happy halloween!

my first halloween home in like 9 years! it's our family's favorite holiday and my sister hosts a big ass pumpkin carving party every year. in addition to my gorey red velvet cemetery cake, this year R decided that we would have meatball sammiches. after shopping and cooking and preparing the entire nite before, we were prepped for the big day. guests started arriving early in the afternoon:



mall cop joe rocked his outfit:


chicken burn:


food time:


carving time:









let's light 'em up!



the porch during the day:


and at nite:




a costume parade of trick or treaters:

short trip home

got to stop for a short visit home before heading to the islands where i got to spend a little time making new friends, like baby Rey:


and playing pirate with old friends like willy mac:


dinner with the girls:


lunch at ulysses with the older sibling. R's greek chicken and cheese pie was yum . . .


the flaming cheese:


gyro salad:


fun in the pumpkin patch:





checking out plates at the crate and barrel:


lunch at the worst coochie, er, the wurstkuche, in LA with the b-i-l:


this place had all kinds of weird ass sausages like alligator + pork + veal:



C prepares to savor his first bite:


trying to figure out how to put into words what the rattlesnake + rabbit + pork sausage tastes like.

Home for Family Dinners

Mexican at Lucy's (apparently Slash of Guns n' Roses was at the next table but dad insisted it was Howard Stern):










Korean BBQ (mmmmmm . . . . meat):






crepes in LBC with both sets of parental units:






looks like dad made a new friend.

Random Thoughts as Autumn Breaks

A friend told me that my eyes had become double lidded which was new to me as my eyes have never had the epicanthic fold. a good look in the mirror (something i never do) revealed that indeed, i do now have the fold. happy news were i one to wear eye shadow (i don't) until upon further study of my face, i realize it's just gravity bringing down extra skin. so much for the gifts that come with age.

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the one trait that makes me absolutely mental is passive-aggressiveness, and Tokyo has got to be one of the most P-A countries on the planet. my student tells me that it is "very bad to fight with words," which is why the disgusted glare, AKA the stink eye, is so persistently popular here. i just don't understand how that is a superior alternative to simply saying what's on your mind. i am a true believer that you can say anything to anyone if you say it in the right way. it's called semantics, the art of language. Learn it dudes.

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Conspiracy of the moment: swine flu, AKA pandemic H1N1/09. starts in mexico, which is close enough to get americans riled up but far enough away so we know its not our fault? gee, that's not convenient or anything. and look at the pharmaceutical companies who stand to benefit. it doesn't take a genius. it's like they didn't even bother to cover it up.

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alexander skarsgard: hottest thing on planet earth; knocks ed norton off the top of my list which no one has done is several years; better known as the blood sucking viking vampire eric northman from true blood, lesser known as sergeant brad colbert from generation kill (in which he gets to shoot big ass guns and wear kevlar -- bonus!); son of stellan skarsgard; fluent in swedish; killer smile

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worst movie recently seen: Year One.

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out with the old, in with the new: i gots to get around to changing these photos on my wall. i don't even talk to half of these people any more.

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the sickness: it sux to get sick ay time of the year but when you get sick now, everyone assumes it's the swine flu (see entry above). no fever, just a butt load of congestion and a raw throat accompanied by an overall physical heaviness that feels like doom. i'm on the theraflu like a mofo and have consumed nothing but mexican black bean soup for the past 2 days. it's looking up.

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recent conversation with an old friend has lead me to believe that relationships (be they with friends, boy/girlfriends, family, whatever), tend to fall apart, usually because both parties don't give a rats ass about what's going on in the other's lives. i know everyone has their own shit to deal with and i can't really blame them for not keeping in contact when i don't either. with some people, i just wonder, how many times can we have the same goddamn conversation over and over again? it's difficult to stay on an even keel. i suppose it doesn't help that my patience gets shorter as my life does.

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water: as close to a panacea that has ever or will ever exist. drink more. you know you need it.