A Halloween Tale

In the fall of 1993, I was looking forward to an annual fraternity Halloween party. Never a big one for costumes, this year I decided to really go for it. The year before I'd learned that college folk - the Greeks in particular - take the holiday pretty seriously. (In fact, they dress up for everything. Exchanges, formals, Rush, etc.)

So I brainstormed for a costume. And I must have been looking at a magazine or watching television, when an idea came to me. I was going to dress up as this:







I had the elemental pieces for the costume: Calvin Klein jeans, Calvin Klein underwear, and a hat. I even had Calvin Klein colognes, I think - Eternity and Obsession probably. The one thing I did not have: the, um, abs. But because I was planning ahead, I figured I could get that last piece of the costume. I went out and bought, wait for it, Tammy Lynn Webb's Abs of Steel.


I bought the tape in early September, and I honestly did the abdominal workouts at least five times a week, every week, through Halloween. But a week before Halloween, not surprisingly, I did not feel comfortable enough with my progress to actually go through with my costume. I basically chickened out. Instead, I created some Robin the Boy Wonder costume. Which was ultimately more work than the Abs of Steel workouts.


Flash forward to Halloween 2008. Yesterday I found a "work around" for the abdominal problem. And I am finally going to be able to execute my Marky Mark costume. I still have the CK underwear from 1993 (they're not that comfortable and don't get worn very often, i.e. never). However, I didn't not have any Calvin Klein jeans or fragrances. A quick visit to the mall took care of both of those items. (Though I doubt the jeans are necessary. Calvin Klein jeans, that is - I will be wearing pants, of course.) And now, for the first time, in a very long time, I'm excited about a Halloween costume. Even if it is culturally out of date.


Anyway, say "Hi" to your mother. And Happy Halloween.


Today's Song: Good Vibration, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch

Because I Voted.

Some Hot Topics:

I read this super encouraging article today. I hope that guy is just pandering to his base and completely wrong. I want him to be in tears on November 5. No offense.

I voted in Bountiful last night. The line was fairly long at 7:30pm. But it moved pretty quickly. Although voting was private, and no one electioneered in the line, I can report that McCain got a few votes. And Palin probably more. I'm probably guessing here, but that is definitely the vibe I got there in Davis county. Mind you, the crowd was well middle-aged to borderline senior citizen. None of the youth vote was representing, well except for Stella. So I'm hoping the youth are going to get out next Tuesday.

Also, shocker!, I did not see any minorities. Except for a kid I went to law school with. He'd qualify as a minority. But other than that, the crowd was White Bread.

Do we really, really need all the preelection polling and media projections of a winner? Don't they do more harm than good? I can't help but wonder.

Today's Song: Close the Shutters, Snow Patrol

From Today's Salt Lake Tribune

Pantsless woman really a fashion victim

A woman was yanked from a TRAX train Monday morning after fellow riders reported that she was not wearing any pants. Utah Transit Authority officers asked the woman to get off the train at about 7:30 a.m. at the 5400 South station in Murray. After they spoke with the woman, they realized she was wearing a micro miniskirt. Her jacket covered the skirt, leading fellow riders to believe she was not wearing anything beneath her waist, said UTA spokeswoman Carrie Bohnsack-Ware. After officers interviewed the woman, they let her get back on the train and continue her ride.

Today's Song: Trouble, Ray Lamontagne

Bethesda Terrace, Central Park

Todays Song: Melissa, Allman Brothers.

Phrases this guy has used:

Indepently wealthy.

Middle class.

Sheesh.

I go to the gym.

Aiming above her income.

Todays Song: Days Go By, Dirty Vegas

Such a tourist.

Brooklyn Bridge at sunset is very romantic. So my guidebook says.

Todays Song: Sunday in New York, Bobby Daren

(Listening to Song #41 by Dave Mathews right now)

Thursday Five

1. I'm in a New York state of mind. I bought a plane ticket for this weekend and reserved a room. I have until midnight tonight to cancel both. I should cancel: I don't really need or even deserve another trip to NYC this year. And even when you have a cheap flight and well-priced room, NYC is quite expensive. But . . . I know how to take the LIRR from JFK to midtown and back and that saves over $100 in taxi/car fare right there.

2. I can't believe it took me so long to join Facebook. I think it's great, way better than what I saw with MySpace.

3. I read these articles, and when they say at the end that the expensive designer clothes "will be donated to charity," I always imagine them going to Deseret Industries in big, random box. It takes me a few minutes to realize that the clothes will likely be auctioned for charity or resold (at high prices rather than D.I. prices) with the proceeds being donated to charity. (Side note: what a well-dresed reformer.)

4. I don't think I am ever going to be an adventurous eater/diner. I'm too comfortable with the familiar. I've tried loads of new restaurants in the last few weeks and haven't been all that pleased.

5. See picture below this post.

Today's Song: Wanting and Regret, Jason Anderson

Kids, Talk To Your Parents:

Isn't it about time?



Today's Song: I'm Not Growing Old, The Origin

Todays song: Love Lockdown, Kanye

Confession Friday

Alright, I don't have alot of irrational fears or superstitions, but there is one I will confess to. Though I'm not sure it's a fear so much as a compulsive concern.

Long, long ago way back when George Clooney was on ER and NBC had its Friends, Seinfeld, ER Thursday night line-up, I watched ER. And one season finale scene just absolutely stuck with me. This one:



The one where Dr. Green gets attacked in the men's room. Remember that? Some hooded guy just springs on him from behind and beats him up. Well, that scene has haunted me ever since. I flash to it all to often when I'm in a mens room and think about how I would/will respond in a similar situation. Similarly, I have the same feeling/thoughts when I'm at a drinking fountain. I imagine some seedy character coming up and slamming my head into the fountain.

Maybe now it will haunt you.

Glib Matt Lauer

Did you see this?

Matt Lauer really screws up in his interview with Robert Kennedy, Jr.

Today's Song: So What, Pink

Hello, Internet Friends

A quick five:

1. I'm going to get my identity stolen. Sunday I cleaned house. Papers anyway. I finally threw out bank statements, receipts, financial information, and University mailings (report cards, statements, class schedules, etc.) dating back to at least 1994. I was so sick of having the weight of all that paper on my shoulders, I just threw it all out. Into a dumpster. I tried to be as careful as I could. That is to say that I took all of the crap from the U of U and inspected it for SSN and was sure to shred those papers. No small feat because that damn school insisted on putting the "social" on every single piece of paper they could. But I'm sure I missed one or two or a dozen. And now, I'm going to have someone living my dream with my name and my credit. Good luck to them. Maybe I'll get tapped for one of those "Free Credit Report" commercials. Aren't those a gas?

2. The three best things about Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, for me, were: (a) Nick has a Cure song for a ring tone, too! (Man, I felt hip when I heard his phone go off; my tone is In Between Days, in case you wondered); (b) Caroline (I want to see a movie about her night); and (c) when All the Wine by The National played.

3. It'd be nice to go to California this weekend. I regret not going last weekend. If only to use the third day on my Park Hopper pass at Disneyland. And attempt again to get a Flip! video of Soarin Over California.

4. I'm having October '04 flashbacks, politically speaking. Too many people saying, "I'm not happy with either choice. We don't have a good candidate on either side." I hope this election fares better than the last.

5. Last week, my car died in Moab. I had to change my own car battery. It was no small feat considering I had to walk to an auto part store, borrow tools, beg for a ride to my car, request a ride back to the auto part store because the battery they gave me was the wrong size, and then beg for a ride back to my car. Harrowing, is the word I use to describe that experience. Which means that I truly have never been tested.

Today's Song: Acid Tongue, Jenny Lewis

"All of 'em"

And then this.

Today's Song: Crush, David Archuleta