Supernatural Halloween Marathon

If you don't want to watch one long spooky movie on Halloween night, how about a TV show marathon. You can watch the Halloween eps of various shows (HIMYM, the Office, Community, etc.,) or you can do what I do and watch the most Halloween-y episodes of the greatest show on TV right now in my humble opinion: Supernatural.

Here are the top five to watch on Halloween.

5. Malleus Malificarum

-What is Halloween without witches? Nothing. What is this episode without a modern version of witches? Also nothing.

4. Bloody Mary

-Who didn't get together with their friends and chant "Bloody Mary" into the mirror in the dark. There is no better Halloween slumber party activity, especially after you are all hopped up on candy.

3. Hook Man

-one of the ultimate scary stories.... everyone knows it. The escaped convict, the hook for the hand, the scraping of the hook on the top and sides of the car. It never ends well.

2. It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester

-A retelling of the legend of Samhain, who walks the streets on Halloween night. PLus, if you're going to watch a Halloween episode, you might as well watch the one whose name is similar to the classic Peanuts story. And there is a cheeky astronaut.

1. Scarecrow

-It's #1 because it is by far one of the creepiest episodes. A scarecrow that comes to life, that attacks victims once a year. A town that stands by idly and does nothing. The fake kindness of the townspeople. Plus, it is the episode with one of the most random lines in "Supernatural" history.

Happy Halloween!!!!

Overheard at a Concert

I've had the fall MSO concert these last two nights. Here are some things I overheard.

"Hehehehehehehhehehhe!" (after every single time the percussionists played during "If I Only Had A Brain" from the Wizard of Oz suite)

"Harry Potter is scary!" (right before we played "Harry Potter Suite")

"Hey!" (when we FINISHED Harry Potter- some man was quite impressed)

"Again!" (after the last note of March to the Scaffold.... and no child, we are NOT playing that again)

"It's like a bird!" (after the oboe player played the sound of the cock crowing in Danse Macabre)

"I want that!" (when Tom held up a sorceror's hat from Disneyland, complete with Mickey ears... well, kid, for $55 that had can be yours too)

This is what happens when you had concerts with little children in the audience. Also kids who are dressed in Halloween costumes. And maybe have trouble sitting through nearly an hour and a half's worth of music with no intermission.

BUT, all the all, the concerts were great and it was a lovely pleasure to NOT have to wear concert black. It's the little things, folks. The little things.

Dear Future Husband....

If you sang these two songs to me, I would be yours forever. That is all.

I've Never....

There are many things I've never done. I've never....

-smoked a cigarette

-done drugs

-eaten snails

-missed a flight (trains are a different story...)

-had Gatorade or Powerade or any sports drinks (interestingly.... Powerade is considered misspelled according to blogger's spell-check... but Gatorade is not....)

-cooked quinoa

-gone skinny-dipping as an adult

-seen any of the Godfather movies or James Bond movies

-gambled in Las Vegas

-ventured to the Southern Hemisphere (one day!!!!!)

But now I can say that I have had my eyebrows waxed. A few weeks ago, I used up my last living social voucher for a facial. Included in the facial was an eyebrow waxing but I didn't do it the time before because I was on a tight schedule and had to get to rehearsal. This time, I was lying down on the table and the lady looked at my eyebrows and all of a sudden there was a light in my eyes and hot stuff on my face and things were being pulled off in all directions. Actually, I'm just being dramatic- it was totally not a big deal at all and didn't hurt at all. It was certainly an interesting experience- not one that I would pay for on a regular basis because my eyebrows are so light anyway but I guess now it's something that I can check off that list of mine....

Dreams....

So oftentimes, especially when they've been particularly bizarre, I have recounted my dreams on this blog. I'm sure they always leaving wanting to know more about this addled brain of mine. Well, you are in luck. Because not only will you now get to hear my dreams, I can also share dreams my students have.

A few days ago, I was working in my office and a student came by to chat- no special reason, he was just slightly early to his next class and thought he'd pop into say hi. I relish when students do this because it means that I don't have to solve a crisis that they are going through. We were chatting and he said that he was really tired because he had a really weird dream. He then proceeded to tell me all about it: it involved some sort of massive wooden soldiers that were evil and he and his dogs were running away/fighting these massive wooden soldiers. He knew that if he could get into this room and push a huge green button, the soldiers would turn good. So he and his two dogs finally maneuvered their way into the room and pushed this gigantic button. Then they went back outside and all the colors were bright, birds were singing and the soldiers were good. And then, for some reason, a mechanical dog with a slot in its head showed up and so he put a quarter into the slot and the dog opened his mouth and dropped a gumball out. And then my student woke up. The end.

As for my own dreams, they've all revolved around coffee lately. I don't know why. Last night I dreamed Becky and I were at a coffee shop and they kept getting my order wrong and finally they closed without letting me get my order. So I went to another one and they kept trying to pronounce my name while looking at my credit card but they kept putting the letter "t" into my name. I have no idea why. There is no "t" in my first, middle or last name. Finally I got pissed off at them constantly mispronouncing my name and asked for my coffee and free t-shirt (they coffee house was giving out free t-shirts). They refused and so I casually mentioned that it didn't mater if they gave me a t-shirt or not, I had already taken three tote bags anyway (I've gotten a bunch of reusable bags in the last few days) and they got mad and threatened to call the police. I awoke before the harsh rule of justice came down on my head.

Oh dreams... they make the real world so much more interesting!

Not Shallow At All....

Me: Don't forget that your birthday is the same day as Ryan Reynolds.

Good talking point for when you meet.

Beth: Ahahah! Stoked about the Immortals cmoing out soon... Apparently the same director as that movie, The Fall. Should be awesome, espesh with Henry Cavill, mmhmmmmmm

Me: Delicious is the only way to describe Henry Cavill.

Beth: I do believe that is correct.

Portland Photo Puke (all about the alliteration....)

The Big 400

400th Blog Post- who would have thought? I thought to commemorate this epic event, I'd take a look back at some of the books that made the biggest impact on me as a child.

I don't even remember the first time that I read My Father's Dragon. There are actually two more that come after this but MFD is my favorite. It follows the story of Elmer Elevator's daring rescue of the baby dragon that is trapped on an island full of cruel animals. Elmer is able to free the dragon through use of clever ideas- he keeps tigers occupied by giving them chewing gum that "magically turns green so they can bury it and grow a gum tree". He gets across the river by tying lollipops to the tail of each crocodile. He helps a lion out by showing him how to braid his mane and tie it off with pretty boys. The story is incredibly clever and unique and each time a new animal shows up, you get excited to figure out what Elmer is going to do. You do wonder though why he packs a backpack full of lollipops, rubber bands, a mirror, hairbrush, ribbons, magnifying glasses and other bizarre things. It's like he knew....

I wanted to be Maniac Magee's best friend. What an incredible kid. Orphaned at a young age and hating his life with his aunt and uncle, he takes off running and doesn't stop. Age, race, class, none of that bothers him- all he wants to do is play baseball, get along, run and read. If you haven't read this, you must right away. His example is one that every child should know and follow.

Sometimes books that are written from the point of view of animals aren't done to well but the ones that are from the point of view of mice are always great (I include the book Pearl's Promise and Pearl's Pirates in this category). Mrs. Frisby is a brave, strong little mouse who is going to do everything that she can to help her son. She ends up getting involved with a colony of mice who are all escaped from a laboratory and who were friends with her husband. Imagining this little mouse being so incredibly brave, flying on the back of a crow, sneaking past the farmer's cat, she's a rock star! Plus Justin.... oh, my little romantic heart just loves him so much....

I wanted my own Little Bear and Boone. Although they didn't have to be an Indian and a Cowboy. I did for awhile have a little set up for one of my Playmobile characters and pretended that she was real. Sadly she wasn't. But at least I had an imagination. I loved this series so much, and probably would appreciate a lot of it a little more now that I'm older and have a better idea of England and all of their slang (I remember not knowing what "quid" was for a long time....) I for some reason really liked the fourth book "Mystery of the Cupboard", maybe because I really liked the journal that Jessica Charlotte wrote and her connection to Omri and finding out how deep this cupboard business really went. I didn't like the last one- I don't even remember the name of that one but I didn't like it at all. It was better before Omri's dad found out about everything. I loved when it was just Omri, Patrick and the plastic figures.

I feel that this is like Jasper Fforde books for kids- Norton Juster is so clever with his puns, play of words, "rescuing Sweet Rhyme and Pure Reason", the Tallest Short Man, the Shortest Tall Man, being stuck in the Doldrums. Oh my goodness, it's so clever! It's such a fun story when you're younger but when you grow up, you understand a lot more of what is being said. I'm pretty sure half of what happened to Milo I didn't understand when I was younger. But I love that I can still enjoy this book years later.

My favorite kids books in the whole wide world. Honestly, these are amazing. I loved Laura, I still do. My favorite, favorite, favorite by far is These Happy Golden Years. The sweet relationship between Laura and Almanzo just warms the cockles of my hopeless romantic heart. I LOVE when he comes back to surprise her at Christmas. Ugh, just perfection right there. These books can do absolutely no wrong in my eyes and I will read them over and over and over again.

It has always been a dream of mine to live in an museum and it started with this book. FTMUFOMBEF (whoa, try pronouncing that....) combined so many of my favorite things- museums, living alone, artwork, research, etc., that I couldn't help love it and read it over and over again. E.L. Konigsburg, by the way, is an incredible author and many of her other books are favorites as well (View from Saturday and Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and me, Elizabeth are two great ones). This one is extra special though, you will want to visit the Met after reading it (and wish you could sleep in Marie Antoinette's bed...)

This one was for the budding historian in me.... It followed tomboy Caddie and her two brothers (and sisters) living out in the wilds of Wisconsin. It brought in a lot of the strife with the Native Americans, what a traveling circuit preacher does, 1800s education and how to best raise children during that time. Caddie was an incredible spirit and even though I was nothing like her, definitely wished that I was.

Oh Anne spelled with an E. If you don't know the meaning of "depths of despair", "Cordelia", "a Jonah day" and "Kindred spirit", then you are missing out on the wonderful world that is Anne Shirley Bylthe, Marilla and Matthew, Mrs. Rachel Lynde, Diana Barry, Phil, Stella and Priscilla, Leslie Moore, Captain Jim and Miss. Cordelia and of course, Gilbert, Jem, Walter, Nan, Di, Shirley and Rilla. There is no greater, flawed, special, inspiration character as Anne and I love everything about her. And Gilbert.... ugh, Gilbert Blythe. Why can't he be real!?

E.B. White is another incredible author and although most people will point to Charlotte's Web as he best and most heartfelt story, I would have to disagree and say the Trumpet of the Swan is the best. There is something incredibly poignant of a mute trumpeter swan who not only gets a trumpet to communicate but is dedicated in returning the money that was owed for the trumpet. His adventures are remarkable- some of my favorites are when he learns to spell, when he spent the night at the Ritz in Boston and his time spent with Sam Beaver who is in himself an incredible character. I always think of Louis when I think of Boston.

If you haven't read any of these books then run, RUN! to your library and pick them up immediately.