Crafty Carvings

Finally carved jack-o-lanterns yesterday. This year may be the latest I carved them. Less than a week before Halloween. At any rate, here's the result:

The smaller is Devon's. He chose that design, and I carved. (Has a totally lopsided grin, but sometimes those are the best!) The larger is mine. Not my favorite design. I didn't put as much thought and effort into it this year. But, I tried making up for it a bit afterward with a bit of creativity.

Cannibal Pumpkin says "You're next, Gourdo..."

I plan to make up for it next year. Maybe have a design that matches the intricacy that my Beetlejuice required. Or, if all else fails, just do the Ghost with the Most again...

Been at my housecleaning job for over a month now.

Oh! And I made one of the two recipes I posted about awhile back. Pappardelle alla Lepre. Ribbon pasta with rabbit sauce. While it could've had more sauce to it, it had a very good flavor and it went over pretty well.

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:

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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.)