couldn't I just share that with people? Why did it have to be in an 'I told you so' kind of way? That didn't really seem to work out too well either though, as I quickly discovered that people pretty much have accepted into their reality tunnel as much as they are willing to. The more that I tried to talk with people about these topics, especially about UFOs for some reason, the more they would act like the kids did back in elementary school.

This brings me to where I am at in this stage of my life. I have come to the conclusion, at least temporarily because as a Fortean I am always ready to cast this ideal aside for a better one, that I will just learn what I can from people that are older/wiser in these topics than I am and to share what  I learn with whoever is willing to listen. It seems that if there is some kind of 'point' to studying Fortean phenomena; it's simply to allow us the chance to evolve. At least on an individual basis. I know for sure that my life has never been the same since the day that I picked up my first UFO book. I think it's definitely for the better as well.

So for the foreseeable future the best that I can hope for is to continue having a conversation with those that are teaching me things. Greg Bishop has mentioned on his show Radio Misterioso more than once, that he does the show so that he can learn something. Because he wants to talk to the guests and if other people like it then thats great. I really like that philosophy a lot, so I freely admit that I have taken it and adapted it to my own life.

Besides, who knows maybe one of these days you will see me on the news having finally 'proven' a paranormal event. And if not, well hell you'll be able to find me here at Forteania. That's all for tonight, thanks for listening guys and gals.

                                    Fortean Philosopher
                                            Tony

The Leprechaun

OK so below you will find the first part of one of  my short stories that I had originally written in high school. I don't want to put too many stipulations on it, but please remember it was a very rough draft of a story that never got completed. If you guys like it I will put up the rest of it (and hopefully find the rest of papers). Until then enjoy the first part of 'The Leprechaun'.

Peter was being chased by the Lucky Charm's Leprechaun again, all he heard in his mind was 'There after me Lucky Charms!' and 'They're magically delicious'. Peter shuddered awake, drenched in sweat. Not again, he groaned. This case was beginning to get to him. He turned over to his clock, it was 6:15 am. Oh well, he thought, time to get up. Peter Blackstone had started working for the ISPR (International Society for Paranormal Research) about 6 months ago. 

At that time he was fresh out of college with a degree in Parapsychology, which is why they wanted him for the job. That bring us back to the present.... Peter's newest assignment, which synchronisticaly fell on St. Patrick's Day this year, was to investigate rumors of an infestation of Leprechauns in a New Jersey apartment building. 

And every night since the case started Peter had been dreaming about 'Lucky' the Leprechaun character from the General Mill's Cereal Lucky Charms. So far the team hadn't seen much paranormal phenomenon at all, unless of course you count the crazy rent-a-cop's who insisted on kicking the team out every time they came in at night to investigate.

Peter got up out of bed and got ready for work that day. He then headed to the make-shift headquarters that the team had set up in order to do their investigations. Case-manager John Smith was typing away at a computer looking for folkloric methods of catching leprechauns, while Peter's partner and co-investigator Lisa Jackson was interviewing one of the witness of the supposed leprechauns. 42 year old widow Mrs. Jordan who claimed that leprechauns came in the middle of the night in order to steal her socks.

Mrs. Jordan wasn't the only one complaining about items that had gone missing around the complex, many others were losing all kinds of things all over the place. Because of the nature of many of the thefts the group had ruled out theft or human carelessness. In addition to the thefts, many of the children living in the apartment building had been telling their parents that they were afraid that the leprechauns were trying to kidnap them. Peter walked over to John to see what was on tap for the day. John looked up at Peter grimly, “Last night one of the children that lives in the building complex had disappeared in the middle of the night.'' “No way,” Peter said, “Did you look everywhere?”

“Of course we did,” snapped John, “ And the police have already been called and should be here soon.” “Oh well has any one looked in her room yet?” Peter asked. “Nope, but that's where I want to send you hopefully we can get a good look before the police show up and likely kick us out,” John said with irritation tinging his tone.

About 15 minutes later Peter was looking around Jessica's room for any sign of what may have happened to her. On a hunch Peter decided to check her closet. Peter walked in when the floor suddenly gave out from under him.