October 20 Oct. 22 Oct. 24 Oct. 26 Oct. 28 Oct. 29 Oct. 31 Nov. 7 Dec. 31

Well, it's more sort of Oct. 19 in my mind, but since I'm writing this after midnight, it's technically the 20th. Anyway, doubtless there have been any number of things I could have mentioned before now that put me in mind of Halloween, such as getting a Gritty's Halloween Ale glass from work one night awhile back. I haven't used it yet, though I think one of my roommates must have. For myself, I'm waiting til Halloween. And I'll want to actually pick up the proper beverage to drink from it. I should also say that around the time of my birthday last month, I got Sam Adams' Autumn mixpack, which included for the first time I'm aware of, some pumpkin ale. The taste put me in mind of Sleepy Hollow, somehow. It was pretty good, though as far as pumpkin ales go, I think I still prefer Shipyard's Pumpkinhead. I should pick up another of those Sam Adams mixpacks though, later this month. Perhaps.

And... I'm not sure, but it seems like a few years ago (maybe less) that I saw Fastner & Larson's Tricks & Treats (viewer discretion advised) in a catalog from SFBC, I think. I wanted to get it for Halloween whatever year I saw it, but I didn't. Later I never saw it in their catalog again, and I forgot what it was called and who the artists were. So, it was hard for me to figure that out, but I eventually did, this year. And I ordered it from Amazon, just after my birthday. It's... um, an art book. Pin-up art (not that I'm going to be pinning any of it up, of course). I'd say relatively few of the pictures are all that Halloweeny (a few are even Christmasy and one is Eastery), while most are just... random fantasy stuff. Still, it's... enjoyable. And I'm glad I finally got it, if only so I don't have to worry about not remembering it anymore.

Also at some point this year, I got a Disney Fairies trick-or-treat bag from Walmart, which I had seen last year but never got, even though it only cost a buck. And today at Mardens, I got a Halloween tin pail which I think is pretty cool (pictures below). Also at Mardens I got some caramel apple Sugar Babies, which are quite good. I've got them in the pail now. And after work, I went back to Walmart where I got some caramel apple flavored popcorn, which was also quite good. Oh, and earlier today I saw a trailer for this DVD that came out today, a Japanese gorefest called Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. It looks too bloody for my taste, but even so I'd kind of like to see it because it should be funny in a way, and really weird, and of course it has cute girls.

Doubtless I'm forgetting any number of other things, but I suppose none of it was really important in any way. But anyway, I felt like getting this year's journal started. So... that's taken care of. I'll have more to say soon, I'm sure....

Oct. 22

Meant to mention some things yesterday. Well, let's see, this is Friday, and Tuesday night there was a Halloween episode of Parenthood. Max wanted to go trick-or-treating for the first time ever, and of course Adam and Kristina were worried about that... or she was, not so much Adam, since Halloween is a huge deal for his family (and we eventually learn why that is, when Zeek is telling Max). Meanwhile, Julia was upset that Sydney wanted to dress up as Miss California for her costume, and Julia doesn't like the sort of anti-feminist idea behind beauty pageants. (I tend to agree, though I think Sydney's too young to understand that, really.) And... Sarah had a shift bartending because Halloween's a great night for tips. Dunno what else to say, except that I thought the whole Halloween theme of the episode seemed more natural than it usually does on TV shows, didn't really interrupt the normal flow of the ongoing story, or anything.

Also I wanted to say that Wednesday night I was at work and while waiting to get a ride home, I was watching a DVD, but my portable player ran out of power. So I went over to Walmart and looked for a book to fill some time. I picked up "Let Me In," a Swedish vampire novel (originally titled "Let the Right One In"), which has been made into a movie in Sweden and remade in the US. I want to see both movies eventually, but I might as well read the book first. I haven't gotten far into it yet... haven't yet met the vampire girl. I'll try to do as much reading as I can before Halloween, but I expect it'll be at least a ways into November before I finish it, if not later. We'll see. Whenever I do finish it, I should come back here and add a link to the review I eventually write.

The other day a friend shared a link on facebook for Halloween radio. Today I got around adding that to my Halloween links page. While doing that, I checked the old links there and had to update some and delete a few others. Also I looked at my AV page, and several vids I had embedded there had disappeared from YouTube, so I removed them from the page. Anyway, I think that's all I had to say for now.

Oct. 24

Hmmm. So, it's Sunday, one week til Halloween. Just watched Friday's ep of Supernatural. It was about vampires. Won't say any more about the plot, but it was both amusing and disturbing, as usual. Probably more Halloweeny than next week's ep will be. I don't think there's anything else from the past couple of days worth mentioning....

Oct. 26

I meant to say I got some pumpkin coffee creamer the other day. As for today, I bought some candy for Halloween. Dunno if we'll get alot of trick-or-treaters at all, but hopefully I can keep most of the candy for myself. And, uh, my roommates, I guess. Sure. Or any friends who might stop by to hang out or whatever, but I'm sure no one will do that. Anyway, also tonight I watched the "Rocky Horror Glee Show." That was wicked fun. I added a video of "The Time Warp" from that episode of Glee to my AV page, and also added "Don't Blame the Moon" by Io Perry to that page's mp3 player.

Oct. 28

Got a Halloween card in the mail today from Mom & Dad, with a check. So that's nice, I was hoping I would get one today or tomorrow. The money will definitely come in handy.... Also I notice there's a Shrek Halloween special on NBC tonight, I set the DVR to record it but I dunno if I should watch it or not, considering I haven't seen the 4th movie yet.... Also today I set up some Halloween decorations.

Oct. 29

Yesterday before work I bought some Little Debbie Pumpkin Muffins. Not bad, though I reckon they'd be better with cream cheese. Um... After work I watched Scared Shrekless, which was okay. And a Halloween episode of Community, which was pretty good. The whole school got turned into zombies. They had some fun playing with various cliches; I really liked the thing with the cat. Dunno if there was anything else to say about yesterday, but this morning I wached a Halloween episode of Modern Family, which was pretty decent. And I think that's all there was to say about today. Sigh. Time soon to head to work (which is scary enough for Halloween, at any time of year)....

Oct. 31

Well, yesterday on the way to work my friend Rod & I stopped at Rite Aid. The day before I had looked for Gritty's Halloween ale at Walmart, but it was gone. I knew I should have gotten some sooner when I had the chance, but I'm a fool, so whatevs. So anyway, yesterday... I didn't find any at Rite Aid, either. I did see the Sam Adams autumn mixpack, which was already gone everywhere else (replaced by the winter mixpack). But I couldn't afford a 12-pack though (it sucks not making enough money to ever save anything from week to week). Though a couple days ago I did get a Woodchuck hard cider mixpack, I don't think I mentioned that yet. Anyway, after Rite Aid we stopped at Walgreens. No Gritty's there either. But it's fine, since I don't know where my Gritty's pint glass has gotten off to, anyway. I really should ask my roommates about that. But whatevs. I did pick up a 6-pack Pumpkinhead ale, as well as a bag of Twilight chocolates (Bela truffles, Edward caramel, Jacob peanut butter). They were $2 less expensive than they were at Rite Aid. Yay. Anyway, emptied that bag into my Halloween pail which I mentioned earlier, which I had already put some candy corn taffy and other stuff into. Shared that candy at work; didn't take long for it to disappear. I was lucky to get one of each type of Twilight chocolate. Didn't get out of work til nearly 1am, so it was technically Halloween. And raining a bit. My friend Aimee gave me a ride home, and before we even got here, the rain had turned to snow, which seems to have continued throughout the night, though it's done now. Anyway, read a bit of "Let Me In," and then went to sleep.

So that was Oct. 30. Today I... did laundry. Watched a few non-Halloweeny things on the DVR, though I still have several others I need to get through. I'll save those for tomorrow, I suppose. I did watch something I recorded just over a week ago, a Nickelodeon movie called The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, which wasn't bad. Then I watched a Syfy movie called Red: Werewolf Hunter, which was okay, but basically just worth watching because it starred Felicia Day. And, watched Friday's ep of Supernatural. After that I was ready to watch a DVD, and by then my roommates were home. I looked thru my box of Halloweenish DVDs, and they said they wanted to watch Teen Wolf. So, I played that for awhile, but soon they all drifted into the other room, so I stopped the DVD. Had been doing a bit of drinking by this point. Finally went upstairs. Started watching Suspiria, but after awhile I decided it was too stupid to bother watching all the way through. So... then I started watching Queen of the Damned. When I realized Lestat was in it, and it's apparently based on an Anne Rice book or something... well, I've never read Anne Rice. I did see Interview With the Vampire once, but I don't really remember it. I dunno if this can be considered a sequel or what, but I do think I should rewatch that movie before watching this one. And I don't have that movie on DVD, so... it's back to the box to choose something else. Again. ...Okay, watched all of "The Reaping," but I don't feel like writing a review. It was okay. Meh. And... eventually watched the premiere of the new AMC zombie series "The Walking Dead." It was okay. Too drunk for a fair assessment, I'll try to watch another episode. For now I don't care enough for a review. Time for bed, but there'll be other Halloween stuff for a week yet... next Sunday is Simpsons Treehouse of Horror....

Nov. 7

So, yeah. Actually I'm writing this around 2:30am on Nov. 8, but whatevs. Um. Last Monday I watched the Halloween ep of Desperate Housewives, though the fact that it was Halloween on the ep was fairly unimportant. Since then, I don't know if there's anything Halloweeny to report, except that I'm still reading "Let Me In." As for today, a week since Halloween, I should say... well, Saturday I picked up a 6-pack of Gritty's Halloween Ale and had half the pack that night after work. Today, Sunday, I had the night off of course, and I picked up an Autumn mixpack of Saranac beers (including pumpkin ale). Also got some pumpkin bread. And I watched Simpsons Treehouse of Horror (the opening credits were a parody of "The Office," and the three stories this year were about board games coming to life, a parody of some movie I don't know anything about set at sea, and a parody of Twilight). It was fun. Also watched Halloween eps of The Cleveland Show, Family Guy, and American Dad. Plus the second ep of The Walking Dead. Then watched a DVD of Watchmen. All the while, I had lots of beer (all drunk from my Gritty's Halloween glass). It was a good night, and I guess that's all I have to say. Halloween is now over, though when I finish the book I'm reading and write a review, maybe I'll post a link here. Aside from that... well, see you next year.

Dec. 31

Hmm, I think first I'll say that I don't think I watched past the second ep of "The Walking Dead," though clearly the show is good and popular and I wish it well. I just didn't feel the need to get invested in it. But what I'm really here to report today is that... a week ago, on Christmas Eve, I finished reading "Let Me In," and tonight I've written a review. Urm, so it's New Year's Eve, technically. I wrote this after getting home from work the night of the 30th, so... I still have pretty much a whole day of 2010 left ahead of me. Gotta work tonight and tomorrow night. Lame. But this job has gotten me used to missing the changing of the year, over the last few years.... But whatever. The book is done. I guess I don't need to mention anything else about Halloween this year, then. Heh heh heh... still talking about Halloween on New Year's Eve, though... that's awesome. But heck, in some small way, the spirit of Halloween is with me frequently throughout the year, every year....