Put on the Glasses

Brian and I had a great Halloween this year. After work, we got all dolled up and headed off to the American Swedish Institute, which had a Halloween party going on. I went as Pam Poovey from Archer: If you don't know who I am talking about, this is Pam: Brian went as Mugatu: That is Will Ferrell's character from the movie Zoolander: The party was a whole lot of fun. It took place in the mansion and they had set up areas with activities (example: I wrote my own obituary and posted it on the wall). There was live music, smoked turkey legs and some seriously delicious brussel sprouts on a stick. They even had various Norse gods roaming around, including this guy on stills with fire: It was a good time, and I would definitely recommend going next year if they have it again.

I got a sample ballot in the mail for the upcoming elections in Minneapolis. It is one thing to hear about there being 35 candidates for mayor in Minneapolis and entirely a different thing to see it on paper. That is one long list. Only the first column is the actual list of candidates. Minneapolis is using "ranked-choice voting." When I vote, I will make one choice for each column. My first choice will be in the left column, my second choice in the second column, etc. In order to win the election, a candidate needs at least half of the votes. If there is no winner after tallying the everyone's top choices in the first column, the candidate with the least number of votes is removed. That candidate's votes are then "reallocated" using  those voters' second choices. This process continues until there is a winner.  The most interesting thing I found about the ballot, however, was the names and parties of the candidates. Apparently, I have not bee

I don't often get lunch at work, but today I thought I deserved some warm food to help me get over that cold. It just so happens that the cafeteria had dim sum: I don't even know what half of that stuff is, but it was delicious. The white blob on the right was a steamed pork bun. It was fantastic. I had never actually enjoyed dim sum before. I had it a couple of times in New York, but it was not a very good experience (tripe was involved; I will say no more).  But after this good experience, now I want more. Anyone know of a good dim sum place in Minneapolis?

I stayed home sick today with a cold, and Livia stayed by my side the whole day. She is such a sweetheart.

My friends, the Bernses, got me a whole slew of minifigs for my birthday. They also got me this funny book of 100 Ghosts. Here's ghost no. 34: I have awesome friends. They know what I like.

I had my annual horror movie marathon at my house tonight. I did not take pictures at the event since it was dim for optimal movie watching. I can tell you that at one point we had 12 people crammed into my little living room watching horror. It was quite fun, and I was glad so many friends could come over and join me in my marathon-viewing of classics. We watched Rosemary's Baby (I do not recommend this for future marathons; it is quite slow), The Exorcist, Poltergeist (which consisted of a lot of us yelling, "I owned that toy when I was a kid!") and then Scream. For the party I baked a couple of pies. Here's Franklin guarding my blueberry-maple pie (with a cornmeal crust): You can't tell from the picture, but I had cut bat shapes into the crust with a cookie cutter. You also can't tell that the pie was delicious with some vanilla ice cream. When they invent taste-o-vision for the Internet, I will be able to better share my baking skills with you all

I'm prepping for my annual Halloween movie marathon tomorrow. I have decorations everywhere, and this is one of my new favorites. I think I picked it up at Target in that dollar section. I also picked up a skull garland from Paper Source. I love the shadows on my curtains: I wonder how long I can leave the Halloween decorations up until Brian makes me take them down...

I just finished reading The Collector by John Fowles. It was one of the creepiest books I have ever read in my life. Written in the 60s, this book tells the story of a solitary man and collector of butterflies who becomes obsessed with this young woman who lives near his home. He intricately and coldly plans and executes her kidnapping. And that is just the beginning of the story. Sometimes you read a book or you see a movie and you realize you are seeing the start of something. You are seeing the thing that everyone else was just trying to copy. Like the French Connection's car chase scene or Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. This is one of those books. If you like suspense and thrillers, read this book.

Since I posted about my metal haunted house decoration, I thought I should show you its Lego counterpart. This is the big Lego haunted house set that you can buy from the store: When they released it, it was like a dream come true for me. I keep it out all year just to enjoy it.

Even as it gets colder, Leela still wants to go outside as much as physically possible. Here she is, looking morose because I won't let her out:

I finally got a frame for the new print I got for my library. I got it when we were in New York at Obscura Antiques and Oddities. It's not an antique but I love the look of it. Here's it is hanging on my wall of arts. I am really loving this wall and it is fun to look at while I work. My desk points straight at this wall from the middle of the room.

I went to my parent's house today to celebrate my Mom's birthday. I made my Mom's favorite pie for the event: lemon meringue. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and with fresh ingredients, it tasted terrific. Here's an action shot: Just looking at the picture is making my mouth water. It was that good.  Yet again, I got the recipe from Ken Haedrich's book, Pie. I have yet to bake a bad pie based on a recipe in that book. 

The Halloween decorations are up at our house, a fact which makes me quite happy. I love Halloween, and I love Halloween decorations. Brian has largely given up on getting me normal gifts for our anniversary and my birthday in order to just get me more Halloween decorations. He knows how to make a girl happy. One of my favorite Halloween decorations is this metal haunted house I bought years ago. I think I got it at Target when I lived up in Duluth. I've since toted it to New York and back to Minnesota again. For many years, I just kept it out on display year-round. Yes, I liked it that much. The best part about haunted house decorations: it doesn't matter if they get dusty. In fact, that only makes them look better.

Brian and I went to his parent's house tonight to celebrate my past birthday and Brian's father's future birthday. For dessert, Brian's Mom served a pie from Baker's Square that I had not had before. You see, every time I go to Baker's Square, I try to order something different. And I always fail. I look through the little flip-book of pies and debate the merits of each one. Even when I have decided on something else, the waitress walks up and I blurt out, "French silk, please." So I was quite surprised by their Carmel Pecan Silk Supreme. It turns out that it has the chocolate goodness from the French Silk as a mere component of the pie. In addition to the chocolate, you get pecans! You can't go wrong there. The Copeland's new dancing skeleton toy you see in the background there was equally enjoyable.

Brian brought me flowers from the farmer's market today. They are quite pretty.

I got a new haircut today and I feel so much better. It always amazes me how heavy my hair is. Every time I cut a bunch off, it is a relief.

I conned Brian into buying the Lego Architecture set for the United Nations so I could put it together. It was a fun set to build. There were lots of little pieces.

My new LG dryer arrived today. It works like a charm. I am so happy to have a new, matching set of machines that are fully-functional.

Brian and I went with our friends the Bernses to the football game today. It was an epic loss for the Vikings, but we still had a good time.

How can I buy more books? Because I can't help myself. Today was the Twin Cities book festival and I couldn't resist it. I bought a book about haunted places in the Twin Cities and a graphic novel. I already read Over the Wall by Peter Wartman. It was thoroughly enjoyable. He signed the book for me when I bought it and even did a sketch of the main character:

Yesterday's haul of books was not enough. I went out for even more books today. Apparently, I was book deprived. This should keep me reading for awhile.

I had an excellent birthday. It started with a delicious breakfast of quiche and garlic potatoes: Then, I bought a bunch of books: I picked up Brian (he took a half-day for me) and we had a great time driving around the lakes of Minneapolis: Look at the fun time we were having: Then we had a delicious lunch of shrimp, crab cake and filet tartar: We rounded that out with a piece of red velvet cake for my birthday: Then, I started to forget to take more pictures. There was more shopping and a fun night out with friends at Indeed Brewery. Finally, I came home to this awesome present from my in-laws: I call him Franklin and I have set him up at the dining room table: I would say that was the perfect birthday. I don't know how I will top it next year.

I just finished reading Stephen King's new book, Doctor Sleep, and it was everything I hoped it would be. It's the sequel to The Shining, and it didn't disappoint, though it is different than its predecessor. I recommend it if you've read The Shining before. If you've only seen the Kubrick movie, beware; the book and the movie have different endings.

Every time I turn around, Livia has her face in my water. I had to go get her a cup so she would leave mine alone.

Target has skull socks in the dollar section near the door. Yes, I bought multiple pairs. No, I will not limit my wearing of them to just Halloween.

I found these goofy, bloody glasses at the store the other day. Should I wear them all the time? I think so.

Our new chair is Leela's new favorite spot: She looks pretty darned cute there too.

I am one step closer to having all of my household objects be in the shape of skulls. I found a skull-shaped bottle of nail polish at Target today. The picture doesn't do it justice. Trust me, it is skull-shaped.

I picked up this magnet of a Skeleton Koopa from Super Mario Bros. at a convention a few weeks ago. It is perfect for Halloween: This is just the start of the decorations. I think it is about time to pull out all the candles, signs, skulls and spooky objects I have in storage.

We got our new washer today. It is a thing of beauty. Just looks at all those digital controls. And all the buttons work! (Unlike my old one)  It also plays a tune when the laundry is done. I love it.