occupation + consumption.

Quick list of what I've been occupied with and will write about on some future date:

Music:

The Kills- "Midnight Boom", The Decemberists- "The Crane Wife", Death Cab for Cutie's latest album- new fave song 'I will possess your heart'


Found this music post / video post via a favorite on a music site MOG which i belong to, highly amusing and entertaining.

See below:

How Siouxsie Sioux brought a tear to my eye..by Neill

Ailments:

Wisdom tooth dilemma and Jimmy pulled his back, so I took care of him all wkend. He is struggling with serious back pain and he doesn't know how it happened aside from a nap on the futon. It is so bad, its interfering with relaxing at home and he was in pain all wkend and couldn't do anything. He has a dr appt this Thurs. I guess this is what happens when you get older. lol. I feel old right now, all these problems. It does suck! I am hoping he gets better as it's been horrible for him and I hate to see him suffer so.

Film:

Under the same moon [mexican subtitled film- sad, moving, relevant to today's political issues, about mother and child- the bonds]

TV:

Latest new hilarious tv show that debuted, we discovered via VSL and our BBC cable station IS Gavin and Stacey- which I highly recommend to fans of the office [bbc] and quirky comedy like that.

News:

Tropical storms/hurricanes Fay, Gustav, and newly formed Ike and Josephine keep us riveted to local news, cnn, msnbc, and weather channel constantly. What can i say? Somex it's how you get when you are a Floridian. Those unfamiliar with constant hurricanes or living in a state with major hurricanes every year, probably can't or won't relate but that's how it is when you live in this sort of state.

CourtTV/ Current murder trial:

The Sean Fitzpatrick murder trial in Boston ended in a mistrial after he took the stand in defense of himself. The accused guy was older, weird, charistmatic, obviously charming but with an air of cockiness, arrogance and self righteousness. He seemed to be guilty but the lack of evidence/ dna was unable to sway the judge to come to any judgement. They simply felt too conflicted and that's why it ended with a hung jury. It will be retried and Phil Spektor's retrial begins at the end of September which will be of great interest especially since I spent months watching it last year and like everyone else was disappointed when he got off scott-free when we all know this man is psychotic and he did kill her. He's guilty! So now maybe justice will come this time around!

Politics:

Obama; democratic national convention last week [jimmy was more obsessed with this than i. its just since we live together, I kind of end up being sucked into things I normally would not take the time to watch on my own HA]

I am for obama though and I found most of the speeches very inspiring + moving but could have done with the HOURS a nite for an entire wk of constant CNN coverage that I was forced to watch because Jimmy couldn't miss one minute of any of it. He had to be in on each and every action -- thank god he has slowed down this week with the republican conven. - true its because he is not for the republican party as I am not either, but still if he had his chance, I think he'd watch it 24/7- he just knows I will explode on him if I have to watch another week of political junk nite and day. There is a certain amount of anything I can take and I'm sorry but my tolerance is LOW.

TV/Olympics:

Since I was stuck watching olympics everyday for almost a month becos of HIS obsession with that and if I complained over this and how it dominated our tv, I was ridiculed because I am UN-American to not be "INTO" the olympics. Whatev- LOL I have to disagree with that. I am not into sports period. So what?!!
To each his own, right?

I did enjoy the diving and gymnastics but when someone wants to watch 4-6 hrs of olympics everyday for 3 weeks, I hardly think u can expect anyone to be enthusiastic for very long. It gets boring and begins to feel like you have no choice but to watch that.

If I wouldn't watch it, he'd simply record it on our DVD-R but he'd have to watch it the next day to keep up with the latest olympics scores and to not use all the dvd r space up- so it wouldn't matter. I would still be stuck watching it the next day. I got aggravated a lot simply because he dominates the tv for his sports games on a regular basis, then it was olympics and now its politics. I just get irritated but that's life I guess. He isn't very good at taking turns or sharing and we get into frequent fights over that because he is often selfish in my opinion and lacks the ability to see past himself or to even offer compromise. I often have to get angry and fight to get any positive outcome. It is frustrating sometimes.

Wedding Planning:

*We will have a meeting with florist to finalize ideas and put downpayment down in mid september.

*We have an appt with Alessi bakery for wedding cake same weekend. We must also go to David's Bridal for alterations on my bridal gown during the last weekend of September.

*This month, also need to buy: clear contacts, bridal strapless full slip for gown etc.

*Research party favors and reception decor, send out invites by end of month, decide if there will be any wedding shower at all dependent upon his mother.

*We also investigated hotels near the wedding chapel/reception hall for our upcoming wedding, for our out of town guests that will be here and will need a place to stay the nite of the wedding nearby. We came up with the following, but in the end we chose the Oldsmar one for our out of town guests (we will stay in clearwater in sand key hotel)- It's the bolded Courtyard at Marriott one and looks pretty nice. We've reserved ten rooms for our out of town guests and if there are less than ten guests, we can lower the amount of rooms we are holding, accdg to receptionist.
Here's the list of the hotels within 10 miles of the chapel and reception hall. The one in Tarpon Springs would be by the sponge docks if anyone wants something interesting to do on Saturday. There are two in Oldsmar that I think are right by the big flea market, so maybe a few of you would be interested in that. I'll have to see if it would be open that weekend, but I imagine it would.Blue Moon Inn - Dunedin (1.59 miles/approx. $99)http://www.thebluemooninn.com/Best Western Lake Tarpon - Tarpon Springs (4.13 miles/$94)http://www.bestwesternlaketarpon.com/index.htmHoliday Inn Express - Clearwater North (4.76 miles/$119)http://www.hiexpress.com/h/d/ex/1/en/hotel/ddnfl?rpb=hotel&crUrl=/h/d/ex/1/en/hotelsearchresultsComfort Inn - Clearwater (4.8 miles/$88)http://www.clearwatercomfortinn.com/Best Western Yacht Harbor Inn - Dunedin (5.11 miles/$112)http://www.yachtharborinn.com/Courtyard by Marriott - Oldsmar (7.21 miles/$99)http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/tpaol-courtyard-tampa-oldsmar/Residence Inn by Marriott - Oldsmar (7.22 miles/$109)http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/tpaod-residence-inn-tampa-oldsmar/Fairfield Inn & Suites - Clearwater Bayside (8.71 miles/$99)http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/tpacr-fairfield-inn-and-suites-clearwater-bayside/Belleview Biltmore Resort - Belleview (9.63 miles/$99)http://www.belleviewbiltmore.com/
I'm not sure where we're staying yet, but it might be the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater. It's a little more pricey ($200 or so) and about 9 miles away. (http://www.sheratonsandkey.com/index.php)
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Labor Day:

I spent labor day sick, but so filled with anxiety [had a wedding day anxiety provoking dream], that i put together all 75 wedding invitations following correct model setup via box and putting in appropriate gift registries [was 25 short on gift registry cards so not all invitations are complete].

I felt so relieved for about ten mins like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders, chest, heart....but it wasn't long before that feeling disappeared and was replaced with renewed anxiety/worry, stress. Now, all we have to do is print directions, add them, add postage to reply envelopes, and then hand address them. YAY take one step forward, fall two steps back. Gotta love that feeling!

Honeymoon planning:

We met with travel agent at borders in tampa on friday. St. Lucia is way out of our budget and so is Turks and Cacaos. They are close to four thousand dollars even w/ discounts. So it looks like we are stuck going to jamaica, looking at Whitehouse Sandals all inclusive resort which Jimmy has hesitated on because he says its too expensive at $2800 which includes 5 nites, plane fare for two, hotel for two, all food, liquor, etc.

I hardly think its expensive and think its unrealistic to think u can find anything under 2000 that includes all that in the carribeans. he complains that i didn't want to take a cruise which is only a few hundred dollars. sorry but thats not romantic to me, being stuck on a ship with people i don't know is unromantic, limiting, claustrophobic.

My idea of romance and relaxation on a vacation far away is being able to have privacy, plan your time as u like, plan your days without anyones rules , get up and go to bed when you like unlike a cruise. In any case, he had reserved our hotel room and pkg price with the travel agent over the weekend with my approval. She wrote today saying the reservation ends tomorrow and money must be put down to seal package and book our trip if we are to have one for our honeymoon so i mentioned this on the phone when he called on the way home from work.

We got in an argument when i mentioned it as he told me he didn't know if he wanted to go all the way with it [after we wasted all our time talking with her and he told her we were seriously interested and reserved the room etc- this made NO sense to me], and that it seemed unaffordable to him even though we got major discounts since right now flights are free and you get a free nite plus a honeymoon suite on first floor upgrade for a limited time if u go with sandals, so thats what we were getting. It normally costs over a thousand dollars more than this. But anyway, he began complaining saying maybe we could find another deal cheaper somewhere else online. I said you've got to be kidding me!

We've been looking online for six mos now, all of them are close to this price range given by the agent if not mroe than this and the ones NOT all inclusive simply are not worth it and will end up more in the end. But no, he had to insist he knows more than I. And then he went into how we could have an affordable trip if i wasn't so picky and we went on a cruise.

I'm not even going to go into all the anger I felt then. This is supposed to be my future husband's gift to me -his wife. It is supposed to be romantic, a gift. It is supposed to be something I love. Is taking me on a cheap cruise that makes me sea sick and i find UNrelaxing and unromantic and NOT fun what you do to show your future wife you love her and she is special? I don't think so. I blew up, cried, then apologized after hanging up.

Later when he got home, we did look up prices on Jamaica Sandals pkgs. It pretty much proved what I had said. I think he was resigned because he wrote the travel agent saying he'd like to discuss booking the trip but there is still some hesitation because he wants to know the full price with tax which makes me feel he doesn't know how to finalize anything and is afraid, looking for an excuse not to make that decison yet. I don't know.

I didn't say anything but in our earlier argument I told him that I was resigned to have no honeymoon cos it clearly was too much for him, too much for me to ask and it seemed I was undeserving with the way he acted of something romantic, nice, and special. He said he wanted that for me and said he didnt feel this way but his actions/reactions tell a different story and I feel as I do because of how he makes me feel. No one should be this stressed over a honeymoon, most importantly, the bride to be. It makes me feel guilty for wanting to have and get what most normal people in this world get when they get married. It makes me angry that I am made to feel this way. i have a hard time coping with emotions under any sort of duress or stress and wonder if i ever can get any better than this. Most of the time, it seems hopeless and I feel it, inside. Hopeless.

I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think.
-Rumi

entwistle.

i watched this entire trial on court tv now called "truTV" they changed their name - during the past two weeks i was very ill with asthma and unable to do much else.

it was one of the most riveting, intriguing, and shocking of murder case trials i have ever seen and i have watched a few choice ones in the past year - some lasting several months- example: phil spector and that fertility nurse melanie or melody- what was her name? the one whose gambling husband was found body parts divided in luggage off the east coast - anyway it was a high profile case.

but the one i just finished watching and was a relatively short and suspenseful- if NOT- unusual trial was the murder trial of neil entwistle's which had evidence and proof that he did so many things that pointed towards guilt that he definitely seemed guilty of what he was charged with and very bizarre, off- something not right about him. He seemed very cold, without emotion or remorse,and narcissistic/ self absorbed in court although he did not speak at ALL in the trial or in any interviews. he was silent and did not testify on the stand.

simply it was neil entwistle's quiet glaring and rolling or rather blinking of eyes in utter annoyance that made him seem highly self involved and completely heartless, lacking a conscience and in turn- completely guilty.

the defense [neil's attorney weinstein and stephanie page] made a plea of innocence [which i do not believe at all] and professed the murder was a suicide and that the wife had killed their baby before killing herself. i really don't think so. i would think that is more likely to happen [killing of infant and then self] with a man than a woman. i just could not imagine it and the jury could not either and all voted - guilty, murder in the first degree on two counts.
for those that don't know or haven't heard of this case: simply- neil entwistle who was from england was living with his wife rachel [who was american and had met him in england.] they had moved back by her family in Massachusetts after their baby lillian [often called lily for short] was born.

a week after living in their newly rented home which was over 2 thous. a month, one day out of the blue, rachel and their child who was 9 months old and a baby were found dead, shot to death in bed. a bullet thru the baby's stomach which directly entered rachel's breast and a bullet to rachel's head.

neil entwistle later claimed to find the body, cover them up and not know what to do, so he fled the home, drove around, went to the airport, and flew back to england essentially running away. [it was days before concerned family of rachel's sent over police officers to search for her when she was not heard from - they later found the bodies- the police after searching the home twice i think, and not seeing the bodies which were under covers the first time. it was not realized right away that her husband neil entwistle had fled or where he was at that time.

it looked very guilty that neil had fled to the UK and not reported the dead bodies let alone called 911 because he claimed "he didn't know what to do" and couldnt deal with it. he later was extradited and brought back to the US, charged with the murders and expected to stand trial. the murder occurred in january of 2006 and he had been in jail since arrested and charged up until this trial aired on court/tru-TV- channel 55 on cable.

all evidence in the case pointed to neil's strange detachment to his wife and child and to his guilt. not to mention there was evidence he was searching on the computer while the dead bodies were there for jobs, flights home and escort/call girl services.

well, he got what he deserved in the trial and it was a tragic and chilling/haunting case that really is incomprehensible. he got life for both and will be stuck in prison in MA now and is unable to go back to england.

here is a copy of the cnn story on this the nite the guilty verdict was handed down which i had sent to my email.

i like court case esp murder trials and convictions. part of it is distraction from one self but also fascination with human behavior, analyzation. and then again, its also that i enjoy seeing victims and family receive the sort of justice they rightly deserve.

Click here: Entwistle guilty of murdering wife, baby - CNN.com

Entwistle guilty of murdering wife, baby
Story Highlights
NEW: Family maintains his innocence; attorney plans appeal
Entwistle convicted on two charges of first-degree murder
Defense said wife killed herself and husband covered up to "protect her honor"
Prosecutors argued that Entwistle killed family because of sex life, debts
Next Article in Crime »

(CNN) -- A man who fled the United States for his native England after his wife and daughter were killed was found guilty of their murders Wednesday.

Neil Entwistle, 29, repeatedly closed his eyes and shook his head as the foreman read the verdict: guilty of two first-degree murder charges, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition.

The jury in Woburn, Massachusetts, deliberated for less than 12 hours before reaching the verdict.

Entwistle faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced at 10 a.m. Thursday. Watch Entwistle react as the verdict is read »

During the trial, prosecutors said Entwistle was in debt and dissatisfied with his sex life when he fatally shot Rachel Entwistle and 9-month old Lillian as the two snuggled in bed.

"We may never know why this happened. But we do know that Rachel and Lillian Rose loved and trusted Neil Entwistle," Joseph Flaherty, a spokesman for Rachel Entwistle's family, said after the verdict.

"Neil Entwistle's actions on January 20, 2006, betrayed that love and trust. Neil Entwistle will now live with his evil deeds for the rest of his natural life, only to be judged again," the family said. Watch the victims' family thank the public for its support »

With the verdict, the jury rejected a defense claim that Rachel Entwistle killed Lillian and then committed suicide. Entwistle claimed that he returned the gun to his father-in-law's home 50 miles away because he wanted to preserve his wife's honor.

Outside the courthouse, Entwistle's parents continued to assert their son's innocence.
"Our son will now go to jail for loving, honoring and protecting his wife and Lillian," Yvonne Entwistle said, adding that she knew her daughter-in-law was "depressed." Watch Entwistle's mother assert he is innocent »

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"We will continue to fight for our innocent son with the hope that one day, justice will prevail and that our little granddaughter Lily will rest in peace," she said.

After the verdict, defense lawyer Peter Park said he was confident that an appeal would prevail on the grounds that police entered Entwistle's home illegally on two occasions.
Defense lawyers did not call any witnesses.

Police in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, discovered the bodies of Rachel, 27, and Lillian in the master bedroom of their home January 22, 2006, after responding to a missing persons report filed by the victims' relatives. Authorities said the two were killed two days before. See a timeline of the Entwistle case »

Entwistle told police in a phone call January 23 that he found his wife and daughter dead from gunshot wounds January 20 after returning from running errands. He told authorities he could see "a gunshot wound on Lillian's body and blood around her mouth."
He did not call police. Instead, he said, he got a knife to kill himself but "could not go through with it."

He said he then drove to his in-laws' home to get a gun to kill himself but could not get into the home. He also told police he was unable to contact his mother-in-law, he told police. See Entwistle break down in court during testimony »

Eventually, he said, he drove to Boston's Logan International Airport because he "wanted to go home to his parents in England." British police arrested him the following month.
Prosecutors doubted Entwistle's story. He had not worked for four months before the murders, and the family was paying $2,700 a month for their home, leading police to believe that financial problems may have played a role in the slayings.

Authorities discovered that, days before the murders, Entwistle looked at a Web site that described "how to kill people by various methods" and launched Internet searches on suicide, euthanasia and "how to kill someone with a knife," the documents said.
He also searched for escort services near his home, according to search warrants, including Eye Candy Entertainment, Exotic Express and Sweet Temptations.

Prosecutors said that the victims' gunshot wounds were not easily visible and that he would not have been able to see them without careful examination.

Court documents show that it took investigators and forensic chemists several hours to determine that the baby had been shot and that her gunshot wound was visible only after her mother's body had been moved.

After the verdict, Middlesex County District Attorney Gerry Leone condemned the defendant for "disparaging" the memory of his wife with the suicide claims. He said the verdict brought justice to Rachel and Lillian, who would have turned 3 years old this April.

"She should be here walking, talking and playing, with her mom, Rachel, doting over her," Leone said. "But we all now know that's not going to happen, and that's not going to happen because of the reprehensible acts of Neil Entwistle."

Asked about Entwistle's parents' comments, Leone said he would expect "nothing less" from the parents of a man who had been convicted of murder.

"Frankly, our thoughts are with them too," he said.

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