A Black Cat Named Jynx

by Chris Chaos

It was pre-summer of 2013 and we wanted to get another buddy, a cat to add to our family of misfits. The previous year we got our 1st buddy, a Panda Bear hamster by the name of Wheeler. He is a fine furry little meatball and acquired his name for his love of running on his wheel.

(Update: As of the time since the original writing of this article I regret to inform you that Wheeler passed in January)
A video tribute for Wheeler: WHEELER

We came to the conclusion on having to get a  cat and not a dog because our lifestyle and work schedule would not permit the proper care and attention needed for a dog. A cat is sort of self sufficient as long as you feed, water and change the box and can be left alone for hours on end as opposed to a dog.

We looked all over the internet at locations in our area that supplied cats and decided against the cat mills and stores that "sold" cats considering ethical reasons. So we decided on our local no kill shelter due to having an abundance of love for animals and an abundance of..... animals.

Visiting the The Animal Orphanage (http://www.theanimalorphanage.org/) in Voorhees, New Jersey, I did not have a preference for a type of cat, just as long as he/she was cool and loving. Chrissy was looking for a white cat, but there were none in the shelter when we went. We spent about 2 hours in the cat cage and tried to spend a few minutes with each cat to see which one was a good fit for us. Many of the cats were scared and hid from us, so this narrowed the field down a bit. We reduced our selection down to 3 cats, the 1st one was a huge black cat but was 13 years old. This cat was VERY friendly but we wanted a younger cat that could grow with our family. The 2nd was a striped cat that was in a cage with a fellow striped cat and 2 other black cats. The striped cat was pretty cool but was very typical. I wanted a buddy that was kind of unique and stood out. Then a black cat in the same cage seemed very friendly, so we were playing with him for a bit and then I thought about how excellent this young black kitten would fit in with out horror theme back at home. He just had to be the next addition to our family.

We talked to the caregiver at the orphanage and they stated that black cats (and dogs) were the least likely to be adopted due to the negative stories associated with them. So armed with that info we talked it over and spent more time with all the other cats and then quickly decided that the young black kitten was the one that we wanted. He fitted in with so much that we had already. "Leonard" was the name he had and he was thought to be about 2-3 months old. So we made our choice, Leonard was to be ours, but we would just HAVE to change his name. We filled out the paperwork, played with "Leonard" one last time, took a few photos, then left and hoped we would be approved to adopt him.

The next day we received the call and they told us that we were approved and that we could pick up "Leonard" at our convenience. So we went to the local pet store and purchased all we needed and headed up to finalize everything for the adoption. Ironically, we went in for a white cat and left with a black cat.

Once we got him home we ran through several names but none of them fit him. But after 2 or so days of living with "Leonard" we decided on the perfect name for him, "Jynx". Now well over a year later we had all the time in the world to fall in love with him and become a family together.

He terrorizes and tortures us, as all cats do to their servants, but after a long day at work it is always refreshing to come home and have him run up to us, as the door opens and rub on our ankles, "Welcome home guys!" Jynx.

He loves to steal our seats when we vacate them, chew on my shoe laces as I try to tie them, use the catbox as we try to eat, fart on our pillows, bites us when we dare to venture past his petting limit and step on our faces as we try to sleep, he may be an asshole, but he is our asshole.

For more writings of Chris Chaos visit:
http://allthingsweird88.blogspot.com/

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)

THE HERD MENTALITY (an excerpt from a larger piece)

by Chris Chaos

Creatures with low cognitive capacity follow the herd, for example birds flock, fish school

and social insects swarm.

Humans are considered to be the most evolved and intelligent of all the animals on the planet. But among the lowest rung of humankind the urge to herd still holds true. The deindividualization of the person occurs when in a larger crowd and then all inhibitions go out the window.

The crowd mentality takes over and as a swarm, if members of this crowd start doing

negative acts, then even a person that would normally not engage is such behaviors will

follow suite and go along with the acts.

  

For example, among kids in school a person in a group might start to pick on and tease a

classmate. Other members in the group will see this and wanting to belong and be accepted

will join in to heckle the student thus lowering their own accountability. Usually this person

would not engage in this kind of detrimental behavior but as stated previous the crowd

mentality will take over.

A prime example is a flash mob, where a mass of people will run through the streets and

either attack people/property, plunder stores or commit some sort of vandalism. They are "in

the moment" and would normally not do this while alone. The group cloaks them in a sort of

invisibility and anonymity.

This behavior is most prevalent during/after a sporting event, a political rally or any other event where a large number of people gather.

For more writings of Chris Chaos visit:

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)

THE WITCHES WELL AND HOLY HOLY HOLY ALTAR (Updated July 4th, 2014)

by Chris Chaos

July 4th, 2014

This trip was a long time coming, for about 2 months we kept making plans to go back for the update but weather and circumstance kept getting in the way. But on this 4th of July during Hurricane Arthur we experienced a cool down with the temperature so we decided to go.

We pulled up the Prospect street, a hidden little road nestled next to THE MOUNT in Mount Holly, New Jersey. All looked the same at the onset, but we did notice quite a few of the larger older trees have collapsed. We entered the trail and we see they did make it a bit more accessible by adding wood beams every few feet to help with footing. Some of the trails were a bit more wide also.

 

The WITCHES WELL was to the left of us and up a hill, it appeared that they put up a more heavy duty fence along with more security cameras. More on this shortly.

We continued up the path a few more feet and saw more trees that fell over. The main path that leads to the HOLY HOLY HOLY ALTAR also had a few wooden beams inserted to help in the climb. About halfway up I saw what appeared to be a white dog laying off to the side..upon approach I saw that it was actually a goat....about 20 of them behind an electrified fence! Bonus! They were there to clean up some of the rogue vegetation that is

present on THE MOUNT. The coolest one was the solid black horned goat.

Passing the goats a few more feet we came upon The Altar where in previous times many supposed witches met their doom by hanging. The Judgment Table is still there but the only the base of the pole that was used to hang the witches remains. On my 1st visit here most of the pole still stood. About a year ago they added the benches here in an attempt to make the location a little more family friendly and to take away some of the mystic that has been associated with these grounds. I noted that sex magik rituals still take place here due to the paraphernalia behind the Altar along with condom wrappers.

 

Proceeding up THE MOUNT we came across the 2 Geodetic survey sites on top that are positioned all across the USA to measure earth quakes and tectonic plate movement. One of the 1st settlers of Mount Holly also used to have a house up here. Many of the bricks and masonry rubble can still be found spread out across the land here.

Venturing down THE MOUNT we passed The Holy Holy Holy Altar again and preceded to the Mount Holly Cemetery which has a tribute site to a witch that could not be buried within the property of the cemetery. Sadly many vandals destroyed the gifts left here and they could be found smashed and scattered all over the grounds.

After visiting the Witch Tribute site we headed back to the beginning and ventured up the huge hill to the left of THE MOUNT. At the top of the hill is a big barb wired fence with several security cameras that take photos of anyone attempting to vandalize or trespass onto the property were THE WITCHES WELL is. There are quite a few legends associated with this location, but 2 stand out. The 1st is that a witch was thrown down the well but did not die, instead she lived for a few days and cursed the land. The townspeople then built the brick building over the well in an attempt to seal her in. Legend states that if you knock on the huge metal door you will hear 3 knocks come right back at you from the witch. The 2nd legend is that a witch summoned the Jersey Devil and then he killed her, then the Jersey Devil was cast in the well and the brick structure built over him.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFO GO TO:

www.facebook.com/Cursedbook

or

https://www.youtube.com/user/armpitstate

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey.  He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)

Throw Away Pets?

by Chris Chaos

 Is your pet a part of your family or is it just a simple form of entertainment?

 If the animal needed to go to the vet would you foot the bill or just let it suffer? If you had to move and they did not accept animals what would you do with the animal, would you give it away? Did you get your pet just on a whim for your child?

 Do you keep your animals locked up in uncomfortable cages because they inconvenience you? Do you have the time to properly care for the animal and time to dedicate to play with them.

 Sadly many animals are abused, not in the traditional sense but in the manner that they are locked up most of the day, their owners never play with them and caring for the animal has become a burden. Many people think the idea of getting a pet is fun and never consider that sometimes it can be work and a challenge.

For a dog they do need a lot of attention and need a yard to run around in. If you keep the dog locked up in a cage and then wonder why they are extremely hyper when you let them out or if the dog is left indoors for many hours and then goes to the bathroom on the floor, do not get mad, you are the problem.

 Quite a number of people do not deserve animals, case in point. For about the last 6 months and on average about once a week I see a beagle wandering the streets. Now the area is in a city and the roads are on the busy side. This dog has almost been ran over many times, and that is just what I have witnessed. I posted a message in a community Facebook group for my city explaining the situation and if anyone knows the owners of this dog. A few days later I receive a response and they state that they themselves and their children went to the owner on several occasions and let them know about the dog roaming the streets and how he almost gets hits. Their attitude was they just shrugged it off and had the "So What" mind set.

 You would not believe what some animals go through, just visit your local shelter and they will enlighten you. Quite a disturbingly large amount of animals get adopted from shelters and then are returned just a short time later.

 When we wanted to add a cat to our family we thought about it for months and weighed all the options. 1st we decided to get a cat from the shelter since they are the ones that needed it the most.We made sure that we had everything that the cat would need and our schedule permitted it. We decided on a black little kitten named Leonard, but we changed his name to Jynx. Black cats (and dogs) are the hardest to place due to the superstition that is associated with them, so we knew that our new buddy was going to be just fine with us.

 An animal is not a toy, it is a living being and needs your love. Think long and hard and weigh all options before deciding on adding an animal to your family.

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)