Halloween Happenings!

Each Halloween, I try to recapture that childhood feeling of excitement for this holiday.  I strive to straddle the line of cuteness and originality, as I did here, at the tender age of five.  That's hard to do when you can't quite fit into those "Thrifty's" plastic costumes.

PS, I think that kid next to me is actually carrying a prop bomb.  Try bringing THAT to the annual school parade nowadays!

Getting into the "Fall" mood is hard to do when you live where fall weather is an everyday occurrence!  To "enhance" the Fall experience, I bought some colorful veggies.  I even roasted them.  AND SURVIVED TO TELL THE TALE…the tale being that they were delicious!

 One day, I even went all Martha Stewart on my own ass and made skeleton cookies. YES, I DID.

Note to self:  Next time you bake, don't wear an iPod.  You may miss the sound of a full bottle of soy sauce tipping in the refrigerator, and won't notice anything until you happen to turn and see brown liquid seeping from the bottom of the fridge.  All over the floor.  And then be forced to sponge up soy sauce as your royal icing is slowly hardening on the counter.

But I digress…so I bought the annual pumpkins to carve for my annual carving party, only to have raccoons attempt to beat me to the punch.  I tried several methods to keep them away:

The "Thing" approach:

The "Creepy Doll" approach:

Neither really worked, but eventually they gave up and left…only to make room for an invasion by SLUGS...

 As the Halloween day approached, Creepy decided it was time to invite its kin to hang out:

 and then the carving began:

The pumpkin carving party was going quite well, until I noticed a bit of bullying going on in one corner.  Had to put a stop to that nonsense.

Eventually all pumpkins were carved and accounted for - from Hello Kitty to Toy Story Alien to Screaming Cat to Groucho to Jack Skellington - with a few bats and owls thrown in:

 Of course, what is Halloween without costumes?  Here we have the "Who Wore it Better?" contest:

Creepy as Cowpoke:

 DP as Cowpoke:

 or Killer Diller as Cowpoke:

Personally, I vote for Killer Diller, because she has the whole "screw this noise" look down pat.  She OWNS that hat.

 Halloween night and the pumpkins finally enjoy their hour of glory!

As did the Creepy dolls…I wonder if they were scaring away the kids?  We only got like 20 kids this year.  I say no, it was not the dolls. Couldn't be.

But all good things must come to an end - and so must the pumpkins. Left to rot.  Organically. 

Funny, the raccoons don't seem interested in them now.

DP's "What I did this Summer" report

Hello all!  Yes, I know it's been awhile since a fresh blog has graced this page.  It was a busy summer for DP though, and the ensuing report shall tell the tale:

DP is basically a good passenger, as long as he has his electronics at hand to distract him. That Mario Brothers theme is very annoying after 10 minutes, by the way.

This year, DP decided to keep it local.  One foggy morning, we headed out to the Sutro Baths and hiking trails.  Here he is all bundled up against the elements in the early hours (about 11am):

The trails were nice enough, but DP seemed eager to get to the top so he could finally get his photo taken with the Golden Gate Bridge.

He was not happy once we arrived at the top:

The sullen attitude remained as we descended the hills back towards the site of the old bathhouses. DP apparently remembered the Sutro Baths, and claims to have swam with Johnny Weissmuller here in the early 30's.  OK.

 But he settled down and decided he wasn't above taking a touristy shot with the lookout lion:

Here's a nice shot of the cypress trees on the hiking trail.  While I was thinking of "All Quiet on the Western Front" and "The Big Parade", others were thinking this scene reminded them of that overrated film "Vertigo".  Whatever!!

DP was very excited to start his next adventure, the Alcatraz night tour!  Tickets had to be bought about a month in advance, which gave him time to ask a friend to knit him a black hat.  He's all about the "total" immersion experience.

While awaiting our ferry boat, we had time to check out the world famous sea lions at Pier 39.  Oh dear, yet another disappointment for DP:

 After a lovely ferry ride to "the rock", avoiding those Oracle Yacht Racing boats, we arrived.

DP claims to remember the good old days, playing bridge with the Warden's wife and the schoolteachers and hearing those annoying alarms interrupt their game and signaling someones escape attempt. He said he was up $510 and never got the money.  Whatever.

DP was wandering everywhere...he said this was the cell where Capone taught him how to claim GoodWill donations for a tax deduction:

DP claimed something happened on this stairway involving a shiv, a bad joke about sodas and their inferiority and The Birdman.  Whoever that is.

 Then....DRAMA.  Oh boy:

I managed to get in a few artistic looking shots while DP was sneaking around the cells, looking for old shivs and blankets to take:

 DP immersed in memories of his old friends, and the times they had:

 Later on in the summer, DP mentioned he'd like to go south...so we headed for San Simeon.  The scenery along the drive was...well...

DP eventually insisted we get out of the car and take a breather by Los Padres Forest.

Finally!  Some 4 and odd hours later, DP managed to arrive at Hearst Castle without having spilled his contents all over the backseat of the car.  Highway One is beautiful, but damn curvy.

DP was unaware that there was a bus to take us to the top of the hill.  He claimed in HIS day, WR came to meet HIM at the bottom of the hill.  Oh really?

 The tour guides were S.T.R.I.C.T and there was a "no sodas" code being enforced.  I wish there was a  "no screaming children" code.  Or a "no tacky tourists lounging by the pool" code.  But I digress...DP spent most of this trip hiding in my bag.  SAD.  He did manage to pop up now and then, when the coast was clear.  Which wasn't often.

DP was shocked and outraged that while there was a "no soda cans" policy, there appeared to be no such policy against tourists hanging around the pool.  Ruining every photo opportunity.  This made him sad, as he claims to remember better times, when WR and Marion invited him to the hill to play tennis with Chaplin as his partner and Swanson and Valentino playing opposite.  Right.

DP said this was the exact spot where Swanson tried to pop his top.  We didn't ask for details.

The gardens there were lovely, and I managed to get an unexpected shot of a hummingbird.  DP was unimpressed, saying that back in the days he used to hang here, the hummingbirds were much prettier.  Whatever.

I swear I saw the room below in a recent Pottery Barn Catalog.  DP claims that this was the room he watched Chaplin and Keaton argue the merits of Almond Joys over Baby Ruths.   And then Babe Ruth showed up and everyone shut up.

We hung out in Carmel after that, playing tourist with the shops and our money.  DP managed to find a tall dark stranger there, and what transpired after this, I don't know.  I don't want to know.

Memories of Carmel.  DP insisted this shot would be funny.  I'm not inclined to agree.  He looks ridiculous.

The local flavor of Monterey was taken in on the way home.  DP is a little pissed here because I ordered a DP to drink and he doesn't appreciate taking photos next to the sacrificial DP's:

The summer trips ended with a long ride home.  From the car window I took this final shot!  DP was not impressed, saying that in his day...the sun was bigger and the hills were too.  WHATEVER.

Easter - Yes, Easter! I know it's late!

It's been a challenge for me to feel up to writing lately...but who am I to deny the Internets all these photos and cynical comments, I ask you? So here I am trying to catch up now.  I'll start with Easter:

Not all of the eggs were willing participants in the annual high dive "deviled eggs" swimming event:

But all eventually succumbed to the pressure:

Again I attempted to take some "arty" photos of Easter looking things, only to have to suffer with photo-bombing cats galore (neither of these cats are mine, either!):

But I did manage to take a rather dignified portrait of a chocolate bunny, so I was satisfied in the end.  Very satisfied.  From bunny ears to tail I was. Yum.

Then the trek to the family gathering in cowtown - where the kids were, of course, thrilled to see me and my camera:

  Or could it have been the baskets they saw being unloaded?  Hmm, I wonder...

It was this "basket of goodies awaiting me" awareness that allowed me the privilege of commanding them to hold still for an Easter portrait:

This privilege did not last long:

Due to incoming thunderstorms, the Easter Egg hunt was cancelled (oh darn).  Children were forced to take hasty shelter from the rain.  I should have unlocked the back door for them, I admit it.  But really, there was plenty of room for them under that table.

 Meanwhile, inside, the "cool cats" hung out.

 How this family rolls with Easter foods...I give you...Peep a Yam:

This next image is a sad reminder that it is time for me to hire professional photographers to come along to these family events so I can get a passable photograph of me at these parties:

 I leave you with a cute portrait of some blondes hanging by the pool: