the new Nation. Not surprisingly, he was most interested in reading the new paper as soon as the first copy reached Banbridge. When he finished reading the paper, Mitchel sent it over to Loughorne, so John could read it.

When the Mitchel family, John, his wife Jennie, and children came to Loughorne to visit, the two men had much new material from The Nation to discuss. Though they were firm friends, the two men strongly disagreed about political affairs. Mitchel was fiery and passionate, while John was much restrained and thoughtful. Their friendship took them into strange places and down different paths. But it never faltered.

On one thing the two men agreed, the importance of The Nation. It helped propel John Martin from the quiet and peaceful country lifefavorite part is leaving the gym. That's always a good time of day for me, and on the October afternoon in question, I was in particularly good spirits. The weather was nice, I'd had a good workout, God was in His heaven. However, my exit from the gym was delayed a minute or so. There had been a man applying a vinyl graphic over the door, and he'd been accosted in conversation and didn't notice my needing to leave. Him and his friend chatted a moment -- probably not even a minute, more like thirty seconds, whatever -- and then Friend came inside, thereby allowing me through. The sign man apologized as I left, and I told him no problem, because it wasn't.

So.

I went on my way, merrily


the unfortunate victim of my antagonist's machinations, he was just the first guy my mind pulled out of its hat. So I wrote it into the story. Except I didn't -- I referenced "President Hopper" throughout the piece, but I couldn't find a way to work in that it was _Dennis_ Hopper without being expository.

Until last night, the 30th, when I was doing the story's final draft in preparation for submission. I wrote it in as a last-second idea, but I needed to look up a list of Mr. Hopper's movies to do so, which led me to his Wikipedia page. As I scanned the page, however, I by chance noticed that he was, surprisingly, deceased, after which I checked the day: May 29th, 2010. The very dayminutes, in my truck. Bored, I by chance turned on the radio, something I very rarely do, and wouldn't have done today if not for my profaned schedule. I frequency-surfed for a while, listening to snatches of songs and skirting advertisements, and then came across a local college station that has a taste for '90s, playing the tail-end of "Just A Girl".
11/8/10

"I Tapped James Cameron's Head and All I Got Was This Blog Post"

It started two years ago, when I wrote my first novel.

It was supposed to be so grand. After conceiving, plotting, and outlining an epic series of eight novels that would make _Atlas Shrugged_ look like a religious tract, I finally buckled down and wrote the first one, a sci-fi extravaganza called _Other_. It took four


ahead of me, I went to put on my headphones and listen to my MP3 player (on the radio, Foo Fighters had given way to music I didn't care for). The day prior, I had preloaded the MP3 player with the CD's I'd bought at the pawnshop, and was interested in hearing them on the drive home. Unfortunately, I never got to listen to them.

But let me back up.

On the way down to Myrtle Beach, while listening to the same MP3 player, I had come across the album _American Standard_ by Seven Mary Three, which I had been listening to in the days preceding the trip. Upon seeing it on the playlist on the trip down, I'd thought absently, _I won't be listening to that album while at"mercury poisoning testing" -> "mercury poisoning hair test" -- a kind of math).

And that's how I came across a forum post advocating Metametrix laboratory testing.

Buried deep within Google's guts, the original forum post was asking a question in regard to a test for mercury poisoning, per my original search, but when I went to it, I came across a reply saying that Metametrix was a good, reliable source of hair- and stool tests for toxicity, viruses, parasites, etc. I took notice of this because my chiropractor had called about an hour before and told me to come pick up the stool test she'd ordered for me (I won't go into why I need such a thing, if you don't ask).

It crossed my mind that maybe I should reject


ginger is first "preserved," then processed further, with sugar and such, until it's "crystalized," and the similarity is close enough that the two are called either "preserved" or "crystalized," interchangeably. Like my mom, I had never before heard of either type of ginger, until now, twice within twenty-four hours.)

(Actually, wait -- here's the clincher: this ginger theme comes at a time of extreme digestive problems on my part, for which ginger is, reputedly, rather helpful. I decided to buy some ginger tea, this evening ...)
12/25/12

"The Brothers Karamazov"

I'm an uncommon breed of writer: one who is miserably unread. No, not _that_ sort of unread; there are plenty of _those_ writers (though I'm one of that kind too). I, simply, have not read a great many books, even those classicsWoody Allen. Not only did _Frog Pajamas_ literally, explicitly name Robert Anton Wilson, it also mentioned Timothy Leary and a couple other people who were featured in _Cosmic Trigger_.

There's more, actually. But do I really need to say any more?
6/27/13

"Communication"

So, I'm writing a new book.

A few days ago, I started a chapter called "Communication." Around the same time, I started reading the book _Alive_ , a non-fictional account of people who survived a plane crash in the Andes mountains.

Yesterday, toward the end of _Alive_ , the book mentioned how the survivors found a flight manual which contained in it a chapter entitled "Communications." The chapter's number was thirty-four, mentioned specifically.

"Huh, that's about the same name as the chapter I'm writing in _my_ book," I said aloud (not nearly


less true. Statistics are rascally things. They seem to prove an argument or point, when they could, in reality, harbor hidden flaws which render them invalid -- but only if you look closely. On the surface, they can appear every bit sound. And, considering the surface is where the examination of many people begins and ends, we see the potential for abuse.

When I first read of the term "independent event," as used in the context of probabilities, it dug up my grievances with statistics all over again. When an event is classified as "independent," probability-wise, it means that it has no connection to any past events, as to be free from influence on its probability -- but what if there _is_ a connection between these events, it's justdays ago, I experienced a classic "recurrence," which is how I refer to your typical, run-of-the-mill incidence of synchronicity. However, I didn't pay much attention to this particular recurrence, because the time gap between the two recurring events was nearly a week, instead of hours or days (or seconds, or simultaneous, like so many are).

My log entry for the recurrence in question:

"3/22/14

A minor recurrence, quite possibly a coincidence. Sometime in the last week, I can't remember just when or where (it was in a book), I read a traveling tip on how you should tag your luggage with something distinctive so you can pick it out from a baggage carousel, etc. Then today, I got an unexpected package in the mail from a friend, in which was a


until reset. Well, since I hadn't reset my timer, it continued counting all through yesterday afternoon and last night, as if patiently awaiting my return. As it so happened, the timer waited in this fashion for exactly seventeen hours, thirty-seven minutes, and thirty-seven seconds, hitting that thirty-seventh second at the precise moment I picked it up and looked at it this afternoon. Then, the digital display read 17:37:37.

One of the numbers I repeatedly see is 37, 1137, and variants of these (73, 137, 173, etc). In fact, in the last few weeks, these have been the most prominent repetitions, repeatedly coming to me in ways which defy reasonable chance, and psychological explanations such as selective perception and subconscious fixation.

Not only did I just happened to pick up thelines of reasoning in regards to what it all means. And, of course, I wrote my book last year, before ever learning that _There Are No Accidents_ existed.

But that's all just coincidence, right? Because experts have agreed that such fantastic phenomena as synchronicity cannot exist.

Likewise, it was just a coincidence that the two books would cite not only remarkably similar phenomena, but _near-exact incidents_. The first chapter of my book details how, starting some years ago, I began repeatedly seeing the number 1111 and its variants, eventually in fascinating and highly unlikely ways (and numbering in the hundreds, if not thousands). For me, a typical "sighting" would be Just Happening to glance at a clock at 11:11, with a more notable version of this involving complicated logistics (such


and its stubborn refusal to disappear from my list of must-read books. So I made another halfhearted browse -- and this time, lo and behold, turned up a low-priced copy on eBay. I snatched it up at once, then at last deleted the bookmark, feeling to be crossing off some difficult station from a bucket list. And it was after this, within two days, that the synchronicity occurred: I came across, in the unrelated book I was reading at the time, a quote from none other than Arthur Koestler. The quote, which was placed randomly in the book (to correspond with a loosely relevant story), involved something called "holons," something I'd never heard of before in my life.

I read the Koestler quote just two days after ordering _Themocking quotations.)

But that was only for starters. I hadn't read the rest of the article.

My time with the doctor did not make me forget the article. Quite the contrary: by the time we'd finished, my obsessive attraction to the newspaper had not lessened. So, after the ritual of paying up at the front desk, I remained in the parking lot, resuming the article where I'd been interrupted. From there, that's when I knew that this one was not only an Incident, but a Blog Post (the highest rung of my personal synchronicity hierarchy).

I'll let the article speak for itself, regarding a schoolteacher who took interest in the Holocaust children (estimated at 1.6 million):

Eleanor Schiller, a social studies teacher at the school, had a dream one night in which


and ye shall receive_ , I thought. Again.

(And here's a fun little footnote: that evening, minutes after discovering my unexpected gift, I went to open another jar ... and its lid wouldn't turn. I employed my new rubber-gripper, and it worked like a charm. Afterward, I laughed madly.)
10/6/15

"What Are The Chances? (Answer: Worse Than Astronomical)"

So, I went to this thrift store, randomly, for the first time in a while. It was in my hometown, and I hadn't been there for over a decade. Why not?

Though, there was more: I felt _Compelled_ to go there, in that special, patternistic way that I've elaborated on in prior posts.

What did I expect to find at this thrift store that so urgently demanded my visit? I can't say, beyond the usual hodgepodgelong time. And, I guess, that was sort of true: after a year or so of my discovering the foot baths, and my subsequent research of negative ions, I hadn't really given them much thought. Today, however, I did. For some reason.

_Negative ions_. The words were etched across my mind as I began my latest podiatric ingestion of the things.

Naturally, I cracked a book just after the bath began, to pass the half-hour, as is my custom for these sessions. As it were, today's selection was _The Snow Leopard_ , by Peter Matthieson, a first-person account of one man's physical and spiritual journey through the Himalaya mountains in 1973. It's one of those famous classics that, somehow, I'd just missed up until now (so many books, so little


being chased by dogs -- the commercial said, "Do dogs chase cats?"

6/21/11

I'd been putting off re-writing Other for the last year, finally did it. When I got to the point where Hildy wills her dream-reality to the column, it was on a day that I had at last been doing something eerily similar, visualizing and willing a reality to the Succor Punch, a quartz-crystal column.

6/22/11

Started reading The Great Gatsby on 6/22, the longest day. At the start of the book, Daisy mentions how she always misses the longest day, which I had been doing myself until I read that.

6/24/11

Had been trying to get some rechargable batteries for my zapper; ordered some, but mistakenly got the wrong kind, though the charger that came with them was what I needed.reduced, from 12.49 to 1.24, over 90% off (I didn't want to spend much, since I'd already bought the wrong batteries). It happened to be an Energizer.

Also, I got around to ripping a CD I'd bought a few days ago, Eponymous by R.E.M. While going over my word definitions, I happened to come across eponymous (I had started the book that day, and had a choice between several, any of which would've thwarted the synchronicity).

6/27/11

Saw the word "attenuate" in Center of the Cyclone, and it took particular interest in it, for no particular reason. Later, while in Hotmail, saw that it was the dictionary.com word of the day.

Also, felt compelled to edit "The Briefcase" tonight. Like "Other", it very vividly mirrors my experience with the Succor Punch.

6/28/11

Was compelled


dog reared up, the woman jerking on her leash and crying out, struggling to keep the dog away from the car -- a perfect illustration of control.

Later, on the way home, I was stopped at the intersection by the Daniel Boone Inn, and my attention was drawn to the church there, strongly, For Some Reason. I noted the stained glass, one in particular, a circular piece, with a circle inside it, at the center. This fascinated me, again For Some Reason, and also For Some Reason, I noted that the glass was spoked with partitions, seven of them, since I was inspired to count them, For Some Reason. As I counted the seven partitions, I remembered a Cassiopiean transcription I'd read, what I thought described that very samewhen I first read it, while editing "Other", only later, when I found it in ledger (it's interesting, though, that I would chose that particular ledger, my oldest one; I had stopped looking at it recently, because I thought I knew all the words in it, and I do, but when I went to select a new one to look at, I felt Compelled to get that one ...)

"imbroglio" and "quaff"; same

"midriff"; interesting, because it only came from a change

All of these occurred within the same, lunchtime ledger session.

8/17/11

Last night, just before I went to bed, I was Compelled to listen to the song "Aurora" by Bjork. I had heard the song many times prior, but never given thought to what Aurora actually was, or meant. As I


special note of it, For No Particular reason. Then, at lunch, I first felt the urge not to read the ledger, then later felt the urge to pick up a catalog of my mom's, even though it repulsed me. I was flipping through, and toward the end was a gimmicky sort of book that had a bunch of smaller books in it. I noticed it, again For No Particular Reason, and almost turned the page but didn't, and took a second look; one of the smaller books had "bookish" in the title. Hmmm.

Also, I've been seeing owls a lot this last week, saw them on a number of cars (stickers, though it didn't look to be a logo or anything, just several, simple vinyl owls), and then Rebecca(I wouldn't have seen the sign if I hadn't of taken him home, nor would he have mentioned honey if I hadn't've).

Also, he kept on mentioning, randomly, the number 37, which I've been seeing like crazy lately. It was always obscure and offhand how he would end up mentioning it, like how he was charged $37 to replace a book that he had been accused of not turning in, etc, etc.

10/16/11

Two interesting, spiritual synchros today. I awoke feeling generally negative and sick, very "depleted" and "compromised", either because it was Sunday and I had to repeat church, or because I cut grass for the first time in a couple weeks yesterday, or a combination of both. Regardless, I went to church and had to go through the usual


...). When the internet wasn't available, which was strange, I kept having the feeling that there was a reason for it (I may not have read the Ra material at all tonight if not for the outage, and certainly wouldn't have reached the point I did, where the word cropped up). Interesting.

Also, Rebecca mentioned "devil's snuff box" in her email, and I immediately knew what it was, a mushroom that I hit today while cutting grass, and Noticed, For No Particular Reason.

10/18/11

Word synchro: "impetus"; this is one of those where the word came to me at the end of a very long and complex train of thought that I don't even remember, though the word was very pronounced, very "important". About an hour later, I came across itthe Ra material, where every session is ended with "Adonai". I'd been meaning to look it up, and felt Compelled to, but never got around to it. Today in church, the pastor defined adonai, as lord.

10/24/11

Daily tarot today was The Empress, and it struck me as odd. I read some of Book 5 of the Ra material over my breakfast shake, and it mentioned how a sentence was mysteriously added to the introduction to the first book, about Jesus' teachings originally involving reincarnation but having been removed by the Empress.

10/27/11

Had another Goodwill adventure today. First, while browsing CDs, I noticed that they had "Weathered" by Creed; while choosing my MP3s today for my workout, I Noticed the album in my collection, For No Particular Reason. Then, while browing


it about.

12/18/11

Some word synchronicity: "Mandelbrot"; was in ledger at lunch, then in the proof of "The Waiting" tonight. There were several other minor ones as well, though I can't remember what they were (only when I saw Mandelbrot did I really pay attention, since it's so uncommon).

12/19/11

This morning, on the way back from taking Roxanne to the airport, I thought, after a long chain of thoughts, of "as a sort of auspice or tarot", from "The Wedding Bystander". I can't remember the thoughts leading up to it, but it was very distinct. Well, when I got home and checked my email for the first time that day, I found a rejection for "The Wedding Bystander", another one of "those". As it happened, I ended up editing "The Weddingledger this morning (was a new ledger, and I had a choice between three, and felt Compelled to read this one).

12/22/11

I had the distinct thought of "anger rising" during breakfast, while thinking of my family situation, and then, in "Jack Cruz", "anger rising" turned up, not an hour later.

Word synchro: "cotter"; was in EoJC, then in ledger afterward, at lunch, less than an hour later. Also, "potlach", was in ledger at lunch, and I Noticed it, then in EoJC tonight (was "potluck" in the novel, but whatever).

12/23/11

Word synchro: "knight errant" and "bric-a-brac"; knight errant was in Jack Cruz last night, then in ledger this morning, then bric-a-brac was in ledger this morning (and I Noticed it), then Jack Cruz just afterward, not 20 minutes later.

And another word synchro,


a synchronicity with it, and sure enough, in the book's prologue, it had "Merle" in it. Then, while doing "Fifty", there was "Foster Grant's", which was in my ledger at lunch and I Noticed it.

12/26/11

Word synchro: "cried out"; was in ledger at breakfast, and I Noticed it, then it was in "Cloyed" not even an hour later.

More word synchro: "capitulated"; was in ledger at lunch, when it had been in "Cloyed" this morning (interestingly, I had edited it in, changing it from "capitulating" in a different frame, to "capitulated"; also, it was a change that definitely needed to be made); "senator", was in ledger today after being in the notes I wrote for "School" yesterday, including it being in the general, ambiguous sense; "hubris," from same; "gambit", whennoticed prior, is that most of the word synchros between the ledger and my stories seem to involve an edit, as if to make me notice it and cement it in my mind so I will make the connection. There are, however, just as many times where it's not an edit, but I just Notice it, or neither, where I just happen to see the word and remember it, and it turns up in an unlikely way. Hmmm.

Saw "assessing" several times today, in no distinct, intelligent format, but too many times not to get my attention. Hmm.

And another, "cash register tallies", in ledger this morning and then the tail end of "Dead End" tonight.

12/30/11

Word synchro: "glazier"; was in ledger yesterday (though it might have been this morning), and


for at least a while. "cruelties"; this one is neat. It was in the ledger this morning, and I Noticed it, of course, then it was in my story "The End of Owln's Malt" this afternoon, except the only reason I saw it was because it was published today, on Kaleidotrope's website, and I went to check it out because there were supposed to be illustrations (or so I thought; I might be confusing that story with another). Well, there were no illustrations, but when I scrolled to the story's bottom, I felt Compelled to read the last couple paragraphs, for no real reason, and "cruelties" was in it, I think the only time I've ever used it in a story (was in the precise wording and stuffwhich I don't think was the market, actually, but a pet place in the same complex). I started thinking about all the minutiae and such that had to result in that (this was a little over two hours before we left the house, and we both went several places before that), it was really, really, really unlikely (I had to wait a little longer at Goodwill because someone had to use different debit cards, and then wait for someone else in front of me; also, when I was pulling into Goodwill, I had to wait a little longer because of a weird traffic situation, people wanting to pull where I was pulling into, etc etc; a whole bunch of unlikely things happened, yet if not for them, I


psychic bleedthrough that occurs when a story of mine is being read. Sure enough, I got the rejection today, sent at 12:03.

Word synchro: "kowtow" and "discursive", both in ledger and then "A Dark matter". Then, later: "dark horse" and "teeth in his breath", both in "Storms" this morning and then ledger at lunch. Also, "myrtle," in ledger at lunch and "A Dark Matter" later, when I'd Noticed myrtle. And, similarly, "grid iron". Then, "curvet", in ledger this afternoon, then "Storms" tonight.

This one is neat. Earlier this year, while editing "Storms", I heard a storm-warning on the radio the very day I edited the part where Annie hears a storm-warning on the radio (cool because I was at the gym, listening to headphones at the time, and I heardwhen I don't think I've used this more than a couple times.

1/11/12

A cool one: saw "wimple" in the ledger this morning, and this was a hit right off the bat, because I went and bought some flax seed at Earthfare (randomly ...) and my cashier had a wimple on (and she wasn't even my cashier at first; I was in another line, and she emptied and called me over). Then, while editing "Other", it turned into a triple, when it was in there. Then, two word synchros: "incidental" (in ledger this morning, and I Noticed it, and then it was in "The Wheel of Darkness" this evening) and then "manicured finger", in "Other" this morning, and Noticed (it was another phrase that I stopped on and edited), and


radio, or at least I'm pretty sure that was the lyric, in "White Room" by Cream. I'll have to look that up.

Then, when I got in Charlotte, I had to find a place to pee, and was Compelled to stop at a Bojangles, though I usually don't like to use the bathroom in a place I won't be buying anything from. Well, when I went in I heard a song on the radio, and it turned out to be "Gypsy" by Fleetwood Mac, when I'd been hearing that song a lot lately, having just bought the album it's on, Mirage (I had, in fact, just heard the first of it that day, while at the gym, while blindly flipping through the songs). Not a big one, and certainlya possible coincidence, but worth noting anyway.

2/6/12

Lots of word synchro today, from between "Discipline," the book "Our Mother's House," and my thoughts. I didn't think much of them at first, the first five or six being relatively common and possibly coincidental, but then they started getting more specific and unlikely, as well as simply a lot of them, as happens it seems, and only then did I start taking note, specifically with "sheaf," which was in the story and the book, not the most uncommon word but the first I'd seen it for quite a while. Also, "pomegranite" again, when I saw it a few times yesterday, and "motes," in the story and the book, same for "magnificent."

Then, "motes" was in "The Moaning Sea" this evening, also, along


later, it turned up in my ledger. Also, "impassive," in "Everything's Connected" this morning (iirc), then in ledger at lunch, and then in "Koko" after lunch.

2/24/12

Word synchros: "cavorting" (was in ledger yesterday (or was it this morning ...?) and I Noticed it, and then in "Discipline" this morning), and then "gunshy," in ledger this morning and I Noticed it, then in "Discipline," less than an hour afterward. It bears mentioning that I had absolutely no idea what I was to edit this morning.

More word synchro: "aboutface" (in "The Abyss" last night, which I've felt Compelled to watch for the last month and just finally got around to it, when it was the first I'd heard it in months, and then it was in ledger this morning, less thanAlso, there was "precocioius," in "Discipline" this morning and then ledger at lunch.

2/25/12

Might be nothing, but this morning, I Just Happened to look at my bag of apples, and noticed George Washington's picture on it, which I found curious until I found that the apples came from Washington state. Then, later in the morning, I was watching a Rick Steve's Europe show about London, and it showed how in a cathedral, there was a picture of George Washington in the stained glass. It's notable since it was so unlikely that I would be watching this this morning (I slept badly and so slept late, which threw off my whole morning, and I ended up doing things weird and off schedule, culminating in my not just watching Rick Steve's


to a Smashing Pumpkins song while looking for information on how to change the turn signal on my motorcycle. On the instructions, it mentioned a grommet, and I wanted to make sure I knew what a grommet was, so I put it into Google image search. A grommet it is a ring, and the precise moment the images loaded up, the song said "ring."

3/2/12

Some really cool ones today. First, there were two (minor) ones at the motorcycle class: someone mentioning, randomly, Ed McMahon, when I'd seen several random references to him lately, as well as discussed him with Rebecca, and had an incredibly weird dream involving him. Then, "holler," when I'd Noticed this, very distinctly, in my ledger yesterday, and then the teacher of the motorcycle course usedagainst some rock, it was fine, though it easily could've broken. Where it happened was literally just down the road from where, a couple years ago, I pulled up on a guy who'd broken his ankle after dumping his motorcycle. Also, I'd been thinking of this incident recently, since I'd been passing his place on my bike.

Had a weird three-way thing with Purple Rain. First, in the morning, I had a stray thought about Prince riding a motorcycle in the Purple Rain moving, in relation to thoughts about my own motorcycle. Then, when selecting my music for the day's workout, I went through a whole bunch and couldn't find the Right album, until I happened upon the Purple Rain soundtrack, which felt very Right, in the way I've


book this evening. Notable since it's such an uncommon word.

4/7/12

Word synchro: "lifeline," in ledger this morning and I Noticed it, and then in "Jammed" while editing, about an hour later.

Some interesting ones over this morning and afternoon. First, I was asked to fill out a questionnaire for "Control," in which a male pregnancy fetish was mentioned; it stood out to me, pretty much a Notice, and then at lunch, I read a story about male pregnancy. Then, I edited "Jammed" this morning, in which the narrarator mentioned his confusing sexual signals, and I submitted it to an anthology called "Love Hurts"; as it turned out, when I went to my email to submit it, Rebecca had sent me an email, which culminated in saying that she did notones, even smaller than those obscure barrages that I've had a few days. Also, I've had a lot of deja vu the last couple days, very very distinct and vivid, yet short, and entirely indescribable. Merging/branching realities? Hmm. Strange that the synchros are seemingly stopping, and that I'm having the deja vu at the same time ...

5/6/12

It begins again, or it did last night (the 5th), rather. I was in bed, almost asleep, when I heard some cat noises outside, strange enough to get my attention, so I reluctantly got out of bed to investigate. As I did so, I noticed that the clock was 11:11 (didn't look at the block, but was rather Attracted to it). It bears noting that I'd heard the same sounds minutes earlier


whole synchro).

5/11/12

A barely notable one. At lunch, I read about "flood pants" in "The Virgin Suicides" and noted it in my ledger, being unfamiliar with the word. Then, later in the day, after cutting grass, I Noticed a teenager walking along the road, specifically his pants, which were neither shorts nor pants, ending at the shin. Well, tonight, I looked up "flood pants" and saw that they were pedal pushers -- very much like the boychild I saw.

This one was an 11:11 instance, not quite a synchronicity, but really cool. I was in bed, and had a few things that I felt like I should write down as notes, but figured I'd remember, so I didn't. Well, I resisted it for a while, but it was nagging, sowhich came to me in an unlikely way. Anyway, today I finally got that "yes" feeling to go ahead and order it. I had it bookmarked on Amazon, but felt I should look around elsewhere and shop prices. Well, I went to pureformulas.com, because they ship so fast, and they had it, and then I remembered I had a sort of coupon sheet they sent with my last order, with a 10% off code. Well, when I went and looked at it, I noticed there was a back to the sheet, and sure enough, there's a coupon for 15% off Seriphos. This sight has a gazillion supplements, and I don't think Seriphos is new or anything. And consider I felt so Compelled to try pureformulas.com and look at


a motorcycle there, and the scooter for some reason reminded me of it. Still, the thought was very clear: that's Bob's scooter. I went inside, and sure enough, there's Bob, and sure enough, it was his scooter. Hmm. Ruling out pure coincidence, I'd say this was more of an intuition than a synchronicity, but whatever.

6/23/12

Some cool ones today, after a week of pretty much nothing. First, while cutting grass this morning, I saw a doughnut box on the ground and though, arbitrarily, of how a character in the book I'm reading right now, "The Church of Dead Girls," wouldn't eat doughnuts, or give them out at the meetings he conducted. I have no idea why I thought this, but it was very distinct. Then, about an hour later,with Rebecca at a thrift store, and she had a thought synchro: "ashtray." Right as she'd picked up a little dish, thinking it could be used as an ashtray, a woman across the room said, quite loudly, "Ashtray." I watched her give pause, and then she explained it. Cool.

Then, a weird one. I had a new email when I got home, telling me that "Travis" was following my Goodreads reviews -- that name only, just "Travis," which I noticed, just because it was so strange. Then, less than an hour later, I got a call on my cellphone, a telemarketer (I think), asking for Travis.

7/30/12

Saw Rebecca's birthday was 9/25 today, and Noticed it, then, by total chance, checked on the release date for the new Warcraft expansion, and


to be exceedingly small, and reek of synchronicity. Also, that morning, I'd thought, randomly but distinctly, of how I'd like to get some more humor novels, preferably Tom Robbins; well, when Rebecca and I hit the thrift stores, I found a Tom Robbins novel in the Hebron colony one.

Also, while in Goodwill, I encountered two more playing cards, strewn loose on a shelf: the Ace and 3 of Clubs. Whether they were meant for me or not, like the last two, I don't know, but I have them. [Note: Ace purportedly symbolizes a new beginning, financial gain, or general success. The Three of Clubs seems to symbolize being envied for your success, perhaps going hand-in-hand with the success hinted at from the Ace of Clubs? Hmm.]

9/18/12

Word synchro: "adios."two separate occasions, several hundred miles apart, without prior knowledge of either's existence. Then, I Just Happened to read them back-to-back.

(Also, as implied, this is not my first such experience, nor is it the tenth.)

(Furthermore, it bears mentioning that, just hours before reading the part of Cosmic Trigger in which the Spectra-70 was mentioned, I had the thought of, I need a significant synchronicity, since I haven't blogged of one for so long. This, too, is not the first such time I've had such ask-and-ye-shall-receive.)

(And, more: In The New Alchemists, one chapter detailed how computers were, at the time, being groomed for speech recognition (the book was written in 1981). On the very same day I read this, literally hours apart, I received an old newspaper clipping from


family by leaving them without contact. Also, some other, random synchros. All of this could have been nothing, but I found it somewhat notable.

Also, tonight, I went to the bathroom, and had the random thought of, "Maybe that's why I'm making headway on my health, to prepare myself for the 12/21/12 thing." It seemed to come from nowhere, though it did definitely come from me. Immediately after I used the bathroom, I went back to reading the website I was looking at before hand, and further down, it had a link to another part of it, where it mentioned how "we need to prepare our bodies for the 12/21/12 merging with Galactic Center," or something to that effect -- too much like what I was just thinking, almostand cool.

11/23/12

Damn cool one today. After working out, at the Wendy's intersection, I got behind a card with "GETJESUS" on its license plate, and I Noticed it, as well as noticed it. From there, I went to both Gamestop and Bare Essentials, and then went to Harris Teeter, for Listerine. There, in the parking lot, right as I went to cross the street, I had to wait for a car, which I knew at once was the GETJESUS car, despite seeing it from its front instead of its back. Sure enough, it was. Some interesting things about this: after leaving Bare Essentials, I went the wrong way to Harris Teeter, via Blowing Rock Road, without even realizing it until later. Then, in the Harris Teeter parking lot, I


my mind, of Lenin's bust and distinctive bald head (not so much Lenin himself, just the bust). Well, just afterward, I went downstairs to get ready to go, and I felt Compelled to load U2's "Zooropa" album on my MP3 player. When I did so, the back of the CD case had a random picture of Lenin's bust, almost exactly as I'd pictured it just a half-hour earlier.

11/27/12

Maybe nothing, but in "11/22/63" today, it mentioned Paris, Texas, which I'd been introduced to on a movie poster lately, then made a joke about in response to one of Rebecca's emails a couple days ago, when I don't believe I've ever heard of it before in my life.

11/28/12

Maybe nothing, but I had an onslaught of twelves this afternoon. First, Icarrots in sunflower oil, instead of the shake I was going to, and the sunflower oil was Rapunzel brand. Tons of stuff like that, enough to make me take notice, like other times.

12/29/12

A possible repetition synchro today. This morning, in bed, I had the distinct though random thought of a story I'd written, where a needy father is poisoning his own daughter to satisfy his emotional needs. Then, at lunch, a couple hours later, it came up in the book I was reading at the time, "Sharper Objects," that that was what was happening in it, a needy mother poisoning her daughter to satisfy her own emotional needs. I couldn't write this off as subconscious fixation, since 1) the thought about the story I'd written came up so


felt Compelled to read other books, until today, when I felt Compelled, distinctly, to choose this one out of about the dozen I have queued up. It didn't take long for a synchronicity to ensue: I started reading it at lunch, and just when I started reading a line about a cat looking for food, my mom was talking about how one of our cats was looking for food, in that distinctly synchronistic fashion (the cat had come to the dining table). It bears mentioning that, when I sat down to eat lunch, I didn't immediately start reading the book, instead reading several articles my dad had given me to read; if I had started reading the book as soon as I sat down to eat, like Iwhen realizing that I have parasites again, I thought, distantly but distinctly, of how turpentine on sugar cubes is supposed to be an anti-parasitic, thinking this for the first time since I read about it about 5-6 months ago. Then, at lunch today, I read in "The Given Day" how people put turpentine on sugar cubes to cure various things. Also at lunch and while reading "The Given Day," I took a sip of tea and immediately after went back to reading. My eyes fell, randomly, to "teacup" as I did so -- not searching it out, but just falling directly to that, despite it being on the page opposite the one I was reading. It was a little more notable consider that it happened in that distinctly


receipt twice. Then, after lunch, I went to check what time it was, by turning on my truck's radio, and the time was 2:20. Easily a coincidence, and perhaps even then explainable as subconscious knowledge (though, I will say this: I was expecting it to be later than 2:20), but still, I thought I would note it because of how that particular 2.20 sequence kept popping up in my mind.

Then, another minor one this afternoon. I started reading 'Angels Don't Play This HAARP' today, and within the first few pages the book mentioned Arecibo, Puerto Rico, where the radio telescope is. The thing is, yesterday, Tim had called me down with a computer problem, which ended up being him trying to print out a map of Puerto Ricoone-ups previous such book-recurrence synchros: not only did I read these things close together in two totally separate, randomly purchased books read in as random an order, but the SAS book was one I didn't even know I had until, by complete dumb chance, I ended up led to my closet today (the gloves weren't in the closet, as it were).

Also, had a reading synchro tonight. While listening to a random Beck song, it said "missing" right as I read "missing" (when researching that Naipe Mate 11/11 Knight of Coins tarot card I found while cutting grass today).

4/17/13

Notable word synchro: "trinitrotoluene (TNT)." I read it in three separate, randomly read books within this last week. I can't remember what the first was (I want to say the HAARP


characters said, "Do you accept Visa?" I had just asked this exact phrase about 1.5 hours earlier, while buying the blower at Farmer's (interestingly, I knew they accepted Visa but it just sort of jumped out from me while I was there). Then, also when I went to pack up 'Cosmic Trigger' this morning, I Noticed the cover and its depiction of the Sirius formation, enough to make me think, distinctly, of Sirius (it figures prominently in that book). Then, also in 'Half Asleep' at lunch today, about 1.5 hours later, it mentioned Sirius (it featured in the whole part of the book I read today). (Also, interestingly, in 'Cosmic Trigger' Sirius was involved in a bunch of real-life recurrence synchronicities noted by the author.) The three recurrencesit in the next sequential (though randomly read) book, I had also Noticed "riverine" upon reading it in the SAS Handbook, very distinctly.

But these pale in comparison to the last. It builds on yesterday's synchros between 'Cosmic Trigger' and 'Half Asleep In Frog Pajamas.' Struck by those, I'd had the thought that 'Half Asleep' would, if things kept going this way, directly reference Robert Anton Wilson, 'Cosmic Trigger's' author -- and damned if it wasn't in there today. Note: there is nothing in 'Half Asleep' to suggest either the Sirius references or Robert Anton Wilson. I'd never heard of the book until I saw it in Goodwill nearly two months ago and bought it, nor did I read any of the blurbs on the first few pages or


things before they can grow. This in itself isn't very notable, except for two things: 1) I had actually turned off my truck, and therefore the radio, before this lyric came on. I only heard it because I had to turn it back on briefly (several seconds) in order to put up one of the (power) windows, and in that tiny little window, the lyric was playing on the radio. And, 2) because I had actually planned to be out with Tim later today, but I was able to pick him up earlier; if I hadn't have changed my plans like this, I wouldn't have heard the lyric. Besides that, it was mildly notable as a recurrence, but the background of it upgrades it a bit.

Then, almost aswere while listening to music and driving. First was hearing "I got nasty habits," coinciding perfectly with my thinking, in a totally unconnected chain of thought, about nasty mental habits of certain people. Then, when I got home and parked, I parked in one place, then figured I should move up to the next space, as to make it easier for my dad to park behind me when I got home. Immediately as I was thought this, the song said "a space in my parking lot."

6/18/13

some really got recurrences today. Both involved completely random, yet distinct, thoughts I had this morning, as has happened many times with this phenomenon. The first thought was how hard it is to program a VCR (or, rather how hard people used to


least, I'd never had any such thing happen in my life), 2) that my dad would bring this up in conversation at all (I hadn't mentioned my near-accident at all, ever; he mentioned this entirely on his own accord, with no way of knowing I'd almost been in that accident), and 3) because after my near-accident, I'd spent the rest of the day pondering how the person could have not seen me and been able to cut me off (without their being totally blind or unfit to drive). In regards to the latter point, it just so happened that my dad was able to provide some insight on why this might happen: because of a unique quality of the road on the other side of the intersection, whichcould foreseeably make someone cut off the person in the other lane (this based on his observation of several nearly identical accidents in the same spot, according to him). This last point is so notable because it fits the question-and-answer format of so many recurrences: I'd "questioned" why this would happen, then been "answered" by way of this complex string of "chance" events.

Also, a weird recurrence that may be nothing. Over the last few days, I've suspected that a B complex supplement I was taking was having negative effects, making me restless and such. So last night I decided to stop taking it. This morning, when doing my supplements, I had to remember how I'm to stop taking it today. Then, soon after, when I checked my email


This was reasonably notable, since I don't know when I'd last read about check kiting, and it was so near to the research last night and so entirely random that I would even be doing that research in the first place -- all of which fits the classic recurrence pattern perfectly. But also, there was a lot of random, minor synchro preceeding the check-kiting one, all involving the book and random things that have happened or I've thought of in the last day, enough to make me take notice.

11/3/13

Minor recurrence today: "nectar." It started this morning, when I encountered the first part of 'Other' which referenced the "nectar," a future beer substitute which gives alcohol's effect without stressing the liver and causing a hangover. Then, this evening, whilewhen I was in intense pain and I found myself opening my jaw wide in that exact same way and noting, distinctly, that exact same effect. Neat.

11/19/13

Minor recurrence: Hydrox cookies. I'd never been aware of these cookies in my life until I read that Wacky Laws book a few days ago, in which it mentioned a lawsuit between the makers of the these cookies and with Pillsbury, over their mascots. Then today, in the 'Everything Will Be Great' book, it too mentioned Hydrox cookies. Not hugely notable, but notable because of how relatively close together these two mentions, and because of their fitting the usual recurrence pattern, etc.

11/21/13

Classic book synchro, two words: "ficus tree" and "kangaroo court." I read both of these in two recent books, for the


twice within the course of hours (would be more notable if this author is obscure and not well-known, but I don't know how well-known he is), and also because of the classic factor that I didn't plan on going to Goodwill today, it being just a spur-of-the-moment thing. There's also the randomness and obscurity of my Just Happening to do that Kobo search today so that I could see the initial reference (I've searched for my pseudonym on Kobo.com before and it has not turned up anything from Garrison Keillor).

12/14/13

A cool word synchro today: "indented," as an adjective. I encountered this while editing "Chinked" this morning, and it stood out because it was somewhat awkward as an adjective, not really functioning to describe the object in question; likeword, "anti-venin," I did find somewhat notable, because I'd just learned this a few days ago when reading that first-aid book, the second sequential book before the interpreter's book, so it was notable timing-wise, but also because I could have had no way of knowing that the interpreter's book (which I thought to regard language) would ever mention something like anti-venin.

12/22/13

Some pretty cool ones today. First, a weird, three-way synchro involving the archetype of "putting a car's bucket seat all the way back." It started Friday, when I listened to that other Porno For Pyro's album, in which one of the song's lyrics mentioned "putting the bucket seat all the way back," which I Noticed distinctly, in the usual way. Then, it's second recurrence came yesterday, when I


with the timing, the Noticing, and their coinciding together, I think it's worth an entry.

12/28/13

Cool, classic synchronicity at lunch today: my dad saying "hot," in an unrelated conversation, precisely as I read "hot" in a book, in that distinctly synchronistic way I've come to identify. Also, the same thing happened with "Raindrops fell" (might not have been the exact words, I can't remember) this evening, when I read that precisely when the first few drops of rain fell. Neat.

Also, a mild-but-notable recurrence tonight. While waiting for dinner to cook, I read a AAA travel magazine that came in the mail today, in which it mentioned how Williamsburg is a tourist destination, which I knew but hadn't seen advertised/mentioned in maybe years. Then, less than an hour later, Inothing.

But then, an extremely cool one. While reading 'The Postman' this evening, I tried, experimentally, to do breathing exercises while simultaneously reading, which was a success. I did this for close to an hour while reading, breathing heavily and deeply and intentionally, and at that point, still breathing like this, my mind spun off onto a chain of thoughts related to the breathing, which ended on how it seemed that this sort of breathing was transforming me and potentially making me a kind of "superman" (because the increased oxygenation is killing off my viral infection, or so I hope). Well, the first synchronicity occurred as I reached a part of the book where one of the characters, out of the blue, started breathing deeply and intentionally -- just


I'd Noticed.

Also, a recurrence that might be nothing. Today I started, after months of putting it off, yoga stretches, and about an hour later I started a new book, 'Hold the Enlightenment,' in which the very first story was about a man doing yoga for the first time. I had no idea what the book was about before I chose it to read (randomly, from a pool of about 6 other books), after having this book, also, for months after buying it.

And one I remembered today, though it actually happened a couple days ago. Outside Earthfare, I found a debit card on the sidewalk. I remember reading the first name as "Brittany," but I can't remember the rest. The name is significant because about 1.5 years ago Iheard in a Pixies song and popped up in my mind the same way, making me note it. Sure enough, I read both of those words in the 'Hold the Enlightenment' book. It bears mentioning that they were not in the same context as those I'd thought of them (one was in reference to the actual Putumayo place in Colombia, the other was the name of a river, I think), though they were in fact the same words. The timing was also longer this time, with 2-3 days between the original thoughts and my reading them in the book -- still short enough to be notable, but much longer than others like this.

2/14/14

A couple thought/reading synchros today. First, at the gym, the song I was listening to said


to deal with the phytic acid in nuts and seeds, and 2) search out a suitable food without phytic acid. As it were, my search for the first solution was already known: sprouting seeds, which removes phytic acid, which I'd Just Happened to read about for the first time not a week ago in that randomly read GAPS Diet book. So there's the first puzzle piece falling into place, suspiciously coincidental. Additionally, the other way to deal with phytic acid is an enzyme, phytase, so I went looking for a supplement with this in it, only to turn up empty-handed, the one time I've been unable to find a suitable supplement with what I needed in it -- except, as it turns out, the two enzymes supplements I'dfor the cabbage; this lent a little notability, since without being overcharged (like trying to find just the right cabbage), I wouldn't have had that $7.37 total. Even then, could've been chance, but I found it notable. But then, lending just enough notability to tip my scales and qualify for a log entry, when I got into the truck after going back in and getting the partial refund for my overcharged cabbage, the clock read exactly 3:37, a variation of 737, etc. I almost didn't go back in and get my ~$1.00 refund on the overcharged cabbage, but I felt Compelled, and had I not, I would've gotten in a trouble a couple minutes before 3:37. Between all these little, "chance" elements, I found this incident notable enough


to contain the story behind the word "serendipity." Then, similarly, there was mention of the Potomac river in the 'Professor and the Madman' book today, which is the fourth book in a row I've read that mentioned it, all of these read randomly, etc. Also, "brevet" was in the 'Professor' book today, which is the third time recently I've read of this one within the last week (reminds me of the first "brevet" synchro ...). The last isn't too notable, but the first is very much so, with the second just about as notable.

5/18/14

Funny, classic synchronicity today. I was reading the 'Professor and the Madman' book, when my prostate suddenly became inflamed, as has been happening lately. I thought very distinctly, "prostate, wonder what's wrong with it," andcame about an hour later, when I went to the library. I went in as usual, without any idea of what kind of book to check out, and I eventually found two to my liking. I started to leave at that point, but then on the way out, a book jumped out at me from the shelf, and I felt Compelled to look it over despite my already having two books (and having bought three other books at Goodwill, no less). The book was called 'Found,' and though I looked it over and flipped through it and didn't really have an idea of what it was about (it was a non-traditional book), I felt Compelled to check it out, so I did. Likewise, I felt Compelled to start


"shorebreak." Reasonably notable, especially given its fitting the q-and-a format, but possibly just coincidence.

6/14/14

A couple minor word synchros today. The first was "Inuit," which I read about 3 days ago in the 'Travel Writing' book, for either the first time ever or the first time in a while. Then, today, my mom was asking for my help with a crossword puzzle, and "Inuit" ended up being one of the words. Not sure how notable this is -- how common a word is "Inuit"? If rare, I would say it's reasonably notable, even though the 3-day time gap isn't hugely short. Then, second: "Sai Baba." Yesterday, I had the random but vague though of this person, and I couldn't remember his name. Then, today, I read it in thesaid I should get a wife, this recurring in that perfectly synchronistic way. It bears mentioning that the suggestion that I get a wife came wholly random; the person on the phone, being mentally ill, often says random things in the middle of conversation, and this was one of them (his message for me involved his getting a new computer, with the wife message spliced in the middle of it, right when I Just Happened to read the "wife" of "midwife" ...).

7/3/14

Really cool one today -- not really a recurrence, more a classic, literal synchronicity. Blog post:

"7/3/14 - A Lesson in Expectation (Disguised as a Lesson in Intuition)

Today, I received a lesson in expectation, wrapped in a lesson in intuition. Before I go into it, however, I must


opened and ready, and I'd never once been Compelled wrongly, so it was only natural to reason that some fashion of accident lay in my immediate future. After all, what else could it have been? First aid kit + truck + holiday-weekend drivers = accident. I didn't make assumptions of doom about this inevitable accident, at least; I'll give myself that. I stayed calm and cool-headed, but just went on alert for an accident of some kind, whatever that might entail. A good student of intuition, I was sure a new lesson was afoot, to further bolster my confidence in the Compellings by way of my being outfitted with the unlikely first aid kit.

That is to say, I was expecting an accident and its attendant exercise in intuition,around to editing the rough draft of this essay, after meaning to do it for days. Then, today at lunch, I started reading a book on hoaxes, which started with a one-page introduction beginning with a line nearly identical to that of my essay, except it cited "the Age of Information." That was notable enough, but the introduction then went on to talk about how there is an abundance of bad and flawed information in today's information explosion -- which was precisely the thrust of my essay, in almost the exact same wording like the intro line. I'd checked out the hoax book from the library totally randomly, several days ago. Highly notable, not just from the timing but also the distinct, multi-layered, reasonably complex underlying theme of


out any indicator of what she was going to say (there was no way this was subconsciously cued or something, since I didn't even see this woman, she being at my back, and she having said nothing about an ATM or even money beforehand, or so much as anything at all). Notable, but then, about 10 minutes later, one that was just as notable: right as I reached for the door to Goodwill and read "Gift cards available," someone (again invisible at my back) said something about "gift cards," their speaking the words coinciding so perfectly with my seeing the writing on the door, it was eerie even for me. Also, I don't think they were even close enough to see the door, which upgrades the notability somewhatI went to get a drink of water from a cup I keep at a specific spot on my desk, specifically so I can find it in the dark, which I always do -- but today I couldn't. I patted around for a bit, coming up empty somehow, all while "Cowbows from Hell" was playing in my head. Then, unable to find the cup, I turned on my lamp briefly so I could see -- right when the song in my head got to the "out of the darkness and into the light" lyric. I found this highly notable, in a way someone else couldn't really appreciate. First, there was my thinking of the song, which I hadn't thought of in perhaps years and had no logical reason


the 'Terror of Living' book, I read of an AR-15 rifle, the first I'd ever heard of it that I can remember; and then this evening, while at a grocery store (that I had absolutely no plans of stopping at, only doing so because I forgot something at the store I'd stopped at on the way home), I by chance encountered an "AR-15" magazine in its magazine rack (a gun magazine, the AR-15 presumably in reference to the very rifle I'd just learned existed hours earlier). Etc, etc, a whole bunch of those. Also, tons of 37/137's today, probably a couple dozen, and almost all of them turning in places I'd never expect.

1/2/15

Another day of the near-onslaught of minor yet notable synchros of various types and frequencies, prettyhotel room's refrigerator. Then, later on while reading, I came across a mention of how, in Turkey's turkish baths, it's common to sit afterward "wrapped in towels and drinking a yoghurt drink" -- when that was precisely what I was doing, for the most part, for I had, just on the way to the hotel, randomly stopped at Goodwill and bought a kimono robe that I instantly Noticed and just had to buy, which was 100% cotton, very much like being "wrapped in a towel" when wearing it, and then, also for the first time, I'd eaten that yogurt I'd bought (hours before reading the Turkish bath passage), while in my new cotton kimono -- except, with the yogurt being all I had to eat, and finding it


church. Just wow. Two of the more-coherent examples: I was on my way to the mall get a foot massage, when I thought of how long the drive was and how short on time I was and how I wished there was a place nearer, precisely when I passed a sign for "Sunrise Massage," the building of which specifically said "Foot Reflexology Massage" (when, ironically, they offered the usual full-body massage to -- why put only the foot part on their sign? because it was what I would be looking for at that precise moment in time?). Again, just wow. Then, to a lesser extent but still rather notable, I was Compelled to visit this boutique coffee/tea shop after receiving my wonderful foot massage (which Just Happened toafter learning of these things for the first time 1-2 days ago, etc.

2/26/15

A damn funny one this morning. When I went to sign up online for the web account on my Cricket phone, they sent me a temporary password to the phone, with the message "Check your phone" the last thing I read on the page where you put in the temporary password. At that very instant, my phone rang -- but it was my *other* cell phone, the old one, not the new one that would've been receiving the text with the temporary password. And to top it all off, the call on the old one was just a random telemarketer. Damn notable, and damn funny.

Had some more onslaught today, toward evening, seeming to coincide with my


being at the Indian restaurant and reading "Chai!" in the 'Magic Bus' book precisely as a nearby waitress called "Chai!" into the kitchen (both of these in the same context of the tea, and no, the waitress was across the room, unable to so much as see my book even if she wasn't busy tending to customers, nor I with any way of anticipating her call for chai, nor any way of the book's author inserting that word at that precise spot on the page/paragraph -- etc etc etc, it was a damn synchronicity!!!!!); and then, just before bed, clicking on a Dictionary.com "word of the Day" email for "chronometer," and in the split second hearing (Noticing, distinctly in that special way) my watch ticking in the night-silentReiki from Joy I noticed her usual odor, and today had the distinct thought of, "I wonder what that is?" Then, less than a half-hour after the session, I went and got a coffee at the place right nearby CPATB, in which I put cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla bean (which, it should be mentioned, I for some reason Noticed this precise combination for no obvious reason, enough to consciously commit it to memory in a quite pronounced way). And then, all through drinking the coffee, I thought I kept smelling Joy's characteristic odor, except I eventually realized I was tasting it, in the coffee. Apparently it's the vanilla bean (or maybe the unique combination of those four spices), perhaps because she frequents the same coffee shop and


book, when I saw it on the shelf. Then today while at the store, my attention was drawn to a note sitting on the ground, with "'There Is A River' book, Edgar Cayce" written on it. Could certainly be coincidence, given the time gap; yet, relatively speaking, seeing it twice within ~2 weeks after never seeing it before isn't too unnotable. Fits the pattern, too.

4/8/15

Cool radio synchro today. I was sitting in the truck and, finding it too hot with the windows closed, I turned the key to power and started the windows down -- precisely when, on the radio (turned on by the key), the lyric "boiling heat, summer sweat" sang out. Not only was I putting down the windows due to the heat, but I wasin that tiny little window of time, the CD time readout on the radio clicked to 3:37 exactly, flashing just as I saw it out of the corner of my eye before I turned the ignition off, with that perfect, impossible-to-orchestrate timing. Then, even more notable, was a sort of double-whammy one soon after, when I went to return the cocoa supplement at Bay Naturals. First, when the cashier asked for my receipt to process the return, he reached out to get it with the arm he had his watch on, thus shoving the watch right into my field of view, and of course it read "3:17" in a digital readout. But then, a few seconds later after he'd processed the return, he read to me the total


art theft during WWII), it mentioned that same castle and the same man, the first I'd ever heard of them, perfectly patternistic, etc

*A sort of vague-thought synchro/recurrence combo: dark hands. On the way to Modern Cleansing this morning, I'd had one of those vague-but-distinct thoughts, about how my hands were nice and dark, being recently tanned after this last week of great sun, and then, on the very first page in the 'Lost in China' book I read today at lunch a few hours later, the author mentioned how his hands were dark (and how he liked them, like I liked mine, adding another layer of precision). This one seems to be an emerging pattern, a subset of the book synchro, where something will recur on the verywas indeed in a capsule (it bears mentioning that I almost always *empty* the capsule and take the enzymes in water, rather than taking the whole capsule, but today I actually had the capsule to take, because I was eating out and didn't have an extra cup of water to put it in).

And then I had yet another encounter with some random South Carolinian who was familiar with my little NC hometown, with my encountering them in the most odd and random way \-- 10th? 11th person now (after Susan at CPATB yesterday evening, revealing this after I'd known her for how many weeks now)?

Then, a similarly complex number synchro just minutes after. It started with a flurry of 221's (this specficially, not 121 or 1212, 1221, etc),


-- precisely as I read "doubling effect" in the book, which "doubled" the "doubling" of before (echo, echo, echo ...). Damn cool, damn cool.

5/3/15

So many today, impossible to list them all. Lots of reading/thought synchros, mostly one-word ones and all pretty notable. One standout was "coffee": over the course of heading to Angelino's, then reading 'Ghost Story' both before, during, and after the meal, I had approximately four or five instances of reading "coffee" every time I happened to be thinking of coffee (can't remember if they were all traceable to distinct trains of thought, but it wouldn't have surprised me ...). Then, on the way to Second Cup afterward, I was thinking of coffee again when, with that precisely synchronistic timing, a sign for coffee emerged fromparked in a different parking space, at any other side of the building, I wouldn't have been walking to where they passed at). Another case of mind-boggling logistics, as to evidence that seemingly "timelessness" nature of reality.

And, once again, another random person referring me to the Baba center: now my acupuncturist up here (and again with no prompting on my part, the center mentioned entirely randomly and offhand). Haha.

5/20/15

Cool thought synchro, early this morning (when synchronicities never seem to happen, now that I think about it). Right as I took up my cup of breakfast gruel and noticed that I hadn't quite mixed up part of it, leaving a white powder that I thought was Stevia, my email loaded and flashed the subject line "Your order for Stevia


Still, pretty notable anyway, from the "one" archetype and also the precise, perfectly synchronistic timing. Last, while reading before bed, I read "airing out my head," precisely as a long chain of thought concluded with my thinking about how I was actively silencing my mind. Here, my literal thought was entirely different than the words in the book (being something along the lines of "silencing my mind"), yet the underlying archetype was perfectly precise, with my mind-silencing being so that I could "air out" the bad programming/loops in my head. Heh.

5/26/15

Pretty cool one today, another of those that ring more as a classic ESP-type than a synchronistic event. I called Cheryl for an appointment today, my first since returning to the beach, and when she called me back,appointment with her).

Also, a minor reading synchro at lunch: right when I read "channel" in the Hidden Europe book, I was thinking "channel." Not such a biggie (and also, my thought of "channel" was in a different context to that used in the book), but the timing was close enough that I had to take note.

5/28/15

My God, so much today, where to begin. First: numbers like crazy, from everywhere again, even moreso than past number onslaughts, mainly 137/37/73 and 53/357, etc. Had to be several dozen, and almost always in ways that couldn't easily be attributed to change. Standouts: having to look over my shoulder in a weird, unlikely way to back up the car, which forced me to see a "7771" and a "730" side by side


just seeing the word "synchronicity" on the same page was pretty notable, I thought (and ironic).

6/18/15

A cool sort of three-way thought/recurrence incident this afternoon at the pawn shop. I felt Compelled to go there in the first place, despite needing nothing and actually having an appiontment to meet someone shortly, and then as Compelled to look at their movies, despite explicitly not wanting to watch any movies in my current condition. While I was doing so, I came across 'Stargate,' which in turn made me think of 'The Fifth Element' -- and then, the very next movie I saw, on the next shelf, was 'The Fifth Element.' I would write this off to subconscious suggestion by way of my peripheral vision (or just plain chance), except that 1)notice an escalating trend of encountering "Z" somehow, as has been going on for months now but has just now become conspicuous and coherent enough to really be notable. For instance, I felt absolutely Compelled to eat out in front of Second Cup today, despite it being well over 100 degrees and there being a loud sign-hanging bucket truck just feet away -- and, while out there, sure enough, a random man walking by stopped, said hello, and preceded to enter into conversation with me. As it turned out, his name was "Z," short for a longer, harder to pronounce name.

6/27/15

Had a blatant radio synchro right off the bat when leaving this morning, when the CD I had on said "311" precisely as I saw a license plate


relatively uncommon mention, etc (and, of course, the first I'd heard of it outside that dream in months? years?). The tuna salad, on the other hand, isn't too notable in itself, but is in the context of the other three hits. [Note: the next morning, of 7/30, went into the grocery store and encountered both menudo and tuna salad -- perhaps by chance, perhaps not ...]

Then, this afternoon, in a parking lot while walking to the RV, a blatant thought/event synchro. I'd had this long train of thought triggered by seeing my RV as I approached it, thinking of how big it was and that I could throw that weight around on the road as a "fuck-you" factor. It wasn't maybe two seconds later I heard a voiceafternoon at lunch. The whole time I was there about, there was a loud truck idling nearby as delivery men unloaded it. Then, precisely as it at last pulled off down the parking lot and I glanced up, watching it go, the very next line in the 'Skinwalker' book read "watched the vehicle go slowly down the driveway," which is precisely what the truck was doing, driving slowly, since it was so big, down the parking lot driveway. Then, a few minutes later, another of those "independent conversation" synchros, where I had a big long chain of thought ending in "three days" (again, traceable, to my thinking about how long I tend to be able to boonedock in the RV without needing to go out for immediate supplies,


almost of identical make, model, and year? and all white. So many I lost count. Really, just a crazy number of these vans, all during my ride down to Hot Springs and all in different places. Also, a classic thought/radio synchro: I had a long, complicated, random train of thought that ended with me thinking of paying a mortgage, literally visualizing myself handing over money for a mortgage payment, precisely as the song on the CD player sang out "I got bills to pay," in that perfectly synchronistic fashion, etc.

8/10/15

Back to having just a great big bunch of subtle ones throughout the day, without any standouts (beyond several conspicuous 37s/1137s, such as Just Happening to look at one of the few cars parked along Hot Springs' main streetfew days. Most notably, had two more of those onslaughts of a single number in a short period of time, both of them 37/73s and while driving down the road, mostly license plates. It first happened down King Street in Boone, maybe 6-7 of them within the space of seconds, and all of them highly conspicuous and in ways that couldn't have been subconscious suggestion/seeking-out, etc, such as cars pulling out in front of me, passing signs, clock-ticks \-- the usual, but so many altogether. And then, at the very end of this string, I pulled up to the gas pump to get gas, again feeling Compelled to get that one particular from a choice of several, and the previous pumper's total was $37 and some change, haha.


her tractor. I asked her if hydraulic fluid is simply referred to as "tractor fluid," and she said she thought it was. So, not a definite hit, but potentially so (and probably so ...).

8/26/15

A preponderance of individual standouts today, with less subtle ones, etc. First, this morning, had a shockingly blatant thought/radio synchro: "fluorescent lights," sounding in Walmart's overhead radio precisely as I finished a long chain of thought that ended in fluorescent lights (and, I'd never heard that song before). Next, "humdrum town" on the RV's CD player, coinciding perfectly with my seeing the city limits sign of a small town which, with the first sight of it being a rundown-looking trailer park, struck me as every bit "humdrum." Then, this evening after having colonic, a readingand the rental car and the ride into DC. Wow. Just wow wow wow, even after everything in this last year or so.

Lots of subtle "normal" synchros too, along with another of those "themes" for the day, now really conspicuous reading/though/event synchros, probably a dozen or so altogether. Some standouts were reading "key-tapping" precisely as one of the airport staff at my back started typing loudly on a keyboard (and, of course, this was at my back, where I couldn't possibly have forseen it coming, and the timing was perfectly synchronistic, etc). And then, just minutes later, reading "his amplified voice poured from down the hall" or something to that effect, in regards to someone speaking over a police radio -- precisely as just that happened, again from


the synchro-wave, for right after I thought it, the book went into a passage that ended in mentioning how surreal the character's world felt. Haha, really just hahaha. Whole day was like this, more or less. An utter wonderland, of dreamlike proportions.

9/29/15

Whirlwind continuing, not quite as prominently as yesterday but close (number-repeats have fallen off especially, though still present, back their only constant background murmur rather than a blaring scream). Another theme: one-word event/thought/reading synchros, though of a somewhat different "flavor" than yesterday, as seems to happen. For instance, having a big long chain of thought end in having an idea to sell my car cheap to a mechanic under the idea that he fix it himself and resell it, precisely as a sign reading "re-sale" came intoColumbine book I read immediately before this one, when it was recounted how the two teenage boys broke into a parked van, and then, second, when the vandwelling book mentioned specifically how cut watermelon tends to go bad quickly, when I'd like precisely that a couple days ago when I went to serve that which was left in the vacation property's refrigerator and found it bad (and, coincidentally, after I was just thinking of the bad watermelon/how fast it goes earlier today, when I went to empty said trash).

10/31/15

More of an uptick today, now graduating just into that realm of the surreal, though still without many standout/coherent incidents, mostly just one-word thought/reading synchros and stuff too subtle/personal to explain. Did have a cool "ask and ye shall receive"-type


every way, from back when I used to write fiction regularly (coinciding on the first I've written in that vein in many months, oddly). Also, had many, many personal parallels between the book and other external events, all of them too vague to convey.

The day's most prominent standout, however, was another vague-thought recurrence almost exactly like the "singing His praises" from last Sunday, in the same vein even. This morning, I was struck with a sudden thought of "opening the Seventh Seal," as illogically and sourcelessly and mysteriously as that last one (and also as strongly and attention-grabbing), which, besides following the pattern, was the first I'd thought about this for at least a few months, if not much longer. Then, likewise, it was mentioned in the 'Waco'an objective cause, that is that my left hand was fatigued, etc. Pretty notable as well.

Also, another of those "barrages" of 37s on license plates, this time after I left the mall and walked through the big parking lot to my car. One after another, almost every license plate I passed had a 37 in it, if not 7103/1137, often conspicuously. I'd noticed it off the bat, but then after getting in my car, I found that even the one directly across from me was a 1307 or some such. And then, as I sat writing the note about this, I checked my rearview mirror to see who was around, and smack dab in the middle of it was a license plate from a few rows down, this


again, though there had been many instances early to serve as evidence that Guardiola and the players are still able to take all these odds and ends and craft the odd masterpiece out of it. Think about this: Man City started the Spurs match with three full backs on the pitch, four attacking midfield/winger-types, a striker, and an old and immobile midfielder tasked with protecting the defense, one who for years has been completely uninterested in any kind of defensive work, and ran one of the best, most physically dominant Premier League teams off the pitch.

Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva starred, as they have all season, when thrust into roles as the advanced two midfielders ahead of Yaya Touré. Sané and Raheem Sterling stayed high and wideEarly release for radical preacher

A radical preacher who was jailed for inciting terrorism has been freed early from prison.

Abu Izzadeen had his sentence reduced by a year by the Court of Appeal and walked free because of the amount of time he had already served.

The 34-year-old gained notoriety when he heckled former home secretary John Reid at a public meeting.

Four other extremists jailed at the same time also had their sentences cut at a hearing last week.

Douglas Murray, director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, said the men were a danger to society.

He said: "Abu Izzadeen and his organisation publicly call for attacks against those whom they see as enemies of Islam.

"Their ideology not only glorifies violent jihad but teaches their followers that taking part in suicide bombings


US, Chinese unease as Putin seeks India arms deals

NEW DELHI - Russian President Vladimir Putin headed for India on Thursday looking to tie up billions of dollars in arms deals with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, likely irking the US, China and Pakistan in one fell swoop.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is looking to seal a $5-bn deal to sell the S-400 air defence system to India

The Kremlin said before the two-day visit by Putin and top Russian ministers that the "key feature" would be the signing of a $5-billion deal for the S-400 air defence system, despite the risk of US sanctions against countries buying Russian defence kit.

On the eve of Putin's arrival later Thursday, the United States poured cold water on India's efforts to obtain a waiver toavoid sanctions under legislation called Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

Upgrades in arms systems "including the S-400 air and missile defense system" would be a particular focus for CAATSA, a US State Department spokesperson was quoted as saying by India's PTI news agency.

Last month Washington slapped financial sanctions on the Chinese military for buying Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets -- and the S-400.

However, the US is in a difficult position when it comes to India. It wants to bolster ties with New Delhi to counter China's growing assertiveness, something that has also rattled India.

Washington and New Delhi announced plans last month for joint military drills in 2019, and agreed on the exchange of sensitive military information. The US is now India's second biggest arms supplier.

But Russia remains


36 Rafale fighter jets purchased from France -- a 2016 deal mired in political controversy -- represent a "booster dose" for the country.

Last year India and China had a military standoff over a Himalayan plateau claimed by Beijing and Bhutan, a close ally of India. China has also perturbed India by loaning vast amounts of money to countries such as Sri Lanka where it has long held sway.

- Boldly go -

Putin, 65, and Modi, 68, are also set to discuss a possible second Russian-built nuclear power plant. Moscow is currently expanding India's biggest nuclear power plant in Kudankulam.

Also on the agenda is Russian training for Indian astronauts as New Delhi aims to launch its first crewed space mission in 2022.

Rakesh Sharma, the only Indian to travel in space,did so on a Soviet spacecraft in 1984.

But military kit is the main focus.

India is the world's biggest arms importer and is undergoing a $100-billion upgrade of its ageing hardware, much of it of Soviet vintage including MiG jets that have frequently crashed in the Indian countryside.

Russia and India have had warm ties since Stalin died in 1953.

But annual Russia-India trade has slipped below $10 billion since 2014, as Modi cultivated closer diplomatic and economic ties with Washington, while Russia has courted Pakistan and China.

Ties received a boost last year when Modi and Putin held a fruitful annual bilateral summit, followed by meetings in Astana and at the G20 in Germany. They also met in Sochi this year.

On the strategic front, Russia helped India become a full member


of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation this year and has backed New Delhi's long-held demand for a permanent UN Security Council seat.

Moscow is also pushing for India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group of countries controlling access to nuclear technology.

Afghanistan though has been a sticking point, experts say, where Moscow wants to engage Taliban in the peace process -- a prospect unacceptable to India.A square blanket of pearlescent white balloons is held floating in the rock pool.

Although contained within the form of an implied square, individual balloons respond physically to the moment in a manner that is both immediate and unique.

The content of each balloon is the exhaled evidence of my breathing, an action carried out at the very site, on the very day. The Air is taken in with focus, held, then trapped - temporarily - into individual elastic prisons.

A challenging walk was undertaken a month earlier from McMasters Beach to Avoca, designed by the organisers to precipitate a woven awareness of the rich natural offerings of the region, as well as the spiritual and practical understandings of the traditional owners of the land. During the walk I became acutely


On many weekends in the early 1950s, this was Dad’s early wake-up call to me. Unless there was a ballgame or planned fishing trip with schoolmates, this was a time for the three of us—Dad, me, and his Speed Graphic large format press camera—to head out for a day of taking photos around what was then the still-growing city of Dallas.

Connell Miller Sr.

Connell Miller Sr. wasn’t working for a newspaper or magazine, and he rarely sold an image for publication. He was a businessman—an executive vice president of his family’s Texas Textile Mills and, very briefly, owner of the city’s first professional football franchise, the original Dallas Texans. His passion for photography was more that of a true artist. He went out on those weekends to find ayour mom goodbye, and hop in the car!”

There was a third piece of equipment that we would also occasionally put to use for help in our quest: an early car telephone, courtesy of the folks at Ma Bell Laboratories. Mounted on the transmission tunnel, it featured a black, corded handset the same size as that of a home phone, but with a turn-to-talk, let-go-to-listen switch. Turning the spring-loaded switch would summon an operator who would then take the desired number and dial it for us.

Dad’s interest in and dedication to photography began shortly after he graduated from high school. Aboard a tramp steamer bound for Europe, he did some work with the crew during the journey, earning enough extra money to buy a nice, new 35 mm camera


in Germany. While there, he attended the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, bringing home a large number of unprocessed rolls of film. Talking my grandparents into letting him set up a small darkroom in their Swiss Avenue home, he soon became proficient in the developing and printing process.

Connell Miller Sr.

He had adopted his trademark Speed Graphic camera by 1939, preferring the very sharp enlargements the 4×5 negatives would give him over those images taken on small 35 mm film. While also photographing whatever he found of interest around town, he was able to pay for his film and darkroom supplies by taking before and after pics for several body shops around Dallas, as well as shooting fraternity and sorority events at SMU, where he was a student. Heput school and his photography temporarily on hold in 1942 to join the Navy as a lieutenant (junior grade), dodging Japanese submarines in the South Pacific aboard the USS Crosby. After leaving the service, in 1945, he finished his degree while working in his father’s company, which manufactured most of the duffel bags for the servicemen and women in World War ll.

Not long after, he outfitted his car with his first radio that had police frequencies, standard issue for many street photographers in most big cities where they were legal. It was a boon to be able to quickly get to the scene of a wreck, shooting, robbery, fire, disturbance, riot, or anything else he thought might be interesting. That first radio was even larger than the later


one I had to battle for legroom in the Cadillac.

Doak Walker, No. 37, at an SMU scrimmage; At Fair Parl there was once a dirt track.

In 1952, Dad had less time to devote to his photography as he and his younger brother, Giles, brought professional football to Texas by buying the New York Yanks and renaming them the Dallas Texans. College football was huge at the time, with SMU and the other Southwest Conference teams packing more than 60,000 fans into the Cotton Bowl on any given Saturday. We were soon to find out, though, that the pro side of the sport was not of much interest to the denizens of North Texas. The team lasted one season before moving to Baltimore under new ownership. Our failed experimentremains in the record book as the last team to go bankrupt in the NFL. (The name was resurrected eight years later by Lamar Hunt and the AFL.)

Connell Miller Sr.

“Well,” as Giles later said, “it seemed like the thing to do at the time.”

Dad died in a car accident at Walnut Hill Lane and Central Expressway on Thanksgiving Day 1954. He was only 36. He accomplished a lot in the short time he had. He was a member of the Citizen’s Traffic Commission, a Mason and a Shriner, and longtime member and past president of the Bonehead Club. He was a very detailed amateur architect who drew the initial plans for our home in Greenway Parks and also Texas Textile’s headquarters on Bryan Street, built in 1953. He


was a cartoonist and a musician. He recorded a Dixieland band made up of SMU students called the Cellblock Seven, which led to the band getting an actual recording contract.

He outfitted his car with a radio that had police frequencies. It was a boon to be able to quickly get to the scene of a wreck, shooting, robbery, fire, disturbance, or anything else he thought might be interesting.

Even with his interests and abilities in so many different areas, I firmly believe he was happiest with a camera in his hand. He would have been successful solely shooting weddings, sports, or even pets, but street photography was his passion and his domain was Dallas, the city and its people with their activities in a simpler, less hurried time. FathersLudacris Inducted Into GA Music Hall of Fame

Trailblazing Atlanta rap star Ludacris added another precedent to his resume, as he was honored this past Saturday (September 20) as the first Hip-Hop artist inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. The ceremony featured Ludacris being honored alongside legends of the rock and R&B world in Widespread Panic and Keith Sweat.

Born Chris Bridges, Ludacris initially got his start working as DJ Chris Lova Lova for Atlanta radio station WHTA.

There he met and impressed Timbaland who offered the fledgling artist a guest spot on the 1998 track “Phat Rabbit.”

Over the following ten-year span, the Atlanta star has went on to record five multi-platinum albums, win three Grammys, and star in several acclaimed films such as Crash and Hustle & Flow.

During


Jimmy Carter: My presidency was a success

You don't often hear a U.S. president, past or present, talking about his mistakes and shortcomings in office. But that's what you will hear now - from the 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter.

It turns out that during his four year term President Carter kept a diary that he is now publishing, along with an often-harsh critique of his own performance in the White House.

His tenure, whichcorrespondent Lesley Stahl covered as a CBS White House correspondent, was tumultuous. The problems he confronted kept mounting and people wondered if he was cursed by a dismal economy, poor relations with Congress, and a nightmarish standoff over 52 Americans taken hostage by Iran.

After just one term he was trounced by Ronald Reagan.

Now Mr.Carter takes a look back at those years in excerpts from the diary he dictated into a tape recorder seven or eight times virtually every day he was president.

In his office at the Carter Library in Atlanta, the former president, now 85 and still flashing his famous smile, showed Stahl some of the 5,000 pages that make up his diary.

"When American citizens get this book, what do you think's going to surprise them the most?" Stahl asked.

"I think the absolute unadulterated frankness of what I had to say. I'll just give you one example. Ted Kennedy," Carter replied.

If there's anyone Carter fumes over in his diary, it's Ted Kennedy, his nemesis. Here's what he wrote when they clashed on health care: "Kennedy continuing his irresponsible and abusive attitude,


immediately condemned our health plan. He couldn't get five votes for his plan," Stahl read from the book. "He drove you up the wall."

"I don't know if I ever got up the wall," Carter replied.

But his comments on Kennedy are harsh, even now after his death.

"The fact is that we would have had comprehensive health care NOW, had it not been for Ted Kennedy's deliberately blocking the legislation that I proposed in 1978 or '79," Carter said.

Asked if he blames Kennedy for the failure, Carter said, "Exactly."

"Health care. His issue," Stahl remarked.

"Exactly. It was his fault," Carter said. "Ted Kennedy killed the bill."

"Just to spite you?" Stahl asked. "That's the implication."

"That's the implication," Carter agreed. "He did not want to see me have a major success in thatrealm of American life."

It still smarts that Kennedy ran against him in 1980. Back then, he poured his resentments into his diary, in frustrated, snarky outbursts - the hard-working, born-again peanut farmer up against privileged Kennedy royalty.

"You write, angrily, 'He's my age, but unsuccessful. He was kicked out of college,'" Stahl read. "You know, you could've left that out of the book."

"I didn't try to conceal anything. I tried to put down exactly how I felt," Carter replied.

"Well, you went at each other," Stahl pointed out.

"But you know, I felt like he went after me. I was the incumbent president. I didn't go after him. But he decided that he was going to replace me as a Democratic president," Carter replied.

When he turns to focus on himself, he


admits his critics "had a valid point" when they accused him of "micromanaging" and that he went too far with his no-frills, anti-imperial approach - as when he carried his own bags and wore cardigan sweaters in the White House.

"You may have 'de-pomped' a little too much," Stahl remarked.

"One of the most unpleasant things that surprised me was when I quit havin' 'Hail to the Chief' every time I entered a room but there was an outcry of condemnation," Carter remembered.

So he had to reverse himself.

He gave Stahl a tour of his living quarters at the Carter Center, where he stays when he's in Atlanta.

By the look of it, he's a no-frills ex-president too. In their small master bedroom, Carter and his wife Rosalynn sleep on a simpleMurphy bed that pops out of the wall.

The president and Mrs. Carter spend time there with their children, 12 grandchildren, and five great grandchildren.

While at the center, Stahl encountered the Carter's daughter Amy, who was nine when she moved into the White House. Now 42, she is pregnant with her second child.

Stahl asked her and her brothers Chip and Jeff about life at the White House.

"The worst thing was a little bit of intrusion by the press," Chip joked. "But we had Amy to take all the scrutiny. ...You know. So, Amy got that. We didn't."

Now, breaking her silence after 30 years, Amy says this about her time in the White House: "There was a house full of people. All the people who worked there were so wonderful.


I was young. It was fun."

It was fun? Who didn't think 'Poor little Amy' was unhappy back then? She seemed bored, reading books at state dinners and was hounded by the press her first day at a public school in Washington. The little girl looked woebegone in press photos and footage.

"I look so morose, but I think that's just an accident. I was more worried about the first day of school in a new place...I don't think I even noticed the press being there. That's overall a very happy time for me," Amy explained.

But not so happy for her father, who now admits he alienated too many members of Congress, whom he described as "a bunch of juvenile delinquents."

He tells about some Democrats who approached him with atold him he was doing too much.

"And he would always say to me, 'Suppose I don't have a second term.' And he was right. Because he got an awful lot done for the country. He's not a failed president," Rosalynn Carter told Stahl.

That image of "a failed president" haunts the Carters.

"How do you think you got into this big mess?" Stahl, then CBS' White House correspondent, asked President Carter during a press conference.

"The public will have to judge how big a mess it is," the president replied.

The country was in a big mess, with gasoline lines and double-digit inflation. And he seemed powerless to deal with it. He writes that his own loyalists asked: Can you govern the country? And he tells about a brutal meeting with his


out.

"There's no doubt that usually a president's public image is enhanced by going to war. That never did appeal to me," he replied.

Carter argues that despite the image of failure, he actually had a long list of successes, starting with bringing all the hostages alive.

He normalized relations with China; brokered a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, deregulated railroads, trucking, airlines and telephones; and his energy conservation programs resulted in a 50 percent cut in imported oil, down to just 4.3 million barrels a day.

"Unfortunately, now we're probably importing 12 million barrels a day, since part of my energy policies were abandoned," Carter told Stahl.

"Well, and you built solar panels on the roof of the White House," Stahl remarked.

"That's right, which were ostentatiously removed as soon as Ronaldre-elected," he replied.

The lesson: getting a lot of legislation passed, even when it's significant, is not enough.

"A lot of critics of yours when you were president say that you've been a fantastic ex-president. You hear that all the time," Stahl said.

Carters reply? "I don't mind that."

President and Mrs. Carter now devote their lives to fighting disease in poor countries and resolving conflicts, as when he recently obtained the release of an American held in North Korea. It's been a life of good works and good reviews.

In 2002 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts at global diplomacy. But he was called "undiplomatic" when he broke the code that ex-presidents don't criticize their successors.

"About Reagan, you said 'If I had been president for four more years, we


against the United States," Stahl said.

"I also sent a copy of the same letter to President Bush," he pointed out.

Asked if he went too far, Carter said, "I felt very deeply about the fact that the war was not necessary."

And he told Stahl he doesn't regret that.

It's been 30 years since the Carters moved back to their old house in Plains, Ga. He has said they left Washington "in despair."

Asked if either of them ever miss Washington, Carter said "I didn't." But his wife said - surprisingly - she did.

When they're in Plains, they both work on their books and on keeping in shape. Though he's no longer the physical fitness fanatic he was as president when he jogged up to 40 miles a week.

Asked if he's stillcontrol what people say about comparing me with Obama. But I hope that Obama will have as successful a term as I had in dealing with our nation's domestic and international affairs. And if he does, I'll be very proud of him, as I happen to be proud of myself, having had a successful administration when I was in office," Carter replied.

President Carter wanted us to know that after he left the White House, he and Teddy Kennedy patched things up and that the senator worked closely with Mrs. Carter on mental health issues.


going to shoot your b**** a**.”

The victim said he ran and hid behind a tree while Peters was aiming the flare gun at his face. Peters then allegedly fled the scene in a gold Honda.

Officers said they later stopped a gold Honda on Fillmore Street. When officers patted Peters down, they discovered a holster on his left calf and an orange flare gun in his disc golf bag.

According to authorities, Peters told the officers that he got in an argument and warned the other player to leave him alone because he had a flare gun in his bag, but denied ever pulling the flare gun out.

However, officers did not believe Peters’ story, since the victim was able to describe the flare gun in detail to them.

Peters has alengthy criminal history, with 15 arrests since 2005 and charges including traffic violations, theft and burglary, drug possession, assault family violence and terroristic threats.

In April 2016, Peters was charged with one count of aggravated assault family violence, one count of evading arrest, and two counts of terroristic threat following incident in the 2000 block of Garfield Street.

When police arrived, they heard a woman inside screaming. When they kicked the front door in, Peters ran out of the backdoor.

The victim, Peters’ ex-girlfriend, said Peters blamed her for serving jail time in 2015 for allegedly attempting to kidnap her, and at one point, Peters picked up a hammer and said, “I’m going away for life this time.”

Two other girls at the scene said Peters also threatened to kill them, according