Book of Mirrors

So, every once in a while, I get on this ghost kick. Scour the internet, read (allegedly) true tales of hauntings and other experiences, and whatnot.

A few nights ago, I was restless and couldn't sleep, and was surfing idly. I wasn't actually in a ghost-y mood, but I had found this dude on MySpace a few nights before who had a ghosts page which I hadn't gotten around to reading yet. I didn't add him because of the ghost thing... he's either from, or has lived in, my hometown, and has the same last night as a guy I went to school with. (He never responded to my question of whether or not he was related.) Anyway, he has a ghostie page, which insomnia prompted me to read.

It wasn't a bad page... some decent stories, which gave me the usual interesting feeling that I get when reading ghost stories. But I also had the distinct impression while I was reading that I had somehow "activated" something in the apartment. No sense of malevolence or benevolence. Just there. Of course, I wasn't sure if this was my imagination playing tricks on me or not, but I had an even harder time getting to sleep that night. I think I woke up BlckwngdOrcl from the energy leaking off me alone, and I couldn't get myself together enough to shield. Luckily, he was able to shield for both of us, and we were both able to go to sleep.

Since then, a few weird things have been happening. The most noticable is my dryer. I will often put clothes in the washer, and, in order to save time later, I'll set the dryer to the settings I want, clean the lint trap, and otherwise have it such that all I have to do when I take the clothes out of the washer is throw them in the dryer and hit the start button. So, I did this the other night, only to find that nothing happened when I hit the start button later. Checking closer, I saw that the dial was set to "off" rather than the usual 90 minutes. I basically shrugged that off. I must have screwed up somehow. After all, the two are opposite each other on the dial, so maybe I was just not paying attention, and did it backwards. Or else maybe someone else in the apartment had seen it and decided to "fix" it. No big deal. Took 2 seconds to correct the problem and go on my way.

The next time I went to do laundry, I did the same thing, and double-checked this time to make sure the dial was set properly. When I went to put the clothes in the dryer, the same thing had happened. BlckwngdOrcl and LuneNoire were both home, so I asked them if they had messed with it - both said they hadn't, and it's not like either of them to make that kind of a joke. I mentioned what had happened before, and my thought that it might be some sort of paranormal activity, and went ahead and fixed the dryer again. Still no sense of malovolence, so it's not like I'm freaking out about it. I mean, in general, I like ghosties.

(Note: I've heard in some circles that they don't like to be called "ghosts", but prefer something like "spirit people" or the like. This may or may not be the case, but "ghostie" is more of a term of affection for me.)

So, yesterday, same deal with the laundry. I had one more mundane explanation in mind; that is, maybe if I set the dial on 90 minutes, even if I didn't run the dryer, it ran itself out, since it almost invariably takes me more than 90 minutes to get around to putting the clothes in the dryer. So, I set up the dryer, making sure it was where I wanted it, calling out a playful "All right, guys!" as I did so. (I was alone in the house at this point, and until much later, long after the conclusion of this particular experiment.) So, I made it a point to check the dryer BEFORE 90 minutes had passed (it was maybe an hour). Same thing - dial to "off". *shrug* Whatchagonnado?

Last night, I also changed the roll of toilet paper in our bathroom. I always put it on a certain way, which is the opposite way most people do it. I remember having trouble with it, half-asleep and in the dark (BlckwngdOrcl was home and asleep at that point), and trying to make sure I put it on the way I like, which I thought I had accomplished. This morning, however, it's backwards. Not sure if this is a mistake on my part or not. If it happens again, I'll assume it had "help".

Smithers (at least I'm pretty sure it's him) has also been making a plaintive meowing I'm not used to him making. Not sure if that's related or not.

Anyway, we'll see what happens. I put some water out for them/it. Good relations and all that, especially since LuneNoire isn't all that fond of that sort of thing, his first experience having been an unpleasant one.

Any thoughts or comments are welcome. I'm not looking for any, since I don't consider this a problem, but enjoy other viewpoints and such.