ya know...

[evile]

When someone has made threats in their LJ, enjoys bragging about being an expert with firearms, enjoys telling stories about defacing property with bladed weapons, threatening strangers in public restaurants with bladed weapons, and you know that they dislike you and blame you for a good number of their personal problems...it seems like a smart thing to do to just kind of send out feelers every once in a while to see what they're blogging about publicly, where they might be planning on going (just so you can decide whether or not it's worth it for you to also be there), and, if possible, where they ARE at any given moment, just to have some peace of mind that they haven't been driving by your home or workplace with any sort of frequency.

It's like...I don't think I have enough tangible info to take out a restraining order, but I don't have 100% peace of mind that you're not going to flip your wig someday soon and come by my house or workplace with weapons of some kind and malicious intent.

Does it count as 'stalking' to check up on someone who has made those sorts of threats in the past (and, for all I know, is continuing to make them)?

I am just looking. I'm not saying anything to them, not leaving comments in their LJ or replies to their comments in mutual friends' LJs...just trying to stay aware of where they are, what they're doing, and whether or not they are working themselves up into a potential deadly temper.

And all of this is exacerbated, of course, by their convictions that I am out to get them, plotting against them, poisoning or attempting to poison mutual friends against them, etc etc etc. Because the 'they' of which I speak has little to no understanding that when people don't like them, it is based on what they, themselves, say and do, and not on my say-so.

Comments

[amazon-42.livejournal.com]

Wait, you know Alex's sperm donor?

[made-of-paradox.livejournal.com]

There's a maxim, something like, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

I don't quite do that, but I don't ignore anyone I'm nervous about. But I have the benefit that some of them don't seem to know I'm nervous about them, which makes it easier.

[maevemacaraab.livejournal.com]

I know there's a new thing on LJ that can notify you of who's looking at your journal. I would look anonymously (don't be signed in or use your computer) or else look with someone else's account.

Yes, it's always good to check. I send feelers out every once in a while about my dad to make sure he hasn't flipped his lid. It's like if you got someone incarcerated, you would want to know when they got out, right?

So you could hitail it outta Dodge.

That's not stalking

[irishcoyote.livejournal.com]

You're not antagonizing.

That's covering your ass and watching out to keep away from the crazy.