Small Internet Forum Goes From High- Profile Case Debates- To Timeless, Life-Long Friendships.

Hi! My name is Jenny. 

I plan to write many blogs on many topics here but the very first one I thought should be on the History of News, Tunes & Spoons, and what in the world that name might mean? 😊 

Going a bit back in time to about 2003, I had an infant daughter and became a bit of a trial junkie so to speak. Was working part time and at home while caring for her, I'd sit glued to these cases on court tv, always having my own outcome in my head, never missing a moment of the live high profile case trials I was so interested in. I had a particular interest in the Scott Peterson Case. Something didn't settle with me in that case. Why was it a death penalty case? Should it be? He has an affair, he lied but did that necessarily make him a murderer? And if it did,- it was circumstantial at best because there was actually never any physical evidence linking him to the crime. The ending verdict as the jury recommended death was extremely bothersome. It's seemed a fifty fifty chance he did this. He was away for the day, his pregnant wife on a walk in the neighborhood while a burglary was taking place right near where she went missing- yet Peterson seemed the only suspect from the beginning with no other suspects even looked into. Why? Because he had an affair and lied. No history of violence. No guilt proven beyond reasonable doubt.

I never thought about my stance on the death penalty until that point but following this case I had made up my mind that when applied in the United States it's not applied properly. 

 www.innocenceproject.org   

Conclusion of initial Case discussed:

18 years or so later, Scott Peterson's death sentence was overturned due to juror misconduct. He now serves a life sentence and hopes for a new trial.

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*Now finally... on to the actual events of what brought about News, Tunes & Spoons,- a small Forum I put up in 2010 that ended with years worth of timeless friendships, long distance connections, and heartbreaking devastations. 

In 2006, I reluctantly joined an anti-death penalty forum I had been reading thread discussions on. I had no intention of staying but just wanted to make one comment to this poster who I felt was wrong about a case I was reading. (I believe the Scott Peterson case.) I then kept reading and observed a huge thread by this poster 'Anna' on a topic she had going about how the death penalty deterred potential murder. I wasn't sure about it, pretty certain I disagreed, but to me, debate was what made the forums thrive & I found her posts were very interesting and entertaining. She had another link on her profile to a forum called Crime Debate. Then suddenly I noticed Anna had been banned from the forum, for voicing her opinions about the death penalty being a deterrence. I didn't think that was right- to get rid of a poster over opposing views, so I followed the link in her profile to the forum called Crime Debate, which seemed to allow more debate and joined there. I messaged Anna after I joined and told her that I noticed she had gotten kicked off the last forum and that I thought that was weird. She replied, in appreciation and I decided to stay there with Anna where all views were welcome. Anna and I began to chat fairly regularly in between posting on Crime Debate. She lived in Germany and seemed super nice, was friendly with a humorous personality. Then, this other poster, under another the aliases "Iamjumbo" began to debate me over there in what seemed to be pretty much every area I posted. It was kind of annoying actually. One day he messaged and introduced himself as Jim and said that he hoped I wasn't taking him personally in debate. Jim was from Tennessee and on the forum seemed like a real jerk but via message he was the nicest guy ever. He was an older man close to 70 at the time, a retiree. One day the word got out that this Crime Debate forum was closing, so Anna, Jim and I exchanged emails as we had all become regular chat buddies who had been messaging as friends. 

I knew my 2 online friends and I would miss our debating these cases, the d.p, and such- and after posting awhile on them, had learned my way around the proboards forums a bit. It costed nothing to start one. So I started one, one night- basically on a whim. I wasn't even sure if I could figure it out to be honest. But crazy enough I did! I told Jim first, the next morning by email. Not sure why I told him first. But when he joined, I gave him the title, "1st Member Here" in his profile. Then obviously I told Anna. Jim and Anna interacted with others from forums who they had been posting with for years so the word got out and half of Crime Debate showed up at my new, - "News, Tunes, & Spoons. "

Why News, Tunes & Spoons as a name for a forum for High Profile Cases, Debate, Crime Debate, General News, and Politics? Because I also wanted a nice large music section and something with sentimental meaning attached. Something that would draw people to relaxing areas if they didn't feel like talking News, etc. Which in itself also attracted many members. We would post and listen to music there as well. Jim and I started a Country Music Thread the first week or so the forum existed and it lasted basically the whole forum's run--which was 11 years in total. It was a special thread to me. The Spoons Section consisted of some Inspiration, prayers, Encouraging Quotes and such. Anna started a couple special threads, one titled, "Post Anything Nice and Kind Here," and another titled, "Heavenly Beauty and Positivity"- which has the most beautiful pictures and quotes of all things that looked like Heaven. Another poster who called himself "Les" posted daily Devotions in a prayer section there every day. So, my forum became so much more than a 'crime debate.' 

Every Christmas and my Birthday my forum friend Jim sent me cute little animated E-cards. My daughter would sit on my lap smiling at their animation. I told Jim this, so then for Christmas he didn't forget her anymore and we both got e-cards. Eventually after such trust had been gained, at some point I began to occasionally talk to both Jim and Anna by phone. With Jim it was only for a little while a few times because his girlfriend was overly jealous even though we were just friends. It was funny because he was such a toughie in debates on the forums, often driving posters off,- but on the phone he was this soft spoken, kind man with the most gentle voice, I'll never forget. With Anna and I- it was another story! Once we starting talking on the phone we had more in common than meets the eye. I realized pretty fast however that calls from Germany to the USA and vise versa were not cheap and I added a small international monthly calling plan to my phone. I think she already had one, as she was born and raised in Illinois and most of her family was still there. She never really went into why she left Illinois to relocate to Germany, and I never pushed to ask. But every time we did talk by phone it was hrs. We eventually became very trusting friends. If I was struggling with anything and needed to talk, she'd call me back faster than any local friend. I felt an acceptance from her that I had felt from very few people in my life. She had this quirky, original personality and always made me laugh. Often times, I'd go log into the forum before I went to sleep during those years and we'd catch each other on there. She'd be struggling with insomnia after working weird hrs as a taxi cab driver and we'd wish each other goodnight. I knew at one point that I wouldn't want to have News, Tunes & Spoons without Anna. She never went more than a few days or so and if not a full message she'd send me these thoughtful, kind images,- one in particular that put tears in my eyes, which I saved says,  "Good Morning Friend! God Bless your Life Today and Always! Happy Wednesday!"

I don't really want to go into every detail, but will say, Anna was my rock and I was hers. We were both kind of lonely, feeling misunderstood in life, in our own way, I think. We got each other through some hard times, had many good laughs & fun conversations. 

Something nice also occurred through out the forum's journey. I ended up making a local friend I got the chance to meet, who coincidentally joined News, Tunes & Spoons and just happened to be- from the Cleveland area like me. 

Jim ended up getting lung cancer. I guess you can figure out the rest. He hadn't been on the forum in about six months or so at the ending point and I was aware of his illness. He sent me one last email a week or so before he died- (his passing I learned about on his facebook page.) His last words in the email read "The chemo's not working anymore. Gonna try to start a new kind. Miss ya hon." He wasn't online much anymore at that point, and don't think he ever got to read my reply. 

During his cancer battle and all that, unfortunately, Anna had developed a tumor on her kidney. We were hoping it was benign, but it ended up being malignant. It was removed. I called her in a Germany Hospital after surgery. She was so surprised and happy I called the hospital directly, that with joy I remember her saying to the hospital staff, " WOW, THIS IS MY FRIEND JENNY, FROM OHIO, USA!" 

When the cancer spread further, Anna chose quality of life over chemo. She continued to work, be happy and enjoy every moment of her life, had pure faith and no fear of death. She went on about two years, living happy, worked as long as she could, kept contributing to that beautiful Heavenly Beauty thread on our forum... I tried to talk her into chemo at times because obviously I didn't want to lose my dear friend. She was adamant to live out her life in joy until the end, looked forward to entering a new phase of eternal life. She will always be my inspiration. I miss her advice and that quirky laugh. She always had an answer for everything. Sometimes I still wonder, hmm, what would Anna say, if she were here and I could tell her 'about this or that.' 

The original News, Tunes and Spoons Forum is closed to the public & for posting today, but I have saved it,- always will,- can still open it and look back whenever I want to. And when I do, it's definitely not the debates or high profile cases that I look back on...

I did eventually keep the News, Tunes & Spoons name going over the last couple years or so, after taking a break for awhile & putting the original forum away as a memorial. I started a different, more modernized, interpersonal News_Tunes_Spoons Instagram Page with some of my photography, writing, general inspiration, music related news content, now adding this blog to the page. I'm no longer a 'trial junkie' 😁 don't even follow  high profile cases like I did. And no longer post on internet forums. 

News_Tunes_Spoons