I don't have a ghost story, only one that makes you go "hmmmm". My best friend from college, Robbie, comes to WI to visit about once a year. He grew up about an hour from where I live but now lives in California. About 25 years ago, Robbie's older brother married a wonderful gal named Kay who quickly became a dear SIL to Robbie. I met her a couple of times and she was a sweet, down-to-earth, funny, loving person. The family was devastated when Kay was diagnosed with brain cancer, but she survived for several years and went through several treatments before passing away. She and her husband had one son. It's been about 15 years since Kay's death and every time Robbie visits, we talk about finding where she was buried, since Robbie would like to see her grave. He didn't remember much about the cemetery or church, so a few years ago, during his visit, we walked for about an hour through a cemetery about 10 miles from my house, since Kay and her husband lived in a small town near here. No luck, and Robbie's details are so vague, I didn't think we'd ever find the grave. Well, last fall he visited and I asked my boss if there was another cemetery in another town nearby. I didn't think there was, but she told me about one. We went there and as usual, Robbie thought this was "the one" and said he vaguely remembered her grave being near the back of the cemetery near the perimeter fence. We drove into the cemetery and found it to be very large. We drove down the main road and Robbie looked and looked for anything familiar. When we got to the end of the road, we could see that the perimeter fence was a ways away and the graves weren't even close to it, so he was doubting this was the right cemetery, either. Well, he told me to turn at the corner and then finally he said to pull the car over so we could just get out and look around. I hadn't even had time to get out of the car before Robbie checked out the closest headstone and found it was Kay's. It still amazes me and I'm certain that we had some kind of "help" finding the exact location after all those years. Here is a link that might be useful: a lucky break or what? :)

That's fascinating! It's mind-boggling that they had the knowledge and ability to move homes back then. Our ancestors were awesome. When I look at the architecture and millwork in old buildings, I can't believe what they accomplished with their primitive tools. There is a lot of history in our commonwealth. I love reading the history of our little VA town, which was settled in 1738, and saw a lot of action in the Revolutionary War and Civil War.

I've only had one very negative experience that scared the crap out of me. When I was a teenager, my friends and I were interested in a "darker" subculture and used to hang out in cemeteries and things like that. One night, we were at my house playing with the Ouija board. I know better now, and I won't touch them, but when you're 16 you don't really consider the consequences. We didn't really experience anything during the game because we were laughing and having fun with it. But later that night, after my friends left, I went to bed and woke up to a visitor at the foot of my bed. My room was dark, but this thing was the complete absence of light. It was about 7 feet tall, solid and black as sin. Just standing there at the foot of my bed staring at me. My two cats were sleeping on my bed and they both jumped up, hissing and ran for the closed door and clawed desperately at it trying to get out. I sat straight up and screamed, and at that moment it sort of dissolved into glitter and then shot under my bed. Upon further reflection, I think I invited something very negative into my house and I was relieved to move out soon after. To counter that, after my mom died, I had a few pleasant experiences. My mom wore the same perfume her entire life so I immediately associate it with her. I also collect perfumes and she knows I have a huge collection. A few weeks after she died, I noticed a small bottle of her perfume on the floor so I absently put it on a dresser in the guest room. The next day, I went in there and the perfume was on the floor again. I didn't think much of it assuming the cats had knocked it down so I put it back up, and then the next day, it was on the floor again. I thought this was really strange, so then I put it back up, right in the middle so it couldn't accidentally fall off and the cats couldn't easily knock it off, and put a bottle of my perfume right next to it. And then the next day, I come into the room and both bottles are on the floor. Now, it could have been the cats but I doubt it. Just something fun and it made me smile. Another really strange thing that happened was a few months ago, I really wanted to relocate from Boston to California. But it meant leaving a good job, leaving my apartment and leaving my friends, and I was really struggling with whether it was the right move for me or not. And I landed an interview with a company out in California, and while I was doing some internet research on the company, I Googled the company name and one of the people who works there and the 3rd result that popped up was my mom's name, which is pretty unique and not at all related to any of the search terms. I just thought it was really cool and I interpreted it as a sign. After that, everything fell in place. And now I'm here in California. :)

Janalyn, Just this week I have started a course at my university on the Middle East. Before the course started, I read The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Middle East (3rd Edition) as background and found it an excellent introduction from which to build on. Some general texts would include: War and Peace in the Middle East by Avi Shlaim Another Century of War by Gabriel Kolko A History of the Middle East by Peter Mansfield For recent analysis on recent issues, try the following journals: Foreign Affairs Foreign Policy The Guardian Weekly is excellent too. Here is some background on the current crisis: Mired in hate, stained by blood Issues in the news: Middle East Ben Haywood July 24, 2006 http://www.theage.com.au/news/education-news/mired-in-hate-stained-by-blood/2006/07/21/1153166592978.html Leaders have called on both sides to end the fighting or risk escalation of the crisis. What happened? The present crisis in Lebanon was sparked two weeks ago when Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack from Lebanon into Israel. Eight Israeli soldiers were killed and five others were wounded in the July 12 raid. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says the abducted soldiers were captured to pressure Israel into releasing prisoners. But in one commentator's words, Hezbollah was also asserting itself as a "champion of the Palestinians". The conflict in Lebanon was, in part, precipitated by events in Gaza. Palestinian militants in Gaza kidnapped an Israeli soldier on June 25. Israel responded by sending in its forces. The July 12 Hezbollah raid followed. Israel has so far refused the prisoner exchange, labelling the Hezbollah raid an act of war. Israel launched a sea blockade and air strikes aimed at cutting Lebanon off from the outside world. Airports, ports and highways have been the main targets. Late last week, Israel expanded its attack with a ground assault on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has responded with continued attacks on northern Israel, with some rockets - supplied by Iran - reaching Haifa, the country's third-largest city. By Friday, the fighting had killed more than 300 people and wounded 600 in Lebanon. According to the UN emergency relief co-ordinator, a third of the dead or wounded are children. The Israeli attacks have also displaced some 500,000 people. In Israel, 30 people were dead and more than 200 were injured. Israel says it will cease its military action if the two kidnapped soldiers are returned, the rocket attacks on northern Israel stop and Hezbollah is neutralised. The Lebanese Government finds itself in a very difficult position. It is unable to defend itself against the military might of Israel and is equally unable to curtail the activities of the Hezbollah, who effectively control most of southern Lebanon. The country's Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, last week told an Italian newspaper that Hezbollah has...