while living in montana in 2016, i watched a man walking along the street disappear into thin air.
The Fortean Vagabond
My name is
Alexandra Corlett.
Some know me as Xannie
-pronounced "ZAN-nee"-
Pronouns:
she/hers/her
I’m a research nerd. I’m a documenter, dedicated to accuracy, logic, and facts. I believe that it is my duty, as a writer of nonfiction material, to respect and record all perspectives for philosophy and posterity.
I love history, especially that of the Wild West, abandoned places, lesser-known locales, social movements, philosophies, and human behaviors because it reveals patterns in human nature, and I like patterns. I collect rocks and minerals, but not for their healing energies—I enjoy them for geological and crystallographic reasons, and because they are a beautiful manifestation of mathematics in nature.
The Fortean Vagabond is a blog that explores high-strangeness, history, the paranormal, human nature, and science, with a focus on the interdependence of all things.
Wander with me through the arcane, the strange, and the inexplicable. I’ll tell you about my personal experiences in places that might've interacted with me as much as I’ve interacted with them.
Philosophize with me on topics that nobody understands yet, on hypotheses and theories that have been proposed over recent years; bring your own perspective to the table.
The Fortean Vagabond is a paranormal, historical, and spiritual journey, for both myself and my readers. Join my community—let’s help each other learn how to be more human.
How dare we try to reduce the universe to our own terms? We can't even see or sense a large part of the world around us. Man is not the final, perfect end-product of evolution. He is the beginning.
-John Keel
The goals of this blog are as follows:
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To consolidate and share the evolution of ideas and theories—both my own and others’—on the bizarre innerworkings of this construct that we call life
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To shed light on connections between “normal” historical events and unexplained occurrences
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To uncover hidden gems of U. S. History, particularly in the West
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To provide as neutral an account as possible of each and every story that I tell
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To grow and foster a community of individuals with whom I share interests and hobbies
A Few Words of Warning...
Check out this slideshow to see what my policies are about social interaction, content warnings, and copyright laws.
My interest in the paranormal comes primarily from two places:
Personal experience (poltergeist activity and imitation phenomena in my childhood, psychic and synchronistic phenomena in more recent times)
&
A hunger for little-known history, and for the adventure required to obtain it
My interest in creating this blog comes from a desire to put myself out there.
I've always been a writer. Every English teacher I've ever had has asked me, at one point or another, if I'd thought about pursuing a career in writing.
My response was always, "Yes, but I'm not going to because I want to be an engineer or a mathematician." And yet, here I am, pursuing a career in writing because after 6 years of trying to squeeze out a Bachelor's degree, I truly believe that my brain wasn't cut out for the world's idea of a "normal" education.
Eventually, I'd like to be an investigative journalist.
I want to explore the lesser-known and less-traveled regions of the West, uncover their past, and tell their stories.
Ideally, this blog will serve to exhibit my writing abilities, and my propensity to create whatever is necessary to illustrate my work (i.e. the art you'll see scattered around this site and within my blog posts).
I owe a great deal of gratitude to the following podcasts and their hosts--to all, for merely doing what they do, and to some, for also taking the time to chat with me and help me out:
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Euphomet with Jim Perry
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Astonishing Legends with Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess
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Paranormal Mysteries with Nic Ryan
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Stories with Sapphire [Sandalo]
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Hillbilly Horror Stories with Jerry & Tracy Paulley
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Into the Fray Radio with Shannon LeGro
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Unexplained with Richard MacLean Smith
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Lore with Aaron Mahnke
Aside from researching and writing for my blog, I also have a plethora of other interests and hobbies: you might catch me skiing, rockhounding, offroading, road cycling, rock climbing, swimming, or doing yoga. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram to see more of my hobbies.
You might even catch me with my two sidekicks, Horus (left) and Anubis (right).
