Portal of the Folded Wing , Valhalla Memorial Park

Elizabeth Short (The Black Dahlia)

Over the years I have photographed many celebrity grave sites. Being that I live in Los Angeles I have the pleasure of living near the final resting places of many of Hollywoods most famous and Infamous. There are just a few grave sites that I was adamant to photograph. Of corse Marilyn Monroe was one. When Bettie Page passed that was another.

But the ultimate for me was that of the Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short. I had been hearing about her since I was a child. My grandmother and Beth were room mates at Camp Cooke in Santa Barbara Ca.   Both Beth and my grandmother were working at the camp PX and it was found out that they were both underage. Beth was taken into custody one night for underage drinking at a local Santa Barbara bar. When Beth was brought back to the camp to pick up her things the authorities checked out my grandmother and found out she was also under age. After that my grandmother was sent back to Los Angeles to her mother. Some time later my grandmother ran into Beth again,Beth told my grandmother that she was living in a room with several other girls and she could no longer afford the rent. My grandmother  took Beth in for  a few days. She asked Beth to leave after only 8 days due to the fact that Beth was not the cleanest person to live with. Also, she would sleep all day and be out all night. 

 Most of my life I heard stories about Beth and I made a promise to my grandmother that if I ever got around the Oakland Ca. area I would take flowers to Beth. I had the opportunity to do so in Oct of 2010.

It was a very emotional visit for me. I became overwhelmed with sorrow. I had a heaviness in my chest.

This is something I have never felt before or since. I plan on going up there again soon. 

You Know I'm No Good - Live HD

R.I.P Such a great voice and talent. No matter what she was in her life there is no doubting her amazing voice.

Yes Marilyn....You hit it right on the nose.....

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best"
~Marilyn~

About a week a go I walked away from something that I enjoy. I walked away because I was tired of hearing peoples opinions on how I should be going about enjoying the things I love. Since I was a child I have enjoyed cemeteries, I enjoy roaming,reading the headstones and Photographing them. I also enjoy sharing what I love with others. For the past week I'v been feeling like something was taken away from me. I was not asked to stop doing what I love but I was made to feel that what I was doing was wrong and that I was doing it , not for my enjoyment but for other reasons.  I spent the day today cemetery roaming. I got some cool pictures and I was able to sit and think. How could I let someone else get to me to the point that I don't want to do what I'v loved since I was a child?  Have I lost my cense of self worth? I need to get myself back on track and just be me and go back to doing what I love. No matter what or who says I'm wrong. I always worry to much about what everyone else is going to think. I know I just cant do that anymore. I need to be me and for once make myself happy.

A quote......

“My fault, my failure, is not in the passions I have, but in my lack of control of them.”
~Jack Kerouac~

Things to think about/The knocking

Had a chat last night with a new friend. We talked about things that have been going on in my life. She gave me some advice as to what to do. Iv have others tell me, do this and do that but for some reason this one person seemed to know exactly what is going on.
     About 6 months ago I was in the hospital having surgery. I was there for about 4 days in a private room. During that time I know I was weak. Not just physically but emotionally and mentally.  Some strange things happened during my stay there. Some things I don't want to get into now but one thing I want to talk about is the Knocking. I was alone a lot in those 4 days,because of the weather no one was really able to come visit me. It was mid December and we were experiencing some heavy  rains that week. I did a lot of sleeping mostly due to the medication I was on but also because of board um.
     I started hearing knocking on the restroom door the 2nd day I was there. I thought I was hearing things. I thought maybe it was just because of the meds. But when it happened while the nurse was in the room I knew it was not just me. We both heard it clear as day. I told her that it had happen during the night while I was trying to sleep. The knocking was coming from inside the restroom. As if someone was knocking to get out.
    My nurse went to check and there was no one there. I made the remark that maybe it was the pipes.But just as soon as I said that....There was the knock on the door from the inside.
     On my last day there I asked the nurse to help me up and help me shower before I got picked up to go home. As she was helping me to the restroom,before we got to the closed door we heard a knock coming from the inside. I started to walk faster toward the restroom I opened the door and nothing was there. I told the nurse "please tell me you heard that" she looked at me with wide eyes and said "yes I did".
 Since my stay at that hospital I have had what feels like a cloud over me. I have a feeling what ever was trying to get out of that restroom did get out and attached it self to me.

  I think it is a very sad spirit. Not harmful, just not happy. I know there are steps I need to take to detach this from me. Its been 6 months now and its time to shake this thing.

At the top of the stairs to the left.

As a child I grew up in a very old house in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles. The house was originally set in Watts and was moved to the neighborhood maybe some time in the 60s. My grandmother bought the house in I think 1979. It was originally a 2 story duplex she bought it and made it one big house. With 2 kitchens,2 living rooms, 4 bedrooms,and so on it was a large house.  At the top of the stairs to the left was my bedroom. My bed room that I never slept in. It was pretty large, as were all the rooms in the house. One strange thing about the room was, there were windows looking down onto the stair case.  I could never walk up those stairs alone. I always felt like I had someone watching me.  I would see it out of the corner of my eye. A pair of eyes peering at me from the small windows that lined the floor of MY room. I would tell my grandmother or my aunt and they would both tell me that there was nothing there,That it was merely  my imagination. As time went on I began to realize that the adults were having encounters themselves with my window peering friend. I would over hear them talking about strange things that were going on in the house. Things being moved from one place and appearing in others, doors opening and closing on their own. There were so many stories the adults tried to keep from us kids. As the years went by I started to get more comfortable with our friend. I wanted to know who he was and where he came from. I talked my aunt into asking the previous owner of the house if he knew anything that would help us understand why this spirit was there.

   The previous owner did know who it may be. The story was that a small boy had fallen down the stairs and was killed. He was about 6 years old when he passed,and his room was at the top of the stairs to the left.

Im new here. This is why Im here.

Photos taken at Calvary Cemetery.

I started this Blog because Face book has just gotten to be so out of hand. People just look for any little thing to Pick at. It seemed like every post I made was critiqued. I started a Cemetery Girl page on Facebook for fun. It is not my life nor do I want that persona to take over my every waking hour. Roaming the cemeteries is a hobby, something I love to do. Something I have enjoyed doing alone since I was a child. When I joined Facebook I was excited to find people with the same interests as me. But as time went on I started to realize that I may have found the wrong people. Don't get me wrong, I have met a lot of amazing people. And I have had the opportunity to even travel. But what I am asking myself now is "is it worth it"? I'v made some mistakes along the way and I know I cant go back and do things over. All I can do is learn from my actions. But,I don't feel that any of that should have been a factor on the now.  I started my page in the hopes that I would be embraced by people in the para community now all Im feeling is people turning their backs on me or using me for their best interest.  I think Im going back to doing it all alone.

About me and what I do.

Misty Marie "LA Cemetery Girl" grew up in Los Angeles, CA and has been photographing and researching Los Angeles cemeteries since she was a child. Her passion for cemeteries started at a young age, and grew as she focused more on the beauty and craftsmanship of old monuments, headstones, statues, and old photos on graves. She also seeks out local celebrity graves, and photographs cemeteries outside of the Los Angeles area.