Alone on Halloween

Any holiday bites to spend alone, and Halloween is my favorite holiday. (Let's rephrase...) If it sucks to be alone on a holiday, and it is your favorite of holidays, then regardless of having celebrated it the weekend prior, it still makes for a crappy holiday. Tim is away on business (that sounds funny...) and won't be back till the end of the week, making me a lonely Little Red Riding Hood! I guess it will be a night of eating candy and watching Monster House all by myself. Woe is me. (Tim, if you're reading this, don't expect me to save you any tootsie rolls. That is your penance.)

Little Red and Lily Potter

(Click on the picture for a closer view of this picture of me and Christie)

Hey There Little Red Riding Hood....

(I'm the damsel... Tim is the Wolf... This was taken this weekend at the Tudor's Party.)

Butterfly Pumpkins

Butterflies
Originally uploaded by peachicken.

I've finally posted our pictures from our trip to The Great Pumpkin Blaze! Check them out here. So what is this Great Blaze, anyways? Well, it is an event at the Van Cortlandt Manor that lasts like 3 weekends, that is hard as the dickens to get tickets to, and involves over 3,000 carved pumpkins. It's freakin' amazing. I don't think I've ever seen that many pumpkins in one place in my entire life. I remember reading about The Great Pumpkin Blaze forever ago in a magazine and now I've finally gotten to go. Hot dog. I would totally recommend seeing this if you're in the area. Amazing. Really. However, it is a bit frightening. There was this field of clown pumpkins that I've been having nightmares about ever since. Avoid that pumpkin patch.

My Own Photo Friday...

We're off to see Jeremy and Christie Tudor (these pumpkin heads!) for the annual Halloween Party!!! Christie is hosting this year and it should be a great one. She has all sorts of surprises up her sleeves. I'm all nostalgic, though... I miss all my Johnson City buds and wish they could come crash this year's bash. But I am SO excited to be helping with another Halloween party. It's like I live from Halloween to Halloween!

Wordless Wednesday - "Kitty Safari"

(Here's my "fluffy" Juno in her Halloween costume...)

A Classic...

Both my momma and my sister were coloring books. Me? I'm a classic. Ah yeah, baby. I guess that's why I'm a librarian?!?

"You scored as A classic novel. Almost everyone showers praise upon you for your depth and enduring relevance. According to your acolytes, everything you say is timeless, erudite and meaingful. Of course, none of them actually listen to you. Nobody listens to you at all, but it's fashionable to claim you as a friend. Fond of obscure words, antiquated notions and libraries, you never have a problem finding someone to hang out with. The fact that they end up using you to balance their kitchen tables is an unfortunate side effect, but you're used to being used for others' benefit. Oh the burden of being Great."

Your Literary Personality

Classic Novel - 75%
Poetry - 68%
Coloring Book - 64%
Paperback Romance Novel - 64%
Back of a Fruit Loops box - 64%
College Textbook - 60%
Electronics User's Manual - 43%

Who's Your Daddy?!?

You know you've totally made it when the kids at your storytime ask for you to "Read it again!" (And not just for one of my books, they wanted all three books read to them twice. Ahh yeah.) That made me feel like the sensei of storytime. The picture to the left there is one of the books I read to the kids. It's the new Maurice Sendak pop-up book called Mommy.

Photo Friday - "Innocence"

This is my Timmy (at five years old?) with his little dog,
Snuggles. Just look at those brown eyes...

More Than You Know #9

snicker snicker...

Turkeys.

I want this mug. I'd take it to work and become a coffee drinker.

Wordless Wednesday - Ninja Pan

Karate Chopping His Way To A Better World...

I Wish I Was The Moon Tonight

I love the musician Neko Case. This is one of her songs that has kinda stuck with me all day long. It's melancholy and absolutely perfect for a rotten rainy day like today. It's called "Wish I Was The Moon" off of the album Blacklisted. Good stuff.

Chimney falls and lovers blaze
Thought that I was young
Now I've freezing hands
And bloodless veins
As numb as I've become
I'm so tired
I wish I was the moon tonight

Last night I dreamt I'd forgotten my name
'Cause I sold my soul
But I woke just the same
I'm so lonely
I wish I was the moon tonight

God blessed me I'm a free man
With no place free to go
Paralyzed and collared-tight
No pills for what I fear
This is crazy
I wish I was the moon tonight

Chimney falls as lovers blaze
I thought that I was young
Now I've freezing hands
And bloodless veins
As numb as I've become
I'm so tired
I wish I was the moon tonight

How will you know if you've found me at last?
'Cause I'll be the one be the one be the one
With my heart in my lap
I'm so tired
I'm so tired
And I wish I was the moon tonight

Suzy Shoes

Suzy w shoes
Originally uploaded by Momma B.

Look at these tiny little things. I have always loved itty bitty things, but lately, it seems like I can't walk by baby stuff without pausing to look. I am SO excited about my big sis having a baby. Everything will change, I know, but for the better. Christmases and all the other holidays will be so much brighter now that a baby will be in our family. And I won't have to focus Halloween dress-up fun solely on my cats. (I know they are thrilled about that...) I can't wait to see this little bitty thing that my sister is making! (FYI - I'll have pictures soon of the cats in their outfits. Oh yes. As creepy as it is, it is also immensely funny.)

Photo Friday - "Destruction"

Wordless Wednesday - Peanuts

Librarian Perks

There are definitely perks to being a librarian. One of these perks is being fed by patrons who like you. Sometimes I get fresh garden treats from a really sweet older gentleman I help with computers. We've gotten loads of Italian cookies (it's a big Italian community). Yum! And today I was given Ramadan sweets. (Yes, for real!) They were pretty good, too! There is a really sweet Diplomat family that visits the library a lot, and the mom was so generous to give us a taste of her culture. Sometimes being in NY can be very cool. So I've had honey cakes, dates, things made in rose water, and other fried honeyed things. Oh, I am now SO cultured...

Monday Movie - Curious George

I just saw a super cute flick - Curious George. I know it didn't do amazingly well at the box office, but this is a movie that is definitely worth your time. First of all, Jack Johnson wrote all the music to it and it is just great. (I foresee a soundtrack purchase in my future...) Will Ferrell and Drew Barrymore were voices in the movie, as well as David Cross from Arrested Development (LOVE that show) and Dick Van Dyke. The writing was very good, even though SO many liberties were taken from the book, (I bet H.A. Rey is spinning in his grave!) and Will Farrell was so funny, as usual. He really was laugh-out-loud funny!

By far, the best part of this flick is the animation! I loved the soft edges and the colors used. On so many different occasions, I just wanted to reach through the screen and hug George. (He seriously reminds me a cute little curious fella, named Luke, who lives in NC. Aunt Suzy's coming for a visit soon!) Curious George is a movie I will own, for sure.

On another note, have you noticed how hard it is to find a really GOOD kids movie lately? They are all so cheesy! I saw Hoot (BARF - didn't even finish it), The Wild (not something to write home about, and some others, and it is sad that there is such a market but lack of quality. Disney hasn't come up with anything either, so they are just re-releasing their former glories (Little Mermaid & Fox and the Hound). It is so nice to know that there are a couple of good ones being released, though - see Curious George!

Jar of Misfortune

Sorry I've been post-less for a while... I've been pre-occupied with getting ideas for the Snicket Party at the library. So far, one of my fave ideas is the "Jar of Misfortune." I'm painting this huge plastic jar black and embellishing it. And inside will be all these crazy pieces of paper with rotten fortunes (kind of like a fortune cookie with no cookie and a really awful fortune). I've been working really hard on compiling some great misfortunes. Here are a few of my favorites:

At the rate you give people headaches, you should buy stock in Excedrin.

You have a big future in food service.

Have that lump on your foot checked real soon.

Your long time skin problems will be corrected by an ordinary cheese grater.

Do not read this fortune under penalty of law.

Enjoy your cellular phone while you can, it has given you a brain tumor.

Don't let your lack of looks, power, money or intelligence get you down.

Your life will be long and happy - - no, wait. Sorry... Do you know a Kendrick Applebaum?

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

You will receive a deep paper cut, making you forever fear poetry.

That wasn't chicken.

You will run out of toilet paper at an inopportune time.

It's as bad as you think and they are out to get you.

Your life will inspire a Country & Western song.

You will say something stupid in a few minutes, so it's best that you remain silent.

Help, I'm trapped in a fortune cookie factory in Hoboken, NJ!

Photo Friday - "Thin" (heehee)

She's not fat... she's fluffy. This is my Juno, sunbathing. She has LOTS of lovin' to share.

Wordless Wednesday - Rodin

"The Hollow (Wo)Men"

This is a most excellent representation of how I feel right now. (If you really look at this picture and what it represents, you'll catch a glimpse of understanding of my current melancholy.)

I suspect most everyone feels this way at one time or another; feelings of standing out and being alone, feelings of being surrounded by different versions of the same hollow person, wishing to shed your colors for a uniform whiteness. (This statement in itself is a mystery to me... it seems somewhat cyclical...) But today, and for the past four months, I've been the one desperately trying to blend in. And when I really think about it, I know it's foolish of me. I know that we grow up being told to swim against the flow, but noone ever tells you about the loneliness involved in that kind of swimming.

Celeb Look-Alikes

A Lemony Library Party...

I am a HUGE lemony Snicket fan and I'm also a librarian, so naturally, I will be throwing a Lemony Snicket party at the library to celebrate the thirteenth and final Unfortunate book. (The thirteenth book comes out on Friday, October 13th. Classy.) So I've been doing some research on the three Baudelaires for ideas for my party (suggestions welcome...). One thing Klaus Baudelaire is heavily in to is books, so here is a working list of libraries visited in the first twelve books (Yeah, I know I am OCD).

• Bad Beginning - Justice Strauss's legal library
• Reptile Room - Uncle Monty's "snake" book collection
• Wide Window - Aunt Josephine's grammar library
• Miserable Mill - the "understocked employee library"
• Austere Academy - aquarium-themed school library
• Ersatz Elevator - library of all that's been "in" and "out"
• Vile Village - Hector's secret library of broken rules
• Hostile Hospital - Library of Records
• Carnivorous Carnival - Madame Lulu's fraudulent archive
• Slippery Slope - ruins of the V.F.D. library
• Grim Grotto - Fiona's library about fungi
• Penultimate Peril - Dewey Denouement's sub-sub library (snicker)

More lemony ideas later...

Becky's Bump

Originally uploaded by becky b..

Look At My Beautiful Sis! Doesn't she positively glow?!? With all the celebs on front covers of magazines posing preg, I MUCH prefer to see this natural beauty strike a pose in a glorious fall scene. This is my new favorite picture! (But I also can't wait to meet who she's growing inside...)