Budgie with bouffant hair-do nicknamed after Boris Johnson
https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/201...s-johnson/
INTRO: The RSPCA has named a canary found in a Plymouth Park after the new Prime Minister [Boris Johnson] because of his bouffant of blond hair. The yellow canary was found flying loose in a park near Farm Lane on Saturday (3 August).
Meet the Paranormal Moms Society
https://narratively.com/meet-the-paranor...s-society/
EXCERPT: . . . Christie Carpenter-Chaidez is one of eight women who make up the Paranormal Moms Society, or PMS, of Northlake, Illinois. Founded in 2007, the members all have full-time jobs and families that they balance with their investigations, which are often an all-night ordeal, followed by weeks spent analyzing the hundreds of hours of footage, audio files and EVP recordings. This off-kilter work has led to lifelong friendships — and a sense of purpose. Any case that deals with kids or animals gets pushed to the front of the pile. “It’s the mom in us,” says Carpenter-Chaidez.
When Carpenter-Chaidez first moved to Northlake, a 12,000-person city half an hour outside of Chicago, she didn’t know many people. “I became a stay-at-home mom when my son was born, so then I was really isolated,” she says. It was on a regular walk to school that she struck up a conversation with one of the neighborhood moms and found a shared interest: paranormal investigations. Both avid fans of Ghost Hunters, the two women purchased some basic tools and started their own paranormal searches in cemeteries like the famed Bachelor’s Grove.
Their humble beginnings, without fancy equipment or really any clear idea of how one actually becomes a ghost hunter, sparked something in Carpenter-Chaidez. While her co-founder would end her affiliation with the group not long after it started, Carpenter-Chaidez wanted more. She soon began searching for other like-minded moms. “I wondered how many other moms who are like us are out there,” says Carpenter-Chaidez. “[Moms] looking for something they could do to get away from the kids on a weekend and looking for something that they are really into.”
Each woman has a different story about how they got interested in the paranormal...
[...] Some of the women’s family members do not support or understand their paranormal hobbies. Liz Mason’s mother was against it for religious reasons, but over the years she has become more accepting, and now she even watches the live feeds of their investigations. Theresa Ban’s sons were skeptical too, but after Ban went through evidence and showed them what the work entails, she says they understood. “Both of my boys are supportive; they don’t make fun of it or anything,” says Ban. “They know this is Mom’s hobby and I like to do this.”
But this is more than just a pastime for these women; it’s a responsibility. If there is anything their own paranormal experiences have taught them, it is that no one should ever feel scared, alone or hopeless. And they are committed to doing this work no matter what. “I have shown up to cases with a cane, I have a team member that has arthritis and even when she can barely move, she will still come on a case,” says Carpenter-Chaidez. “My case manager Crissy showed up at this site and she didn’t look great to me … well, it turns out she had been having a heart attack and stayed, so that is who is on my team.”
The women of PMS are not in ghost-hunting for fame or recognition. They all genuinely believe in what they are doing, and they see this as an opportunity to help others.“It is all worth it to me,” says Mason. “Especially when we help people, when we validate [their] claims, and they go, ‘See I wasn’t crazy!’”
“In the beginning, I was trying to find answers for myself,” says Carpenter-Chaidez. “I wanted to know what was after me when I was a child. But over the years it has become about finding these answers for other people, so they don’t have to have that fear that I did.” (MORE - details)
https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/201...s-johnson/
INTRO: The RSPCA has named a canary found in a Plymouth Park after the new Prime Minister [Boris Johnson] because of his bouffant of blond hair. The yellow canary was found flying loose in a park near Farm Lane on Saturday (3 August).
Meet the Paranormal Moms Society
https://narratively.com/meet-the-paranor...s-society/
EXCERPT: . . . Christie Carpenter-Chaidez is one of eight women who make up the Paranormal Moms Society, or PMS, of Northlake, Illinois. Founded in 2007, the members all have full-time jobs and families that they balance with their investigations, which are often an all-night ordeal, followed by weeks spent analyzing the hundreds of hours of footage, audio files and EVP recordings. This off-kilter work has led to lifelong friendships — and a sense of purpose. Any case that deals with kids or animals gets pushed to the front of the pile. “It’s the mom in us,” says Carpenter-Chaidez.
When Carpenter-Chaidez first moved to Northlake, a 12,000-person city half an hour outside of Chicago, she didn’t know many people. “I became a stay-at-home mom when my son was born, so then I was really isolated,” she says. It was on a regular walk to school that she struck up a conversation with one of the neighborhood moms and found a shared interest: paranormal investigations. Both avid fans of Ghost Hunters, the two women purchased some basic tools and started their own paranormal searches in cemeteries like the famed Bachelor’s Grove.
Their humble beginnings, without fancy equipment or really any clear idea of how one actually becomes a ghost hunter, sparked something in Carpenter-Chaidez. While her co-founder would end her affiliation with the group not long after it started, Carpenter-Chaidez wanted more. She soon began searching for other like-minded moms. “I wondered how many other moms who are like us are out there,” says Carpenter-Chaidez. “[Moms] looking for something they could do to get away from the kids on a weekend and looking for something that they are really into.”
Each woman has a different story about how they got interested in the paranormal...
[...] Some of the women’s family members do not support or understand their paranormal hobbies. Liz Mason’s mother was against it for religious reasons, but over the years she has become more accepting, and now she even watches the live feeds of their investigations. Theresa Ban’s sons were skeptical too, but after Ban went through evidence and showed them what the work entails, she says they understood. “Both of my boys are supportive; they don’t make fun of it or anything,” says Ban. “They know this is Mom’s hobby and I like to do this.”
But this is more than just a pastime for these women; it’s a responsibility. If there is anything their own paranormal experiences have taught them, it is that no one should ever feel scared, alone or hopeless. And they are committed to doing this work no matter what. “I have shown up to cases with a cane, I have a team member that has arthritis and even when she can barely move, she will still come on a case,” says Carpenter-Chaidez. “My case manager Crissy showed up at this site and she didn’t look great to me … well, it turns out she had been having a heart attack and stayed, so that is who is on my team.”
The women of PMS are not in ghost-hunting for fame or recognition. They all genuinely believe in what they are doing, and they see this as an opportunity to help others.“It is all worth it to me,” says Mason. “Especially when we help people, when we validate [their] claims, and they go, ‘See I wasn’t crazy!’”
“In the beginning, I was trying to find answers for myself,” says Carpenter-Chaidez. “I wanted to know what was after me when I was a child. But over the years it has become about finding these answers for other people, so they don’t have to have that fear that I did.” (MORE - details)