BOO!!!

Scared ya, didn't I? Okay, maybe not.

There is always something pleasurable about getting something for free. Maybe it's the fact that you know you don't have to stop enjoying it because of the price - especially if that free thing is food.

Halloween was something I looked forward to during all of October as a kid. Many of you did, too. It's so odd that this strange holiday, which has us literally asking strangers for candy, has lasted into modern times - but hey, it did.

There were some wonderful aspects beyond the candy, as well. I always enjoyed catching that glimpse into the foyer of a house where you didn't know the neighbor, but you saw the house all the time - and now you got to see how they lived for a moment. You also got to see what they chose to give out. If they gave out any kind of chocolate bar, they got points in my book. Those annoying Bit-O-Honeys and Mary Janes, which broke your braces, had to go. And what were those B-B-Bats (banana taffy on a stick?!) and Sugar Daddys (caramel on a stick?) What out-of-touch person was giving those out?? They would sit in my trick-or-treat bag for a year, along with the red and white swirly mints.

Sucking candy was bottom of the barrel, but if it was a Charms or Life Savers lollypop, at least it was big and had character. I liked those. Dum-Dums pops were just weak.

Although apples and pennies weren't my favorites, I still appreciated them.

My brother and I would ride our bikes around our development of contempra homes weeks before Halloween, mapping out our route. Then, we would forage into the night, trying to collect the most treats before the sun went down. (How did we do all this adventuring without cell phones? Egad!) We always gave up when it started getting chilly and we started getting tired. We came home, spread our loot on the rug, and traded. And we always said the same thing: "We shoulda got more treats!"

One year, brother and I went out as a two-headed monster. We both fit inside one of our dad's white t-shirts and wrote on it, "The two-headed, four-footed monster." We kept our own pants on.

Unfortunately, two older kids from the neighborhood came up and asked to look in our bag, then took some of our stuff. They grinned and walked away. My brother and I wanted to run from them, but it is very hard to run as a two-headed monster.

When we got home, I told my mom about it, and she told me to call one of the kids' mothers, who lived up the block. So I did. She promptly sent the kid over to give us some of HIS candy.

"Don't blame me if there's poison in it," he said ruefully.

Anyway, those were some impromptu Halloween memories. What are yours?

Finally, happy November! I won't be posting for the rest of the week because I'll be in sugar shock, so enjoy yours!

V-J Day

Yesterday, the New York Times had an article on the origins of the term "va-jay-jay." I had actually been wondering about that. They quoted linguistics professors, etc. Aren't you dying to know?

Random

Here are some photos sitting on various parts of my computer, related to brief things I haven't had much chance to mention - and some that are totally random.



Photo of me in camp when I was maybe 8.



Only someone who really knew me and loved me would surprise me by getting me this. And he did! ;)



It's been determined that all members of my household are fans of these annual Entenmann's treats.

Someone hung this up in my neighborhood recently. Either that, or a witch got stuck.

Fall leaves

I love the change in the weather up here for fall, and the beautiful changing leaves - when they actually change. This year, it's been so hot (except for a few spurts of normalcy) that the leaves haven't changed much. However, the Hubby was kind enough to take me to a cool old NY waterfront town to do some leaf-peeping anyway.

Here are a few photos. As you can see, the leaves are falling, but not completely changing. You know, the leaves have to WANT to change!

Hmmmm

Yeah, I have not had much time for blogging. Buuuut I swear that at times, I think of really great ideas for blog entries. Great ones! Not much consolation, is it?

I still want to write my "triage" entry, or series of entries. Triage, as you probably know, is the idea in medicine, particularly during war-time, that if you are dealing with injuries, you have to tend to the most serverely injured first, even if that means neglecting others for a while. I guess it's another way of saying "make priorities," only, it's for really dire situations, and has worse consequences.

What I've thought about is smaller-scale situations in my life. For instance, I work for a relatively small company. There are people whose last names I haven't learned - simply because they are relatively new - but worse, there are also people whose names I don't know at all, just because they are in a different department.

It would be classy and honorable if I actually made an effort one day to know everyone's name (even if some are just there for the short-term). Then again, if I spend the effort on that, it might take away from other more pressing aspects of work. (OKay, it's not a ton of "effort," but it still means making it a priority.)

At a former job of mine, the wealthy owner used to come in and putter around, asking everyone how they were doing, what their problems were, etc. Everyone found that amazing. Yet, I also know that he didn't really need to work, so he had more time to be generous. He also had a huuuuge network of people who loved him and supported him in whatever he did. So he had time to spread that love. But shouldn't I be more like him, palling around with everyone in the office? Would that make me more personable and a better worker, or a phony? It's something that, in a perfect world, I'd do - at least know a little about everyone in my company.

This is at the less significant part of the spectrum of triage. My bigger issue is that I'd like to - cliche on the way - "make the world a better place." But there are so many things that need fixin'...where to start? It's not like I can solve all the problems - best to just pick one small way to help, somewhere. Not at the expense of my loved ones or job, of course. But where to start?

That's an aspect for another post someday....

Disclaimer: I kinda just wrote that, not very well-organized, so judge it that way. Some of this just comes out. Maybe if I revised, it'd be more cohesive. Just my thoughts. Anyway, I wrote it on Saturday but am posting it Sunday. On Monday: Photos of fall leaves, as I went "leaf peeping" with the hubby. Unfortunately, the weather is not so conducive for leaf changes.

BASTARDS!!!

Most smartest

Most reality shows annoy me. But I found one that actually made me laugh.

It's called "America's Most Smartest Model" and of course, the purpose is just to make fun of models. I imagine that the models on the show realize that. They still want the publicity anyway.
The show judges models on their looks and moves, but also asks them history and spelling questions.

During the first episode, they had to walk the runway and say a list of things, with the category given by the judges. For instance, they would tell one guy "Kinds of dinosaur" and he had to walk the runway saying "Stegosaurus, brontosaurus..."

So anyway, during the course of this, they asked a French model to name things that smell bad.

He said: "Socks, trash, dirty laundry, dirty penis..."

At the end, Ben Stein said, "Did you say, 'Dirty penis'?"

The model replied, in his French accent, "Well, does it smell bad?"

Next, they asked a ditsy-looking woman to name things that were round. So she came out and walked the runway saying something like, "Grapefruit, balls, cherries, grapefruit, balls, cherries."

At that point, I broke down and started laughing hysterically. The Hubby just stared at me strangely. Thank God I didn't do this before the wedding or there might not have been one.

Anyway, don't forget to watch "America's Most Smartest Model" so that you can get your jollies pretending you are superior to people who look much better than you.

On another night, we are hosting trivia tonight. See ya!

Trivia

The Hub and I are hosting Tuesday Night Trivia on...well, Tuesday! So come play.

Information and directions here. The press release is a bit old, but the info is the same. Oh, it's in New York City.

Good readin'

My friend Jodi from elementary school only updates her blog occasionally, but when she does, it's REALLY worth reading. She is a stupendous writer, and very funny. If you remember Balki from "Perfect Strangers," read this entry dated Sept. 11. There's a surprise at the end.

Another friend of mine has a touching entry about friends or lovers who may be out of our lives, but left a lasting effect by teaching us something. Read it here.

Finally, a few weeks ago, the New York Times stopped forcing people to pay to read their old articles, so now you can pretty much get anything. Including some of my nutty pieces. Despite the serious headline, this is meant to be funny.

Have a great weekend! It's supposed to be sunny and cool, and I'm hoping the leaves will be purty.

Artistic genius

It's a fun tradition at weddings to leave disposable cameras on the tables so your guests can take their own pictures of each other, then leave the camera for you to develop.

We figured we'd get some good photos, and some awful ones.

But never did we predict the level of genius that we'd see when we retrieved our photos from CVS yesterday!

WOW!!! Clearly, this photo of a young man's shoulder is meant to evoke the burden that all of today's youth must "shoulder" in a changing and sometimes dangerous society.



The question asked by this astoundingly profound shot is quite obvious. Maybe we all have the capacity to hear, but do we really LISTEN?




While some of us are at our best at a wedding, others are just a shadow of themselves. Clearly the photographer here was a brilliant philosopher.



Okay, let's stop sugar-coating it. This person was just holding the camera backwards. DUH!!!

Bliss

I've been married a week, and so far it's great.

That's really no fun for you to read about, is it? Maybe I should write more about past bad dating experiences...I'll change any names to protect the innocent.

Is it hot enough for you? What are we fall-leaf loves to do? There are still moments of beauty in the trees along the highway -- crimson-studded branches and splashes of Golden Delicious yellow.

Okay, no time to write more. If you had to work today, I feel your pain.

That's just swell

Looks like someone wrote a paper on Carrie Pilby in 2004 and is now selling her paper on-line for $15! At least she got an A minus.

Well, I must go back to cleaning and ironing now.

Aftermath


My dress when I finally got out of it at the end of the day.

Gorgeous flowers I got at work yesterday from my new hubby.

Incidentally, the candy you are looking at on the second shelf is dark chocolate peanut M&Ms, which I had been curious to try. They actually taste very similar to regular peanut M&Ms; the dark chocolate doesn't make much of a difference.

I'm married

As of two days ago.

To the Boy: I'm very lucky to be with you and I love you (I guess I should call you The Hubby now).

I am extremely honored and humbled to have so many good people in my life...I have already received photos from a few of my wonderful friends, and I'm nearly speechless at how wonderful everyone is. Thanks to everyone who attended, to those who sent good wishes, and of course, to anyone reading this.

Don't worry, I won't change...except that I will now mostly write about ironing, vaccuuming, sweeping, and standing by my man.

I of course have much more to say, too much for a blog post. To The Boy, I love you and thanks for marrying me. And for putting up with a blog.

Oh, just a few things:
-I wore sneakers under my wedding dress and no one complained. Our guests did an impromptu hora to "Born to Run" at the end of the night and it was perfect. I got my veil inexpensively at a craft store (a suggestion from the best man's wife), and no one left the wedding saying, "Gee, I enjoyed the music and people and everything was beautiful....but the veil wasn't very good." So, resist the pressure of the wedding industry! It's about you and your spouse and your loved ones. That's all.