"Psycho George", Unfiltered

For the last few weeks I've been struggling to find a decent balance in my life... Last week was particularly challenging; I had 2 research papers, 1 photojournalism project, and a Sleazy Confession Award show that were all due at various points throughout the week... plus the University of Maryland was fighting for their basketball lives in the ACC Tournament, so I had to watch that, and oh yeah, I have a job too... Last week, school, work, blogs, sports fanaticism, they were all involved in a nasty collision at the intersection that is my life... to be perfectly honest, I'm still not sure how I was able to survive the crash.

This week however, I get a bit of a break... Spring Break to be more specific. No classes, no papers, no projects due. I still have to go to work, but because I've gotten so used to having no free time, this actually feels like a vacation. I want take to the streets and celebrate! I can kind of understand now, how a relatively normal 19 year old girl ends up drunk, and starring in some creepy guy's vacation video, with cheap beads hanging from her neck, and her boobs proudly exposed for the whole world to see... of course, like I said, I still have to work so there will be no vacation... no beads, and thankfully for all of you, no topless videos of me popping up on the internet. [at least I hope not]

Instead, I've decided to celebrate my Spring Break by putting some effort into the blog. The plan is to post something everyday... I can't promise that any of it will actually be good, but at the very least it will be better than work. And in the end, isn't that what blogging is all about? Giving people a better, more entertaining option than work.

Since this extra blogging opportunity has been brought to me by school, I figured the first story for the week should be school related...

I ended up signing up for classes this semester a little late. As a result, many classes I was planning on taking were already filled up and so I got stuck with a couple online classes. For the most part, I've enjoyed it. No fake personal interactions, no boring lectures, less time on campus, and in general, less hassle. I don't know if I'm actually learning the material any better, but like I said, I've enjoyed the experience.

Anyway, one thing I've noticed about online classes is that, for whatever reason, the "weird" factor seems to greatly increase in this format. Each week there is a topic posted based on the course readings. Students are expected to post their thoughts on the topic and read the thoughts of their fellow students... Occasionally, people write some really weird shit!

For example, in my Criminal Justice class, the topic a couple weeks back was pretty simple; "What are the pros and cons of mandatory arrest for domestic violence?"

For the most part we got a lot of straight forward answers... some people basically paraphrased from the text, others linked to news articles and academic studies, and then we get to the guy I like to call, "Psycho George".

"Psycho George," went on a semi-coherent rant about how he had recently been arrested for domestic violence over some incident that occurred with his ex-wife a while back. Conveniently, he felt his arrest was total BS and implied that the police were actually harassing him as part of a wide spread conspiracy to ruin him...

The reason behind the conspiracy? They were all sleeping with his ex-wife!

"Psycho George," then goes on to say that he doesn't feel comfortable revealing person information within the class room (cause you know, telling everyone that you're a crazy wife beater who thinks the entire local police department is sleeping with your wife isn't really all that personal I guess) but that if anyone would like to learn more about his case you can check his student bio for more information!

Anyone who has read this blog for any amount of time should know that I absolutely love crazy people... So of course I went and took a look at "Psycho George's" biography; I'm pleased to report that he did not disappoint... In fact, I've decided to give you guys a peek.

So here it is, "Psycho George," unfiltered:

(actually I should say, "semi-filtered" because I've edited some of his info to protect his identity)

[Psycho George] is originally from [a midwestern city]. He is taking this class as a non-admitted student to learn the basic fundamentals of criminal justice, brought on by his lack of experience with the criminal justice system.

On the evening of November __, 2008 while eating dinner, in his quiet [DC area city] apartment [Psycho George] was suddenly arrested and charged with three crimes he did not commit. Unknown to [Psycho George], his accusers had filed three warrants in [DC area city] in a span of three hours.

Later, it was discovered this was done to cover the trail of both accusers involved with [Psycho George]’s estranged wife. Both accusers knew that with [Psycho George] behind bars they could continue their involvement with narcotics and his wife.

After [Psycho George] was released he spent the next 72 hours in a relentless pursuit to clear his name with federal and local authorities. In the first 72 hours after his release from jail, and without sleep, [Psycho George] hired an attorney, and collected a large amount of evidence. [Psycho George] turned over all the evidence he had collected to his attorney and waited for his day in court.

In February 2008, while attending a court hearing in [DC area city] the prosecutor motioned “Nolle prosequie” in the first of three separate criminal charges. Soon after the other criminal charges were dismissed, at no time did either accuser or the local law enforcement officer who arrested [Psycho George] on appear at any court hearings. These actions caused a dismissal in his other court proceedings. [Psycho George]’s defense attorney petitioned for an expungement of his criminal records and in October, 2008 He was granted an expungement, for the first of three false criminal charges.

In Februsary of 2009 after 6 1/2 years of marriage [Psycho George]'s petition for divorce was granted. [Psycho George] has served in the military for 16 ½ years and has received numerous awards serving his country. [Psycho George] continues to quietly reside alone in [DC area city] despite harassment from local law enforcement officers. His hobbies include studying Tai Chi, philosophy, art, photography, and playing an occasional paintball tournament.

In 2013, after his retirement [Psycho George] plans on relocating somewhere remote and quiet.

Where do we start? First of all, I love how he says he's taking the class because of his "lack of experience with the criminal justice system," when in fact I'd say he has quite a bit of experience with the system!

And how about those hobbies, Tai Chi, philosophy and paintball? He's a Renaissance Man!