Autumn '19 Doings

It's October! My favorite month! It's the 4th, and as of about 2 days ago, it finally actually feels like fall. No more temps in the 90s.

This time next week I'll be up to my nose in Creole, Cajun and French influences, foods, histories and atmospheres. Yep, going to Nola! Taking my mom. We're pretty excited. Marie Laveau, Jean Lafitte, voodoo, absinthe, crawdads, etoufee... just to name a fraction of it.

Oh! I finished my Poison Ivy painting a while back! Here she be:

I'm pleased with how she turned out.

Now on to the next one...

As for music, tonight I was reminded of a song that's in the show Orphan Black. It's called "Water Prayer" by Adham Shaikh, and it's the Matt the Alien Remix. It's got a good smooth feel to it, something worth dancing to. (If you're interested, the Orphan Black scene with the song is here.)

I also listened to the Nightmare Revisited album earlier. Give it a listen, if you haven't. And if you're into Nightmare Before Christmas.

Alright, one more song. This one was on an episode of Grace and Frankie. It stuck with me and still gets played rather often.

Not much else to share, even after six and a half months... Ta.

Time To Gore The Gourd!

Hey there. Hope this finds you well. I met my newborn nephew over the weekend. Quietest baby I've ever heard. Barely cried. One of the first things he and I did was sit down and watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Good times! Nerdy aunt for the win.

Currently in the middle of my fourth week at the house cleaning job. While there are some elements I dislike, as you'll find in almost any job, I'm quite liking it. Perfect schedule, and I've already gotten a 25¢ raise. I get paid weekly, which is a big difference from the once-a-month that the school system had. But... I'm making about $200 more, monthly, than they were paying me.

Also over the weekend, we caught most of "Autopsy: The Last Hours of Phil Hartman" on tv. So now I'm getting ahold of the show NewsRadio, all 5 seasons. He died in between the fourth and fifth season.

Bought my yearly pumpkin today! Haven't sketched out a design yet, though.

Actually... just drew one up. We'll see whether or not something better comes along.

Excited it's October. Though once again, not getting in my quota of scary movies. I'll work on that the next two weekends.

Here's to many scares, fewer cavities, and fantastic autumn days... and of course nights!

Post Octo-Blog

Last night was Halloween. I worked. And was almost completely musically unprepared for my evening of paid cleaning. All I had was The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. I used to have Nightmare Revisited, which is very very excellent, but I think what I wanted most was a version of "I Put A Spell On You." I had CCR's version, and I would have liked to have had Marilyn Manson's version, but the one I really wanted was the Better Midler version. Say what you will about the woman, she did that song fan-f'king-tastically in the movie Hocus Pocus.

Alright, so I'm acquiring the Manson version, along with Nightmare Revisited, but the one I really want is proving to be hard to get. Gaah.

Still listening to Volbeat. Quite drawn to them for some reason.

Munching on baby dill pickles. So yummy.

Need drink refill. Hold please.

Back. And... YES!! I got it!

Victory dance!

I now have the Bette Midler version. Although... the audio is sadly lacking... perhaps it requires the visual version to make it 110% great.

This is one of my most favorite Halloween movies, if not my favorite of all. Like I say about most things I love, it's the humor in it that makes it great. Like the "burning rain of death" scene.

And, of course, when the three sister witches are lured into the oven by the learn-to-speak-French tape, they eventually exit, after being baked, with the eldest (Bette) saying, "Hello. I want my book. Bonjour. Je veux mon livre."

Here's the great scene. My thought process is getting sluggish, so I'll take my leave.
(I think my mom positively identified the greatness contributor long ago... just watch the way Bette Midler works her hands during the whole scene.) And Kathy Najimy's random rabbit ears at 1:23.

"Dance, dance, dance, until you die! Ah hahahahaha!"

 Sad to see October end. It could have been so much better than it was.

Clever Charasmatic F'kin Models

So that pumpkin I said I was going to carve... got carved. It was successful and I'm rather proud of it.

See what I mean about bringing a simple outline to life? The outline looks rather different, more like a psycho clown than this crazy fellow.

Unfortunately, it'll rot fast. The more intricate, the faster they decay.

Just started reading Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz, the 5th installment in his Odd Thomas series. I love the humor in the Odd books. Take this excerpt for instance:

First, I ate half of the delicious croissant, but only half. By this restraint, I proved to myself that in spite of the pressures and the turmoil to which I am uniquely subjected, I remain reliably disciplined. Then I ate the other half.

The secondary character, Annamaria, is frustratingly enigmatic. I wish I could be more like her. She says very little, and almost all of what she says is in riddles. But I like the way she explains herself. She says that similar to the way you can't look directly at the sun, less you'll get hurt, she gives answers that are vague and skirt around the issue, because the true answer is too damaging.

My almost four year old witnessed me carving Mr. Geuse two days ago, and is still getting into the silverware drawer for a knife - repeatedly - and trying to carve up the other two pumpkins we have. Once I wasn't paying attention, and suddenly heard "elp! Elp me!" Looked over and he now wants me to help with his discretion. Another time he (the quick little bugger he is) had gotten a knife, and seeing him go up to the pumpkin with it, I yell "NO!" and he sticks it into the pumpkin - up to the hilt - real fast. I don't know if I'm amused or frightened.

I had a thought tonight at work... has anyone ever carved a tangerine? It'd be like a mini pumpkin. And Google images found this for me:

I

I know they just carved pieces of the rind out and left the mesocarp, but I like it. It's clever.

Definitely my favorite month of the year, October.

(Why is it the 10th month when Octo means 8?)

(Oh. Damn Romans.)