Hi! Thanks for stopping by to read my profile. I'm a combination of confidence and shyness-If you've an open mind, I guarantee that I'll make you laugh. Some women aren't meant to be tamed nor men. Maybe they're supposed to run wild until they find someone just as wild to RUN with. After awhile you just want to be with the ONE who makes you LAUGH. Often I get told that I don't look my age. I come across as either older and more mature or a lot younger from youth gene of looking young, depending on the situation. I'm more into intimacy and romance than immediate wild and crazy sex. To tell you a little about myself, I'm from North Carolina originally but working at the current time in Costa Rica. I'm part- Native Cherokee Indian and part-Scottish background. My great-grandfather's grandmother was known as a Cherokee "Indian Princess". My ancestor would have been born around the time of the infamous Trail of Tears forced exodus, but she was likely part of the Oconaluftee Citizen Cherokees, who weren't removed. I was born in Rattlesnake Springs, Tennessee which is near Chattanooga, Tennessee then moved to Oklahoma State when I was 16 but now reside in Durham County, North Carolina. I live and work between North Carolina and Costa Rica, in Guanacaste province. Guanacaste is located in Costa Rica's north pacific coast.
Long summer days and beautiful beaches are two phrases that best define what Guanacaste is all about. A province for the active soul, Guanacaste draws visitors with its stunning shoreline, incredible bird watching, amazing horseback riding, excellent surfing, superb snorkeling and wonderful mountain lake windsurfing. With so much to do, it’s easy to understand why so many people come to visit this amazing province.
Forming the eastern borders of Guanacaste are a chain of volcanoes that stretch out to join the Cordillera de Guanacaste and Cordillera de Tilaran mountain ranges. Offering some truly terrific hiking facilities, tourists can trek their way to the summit of a number of volcanoes, including Rincon de la Vieja Volcano Area, to enjoy some really breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside. Passing through lovely lush dense forests, which play host to a fabulous array of exotic plant and wildlife, many rare and endangered animals and birds live here including jaguars and tapirs. From these mountains also flow various rivers that roll down to form an alluvial plain drained by the Rio Tempisque. This river in turns nurtures the province before emptying itself into the Golfo de Nicoya.
A region steep in culture, the name Guanacaste is derived from the word quahnacaztlan, which is a native word for the guanacaste tree. This tree is the national tree of Costa Rica.
One of the easiest ways to get to Guanacaste is to fly into the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia. A major reason why tourism has boomed in this region, this airport receives flights from all over the world especially the continental U.S. Most sites of this region are off the Pan-American Highway (Hwy. 1), which is scenic in its own right, moving northwest through Guanacaste and continuing almost to the Nicaraguan border. If you're traveling by bus, make sure to sit on the right hand side when northward bound as the views of the volcanoes in the distance are quite superb.
The weather throughout the province of Guanacaste is characterized by being hot with well-defined wet and dry seasons. The one exception is the highland portion of the province which consists of the upper Pacific-facing slopes of the volcanoes in the Guanacaste Cordillera and the northern half of the Tilarán Cordillera. The cool, moist conditions along these ridges support luxuriant cloud forests. Elsewhere, the natural vegetation type originally found in Guanacaste is (was) tropical dry forest.
This kind of forest extends from parts of Mexico down the western side of Central America to Costa Rica, where it reaches its southern limit in the general area of the Carara Biological Reserve. Due to the pronounced dry season that affects this habitat type for at least six months out of every year, fire works very well as a land clearing tool, and hence, most of the original forests have long since been removed for agricultural activities, principally cattle ranching. Thus, the noted tropical biologist, Dr. Daniel Janzen has described the Mesoamerican dry forests as "an endangered habitat." The parks and reserves in Guanacaste protect much of the remaining examples of tropical dry forest in the entire region.
The annual dry season is caused by the effects of the northeast trade winds that blow in off the Caribbean from November through March. This humid air loses its moisture as it crosses the Caribbean lowlands and the cordilleras. Given that the Guanacaste Cordillera is both the lowest and narrowest in the country, there is little to block the passage of the arid air that comes gusting down the western slopes drying out everything in its path, as well as preventing any breezes from bringing in moist air from the Pacific Ocean during these months.
When the trade winds shift northward, air currents once again bring humidity and life-giving rains in from the Pacific Ocean. It is remarkable to observe how quickly the parched and brown countryside regains its verdant appearance after the first showers of each new rainy season. In Guanacaste, these afternoon showers usually return by mid-May and continue until about mid-November.
History: The pre-Columbian inhabitants of Guanacaste are noted for the fine quality pottery that they produced. The variety of ceramic vessels found at archeological sites has led investigators to theorize the existence of a well-developed system of agriculture, and specifically grain production. The fact that as yet no evidence of hunter-gather societies has been unearthed in the region, has been a motive for speculating that the first humans to settle here already possessed a working knowledge of agriculture.
Indeed, the native peoples living in the area at the time of the Spaniards' arrival in 1519, the Chorotega tribe, were a group whose ancestors had emigrated south from Mexico. When Hernán Ponce de León and Juan de Castañeda sailed into what is now known as the Gulf of Nicoya on the last leg of their exploratory voyage from Panama, the name of the regional chieftan was Nicoya. Thus, the origin of the name of both the gulf and the peninsula.
During the first two decades of the Spanish Conquest in this region, the invaders established a lucrative trade: the sale of human slaves to Panama and Peru. This activity, together with untold deaths resulting from disease, decimated the local population.
Spanish settlement of Guanacaste was slow since most of the colonization from 1563 onwards was concentrated in the Central Valley and there was very little native labor force left in the lowlands to be employed in farming activities. The Spaniards brought in zambos, a mixed race of escaped black slaves and indigenous people from eastern Nicaragua and Honduras, to help work the haciendas in Guanacaste, but even so the population was too low to sustain much agricultural production. And so, cattle ranching developed as the most common activity in the region due to the low manpower requirements.
In the 1500's and 1600's, the primary revenue from cattle ranching was the sale of leather and fat to merchants in Panama. By the 18th century, a market for beef existed in Guatemala, but this meant a long and difficult cattle drive from the faraway ranches in Costa Rica. Nevertheless, ranching has persisted to the present day and was given a real economic boost in the 1950's and '60's with the development of the "hamburger connection" and North America's increased demand for cheap beef.
The other agricultural products of relative importance in the province are sugar cane and cotton, and since the late 1980's, with the creation of a large-scale irrigation program (the water comes from Lake Arenal after passing through several power generating stations), rice has become a prominent crop. Tourism, of course, is currently the region's most lucrative activity since Guanacaste is blessed by having many of the country's most beautiful beaches and its sun-drenched dry season coincides with the winter months in northern latitudes.
During colonial times, Guanacaste did not actually form part of the province of Costa Rica, but instead pertained to Nicaragua. Shortly after the nations in the region gained their independence from Spain in 1821, the residents of the communities of Nicoya, Santa Cruz, and Cañas decided that they preferred to become part of Costa Rica and announced their annexation on July 25, 1825. This date is commemorated by a government holiday, even though it was not until 1858 that the change in boundary lines was officially recognized and agreed upon by the two countries involved.
I have learned that if you must leave a place that you have lived in and loved, and where all of your yesterdays are buried deep. Leave it any way except slow. Leave it the fastest way you can. Never turn back and believe that an hour you remember is a better hour because it is dead. Past years seem safe ones, vanquished ones--while the future lives in a cloud, formidable from a distance. The cloud clears though, as you enter it. I have learned this, but like everyone, I learned it late. Adversity is the diamond dust that heaven polishes its jewels with.
Accept challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory. Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict. Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to meet them.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. I think when I die someday, I'd like to be buried Native American Indian-style, where they put you up on a high rack, above the ground. That way, you could get hit by meteorites and not even feel it. When you die, if you get a choice between going to regular heaven or pie heaven, choose pie heaven. It might be a trick, but if it's not, mmmmmmm, yum yum. Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. Death is hereditary. If you were a poor Indian with no weapons, and a bunch of Conquistadors came up to you and asked where the gold was, I don't think it would be a good idea to say, "I swallowed it. So sue me."
I'd like to think I'm a rare gem waiting to be found instead of another random face in the crowd. I just want to get on with life the best way I can. I'm not perfect by any means, but I'm cognizant of my flaws as a person. I don't expect you to be perfect. I simply state what I value and admire. I do prefer very much substance over style and quality over quantity. Friendship is one of the most valuable treasures in the world. Sentimentals have way more value than any diamond, black pearl or piece of gold/silver. I don't believe in lying, betrayal, hating a person for something they do(unless of course its a real danger to themselves or others). I believe in reincarnation of past lives, although not everybody remembers theirs. Sometimes it comes out in their dreams or nightmares.
There's no beauty but the beauty of action. When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take - choose the bolder. True beauty comes from the inside, who you are is what makes you beautiful. It's not what you look like on the outside. Tea can be healing. I believe I would take a bullet for a true friend. Everybody deserves to have something to believe in- something to wake up for.  I'm really open to anything. I like to experience new things, go to new places, and meet new people. I think the best times are when you get to spend it with friends. I'm always interested in different ways of thinking. I can't stand routine, avoiding all but the sleeping and and eating part...most of the time. If I've a question about something, I prefer gathering intelligence through conversations rather than looking things up in a book, due to the high probability that the answer you receive will be completely different then what you expected. I'm curious by nature so I keep up with world events and pick up stuff along the way. I can definately say that I love adventure and learning new things. I enjoy new challenges, seeing new things, meeting new people. Curiosity would be the death of me if I were a cat. Life is a continuous learning experience. I've found that sharing these experiences with others make the journey much more rewarding. I'm a very outgoing person. I seem to get along with everybody.
I'm a deep thinker and I enjoy good conversation. My strongest talents are my interpersonal skills, including my ability to connect with and relate to others. I'm the creative type, and I value integrity. I'm most impressed by women like Loretta Lynn and Oprah Winfrey who were born into great poverty, and despite severe adversity exhibit strength, optimism, tenacity, and character. Oprah Winfrey has broken through cultural, geographical and gender barriers, letting the world know it’s not your circumstances, but your heart that determines how far you go in this world. The Oprah Winfrey Foundation was established to support the inspiration, empowerment, education and well-being of women, children and families around the world. Oprah has contributed millions of dollars towards providing a better education for underserved students. Oprah’s influence has spread far and wide. She has used her power and status to remind the world of the AIDS pandemic in the Republic of South Africa; she has introduced new and old readers to numerous authors and hidden literary masterpieces; she has inspired us with her openness and compassion and vision of a better world.
I'm only one, but still I'm one. I cannot do everything, But still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, Many great ideas have been lost because the people who had them couldn't stand being laughed at. The fear of being laughed at makes cowards of us all. I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Well done is better than well said.
Action may not always bring happiness, but there's no happiness without action. Nobody made a greater mistake than he/she who did nothing because he/she could do only a little. You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth. Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander. Take a chance. To catch lots of fish, you must first go to the water. To do anything truly worth doing, you must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in with gusto and scramble through as well as you can. It's better to err on the side of daring than the side of caution. Don't be afraid to take on a big surf. You can't ride waves without ocean currents. Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks. The person who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore. A ship in harbor is safe - but that is not what ships are for. One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There's a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap. Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; whenever there is opportunity, there lurks danger. The two are inseparable. They go together. I'd rather fail in an attempt at something new and uncharted than safely succeed in a repeat of something I have done.
I'm always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic. To live for results would be to sentence myself to continuous frustration. My only sure reward is in my actions and not from them. Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly.
If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it. Science may have found a cure for most Photo of boy & dog at beachevils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all -- the apathy of human beings.
I love those who values education and family, somebody that isn’t caught up in the crazy night life getting drunk. Life's too short for that. Is there anything more beautiful than a beautiful, beautiful flamingo, flying across in front of a beautiful sunset? And he's carrying a beautiful rose in his beak, and also he's carrying a very beautiful painting with his feet. And also, you're drunk. If you ever reach total enlightenment while drinking beer, I bet you could shoot beer out of you nose. I can’t stand bars, loud over-crowded clubs, or “parties". I'm fortunate to have a great job where I get to work with kids on a regular basis. I love kids. They surely bring out the best in others and keep you well grounded. It's great to see the similarities and differences between the kids despite their ages. I made a decision to be a voice for children, to empower them, to help educate them, so the spirit that burns alive inside each of them doesn't die. Education is the way to move mountains, to build bridges, to change the world. Education is the path to the future. I believe that education is indeed freedom. It 's essential that we enable young people to see themselves as participants in one of the most exciting eras in history, and to have a sense of purpose in relation to it. Children need encouragement. If a kid gets an answer right, tell him/her it was a lucky guess. That way he/she develops a good, lucky feeling. Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said. Children are natural mimics who act like their parents, despite every effort to teach them good manners. Mothers of teens know why some animals eat their young. Mothers also spend the first 2 years of their life teaching them to walk and talk, then they have to spend the next 16 years telling them to sit down and shut-up. One thing vampire children are taught is, never run with a wooden stake. Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids. Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the driveway before it has stopped snowing. There's only one pretty child in the world and every mother has it. It's funny you never hear a mother say that she has an ugly baby or that her child looked ugly as a baby. The main purpose of holding children's parties is to remind yourself that there are children more awful than your own. Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your kids. You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can never fool mom. A child's greatest period of growth is the month after you've purchased new school clothes. Anyone who says "Easy as taking candy from a baby" has never tried it. Babies have tight grasp. Believe me, when they have something in their hands, they NEVER let go, even when they're asleep. No trying steal anything away from then either. The best inheritance parents can give their children is a few minutes of their time each day. I hate it when people say somebody has a "speech impediment", even if he/she does, because it could hurt his/her feelings. So instead, I call it a "speech improvement", and I go up to him/her and say, "Hey, I like your speech improvement." I think this makes him/her feel better.
In my free time, I love being outdoors, anywhere near water especially, like the beach, the river, or a lake. I want to live on the water someday. I'm the type who can be anywhere in the right company of others. I know how to communicate and I try and be respectful and polite. I'm a open of the way I think and feel and who expresses my opinion and values the opinions of other people. I truly understand that there's a lesson in everything that happens to us. So I tried not to spend my time asking "Why did this happen to me?" but trying to figure out why I had chosen this. That's the answer you need. It's always a question of accepting responsibility for your choices. Anytime you look outside yourself for answers, you're looking in the wrong place. If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. If you're going to look inside yourself you've to be quiet and listen. We need to listen to the voice, be guided by the voice, and take direction from the voice within us. If you ever teach a yodeling class, probably the hardest thing is to keep the students from just trying to yodel right off. You see, we build to that. The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face. Ambition is like a frog sitting on a Venus Flytrap. The flytrap can bite and bite, but it won't bother the frog because it only has little tiny plant teeth. But some other stuff could happen and it could be like ambition.
When I'm pulling into my driveway and my cat comes by the doorway to meet me because she knows the sound of the car, I'm the happiest I've ever been. I walk in the woods. I do meditation by the beach or near the park close to a pond. I grow my own vegetables, fruits and flowers. I get great happiness from having a good book to read and knowing I've the time to curl up in front of the fire with my fuzzy slippers on and finish it. I've realized it's very simple things that make me happy, but that I have to be open to happiness. I've to want to be happy rather than just busy. And once I'm more willing to be happy, it becomes easier for me to feel the happiness. I think my new thing will be to try to be a real happy. I'll just walk around being real happy until some jerk says something stupid to me. I take everyday as it comes. I don't plan out anything. Performance and growth, with experience, are what I've always been trying to focus on.
I'm sarcastic most of the time. I know when to be serious though. If you can't handle sarcasm, look at someone else's profile  I'm what I am. It's better to be hated for what you're than to be loved for what you aren't. Don't judge me based on your ignorance. Don't assume anything based on anyone's looks . I don't pay any attention to those who talk behind your back. Pay no mind to those who gossip behind others' back, it simply means you're two steps ahead. I don't go where the path leads. I like to instead create my own path and leave a trail. Who indeed can harm you if you're committed deeply to doing what is right? People that are too weak to follow their own dreams will always find a way to discourage yours. To go nowhere follow the crowd. It only takes a single voice to start a revolution. Sometimes "the majority" means all the fools are on one side. People assume too much. I believe in making the world safe for our children, but not our children's children, because I don't think children should be having sex. Life, to me, is like a quiet forest pool, one that needs a direct hit from a big rock half-buried in the ground. You pull and you pull, but you can't get the rock out of the ground. So you give it a good kick, but you lose your balance and go skidding down the hill toward the pool. Then out comes a big Native Hawaiian man who was making out with his wife beside the pool because they thought it was real romantic and pretty. He tells you to get out of there, but you start faking it, like you're talking Hawaiian, and then he gets mad and chases you. It's when you run for your life. Speaking of Hawaiian, Once when I was in Hawaii, on the island of Molokai'i, I met a mysterious old stranger. He said he was about to die and wanted to tell someone about the treasure. I said, "Okay, as long as it's not a long story. Some of us have a plane to catch, you know." He stared telling his story, about the treasure and his life and all, and I thought: "This story isn't too long." But then, he kept going and going, and I started thinking, "Uh-oh, this story is getting long." But then the story was over, and I said to myself: "You know, that story wasn't too long after all." I forget what the story was about, but there was a good movie on the plane. It was a little long, though.
I can be your best friend or I can be someone who ignores you and doesn't give a crap about you. There is no in between, there's no me being your enemy, because in my mind you're not important enough to think about. PLEASE NOTE: Just because I've added you in my network of friends doesn't necessarily means I'll keep you as a friend if you never do answer back my emails or spoken since adding me. If I feel you not sincere then I'm not going keep you in my contact of friends. I don't need shallow people as friends and it doesn't make me a b*tch for wanting to take you off my list in my network if we've never spoken or if you have never answered my email. If after 2 weeks I don't hear anything from you and you happened to log in regularly on the site then you're not worth being in my network contact of friends. Also, if you happened to have many naked women on your network, I don't want to be your friend so do not send me an invite for I'll simply decline it.
My weakness: My willingness to take people at face value.
My strength: My self-assurance. It's ever present even in the worst situations. I'm most proud of my perseverance, which contributes to all of my personal accomplishments: supporting myself through college, pursuing my career in education and simply weathering life's "everyday storms and challenges" when they arise. I have turned every stumbling block into a stepping stone, all the while keeping my head held high with a smile on my face.
Best compliment I've received: A child once came up to me at a school I had worked as a supply teacher told me that my warmth over shines my beauty.
Favorite number-group: I'm very democratic in my tastes, anything that's music to my ears, will do.
I'm most sentimental about a lot of things from my childhood. Though, I love having fun and making others happy, I'm not someone who's into doing practical jokes on others. I'm too polite for that. The craziest thing I've ever done was perhaps when my best friend and I decided to take a weekend road trip to celebrate my birthday on one hour's notice. It helped the two of us grow together in so many ways and it ended up being one of the most enjoyable vacations of my life.
Favorite holiday resort: Any place that gives me peace of mind.
I FEAR: I haven't any fears for to fear to be scared of the worst of things to happen. Life is about making mistakes. Life is a culmination of lessons and you need to overcome great obstacles to achieve your dream. By reaching you goal means having to face new obstacles.
I KNOW: when I make a mistake that I'll be ok. I know childhood was over the day I had realize we all sooner or later encounter death at some point in life so it's important we be the best we can be and make a difference. I retreat from the Cities and its multitudes to often to the beach or countryside to spend my days surrounded by wise books, bright windows in this world of ours, lit by the shining souls of humanity. Sometimes, when you least expect it, a light comes into your dark and weary world, brightening it, as the sun you shine on to others and become an eternal light touching them to the core of their heart.
I ADMIRE: Strength of my character.
I WANT: to be my best, though I know no one is perfect. Failure is success turned inside out.
I WISH: there was more understanding among others in the world. We need to embrace the differences of others and accept them into our life's network.
I FIGHT: temptation of being pulled and taken in by a promise in what I'm seeing- A hunger for what I'm wanting, yet knowing I've that knowledge of increasing danger. I may be that temptation. The one you can't resist. The one to drive you crazy with desire. If you don't know me by now, you NEVER will.
I REGRET: I have no regrets for to regret is to say you do not want to make mistakes. Life isn't a mistake, it's an experience to learn, live and to love. Every great accomplishment is at first impossible.
I LOVE: Being able to live each day as it comes and be thankful for all those that have crossed my path whom have given me a more deeper insight of myself of who I'm as a person and allowing me to bring out the best of me from within myself.
I HOPE: Others realize that change does not come from just by one but by the coming of many people together. We each have the intuitiveness to be a catalyst for change. Let us come together as the power of one. We're one world. Let us come together as one people, one race : the human race. It's together we can combat the evils of all evils which is ignorance. Real world problems need real world solutions. People, one of the greatest resources on earth, need to step up to be an essential source of power to make a change for the better. Only we, the people of this planet, can affect the outlook of our future. Let us join now and work towards the brighter future we all seek for our lifetime and future generations to come.
I FEEL: To feel pain can sometimes be good,it means you are still alive.
I HIDE: nothing . I'm very open , sincere and honest of my feelings and I feel people should be honest about their feelings in a relationship as well. I give a lot of myself to my relationships.
I MISS: growing up in countryside. I love the outdoors and love being surrounded by nature. I love wide open spaces.
I LEARNED: that circumstances have influenced who we are but we are responsible for who we become. I don't like people that don't care of their responsibilities.
I NEED: to realize not everyone can be as sincere and honest and best friend that I am and whom one can ONLY wish for to have as a friend.
I THINK: The moments you remember are tiny ones, some you haven't thought of in years. If you've thought of them at all but in the last second of your life, you remember them with astonishing clarity because they're just so beautiful that they must have been imprinted, on like a cellular level. It's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst and then I remember to relax, and not try to hold on to it and then it flows through me like rain. I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life.
Never regret anything that once made you smile. I'm enthusiastically optimistic, vibrantly witty, creative, romantic, generous, stubborn, assertive, ambitious, idealistic, competitive and I'm set in my ways. I like to achieve my goals I've set for myself. I've learned to speak up for myself over the past year, even if that meant going against the consensus. If you don't like me for who I am, honey I'm never going to change If any of that sounds good to you, then we could probably be friends. I always speak my mind when it comes to my culture, religion, my friends or anything that I care about, I'll speak my mind. My mom always taught me to be a strong woman with an open heart towards different than myself and I feel I've accomplished that in my life. I love learning ANYTHING. Often I'll defend the underdog and have no strong instinct to rule or control others. I don't possess oversized egos nor do I surround myself with those that have big egos. I don't like much change. Status quo suits me fine. I like to stick to things and get them done. I'm someone who finishes the project once it's started. I haven't any hidden, last minute surprises am constantly expressing whatever I'm feeling on the inside. I'm a woman who will go camping and NOT complain that the bathroom is that bug infested forest as walls and that the ground feels like cement. Come on now, what's camping if you're not roughing it??? JEESH! After all, to experience nature to its fullest, you have to get into it. Even if it involves getting dirt/mud in your hair, face, under your nails, on your clothes or in your shoes. People should not worry of being bitten by mosquitoes or other insects when others at the end of the day is going look the same like you. Probably the saddest thing you'll ever see is a mosquito sucking on a mummy not realizing it's not alive...Forget it, little friend. Marta Stewart says the interesting thing about fly-fishing is that it's two lives connected by a thin strand. Come on, Marta...Grow up.
I live to laugh and laugh to live. Laughter is such an important thing to me. I always have fun, no matter where I am or what I'm doing. I know that life isn't perfect and isn't always going to be great, and I'm ok and deal with that. I'm a lover of good life, art, history and literature. I despise the the humdrum, the ordinary, and the dull. Many people think that history is a dull subject. Dull? Is it "dull" that Jesse James once got bitten on the forehead by an ant, and at first it didn't seem like anything, but then the bite got worse and worse, so he went to a doctor in town, and the secretary told him to wait, so he sat down and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and then finally he got to see the doctor, and the doctor put some salve on it? You call that dull? Ever wonder what it would be like if actors in the Opera performed nude? I'd like to see a nude opera, because when they hit those high notes, I bet you can really see it in those genitals. I'm generous, kind, and openhearted. I find it hard to believe ill of others. I tend to forgive easily and never hold a grudge.
I'm tired of hearing that guys are intimidated by me. I don't believe that and even if they are I don't want someone that's scared of me or someone that appears to be that weak. People shouldn't be afraid to approach me and talk, if you're interesting enough we shouldn't have a problem. But I should add, if I'm not attracted to you, I'm just not attracted to you. Different people have different taste. I respect that and you should too. I like respect. I give what I get in return. Some people need to learn to respect. It's not that hard.
I'm assertive and tall and guys tell me those two things intimidate them. That's sad. Like I'm going to want to talk to someone who is intimidated by me. *laughs*
I've never been married, never been close to being married and don't have any children. When people are in a relationship, they should share details about the personal decisions each is making in their individual lives. There should be clear rules and boundaries in a relationship. It's important to me that my partner and I talk about how we feel about our relationship. It's important to be clear about the expectations you've of a relationship. Romantic partners shouldn't keep secrets from one another. I believe if a person is going to cheat while they're seeing someone then they shouldn't be involved in a committed relationship at all but be frank and let 'that' person they are seeing 'know' that they don't want any strings attached and just dating and they seek nothing more. Why marry or date someone for a long time and cheat behind their back'?' This isn't tolerable in any way and a person should value and have more respect for the person they are dating than to make them feel worthless by cheating or have thoughts of cheating. Open marriages should be of respect to your spouse. Though a person have an open marriage, it does not mean to have discreet encounters with many others without involving you both. Open marriages should be that you both share in the experiences and not be greedy to your own needs and desires. A romantic relationship that works is one with ever-lasting love. Love can sweep you off your feet and carry you along in a way you've never known before. But the ride always ends, and you end up feeling lonely and bitter. Wait...It's not love I'm describing. I'm thinking of a monorail. My ideal relationship will last forever. I'm very committed to the way I feel on something and I feel when you're strongly committed that you make sure you execute things completely when you set out a task.
You know you found the one when....
No matter how ugly you feel on a certain day, he still loves you the way you are, even when late for a date for you couldn't decide what to wear but decided through it all to wear just sweat pants and a tee-shirt and disagrees when you say another woman's looking better than yourself. True love is when you cook him dinner and you burn it black and he says he likes it like that. Love is when no matter how many times you change your clothes or way you have styled your hair for an outing, he does not complain but is patient and in the end , he says him say he likes it that way.
I'm a Leo. I fit all the traits, good and bad. If you want to know about me just look up and read about how Leos are. I'm not at all the jealous type nor am I arrogant, vain, self centered, Or likes to show-off demanding attention. I'm not at all flashy but conservative most of the time of the way I wear my clothes. I'm not at all domineering, snobbish, or have feelings of superiority over others.
I want to point out a common error many make in English grammar of the words "your" and "you're":
Your = belonging to you, as in: I don't belong to no one but my own self so do not call me your baby
OR
Get YOUR dog off my lawn or I'll have to choke the b*tch as I drag it off my lawn.
You're = Contraction of you are. As in: So, I was thinking earlier today...and I think YOU'RE an annoying b*st*rd OR YOU'RE not God's gift to women so do not act like YOU'RE the most handsome and sexiest man alive. We all know Tom cruise is most sexiest man alive so don't try to be Tom Cruise when there ONLY can be one Tom Cruise.  ~~
The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet. Imagine walking down a green path on an unknown journey with not a care in the world, other than exploration of one’s self and one’s connection to a world beyond time. It's only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves. Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they're a little course, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.
Let us start with an understanding of outdoor education which isn't bounded by common definitions. Let us imagine a pure, theoretical elixir which has no detectable chemical qualities, a pure homeopathic. When applied, it has infinitely perfect effects. All approaches to human healing, growth and sustenance might strive to be as such, a perfect supplement to human experience; so too might be the goal of outdoor education. Let us imagine the perfect experience, the perfect education. Let us start the task of education with the task of understanding a student’s experience. We need a theory of experience, in order to get some structuring and sequencing experience. Modern outdoor education is observing modern society has lost its rudder and that young people are becoming lost in the rapid societal changes of industrialized and post-industrialized life. No longer are people educated in the discipline, patience, and necessary skills to cope with visceral life tasks. No longer are there the same opportunities and requirements for physical stamina, endurance, perseverance, tolerance, tenacity, and having the wherewithal to hold up in difficult conditions in which the only way through is via sheer persistence, inventiveness and dedicated support of one another. There's a need to organize education better. We need to, just look at all the ills of modern society. By providing physical and moral challenges, we need to put huge faith in people’s inner capabilities being discovered and support them in discovering more than themselves than they might have thought possible. Let's create experiences which call on the deepest spirits of people in the name of the greatest good. Progressive education helps individuals to have experiences based on intimate understanding of people’s past experiences, which therefore significantly determine their present experiences(the principle of experiential continuity). The continuity of a person’s stored individual past experiences interacts with the dynamics of the present experience, helps create individual's current experience of 'reality'. The educator must manage the quality of students' experience in the present situation by interacting with, and adjusting, the circumstances. The educator must finds ways of presenting relevant subject matter which maximally engages the interest and motivation of the student. This experience must stretch the person beyond the students' limited self-conceptions and towards their potential. This requires compelling circumstances.
What is this strange notion of going beyond one’s self? How paradoxical is sounds to intentionally design an experience to go beyond known boundaries. This enters a realm of risky education. Thus, deeply embedded within outdoor education is the notion of risk. To risk is to be prepared to lose hold, to fall, to be smashed. To risk is to stumble forward in the hope of rising through the clouds and flying higher than ever before. To not risk is safe education, education which does not reach beyond known boundaries. To Grow, we must step out of our comfort zone and not be afraid to make mistakes. By making mistakes, it enables us to grow as individuals.
Too much so-called outdoor education is safe education, simply a walk in the woods or a camp in a cabin, with as much of the normal boundaries of life maintained as possible in order to be comfortable and 'safe'. I've my toothbrush from home, I've my picture of my family, I've my familiar clothes, I have my you-beaut sleeping bag, I've the assurance that I've the choice to do only what I want to do, I've brought the food I like, etc. This isn't real outdoor education. This is a nature walk, a cozy camp, a recreational experience. It's not risky in an existential sense; it is not outdoor education. Outdoor education is about taking the real risk of finding out that your current being can be opened up and altered via engaging itself in different contexts and taking the risk of behaving and thinking differently from normal. This doesn't mean that outdoor education is a paradisical, ideal land of heaven and glory. Far from it. In fact, to the extent that human beings have become divorced from the grimy reality of life on earth, there's a long journey back through the steps of civilization, like flicking the pages in a picture book about evolution, before any sustainable happiness can be experiences in the outdoors. This is no skiing package holiday. Outdoor education should try to capture the essence of dramatized and treasured educational adventure stories such as in Robinson Crusoe and Huckleberry Finn. Outdoor education must dispense with the glitz of leisure class outdoor recreation, which uses the environment as another consumption, preying on thrill, novelty and aesthetic beauty. Outdoor education means getting down and dirty, organizing experiences for all sorts of different individuals which allow them encounter their atavistic and potential selves. The pathway to such goals will be necessarily littered with barriers, particularly constructed, limited beliefs based on previous stored experiences. It's difficult to survive all the minutes, hours and years spent in artificial, chaotic cultures without taking on limiting, false messages about who the person is and the potential for who he/she might become. Outdoor education is simply the design of adventure experiences to bring into light the nature and possibilities of self. So, I count among outdoor education experiences any intentional use of nature and adventure for facilitating insight into, and change of, self. Thus, the outdoor education method should be intensely psychological. By this I mean that the underlying argument is critical – understanding and managing the quality of experience is the key to good education. Since every experienced carries its legacy on into the future, every minutiae of experience for every person is vital and should be the prime concern of the instructor. The instructor’s responsibility to the quality of participants' experience is infinite and therefore impossible to fulfill. The instructor is a guide, a gatekeeper to realms of possible experience. The instructor creates some rough boundaries, maps out a route, follows his/her charges closely, and yet must remain behind a cloud of obscurity to allow the experience to be as fundamentally pure as possible. Until an instructor knows him/her self thoroughly and has been through his/her own psychotherapeutic process, an instructor is likely to impact negatively on his/her participants’ quality of experience to the extent of the instructor's own inadequacies. Inner maturity and motivation are the only necessary qualities for an outdoor education instructor. Other qualities, such as communication skills, capacity to envision, plan and execute a program, empathize and relate to participants, and learn necessary outdoor skills, can be learned relatively by those with inner maturity. Only such individuals should be considered as worthy of outdoor education instruction,in an ideal world. In such a world, all outdoor education experiences would be sacred and the instructors would be shamans. Of course, since all individuals have infinite potential for growth, all individuals are also capable of being such outdoor education instructors.
There's much evidence and logic which suggests that human beings evolved from a long, long history of intimate engagement with nature. In a very recent flicker of time, industrialization began shielding whole human societies remarkably from nature. Hence the need for ‘outdoor education’ and ‘outdoor recreation’ has been recent. However, at the moment, this relatively new practice of taking people into the outdoors for organized educational experiences, varies greatly in the quality of experiences provided to participants. Most outdoor programs provide fluffy, touristy, distraction, relaxation, thrill-a-minute, and sometimes a fleeting sense of the range of human possibilities. Until more programs are constructed by those with psychological insight or by those who understand the history, theory and practices of outdoor education, no genuinely profound impact of outdoor education on society will occur. Alternatively, personal and spiritual development practices, such as those developed by indigenous societies, could be used. Newly designed forms of outdoor education are popping up everywhere; it is vital that they develop a theoretical basis and are instructed by individuals with inner maturity. Programs should also be subject to systematic research and evaluation. Otherwise what guarantee is there for consistently good effects for participants and for well-guided refinement of program quality? This is analogous to the development of pharmaceuticals. Unless there's systematic testing of a programs effects, the causal mechanisms involved, and the side effects, a program should not be marketed to the public. The more I read and experience and the more I learn about other people and their experiences, the more I believe in that there is considerable untapped power in nature-induced or nature-facilitated experiences. In particular, indigenous knowledge, spirituality, and ceremonial practices offer a major gateway into the possibilities of human growth. Encounters with nature have a potent capacity to alter consciousness and to create vivid, intense, memorable experiences. Direct experiencing of nature, especially the elements, cold, heat, etc., but also nature symbols and stories, over time can crafts the body and mind into a more finely tuned instrument which, in turn, alters inner chemistry and consciousness. Eating of simple, wholesome food over time, with physical exercise, and so on, can combine to holistically bring the human animal into a state of greater potential relationship with nature. This does not happen as easily or as simply as most people think, particularly as mainstream Western society becomes increasingly divorced from non-human nature. Even the hardiest human from modern society recoils to familiar ways when faced with the trials of natural life. It is only via quality experience over lengths of time that eventually this ‘civilization threshold’ in consciousness can be broken down. I believe the "true adventurers" visit this frontier. Eventually as we set about this new way of "harder" living, life becomes, curiously "easier", "richer" and "more interesting". The natural endorphins return. The individual can relax and take a new attitude to the challenges of nature and life, and run with new, unfettered conceptions of his/her self. What we are after, is creating an "ideal environment" for the human to flourish. That ideal environment includes harmony with nature, as much as it also includes harmony with other people. Eventually, there can be a new "capability of thriving", a natural well-spring "joie de vivre". This emerges from the person developing core existential know-how, experience and coping resources, and having reaching "threshold harmony". This doesn't mean the person lives in paradise per se, but there is an optimal proportion of "hardness" and "easiness" to life and a sustainable cycle of activity. In Western society the knob is tuned too far to "easiness" whilst in many places, the knob is tuned too far to "hardiness" in life. For the soft Westerner, letting go of comforts does not happen easily and there will be considerable resistance and fear. But there are enough searchers (about 1 in 20) who will break through the "threshold of culture" and seek a genuinely different route. Perhaps slightly eccentric, at odds with the world, and seeking alternatives and solution.
Modern manifestations of outdoor education programs have a history of about 50 years. It's a pauper's history, without much sophistication in theory and program design. There has been little integration of psychological theory, deep ecology, psychotherapy, and so on. What's more, many dangerous elements have crept in, particularly the capitalistic plunge that has taken run rife and turned a sacred field into the sale of cheap, safe thrills. But there are also the sneakier evils of the fear of litigation limiting much creativity in programming and driving overemphasis on accreditation and qualification of physical skills, ignoring the fundamental requirement for inner maturity. This is the "too easy and too hard" threshold. We could also call this the "challenge knob". Thus, outdoor education exists in a cultural community that challenges much of its core philosophy. Unless outdoor education becomes socially responsible, even political, and directly addresses the challenge of transforming culture, it risks irrelevancy and extinction. The changing attitudes and conceptions of "risk" have eaten away at the average Westerner's tendency to "get out there and mix it with the elements". Thus, outdoor education programming must move beyond short time-frame experiences and move in to live more completely into people’s lives; it must become a lifestyle. What is meant here by outdoor education as lifestyle, is the living of a brave, sustainable, mature life day in and day out. Whilst, in the ideal world, that might be a hut in the wilderness, the reality is that it might be a brave attempt at having a permaculture garden in a rented house in the suburbs while bringing up two kids on no money with an incapacitated partner. There are possible connections here between outdoor education and permaculture, which is a form of sustainable living and gardening which integrates human life, the landscape, natural elements, and the local community. Outdoor education needs to move away from artificial challenges, such as ropes challenge courses, and towards natural living challenges, such as the establishment of community gardens and sustainable culture. If you ever get a chance, visit an ecovillage community or some sort of commune. Some of them "work", all of them "struggle". But they are places experimenting with what might be possible forms of eco and social sustainability. The full manifestation of a well-run outdoor education programs would be to contribute in a longitudinal and systemic way to the evolution of human society towards sustainability. In summary, my philosophy of outdoor education considers as critical, the quality of experience of each individual in an outdoor education program. This quality is a function of the past experience of an individual and the dynamics of the moment. Everything in a program, from the instructor’s attitude, to the natural environment, to the social fabric, to the food being eaten, interacts in a vital way with a participant’s past experience to create the present nature of his/her reality. Management of this reality is the responsibility of an instructor who needs to be clear about the goals and his/her limitations and capabilities. Any detriment in an instructor's level of self-understanding is a substantial risk for the participant. Ideally, outdoor education should aim at nothing less than providing life-enhancing experiences of the highest order. This will usually mean helping individuals, who have lived in modern, civilized environments, to understand themselves in new, altered contexts, to come to know themselves as individuals with far greater capabilities. This necessarily involves the individual risking failure at discovering new capacities. The essence of the instructor's role is in designing and guiding experiences which open up a future of possibility for participants. Ideally, there would be no need for outdoor education. Outdoor education didn't exist during the first 1.5 million years of human evolution. It evolved recently because of the extreme divorce of human societies from nature, and of the human from his/her inner possibilities. Ultimately, outdoor education should be striving not towards minor thrill, nor towards a return to Eden, but rather to create communities and lifestyles where outdoor education is no longer needed (e.g., ecovillages). This means infusing individuals and communities with a level of self-, social-, and environmental-understanding which manifests in sustainable living. There's a journey that some of us make, that others it seems never had to take. But would it be a journey to us if others weren't there already? If we didn't know they were there would we still often feel petty? I don't think it would nor do I think we would. If we were all the same then life wouldn't be interesting and there would be no way to test our capabilities of what potential we may possess within. Thus there'd be no such thing as expotential growth and development as a human being. It's from growing and taking on challenges we are able to find our eternal quest in life. Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words - "mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
There are so many interesting places, so many attractive people whose cultures differ as if we're not inhabitants of the one world. When I visit any place I try to get acquainted to everything there starting with spiritual values of the country and finishing with their traditional food. I'm too old now to worry and too young to care life is to short. We should think about that now as we get older. I'm never tired of learning something new. But would like to notice it was always more important for me whom with, but not where to be.
CHEROKEE LANGUAGUE LESSON
PUNCTUATION & PRONUNICATION
' means syllable is accented.
? between syllable.
: means vowel is held longer.
* pronounce carefully because it can change the meaning of the word.
VOWEL SOUNDS
a, as a in father, or short as a in rival
e, as a in hate, or short as e in met
i, as i in pique, or short as i in pit
o, as o in note, approaching aw as in law
u, as oo in fool, or short as u in pull v, as u in but, nasalized
Cherokee Syllabary Pronunciation Key
The Cherokee alphabet is written in the syllabary form. A syllabary is an alphabet in which each letter in a word stands for a whole syllable (such as "ga") instead of a single letter (such as "g"). With the exception of the letter "s," Cherokee is a complete syllabary comprising some 85 phonetic sounds.
Almost all Cherokee syllables end in a vowel. When using the syllabary, Cherokee words can almost always be spelled as they are pronounced. Spelling sometimes varies when using English letters to interpret the syllables.
The Cherokee language uses the following English consonants: d g h k l m n q s t w .
The following English consonants do not exist in the Cherokee language: b f p r* t v x z.
* The Eastern or lower dialect which is now extinct used a rolling "r", which took the place of the "l" of the other dialects.
A beginning speaker should try to keep the lips still, mouth slightly opened, pressing the tongue against the lower teeth. Syllables beginning with "g" except (ga) are pronounced almost as in English, but approaching to (t); do, du, dv are sounded as to, tu, tv in some words.
Syllables written with (ti) except (tla) sometimes vary to "di". The syllables "do, du, dv" are sometimes sounded "to, tu, tv."
The syllables qua, que, qui, quo, quu, quv are pronounced with a "kw" sound before each vowel. The syllables dla, tla, tle, tli, tlo, tlu, tlv are pronounced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth and bringing it down as the syllables are spoken.
The syllables written with "tl" except "tla" sometimes are pronounced "dl". The syllables tsa, tse, tsi, tso, tsu, tsv are pronounced a little differently depending upon the dialect.
In Western Cherokee the syllables are usually pronounced as the "j" in jaw. Remember to try to keep the tongue at the bottom of the mouth, touching the bottom teeth and the "j" in jaw. Remember to try to keep the tongue at the bottom of the mouth, touching the bottom teeth and the "j" sound becomes softer.
At times, Cherokee syllables have unvoiced or silent vowels. At times the silent vowel may be indicated with an apostrophe as in the number seven, "ga l' quo gi" -or indicated by brackets (li) quo gi." When this happens the consonant in that syllable is pronounced with the preceding syllable, "gal quo gi."
BASIC WORDS
Osiyo -Hello
Dohiju?- How are you?
(t)do `hi tsu (how are you/ are you well?) Toe-hee-tsu
(t)`o si gwu (I am fine) Oh-see-gwoo
To hi ju (Are you fine Toe-hee-joo?
(t)do`hi quu (yes, I'm fine/ yes, I'm well)Toe-hee
`ni hi `na hv (and you) Nee-hee-nah-huh
ni na (and you?) Nee-nah?
Howa (okay) Hoh-wah
O sdi (or osi) (fine) Oh-sdee
Osda- Good
Uyoi -Bad
Tla osda (no good)
Kla (also spelled "hla" and "tla")- No
Vv -Yes
Osda sunalei (good morning)
Osda svhiyeyi (good evening)
Osda svnoi (good night)
Gvlieliga (you're welcome)
Ulihelisdi (welcome)
Donada'govi (goodbye-speaking to one person)
Do'dagag'hvi (goodbye-speaking to everybody) (literally, means until we see each other again)
Do na da go hv I (Let's see each other again)
Doh-nah-dah-go-huh-ee Do da da go hv I (Let's all see each other again)
Doh-dah-dah-go-huh-ee I he do lv I (You come around again)
Ee-heh-doh-luh-ee I je do lv I (You all come around again) Ee-jeh-doh-luh-ee
Thlah Tla ya gwan ta (I don't know) Thlah Yah-gwanh-tah
Oginallii (friend)
Tohidu (good peace) Note: A state of body, mind and Spirit
Jadaxsastesti (take care)
Wado- Thank you
COLOURS
adalonige= orange (color or fruit)
dalonige=yellow
unega =white
kvnige=black sakonige-=blue, grey
dalonige-adelv =gold
adelv=silver, money
usogosdagigage= scarlet,
gi(ga)ge= red
Usogosdagigage Ohala= Scarlett O'Hara
uwodige= brown
RELATIONS
agitlagi = my aunt
etlogi =aunt
eduji= uncle
elisi= grandmother
jalisi= grandmother (your)
edudu= grandfather (my)
anadanvtli= my brother
iginvtli brother
igido= sister
aquetsi ageyutsa= daughter
edoda= father
eji= mother
usdiga= baby
ajiyehi= wife
uwetsidvhi= son (of another)
vgiwina= nephew
MISCELLANEOUS
unalii=friend
gvgegui =love
dohiyi =peace
teehee=killer<== if a person laughs and say tee hee a lot. watch out!!! hehehe
Cherokee Indian Belief On Creation
The Cherokee have a story of creation. This legend states that the first people were named Kana’ti and Selu. The legend says that, one day, when he followed her into the fields, Kana’ti saw Selu make vegetables and fruit magically appear without planting or picking them. He accused her of being a witch and sentenced her to death. Selu told Kana’ti that when she was dead, to drag her body across a piece of land seven times. If he did, he would be able to make fruits and vegetables whenever he pleased. After he killed her, he started to drag her body across the land. After awhile, he began to get tired, so he only dragged her body across the land four times. Because of this, we cannot make vegetables and fruit just appear; we have to plant them. Cherokee everywhere enjoy hearing about this story, as well as the beginning of the world. Hearing stories of their history makes them proud.
The Cherokee believed that there were three worlds. One symbol had a circle with a line going west to east, and another from north to south. This was the symbol of balance. The purpose of this world was to keep the peaceful Upperworld and the rowdy and hectic Underworld balanced. The flying group came from the Upper world. They had wings to fly up and back down to Earth. There were also the ones who lived very close to the Underworld, who could dig or swim back down to the Underworld, like the rodent who was sly and quick. There were also creatures that had four legs, and could neither fly nor dig very far down. The mighty bear was one of them. He had strength to live in the Underworld, but he also had the gracefulness to live in the Upperworld. Some creatures were said to be in more than one group, like the salamander. It has four legs, and spends time in water and on land. One creature was said to belong to all groups. His name was Uktena. He was the most evil of all. He was a combination of snake, deer and bird. If anyone met up with him, they were sure to die. If someone found one of his crystal scales, they were promised a powerful charm, and would be brought much luck. He had the wings of a bird, and the speed, grace and figure of the deer. He had the head of a snake with big fangs. He could fly, dig and walk on four legs through the forest.
Native Cherokee Indian Facts
How do you pronounce the word "Cherokee"? What does it mean?
It's pronounced "CHAIR-uh-kee," and it comes from a Muskogee word meaning 'speakers of another language.' The Cherokee originally called themselves Aniyunwiya, "the principal people," but they have generally accepted the name Cherokee, which is spelled and pronounced Tsalagi in their own language.
A word about Cherokee tribes. There are three federally recognized Cherokee tribes, the Cherokee Nation and the Keetoowah Band in Oklahoma and the Eastern Band of Cherokees in North Carolina. Then there are many other groups across the country who claim to be Cherokee nations. As a Cherokee man, that is a difficult situation for me. Some of these groups have state recognition, or they are Cherokees fighting for land in our traditional territories, or they are Cherokee communities who have moved to other places in the country. Then how can I say they are not Cherokee, just because the federal government doesn't want to recognize them? But on the other hand, without federal recognition, they don't have to prove their identity. And unfortunately there are many groups who are not Cherokee at all that claim to be a Cherokee tribe for one reason or another--some are new age cultists or something like that who don't know anything about real Cherokees, or worse, some are trying to trick the government or people of Cherokee descent into giving them some money.
Where do the Cherokees live?
The Cherokees are original residents of the American southeast, particularly Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Most Cherokees were relocated to Oklahoma in the 1800's by the infamous Trail of Tears, and the descendants of those who survived this death march still live in Oklahoma to this day. Some Cherokees escaped deportation by hiding in the Appalachian hills, or were sheltered by sympathetic white neighbors. The descendants of these people still live scattered throughout the original Cherokee homelands, particularly in North Carolina, where they have their own federally recognized tribe.
How is the Cherokee Indian nation organized?
There are three federally recognized Cherokee communities, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (the largest with 125,000 members), the United Keetoowah Band in Oklahoma (with about 7000 members) and the Eastern Band of Cherokee in North Carolina (with about 10,000 members). Each Cherokee tribe has its own government, laws, police, and other services, just like a small country. However, the US government still considers the Cherokees citizens and controls some of their decisions. In the past, each Cherokee band was led by one war chief and one peace chief, chosen by a tribal council on the basis of their great deeds for the tribe. The war chief was always male, but the peace chief could be of either gender. Today, Cherokee government is similar, but the tribal councils and chiefs are popularly elected, just as senators and governors are.
What language do the Cherokees speak?
Most Cherokee people speak English today, but more than 20,000 Cherokees also speak their native Cherokee language. Cherokee is a musical language with an innovative writing system that was invented by the Cherokee scholar Sequoyah. This writing system is a syllabary, which means that each character represents a consonant and a vowel. (Another language that uses a syllabary today is Japanese.)
What were Cherokee homes like in the past?
The Cherokee people lived in settled villages of houses with plaster and rivercane walls with thatched roofs. They also built larger, seven-sided buildings for ceremonial purposes, and most towns had a lacrosse field with benches for spectators. Cherokee villages often had palisades (reinforced walls) around them, to guard against attack. Today, Cherokees live in modern houses and apartment buildings, just like you.
What was Cherokee clothing like? Did they wear feather headdresses and face paint?
The Cherokees didn't wear long headdresses like the Sioux. Cherokee men usually cut their hair in the Mohawk style or shaved it completely except for a single scalplock, and sometimes they would also wear a porcupine roach. (These headdresses were made of porcupine hair, not their sharp quills!) Cherokee women always wore their hair long, cutting it only when they were in mourning for a family member. Men tattooed their faces and bodies extensively and painted themselves bright colors in times of war, but unlike in other tribes, Cherokee women didn't paint or tattoo themselves. Originally, Cherokee men wore breechcloths with leather pant legs tied on and the women wore wraparound skirts and poncho-style blouses; both genders wore moccasins on their feet. However, once they encountered Europeans, the Cherokees adapted European costume into their own characteristic style, including long braided or beaded jackets, cotton blouses and full skirts decorated with ribbon applique, feathered turbans, and the calico tear dress. Today, some Cherokee people still wear moccasins or a ribbon shirt, but they wear modern clothes like jeans instead of breechcloths and they only wear roaches in their hair on special occasions like a dance.
What was Cherokee transportation like in the days before cars? Did they paddle canoes?
Yes--the Cherokee Indians made long dugout canoes from hollowed-out logs. When they were on dry land, Cherokee people usually just walked. There were no horses in North America until colonists brought them over from Europe, so the Cherokees used dogs to help them carry their belongings over land.
What was Cherokee food like in the days before supermarkets?
The Cherokee were farming people. Cherokee women did most of the farming, harvesting crops of corn, beans, squash, and sunflowers. Cherokee men did most of the hunting, shooting deer, wild turkeys, and small game and fishing in the rivers and along the coast. Cherokee dishes included cornbread, soups, and stews cooked on stone hearths.
What were Cherokee weapons and tools like in the past?
Cherokee hunters used bows and arrows and blowguns; fishermen generally used spears and fishing poles. In war, Cherokee men used their bows and arrows or fought with tomahawks and spears.
What are Cherokee arts and crafts like?
The Cherokees were known for their pipe carving, rivercane baskets, gourd art, and pottery. When they were moved to Oklahoma, the Cherokees couldn't get the materials they used to use for their traditional crafts, so they concentrated more on other crafts such as beadwork and textile arts.
What kinds of stories do the Cherokees tell?
There are lots of traditional Cherokee legends and fairy tales. Storytelling is very important to the Cherokee Indian culture. Here is a story about the origin of strawberries.
In the beginning of the world, ga lv la di e hi created First Man and First Woman. Together they built a lodge at the edge of a dense forest. They were very happy together; but like all humans do at times, they began to argue.
Finally First Woman became so angry she said she was leaving and never coming back. At that moment First Man really didn't care. First Woman started walking eastward down the path through the forest. She never looked back.
As the day grew later, First Man began to worry. At last he started down the same path in search of his wife. The Sun looked down on First Man and took pity on him. The Sun asked First Man if he was still angry with First Woman. First Man said he was not angry any more. The Sun asked if he would like to have First Woman back. Fist Man readily agreed he did.
The Sun found First Woman still walking down the path toward the East. So to entice her to stop, the Sun caused to grow beneath her feet lovely blueberries. The blueberries were large and ripe. First Woman paid no attention but kept walking down the path toward the East.
Further down the path the Sun caused to grow some luscious blackberries. The berries were very black and plump. First Woman looked neither left nor right but kept walking down the path toward the East.
At last the Sun caused to grow a plant that had never grown on the earth before. The plant covered the ground in front of First Woman. Suddenly she became aware of a fragrance she had never known. Stopping she looked down at her feet. Growing in the path was a plant with shiny green leaves, lovely white flowers with the largest most luscious red berries she had ever seen. First Woman stopped to pick one. Hmmm…she had never tasted anything quite like it! It was so sweet.
As First Woman ate the berry, the anger she felt began to fade away. She thought again of her husband and how they had parted in anger. She missed him and wanted to return home.
First Woman began to gather some of the berries. When she had all she could carry, she turned toward the West and started back down the path. Soon she met First Man. Together they shared the berries, and then hand in hand, they walked back to their lodge.
The Cherokee word for strawberry is ani. The rich bottomlands of the old Cherokee country were noted for their abundance of strawberries and other wild fruits. Even today, strawberries are often kept in Cherokee homes. They remind us not to argue and are a symbol of good luck.
You may enjoy Aunt Mary, Tell Me A Story, which is a collection of traditional tales retold by a Cherokee elder. If you want to know more about the Trail of Tears and Cherokee history, two good books suitable for kids are Only the Names Remain and Soft Rain. Older readers may be interested in Voices from the Trail of Tears or Cherokee Women. Thanks for your interest in the Cherokee Indian people and their language!
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North Carolina Jokes
North Carolina: Tobacco Is A Vegetable
2000 Federal Census for North Carolina
Last name: ________________
First name: (Check appropriate box)
(_) Billy-Bob
(_) Billy-Joe
(_) Billy-Ray
(_) Billy-Sue
(_) Billy-Mae
(_) Billy-Jack
What does everyone call you?
(_) Booger
(_) Bubba
(_) Junior
(_) Sissy
(_) Other___________________
Age: ____ (if unsure, guess)
Sex:
____ M
_____ F
_____ Not sure
Shoe Size:
____ Left
____ Right
Occupation: (Check appropriate box)
(_) Farmer
(_) Mechanic
(_) Hair Dresser
(_) Unemployed
(_) Dirty Politician
(_) Preacher
Spouse's Name:_________________________
2nd Spouse's Name:_____________________
3rd Spouse's Name:_____________________
Lover's Name:__________________________
Relationship with spouse: (Check appropriate box)
(_) Sister
(_) Brother
(_) Aunt
(_) Uncle
(_) Cousin
(_) Mother
(_) Father
(_) Son
(_) Daughter
(_) Pet
Number of children living in household: _____
Number of children living in shed: ______
Number that are yours: ______
Mother's Name: _______________________
(If not sure, leave blank)
Father's Name: _______________________
(If not sure, leave blank)
Education: 1 2 3 4
(Circle highest grade completed)
Do you
(_) own or
(_) rent your mobile home? (Check appropriate box)
Total number of vehicles you own: ___
Number of vehicles that still crank: ___
Number of vehicles in front yard: ___
Number of vehicles in back yard: ___
Number of vehicles on cement blocks: ___
Firearms you own and where you keep them:
____ truck
____ bedroom
____ bathroom
____ kitchen
____ shed
Model and year of your pickup: 196___
Do you have a gun rack?
(_) Yes
(_) No; If no, please explain:
Newspapers/magazines you subscribe to:
(_) The National Enquirer
(_) The Globe
(_) TV Guide
(_) Soap Opera Digest
(_) Rifle and Shotgun
Number of times you've seen a UFO:_____
Number of times in the last 5 years you've seen Elvis:_____
Number of times you've seen Elvis in a UFO:_____
How often do you bathe:
(_) Weekly
(_) Monthly
(_) Not Applicable
Color of eyes:
Left______
Right_____
Color of hair:
(_) Blond
(_) Black
(_) Red
(_) Brown
(_) White
(_) Clairol
Color of teeth:
(_) Yellow
(_) Brownish-Yellow
(_) Brown
(_) Black
(_) N/A
Brand of chewing tobacco you prefer:
(_)Red-Man
How far is your home from a paved road?
(_) 1 mile
(_) 2 miles
(_) just a whoop-and-a-holler
(_) road?
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Dumb North Carolina Laws
It's against the law to sing off key.
Elephants may not be used to plow cotton fields.
If a man and a woman who aren't married go to a hotel/motel and register themselves as married then, according to state law, they are legally married.
All couples staying overnight in a hotel must have a room with double beds that are at least two feet apart. Making love in the space between the beds is strictly forbidden.
A marriage can be declared void if either of the two persons is physically impotent.
Barber
Fights between cats and dogs are prohibited.
Chapel Hill
It is a misdemeanor to urinate or defecate publicly.
Charlotte
Women must have their bodies covered by at least 16 yards of cloth at all times.
Elon College
There is to be no rollerblading during daylight hours, on the roads, or on the bricks. All the sidewalks at this college are made of brick. ( Repealed in 1998 )
Forest City
You must stop and call City Hall before entering town in an automobile. This is so the townspeople will have time to go out and hold their horses until you get through town.
Greensboro
Restaurants "with on sidewalk dining" must post their menu so that it is clearly readable from the sidewalk, but is not readable from the street.
Hornytown
Massage parlors have been banned.
Kill Devil Hills
You may not ride a bicycle without having both your hands on the handle bars.
Rocky Mount
It is required that you must pay a property tax on your dog.
Southern Shores
It is against the law to rollerblade on a state highway.
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North Carolina Fast Facts and Trivia
The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill is the oldest State University in the United States.
In 1903 the Wright Brothers made the first successful powered flight by man at Kill Devil Hill near Kitty Hawk. The Wright Memorial at Kitty Hawks now commemorates their achievement.
High Point is known as the Furniture Capital of the World.
Know as "Fish Town" in the early 1700's when Blackbeard frequented the coast, "Beaufort Town" was established as a seaport with the right to collect customs, in 1722.
The Outer Banks of NC hosts some of the most beautiful beaches in the country.
Whitewater Falls in Transylvania County is the highest waterfall in the eastern United States.
Cape Hatteras is the largest lighthouse ever to be moved due to erosion problems.
The University of North Carolina's mascot, the Tarheels, is a nickname for North Carolinians that supposedly came from the days when NC produced a lot of tar, and someone saw a set of footprints made by someone who had stepped in the tar.
Charles Karault was born and raised in Wilmington.
Havelock is home of Marine Base "Cherry Point." It is the largest air base in the Marine Corps.
North Carolina is the largest producer of sweet potatoes in the nation. Students at a Wilson County school petitioned the North Carolina General Assembly for the establishment of the sweet potato as the official state vegetable.
Harker's Island hosts the annual Core Sound Decoy Festival in December.
Morehead City is home to the North Carolina Seafood Festival, held the first weekend in October every year.
The World War II battleship 'North Carolina' is permanently berthed on the Cape Fear River at Wilmington. She was saved from the scrap heap in the 1960's by public subscription, including donations of dimes by schoolchildren.
The first English colony in America was located on Roanoke Island. Walter Raleigh founded it. The colony mysteriously vanished with no trace except for the word "Croatoan" scrawled on a nearby tree.
Mount Mitchell in the Blue Ridge Mountains is the highest peak east of the Mississippi. It towers 6,684 feet above sea level.
Krispy Kreme Doughnut was founded in Winston-Salem.
The Venus Fly-Trap is native to Hampstead.
The first miniature golf course was built in Fayetteville.
Babe Ruth hit his first home run in Fayetteville on March 7, 1914.
Winston-Salem was created when the two towns Winston and Salem combined.
The Biltmore Estate in Ashville is America's largest home, and includes a 255-room chateau, an award-winning winery and extensive gardens.
The first English child born in America was born in Roanoke in 1587. Her name was Virginia Dare.
The Lost Colony Outdoor Drama in Albemarle commemorates the birth of Virginia Dare. Scheduled to run just one year, it proved so successful that it has played for nearly sixty consecutive summers.
The first state owned art museum in the country is located in Raleigh.
Fontana Dam is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States, at 480 feet high.
Many people believe that North Carolina was the first state to declare independence from England with the Mecklenburg Declaration of 1775.
Grandfather Mountain, highest peak in the Blue Ridge, is the only private park in the world designated by the United Nations as an International Biosphere Reserve.
The Mile-High Swinging Bridge near Linville is 5,305 feet above sea level. The bridge actually hangs about 80 feet above the ground.
Pepsi was invented and first served in New Bern in 1898.
Beech Mountain is Eastern America's highest town at 5,506ft above sea level.
Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States, was born in the Waxsaws area on the border of North and South Carolina.
Arnold Palmer recognized as the player whose aggressive play and winning personality raised golf to national attention, honed his skills on the championship golf team of Wake Forest University.
James K. Polk, born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, was the eleventh President of the United States.
Hiram Rhoades Revels, born in Fayetteville in 1822, was the first African-American member of the United States Congress.
Andrew Johnson started his career as a tailor's apprentice in Raleigh, North Carolina and rose to lead in the reuniting of the nation as the seventeenth President of the United States.
North Carolina leads the nation in furniture, tobacco, brick, and textile production.
Saluda, North Carolina is located at the top of the Saluda Grade. The crest of the steepest standard gauge mainline railroad in the United States.
State Motto: Esse quam videri (To be rather than to seem)
The town of Wendell town was named for the American writer, Oliver Wendell Holmes.
The Swiss and German settlement of New Bern was named in honor of the founder's home, Bern, Switzerland. When Bern, Switzerland was founded, it was named by a group of hunters. They named the city for the first animal they came upon on their hunting expedition. It was a bear. "Bern" is the old Germanic word for Bear, and the bear became the symbol of the city. It has been adopted by New Bern, as well.
North Carolina was the first state in the nation to establish a state museum of art.
North Carolina was one of the first states in the U.S. to establish a state symphony. The North Carolina Symphony, founded in 1943, currently performs nearly 185 full-orchestra concerts each year.
North Carolina has the largest state-maintained highway system in the United States. The state's highway system currently has 77,400 miles of roads
The General Assembly of 1987 adopted milk as the official state beverage.
The oldest town in the state is Bath, incorporated in 1705.
Located in northeastern North Carolina on the Albemarle-Pamlico peninsula, Columbia is on the eastern shore of the Scuppernong River. The Indians called the area "the place of the sweet bay tree."
Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run in Fayetteville on March 7, 1914.
White Lake near Elizabethtown is very unique in that it has a white sandy bottom and is blessed with crystal clear waters. It has also been labeled as the "Nation's Safest Beach." It is truly a child's paradise in that there are no currents, no tides, no hazardous depressions or real dangers of any kind to swimmers.
North Carolina has 1,500 lakes of 10 acres or more in size and 37,000 miles of fresh water streams.
North Carolina Historic Sites, a group of 27 unique state historic sites, invites you to see our state as it was and to open doors into the past, which can enable us to better understand the world we live in today. Whether you are fortunate enough to live in North Carolina or are just visiting, you will discover we have sites to fire the imagination, engage the mind, and lift the spirit.
NORTH CAROLINA HISTORIC SITES ...
Alamance Battleground — COLONIAL/REVOLUTIONARY WAR
Here in 1771, an armed rebellion of backcountry farmers called Regulators battled with royal governor William Tryon's militia. The spark for this conflict was growing resentment in the Carolina colony against the taxes, dishonest sheriffs, and illegal fees imposed by the British Crown. In response, the Regulators were formed and began to fight back. Though the rebellion was crushed, a few years later their tactics became a model for the colonists fighting the British in the American Revolutionary War.
Aycock Birthplace — EDUCATION/FARM LIFE
Charles B. Aycock was born into a rural home here in Wayne County in 1859. Interested in politics from his youth, Aycock began to practice law and move up in the Democratic Party after graduating from the University of North Carolina. In 1900 he was elected governor and dedicated himself to improving public education in North Carolina. By the time he left office four years later, one school had been built for each day the governor was in office. Today a typical schoolhouse of the period stands on the site.
Historic Bath — COLONIAL PERIOD
European settlement near the Pamlico River in the 1690s led to the founding of Bath, North Carolina's first town, in 1705. By 1708, Bath had 50 people and 12 houses. It soon became North Carolina's first port. Political rivalries, Indian wars, and piracy marked its early years but in 1746 Bath was considered for the colony's capital. However, when county government moved away in the late 1700s, Bath lost most of its importance and trade. Its original town limits encompass a historic district today.
Bennett Place — CIVIL WAR
This simple farmhouse was situated between Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's headquarters in Greensboro, and Union Gen. William T. Sherman's headquarters in Raleigh. In April 1865, the two commanders met at the Bennett Place, where they signed surrender papers for Southern armies in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. It was the largest troop surrender of the American Civil War.
Bentonville Battlefield — CIVIL WAR
The Battle of Bentonville, fought March 19-21, 1865, was the last full-scale action of the Civil War in which a Confederate army was able to mount a tactical offensive. This major battle, the largest ever fought in North Carolina, was the only significant attempt to defeat the large Union army of Gen. William T. Sherman during its march through the Carolinas in the spring of 1865.
Brunswick Town / Fort Anderson — COLONIAL/CIVIL WAR
A major pre-Revolutionary port on North Carolina's Cape Fear River, Brunswick was razed by British troops in 1776 and never rebuilt. During the Civil War, Fort Anderson was constructed atop the old village site, and served as part of the Cape Fear River defenses below Wilmington before the fall of the Confederacy. Colonial foundations dot the present-day tour trail, which crosses the earthworks of the Confederate fort.
Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum — AFRICAN AMERICAN EDUCATION
Founded in 1902 by Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Palmer Memorial Institute transformed the lives of more than 2,000 African American students. Today, the campus provides the setting where visitors can explore this unique environment where boys and girls lived and learned during the greater part of the 20th century. The museum links Dr. Brown and Palmer Memorial Institute to the larger themes of African American history, women's history, social history, and education, emphasizing the contributions African Americans made in North Carolina.
CSS Neuse — CIVIL WAR/COLONIAL
Glimpses into two of our nation's most pivotal wars can be found in one historic site within the city of Kinston. Here you will explore the celebrated life of Richard Caswell, the first governor of the independent state of North Carolina. You will also see up close the remnants of the ironclad gunboat CSS Neuse, a product of the Confederate navy's ill-fated attempt to regain control of the lower Neuse River and retake the city of New Bern during the Civil War.
Duke Homestead — AGRICULTURE/INDUSTRY
See the early home, factories, and farm where Washington Duke first grew and processed tobacco. His sons later founded The American Tobacco Company, the world's largest tobacco company. Duke and others helped create a market for Durham-area tobacco products that eventually would turn North Carolina into the heart of an international tobacco empire. Many profits were invested in land and industries but others were used for such humanitarian causes as Duke University, named for the family.
Historic Edenton — COLONIAL PERIOD
Featuring 18th and early 19th century history, North Carolina's second oldest town Edenton was one of the fledgling nation's chief political, cultural, and commercial centers. The state's first colonial capital, it was established in the late 17th century and incorporated in 1722. Once its second largest port, Edenton provided slaves with a means of escape via the Maritime Underground Railroad before Emancipation. Today it features an extensive historic district with architectural styles spanning 250 years, such as the 1767 Chowan County Courthouse National Historic Landmark.
Fort Dobbs — FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR/ARCHAEOLOGY
Named for royal governor Arthur Dobbs, the fort was built during the French and Indian War to protect settlers. In 1760, a raiding party of Cherokee Indians were repelled during the only direct attack attempted against the fort. Historians believe it was dismantled after pioneers pushed further west. Ft. Dobbs is the only North Carolina state historic site associated with the French and Indian War and the only one located along the official colonial frontier. The site is currently under redevelopment.
Fort Fisher — CIVIL WAR
Until the last few months of the Civil War, Fort Fisher kept North Carolina's port of Wilmington open to blockade-runners supplying necessary goods to Confederate armies inland. By 1865, the supply line through Wilmington was the last remaining supply route open to Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. When Fort Fisher fell after a massive Federal amphibious assault on January 15, 1865, its defeat helped seal the fate of the Confederacy.
Historic Halifax — COLONIAL/REVOLUTIONARY WAR
Located on the Roanoke River, the town of Halifax developed into a commercial and political center at the time of the American Revolution. North Carolina's Fourth Provincial Congress met in Halifax in the spring of 1776. On April 12 that body unanimously adopted a document later called the "Halifax Resolves," which was the first official action by an entire colony recommending independence from England.
Horne Creek Living Historical Farm — FARM LIFE/AGRICULTURE
Once the Hauser family farm, Horne Creek enables visitors to experience farm life in North Carolina's northwestern Piedmont circa 1900. The site features the family's original farm house, a tobacco curing barn, a corn crib, adjacent fields under cultivation, and even a heritage apple orchard. Through programs ranging from old fashioned ice cream socials to an annual corn shucking frolic, Horne Creek Living Historical Farm provides a unique opportunity to learn about our rural past.
House in the Horseshoe — REVOLUTIONARY WAR
In spring and summer, bright flowers surround this plantation house named for its location on a horseshoe bend in the Deep River. The house (ca. 1770) was owned by Philip Alston, whose band of colonists seeking independence from Britain was attacked here in 1781 during the American Revolution by British loyalists led by David Fanning. Later, four-term governor Benjamin Williams lived in the house, which now features antiques of the colonial and Revolutionary War eras.
North Carolina Transportation Museum — TRANSPORTATION/INDUSTRY
Discover the people and machines that have moved North Carolina. Located on the site of Southern Railway's former steam locomotive repair facility Spencer Shops, this is where locomotives that hauled Southern's passenger trains and freight trains filled with North Carolina furniture, textiles, tobacco, and produce were serviced from 1896 to the late 1970's. Up to 3,000 people once worked here but today visitors can see an authentic train depot, antique automobiles, and a roundhouse with 25 locomotives.
USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial — WORLD WAR II/NAVAL
Standing majestically across from downtown Wilmington, the battleship USS North Carolina beckons visitors to walk her decks and envision daily life as well as the fierce combat her veterans faced in World War II. The first fast battleship to join the American fleet during the war, she was then considered the world’s greatest sea weapon. The North Carolina participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific, earned 15 battle stars, and was home to 144 commissioned officers and 2,195 enlisted men.
James K. Polk Memorial — U.S. PRESIDENT/MEXICAN WAR
Located on land once owned by President James K. Polk's family, the memorial is where our eleventh chief executive was born in 1795. Here he spent spent most of his childhood, helping work the 250-acre farm. The memorial commemorates significant events in the Polk administration including the Mexican War, settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute, and the annexation of California. Reconstructions of typical homestead buildings—a log house, separate kitchen, and barn—are authentically furnished.
Reed Gold Mine — GOLD MINING/INDUSTRY
Reed Gold Mine is the site of the first documented gold find in the United States. It was here in 1799 where Conrad Reed discovered a 17-pound yellow rock, which later turned out to be gold and was sold for only $3.50. From this discovery, gold mining spread gradually to nearby counties and eventually into other southern states. Sections of the mine's old underground tunnels are open for guided tours. The site includes a museum with exhibits on gold mining and several nature trails. From April through October, visitors may learn how to pan for gold for a small fee.
Roanoke Island Festival Park — SIXTEENTH CENTURY SETTLEMENT
Roanoke Island Festival Park is a 27-acre state historic site and cultural center celebrating history, education, and the arts. Step aboard the Elizabeth II, a representative 16th century sailing vessel. Visit with Elizabethan explorers and soldiers in the Settlement Site. The Roanoke Adventure Museum explores 400 years of Outer Banks history. View the docudrama, "The Legend of Two-Path". Experience a new artist each month in The Art Gallery. Shop our store for unique gifts. Enjoy special summer performances. Stroll our boardwalks through pristine marshes and observe our hidden beauty.
Somerset Place — SLAVERY/PLANTATION LIFE
One of the upper South's largest antebellum plantations, Somerset Place was home from 1785-1865 to 850 enslaved people, three generations of owners, and around 50 white and two black employees. It once included more than 100,000 wooded, swampy acres bordering Lake Phelps, in present-day Washington County where such crops as rice were cultivated. Today, the 31-acre site offers a realistic view of 19th-century life on a large North Carolina plantation through seven original buildings and meshes the lifestyles of all of the plantation's residents in one concise chronological social history.
Historic Stagville — SLAVERY/PLANTATION LIFE
Comprises the remains of North Carolina's largest pre-Civil War plantation and one of the South's largest. It once belonged to the Bennehan-Cameron family, whose combined holdings totaled approximately 900 slaves and almost 30,000 acres by 1860. Today, Stagville consists of 71 acres, on three tracts. On this land stand the late 18th-century Bennehan House, four rare slave houses, a pre-Revolutionary War farmer's house, a huge timber framed barn built by skilled slave craftsmen, and the Bennehan Family cemetery.
State Capitol — GOVERNMENT/ARCHITECTURE
This National Historic Landmark is one of the finest and best-preserved examples of the Greek Revival style of architecture in the United States. The Capitol features a domed rotunda and state senate and house chambers, meticulously restored to their 1840 appearance. Its granite walls housed all of North Carolina state government until 1888. The legislature met here until 1961. Today, the governor and his staff still occupy offices in the Capitol.
Town Creek Indian Mound — NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURE
For more than a thousand years, Indians farmed on lands later known as North Carolina. Around A.D. 1200, a new cultural tradition arrived in the Pee Dee River Valley. Termed "Pee Dee" by archaeologists, it was part of a widespread tradition known as "South Appalachian Mississippian." These Native Americans established a political and ceremonial center at the Town Creek and Little Rivers. Here visitors can now see a reconstructed ceremonial center, featuring a temple mound and major temple, minor temple, and burial hut.
Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens — COLONIAL GOVERNMENT
North Carolina's first capitol—where governors ruled, legislators debated, patriots gathered, and George Washington danced. Meticulously reconstructed in the 1950's, the original Tryon Palace was built between 1767 and 1770 for colonial Governor Tryon as the first permanent capitol of North Carolina. Today visitors to the complex marvel at the palace's English antiques, stroll its renowned gardens, and learn about various periods of New Bern's proud history at the Academy Museum as well as the Stanly, Hay, and Dixon houses.
Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace — PIONEER LIFE/GOVERNMENT/CIVIL WAR
This pioneer farmstead, tucked in the Reems Creek Valley, features the birthplace of Zebulon Baird Vance, North Carolina's Civil War governor. Before becoming governor, Vance served as a Confederate Army officer and later became a U.S. Senator. Rugged and controversial, Vance had a dynamic political career, which is traced at the homestead. The five-room log house--reconstructed around original chimneys--and its outbuildings are furnished to evoke the period from 1795 to 1840 when three successive generations of the famed mountain family lived here.
Thomas Wolfe Memorial — AMERICAN LITERATURE
Thomas Wolfe left an indelible mark on American letters. His mother's boardinghouse in Asheville—now the Thomas Wolfe Memorial—has become one of literature's most famous landmarks. Named "Old Kentucky Home" by a previous owner, the rambling Victorian structure was immortalized by Wolfe as "Dixieland" in his epic autobiographical novel, "Look Homeward, Angel". Restored to look as it did in the early 20th century when young Tom Wolfe and Mrs. Wolfe's boarders shared a roof, the house evokes a time and a place that inspired one of the South's greatest writers.
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Some haunted sites worth visiting in North Carolina:
Aberdeen - old nursing home - it's an abandoned nursing home that is closed off by woods. there are time you go in and a chair will move from a room out into the hall way. As you walk down the hall being quiet, you can hear grunts and moaning of older people. The building beside it burned which was where they kept the healthy patients. Everything burnt except the devil signs. If you were to go into the building that still stands to this day you will see needles with dried up blood in them. there is also a sign posted on the wall in front of the desk that says hair cuts on Tuesday and sometimes it says on wed. People have said that they seen bedroom slippers on one of the beds they ran out and when they went back in they seen blood coming out from under the door. The blood stains still remain. People have tried to go and remodel it but something keeps chasing them off.
Angier - Coats Park - At the park in Coats. There's this trail. If you walk down this trail, there is some kind of being that chases you. And if you camp there, there is a place that if you put something there such as a tent, and try to sleep your tent will be moved out of the way by morning. Its called " The Devils Stomping Grounds"
Asheville - The Biltmore Estate - Back in 1914, George W. Vanderbilt died from complications from a surgery he had for appendicitis. His wife was extremely upset. So late at nights, in the Library, she would sit in front of the large marble fireplace, and talk with George. Though he was never really there. Her servants started to think she was losing her mind. To this day late at night you can still hear her voice very softly talking with George. Also, You can feel George's presence in the Billiard Room, and the 2nd floor Oak Sitting room. One of his favorite rooms in the mansion. During rainy late nights, George would sit and read. Workers report feelings of being watched, apparitions, voices, laughing, & screams. A headless orange cat has been seen by numerous visitors roaming the area between the Gardens and the Bass pond. The Pool Room is also a focal point of unexplainable events. The sound of people swimming echoes throughout the entire lower floor in the dead of night. Insane laughter can be heard coming from the drain at the bottom of the pool. It is said to be haunted by a lady in black. Employees report hearing footsteps on the second floor. Its $10 for the small tour and $50 for the full tour of the house. But be sure you stay CLOSE to the guide. Odds are, there will only be 3 or 4 people touring with you.
Asheville - Chicken Alley - The legendary ghost of Dr. Jamie Smith, who lived at this infamous Asheville locale known as "Chicken Alley" over a century ago. For decades, countless sightings of his ghost have been reported. Dr. Smith was killed in a bar-room confrontation in 1902 at the old historic "Broadway's Tavern" The tavern was destroyed by fire the following year. The close vicinity known as Chicken Alley has been victim to his ghost for over one hundred years!
Asheville - Erwin High school - Potter’s Field - In the nineteen-seventies when the new Clyde Erwin High school was built just outside Asheville, the remnants of what was called the Old County Home Graveyard was dug up to make room for the new building. Numerous transients & casualties of sickness who were buried here were moved across the street and planted below unmarked wooden crosses. It's said that the restless spirits of those buried here still haunt the school, and many janitors who have worked the night shift there refuse to recount the things they've experienced while inside. Unmarked graves are said to still lie beneath the potter's field, overlooking the school.
Asheville - The Grove Park Inn - There's a lady dressed in pink that haunts this Inn. You can see her and hear her late at night. Several guests and employees have had several encounters with her. She is known to tickle toes at night while visitors are attempting to sleep. She is said to be the wife of the famous writer Fitzgerald. When you get close to room 545, it seems to get cold. You can usually here doors slamming, laughter, and talking from rooms that are not used.
Asheville - Helens' Bridge - recently torn down and rebuilt - When the Zalandia Castle caught fire; a woman named Helen lost her only child. A daughter. Helen was so crushed by the loss she hung herself from the bridge right down the road from the castle. On Halloween night go to the bridge and try to conjure Helen. If she is successfully called, you car will mess up in some way that you can't get down the mountain.
Asheville - home to Channel 13 WLOS - It's said to be haunted by a servant when the building was home to Dr. Samuel Westray Battle. The ghost's name is Alice and is said to walk around the building and play with the TV equipment. She is said to be also the Pink Lady, because The Battle mansion is next to the Grove Park Inn, and she has been seen walking over to the Inn.
Asheville - Jackson Building - You can see a face in one of the top windows, thought to be the face of a man who committed suicide after loosing everything during the great depression.
Asheville - Old Battery Park Hotel - It's said that in a private apartment building in downtown Asheville which used to be known as the Battery Park Hotel in the early to mid 1900's, apparitions can be seen very early in the morning. Individuals who worked the morning shift in the pantry refused to go in alone because a man who was murdered there was known to reveal himself in spirit form to employees.
Asheville - Reed House - the sounds of pool being played can be heard.
Asheville - Shiloh - Abandoned Forestry Compound - There is a building in the compound which has all the windows boarded up. The downstairs consists of a long dark hallway with doors alternating on either side. In one downstairs bathroom there is a toilet filled with blood. Upstairs there is a room used by a now dead prostitute. This building is nicknamed the "Whorehouse" for that reason. Even when the temperature outside is 70 degrees, it barely reaches 40 degrees inside. Strange noises are heard by people who live in the Shiloh neighborhood, and lights have been seen as well. There are other buildings in the compound, and their doors are open and closed at random. There is a length of rope hanging from the rafters in one building.
Atlantic Beach - Fort Macon - There's said to believe that civil war ghosts haunt the top of the fort and watch for the union soldiers to attack. And there have been accounts on which during World War 2 the main gate was closed on it own while the guards were keeping watch on the place.
Beaufort - Hammock House - balls of light and blood stains that can't be washed away are observed here.
Bentonville - Bentonville Battleground - Gunfire and shouting can be heard on the battleground and around the trenches at night, and there are countless stories of the plantation house being haunted by those who died there - including a little girl who died of tuberculosis and is said to still haunt one of the upstairs rooms.
Bessemmer City - Tryon Elementary School - Sights of boys reflection in 4th and 5th Grade bathroom mirror beside one of the girls. Blond hair Blue eyes Red & Blue raggedy shirt and tan capris.
Blowing Rock - The Green Park Inn Hotel - A room on the 3rd floor of the Hotel is reported to be haunted by a woman who died there years ago. She has also been reported seen walking on the 3rd floor. I have walked on the 3rd floor and just get shivers up my back. You can feel something in the air.
Boone - Appalachian State University - East Hall - East Hall is one of the dormitories for the college and is said to be haunted. Student assistants have reported being followed by unknown footsteps when on their rounds after midnight. People have also claimed that the lights will suddenly turn off in halls and you can feel someone brush against you. You can also hear whispering voices in the hallway. The third floor new bathroom is haunted by a male ghost, though it is a girls' bathroom. Also assorted residents have reported seeing a girl dressed in white in their rooms and others have had small items in their rooms rearranged daily.
Boone - Perkinsville Dr. - When turning at the Hardies intersection in Boone near Lowes Foods, Go to the second road on the right, just past the gas station. The road is Perkinsville drive, follow the road to the last house on the left, you have to look hard. The house is hidden by trees and over growth. This house is so haunted, you're guaranteed to experience something every time you go, day or night. Supposedly a man died due to un-natural causes and haunts that house. Mostly footsteps are heard, a strong feeling of non-welcome, and an angry banging on the up stairs floor. - December 2003 Update: Has burnt down
Boone - Tiwanna Fatz Restaurant - Tiwanna Fatz restaurant was active with people for some time before it partially burnt down, there was a little girl who died in the fire. The part of the restaurant was rebuilt. Rumor has it that if you stay in the area that burnt down you will sometimes occasionally hear the little girls' voice.
Brown Mountain (near Grandfather Mountain)- The Brown Mountain lights appear along the ridge of the mountain, moving erratically. They are best seen from a distance; they disappear as you climb the mountain. No one knows what they are, but the sightings have gone on for so long that the Cherokees who inhabited the area have stories about them.
Brown Mountain - Blue Ridge Parkway - At two different places on the blue ridge parkway you can see the brown mountain lights. There are two stories to this one. 1) Its said that there was a war between two different Native American tribes. At night when it was safe the women would go out and look for there husbands with big bright torches but they were killed to so now they keep looking forever. 2) It was winter and a little girl had gone missing her father looked and looked for her she died and he died and to this day he continues the search. Brown mountain has no homes or roads built on it you cant even go on the mountain so that makes it a truly haunted place scientist have tried figure out what’s going on for hundreds of years and many people have seen these lights year after year.
Brunswick - Leland - Mt. Misery Road - Mt. misery Road is right beside the Capefear River and used to lead all the way to Fayetteville. Back in the time when people owned slaves. The slave ships would dock at the river and march the slaves up Mt. Misery 90 miles to Fayetteville, many died of heat exhaustion. It is said now late at night you can hear the sound of chains and moans as the slave marched.
Burlington - Williams High School - It is said that a girl was stood up on prom night, and she got to the top of the school and jumped. When you drive down the road between the football field and the back of the school, the top sign at the end of the street bleeds.
Cabarrus County - Mt. Pleasant - Cline School- On Cline School Road very late at night, 3a.m or so, you can see a man walking down the road on your right side, regardless of which way you are going. If you get out he'll dissapear.
Camp Lejuene Marine Base - It is said that if you are driving through the back gate of the marine base at night, you will see a woman in white walking along the road. The guards in the guard shack have heard many strange noises. It is believed that the woman was killed in a car accident.
Camp Lejeune Marine Base - Hp175 - Room 300 - While a Marine was sleeping he was slapped and saw a black figure. It disappeared when the Marine turned on the light. The Marine had a bruise the next morning.
Caroleen - Caroleen Bridge - When you drive by the bridge on rainy nights you can see two elderly sisters trying to walk home. These two sisters where killed in an auto accident when they where nearing the bridge and ran over the side. When you stop to pick them up they will get into your car and disappear once you cross the bridge as if they where never even there.
Caroleen - Caroleen Broad River Bridge - There has been many deaths on this bridge, but a few years ago two elderly ladies who where sisters and lived not even a fourth of the mile from the bridge, accidentally ran off the side of the bridge on the way home. At night on the anniversary of there death you can see them walking towards their home.
Caroleen - Old Caroleen School Gym - This is an old run down gym that was abandoned after the county tore the school down. It is said that late at night if you park your car in front of the gym door which has been torn off you can see the spirit of two young girls that where raped and killed in the 1950's wondering about inside, you must turn off your car lights to see this.
Caswell County - - Prospect Hill - The Devil's Playground - There are creeks that form a triangle. Strange things happen such as hearing voices, sudden weather changes, hearing music, and strange shadows appear in the woods. No one has ever been able to spend the entire night there.
Chapanoke - Hertford - The Five Bridges Ghosts - In the early 1900's a man and his wife were driving on 5 Bridges Road in the suburb of Chapanoke and they got a flat tire. He got out to change it, and when he got back in the car, she was gone. He looked around for her, and saw her hanging in a tree. Someone had hung her and he was never found. If you go out there at night, turn off the lights on your truck/car, you'll hear someone knock for a ride home. Also, it's been reported that you can see her dangling from a tree, and something will sound like footsteps walking across the top of your car.
Chapel Hill - Dromgoole's Castle - There's a legend regarding this strange house not too far from the campus of The University of North Carolina. A man who was in love with a young woman discovered she was in love with a friend of his, so hey had a pistol duel at his house and he was mortally wounded. In his dying moments, he fell on a flat rock that is now stained with his blood to this very day. Student have reported his sad ghost agonizing cries from his fatal wound as well as his girlfriend who died not long after his untimely death.
Charlotte - Founders College - Founders Hall - is haunted by a girl whose corpse was sold to the medical school here.
Charlotte - Loonis McGlohan Theatre (Spirit Square) - The original building in this location was constructed in the late 1800's, as a church. In 1903 it was rebuilt into the structure, which exists there today. The church was taken over by the city, in the 1940's or early 1950's, and renovated into a theatre. Now, almost 100 years later, you can hear people walking around in the Church/Theatre when the facility is closed. As well, a few of the employees have noted that sometimes when they are working in the sub-basement, they can hear faint singing coming from above them.
Charlotte - McAlpine Creek Park - Trail - Walk this trail at night by yourself......Its right beside Independence road. The trail has an old mill house, it is said that a skeleton was found under the mills house bell. (Bring a flashlight, and something to protect yourself because there IS something in this trail.)
Charlotte - Queens College - Albright - There is a ghost of a heartbroken girl whose parents found out about her relationship with another woman who committed suicide in a girl's dorm. Her knocking and door closing and opening has scared several reliable witnesses.
Charlotte - Queens College - Court Yard - well if you go out into the quart yard at certain times in the night you can see the swaying motion of a hung body and you can hear faint screams now and then. Apparitions have been seen of Civil War-era soldiers.
Charlotte - Queens College - Wallace - Residents have also experienced poltergeist-like activity and cold spots in a corner room of Wallace dorm.
Chesterfield - Shadowline Park - Shadows of demon dogs walking around the park. Figures around the bathrooms where mysterious murders happened, and an overwhelming sense of dread.
Clyde - Hwy 209 below truckstop - There is said to be a ghost on hwy 209 which runs alongside the pigeon river. They say if you are driving by this certain spot around midnight, you will pass the spot where a woman was struck by a car and killed. if after you pass here, you look in your rearview mirror, you will see her in your backseat or behind your car.
Columbia - - Dolly Field - no one lives up there and if you go up there at night this man name Larry that use to live up there in a old house but died some years back will come after you with his tractor some people have been chase by this man.
Concord - Concord Middle School - The middle school is a new building that has only been around since 2000-2001. The location was moved from an older building built in the early 1920's now used as a center for students who are disruptive or for other reasons cannot participate in a normal classroom environment to another building located on Gold Rush Dr. off of Neisler Rd. Teachers and other staff at the school have reported hearing footsteps in the halls at night when no one else is in the building. There are also reports of the sound of doors slamming shut when there is no possible explanation for this, although no doors have ever been seen shutting on their own. Also reports of strange sounds in auditorium. One faculty member working in the office late one night heard sounds coming from the hallway. She high-tailed it on out of there. No theories about the cause of the occurrences. Interestingly, though, everything started after a Catholic priest was brought in to perform an exorcism in the media center in 2001.
Cullowhee - Western Carolina University - Harrill Residence Hall - 5th Floor - It is said that a girl died of an asthma attack while her boyfriend was sleeping over. She suffocated in her sleep before she could be saved. It is now said that the 5th floor as well as the elevators are haunted by her ghost. The elevators open at the 5th floor, and then go down to the first floor, opening again. The elevators have been known to randomly open with no one in them on all floors. Strange occurrences and the feeling of being watched have been reported on the 5th floor.
Concord - Piney Grove Church - An abandoned church, that was left with everything still there... There is a graveyard in the back, and I have seen things; things walking around in the cemetery, there is also said to be 4 spirits in the church.
Concord - Sally's Bridge - Sally's Bridge is an old bridge off Poplar Tent Road. A young high school girl and her baby were driving here one night in the rain and ran into a creek. Sally could not find her baby, but they both died eventually. If you stop on the bridge, she will do anything she can to get you to help her find her baby. People have reported a frantic looking woman knocking on car doors and trying to open car windows.
Concord - The Old Court House Theater - The Theater used to be in the old courthouse but it was moved to an old church. The ghost there is called the "Deacon" he basically moves things around.
Concord - Winecoff Elementary School - In the old building where the 5th grade hall was is a ghost of a long dead football player. The school was at one time a 1st thru 12th grade school. The 5th grade hall use to be used by the football players many years ago. It's said that after a football game the player came back to this part of the school and had a heart attack and died. He haunted the 5th grade hall behind the gym until the school was torn down to build the new school back in 1995 or so. He doesn't do anything. You see him walking down the hall, then he slides down the wall and disappears.
Conetoe - Railroad Crossing - Reports of a strange light on the tracks, believed to be the spirit of a girl that died there 100 years ago.
Creswell - Somerset Plantation - The Somerset Plantation house and grounds is haunted by the ghost of the lady of the house. She can be heard screaming and crying mourning her son who drowned in an irrigation canal. state park campgrounds in the designated spot closest to the house.
Crowder 92s mountain- Crowder 92s mountain Baptist church - Many people have seen a little girl dressed in a white dress playing in the church yard. When approached she runs in to the woods behind the church, hear crying coming from the woods as if the child is scared or lost.
Cullowhee - Scott Residence Hall - 8th Floor - In the early 1990's a young student hung herself in the East Wing. For many years the floor was shut off due to many occurrences with sightings of the young lady. Bathroom lights will turn on and off as well as doors opening and shutting. Water will run for no reason.
Cullowhee - Western Carolina University - The Moore Building - The Moore Building has many rumors around it regarding the haunting. The actual story is this: A young woman enrolled in the teaching program was murdered in the mid-sixties by a local resident when she refused his romantic advances. The man was caught, however, due to his mental capacity and well-respected family connections, he served only a few years at Broughton Hospital in Morganton. The 3rd floor began experiencing a haunting shortly after the girls' death. It is true that students began refusing to live on the 3rd floor due to the sounds of crying, screaming and pacing. Moore was converted to classrooms in the 1980's, yet strange things continued to happen. The man convicted of the girl's murder died in 1997, and the paranormal activity seems to have stopped, although students on the 3rd floor often report getting "the creeps" or feeling like they are being watched.
Danbury - Davis Chapel Church - It is said that a woman who was stood up at the alter there killed herself in the church and can be seen walking around searching for her lost fiancée and the sounds of her sobbing can be heard all through the night.
Davidson - Southmont - Gravity hill - Stop your car at the bottom of the hill and it is said to be that a woman will push you to the top. legend has it her car rolled over her when it broke down one night. if you put flower on the back you can see her hand prints!
Denton - Jackson Creek Road - There is an old field in the woods along this road. In this field there is a house that has been abandoned for many years. The reason the house was abandoned was because many years ago there was a murder committed in it. A man came home one day and for some reason he had gone crazy. The man shot his wife outside of the house then went upstairs and shot himself. The blood was washed up outside the house and upstairs where the man committed suicide. After the blood was cleaned up it reappeared the next day and to this day it can't be cleaned. The room upstairs in the house where the man committed suicide has been blocked off so that nobody can go in and see the horrible scene. The blood outside is still there and cannot be removed. It is said that the place is haunted to this very day by those troubled souls.
Dillsboro - GSMR Tunnel - When Norfolk-Southern began expansion into the southwest mountains of North Carolina, it was difficult for the company to find men able to do the hard work required. Convicts were brought in to complete work on a tunnel right outside of Dillsboro. To get to the site, the men had to cross a section of the Tuckaseegee River on raft. One day, the raft flipped over in the rain-swollen river and all of the convicts died (except one) because they were chained together. The men were buried on the mountain above the tunnel. Sometimes, especially after a big rain, people report hearing chains rattling and the echoes of men splashing in water yelling for help. **Interesting fact about this tunnel** This is the same tunnel Harrison Ford walks into in the movie 'The Fugitive'.
Dunn - Coats - near coats savage junk yard - Around 12:30pm every night when you drive by you see the ghost of a young children in the junk yard playing. And if you listen closely you can hear them saying "ring around the rosy pocket full of posies ashes ashes we all fall dead." Some believe its the children that died in the fetal car accident that happened back in 1967 haunt it. Some also say that they were from the devastating fire that happened back in 1934. But nobody really knows why they haunt the junkyard.
Dunn - Old Bluff Church - In about the 1820's on a Halloween day this church was having sermon and the preacher flipped out and killed every one in there and now if you go to the church and you read the big stone memorial and walk up to the doors and read the sign and do what it tells you to than you will see a man holding a lantern and he will wave you on.
Durham - Cabe Lands Cemetery - Long abandoned cemetery about 200 yards off of the Cabe Lands Trail by the Eno River. Visitgrs to the site have reported hearing faint yet distinctive voices in the area. One couple reports, "My husband and I have visited the site several times and never heard voices, until our last visit when we both hear a definite voice. This time we went out there just after sunset. We definitely heard a man's voice and all we could make out were the words: noise, of about, miller, flags, and years. It was an amazing experience, but I would never go back there alone or after dark again."
Eden - Wentworth - Blue Berry Hill Plantation - At the cemetery at the plantation strange sounds can be heard, and host figures can be seen walking around. most are ghosts of African slaves from around the civil war time. Even the bravest of men wont go around the cemetery at night. The railroad track down the road is also haunted. People who drive across these late at night see strange lights and apparitions. The plantation house is also said to be haunted by a lady in white.
Elizabeth City - Nell Cropsey House Hall Mansion - The Cropsey family moved to N.C. in the 1890's from New York. They made their home on the Pasqutank River. Not long after arriving, their daughter Nell went missing. Last seen talking to a male suitor on the family porch. When she turned up some days later floating in the river dead. It is said that she still can be seen in the house and walking on the riverbank. Her mother has also been seen looking out the window for her Nell, who never made home. You can buy a book about the history of the Nell Cropsey Murders at any large bookstore.
Elon - Elon University - West Dorm - In the fire of 1923, a young student named Mary tried to escape the fire and jump from a third story window. Undoubtedly, she died. Mary now haunts West dorm, with such activities such as the chandelier in the parlor swinging back and forth, and the lights flickering on and off. One night, a boy was sleeping in his girlfriend's dorm and he woke up to find Mary looking at him, and his girlfriend was talking to Mary in her sleep. Mary also plays pranks on the residents, such as pushing them over in the halls or messing with their things, such as their computers.
Ernul - Hill Neck Rd Bridge - there is an old bridge of Hill Neck road in Ernul NC. This bridge is believed to be haunted by the spirits of a Mexican family, who's car ran off the bridge. The whole family died. At night an engine can be heard revving. Also, cries of pain, and for help can be heard.
Fayetteville - Fort Bragg - 3-325 at Bco barracks is haunted, the first floor bathroom, the stalls flush on their own, the last door opens and shuts rapidly!!! also been sightings of black shadows moving all around he bathroom.
Fayetteville - Methodist College - In 1997 a young man hung himself in his dorm room while students where on break for thanksgiving. It is said then when students are returning from the break you will see the young man walking the halls of Sanford dorm mostly seen on the 3rd floor where he was a resident.
Fayetteville - Radisson Prince Charles Hotel - In the early 1900a, a young woman named Charlotte leaped to her death from an eighth floor window on her wedding day when she found her new husband in bed with a bridesmaid in the honeymoon/presidential suite on the seventh floor. A veteran housekeeper knows that she sometimes plays tricks with the locks on the doors to the guestrooms; supposedly she rides the elevator to the eighth floor at midnight but has been felt at other locations in the hotel.
Fayetteville - Railroad tracks - There is this ghost that has been there since 1700's, .its called the Vander Light. Its a ghost that got killed when was on a train and he went out on the train to smoke a cigarette and the train slammed on brakes and he fell off and it cut his head off and ever since that every time you go down to the railroad tracks there is a lantern and its a ghost looking for his head and if you walk up the tracks and try to get close to it will disappear and when you turn around its behind you again.
Fayetteville - Slocomb House - A young woman in black appears on the steps here.
Fayetteville - Subway at the train depot - It's a Subway restaurant attached to a train station. Randomly, day or night, people can see a man in an orange shirt who will vanish into nothing. Sometimes an old time phone will ring four or five times. Whispering and whistling are common to hear while dining in the lobby. Hay St. (the location) used to be heavy with crime, but is now a safe place to visit.
Findlay - Owens Community College Child Care Center - College students and teachers reported seeing a child's face appearing upstairs windows after the center is closed, lights turning on themselves when the teachers lock up the place, cold spots on second floor, door closing by themselves in storage room, child's giggles can be heard, food mysteriously appeared after everyone claimed they never "made it", sometimes it'll disappeared. This place was said to be haunted by 2 young girls who died upstairs due to carbon monoxide poisoning or fire. These activities seems to increase in Spring time, between March-May.
Franklin - Poor Richards Summit Inn - In the mid to late 1800's there was said to have been a lady in her 20's killed in the dining room. If you stand in the dining room late at night you can see her backing towards the dining table and a man in late 1800's clothing will stab her on the table.
Fremont - It's told, that on dark summer nights, a light will travel, down the railroad tracks, and it appears, to be like a lantern, the story goes that a local man, lost his head, after being in a drunk state, was killed by the train, it is said that, he searches for his lost head. Many locales claim to have see the light, and claims it chases them, it is said that if, the light catches you, you could die!
Garner - Right off Timber Drive - there are the graves of two slaves from the Civil War era. At night when it is storming people have claimed seeing them sitting on their graves with bloody eyes.
Gastonia - Brookside elementary - Strange noises from the woods on the Auten Rd. side have been reported several times as well as sightings of movement from inside the school late at night.
Gastonia - Lincoln Academy - Lincoln Academy used to be a all girls school one night a gang of boys took a girl who went to school there tied her up to a oak tree, then raped and disemboweled her. some say if you go there do not stop on the bridge because your car will turn off and not start. Plus reports of a presence felt late at night and smoke going in a left and right direction instead of a up motion.
Gastonia - Spencer Mountain - There is a mansion located at the end of the road. It was built in the late 1700's. No one has ever lived in the house. This lady that owned Pharr yarns built it for her grandson. He died shortly after she built it. Since he died she said no one could live in it. The town has since tried to make it a haunted house and the proceeds go to the local fire department. Rumor is 2 men and a woman haunt it. People that work upstairs have seen and heard stuff to where they have ran out the house white as a ghost and breathing as though someone was trying to kill them. They have reported seeing a woman upstairs holding a baby's head in one hand and another head in the other. People have been going downstairs and heard someone following them and turned around to see no one. Also reports of pictures in one of the upstairs room just fall off the wall as if someone was knocking them off. - Fair Warning, you most likely will be charged to go though it.
Gold Hill - Gravity Hill - On Richfild rd you can stop and put your car in neutral and it will roll up the hill. They say there was a baby and her mom staled the car. She tried to push it off the road but a truck hit and killed them both. And if you put baby powder on the back of your car you will see hand prints in it
Greensboro - Guilford College - Hobbs House - The Hobbs House is a dorm on the campus of Guilford College, but it used to be a real home. It is said that a long time ago this home belong to the Hobbs and they had a little girl named Mary. Well, one night Mary had a slumber party in the attic (third floor) of her house. After all the girls went to bed some boys decided to play a trick on them. The boys took rocks and wrapped them in paper and then lit them on fire and proceeded to try to throw them into the attic window. The rocks made it into the attic and started a fire. All the girls made it out of the attic in time except for Mary Hobbs. By the time the fire was put out, the third floor of the home was gone and so was Mary. It is said that if you sit in a specific room in the house/dorm you will hear faucets turning on and off and a faint cry from a little girl. You can also hear footsteps going up and down the hallways while she searches for her room.
Greensboro - Richfield Road - It is said that a lady died on this road a long time ago, and if you go down this road, there is a place where you stop your car and put it in neutral. The lady then comes out and pushes your car down the road a little ways, and if you are to put baby powder or flower on the back of your car, "sometimes" you can see her hand prints on the back of the car.
Granville - Goshen - there is an old bridge in Goshen said to be haunted by a young lady who died in a car crash there. It also has an old graveyard by it which once belonged to a church which has been abandoned. If you go there you can see the lady on the bridge and hear her cries. The graveyard gives an unwanted feeling to one whom is there.
Grays Creek - Grays Creek high School - There was a janitor at GCHS (Grays creek high school) that was working on the fans in the gym. He climbed up that ladder and went to fix the fan when all of a sudden the ladder fell out from under him and he fell to the ground and died on the spot. Now he haunts the gym.
Havelock - Cherry Point Naval Hospital - dark figures, and manifestations of actual people. One in particular is an old lady...very creepy voices. strange vibes. a lot of people see things in reflections, like people walking behind them when nobody is there.
Havelock - Halyburton Naval Hospital - Reports of ghosts all over the hospital. Feelings of being watched and not being alone.
Havelock - Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point - It is said the ghost of Kissy Sikes haunts the flight line and the housing looking for her children, she does not like men and the men who yell at kids are in big trouble, there is a story of a young Lcpl on post was found the next morning huddled in a ball in the corner of the guard shack crying she wants her kids, she wants her kids. In the housing you can hear children playing and from personal experience Kissy herself appears in children’s bedrooms after they are put to bed. Toys in the children’s rooms are moved when they aren't even there.
Hickory - Alice M. Raeford Memorial Center - Doorways seem to disappear after you pass through them and you can hear fleeting whispers and see shadows and mists out of the corner of your eye. And reports of being pushed by unseen hands.
Hookerton - Train RailRoad - It is said that if you go to that old train railroad in you will see some woods and if you go in very deep and flick your car lights three times a young man will come out with a lantern and paralyze you. But for this to happen you have to turn of your car and get out. The story is that a man was waiting for his wife and a train came and ran over him.
Huntersville - Mcoy road - a trailer on Mcoy road is said to be haunted by a man who died in the living room floor. Lights flicker on and off, doors open and close, and in the back room of the trailer you can feel a cold presence moving around.
Jackson County - Elementary School - The story is that 15 or 16 little kids got detention and were locked in the boiler room. The boiler exploded and killed the kids. Now if you go late at night then u can hear screams, sometimes you will see little kids, if you take pictures and get them developed you will see orbs and strange smoke that is in the shape of people. But when you look at the spots in person there is nothing, but in the pictures there is freaky stuff. On the walls in the boiler room there are child size handprints burned into the wall. No screams where noted. A well-defined shadow of a little kid was seen through one of the glass doors in the school. The investigators watched this figure move from side to side of the door and then it walked toward them through the door and stood still for around 30 seconds, all of the sudden it bent down and got into like a 3 point lineman stance and then jumped toward them, they turned the lights on and there was nothing there. They placed a voice recorder in the boiler room as well and got what sounded to be a heartbeat that kept getting faster and louder and then made one loud beat and stopped. Also there was a loud moaning throughout the whole schoolhouse from the pipes but there is no heat going through the pipes so I have no clue why that would be making noise. An update to make on the school is that it was demolished last year and made into a park for the community.
Jacksonville - Camp Geiger - Footsteps and screaming in the land navigation woods on the base right outside of Camp Devil Dog. Sometimes, a young girl will come out to the road. If you're female, she will stand there and play with her hair and look at the ground. But many males have said she sees them and screams. She is very beautiful, but has wide bright eyes that seem to see right behind you at all times. Some believe she is the young mistress of a military officer, hanged to death because she fell in love with him and would have told his wife. However, the loop in the noose was too wide for her slender neck and se died days later from either asphyxiation or hunger. Some others say she is a body that was found in the swamp in the back of the woods.
Jacksonville - NC rte. 24 - When driving on a flat surface, it feels as though you are going down a step hill. Also heard a specter motorcycle.
Jacksonville - New Bridge middle school - This school has a basement and it is heard sometimes on stormy days people bagging around in it. Like they're trying to get out of the locked doors. Also upstairs the doors uncannily slam shut by them selves.
Jamestown - U.S. Highway 70 underpass - AKA Lydia's Bridge - Just outside of Greensboro, there has said to have been the ghost of a beautiful young girl who has been appearing near Greensboro since 1923. She stands next to the US Highway 70 Underpass in a white evening gown and waves frantically for someone to stop and pick her up. Those hapless travelers who do are introduced to a young woman who says her name is Lydia and she always ask them to please take her to an address in High Point. She always tells them that she has spent the evening at a dance in Raleigh and is anxious to get home, having run into car trouble on the way. Just as the drivers approach the house, the girl always vanishes from their car, never opening the door and getting out. There are many versions to the story but the most common one that I have heard is that Lydia was at a dance one night and was trying to get home. She was apparently hit by a car and now she hitches rides home from the bridge. When the person gets her to her house, she disappears. She never says anything other than her name is Lydia, she needs to get home, and her address. Either way, she died in 1923. The road that linked High Point and Greensboro was a different road than is there now. There are train tracks that are the reason for the bridge. The bridge now is called the graffiti bridge, for obvious reasons. To the left of this bridge, about 40 ft away and hidden in massive amounts of kudzu, is where the original bridge is, and it's Lydia's bridge. There is another bridge about 2 miles away from these that is also believed to be Lydia's bridge. This one is an actual bridge that you drive over and it's over a creek. Some kids have spray painted pentagrams on it which is kind of freaky but at the same time, there is a sort of eerie presence here. One report of a group of friends in the 80’s that would venture there had two girls in this group and every time they would get close to the bridge, the girls would pass out. says that Lydia is merely an urban legend. Which bridge is really her bridge? How did she die? Why was she walking home? Or was she in the car with her date? Where’s a newspaper article or an obituary that can prove to us that this happened? If she died at the bridge close to the graffiti bridge, who is haunting the one over the creek? Why would kids chose that bridge to paint pentagrams on? Any info email us at Haunted Places
Kannapolis - Maple Street - A man was brutally murdered on the streets and every so often they can still here the screams of the man yelling.
Kings Mountain - Kings Mountain State Park - Numerous reports of "ghostly" men upon horseback riding through the historic battleground section of the park. Personal investigation has found knocking on the doors of the public restroom.
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My Likes:
A guy who has a cat =^;^= . Cats are cooler than dogs. Do not get me wrong, I love dogs also but I prefer cats. They are more independent than dogs that are rather dependent. If you get a chance, be yourself.
Accents-especially australian, kiwi, Irish or southern ones
Blue/Green/Hazel eyes & Long Lashes
Candle light dinners
Dark Hair and Light Eyes
Deep set eyes
Dimples
Eating Lime/Lemon like any other fruit
Guitar Players
Holding hands
Honesty
Ketchup with my potato chips and Mayonnaise with my French Fries
Kissing
Laughter
Lemonade
Listening to ocean waves
Looking at sun setting or rising in morning
Piercings but not when body is completely pierced
People who make me laugh. My siblings and I used to laugh at Grandpa when he'd head off and go fishing all day and come back emptyhanded. But we wouldn't be laughing that evening when he'd come back with some whore he picked up in town. The whole town laughed at my great-grandfather, just because he worked hard and saved his money. True, working at the hardware store didn't pay much, but he felt it was better than what everybody else did, which was go up to the volcano and collect the gold nuggets it shot out every day. It turned out he was right. After forty years, the volcano petered out. Everybody left town, and the hardware store went broke. Finally he decided to collect gold nuggets too, but there weren't many left by then. Plus, he broke his leg and the doctor's bills were real high.
People who don't break plans
People who know we aren't in elementary anymore
People who know how to have a good time with no drama
Reading true Crime stories
Romantic walks along the beach
Scented candles and incences of the aromatic scents of Lavender , Passion Fruit or Vanilla
Shaved heads- If you are balding you should shave hair off. There's nothing worse than seeing combovers on a guy. This is not sexy to a woman just go to the closest hair salon and shaved it off. Bald shaved heads are more sexier than combovers.
Short spikey hair
Slim Toned Guys-Do not like overly muscular men who have bodies bigger than their heads.lol
Smiles
Small lips on guys
Sound of rain falling
The woods at night
Toe rings and Ankle braclettes
My Dislikes:
Ankle socks- What is the point of wearing them if it is not covering whole foot? It's rather poimtless if you ask me.
Cheap people- I can't stand cheap people. It makes me real mad when someone says something like, "Hey, when are you going to pay me that $5.00 you owe me?" or "Do you have that $1 you borrowed?" Man, quit being so cheap! Before borrowing money from a friend, decide which you need more.(Friend or Money !). Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back. I think one way the cops could make money would be to hold a murder weapons sale. Many people could really use used ice picks.
Coffee and Coffee breathe
Drinking
Ears that are not cleaned. People who do not clean their ears after a shower. There is nothing nasty as a guy try to kiss you and you can look into his ears and has ear wax in it. There goes the romantic moment. lol.
Facial/Body hair- Do not like men with lots of hair on chest but moderate hair on chest. I am turned off by hairy backs and men with hair on ass or whose body is almost completely covered by body hair like a gorilla. Alec Baldwin and brothers are handsome but they are too hairy.
Fake Friends-FAKE FRIENDS: Never ask for food. REAL FRIENDS: are the reason you have no food. FAKE FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr/Mrs. REAl FRIENDS: Call your parents DAD/MOM. FAKE FRIENDS: bail you out of jail and tell you what you did was wrong. REAl FRiENDS: Would sit next to you sayin "Damn,we f**ked up but that sh*t was fun!" FAKE FRiENDS: never seen you cry. REAL FRIENDS: cry with you. FAKE FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back. REAl FRIENDS: keep your sh*t so long they forget it's yours. FAKE FRIENDS: know a few things about you. REAl FRIENDS: Could write a book about you with direct quotes from you. FAKE FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing. REAl FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowds a$$ that left you. FAKE FRIENDS: Would knock on your front door. REAl FRIENDS: Walk right in and say "I'M HOME!". FAKE FRIENDS: Are for awhile. REAL FRIENDS: Are for life. FAKE FRIENDS: Will take your drink away when they think you've had enough. REAl FRIENDS: Will look at you stumbling all over the place and say "B*tch drink the rest of that you know we don't waste sh*t." FAKE FRIENDS: will talk sh*t to the person who talks sh*t about you. REAL FRIENDS: Will knock them the f**k out. FAKE FRIENDS: Would ignore others and only call a person when they need/want something or bored. REAl FRIENDS: Tell friends what an impact they made in their lives without you reminding them that they're your friend.
Food with lots of chemicals in it
George W. Bush and his political stance. I want to point out that just because I dislike President Bush, the government and the idea of war with a passion, it does not change the fact that I DO SUPPORT OUR TROOPS AND HIGHLY APPRECIATE ALL THAT THEY ARE DOING. I wish a robot would get elected president. That way, when he came to town, we could all take a shot at him and not feel too bad. If we as a nation could put the problems that threaten us on the first page of business,instead of paying so much attention to the cacophany of political hacks in the background (both parties)- we couldsomehow move forward with true equality based on MERIT and PERFORMANCE. Children are our future.
Lazy men who do not like to cook or wash clothes or do chores inside house.
Long hair on guys and on myself
Lots of tattoos
Men shorter than me
Men that wear baggy pants that makes them look like they have no ass. lol
Men who thinks farting and burping infront of others is fun.
Men who are addicted to the gym, internet, sports and video games.
Men who think highly of themselves and the world revolves around them. When you aren't being yourself, make sure you have a pretty good reason for doing so. There are three sides to any argument: your side, my side and the right side. When you're right, no one remembers. When you're wrong, no one forgets. Never ask a consultant for advice, they are someone who takes a subject you understand and makes it sound confusing.
Men who sends emails of their body parts. I do NOT want emails of your body parts so do NOT send me . Those that do so, I will simply ignore your email.
Men who thinks a photo of them in sunglasses is classify as a photo of their face when you asked them, "Have you a photo of what you look like?".
Men who says to me that I'm out of their league or that I'm too pretty for them or why would a pretty woman talk to them when they were the first to make intial contact. I talk to all people. It's ridiculous that a guy assumes he knows what a woman likes or the type of person she speaks with. Don't assume before knowing a person's likes and dislikes.
People who are afraid to take a chance. Whenever anyone says "I can't," it makes me wish he'd/she'd get stung to death by about ten thousand bees. When he/she says "I'll try," five thousand bees. ("I can," one bee.)
People who can't tell the truth when asked.
Police officers who get away with speeding and other crimes. I bet the main reason the police keep people away from a plane crash is they don't want anybody walking in and lying down in the crash stuff, then, when somebody comes up, act like they just woke up and go, "What was THAT?!"
Products that doesn't work. I think a good product would be "Baby Duck Hat". It's a fake baby duck, which you strap on top of your head. Then you go swimming underwater until you find a mother duck and her babies, and you join them. Then, all of a sudden, you stand up out of the water and roar like a lion. Wow, those ducks really take off fast! Also, Baby Duck Hat is good for parties. If you see a parachute for sale and it reads : "Only used once, never opened, small stain." -Do NOT buy it. You do NOT where that has been.
Red Meat-The next time I have meat and mashed potatoes, I think I'll put a very large blob of potatoes on my plate with just a little piece of meat. And if someone asks me why I didn't get more meat, I'll just say, "Oh, you mean this?" and pull out a big piece of meat from inside the blob of potatoes, where I've hidden it. Good magic trick, huh? If you're at Thanksgiving dinner, but you don't like the stuffing or the cranberry sauce or anything else, just pretend like you're eating it, but instead, put it all in your lap and form it into a big mushy ball. Then, later, when you're out back having a drink and enjoying the fresh air, let out a big fake cough and throw the ball to the ground. Then say, "Now, this is why I don't drink!"
Slow and crazy drivers, especially those that do NOT signal before turning into a lane or signal last minute. Sometimes, when I drive in the middle of the night passing through a remote area in the countryside, with no other cars around, I start imagining: What if there were no civilization out there? No cities, no factories, no people? And then I think: No people or factories? Then who made this car? And this highway? And I get so confused I've to stick my head out the window into the driving rain, unless there's lightning, because I could get struck on the head by a bolt. When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
Southern Christian Conservative Republicans
Unibrows
Smokers- I don't mind those that smoke. I have friends that do but romantically I don't think it Is sexy if guy smokes and then tries to kiss you with cigarette breath.
Do you smoke? Have you ever stopped to think about how smoking is affecting your body and your life? Most teens are aware that people who have smoked for awhile can get lung cancer and emphysema and eventually die, but many don't know about all of the bad things that smoking can to them right now. If you smoke, you owe it to yourself to find out about the effects of smoking on your life now.
Smoking is one of the worst things kids or adults can do to their bodies. Yet every single day about 4,000 kids between the ages 12 and 17 start smoking. Most middle school students don't smoke — only about 1 in 10 does. And most high school students don't smoke either — about 1 in 4 does (that means 3 out of 4 don't).
Everyone knows that smoking can cause cancer when you get older, but did you know that it also has bad effects on your body right now? A cigarette contains about 4000 chemicals, many of which are poisonous. Some of the worst ones are:
* Nicotine: a deadly poison
* Arsenic: used in rat poison
* Methane: a component of rocket fuel
* Ammonia: found in floor cleaner
* Cadmium: used in batteries
* Carbon Monoxide: part of car exhaust
* Formaldehyde: used to preserve body tissue
* Butane: lighter fluid
* Hydrogen Cyanide: the poison used in gas chambers
Every time you inhale smoke from a cigarette, small amounts of these chemicals get into your blood through your lungs. They travel to all the parts of your body and cause harm.
As you might imagine, even small amounts of the poisonous chemicals in cigarettes can do bad things to your body. Here are some facts about what smoking cigarettes does to you:
* Smoking makes you smell bad, gives you wrinkles, stains your teeth, and gives you bad breath.
* Smokers get 3 times more cavities than non-smokers.
* Smoking lowers your hormone levels.
* When smokers catch a cold, they are more likely than non-smokers to have a cough that lasts a long time. They are also more likely than non-smokers to get bronchitis and pneumonia.
* Teen smokers have smaller lungs and a weaker heart than teen non-smokers. They also get sick more often than teens who don't smoke.
Every time you inhale smoke from a cigarette, you kill some of the air sacks in your lungs, called alveoli. These air sacks are where the oxygen that you breathe in is transferred into your blood. Alveoli don't grow back, so when you destroy them, you have permanently destroyed part of your lungs. This means that you won't do as well in activities where breathing is important, like sports, dancing, or singing.
Smoking paralyzes the cilia that line your lungs. Cilia are little hairlike structures that move back and forth to sweep particles out of your lungs. When you smoke, the cilia can't move and can't do their job. So dust, pollen, and other things that you inhale sit in your lungs and build up. Also, there are a lot of particles in smoke that get into your lungs. Since your cilia are paralyzed because of the smoke and can't clean them out, the particles sit in your lungs and form tar.
Many teens like the feeling that smoking gives them. This good feeling is from the nicotine in the cigarettes. Some teens think smoking will help them lose weight or stay thin. Many teens also feel like smoking gives them a sense of freedom and independence, and some smoke to feel more comfortable in social situations. If this sounds like you, you should stop and think about whether the things you like about smoking are really worth the risks.
* Nicotine can make you feel good, but is feeling good (a feeling you can also get from healthy activities like playing sports) really worth all the bad things cigarettes do to you? If you smoke, you'll get sick more often. You also have the chance of getting lung cancer or emphysema, which will make you really sick for a long time before you die. If you are very sick, that good feeling from nicotine won't seem so important anymore.
* Smoking doesn't really help people lose weight. If that were true, every smoker would be thin.
* Smoking lowers your hormone levels.
Think about it this way: When you decide to start smoking, you are doing exactly what tobacco companies want you to do. They spend millions of dollars every year on advertising to try to get new people, especially teens, to smoke. Once they have you hooked, THEY are controlling YOU. You are forced to buy their products in order to support your addiction. Do you really want a big corporation controlling your life and telling you how to spend your money? Be in control of your own life.
Many people don't realize they are addicted to smoking. They think they can easily quit any time they want. But when they try, they forget it is extremely difficult. Unfortunately, it is very easy to get addicted. Cigarettes are just as addictive as cocaine or heroin. Even if you only smoke one or two cigarettes a day and even if you've never bought a pack of cigarettes yourself, you are at risk. Stressful situations or hanging out with friends who smoke might cause you to smoke more and become addicted. Try going a whole week without smoking at all. If you find this difficult, you are probably addicted to cigarettes.
Many people are afraid to quit smoking because they think they will gain weight. In reality, many do gain a little but not enough to change how they look. People don't gain weight because they stop smoking. They gain weight because they start eating more. Often, people confuse the feeling of craving nicotine with hunger and eat to try to make this uncomfortable feeling go away. Smokers are also used to having something in their hands and in their mouth, so they may pick up food to replace holding a cigarette. To keep from gaining weight, try these things:
* Drink sips of water instead of eating when you feel uncomfortable.
* Eat carrot or celery sticks or other healthy, low calorie foods.
* Exercise. This will also help take your mind off smoking and make you healthier.
* Keep busy. You will be less likely to eat when you're not really hungry if you are doing other things.
A lot of people put off quitting smoking, thinking that they'll do it when the time is right. Only 5% of teens think they will still be smoking in 5 years. Actually, about 75% of them are still smoking more than five years later. If you smoke, it will never seem like the right time to quit and quitting will never be easy. The longer you smoke, the harder it will be to stop and the more damage you will do to your body. Here are some reasons to quit sooner rather than later:
* Most people would rather date a non-smoker.
* You'll save money if you quit smoking. A pack of cigarettes costs about $5.00. That means, even if you buy just one pack a week, you'll spend about $234 in a year. Some people smoke a pack a day, which adds up to $1,642! That's a lot of CDs, computer games, and clothes you could buy instead.
Even if you only smoke a couple packs a week, you're spending about $40 per month and $480 per year on smoking. Think of all the other things you could use that money for.
* You only have one pair of lungs. Any damage you do to them now will be with you for the rest of your life.
Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco kill hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. You know those rubber bracelets that were created to bring attention to different causes? The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids created a red one with the number 1,200 on it. Why 1,200? That's the number of people who die each day due to smoking.
The nicotine and other poisonous chemicals in tobacco cause lots of diseases, like heart problems and some kinds of cancer. If you smoke, you hurt your lungs and heart each time you light up. It also can make it more difficult for blood to move around in the body, so smokers may feel tired and cranky. The longer you smoke, the worse the damage becomes.
Smoking can have serious effects on your life. The longer you smoke, the more damage you do to your body and your health. One out of 3 smokers die from smoking and many more become very sick. Think about your friends who smoke. 1/3 of them will die from smoking if none of you quit. Most people who begin smoking as teens say that they wish they had never started. The decision to start or continue smoking is all up to you and no one can make you stop, but you should think really hard about whether it is the best thing for your body and your life.
Usually, people don't like smoking or chewing tobacco at first. Your body is smart, and it knows when it's being poisoned. When people try smoking for the first time, they often cough a lot and feel pain or burning in their throat and lungs. This is your lungs' way of trying to protect you and tell you to keep them smoke free. Also, many people say that they feel sick to their stomachs or even throw up. If someone accidentally swallows chewing tobacco, they may be sick for hours. Yuck.
General Interests:
Making Out, Short dark hair, Music, Margaritas, Movies, Reading, I'm a sucker for Blue eyes and long lashes, Hanging Out, Randomness/Being Spontaneous, Thrift Store Shopping, Shaved/bald heads, A guy who will sing to me, Guitar players, Kissing, Kissing in the rain,, Motorcycles, Tall Slim toned guys, Concerts, Boating, Museums, Art galleries, People Watching, Kickboxing. To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other.
Music
Pretty much anything... Bowling for Soup, Kelly Clarkson, Nickelback, Maroon 5, Buddy Holly, Prince, Tupac, Usher, Papa Roach, Lifehouse, Outkast, 3 Doors Down, Blink 182, Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Norah Jones, Sugarcult, Hank Williams, Chris Brown, Live, 80's music, Country, Hip Hop, RnB, Reggae, Rockabilly
Movies
The Outsiders, The Green Mile, Love & Basketball, Full Metal Jacket, Heathers, Suicide Kings, Love Actually, Higher Learning, Me, Myself & Irene, The Princess Bride, Stand By Me, Sling Blade, To Kill A Mockingbird, Varsity Blues, The Wedding Singer, Harry Potter Series, American History X, Boondock Saints, Brown Sugar, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Catch Me If You Can, Wedding Crashers, Crash, Monster, Closer
Television
ABC Soaps, The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Gilmore Girls, The Real World, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, One Tree Hill, Comicview, Supernatural, Southbeach, Aqua Teen Hunger Force <3 Meatwad <3
Books
V.C. Andrews, Anything True Crime especially pertaining to Serial Killers
Future:
My goals for the next few years include traveling a lot, advancing my career through diversifying my experience and integrating new opportunities, while enhancing myself in continual learning to enrich myself of experiences of those I meet and have met.
My Ideal Person:
I think life is about finding out who you really are in the world, and about finding that true connection with another human being, someone who shares your vision. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. The end of wisdom is to dream high enough not to lose the dream in the seeking of it.
Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives. There's no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something. Throw away all the in between material possessions and find someone that makes you smile. Then you can be happy. So that's all I really want out of life that I haven't been able to find. Somebody simple, somebody sweet that would give anything for you. A person that would give anything to see you smile, to see you breath. To hold you in their arms. I've already proven to myself what I can do that no one else thought, or cared I could. I don't need everyone's approval. Just one persons total adoration, somebody who completely believes. Then I'll be happy in my own paradise. If I could have one superhuman power it would be the ability to read minds. Nothing intrigues me more that to know what someone is thinking. I'd love to find someone that gets me and accepts me for who I'm and challenges me to be a better person.
Honesty is of utmost importance to me. I believe a relationship must have sincere expectations. I'd love to find a sensual & romantic man to enjoy life with. Someone that appreciates the yin-yang like balance in a relationship. Most of us are seeking someone to fulfill a natural polarity ( we need a mate ). Looking for someone to explore life's bountiful pleasures.
The biggest killer for me is guys who just aren't interesting or boring. It's either they're totally wrapped up in "why aren't I getting laid?" or their jobs or some little tiny aspect of their lives, or they just aren't good at expressing what's on their mind in ways that appeal to me. I love a guy that's able to carry a conversation and doesn't pauses to think what to say but is able to think on his feet and interestingly asks you equally as much as you have asked him about himself.
I like men who are interested in lots of things, who are intelligent with a sharp mind , funny with witty sense of humor, adventurous, and who understand me (or at least try to) in a deeper level. I think one of the biggest attractions is having a guy I think is totally cool think I'm fascinating and want to get to know me, want to crawl inside my head and watch my mind work for a while. Appearance are nice but not everything. Once there were two guys I thought were utterly sexy and lusted after; one was 5'8" and weighed about 120 pounds, the other was 6'2" and weighed 250. Unfortunately, I only got to date the first one. I like men who are a little dangerous, a little unpredictable, which doesn't translate into wanting to be abused but is spontaneous when he does things out of the blue, like take you on out on a late night surprise date to watch a play or boat ride on the open waters from a busy work week. you both have had. I'm a strong personality and need someone who's not going to allow anyone to take over him. This doesn't mean I'm into bullies or not interested in shy men. Shy people can have a strong sense of who they are and when they're being pushed too far and bullies are just boring after a while. I do not want to be anyone's doormat. This all boils down to me liking/wanting real people, men who aren't afraid to just exist as who they are without worrying about what effect that's having on me and my perception of them. Men who can talk about things and listen to me talk and really care about what I'm saying. I prefer men who is thorough and not at all vague. I do like men who are into looking for a cheap thrill or just random sex with any girl. If you're looking to get it on for one night stand, you got wrong girl in mind. Save your cheap pick-up lines for someone else for pick-up lines isn't going get pass by me. Now every woman sees with every "pretty please", there's a pair of lying eyes and in his pocket a set of keys. Men stating they can make you feel special like a beauty queen or a feel like supermodel in the cover of a magazine is not going get you her in back of your car so do not try be persistent when a girl says "no" she means "no". If you're not in it for love and you are not willing to give it all you got then a woman can simply see your true colors of being a fake not wanting in it for life so if you're not in it for love ,let me make it clear to you if you're not in it for love then a woman has right to tell you to get out of line for you certainly not worth the time. Let me let you in on a secret on how to treat a woman right. If you're lookin' for a place in her heart, it ain't going to happen overnight on a one night stand. First you got to learn to listen and understand her deepest thoughts and feelings. She needs to know you can be friends before she'll give you all she's got. If you start from the heart, you'll see love is going to play its part. Just be patient for loves take time. It doesn't develops over night. If you want to get to know her, you need to really get inside her mind to know what she feels,wishes, thinks, dreams and wants. If you want to move in closer to her heart to see her for who she is , you need to take it slow, yeah take your time. You must start from the heart and then if you want feel what she feels then with a little physical attraction of romantic, old-fashioned charm and a lot of love and tenderness it is what is going get you into her arms. Good luck to you all in finding what you are looking for.
Some other things I want to point out to men:
If you have a beer gut, do NOT wear tight pants or shirts you had when you was much slimmer. If it feels tight, it simply means you are getting fatter and need to get bigger clothes or start working out. Also black does not make a person slimmer looking if a person is big. I suggest wearing vertical stripe shirts for this makes a person look slimmer than a shirt which has horizontal stripes.
If you wear bagging pants, please wear a belt with it. There's nothing worse than guys that wear bagging pants that looks like falling off them. Also , it makes you look like you have NO ass. lol.
If you're going to shower, please remember to wash your hair as well. Also wear deodorant after a shower when you go out. There's nothing nasty of a guy that washes hair once or just twice a week. This can accmulate dandruff. It's not nice being kissed and flakes of dandruff falls into your mouth or on your face. Yuck !! lol
Men with beer guts shouldn't wear speedos or lowrider jeans, especially lowrider jeans that are buttoned up. Once one button comes off so does all and that's when it expose your belly. lol.
Men who are excessively hairy all over, you shouldn't wear tee-shirts outdoors, especially go camping during beer season up in the ones, hunters will mistaken you for a bear  . lol
Men shouldn't wear thongs. It's not sexy. Boxers and boxer briefs are nice but not at all thongs.
It has been brought to my attention that most men want slim petite women. Curves are not THAT bad you know. There's so much more to a woman then her body. I'm a very fun, down to earth, witty person with so much to give, if that's not enough, then I'm not interested in being your friend. I'm sorry but I'm not Barbie doll. Barbie is fake. She is all plastic. If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? I'm real and natural as you're going to get but if that's what you REALLY want, then here is 50 dollars, go buy yourself a Barbie doll at Wal-mart. Here's 20 dollars more, you can get her some clothes as well so you can play dress up with her. lol.
Crazed Q-tipping, fierce flossing, wild nasal maneuvers — here's how to tell if you're taking hygiene to the extreme.
Keep that thing out of your ear
Swirling a swab in your ear canal can cause infections and worse. Push too far and you can rupture your eardrum. A few people have trouble with earwax buildup, but they can get by with a few drops of hydrogen peroxide (diluted 50/50 with water) or mineral oil a couple times a week. Olive oil works, too, but you may smell like a salad.
Limit your nasal maneuvers
Did you know that nose drops and sprays can be addictive? Overuse causes "rebound swelling" and ever-worse congestion. Extreme spritzing can also mess with your blood pressure, which means there could be such a thing as killer nose drops.
Next time you have a stuffy nose, try plain salt water. Drugstores sell squirt bottles of saline solution—cheap. It eases congestion by moistening dry nasal passages, and can't be overused. Taking an antihistamine or inhaling steam can also loosen mucus.
Cut it out with the toenail trimming
Compulsively trimming your toenails can send a nail burrowing back into your flesh. In extreme cases, you can wind up with a bone infection or gangrenous ulcer that may result in amputation.
Even ordinary ingrown toenails often require "removing a portion of nail and cauterizing the nail root so it will not grow back. Never wear shoes that are too tight. Always trim toenails straight across. And do not invade the nail bed by trimming too short, or too deep into the margins.
Lighten up on your teeth
Brushing your teeth does not require a lot of force. Too much force and you can brush away the enamel (the outer covering of the teeth) and the gum tissue. Continued hard brushing wears away the much softer cementum (covering the root), which may lead to an increased chance of sensitivity, decay, and tooth deformity.
How can you tell if you're brushing too hard? Check your brush. If the bristles are frayed or splayed after a few months' use, you may be an offender. If you brush correctly, your brush should look pretty much the same after 6 months as it did when you bought it. And check with your dentist or hygienist to make sure you're brushing the right way for your own mouth.
Likewise, flossing is healthy, but not if you garrote your gums. A lot of people saw through their gum tissue by yanking floss back and forth through that tender flesh. Move floss gently under the gums to nab food particles, then up and down each side of the tooth.
Hygiene should be only skin deep. A 2005 survey at ballparks indicated that 37 percent of men didn't wash their hands after making a deposit at the men's room. Creepy, yes, but then there are those of us who can't stop washing.
Some men rub their skin clean off. They wash and wash an area and then rub it to make sure it's clean. That traumatizes the top layer of skin, which then turns thick and brownish. Nerve endings can become further irritated, triggering a vicious circle of itching and rubbing. Even mildly neurotic overwashing strips skin of natural oils and can turn your epidermis into something like pimple-covered bark. This can happen on your face, where too much soap can send oil glands into overdrive, plugging pores and follicles, which triggers acne.
Remember, as well, that you could stay perfectly healthy with a weekly bath or shower. When you do scrub up, keep a lid on harsh cleansers. Try alcohol-free skin-care products. Use a gentle foaming cleanser, and don't wash more than twice a day. You don't need to take extreme measures for exfoliation, either: It's a natural. By the time you take your next breath, more than a thousand dead skin cells will have fallen off your body. Exfoliating with abrasive creams or loofahs accelerates the process, but compulsive use can "denude" the epidermis. Don't exfoliate more than two or three times a week.
While a coffee enema might pep a person up, below-the-belt orifices seldom need cleaning. Rectal itching, a.k.a. pruritus, can result from poor hygiene, as when fecal particles become stuck in skin folds near the anus. But itching and irritation can also be caused by too much rubbing with toilet paper and/or too much washing. The rectal area is naturally oily, which prevents irritation. Don't soap away your natural oils. The same goes for your package, which requires a lot less maintenance than you might think.
Scrubbing the pubic area too much can cause ingrown hairs that may turn into pustules. You should wash carefully but not fiercely. Spare the soap and you won't deplete the oils you need to stave off unsightly events. The best advice: When in doubt, leave your privates in peace.
Hygiene beyond extreme
Dental as Anything: Jeffrey Shapiro, D.D.S., had a patient who flossed so hard that he "sawed through one of his teeth." The guy knew he had a problem when he hit the nerve inside the tooth.
Lube Tube: Michael Abernethy, M.D., an E.R. doc, treated a teenage boy who wanted a well-oiled penis. He used the thin straw on the nozzle of a can of WD-40 to fire the stuff into his urethra. But WD-40 comes out at high pressure. He wound up with tissue necrosis, skin flaps, and plastic surgery. He will never be sexually functional.
D.I.Y. Surgery: Dr. Abernethy has also seen outdoorsmen who stitched up their gaping wounds. "I call it Rambo syndrome," he says. "They use dental floss or fishing line, with Jack Daniel's as anesthesia." The lucky ones avoid infections, but even they can wind up with "some hideous scarring."
Pubic Service: Shaving pubic hair might seem hygienic, but ingrown pubic hairs can become infected and, in the worst cases, erupt with flesh-eating bacteria. "Ultimately, treatment can be as drastic as removal of the scrotum," says urologist G. Bino Rucker, M.D. "You have to put the testicles in pouches inside the thigh."
Rose to the occasion: Deciding the perfect flower for an occasion:
Men know flowers like women know brake fluid. Here are some bouquet-giving tips--so you don't put the wrong kind in her hands
Situation: First date
Best Flower: Sunflowers
Why: They're informal, so she won't feel as if you're putting a lot of pressure on her. Send them the morning after the first date.
Situation: A trip makes you miss something important, like her birthday
Best Flower: Orchid plant
Why: Women generally view long-lasting plants as thoughtful, which makes them a good comeback when she thinks you're not.
Situation: A milestone birthday or anniversary
Best Flower: Vase of Casablanca lilies
Why: Women like them because they're one of the world's most impressive-looking flowers.
Tip: Use a tissue to remove the rust-colored pistils; they'll stain your shirt or her dress.
Situation: After the fight
Best Flower: Anything but carnations
Why: They're cheap, which is exactly the way you'll look if you try to make amends with these.
Situation: Secretary's Day
Best Flower: Potted African violet
Why: A neutral plant expresses gratitude and accents her desk. Avoid roses, which roughly translate to "I want you right now, on the desk."
Situation: You pop the question
Best Flower: Red and white roses
Why: She--and all of her friends--will admire the symbolism. Red for love, white for eternity. Just like a Budweiser can.
Today’s boy-girl scene on college campuses is a mess. Most young people don’t know how to develop satisfying relationships, and many get themselves into trouble with messy, mindless sex.
As a solution, some critics, particularly religious ones, advocate a return to the concept of courtship, where young men and women don’t date, but rather get to know each other with the explicit goal of working toward marriage.
But is shunning the institution of dating – of man and maid engaging in various activities with one another without the goal of marriage – the solution?
The latest available research suggests that one problem with today’s campus situation may be that there isn't enough actual dating going on. Indeed, the recent well-publicized study by the Institute for American Values shows that college students, rather than do what one typically thinks of as "dating," tend to hang out in large groups, and then either "hook up" for commitment- and emotion-free sex (no date), or move into extremely intense relationships in which they spend almost all of their time together (closer to cohabitation than dating).
Clearly, this situation is not good. But is "courtship," with its almost monomaniacal focus upon marriage, the solution? I would suggest not, and further suggest that the answer may instead be to simply give genuine dating a chance.
Contrary to what courtship advocates suggest, one is not faced with a choice between marriage-minded courtship and aimlessly "playing the field." A good person doesn’t play the field for its own sake. He/she does it so he can learn more about what other people are like, and about what he/she wants in the way of experiences and relationships with members of the opposite sex. In short, he/she does it as part of his lifelong quest for self-improvement, while having some fun at the same time. Who could object to that?
The problem with kids today isn’t that they aren’t focused on marriage as a goal in dating. It’s that they’re not focused on any goals at all, in any aspect of their lives, and do all of their activities (watching TV, playing video games, etc.) with no particular purpose in mind.
Accordingly, is marriage the best goal to work toward in dealing with the opposite sex? I don’t believe so – at least not in one’s teens and early twenties.
Here we have young men and women who have spent their entire lives under the close watch of either their parents, or their school acting in loco parentis, and now they’re going to commit the rest of their lives to a spouse, immediately taking upon themselves all of the limitations associated with marriage.
Not that there’s anything wrong with marriage per se. But the belief system of these individuals is such that they can’t do anything with a member of the opposite sex without focusing on the goal of eternal commitment. This results in their getting married without having an opportunity to learn more about themselves, and life and living generally, at least not independent of the influence of their parents or friends.
I doubt anyone would find it outrageous to opine that the more experiences one has had, and the more he has learned about himself and about life, the more value he will bring to his relationships. Given that, along with the biological reality that young people will want some manner of relationships with members of the opposite sex, do we really want to push them into pairings that are commitment-minded, when they haven’t yet had the opportunity to develop on their own?
Many people pursuing the courtship route do so out of a religious belief that God has chosen "the one" for them, and as long as they continue praying as they go along and feel like they’re doing the right thing, all will work out for the best. That could be, but I’d like to think that God generally appreciates healthy doses of common sense and rational analysis, detached from any emotions one may be feeling in a given moment.
As a result of their focus on marriage and their aversion to less serious dating, the courtship folks tend to invest their emotions heavily into their relationships, and cling fiercely to the notion that there is "one perfect person" out there for them. Thus, if they begin to wonder if perhaps they should go out and "play the field," or feel less than fully satisfied in any other way, they don’t feel free to act on these feelings, and instead rationalize their way around these problems, thus remaining in their unsatisfying marriage-minded relationship, possibly for life.
Of course, if some who have tried courtship now find themselves in happy and fulfilling marriages, then that, certainly, is all that counts, as far as they’re concerned.
But the rest of us need not consider ourselves "evil" or feel in any way ashamed for enjoying the company of the opposite sex without the goal of marriage necessarily in mind. Certainly we should not cheat ourselves – and our eventual mates – out of countless opportunities to become better, healthier, happier people than we might otherwise be.
Hope is the most exciting thing in life and if you honestly believe that love is out there, it will come. And even if it doesn't come straight away there's still that chance all through your life that it will. If you're never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take any chances. Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise. Prudence keeps life safe, but does not often make it happy. The more chance there is of stubbing your toe, the more chance you have of stepping into success.
This nation was built by men who took risks - pioneers who weren't afraid of the wilderness, business men who were not afraid of failure, scientists who weren't afraid of the truth, thinkers who weren't afraid of progress, dreamers who weren't afraid of action and interracial couples and lovers who weren't afraid of stereotypes.
Taking a plunge into the unknown is an important step in loving fully. The mind tries to control the experience and guarantee the absence of pain or hurt. It wants to know what will happen each step of the way. But the heart urges us to take the leap into the unknown and more deeply experience the mystery of life and love. This leap of faith is an essential ingredient in finding what we are really wanting to live more completely. Life offers us many small plunges into the unknown to prepare us for the big leaps such as marriage, children, and eventually, death. The risk to love is the risk to become vulnerable. You can only love another if you're willing to risk getting hurt. In this sense, becoming a lover is to become a warrior of the heart.
Love is a never-ending mystery. We need to take the plunge into the unknown to fully experience its wonder. Are you ready to take that plunge and find out what is possible for you?
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