This Day In History: 10/31
My lesson with Ellerby went really well this morning. He said I had a natural fluency, and that my next step should be the art of structure, balance, and placement -- things that aren't necessarily taught as much as they're discovered. We went through Badinage, and he made some very on-target comments about how to improve the piece's cohesiveness.
There's not enough good pieces of chicken in fried chicken boxes these days. There should be a white-meat trade-in program so I don't have to bother with so much dry stringiness -- Dark meat is definitely key.
Monday's Boston Public episode was definitely a good start to the season, if a little over the top. I'm glad they started a little ways into the year, so they didn't have to waste time directly introducing the new students and teachers. A "first day" episode would have been such an easy throwaway.
Happy Halloween! I have big fatass CRUNCH bars if you want to knock on my door.
As you've probably deduced from yesterday's cryptic update, I've decided not to go for a Doctorate in music. I accepted an unofficial offer from FGM on Wednesday morning, and received word last night that an unexpected budget surplus has guaranteed me a spot on the payroll starting next May. There are many reasons behind how I came to this decision, and I'll try to write some more about them this weekend.
In the meantime, if you like any of my furniture, lay claim to it now because I won't be taking it all back to Virginia.
Stupid people still exist.
BSA hates heathens.
Happy Halloween!
I bought lots of big candy bars and treats and toys with which to spoil the apartment complex kiddies, as is tradition in Uri! households.
Everything is in order for a November 1 rollout of the URI! Zone. In fact, the early birds among you will probably see it a few minutes after midnight if all goes according to plan.
"Halloween and Halloween Eve are two days when dressing like a clown is less likely to draw attention." - CNN news reporting on why someone might dress as a clown to rob a bank
If you are reading this and you work with me, there's a massive mountain of sugar and chocolate on my desk. Please partake freely. If you are in my house because you are a daytime burglar, there is a ridiculous amount of beverages left in my fridge. Please partake freely, and leave all the rest of my crap behind.
In honor of Halloween, I have gone through my backlog of pictures from the past month and posted them all in the Photos section. Follow this link to see the pictures of the newly-completed guest room. Follow this one to see a couple pictures from Nikki's wedding
. Follow this particular link to see a bunch of cats and dogs
and follow this link to see a bunch of pictures from the ridiculously black Halloween Party we had on Saturday night in my basement
. As always, you can use the left and right arrows on those pages to browse through the pictures in order, or you can use the menu on the left-hand side to jump to another section.
I do not plan on giving out candy tonight, because half the kids are one year old and have no idea why their parents have dressed them up as ghosts, and the other half of the kids do not wear any costumes. It really kills the magic of the holiday. Maybe I will just leave a bulk box of raisins and apples on my stoop. Every neighbourhood has to have the weird house where the owner doesn't want to answer the door, so he leaves a big basket on the steps, trusting in the goodness of kids, and every neighbourhood also needs the dentist who passes out healthy snacks -- I could kill two birds with one stone.
In 1992 (ninth grade), I went trick-or-treating as a Candy Recycler (a.k.a. teenager who is too cool to think up a real costume but still wants candy). The recycling sign hanging off the trash can was a carry over from my Environmental Science merit badge and is still highly useful at parties. "Do you recycle beer bottles? OH."
I've gone trick-or-treating as both a wizard and a warrior (but never a rogue). Coincidentally, the walking stick I used for my wizard costume and the wooden warrior sword made by my grandparents' neighbour were both later destroyed by situp-farting Tony who tried attacking a cinderblock wall with them. I was not happy about that.
In 1999, I went to a party at the Tuba House. I was a Math Major (complete with tape on the bridge, high waters, and impeccably combed hair), except when I was talking to Math Majors, in which case I was a Physics Major. Nikki was a schoolgirl, but everyone kept thinking she was Britney Spears -- since she was into peer pressure, she ran with that instead. Liz was some kind of sexy cat.
In 1994, I climbed up onto the roof of my house with a giant bag of leaves. When the passing populace knocked, I scared them with a homemade ghost on a bungee cord and then lowered the candy down, occasionally stopping to dump leaves on parents. I said nothing, communicating only with the buzz of my trumpet mouthpiece. The professional trumpet player from down the street took the opportunity to explained to his daughter how the embouchure worked.
In 2003, I was a gangster. I picked this costume because I could also wear it to work without getting strange stares in traffic, or walking about. Booty was a ghost, but only for about ten seconds.
One year in elementary school, I wanted to get one of those orange and black shirts that said, "This is my costume", but my parents didn't want to spend $14 on a T-shirt that I would only wear once a year, so I had to write it in black marker on a white shirt. This did not achieve the desired effect whatsoever -- no one could read the shirt so I had to hold out stretched out as if I were concealing a pregnancy at every house I went to.
In 2005, I was a ukelele-playing Hawaiian without a ukelele, but with a coconut bra, which was much more crucial.
Happy Birthday Eric Barberan!
Since it's the last day of the month, I thought I'd play catch-up and upload 119 photos into my Photos gallery. Some of these have been seen in various forms in my news updates, but for the first time, you can see the complete series in its unadulterated glory.
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Happy Halloween! There's candy on my desk.
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Because it's the last day of the month, I took the opportunity to upload the past month's worth of photos and dub it an update. You can also enjoy two short movie clips:
Happy Halloween!
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Friday
After work, I cleaned the house (which is part of my normal Friday afternoon routine although it sometimes alternates with mowing the lawn), did some reading, and played some Terraria, which is like a version of Minecraft that's actually finished and bug-free, and has the added bonus of not inducing migraines or prematurely advancing my nearsightedness.
Saturday
I was up early to head to my parents' house in Alexandria for an oil change and use of the computer with Firewire for some video editing, so I was a firsthand witness to the premature precipitation barely recognizable as snow, over which most of the local populace peed all over themselves. I spent the afternoon working on Brian & Emily's first dance wedding video (mainly inserting pictures of Booty's face all over the primary cast). In the evening, we had a quick dinner at Moby Dick's House of Kabob (which was tasty, though of questionable gastrointestinal benefit), followed by a trip of average female length to DSW for new physical therapy shoes for Rebecca. We ended with a viewing of Memento, which I hadn't seen since 2005, and which Rebecca ironically no longer remembered at all.
Sunday
Sunday was a stress-free day of indoor activities. I puttered about, added some pumpkins to the Stone Band website, and prepared a very easy recipe of grilled pork chops with salsa and a spicy rub (like a massage therapist with a sharp tongue). The pork chops turned out to be so delicious that we consumed all two pounds (except the bones), leaving no leftovers for midweek lunches. Sadly, we also finished The Wire today.
Happy Halloween!
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Because of the holiday, I can repost my original mashup of the themes from Halloween and Doogie Howser, MD and call it a real update.
Happy Halloween! I hope you are giving or receiving some big candy bars this evening. Halloween, like marriage, is all about giving and receiving.
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New photos have been added to the Life, 2014 and Seattle, 2014 albums.
October's Final Grade: A
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New photos have been added to the Life, 2016 album.
October's Final Grade: B+, Fun weekend trips and nice weather.
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New photos have been added to the Life, 2018 album. Google Photos sucks.
October's Final Grade: B, Cooler weather brings more variety to potential baby activities, but this was an unusually long-feeling month
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New photos have been added to the Life, 2022 album.
October's Final Grade: A, a very nice month
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