SIDEBAR #54 - Travis Alexander forum

Susza said:

BBM - I agree 100%, Bernina!
Although this is what I believe, it's not always easy for me to live. Often I feel like i was "shaped" to always follow a goal and choose the most effective way to get there. So it's not such a long time ago I decided to stay in the presence, to decide moment by moment and to give a voice to my tummy not only to my brain. Still a lot left to learn.

Thank you very much for the beautiful pictures. Love them!
Oh, a question: what is wrong with short hair? Mine is short since I was 21; always wearing helmets for cycling or riding my Vespa, doing sports, and mainly because they are so fine.
I think the short hair is just fine for me; It's easy going, ha, and that's important. Oh, and I never use any make up...I have too much freckles... and the mascara makes my eyes burn... My mom says, these are excuses

Click to expand...

Lol! Short hair......I cut my hair after I had my daughter.........she grabbed handfuls of it, along with any necklaces I had when she was a baby. Something had to give, and there was "no returns" on the kid so the hair had to adapt! :floorlaugh:
Make-up? The first time I really had it put on me was for a production done my the MIA (Mutual Improvement Association) group at church when I was 14, along with the guys (deacons) for the church. My mom, with all her makeup skills, changed me from something that enjoyed being in the shadows to this creature that everyone took notice of. And people didn't recognize me, which later became a plus. I was still a major tomboy, so I thought, eh, jut a random thing, back to being a shadow.Being a shadow kept me safe at home, and I thought the real world would be just the same. When people noticed you, there would be conversations and questions. What happened at home, stayed at home. We had the burden of being the family on the pedestal at church, with my grandpa's calling, dad was living a lie, mom was loosing her marbles, me and gramps had our twisted past, and the child favorites in the family had already been well established. If I stayed quiet, and out of the way, I *might* avoid my dad's wrath. But, being the oldest, if one of my siblings did something wrong, it was my fault because I was the "example'.
I never really thought about it, but I wore cutoffs under my dresses until I was 13. I thought it was a tomboy thing, but I think it had something to do with the molestation. I started doing that in first grade.
Goals were ingrained in me from the earliest I can remember, it's a major mormon thing.

coffeejunkie said:

Thank you for your kindness and well wishes! :grouphug:

I will try my best explain what happening (the way my pumo dr. explained it). I have always had allergies/asthma (not as bad as I have it now). When I had the anaphylactic shock (2012) it really did a number on my system and I had aspiration pneumonia because I aspirated when I was in my coma, plus it caused some heart damage. The pneumonia did some damage to my lungs and since I had allergies/asthma and being I went into a full blown anaphylactic shock and was on full life support for 7 days my body now overreacts to the weather conditions, pollen, smells, ect. Dr said my asthma is enhanced by what happened and I get sick real easy and since my lungs are damaged whatever I get goes straight to my lungs and I get pneumonia real easy now. So we (the drs and I) play a 'game of prevention'. At the first sign of me getting sick or asthma attack I start on steroids and antibiotics as a preventions. It's an endless circle...

What set it off this time is we live close by a grain elevator and they have been drying corn and the 'red devils' are flying in the air, covering everything. 'Red Devils' are what we local folks call the red junk off the cob of the dried corn.

The anaphylactic shock is what caused my COPD because of so much lung damage. Yeah me It's a part of my life now and I just deal with it and move on...no use getting all worked up about it, it just is what it is I am very lucky and yes, blessed to be alive! I beat the odds and won!! I was dead twice (full codes) when this happened and by all odds should not be here...

Click to expand...

Might sound strange asking, but did you have any "near death" experiences? The white light and such? That kind of stuff fascinates me!
My dad had breathing issues, that was part of the reason they moved to Arizona. Wouldn't you know it, he got Valley Fever the 2nd year they were here.
Back in the day, Arizona was where people moved when they had asthma, pollution/environmental allergies, just about every lung issues, etc.

Hi CJ, you and I sound similar. I had a heart attack cause by septicemia. I have a lot of lung damage from having pneumonia in my life , I also take an antibiotic on first sign of it. I almost died from potassium drop. I take inhalation therapy 3 times a day. It's bad right now from allergi.I n have a good idea of what you are going thru , it's no fun. Septic from bleeding UC.. 3 blood transfusions. I live in fear of it. :blowkiss: Ps board acting up

Dmacky , technically challenged? You mean you're like me. :lol:

Watching all of the Madonna trial.........at Day 1, pt 2.
So far, my big question is if it was self defense, why did she dump his body and not call the police? And if there was 2 incidents where Perez left the vehicle during the conflict in the Jeep, why didn't Madonna just drive off and leave him?
Right now, I'm just listening to first responders.
Want to see a map in relationship to where he was found and the route that would have been taken if she really was headed towards the VA hospital.

Nore said:

Dmacky , technically challenged? You mean you're like me. :lol:

Click to expand...

Can someone come to my house and reset my clock which is blinking? :biggrin:

Using talk to text with lots of grammar errors !

Zuri said:

Good Morning my beautiful Sidebar Friends. I made the doctors release me 4 days early as I couldn't take it much more. It was not a smart move on my part. Ten days with no sleep did me in with the addition of Solumedrol 80 mg., which is a massive massive dose. Your messages to me were related and I am so deeply moved and Grateful. I have no air to speak, but have an O2 tank keeping me at 97% on 5 liters. I can't move very much and I am just exhausted. I actually scared my DH and doctors with how bad this got.

Bright side: Things are being taken care of that should have been done years ago. I am looking forward to redoing my house if I ever get that far. My DH has actually made me more of a propriety which has been a long time coming. Changes are afoot, slowly but surely. Hope you all are enjoying the nice fall weather. I need to change my pocketbook over from summer to fall. If that is the worst scenario, then I think I am gonna be ok.

I love you with all my heart. Xo

Click to expand...

Good to see you here, Zuri! You just take care of yourself and keep getting better. Jingles and (((hugs)))

Morning! :wave:

Watching football ALL day today!! GO NINERS!! :cheer:

Do you have a link to this Madonna trial??? :waitasec: I'd love to go and read it!

Not much going on here - at my place - will be looking at the moon tonight! Should be about 89 today! :summer:

Coffeejunkie - :hug:

Okay - off to read some of threads!

Later folks! :seeya:

and from my "sharing" folder.

Niner said:

Morning! :wave:

Watching football ALL day today!! GO NINERS!! :cheer:

Do you have a link to this Madonna trial??? :waitasec: I'd love to go and read it!

Not much going on here - at my place - will be looking at the moon tonight! Should be about 89 today! :summer:

Coffeejunkie - :hug:

Okay - off to read some of threads!

Later folks! :seeya:

and from my "sharing" folder.

Click to expand...

You can watch the videos of the Joanna Madonna trial here:

http://www.wral.com/news/local/asset_gallery/14903481/

The Raleigh/Durham area is really good about videotaping trials and posting them online. Makes it so much easier to follow. Did anyone else watch the trials of Grant and Amanda Hayes? That murder was so tragic and unbelievable.

Anyway, if you just want to read up on each day of the trial, the daily videos also come with a written synopsis...

Bernina said:

Watching all of the Madonna trial.........at Day 1, pt 2.
So far, my big question is if it was self defense, why did she dump his body and not call the police? And if there was 2 incidents where Perez left the vehicle during the conflict in the Jeep, why didn't Madonna just drive off and leave him?
Right now, I'm just listening to first responders.
Want to see a map in relationship to where he was found and the route that would have been taken if she really was headed towards the VA hospital.

Click to expand...

Yeah, since I only watched her testimony, I'm not clear on all the facts, but I do recall reading that the location where the body was found is not the location where he was killed. Still, I can verify that the route she claimed to be driving would have been the most direct route to the Raleigh/Durham VA hospital. If you believe her.

Also, while she clearly lied at first, and I don't buy the self-defense argument, I don't see what her motive could have been. There's a flirtation with her therapist, which might have contributed to her wanting a divorce, but not much to gain aside from wanting out. To me, she doesn't come off as a sociopath, a la Jodi Arias.

The folks on the WS page about her trial have very strong opinions about her, and she may be as evil as many people think, but to me, this doesn't come off as premeditated. Or, at the very least, the state failed to prove premeditation. But like I said, so far, I only watched her testimony.

I'll be interested in hearing what you think. I'm going to go back and watch some other parts of the trial. I think her eldest daughter's testimony might be revealing...

atthelake said:

Can someone come to my house and reset my clock which is blinking? :biggrin:

Using talk to text with lots of grammar errors !

Click to expand...

I am on my way !!! :takeoff: but if I get stuck in one of those newfangled "roundabouts", it may take me awhile :treadmill:


I figure one of the reasons I love this Sidebar is that so many of us have had such serious issues in our lives, whether by health or crimes, yet we don't sit around crying "poor me". When we need to vent we can, but it is never too overboard and it is easy to share, care, and give back both ways. Love you all!!!!

1961 - The Mountain’s High - tops the charts for Dick & Deedee


[video=youtu;rA3dhoyxyL8]http://youtu.be/rA3dhoyxyL8[/video]

Bernina said:

Lol! Short hair......I cut my hair after I had my daughter.........she grabbed handfuls of it, along with any necklaces I had when she was a baby. Something had to give, and there was "no returns" on the kid so the hair had to adapt! :floorlaugh:
Make-up? The first time I really had it put on me was for a production done my the MIA (Mutual Improvement Association) group at church when I was 14, along with the guys (deacons) for the church. My mom, with all her makeup skills, changed me from something that enjoyed being in the shadows to this creature that everyone took notice of. And people didn't recognize me, which later became a plus. I was still a major tomboy, so I thought, eh, jut a random thing, back to being a shadow.Being a shadow kept me safe at home, and I thought the real world would be just the same. When people noticed you, there would be conversations and questions. What happened at home, stayed at home. We had the burden of being the family on the pedestal at church, with my grandpa's calling, dad was living a lie, mom was loosing her marbles, me and gramps had our twisted past, and the child favorites in the family had already been well established. If I stayed quiet, and out of the way, I *might* avoid my dad's wrath. But, being the oldest, if one of my siblings did something wrong, it was my fault because I was the "example'.
I never really thought about it, but I wore cutoffs under my dresses until I was 13. I thought it was a tomboy thing, but I think it had something to do with the molestation. I started doing that in first grade.
Goals were ingrained in me from the earliest I can remember, it's a major mormon thing.

Click to expand...

I understand the being a shadow at home. And the favorites in their pecking order and I was the last one. We lived in fear of our father coming home, not knowing what mood he was going to be in or how drunk. He stopped speaking to my mother after he beat her the last time in 1963. Seven years of silence and shunning to punish her. I always hoped he was ashamed.
The "family" continued on in much the same way, we lived in fear and were quite as church mice when he was home, not knowing if he'd beat her like he threatened if she wasn't "quite", or one of us for waking him up or making too much noise. For her to be quite in the home she paid the rent and bills on, and he didn't contribute one dime. One of us always stayed at home to be with her. I don't think she ever knew. My oldest sister got pregnant at fifteen and got out, then the next sister just moved out when she was seventeen, and more or less dared my father to come make her move back home. So it was down to me and my brother age fifteen and fourteen. He had friends and a band (they played Mr. Peppermint Show) and they practiced after school, and didn't come home until nine, and I don't blame him at all. One night my father came home drunk and was doing his poor me I should just kill myself, and I shocked myself and scared him when I picked up the gun that always sat on his nightstand, handed it to him, and told him to do it go ahead and do it, and I walked out of the room. He never said that again.


Yeah make up changed you from nothing to something, no matter the cost, to be someone and have someone want you.

I've always said many Websleuths are the walking wounded from their lives and that is why we bond, and I love every one of you. You'll never know the relief and weight that is lifted because of shared experiences and learning that you're not alone like you believed all your life. Other families were just as screwed up as yours.

Zuri, thinking of you, saying a prayer, cause you remind me of the great humans on WS. Feel and get better soon, hugs.


This is the best guitar riff at the start on this song.

:blowkiss:

Your last paragraph says it all, Pages. :grouphug:

Thanks for sharing, peeps. You're the best!

Bernina said:

Might sound strange asking, but did you have any "near death" experiences? The white light and such? That kind of stuff fascinates me!
My dad had breathing issues, that was part of the reason they moved to Arizona. Wouldn't you know it, he got Valley Fever the 2nd year they were here.
Back in the day, Arizona was where people moved when they had asthma, pollution/environmental allergies, just about every lung issues, etc.

Click to expand...

Not strange, I had doctors, nurses, preachers, asking me that very same question. The only thing I can tell you is (and I don't know if this is a true 1.memory) 2. someone has told me this) 3. a dream) 4. or something else).

I 'saw' people in a 'white misty vapor' standing around me, calling my name telling me 'cough'...that's all I remember from 2 weeks before I had the shock till 4-6 months later when my memories started coming back.

Nore :hug: yep! I can relate...

coffeejunkie said:

Not strange, I had doctors, nurses, preachers, asking me that very same question. The only thing I can tell you is (and I don't know if this is a true 1.memory) 2. someone has told me this) 3. a dream) 4. or something else).

I 'saw' people in a 'white misty vapor' standing around me, calling my name telling me 'cough'...that's all I remember from 2 weeks before I had the shock till 4-6 months later when my memories started coming back.

Nore :hug: yep! I can relate...

Click to expand...

I am so fascinated by this stuff. Wanting to share this book again, written by a friend of a friend:

http://www.amazon.com/Glimpsing-Heaven-Stories-Science-After/dp/1426215142

It's a wonderful book, very eloquently written...

1961 - Roy Orbison makes it to the top of the charts again with "Crying". They say he had an incredible range and that was rare.

[video=youtu;tNdBLBleO90]http://youtu.be/tNdBLBleO90[/video]

GigiG said:

Okay, after Joanna Madonna's testimony, the defense rested.

While she admitted from the start to killing her husband, I still don't see much evidence of premeditation. I don't think the state even came close to proving that. Not that she didn't premeditate, just that it wasn't proven.

I also don't see any proof of her being a Jodi Arias-style liar. I did see where she mis-remembers some things, which is different from Jodi Arias, who made up elaborate stories to conceal or cover up her guilt. Also, Jodi Arias had those damning journals. Stupid is as stupid does. Madonna didn't do anything that self-involved and foolish.

I think this is a different thing altogether. You can watch the trial from beginning up 'til now on WRAL if you want.

Again, closing arguments are set for Monday/Tuesday. It will be interesting...

I highly doubt a 1st degree verdict will come down. 2nd degree or manslaughter. There is also the possibility of not guilty (self-defense), I'm betting manslaughter.

Still, I didn't watch the whole trial (which only lasted a few weeks -- shocking! --), so I will watch the closing arguments with bated breath...

Click to expand...

I'm on Day 2, pt 3.........what the prosecution has put out so far doesn't bide very well for Ms. Madonna, waiting to see what the medical examiner says. I am taking notes, lol! Lady Justice on Youtube.

Pretty interesting! Worth watching, GigiG, if you have the time!

Bernina said:

I'm on Day 2, pt 3.........what the prosecution has put out so far doesn't bide very well for Ms. Madonna, waiting to see what the medical examiner says. I am taking notes, lol! Lady Justice on Youtube.

Pretty interesting! Worth watching, GigiG, if you have the time!

Click to expand...

Yeah, I've been cherry picking what I watch because I don't have the same kind of time that I used to have to devote to such folly (hahaha). I watched her daughter Rachel today, and I didn't see how her testimony helped the prosecution or hurt the defense. I would call it a wash.

I'll be the first to admit it if I my radar is off and I've read Madonna wrong. I am kind of soft-hearted... I mean, she's admitted to killing him, but premeditation? Don't know about that...

My take is that she had an agenda about getting rid of him as expeditiously as possible (but not through murder), and something went wrong. From what I've seen, it seems more likely that she snapped.

Really looking forward to hearing what you think as you follow along...