I made a pie that was full of fail. (How did I screw up a pie made from a mix? Seriously, there were three steps: 1) mix pie mix with cream cheese; 2) fold Cool Whip into mix; 3) chill. Somehow I managed to screw that up.) I'm also making a Tofurky, Ina Garten's brussels sprouts, slow cooker apple-cranberry crumble, and mulled apple-maple wine. Hopefully I won't screw any of that up.

We're watching the parade, and so far my favorites are Alan Cumming and the jump-rope people. I miss Neil Patrick Harris.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.

In honor of Thanksgiving, the greatest rickroll ever:

Kickass.

This seems like your basic harmless 40 Bad Holiday Gifts listicle, but check out the 15 pages of pro-Poo Pourri comments.

We just watched The Mist, and wow. What ... a ... horribly ... depressing ... ending. I mean, OMG. Really? Really?

I respect it, in a way, but this is one of the few movies where I really wanted Hollywood to swoop in and make everything better.

I just ... erk ... AUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGH.

*bangheadbangheadbangheadbangheadbanghead*

*thud*

I about died laughing at this. And I totally want to play Vampire Lightning Baseball.

I went out the other day to get coffee and saw an enormous red-tailed hawk stalking a squirrel.







In conclusion, don't mess with her. She'll eat your head.

Our friendly neighborhood white sqwirl. He'll eat your nuts ... and your brains!

I took the day off to run some errands and get ready for the Vermont trip. It feels *so* *good* to wear jeans and run around town and have a panini and beer at Gulu-Gulu on a weekday. Please, economy, pick up so I can find a job in town soon.

I can't believe it's been five years (twelve if you count the dating-versary). He's still awesome, and I'm a lucky, lucky girl.

Huzzah!

Halloween was insane. I spent most of the day trying to construct and paint the house; it turns out that 35 helium balloons won't lift a 3-pound house after all (although the SO calculated it out and it should have). So the SO grabbed a mop handle and duct-taped it to the bottom, which mostly seemed to work, except it flopped around a lot.

I wasn't sure what kind of reaction we'd get (most people we talked to had never seen Up; some people hadn't even heard of it), and I thought we were doomed for sure when we passed a parking lot on the way into town and someone yelled "What are you?"

But then. THEN!

On the way to the Common, three people asked us if they could take pictures. When we got there, some dude in a bunny suit came up and said, "Can I shake your hand?" and I said "Sure," and he said, "That's the best costume I've ever seen." (Later, a completely different dude in a bunny suit also asked to shake my hand. Very strange.)

Then someone yelled "It's that movie!" and someone else yelled "Up!" and suddenly we were surrounded by people with cameras, all yelling "Up! Up!"

Which was pretty much what happened the rest of the night. We kept having to stop and pose. Mostly people yelled the following:

1. Up! Up!
2. It's that movie!
3. Awwwwwwww.
4. Are you selling balloons?
5. Are you Balloon Boy?
6. Are you the housing bubble?
7. I don't get it.

My favorite was the guy who yelled, "OH PLEEEEASE BE MY PRISONER! OH PLEASE OH PLEASE OH PLEASE!" And every single little kid totally got it, which made me extremely happy.

Here's the SO as Russell with the house:



Is he hot or what?

Here's the house after we got home, with about half its balloons missing:



Poor house.

(that's Bram Stoker's Dracula in the background...terrible, terrible movie)

More pics (of other people's costumes) later.

So I don't miss anyone (again): I'll be at the Black Heart Procession show tonight at the Paradise. That is all.

I LIKED Gordana's blazer. So there.

Man, I just want tonight's tour to be over and tomorrow's workday to be over and then HALLOWEEN HALLOWEEN HALLOWEEN.

TOM CRUISE HOMOPHOBIC ICE CREAM FANFIC. OH YES.

I'm thinking about going as Carl Fredericksen from Up for Halloween. So:

Poll #1474850 decide!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 13

Would 50 helium-filled balloons be able to pull up a house made out of a cardboard box ?

Patrick Bateman was based on Tom Cruise? Somehow, not surprising.

(I still miss getting emails from "Patrick Bateman" -- I signed up for them on the official site or something, and I swear, they came out once a week on Fridays for at least a year. I should have saved them.)

Maybe the best interview ever. I'm stealing this:

Courage Under Fire (1996)—“Bruno”

BP: That was a low point, because Denzel Washington was behind the incredibly cowardly bullshit of “This is my character, not me.” He was really abusive to me and everybody on that movie, and his official explanation was that his character didn’t like me, but it was a dreadful experience. I spent my salary on time with my shrink just for helping me get through it, and what that led to was the very next big movie that I did. I should have said to the producers, “You get that guy in line, or I’m out of here.” Life’s too short. But the next movie I did, the director was getting a lot of crap from his star, and he started to take it out on me one day, and just like a German shepherd—you know when a German shepherd stands up on its hind legs and puts its paws on your shoulders?

I put my hands on his shoulders and I very gently but firmly said, “I don’t do abuse, and if you say one more word of abuse to me, I’m on a plane, and you don’t have enough money to keep me here.” And that was the end of it, and I’ve never taken abuse again. And I wasn’t vile or anything, it just ripped out of me. Denzel Washington cured me forever of thinking that there is any amount of money or anything that could ever, ever make it okay to be abused. The script supervisor on that movie said it’s like watching somebody kick a puppy. He was so vile. And after that, I just would never endure it again.

I started reading Sarah Langan's Audrey's Door this morning, and omg it's so good -- sharp writing, interesting characters, creepy premise. I really, really want to know how she got away with writing horror in an MFA program, and very happy she didn't sell out.

We thought long and hard about monkey butt, but decided on Vermont. It's close and relatively cheap, and we can stay at a slightly swankier B&B because it's close and relatively cheap.

We're planning on going to the American Precision Museum ("precision manufacturing touches us all"), Johnson Woolen Mills and Vermont Flannel for early Christmas shopping. Also a lot of naked rolling around in bed.

Next question! Fifth anniversary = wood. So:

Poll #1471685 important anniversary present decision time
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 8

What should I get the SO for our anniversary?

Other suggestions welcome. Link me to some cool wood stuff!