Boo!

Halloween was fine here in Westerville. The girls got into their costumes, which I count they have worn no less than three times BEFORE Halloween occurred, which I think is a great success. Grace had on her full vampiress regalia--complete with frightful wig and yellow fangs. Sarah was in full spy mode with her black outfit and makeup. And Hannah was as cute as every as a walking, talking lady bug.

Me? Well, I had on my wizard outfit that I have used many times in the past. But this time I was a Wiizard! (See the Wii remote in my hand in place of a magic wand?) And, yeah, I made that up on the spot.

Lynda took the kids trick -r- treating and I stayed on the porch with Hannahbug to give out the candy. Normally I blog the night away on my laptop. But with the battery being suspect and all the outdoor outlets devoted to decorative lighting, I twittered an facebooked my way through the evening with my trusty iPhone. The only technical mishap of the evening was my inability to download the "Thriller" song to my phone via the home network. (I had planned to play it on a loop to add a scary element to night. Oh well, maybe next year.)

Head on over to this list of tweets (in case you don't follow me habitually) so you can find out what you missed.

Happy Halloween!

Up in the air!

I posted some more audio ramblings over on my Twitter feed.

Listen to it now via this URL: http://twitter.com/dtm1971/status/5267910587

The picture below isn't everyone's Halloween costume in full--especially Hannah (obviously). But it's the best photo I could acquire at this moment. I took this at Inniswood last Sunday during the Halloween craft fair.



-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

My latest insane idea

Yeah, I'm at it again--creating stuff I shouldn't create and thinking about doing stuff I probably shouldn't do.

You can listen about it here.

And you can read about it here.

There will be more . . . much more . . . (I hope) in the coming days.

Doing a meme that I stole

I swiped this from my friend G's semi-updated blog.

And since I've got nothing better that I can coherently put together right now, I'll calling an audible and punting. (Hey serious football fans . . . can you both call an audible and punt? I'm thinking not.)

Anyway, it's self explanatory . . . and (possibly?) semi-illuminating?

If you're surprised, let me know.

( ) Gone on a blind date

(x) Gave blood

(x) Skipped school

( ) Watched someone die

( ) Been to Mexico

(x) Been to Florida

(x) Been to Hawaii

(x) Been on a plane

(x) Been on a helicopter [It was in Hawaii.]

(x) Been lost

(x) Gone to Washington, DC

(x) Ridden in a police car [I've written about this before. The infamous night I went walking with Stan Parker.]

( ) Hugged a homeless person

(x) Swam in the ocean [And almost drowned in two inches of churning ocean. But I think I've written about that as well.]

( ) Swam with stingrays

( ) Been sailing in the ocean

( ) Cried yourself to sleep

(x) Played cops and robbers

(x) Recently colored with crayons

( ) Ran a marathon

( ) Sang Karaoke

(x) Volunteered at a soup kitchen

(x) Paid for a meal with coins only

( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch

( ) Seen the northern lights

( ) Been para sailing

( ) Been on TV

(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't [I'm sure I have, but I must have blocked the memory to protect my self image.]

( ) Made prank phone calls

( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans

(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose

(x) Fed a Giraffe [My annual zoo membership allows me to indirectly say "Yes."]

( ) Caught a snowflake on your tongue

( ) Fired a gun

(x) Danced in the rain

( ) Been to the opera

(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus

(x) Serenaded someone

(x) Seen a US President in person

(x) Been kissed under the mistletoe

(x) Watched the sunrise with someone

( ) Driven a race car

(x) Been to a National Museum

( ) Been to a wax museum

( ) Eaten caviar

(x) Blown bubbles

(x) Gone ice-skating [But those who went with me have blocked it out to protect their image of me.]

(x) Gone to the movies

(x) Been deep sea fishing

( ) Driven across the United States

( ) Been in a hot air balloon

( ) Been sky diving

( ) Gone snowmobiling

( ) Lived in more than one country

(x) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets

(x) Seen a falling star and made a wish

( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser

(x) Seen the Grand Canyon

( ) Seen the Statue of Liberty

( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle

( ) Been on a cruise

(x) Traveled by train [But strictly in a tourist capacity, not as a way of life.]

( ) Traveled by motorcycle

(x) Been horse back riding

x) Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR

(x) Been to Disneyland/Disney world

( ) Been in a rain forest

( ) Seen whales in the ocean

( ) Been to Niagara Falls

( ) Ridden on an elephant

( ) Swam with dolphins

(x) Been to the Olympics [I've been to the Special Olympics, immediately following the mainstream Olympics.]

( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China

( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf

( ) Been spinnaker flying

( ) Been water-skiing

( ) Been snow-skiing

( ) Been to Westminster Abbey

( ) Been to the Louvre

( ) Swam in the Mediterranean

(x) Been to a Major League Baseball game

( ) Been to a National Football League game

( ) Swam with sharks

(x) Been White Water Rafting

( ) Written a book or screen play

( ) Been to a Tournament of Roses Parade

(x) Lived in more than one state - like whoa

(x) Become a parent [Why else do you think I've colored with a crayon recently? I'm no artist.]

( ) Been Bungee Jumping

( ) Been to Vegas

(x) Been to a minor league baseball game

( ) Worked on a political campaign

( ) Been to the top of the World Trade Center or Empire State Building

(x) Ridden a Subway [Washington D.C. Metro--see above--and Atlanta's Marta]

( ) Been to your High School Reunion

At the heart of it all? Awesomeness

My internet world is pretty narrow. And those things that I blog about that are directly related to the internet itself consists of, I guess . . . Harry Potter, the Green (vlog)Brothers & assorted Nerdfighterness. And, I guess, television . . . but that isn't strictly reliant upon the internet.

Of course, I am involved in some internet-based stuff at work, but I don't talk about it much. (In general, I don't talk about work stuff in my blog for very sound, covering-my-ass type reasons.) But today some of those limited worlds collided in nice ways.

Last week one of my colleagues wrote a piece about Teen Read Week (which is going on now). As part of the celebration, teens go on the internet and vote for the YA book that they like the most. And yesterday, Teen Read Week's celebration the WWE (whaaaa?!) announced the winner.

John Green's Paper Towns!

Of course, the only way to describe this is . . . awesome!

If you've been reading me for the past year, you know how I dove into the Brotherhood 2.o obsession and have read Green's books. I've enjoyed the books immensely and am glad to see Green rewarded.

But what makes it even more interesting is that he is going to be in the Columbus area tomorrow! Some people from the office . . . but probably not me . . . are going to see him and maybe get some photos from the event (possibly even a brief interview reaction?) to serve as a great, news-worthy, follow up for btw.

This makes me very happy.

And to close, here is a video from Mr. Green in reaction to the Balloon Boy madness of last week. (I am happy to say I was NOT one of those who obsessed over the events described. But I do agree with what he says about it.)

For further insight into the nature of television, here is another interesting Green video.

DFTBA!