Palette over at Lurkign Rhythmically has a nice collection of instructional videos on surviving undead attacks.
Labels: Halloween
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Ever since his retirement, our Neighbor Across the Street has taken to decorating his yard for holidays with, shall we say, an extreme degree of enthusiasm. This time of year in particular, it can get a little disconcerting. I can't take Fizzgigg for a walk without the paranoid feeling that I'm being watched. Last year was the worst--there was a little sea of cute, happy scarecrows who looked ready to march on our house at the slightest neighborly indiscretion. This year's Pumpkin Head Army isn't quite as unintentionally frightening, but still... well, see for yourselves.
The pictures are blurry, but you get the idea. That is one heck of a lot of plastic pumpkins, yo. The kids seem to love it, though, and I guess that's the main thing.
The pictures are blurry, but you get the idea. That is one heck of a lot of plastic pumpkins, yo. The kids seem to love it, though, and I guess that's the main thing.
Lo, I am full of links:
Halloween DIY Project: Make your own zombie! This is a bit more literal than one would expect.
GuyzNite - Have a nice pumpkin! - Because I just can't resist a good (or a just plain silly) Halloween parody.
Jack Baby by Warren Ellis - get creeped out in just 200 words.
Low Resolution has compiled a nice little collection of terrifying movie moments (two of which are on this list). He's also posting running commentary on his self-inflicted Halloween horror movie marathon.
Relatedly, there's a nice discussion of The Descent going on over at Tomato Nation.
Finally, I leave you with this thought: "Sometimes, dead is bettah!"
Halloween DIY Project: Make your own zombie! This is a bit more literal than one would expect.
GuyzNite - Have a nice pumpkin! - Because I just can't resist a good (or a just plain silly) Halloween parody.
Jack Baby by Warren Ellis - get creeped out in just 200 words.
Low Resolution has compiled a nice little collection of terrifying movie moments (two of which are on this list). He's also posting running commentary on his self-inflicted Halloween horror movie marathon.
Relatedly, there's a nice discussion of The Descent going on over at Tomato Nation.
Finally, I leave you with this thought: "Sometimes, dead is bettah!"
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Well now, this is interesting and kind of unexpected:
Your Aspie score: 137 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 77 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie
I... well, yeah, that would explain a few things, I guess (like why I'm so firmly encamped in Team Heather). Still, I'm going to take that with a grain of salt. Of course, now I'm wondering how closely ADD and Asperger's are linked.
Aspie Quiz
Your Aspie score: 137 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 77 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie
I... well, yeah, that would explain a few things, I guess (like why I'm so firmly encamped in Team Heather). Still, I'm going to take that with a grain of salt. Of course, now I'm wondering how closely ADD and Asperger's are linked.
Aspie Quiz
Labels: ADD
I finally got Husband to sit down with me and start watching season 5 of Angel this week. And so of course I have to kick it off with...
The Boys
Their Progenitors
And Their Legacy
Their Progenitors
And Their Legacy
Labels: picspam, TV, TV-Boyfriend-Tuesday
Monday, October 29, 2007
Weekend America's Ten Tales of Terror - in which six writers, Neil Gaiman among them, contribute shorty-short scary stories.
Also, The "I Don't Like It" List, which includes some scary things, indeed.
Also, The "I Don't Like It" List, which includes some scary things, indeed.
Labels: Halloween
Friday, October 26, 2007
I don't think I'm going to catch up to the point of posting 31 Halloween links by October 31st, but here are a few to get you through the weekend.
Halloween Theme Homage:
Everyone should definitely check out this guy's Jaws and Superman themes while they're at it.
Vampire is not your friend. Beware the lies put forth by the vampire lobby. For serious.
And this should provide a little Halloween ambiance (not to mention delight the Batman fans on my list).
Halloween Theme Homage:
Everyone should definitely check out this guy's Jaws and Superman themes while they're at it.
Vampire is not your friend. Beware the lies put forth by the vampire lobby. For serious.
And this should provide a little Halloween ambiance (not to mention delight the Batman fans on my list).
Thursday, October 25, 2007
After a week of fiddling with my outline to work in the Big Fix, this morning I finally sat my butt in the chair and typed out 250 fresh new words on the novel. I don't know yet whether they'll be keepers, but considering it's 250 words more than I've written in the previous two months, for now I'll take them. At any rate, The Hero Factor is moving forward again, and it feels fabulous.
I think 250 words/day is a goal that's both reasonable and attainable. The thought of keeping up my 1,000/day quota had become as intimidating and discouraging as Tyra Banks on an ANTM panel (note to Ebony: good for you, chica! [/digression]). 250, I can do. It might not sound like a lofty goal, but it's an accomplishable goal that will result in progress, nevertheless. I'm all for progress.
The important thing is, I'm writing again. Whee!
***
In TVBF news, TVGuide.com has posted an interview with Jensen Ackles. I've not had time to read it yet, so I don't know if it gets spoilery. Read at your own risk.
Mmm, Dean.
Oh! And in Supernatural news, last week I FINALLY got Husband to watch it with me. It was just an amazingly fortuitous coincidence that it happened to be a Ben Edlund-scripted ep. Needless to say, he liked it, and plans to keep watching it. Here's hoping the non-Edlund writing can continue to live up to the pretty high bar that last week set for his expectations.
I think 250 words/day is a goal that's both reasonable and attainable. The thought of keeping up my 1,000/day quota had become as intimidating and discouraging as Tyra Banks on an ANTM panel (note to Ebony: good for you, chica! [/digression]). 250, I can do. It might not sound like a lofty goal, but it's an accomplishable goal that will result in progress, nevertheless. I'm all for progress.
The important thing is, I'm writing again. Whee!
***
In TVBF news, TVGuide.com has posted an interview with Jensen Ackles. I've not had time to read it yet, so I don't know if it gets spoilery. Read at your own risk.
Mmm, Dean.
Oh! And in Supernatural news, last week I FINALLY got Husband to watch it with me. It was just an amazingly fortuitous coincidence that it happened to be a Ben Edlund-scripted ep. Needless to say, he liked it, and plans to keep watching it. Here's hoping the non-Edlund writing can continue to live up to the pretty high bar that last week set for his expectations.
Labels: Supernatural, TV, writing
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1. Raggedy Anne (age 4) 2. Wicked Witch (age 5) 3. Genie (age 7) 4. Princess Leia (age 10 - ANH side-bun version) 5. Hobo (11-ish?) 6. Zombie (13) 7. Vampire (14... and also many times throughout my twenties - this tends to be my default costume when I'm not feeling particularly creative) 8. Zombie Prom Queen (15) 9. Freddy Kreuger (16...it was for a high school carnival spook house; I owned a replica of the glove, which pretty much made me Freddy by default, gender notwithstanding) 10. One-half of Milli Vanilli (17...my friend Tess was supposed to be the other half, but she chickened out. Lame!) 11. Just Got Out Of Bed, Desperately In Need of Coffee Woman (20...and I admit, this was just an excuse not to have to get dressed for work that day) 12. Random Sunnydale High School Student/Victim (31) 13. Crazy Cat Lady, a.k.a. "Bedtime Jean" (last year) Links to other Thursday Thirteens in the comments! |
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Labels: Halloween, Thursday Thirteen
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
I'm feeling better, but I'm way behind, so I'mma have to skip the TV Boyfriends again this week. I'm so sorry. But somehow I'm sure you guys will find a way to go on without the beefcake.
In other news, I'm stupidly excited to have just purchased one of these for a mere $24.95 (+S&H) on eBay. This might very well be the answer to my lack of a laptop, no computer available to write on at home, no portability woes, and should pretty much eliminate any lingering excuses I have for not writing.
And there have been so many excuses lately, what with the health problems and the fainting drama and the crazy-busy times at work, and I almost cried when I realized today that it's been two months since I've actually written on my novel. It hasn't all been a giant waste of time-suck, at least--apparently during that two months off my subconscious kept working out a story problem that I didn't even realize was a problem, and all of a sudden this weekend the answer that I didn't even know I needed to the problem I didn't even know I had started playing itself out as big as life on the movie screen inside my head, so at least now I've got some inspiration again, if I can only make the time for it.
This will involve "killing some of my babies," as the writer-speak goes; namely, it will mean sacrificing a scene that I've been harboring and nurturing and imagining for about three years now, the scene that was more or less the inspiration for the novel in the first place, and that will be painful. But if it ain't working, it gotsta go. And I think I like my new idea better, anyway, so that works out.
Speaking of writing and inspiration, today I discovered I Should Be Writing, a podcast "FOR wannabe fiction writers BY a wannabe fiction writer," and have been enjoying it immensely, mainly in being inspired not to beat myself up for my long lapse in productivity.
And on a final writing note before I shut up, I'm not doing NaNoWriMo this year, seeing as how I'm still working on last year's NaNo project; but I plan to hang out in the trenches and cheer the rest of you crazy kids on. Best of luck to the lot of you. I'm glad it's not me.
In other news, I'm stupidly excited to have just purchased one of these for a mere $24.95 (+S&H) on eBay. This might very well be the answer to my lack of a laptop, no computer available to write on at home, no portability woes, and should pretty much eliminate any lingering excuses I have for not writing.
And there have been so many excuses lately, what with the health problems and the fainting drama and the crazy-busy times at work, and I almost cried when I realized today that it's been two months since I've actually written on my novel. It hasn't all been a giant waste of time-suck, at least--apparently during that two months off my subconscious kept working out a story problem that I didn't even realize was a problem, and all of a sudden this weekend the answer that I didn't even know I needed to the problem I didn't even know I had started playing itself out as big as life on the movie screen inside my head, so at least now I've got some inspiration again, if I can only make the time for it.
This will involve "killing some of my babies," as the writer-speak goes; namely, it will mean sacrificing a scene that I've been harboring and nurturing and imagining for about three years now, the scene that was more or less the inspiration for the novel in the first place, and that will be painful. But if it ain't working, it gotsta go. And I think I like my new idea better, anyway, so that works out.
Speaking of writing and inspiration, today I discovered I Should Be Writing, a podcast "FOR wannabe fiction writers BY a wannabe fiction writer," and have been enjoying it immensely, mainly in being inspired not to beat myself up for my long lapse in productivity.
And on a final writing note before I shut up, I'm not doing NaNoWriMo this year, seeing as how I'm still working on last year's NaNo project; but I plan to hang out in the trenches and cheer the rest of you crazy kids on. Best of luck to the lot of you. I'm glad it's not me.
Labels: writing
Monday, October 22, 2007
1. ...the hell?
2. Okay, I want--no, I NEED to see this movie.
3. My husband, however, will want nothing to do with it.
4. Singin' ASH is still hot as fudge. Yowza!
Labels: movies, musicals, Whedonverse
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Husband likes to collect potential ways to freak out a roommate. This vid's for him.
(Via Craigslist Curmudgeon.)
(Via Craigslist Curmudgeon.)
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Yes, I'm sure. They tested for that, too. So everybody can stop asking me that now, plzkthnx.
Labels: life+blather
So the other morning I passed out in my bathroom and face-planted in the towel rack, and spent the rest of the day in the ER hooked up to an IV and an EKG and getting poked and prodded and scanned and losing every last shred of my dignity. And how was YOUR weekend?
The upshot is that I'm fine, albeit pretty battered from the fall. I spent the last couple of days sacked out on pain meds and recovering, and today is all about catching up and getting back into the swing of things. I'll have Halloween linkage, etc. coming soon, although I'll probably be skipping the boyfriends this week.
And just in case y'all didn't know: morphine is fun stuff.
The upshot is that I'm fine, albeit pretty battered from the fall. I spent the last couple of days sacked out on pain meds and recovering, and today is all about catching up and getting back into the swing of things. I'll have Halloween linkage, etc. coming soon, although I'll probably be skipping the boyfriends this week.
And just in case y'all didn't know: morphine is fun stuff.
Labels: life+blather
Friday, October 12, 2007
Halloween tee-shirts from Diesel Sweeties.
I need (not merely want, need) "Rock is Dead." And "Chewie is my co-pilot." I'm not sure how I've lived so long without these shirts.
I need (not merely want, need) "Rock is Dead." And "Chewie is my co-pilot." I'm not sure how I've lived so long without these shirts.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Some links and items of interest:
FOX has yanked the licensing for the Buffy Sing-along. If you were hoping to catch a viewing of that in your neighborhood someday, you can sign the petition here.
James Marsters is still pretty adorable.
Chrome-jobs have feelings too, apparently: We Were Centurions
...that's all.
FOX has yanked the licensing for the Buffy Sing-along. If you were hoping to catch a viewing of that in your neighborhood someday, you can sign the petition here.
James Marsters is still pretty adorable.
Chrome-jobs have feelings too, apparently: We Were Centurions
...that's all.
 |
1. Samara crawling out of the TV. 2. Mike standing in the corner while Heather's camera falls to the ground. 3. Kayako crawling down the stairs. 4. The clown doll grabbing Robbie and pulling him under the bed. 5. Freddy's tongue coming out of the phone to lick Nancy. 6. The shower scene. Yes, that one. That one, too. 7. Jason jumping up out of the water at the end of the first movie. 8. Pretty much the entirety of Jaws. 9. The last half-hour or so of The Descent. 10. Jason Patrick's rice turning into maggots while Kiefer laughs. 11. Pennywise peeking out of the sewers (hi, ask me about my clown issues). 12. Many parts of the original Amityville Horror. 13. "They're heeeere!" Links to other Thursday Thirteens in the comments! |
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Labels: movies, Thursday Thirteen
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
After my Deranged Cat Lady costume was so misunderstood by my coworkers last year, I had decided this year that I wouldn't even bother, and so I picked up a cute pumpkin tee-shirt at Target to wear in acknowledement of the day instead. But now my Goth names (see below) have my imagination spinning, and I'm considering modeling a costume around one of them. But which one?
I see "Beautifully Decayed" as a sort of Drusilla-type, all Victorian and tragic and possibly midly zombie-ish.
"Glitter Girl," meanwhile, would be... well, glittery. Shiny! Somehow, I see this as the easier costume to put together.
Even so, I can't decide. So do it for me, lovely readers: which should I be? You can help me out by casting your vote below.
Thanks.
Yeah, yeah, boyfriends. I'm on it.
I see "Beautifully Decayed" as a sort of Drusilla-type, all Victorian and tragic and possibly midly zombie-ish.
"Glitter Girl," meanwhile, would be... well, glittery. Shiny! Somehow, I see this as the easier costume to put together.
Even so, I can't decide. So do it for me, lovely readers: which should I be? You can help me out by casting your vote below.
Thanks.
Yeah, yeah, boyfriends. I'm on it.
Labels: Halloween
Get your Goth name.
I'm either Beautiful Decay or Glitter Girl, depending on which variation of my first name I use. And I think I just found my costume for this year....
(Via Manoah.)
And I still owe y'all some boyfriends, don't I?
I'm either Beautiful Decay or Glitter Girl, depending on which variation of my first name I use. And I think I just found my costume for this year....
(Via Manoah.)
And I still owe y'all some boyfriends, don't I?
Labels: Halloween
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Monday, October 08, 2007
Book meme! Gacked from bojojoti.
I'm also adding a "*" to indicate books I'm currently reading.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and punishment
Catch-22
One hundred years of solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The name of the rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and prejudice
Jane Eyre
A tale of two cities
The brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and peace
Vanity fair
The time traveler's wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The kite runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great expectations
American Gods
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury tales
The historian : a novel
A portrait of the artist as a young man
Love in the time of cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault's pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A clockwork orange
Anansi Boys
The once and future king
The grapes of wrath
The poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels and demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and sensibility
The Portrait of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
To the lighthouse
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver's travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Dune
The Prince
The sound and the fury
Angela's ashes : a memoir
The god of small things
A people's history of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A confederacy of dunces
A short history of nearly everything
Dubliners
The unbearable lightness of being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion*
Northanger abbey
The catcher in the rye
On the road
The hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity's rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences** [Husband's reading this right now]
White teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The three musketeers
Clearly, Misters Rochester and Darcy are more my literary boyfriend type than Heathcliff. Also, I've seen "Man of La Mancha" and read a graphic novel version of The Hobbit--do those count?
These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users as of 9/30/07. As usual, bold what you have read, italicize what you started but couldn't finish, and strike through what you couldn't stand.
I'm also adding a "*" to indicate books I'm currently reading.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and punishment
Catch-22
One hundred years of solitude
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The name of the rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and prejudice
Jane Eyre
A tale of two cities
The brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and peace
Vanity fair
The time traveler's wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The kite runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great expectations
American Gods
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury tales
The historian : a novel
A portrait of the artist as a young man
Love in the time of cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault's pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A clockwork orange
Anansi Boys
The once and future king
The grapes of wrath
The poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels and demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and sensibility
The Portrait of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
To the lighthouse
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver's travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Dune
The Prince
The sound and the fury
Angela's ashes : a memoir
The god of small things
A people's history of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A confederacy of dunces
A short history of nearly everything
Dubliners
The unbearable lightness of being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion*
Northanger abbey
The catcher in the rye
On the road
The hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity's rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences** [Husband's reading this right now]
White teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The three musketeers
Clearly, Misters Rochester and Darcy are more my literary boyfriend type than Heathcliff. Also, I've seen "Man of La Mancha" and read a graphic novel version of The Hobbit--do those count?
Labels: books
The kid in this video is hella cute and he does a mean zombie face, but mostly I just love this song: No More Kings - Zombie Me
And now I'm all caught up.
And now I'm all caught up.
It would seem I've got a theme going here.
If you haven't concocted your zombie plan, no worries. You can always turn to the Zombie Survival Guide.
If you haven't concocted your zombie plan, no worries. You can always turn to the Zombie Survival Guide.
I had no idea that there even was such a thing as over the counter temporary dental repair. It's too bad we didn't have this (or know about it) back several years ago when my sister lost one of her fillings. I remember she was in major pain and tears as she waited until the dentist could fit her in to repair the problem. I've never lost a filling myself, but I can imagine that it sucks.
If it ever does happen to me (and the chances are about to increase -- my last visit to the dentist revealed no fewer than six (!) cavities that need filled; that's what I get for not going to a dentist during my entire twenties), at least I'll know about Dentemp OS, first aid dental repair goo that can both temporarily replace lost fillings and cement loose caps. It's mess-free, FDA-tested and approved, and fast--you can safely eat in as little as thirty minutes after applying it. With my dentist being an hour away from my home, closed on Fridays and hard to get into the rest of the week, I'm glad to know that there's an easy drug store solution that can buy me time if I ever need to have my fillings repaired.
Labels: disclosure, PPP, product-love
Thursday, October 04, 2007
 |
1.  2.  3.  4. 5. 6&7.  and also...  8.  9.  10. OMG the angst! (Spoilery S2 finale recap) 11.  12. 13. And did I mention?  Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Link to your Thursday Thirteen in the comments! |
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Sugar Shock! Part 3: The Greatest Story Ever Blogged.
If you need catching up on this awesome and hilarious web comic by some guy whose name I forget...something like Josh Sweden? Anyway. Here's part 1. And here's part 2.
If you need catching up on this awesome and hilarious web comic by some guy whose name I forget...something like Josh Sweden? Anyway. Here's part 1. And here's part 2.
Labels: comics, fandom, geekery, Whedonverse
This was filmed at one of Eureka Springs' oldest hotels, a site where I briefly considered holding my wedding (until I got a gander at their wedding package prices). Of course, I had no idea about it's reputation or its twisted history. I've been wanting to eventually plan a romantic weekend getaway there. Now I'm thinking, not so much. Yeeee!
Ghost Hunters: Crescent Hotel sighting
Ghost Hunters: Crescent Hotel sighting