Monday, June 28, 2010

Sylvan, Illinois

Sylvan is an abandonded ghost town in Illinois.
I do not know the history of this town but I plan to go.

Picture of Sylvan from Google Earth.




Picture of Sylvan's abandonded building




UPDATE: I found more juicy information on this lil' historic gem known as Sylvan.
I found an old antique map and apparently, most of Sylvan's inhabitants had irish surnames.

(Names of some of the people living in this town were A.R. Taylor and Margaret Owens.)

Sylvan was around in the 1880's and was apparently still occupied in 1909.
Sylvan had a cemetery by the name of "Garner Cemetery."


Check out this rare map of Sylvan.

Pretty cool huh?

Thursday, June 24, 2010

I.Q. Tests are..................BULLSHIT!

I've always ranted on I.Q. tests and how they are utilized to measure your level of education rather than your actual intelligence. Plus, the theorist Lewis Terman has always made my blood boil with pure anger. But I am a great hypocrite for I took an I.Q. test. My score was 149.

Now here is the shocker: It said my strong point was math! Ha! Me? Strong in arithmetic? How peculiar! I suck at mathematics and I always have. I was classified as "learning disabled" in math and science. (I do a lot of research though on molecular collisions so I'm improving in the science area. I just have a tendency to discard logic in favor of compassion so if that makes me weak in the right hemisphere of my dear encephalon nestled in my cranium, so be it!)

But I find it extremely humorous that I did well in arithmetic! Math is not a favored subject of mine, allow me to tell you that! Ironically, I bombed it all throughout middle school. It was as though math was this large shadow looming over me which I detested with a passion. And yet according to this I.Q. test, I excel at it! How funny is that! But in all seriousness, even the mention of the word "math" alone makes me feel as though I've been stabbed in the stomach with a rusty blade. Arithmetic frightens me. Algebra, calculus, fractions, division......the mere mention of these causes me to feel nauseous and as though I'm going to faint. Science frightened me in the past as well. But maybe that whole high school version of me is completely gone now. I eagerly print out papers on the study of molecules, atoms, compounds, and electrons now. Seven years ago, I would have cried just gazing upon the paper. Every time in middle school when that dreaded evil gold bell rang, I shuddered knowing it was time for science class. My teacher was a fierce, evil looking man with hard cold gray eyes. I felt like a trapped insect in his class. Almost like a beetle in a Venus flytrap, in fact. The prospect of being near this man scared the living daylights out of me. That intimidating authoritarian figure is no longer associated with the word "science" in my mind. I think I know that I'm becoming even more mature because I know how to disregard things I used to fear. I am no longer that shy husk of a little girl I was that Amesbury High school knew. They knew me as the scared girl, my vulnerabilites layed out on me like intestines after a vivisection. But at twenty two years of age and in this glorious month of October, I know that the past is only fragments of what used to be and I know to live in the now. I have matured and the I.Q. test only measured what I was taught.

The Vietnam War

I watched the movie "Hamburger Hill" and there was a scene that greatly disturbed me.
Towards the end, there is a young man blinded with an blood drenched cloth wrapped around his face, covering up his obviously destroyed eyes.
He is reaching out but no one goes to help him.

And I was just thinking about how Vietnam Vets were spat on when they came back to their country.

Makes me very sad and disgusted with humanity in general.

Don't get me wrong. The '60's was a fantastic era with it's introduction to being healthier, great music, introduction to nature based paganism and spiritualism, and the idea of being free and not caring about society's rigid implemented social "norms". Basically a big fuck you to anything negative. The 60's seemed to be about embracing positivity.

But this is one thing I cannot agree with and that is spitting on a veteran of any war.

These guys saw hell.
They saw their fellow soldiers being hit by shrapnel, torn apart by bullets, and god knows what else.

So why would you spit on them or call them "murderers"?

I really hope that we are different today.
I hope we would respect our soldiers out there fighting insurgents and terrorists in Iraq.
They're already suffering enough.

Personally, I just wish they'd withdraw the troops from Iraq.
I don't want any more of our soldiers dying.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

This is your friendly Author




Who She Is: My name is Allison.
I'm a bit of a loudmouth.
I work two jobs.
I have an associate's degree in journalism and I plan to get my bachelor's and then maybe my master's.
I am a fan of the Japanese TV and manga series Sukeban Deka. I love National Geographic. If anyone can help me find the 1967 issue, I would be so grateful!!!! It's my favorite magazine. I have read the works of Stephen King, Susanna Kaysen, Charles Perrault, Junji Ito, Sophocles, Homer, Plato, and Marquis De Sade.
I love nature and I love going on hikes.
I am in my 20's.
I believe in empowering the disabled community.
I am for gay marriage.
I am Pro-choice. (I shall explain why in a later post.)
I love learning about Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome.
I really love learning about Nature-based religions such as Greek Paganism, Ancient Egyptian deities, Native American spiritualism, and Wicca.
I wear jeans instead of dresses because I like climbing trees. No, seriously, I like climbing trees.
My favorite artists are Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali, H.R. Giger, Peter Paul Reubens, Luis Royo, Van Gogh, Les Toil, Picasso, Henri Matisse, Botticelli and Akaine Kramarik.
My favorite art museum is the New York MET.
I have a special love for sharks. They are my favorite animal. I own a shitload of Shark Week DVD's and I even have stuffed animals and posters.
I have a wonderful fiance who is into sports. He's super athletic.
He got me into the gym!

I work three jobs. One as a cashier for a supermarket, another as a photo editor and shipping person for Espailliat Mills in Methuen, and the last one being an artist.

Okay, now you know a few things about me.


And one final thing: My nickname is "Charybdis" because I'm a spunky whirlpool of a girl!