Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Poem for Wednesday


From "Mountain Time"
By Kathryn Stripling Byer


Up here in the mountains
we know what extinct means. We've seen
how our breath on a bitter night
fades like a ghost from the window glass.
We know the wolf's gone.
The panther. We've heard the old stories
run down, stutter out
into silence. Who knows where we're heading?
All roads seem to lead
to Millennium, dark roads with drop-offs
we can't plumb. It's time to be brought up short
now with the tale-tellers' Listen: There once lived
a woman named Delphia
who walked through these hills teaching children
to read. She was known as a quilter
whose hand never wearied, a mother
who raised up two daughters to pass on
her words like a strong chain of stitches.
Imagine her sitting among us,
her quick thimble moving along these lines
as if to hear every word striking true
as the stab of her needle through calico.
While prophets discourse about endings,
don't you think she'd tell us the world as we know it
keeps calling us back to beginnings?
This labor to make our words matter
is what any good quilter teaches.
A stitch in time, let's say.
A blind stitch
that clings to the edges
of what's left, the ripped
scraps and remnants, whatever
won't stop taking shape even though the whole
crazy quilt's falling to pieces.

--------


I have attended what is very likely my last elementary school Halloween parade, at least until I have grandchildren, and as I expected, I am rather melancholy about this even though I ended up with a bit of a headache from trying to supervise the distribution of cupcakes and drinks to the kids in younger son's class after another mother had the brilliant idea of them decorating pillowcases to use as trick-or-treat bags...with permanent, slow-drying glitter paint. Which got all over everyone's clothes and costumes in its charming unwashable state, and was still wet when the kids had to gather their carefully decorated pillowcases to take home on the bus or walking. I am not sure who ended up with a bigger mess: the ones who folded their pillowcases, thus ruining the designs they had worked on so carefully, or the ones who tried to carry them in such a way that the paint would not rub on the other side of the case, thus leaving it open to rub on their hands, faces, clothes, etc. the whole way home. I was feeling badly because I had to borrow Bingo from my mother, being unable to find our set, but as it turns out there was no time to play anyway, and I think silent reading might have been less frustrating in the end than the pillowcases were!

Son didn't care, since his pillowcase didn't have an elaborate design in the first place (it said "I like penguins" which is now unreadable and had something sort of resembling a penguin on it, though not in authentic penguin colors), and he was happy enough with the cupcake and pencils and prospect of trick-or-treating even though he had to suffer through Hebrew school first. It seems to me like it got dark earlier this year than before, because usually we get our first trick or treaters around six, but we had them coming at 5:20 before I even had the candy in a bucket and had only just dug out the tea lights to put in the jack-o-lanterns. Nonetheless, we had a good steady crowd and gave away most of our five bags of candy and I took the kids around, where they got enormous bags of loot, then took them around another cul-de-sac and to my mother's where they got even more loot, and meanwhile I had harvest candles burning all over the house and on the front stoop so people could see and we had a quick dinner of chicken corn chowder and cheese and crackers and it was a perfectly enchanted Halloween.


Our three pumpkins -- little orange one designed by older son, medium white one designed by younger son, big one designed by . I was in charge of scooping and toasting seeds rather than decorations.


These big, puffy costumes were really in this year.


I mean, how often do you see a fifth grade girl as a sumo wrestler?


The teacher in this photo is Grumpy, as the fourth and fifth grade teachers dressed as the Seven Dwarfs and the Queen.


A cheerleader, a witch and a president. The latter came in for some booing. There were also lots of hippies and peaceniks, which made me very hopeful for the upcoming election (I can't even bear to talk about the insanity locally, where many of the machines will not carry the Democratic candidate for Senate's full name because they changed the font size so it won't fit, and where my sitting corrupt Republican governor runs ads with outright lies about his opponent every night during the news and sports...well, I was highly amused by this mayor, at least, as this seems a novel way to stop underage drinking).


In his classroom, my penguin adjusts his flippers.


Didn't have the tripod while trick or treating so this isn't a very good photo, but there was a ring around the moon!


Thank you, , and for my Halloween gifts and greetings! Once the trick or treaters trickled out, I folded laundry while we all watched Hercules' "Stranger in a Strange World", the episode that converted me to incontrovertible adoration of the series -- not only does it have evil!Xena, Gabrielle, Ares as the god of love and slashy jokes about how Herc and Ares are fighting over Iolaus, it has Mirror universe Hercules with a beard, Joxer as the leader of the rebel alliance, a madman trapped between universes, Iolaus yelling, "I am not a numeral! I am a free man!" and many other references to classic science fiction that make me howl. Must watch the two parts of "Armageddon Now" soon and hope it makes sense to my kids without having seen the Xena episodes that explain Callisto's background and Hope. Our late night TV of course was Boston Legal, even crackier than usual but then, it is Halloween.

The wonderful, totally rocking case of the week is Alan representing Jerry who has been arrested for perjury because he lied so he could sit on the jury of a capital case, thinking it unfair that only pro-death people get to try cases where the death penalty is sought. Jerry himself makes some terrific arguments about the insanity of the logic by which people up on capital charges are given a jury hand-picked as good bets to choose death, and Alan tries to get him off saying maybe he was lying to the magazine he told he was against the death penalty rather than to the court, but the judge says the attorney general was particularly eager to try this case in Massachusetts since the state does not have a death penalty and Jerry is going down. In court Alan asks for a definition of "death-qualified jury" and wonders why there is no "jail-qualified jury" or any other sort where potential jurors are interrogated about which forms of punishment they favor for criminals; he wonders whether a jury of people who have declared positive feelings toward the death penalty might be more likely to convict in the first place as they may have fewer problems with assuming guilt.

Jerry testifies that nearly all industrialized countries without dictatorships have outlawed capital punishment and explains that he lied because it's unfair to defendants to have only pro-death people on their juries -- it was an act of civil disobedience on his part. Though Alan is very pessimistic, the prosecuting attorney gives him an idea when he declares in his closing that Jerry defrauded the court and insulted the very system of justice of which the jury trying Jerry is now a part: "Do your duty and send Mr. Espenson to jail." Alan gets up, pointing out that they are specifically there to represent a cross-section of the community in a state which has no death penalty but that that majority is ignored in federal capital cases to put together a "death-qualified jury" -- so how is a defendant getting a jury of his peers? Insisting on death as an option puts the presumption of guilt in minds of jurors when the presumption of innocence is the essence of the American judicial system, adds Alan, who calls Jerry a fundamentally law-abiding man who saw an injustice and tried to do something about it: "If he's guilty of anything, it's of appealing to his sense of fairness. Now he's appealing to yours." The jury finds Jerry not guilty. And I want to lick maple syrup off Alan, even though his assistant Melissa has now become Jeffrey's assistant because she's tired of Alan's fucking in closets, having his sex therapist measure him for suits in the office and things like that. Plus Melissa says that she and Jeffrey "clicked." Ouch.

Speaking of Jeffrey, he is visited by his favorite peeping tom, Lincoln, who hands Shirley a summons and says Mister Dirty Mouth slandered him to the media. Jeffrey wants to represent himself but Paul insists that Brad should handle the case, as it will be an opportunity for the two men to bond. Hee! Lincoln asks Mr. Judge Hooper whether his wife had ever called Lincoln a pedophile in his hearing, which Mr. Judge Hooper denies; he thinks she never said it to Scott Little either, but that Jeffrey made it up on the stand to draw attention away from his client as part of the defense, then handed the story to the media. Brad follows that line with the judge, saying Jeffrey could have been accused of malpractice had he not focused the jury and media on anyone else who could have been a suspect in the Little case, but Lincoln argues that he was damaged by being labeled a potential pedophile and killer even though he's an admitted "peepee" (in his words). "I mean, look at me, judge, I'm damaged," he declares, and the judge appears to agree. Walking into court for the decision, Jeffrey sees Lincoln, tells him he seems sad, asks whether the lawsuit is about getting attention and apologizes for embarrassing him in the course of defending Scott Little -- it wasn't personal -- but Lincoln counters that the slander was very personal. The judge dismisses the case against Jeffrey, deciding that Jeffrey's comments to the media do not constitute defamation of Lincoln's character; he tells Lincoln that normally truth is the best defense to defamation, but Lincoln appears to be a disturbed man. Lincoln's response is to hit the judge over the head with a shovel in the parking lot, apparently killing him.

On the Denny front, Bethany really wants her new boyfriend to meet her mother even though Denny insists that he's not good with mothers: he tends to hit on them. "You'll make the effort with mine!" she says sharply, telling him to be dignified and insisting that he not smoke a cigar or make Clinton jokes about cigars when her mother arrives. However, something even more appalling happens...Bella, who is not a little person as Denny initially feared, turns out to be a onetime fiancee of his. Denny tells Alan that Bethany did not take this well -- she bit him. He distracts himself watching a news report about how President Bush went on a 16-day vacation but Bella visits, explaining that she used to tell her daughter about the great Denny Crane -- it inspired Bethany to go to law school. What she neglected to tell her daughter is that she and Denny were lovers...and that Denny is Bethany's father. When Denny reports this to Alan, asking if two full-sized people can have a midget, he fails to look down, and guess what! Yep, there she is, irate, and Denny, spluttering to break the ice, says, "Who's your daddy?"

As bad as things are for Denny, he is still having a much better week romantically than Denise, who learns that Daniel Post has died when a mariachi band shows up to sing "C'est la vie" which is what Daniel always said about facing it when his time came. He died during lung transplant surgery and his remains are at Massachusetts General. Denise claims to be all right, but when Shirley comes in wearing a Grim Reaper costume for the Halloween party, she cries. Alan goes with her to pay respects, only to learn that they were donated to research and the foot labeled with his name is both African American and too large...when Denise notes this, Alan says, "Could you find my friend something lighter and in a size 8?" (Which is extraordinarily tacky even for Alan and goes a long way to explaining why Melissa would leave him for Jeffrey, who isn't really threatened when Alan confronts him about this but says he's not feeling the love.) Denise tells Shirley that apparently Daniel's cadaver was stolen and his parts sold on the black market ("the very place Daniel did his shopping," says Shirley, which is much more fair), and after much investigation the FBI turn up his spleen and his heart and get a lead on the criminals responsible. Shirley thinks Denise should go to church to get closure, but instead Denise suggests that the man arrested for trafficking in human parts retain her as counsel so he can tell her where Daniel's head is. He says he doesn't know for sure, but there is a famous haunted house in Salem that has a party for Halloween with real heads. So off go Denise and Shirley, who are a little jumpy as fake ghosts go by. Again Shirley suggests that there must be a better way to get closure, as she can't fathom what kind of cult gets off on this sort of haunting. Then she finds Daniel's head on display in a box, and Shirley and Denise scream and scream together.

Everyone else meanwhile is trying to have fun at the office Halloween party, where Brad and Jeffrey have dressed as studly military types while Paul is a devil and Denny, Alan and Claire have dressed as girly triplets in tacky '50s dresses and hairdos. Denny and Alan are smoking, watching Melissa dance with the manly men, and Alan is about to hit on Claire when she calls him a horny toad and turns her back. Later, Denny and Alan are outside smoking in their usual spot (still in the dresses and makeup) and Alan asks Denny if he ever wonders how he'd be as a woman. "I'd be a lesbian," replies Denny without missing a breath. Alan thinks they would look at the world differently, since it's still a man's world, they'd be more vulnerable and could experience the miracle of birth which surely would profoundly influence Denny's perspective on the death penalty...but Denny is more interested in the fact that he'd have his own breasts to fondle. He quotes Kafka on the meaning of life, which is that it ends. "One day you're here and the next..." They look up at the rain. While Alan reflects that he's sorry he didn't get to know Daniel Post, Denny checks him out. Alan catches him and says, "You're not getting into this dress." And they smoke their cigars. Which sometimes are just cigars, but in this case, really, pretty obviously not.


Kids have no school Wednesday so teachers can do report cards, so hubby is taking a half-day of work and we are going to Catoctin to picnic, hike and watch the leaves fall, then to the Grotto of Lourdes because it's right near there and when better to visit the holy spring than All Saints' Day?

Poem for Samhain


On the Mississippi
By Hamlin Garland


Through wild and tangled forests
   The broad, unhasting river flows--
   Spotted with rain-drops, gray with night;
      Upon its curving breast there goes

A lonely steamboat's larboard light,
            A blood-red star against the shadowy oaks;

Noiseless as a ghost, through greenish gleam
Of fire-flies, before the boat's wild scream--
            A heron flaps away
            Like silence taking flight.

--------


Happy Halloween! I had a weird up-and-down day filled with domestic disasters not worth reiterating -- younger son is still upset with me for screaming in frustration, though I was not screaming at him (he does not like it when I rant in the background, either) and missing soccer practice because he had to finish a month-long book project and stuff like that, in and around really fun stuff like another viewing of The Prestige (in many ways better than the first -- the test of a trick film is always how it plays after you know the trick, I think).

Amused about this article sent in to TrekToday -- someone else who found early BSG not enlightened television but right-wing fantasy! Man, I am feeling better about all those people who called me a neo-conservative bad feminist because they insisted that only possible reason I might have resisted Ron Moore BSG was because I couldn't stomach Starbuck as a girl, not because there were things I found genuinely shallow, superficial and stupid about the early episodes. And I'm loving it this season and being told by some of the same people that oh, but BSG sucks this season. How nice to be accused of liberal tendencies for a change.


A grandly decorated defuncto surrounded by glittery skulls is the centerpiece of this shrine at the National Museum of the American Indian last weekend, with artificial branches and electric lights.


On the altar, bread shaped to look like people and spices, flowers, fruit and candles set among the sugar and clay skulls and the photos of relatives who have gone on.


One of the Mexican guides lights the candles around the altar.


And at the Udvar-Hazy museum last weekend, a demonstration of relative mass by a costumed scientist.


Two brothers contemplate going off in search of more free candy.


There were many guards dressed as stormtroopers, but Darth Vader and R2-D2 were more popular.


This evening we carved pumpkins -- younger son has a white or "ghost" pumpkin, but I suspect it is really a different kind of squash altogether, as it smells more squash-y and the seeds are much rounder and started sprouting when I went to rinse them to toast them! Then we watched Heroes, where I am not terribly pleased at what they're doing with Nicky but it suddenly occurred to me to wonder whether she used to be a cheerleader and we're being led to assume the wrong things about Claire. *g* And Hiro's "I had a sword!" Hee! So not a bad evening after a rather stressful afternoon (and thank you, , for the chocolate, and , for the coconut, hee). But Tuesday marks what is likely my last elementary school Halloween parade. I am quite sad about this.

ETA: I forgot to link to yesterday's Mother Goose and Grimm! (In the archive, go to the 10/30/06 page.) Post-Daylight Savings Time difficulties, hahahaha!

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Poem for Monday


The Reassurance
By Thom Gunn


About ten days or so
After we saw you dead
You came back in a dream.
I'm all right now you said.

And it was you, although
You were fleshed out again:
You hugged us all round then,
And gave your welcoming beam.

How like you to be kind,
Seeking to reassure.
And, yes, how like my mind
To make itself secure.

--------

Another from Poet's Choice in The Washington Post Book World, a companion to the Fulke Greville poem which was edited for Selected Poems of Fulke Greville by Gunn. "In his last couple of books, Gunn wrote astringent, soulful and unsentimental poems about the years when AIDS killed many people he knew. This poem by Gunn can be read as a variation, perhaps a reversal, of Greville's poem...whereas the 16th-century poet Greville gives a reassuring, rational analysis of fear, the modern poet Gunn ends his poem with a sardonic, unsettling analysis of reassurance. The welcome hugs of his dream, where loss is restored, is an imagining...the lucid, rational mind acknowledging the power of the irrational -- the urgent realities that generate our dreams and nightmares."


Our Halloween week is in full swing. After younger son got home from Hebrew school, we went to Scott's Run to hike and see the leaves around the Potomac River, which were lovely. Because of all the rain we got late last week, the river was very high -- the spot where we usually stand and skip stones is completely submerged, and the waterfall is bigger and louder than it was this summer. Then we came home and started putting together the bookcases for our CDs, which activity was interrupted by younger son's violin recital. (I have been trying to get ahold of the woman who runs my pagan circle all week to ask her if I could come late to Samhain...sent e-mails, left phone messages, finally gave up on actual voice contact and decided I wouldn't get there till two hours late anyway, and am very bummed I could not go, as it was at 's and I haven't seen her in forever and she is a wonderful cook and her Halloween decorations are always awesome, and I was going to go with and didn't get to see her either, waah!)

The original plan for this recital was that it was going to be a few kids in the music teacher's living room. Then it became more kids and one of their families volunteered to host it. Then it was suggested that the kids come in costume if they wanted. Then the teacher offered to bring in platters for dinner (potluck was out of the question as the family hosting keeps very strict kosher...I don't think they celebrate Halloween, but they were willing to have chocolate covered pretzels, bagels and cream cheese, tuna sandwiches, cupcakes, etc. as long as everything came from a kosher bakery and grocery!) So it ended up being easily 60 people, probably more counting all the parents and siblings, in the enormous central area of an enormous home with gorgeous plants all over and the kids performing in the stairwell overlooking the family and living rooms, which are separated down the middle by a glass-enclosed fireplace. The kids ran the gamut from just started playing this September to All-State High School Orchestra, so we heard a very wide range of music and saw lots of hilarious costumes, and then crammed into the basement with the poor family dog in a crate because it had scared some of the younger siblings while everyone ate.


This is how a penguin looks tuning his violin for his recital.


And this is the performance space -- in the stairwell behind the banister. (The house was filled with magnificent Israeli art...I would have felt weird trying to take pictures of the walls, but some rooms looked like museum showcases.)


Here is the annual Scott's Run photo of my guys on the stepping stones over the creek (previous installments here, here and here. More photos of the park later in the week.


Cinnamon demonstrates the proper way to test the strength and stability of a new bookcase. Not that we had asked her for such assistance, mind, just as we had not asked Rosie to sit on the hardware while the bookcases were being put together, but they graciously volunteered their helpfulness.

Your Halloween Costume Should Be

A Flying Monkey


And speaking of Halloween, you all have seen the cat, er, targ here?

I only got one article done today so must get work done tomorrow, plus organize CDs, rearrange the summer and winter clothes in my closet, clean up all the stuff that fell all over the dining room...and go see The Prestige with so I can write her a review of it for . A great and noble sacrifice on my part, I know. *veg*

Poem for Sunday


Caelica: Sonnet 100
By Fulke Greville


In night when colours all to black are cast,
Distinction lost, or gone down with the light;
The eye a watch to inward senses plac'd,
Not seeing, yet still having power of sight,

Gives vain alarums to the inward sense,
Where fear stirr'd up with witty tyranny,
Confounds all powers, and thorough self-offence,
Doth forge and raise impossibility:

Such as in thick depriving darknesses,
Proper reflections of the error be,
And images of self-confusednesses,
Which hurt imaginations only see;

  And from this nothing seen, tells news of devils,
  Which but expressions be of inward evils.

--------

From Poet's Choice in The Washington Post Book World. "My favorite poem for Halloween was written in the 16th century: the hundredth poem in 'Caelica,' a book-length sequence composed over a lifetime by Fulke Greville," writes Robert Pinsky. "He was Lord Brooke, an eminent statesman under Elizabeth I and James I, and a close friend of his fellow poet Philip Sidney. Greville's sonnet analyzes the experience of seeing spooks or devils. The devils, he says, are psychological, the products of 'hurt imaginations.' They are not less fearsome, or less real, for coming from inside the mind...in this observant description, the 'inward sense' of fantasy stirs up the 'self-offence' of monstrous visions. The 'witty tyranny' of human imagination dominates and discomforts."


My entire day, when not trying to recover from the Great CD Disaster of last night, was spent doing Halloween-y things at the Smithsonian Institution, so rather than blather about them, I shall explain in pictures. The first was the Día de los Muertos celebration at the National Museum of the American Indian downtown, and the second was the Air & Scare event at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.


The loveliest plane ever flown by Pan Am, the clipper Flying Cloud. Howard Hughes had one of these beauties. The monster standing below it is my elder son.


The Udvar-Hazy Center, which houses many of the planes, rockets and other fabulous flying machines that there's no room to display at the Air & Space Museum downtown, had a party complete with trick-or-treating courtesy free candy from M&M Mars, demonstrations of spooky space effects and Star Wars stormtroopers patrolling the building. Here are Superman, a ninja and a whole lot of other people coming from the hanger with the shuttle Enterprise behind them as we went in.


Younger son dressed as -- wait for it -- a penguin. Here he attempts to plot flights for the Concorde, which may no longer fly Kennedy-to-Orly but can still be given theoretical routes to Paris from Dulles Airport which is only a mile or so from the museum.


There were also free model airplanes for everyone so kids could practice aerodynamics. Okay, mostly they practiced falling over trying to get their planes to go farther than their siblings' planes, but since the planes had ghosts and bats and pumpkins and stuff decorating them, no one complained.


El Día de los Muertos was a rather more serious affair, with demonstrations of papercutting, sugar skulls, ritual candlelighting and various other aspects of the holiday in Mexico. Here is a shrine with bread shaped to look like people, photos of relatives, spirit offerings, copal incense and paper flowers among its tributes.


The sugar skulls were unfortunately for demonstration purposes only, meaning that we could neither make our own nor eat the ones that were there. We did get to taste the batter, which was tempting enough!


The crowd was somewhat older and more somber at the National Museum of the American Indian, but there were still kids in costumes or with makeup and some running around in the museum's open spaces.


On the way home, we stopped at Target to get bookcases to replace our defunct big CD holder (on the theory that CDs in cases weigh considerably less than their equivalent volume in books, we figure the shelves can surely hold them) and since we also had to get Halloween candy for Tuesday, ended up so hungry that we had to go out to Popeye's. So it has not been a low-calorie day but it was a very fun one. Also, I was led along the path to Hell by someone whose intentions are likely wicked. Whatever shall I give her for Halloween? My first choice is a bootleg DVD of The Search for John Gissing, but since several years of searching have failed to turn up even a copy I can watch, I may have to settle for a spanking chocolate pie.

Wow, it's late, but in half an hour it'll be earlier than now!

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Poem for Saturday


The Sword of Arthur
By John Clair Minot


A castle stands in Yorkshire
  (Oh, the hill is fair and green!)
And far beneath it lies a cave
  No living man has seen.

It is the cave enchanted
  (Oh, seek it ere ye die!)
And there King Arthur and his knights
  In dreamless slumber lie.

One time a peasant found it
  (Oh, the years have hurried well!)
It was the day of fate for him,
  And this is what befell:

Upon a couch of crystal
  (Oh, heart be pure and strong!)
He saw the King, and, close beside,
  The armored knights athrong.

And all of them were sleeping
  (Praise God, who sendeth rest!)
The sleep that comes when strife is done
  And ended every quest.

Beside the good King Arthur
  (How high is your desire?)
His sword within its scabbard lay,
  The sword with blade of fire.

Now had the peasant known it
  (Oh, if we all could know!)
He should have drawn that wondrous blade
  Before he turned to go.

If but his hand had touched it
  (The sword still lieth there!)
He would have felt in every vein
  A lofty purpose thrill.

If but his hand had drawn it
  (The sword still lieth there!)
A kingly way he would have walked,
  Wherever he might fare.

But no; he fled affrighted
  (Oh, pitiful the cost!)
And then he knew; but lo! the way
  Into the cave was lost.

He searched forever after
  (All this was long ago!)
But nevermore that crystal cave
  His eager eyes could know.

Pray God ye have the vision
  (Oh, search in every land!)
To seize the sword that Arthur bore
  When it lies at your hand.

--------


We had a disaster in our house with the CD rack. The magnitude was such that I cannot even bear to discuss it. Let's just say that the dining room table will never be the same and neither will several of my books and many CDs. It has completely overshadowed an otherwise nice day during the course of which I had lunch with , took younger son to the orthodontist, stopped back at the mall to get this little cauldron purse which I had left the Halloween store without buying earlier and then regretted it ( said she would take credit responsibility as enabler, for the riding crop too), picked up older son and drove him to his friend's house, and around all this managed to finish a review of "The Empath" that probably does not do justice to how much I love the episode.

Watched Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica, was really quite impressed with some aspects of the latter while still pretty cold on both Apollo and Starbuck whom I know are why most people watch the show! Also can't bear Baltar...I don't mean the things the character has done, I mean I'm just bored during most of his scenes. I am a total incontrovertible Laura Roslin fangirl, though. As for The Doctor, it's hard to talk about a multi-parter having seen just the beginning but I love love love Jackie and Pete! And the Cybermen! The Doctor was a little more lighthearted about the fate of himself and the universe; I was surprised he wasn't more traumatized when he thought the TARDIS was dead, and he could be so flip about how easy things were when the Time Lords were around, you could pop between realities, but now they're trapped. Is it just that he won't show too much feeling around Mickey? Since he's the one who said Mickey could come along, that's not very fair. And boy did Mickey call it when he said he had people he wanted to see and anyway it's all about Rose for the Doctor! "I'm just a spare part!" I thought the Doctor was pretty mean saying as if things weren't bad enough, there's two Mickeys, but he also laughed when he found out Jackie named the dog Rose. Overall, I suppose I would say definitely not one of my favorites but it definitely had its moments.

And after that we watched the Cardinals win the series. Did Detroit peak too early in the post-season or what? Ah well, I have neither great passion nor great animosity toward either team so it's all well and good to me!

: Scary Spice
1. What's your favorite candy:
If it's got chocolate I am generally not picky. Sometimes it's plain old gooey milk chocolate, sometimes it's Junior Mints, sometimes it's Aero...
2. What's the best scary movie? Not a big horror fan. Alien terrified me in my youth.
3. Do you like to be alone at home? It certainly doesn't bother me! Depends on whether I want to get stuff done and have quiet time or whether I want to do stuff with my family.
4. Pumpkin pie: eat it or throw it? Eat it! Are you nuts?
5. The most distasteful Halloween costume you can think of: Prince Harry's little Nazi number of a couple of years ago is right up there.

: Feed Me Seymour
1. What was the last thing that you ate?
A brownie from son's school chorus bake sale.
2. Who was the last person you shared a meal with? Husband, kids, and cat protesting her starvation under the table.
3. What is your favorite all time dish (recipes welcome)? I have a great many, but this is one of them:

Crepes St. Jacques

Makes 4-5 servings.

1/3 cup dry white wine
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons green onion, chopped
1 cup white mushrooms, sliced
1 bay leaf
1/2 lb. sea scallops, cut into 1/4" to 1/2" pieces, or equivalent bay scallops and/or shrimp
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups light cream
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1/2 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese
8-10 cooked crepes (see recipe below)

Entree Crepes:

Makes 12-14 six-inch crepes.

4 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine

Make the crepes by combining all the ingredients except the flour in a bowl and beating together. Gradually add the flour and whisk or beat until a smooth batter is achieved. Drop the batter in a preheated small fry pan or crepe pan; swirl quickly as you pour it into the pan, so it coats the pan with a very thin layer of batter. The crepe will let go of the pan around the edges when it it time to flip it -- don't overcook or they'll burn. Heat the flip side only about 20 seconds. Place on a plate between layers of wax paper until needed.

Combine the white wine, garlic, green onion, mushrooms, bay leaf and scallops in a non-stick saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes. While doing this, melt the butter in a large skillet and stir in the flour and salt to make a roux (a caramel-colored mixture). Pour in the cream and cook until a creamy thick sauce is achieved -- stir this constantly. Add the parsley and then the scallop mixture.

Fill each crepe with 3-4 tablespoons of the scallop mixture to cover the center third of each crepe. Fold the other two-thirds of the crepe over the center and sprinkle with the cheese. Place in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese melts.

4. If you could eat one thing for an entire year, what would it be? I assume this means I could have one thing along with many other things, rather than it being the only thing for an entire year, because there is NOTHING I would want as my sole food for a year. And I'm assuming this means consequence-free, which means not only I don't have to pay but it would have no calories, so...crab bisque made with fresh bay crabmeat and lots of butter.
5. If you could have dinner with any five people (dead or alive) who would they be? My grandparents and my kids, which is six people but I would really love for them to meet each other and hope I would be allowed an extra person in exchange for not asking for Elizabeth I, Leonardo da Vinci, Jesus Christ, etc.


Saturday is Air & Scare at the Udvar-Hazy Center so we are going to see E.T. and the space shuttle. Whoo!


The windmill at the entrance to a nearby neighborhood.


Color behind the houses and fountain in the same neighborhood.


Fall leaves reflected in an upstairs window...


...and in the hood and windshield of my minivan.


A gratuitous photo of two sleepy pests who woke me at some absurd hour of the morning.

Friday, October 27, 2006

Get Critical Update

TV Review: Star Trek's "The Empath"

Poem for Friday


My Father Is a Retired Magician
By Ntozake Shange


(for ifa, p.t., & bisa)

my father is a retired magician
which accounts for my irregular behavior
everythin comes outta magic hats
or bottles wit no bottoms & parakeets
are as easy to get as a couple a rabbits
or 3 fifty cent pieces/ 1958

my daddy retired from magic & took
up another trade cuz this friend of mine
from the 3rd grade asked to be made white
on the spot

what cd any self-respectin colored american magician
do wit such a outlandish request/ cept
put all them razzamatazz hocus pocus zippity-do-dah
thingamajigs away        cuz
colored chirren believin in magic
waz becomin politically dangerous for the race
& waznt nobody gonna be made white
on the spot      just
from a clap of my daddy's hands

& the reason i'm so peculiar's
cuz i been studyin up on my daddy's technique
& everythin i do is magic these days
& it's very colored
very now you see it/ now you
dont mess wit me
              i come from a family of retired
sorcerers/ active houngans & pennyante fortune tellers
wit 41 million spirits critturs & celestial bodies  
on our side
              i'll listen to yr problems
              help wit yr career     yr lover     yr wanderin spouse
              make yr grandma's stay in heaven more gratifyin
              ease yr mother thru menopause & show yr son
              how to clean his room

YES YES YES                      3 wishes is all you get
     scarlet ribbons for yr hair
        benwa balls via hong kong
           a miniature of machu picchu

all things are possible
but aint no colored magician in her right mind
gonna make you     white
        i mean
                                this is blk magic
you lookin at
                                & i'm fixin you up good/ fixin you up good n colored
& you gonna be colored all yr life

& you gonna love it/ bein colored/ all yr life/ colored & love it
love it/ bein colored/

Spell #7 from Upnorth-Outwest Geechee Jibara Quik Magic Trance Manual for Technologically Stressed Third World People

--------


I have my new glasses! Which are a little bit heavier than my old glasses and shaped slightly differently and are going to take me awhile to get used to, but hopefully this means I will stop squinting when I read and will not get headaches. And there was no wait at all in Lenscrafters, for maybe the first time ever, and Lindt was giving out sample Halloween chocolate truffles. *g* My Thursday headache was my older son's bus being in a very minor accident, which meant that he didn't get home till almost 7 -- he stays for Shakespeare Club on Thursdays and usually gets home about a quarter to six. I folded laundry and watched Atlantis' "Childhood's End" which I really liked -- Logan's Run meets TNG's "Half a Life" -- thought the ending was a bit of a too-simple cop-out but up to that point I was really enjoying the episode, particularly Weir being pissed at McKay's idiocy in assuming their need for a ZPM overrides what the kids on the planet with whom he is so awkward might need it for.

After we finally got organized and had a quick dinner (with younger son's best friend in attendance, having announced that he loves linguini and by the way what is linguini again?), we watched Smallville, in which we learned that at school Oliver was either Draco Malfoy or James Potter, depending on which one you think was the bigger bully. I was going to say that Oliver, Alden and Jeffrey were Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle but I suppose one could make the case that actually they were James, Sirius and Peter while Lex was Snape. Um, okay, I have been in HP fandom too long! But really I didn't think the imagery of the trio of school bullies with the crests on their jackets, led by the blond, was entirely coincidental (even if it is canon from the comics which is something I have no idea about). I did love Lois comparing the boys' boarding school experience to Lord of the Flies! The episode was actually really predictable -- as soon as Alden started walking up the steps, we were all yelling, "No, don't do it, that statue is going to fall on you!" and we were close! And of course Duncan was doing it...that was a certainty even when he was supposedly dead.

But I don't think unpredictability was ever the goal, since it had that classic high school horror movie thing a la Carrie where the person at the bottom of the bullying chain has revenge on everyone, though of course Duncan had to die for it...are we supposed to assume it was the Kryptonite that made his immediate focus evil once he regained consciousness? Because if I'd been in a coma and then gained the ability to move objects across great distances, I would like to believe that my first thoughts would not be of revenge but of doing something that might enable me to recover the rest of my life. I mean, this was a kid who wanted to help the poor and heal the sick before Lex turned on him. The episode goes out of its way to make us sympathetic to adult Oliver even while showing us what a merciless bastard he was as a kid...and bizarrely, it worked for me, even though I don't completely trust his apology at the end because I think we've seen enough evidence of egotism and pleasure in pushing people around that the bully isn't really gone. At least his regrets seem sincere, but then why is he still hanging around with the same jerks?

Interesting how quick Clark is to get mad at Lex for putting Lana in danger when, as Lex rightly points out, she ended up in the hospital lots of times while she was with Clark. And Lex and Oliver naturally blame each other immediately..."Go back to Star City while you still can," Lex says, which Oliver reminds him is pretty much what he said when Lex almost beat his only friend to death back at Excelsior. "Poor little Lex, always blaming everyone else for his problems," he says. "Only when they're the cause," Lex spits back. "Like your hands are clean." Oliver admits they're not, but he's been scrubbing them real hard while Lex's keep getting dirtier. They fight, Lex is knocked out in the first wave of Duncan's attack, then Duncan sets to work torturing Oliver and Clark very prettily saves him, which conveniently kills poor Duncan who never had a chance. Lois correctly guesses that Duncan was involved in some kind of astral projection and Clark gives her a "You write for the National Enquirer" look, which is so not fair. But then they have a nice conversation where Lois says they've all done things they're not proud of and she wished Oliver didn't hide his from her, Clark uses the old line from the Lana days about how people keep secrets to protect the ones they love, and Lois tells him. "That is totally retarded!" Again I must say, I love Lois.

All the ways Lionel plays into this episode are really interesting...young Lex says he wants to work with altruistic Duncan because it would piss off his father, then his father locks Duncan away and claims it's so Lex can move on, but when Lex confronts him with the accusation that Duncan was one more person for Lionel to experiment upon, Lionel doesn't even bother to deny it but says Lex would be responsible for what happened to Duncan anyway! I suppose Lex had a stronger stomach for bullying than Duncan did, having grown up with Lionel Luthor, and I am tempted to try to come up with an Oedipal psychological theory for why Lex chose the if-you-can't-beat-'em-join-'em approach to Oliver and his friends. Lionel must have known what was really bothering Lex after Alden died, when Lex came home with Duncan's bloody school insignia in his hand...it certainly wasn't woe over Alden's death! At the end, Oliver simply takes it with a nod when Lex dismisses him and any olive branch he offers, but by then Lex has figured out that it's not really Oliver he's still angry at; it's Dad. It's kind of too bad, because Oliver and Lex could be good influences on each other as allies and really hot together but then Clark wouldn't trust Oliver enough to work with him, and Clark and Oliver are also really good together ("You need to learn how to knock" -- hahahaha!) So, yeah, happy with that episode, which I found both thoughtful and fun despite both problematic and predictable aspects.


Post-Smallville we watched several hours of World Series, since everything else on television was conveniently a rerun...I am rooting for Detroit but I can't help but be glad that the Cardinals are keeping things interesting! And I read about endangered Panama frogs living in a hotel and a high school principal banning Captain Underpants. And whoever would have thought I'd be saying gee, maybe we should think about moving to New Jersey? So apparently there's a rumor going around that Sean Bean will be on Heroes, based on the IMDb, which is wrong as often as they it's right, especially where he is concerned (I am still lamenting his absence from Venetian Heat). But man, that would make me so happy if true!


The teahouse at Gambrill atop High Knob.


This is how much sand a boy can get on his clothes while twisting and untwisting on a swing at Gambrill.


The view down the slope of Mount Washington, where the same stone used to build the monument is strewn.


And this is a grasshopper that lives near the summit of Mount Washington.


Friday evening we were supposed to have a Meet Your Partner dinner at the synagogue for kids who will be B'nai Mitzvah in 2009 *gulp* but it has been inexplicably cancelled and postponed till spring. So it will be a chaotic day, as younger son has an orthodontist appointment and I must review "The Empath" which is one of my very favorite original series episodes, but at least a bit less chaotic.

So to ask a dumb question, with Marnanel.org dead, how do we find out who unfriended us recently? *g* Oh and , I was in the mood for the icon is because I loved the way in The Prestige (the novel), Angier used "Mesmerise" as a capital-letter verb because it was close enough to Mesmer's era! I am due for another viewing of that movie, too.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Poem for Thursday


A Litany
By Gregory Orr


I remember him falling beside me,
the dark stain already seeping across his parka hood.
I remember screaming and running the half mile to our house.
I remember hiding in my room.
I remember that it was hard to breathe
and that I kept the door shut in terror that someone would enter.
I remember pressing my knuckles into my eyes.
I remember looking out the window once
at where an ambulance had backed up
over the lawn to the front door.
I remember someone hung from a tree near the barn
the deer we'd killed just before I shot my brother.
I remember toward evening someone came with soup.
I slurped it down, unable to look up.
In the bowl, among the vegetable chunks,
pale shapes of the alphabet bobbed at random
or lay in the shallow spoon.

--------


I spent the entire morning reading The Prestige, which I think I actually admired more in the end than the film, though it would be hard for me to say which I liked better because the film gave me a visual and thematic context for so many things in the novel. (I am very glad that I didn't read it before I saw the movie, as I think the way certain surprises were revealed in the movie had a greater impact than in the book, though I found Angier more sympathetic in the novel and absolutely thrilled to the "scientific" description of how certain magical effects were produced.)

The downside of having spent all morning reading is that I don't have my new glasses yet -- I am, in fact, picking them up tomorrow -- and I ended up with a monster headache that took multiple drugs and the entire afternoon to get rid of, since I was schlepping younger son to violin (which was a nightmare today...am in need of a new violin teacher for an advanced beginner student, someone who does not stop to talk to her kids, answer the phone, etc. in the middle of lessons; I realize this may not matter with older students but with my easily distractible child, it's turning into a disaster no matter how "good" a teacher she is reputed to be).


Colorful leaves, at the top of High Knob at Gambrill...


...through the windshield driving across Frederick County...


...and surrounding Ceres-Bethel AME Church and its cemetery.


Have just seen the trailer for A Good Year again and remembered that the little boy from Finding Neverland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory grows up to be Russell Crowe. This pleases me. *g* Trek news was a rumor, undoubtedly completely false, that Tom Cruise asked J.J. Abrams for a cameo in Star Trek XI (though false, the rumor still might have come from Camp Cruise which apparently will do anything to keep his name in the news), and Patrick Stewart being a Detroit fan. Too bad the Series was a washout.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Poem for Wednesday


A Bird in Hand
By Amber Flora Thomas


I’ve memorized its heart pounding into my thumb.
Breath buoys out. My fingers know how to kill,
closing on the bird’s slippery head.

I don’t remember. Was it that beak bit my chin?
Was it a claw cut my wrist? I blow feathers
away from its chest, smelling pennies and rain.

Skin like granite, a real white-blue, flecked
by knots of new growth. I found my need,
cold in cupped palms, just the way I was taught.

I return to account for whose neck falls around
backwards. Eyes that go cataract bring clouds.
That fat pearl with wings looks like water disappearing in me.

--------


The story of my day was trying to read The Prestige, which I am having trouble putting down, in and around all sorts of other things, some fun (lunch with and at California Tortilla where we yakked for so long that younger son beat me home), some less enthralling (doing laundry, taking younger son to Hebrew, taking older son to meet with the rabbi who has offered to do independent study with him since he adamantly does not want to do the confirmation class, getting everyone's homework supervised), then dinner and World Series interrupted for Boston Legal, which had occasional flashes of not being crack before it returned to its roots.

I am sorry to see the murder case end, though it was also time -- we haven't seen nearly enough Brad, Paul or Shirley this season, and we've mostly seen Alan on silly cases rather than the stuff he's best at. The episode starts with Gracie Jane announcing that the father's accusations of incestuous feelings on the part of his son for his mother make her all tingly down there! She says the court case is better than sex, and Denny tells Alan he hopes Gracie didn't mean sex with HIM -- his mad cow is giving him mad penis. Alan is having his own problems: every time he has sex with Sally, she rushes out to work on her cases without any afterglow. Meanwhile Claire goes to visit the psychiatrist, saying she came to apologize, but he doesn't believe her even when she suggests that she really wants to rip his clothes off and make wild love to him on his desk; it's clear he will try to destroy Scott on the stand.

Meanwhile Jeffrey -- whom Brad tells Paul he doesn't think is that hot, leading Paul to suggest that Brad is threatened by him -- can't get the judge to stop the psychiatrist from speculating on whether Scott is psychotic so he decimates the psychiatrist on the stand, asking why he gave a videotape of the wife's lover threatening the wife to an angry husband perhaps looking for an excuse to kill his wife rather than to the police, then stating that the psychiatrist likes to embellish and interrogating him about his bragging to Claire about Gina Gershon. Scott testifies that Mrs. Judge Hooper liked rough sex and she did indeed remind him of his mother, so he probably transferred both his affection and aggression to her, but he maintains adamantly that he did not kill her. On cross-examination the DA suggests that he's a loner who lied to the police about assorted details.

Then Jeffrey gets the mother on the stand and asks whether SHE is lying about Scott's actions the night of the murder, notes that she lied to a court about whether Scott's father molested him to gain custody, and asks whether she was in love with her son and killed the judge to keep him for herself. The mother demands her own lawyer. Denise is furious, believing they staged this and the jury will see right through it. (She's already had a moment with Jeffrey where he asked her how engaged she was, and she told him -- with Brad overhearing -- that she was very engaged, though later she tells Brad that she and Daniel have not set a date.) Indeed, the DA reminds the jury that Jeffrey has now attempted to pin the murder on the husband, the judge's other lovers, the neighbor, Scott's father, and finally the mother in that big staged scene when all along, the evidence has pointed to a sick, twisted defendant who by his own admission was in the house that night.

Jeffrey says yes, exactly, he did try to suggest other potential killers -- the police investigated no one but Scott, when all the others have motives, few have alibis and there's evidence of lies and deception from many people other than Scott. When the police don't investigate fully, that creates reasonable doubt, he concludes. Even Claire and Denise are impressed. So is the jury, which finds the defandent not guilty. While the lawyers go outside for the media circus, Scott asks his mother how Jeffrey knew and she insists it was just a lawyer tactic -- he has no evidence, they can't convict her of anything and if Scott had been convicted, then she would have come forward with the truth. Then they exchange I love yous and big wet kisses. (Prediction: before this season is over, he's going to kill that psychotic manipulative bitch, and someone at Crane, Poole and Schmidt will defend him.)

Back in crack-land, Alan is having his own mother issues and goes to the sex therapist to get her to measure his inseam -- something he has previously admitted was one of his only points of contact with his mother, so he finds it erotic now. When she asks him what's going on, he explains about Sally, whom he ends up bringing to the therapist with him. Sally doesn't understand why he cares if she leaves after such good sex, but the therapist rightly guesses that she feels skanky to be fucking Alan and that's why she flees the scene. Soon after, she's fucking Brad, who says the sex was amazing and she's a different girl, but seconds later she's fast asleep like a log...just like Alan said she always was when they used to date. Denny commiserates with him about Sally and reveals that he has a talking Gracie Jane doll in his pants. When Alan asks how Bethany would feel about that, Denny looks down and...sure enough, there is Bethany, saying she doesn't date disgusting vile pigs. "She's got to learn not to interrupt my special time," Denny announces to Alan, who toasts special times with him.


sent me this sad news about pink flamingoes and this bizarre news about a manatee who seems to want to visit Graceland...I just hope it can find its way back down the Mississippi to where it's supposed to be.


Utica Mills Bridge surrounded by Frederick County fall foliage in the late afternoon on Sunday.


The 1850s bridge originally went over Monocacy Creek, but was partly destroyed in an 1889 flood, moved to its present site over Fishing Creek and repaired.


Have been Led Astray this evening (not like it's not my own fault, heeee) and must get to bed or I will be useless for magnet high school introductory meetings the next two days!

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Poem for Tuesday


Magician
By Gary Miranda


What matters more than practice
is the fact that you, my audience,
are pulling for me, want me to pull
it off -- this next sleight. Now
you see it. Something more than
whether I succeed's at stake.

This talk is called patter. This
is misdirection -- how my left
hand shows you nothing's in it.
Nothing is. I count on your mistake
of caring. In my right hand your
undoing blooms like cancer.

But I've shown you that already --
empty. Most tricks are done
before you think they've started -- you
who value space more than time.
The balls, the cards, the coins -- they go
into the past, not into my pocket.

If I give you anything, be sure
it's not important. What I keep
keeps me alive -- a truth on which
your interest hinges. We are like
lovers, if you will. Sometimes even
if you don't will. Now you don't.

--------

I posted this one in May 1995 but The Prestige made me think of it several times, and now reading it makes me think of The Prestige, which I have only barely cracked as a novel (first person! Somehow I was not at all expecting that). Anyway, you can blame the movie for the fact that you're getting it again, though I really love the "Now you don't" at the end with its ambiguous connection both to the sentence before and to the "Now you see it" earlier in the poem.


Huzzah, our stove is fixed! And we have had pumpkin soup (the cheap and easy way, with canned pumpkin). Of course I got up early since Sears could have arrived any time after eight and I had to be showered, dressed and speaking coherently, and of course -- since the window ended at noon -- they got here at about thirty seconds to twelve. And we ended up having to replace the igniter, which was over $100. But at least we do not need to replace the stove! We bought it and the microwave the same day and now both of them have had major problems within a couple of weeks of each other...do we think they have timed obsolescence built in? And did I spell obsolescence right?

I had a lovely lunch at Lebanese Taverna with , whom I met on account of theological stuff on my web site and was afraid of scaring away when she discovered my evil fannish activities, but apparently she met her spouse at what she called "geek camp" so I think I am safe for the moment. *g* Wrote an obit of Jane Wyatt after reading several -- I had no idea that she was descended from the Rensselaers, nor that she went to Barnard. Saw that Shark was picked up for the season and couldn't decide whether to be pleased or not because I will probably end up watching it because of inertia and I don't even think I like it! I do like Heroes more and more, though I have vague X-Files/Lost fears that the writers do not, in fact, have a long-term game plan. Am hoping they have this season decently mapped, at least. Question: Can Peter only fly because his brother can -- does he pick up the talents of the others, rather than having one that's intrinsically his own? Is that why he had the dreams and why he could finish the painting?

And speaking of TV, I tracked down both episodes of Torchwood, started watching, started getting a headache from the pixelation and decided to stop but given some of the scenes I have heard about, I am not at all confident that we will get these episodes in anything close to their original state and who knows how long it will be before there are DVDs here, so I am saving them in case I need them! Meanwhile found a recent Great Big Sea concert at EzTorrent and I think it's pretty much the same set list they did when we saw them in DC. I don't know what their policies are on recording live shows, but EzTorrent is pretty adamant about removing recordings if the bands don't want them distributed, so I am hoping this means GBS is taking a Phish attitude toward homemade bootlegs!


Light breaking through the clouds over a Frederick County farm on the way home from Gathland State Park on Saturday.


South Mountain from the summit of High Knob at Gambrill State Park.


The view toward Frederick from the summit of South Mountain atop Boonsboro's Washington Monument.


From Brookfield Pumpkins' parking lot overlooking a corn field and the edge of the maze.


And driving home, another twilight sky, with slightly distorted color as I was shooting through the window.


Meme gacked from the world at large. Sorry for the length. *g* I am pleased about all the Star Trek characters who are coming to my party!

's Halloween party:

1st_corinthian dressed as the love child of Will Smith and Susan Lucci.
99andrising dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Lumpy Gorillabrains".
_bellacosity dressed as Optimus Prime.
_boof dressed as the Marquis of Excelsere.
_guestage_ dressed as the Governor of Michigan.
_inbetween_ dressed as a giraffe.
_nightelf dressed as the Cardinal of Roxgorgraf.
_redpanda_ dressed as Optimus Prime.
_sababa1 dressed as Marilyn Manson.
_slytherin_slut dressed as a can of Mountain Dew.
a_belladonna dressed as a bitch.
acidic_lipstick dressed as a easy vampire.
adpacaus dressed as Tonya Harding, and it suited them disturbingly well.
aerama dressed as Marilyn Manson.
aerynsunx dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Doofus Gigglechunks".
aesc dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Wand of Earth.
affectedmangoo dressed as Mr. Sulu from "Star Trek".
agentirish dressed as Thomas Jefferson.
aleoninc dressed as the Weak Power Ranger.
alex_voy dressed as a bouncy pixie.
alexabond didn't dress up, spoilsport.
aliciajd dressed as Jay Leno, though it looked more like Yu-Gi-Oh.
alisanne dressed as a Level 3 thief.
allifer dressed as a character from "Gone with the Wind".
altair_dragon dressed as a factor.
altariel1 didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
amalfi dressed as the love child of Colin Powell and Dolly Parton.
amara_1783 dressed as a Level 13 ranger.
amedia dressed as a outfielder for the Padres.
amonitrate dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Happy Wizard.
anananubia gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as a concrete ghost.
ancarett dressed as Ted Williams.
anglachel1 dressed as a discount.
anglepoiselamp dressed as a pilot.
anise_anise dressed as the love child of Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
ann_tara dressed as a associate four-color glossy publisher.
annathepiper dressed as a rat.
anneline dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Loopy Monkeytush".
anniemaclean dressed as a absence.
anonymousfour dressed as a Level 7 ranger.
anothersuperboy dressed as Drew Barrymore.
antychan dressed as the Steady Power Ranger.
apaulled dressed as something lucky, but what, specifically, you can't tell, though it looked more like Bob Dylan.
apiphile dressed as Martha Stewart.
araliesse dressed as Martha Stewart.
aralondwen dressed as Martin Van Buren.
archet dressed as James Monroe, though it looked more like a Level 6 bard.
ariestess dressed as a bottle of Fooleptbar, and it suited them all too well.
arysteia dressed as Ulysses S Grant.
ash_llelo dressed as Kurt Cobain.
asherahs dressed as a chicken, and it suited them all too well.
ashmin89 dressed as a 1990's grunge child, though it looked more like a eagle.
asynje dressed as a catcher for the Cubs.
atanvarne_lj dressed as "Bones" McCoy from "Star Trek".
atarau gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as Courtney Love.
athenakt dressed as Hurricane Florence.
atorable dressed as the Viscount of Glucogen.
atra_spies dressed as Wesley Crusher from "Star Trek".
aubadere dressed as a assistant bastard operator from hell.
aubrem dressed as a Level 9 barbarian.
aunty_marion dressed as Winona Ryder.
autumns_slumber dressed as a skunk.
avari_elf dressed as a safety for the Broncos.
ave_ebony dressed as a 1960's hippie child.
bantha_fodder dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Morgan.
baudelaire_3 dressed as a character from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".
beautiful_rain_ dressed as the President of Suriname.
beckyo gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as a halfback for the Bengals.
beeej dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Booger Toadjuice".
being_here dressed as something nice, but what, specifically, you can't tell, though it looked more like the spirit of their dead grandmother Pamela.
bellonagoddess dressed as Ozzy Osbourne.
beruthiels_cat dressed as the main character of "Crash".
bethbethbeth dressed as Lyndon B. Johnson.
bethfrish dressed as Charlize Theron.
bethos didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
beyond_invictus dressed as a tide.
bithysith dressed as the equator.
bits_n_baubles dressed as Reese Witherspoon riding a cow.
blnkfrnk dressed as Hurricane Mandy.
bloodraven77 dressed as Shaquille O'Neal.
blue_raven gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as a 1970's disco child.
boggartmoonhead dressed as LeBron James's father.
bohemian_rose90 dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Council of Clouds.
boji dressed as the Archbishop of Agilmovar.
bon1138 dressed as Nicole Richie.
bonesm dressed as Kurt Cobain.
bookofdays dressed as a surprise.
bop_queen dressed as a Level 1 wizard.
born2rumble1st dressed as David Blaine.
bouncy dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Hound of Power.
boxer_ferret dressed as something gold, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
bri_chan dressed as the Cardinal of Stinstirgraf.
brieza dressed as a character from "Double Indemnity".
brightbeak dressed as Counselor Troi from "Star Trek".
brightfeather dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Elsa.
bronze_ribbons dressed as a bottle of lotion, and it suited them all too well.
bronzelionel dressed as a feet.
caffyolay dressed as a vampire.
cain1999 dressed as Space Ghost.
candie_113 dressed as Harrison Ford.
caorann dressed as Tom Clancy, and it suited them disturbingly well.
captain_tulip dressed as the equator.
captainjames dressed as something transparent, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
captaintinuviel dressed as a giraffe.
cara_chapel dressed as Bill Clinton.
carlanesses dressed as a chicken.
cassievalentine dressed as a investigation.
cdkobasiuk dressed as Ricky Martin's father, and it suited them all too well.
celandineb gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as the love child of Elvis Presley and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
celisnebula dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
centricity dressed as a denominator.
chalcedony dressed as a SABOcoLtd. employee.
championlurker dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
chases_the_moon dressed as the main character of "Barry Lyndon".
chazzbanner dressed as Osama bin Laden.
cheridel dressed as a executive dead chicken waver.
cherry_glitter dressed as Osama bin Laden.
chesnutella dressed as Osama bin Laden.
chessie_reeves dressed as a sub-adjunct sheet spreader.
chickiedee dressed as Eliza Dushku.
childeproof dressed as a bottle of Comgin.
chlaal dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Booger Lizardkisser".
chrismm dressed as Sandra Bullock's mother-in-law.
christinuviel didn't dress up, spoilsport.
chyna_rose23 dressed as the love child of Regis Philbin and Madonna, and it suited them disturbingly well.
cionaudha dressed as a new superhero: Fly Bulk.
cjmarlowe dressed as the Flour Power Ranger.
cocoasnape didn't dress up, spoilsport.
col_kira_nerys dressed as a angel.
communicator dressed as Warren G. Harding.
copperbeech dressed as Ted Williams.
cordelia_v dressed as a turkey.
cordeliadelayne dressed as Claudia Schiffer's mother-in-law.
corialis dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Erratic Commander.
covenhouse_cat dressed as a prickly hereford.
cps250 dressed as the main character of "Rear Window".
cream_rose dressed as the Governor of North Dakota, though it looked more like Bono.
creativepseudo dressed as Julia Roberts.
crossbow1 dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Angelina.
curious_ria dressed as the King of Mali.
cutecoati dressed as Angelina Jolie.
cybermum didn't dress up, spoilsport.
cykie dressed as the Lime Power Ranger.
cyn_ful didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
d0minique didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
dana___ dressed as a ground.
dancerin036 gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as an external hard drive.
dancingbarefoot dressed as a first baseman for the Blue Jays.
darchildre dressed as the Viscount of Triata.
dark_cygnet didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
darkrhiannon dressed as a giraffe.
darkrosetiger dressed as a degenerate effort.
darth_kittius dressed as Kimora Lee Simmons.
dawning_star didn't dress up, spoilsport.
daylyn dressed as Elvis Presley.
death_car dressed as a rat.
deborah_judge dressed as Yu-Gi-Oh.
deidrecorwyn didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
delica dressed as a devil.
dellastarr dressed as a smoked pixie.
dementordelta dressed as Krusty the Clown.
dernhelm_3019 dressed as Calvin Coolidge.
desdemona_snape dressed as the Archbishop of Ashley Forest.
discord26 dressed as the love child of Tobey Maguire and Martina Hingis.
divineway dressed as Johnny Depp riding a bear.
dock_leaf dressed as your mother-in-law.
dorothy1901 forgot to put on clothes!
dory_gray dressed as Anna Nicole Smith, though it looked more like the Duke of Valukquadroamide.
dphearson dressed as Hilary Duff riding a chicken.
dr_jekyl dressed as a lampshade.
dragonelle_fics dressed as Mariah Carey riding a camel.
dravenbellatrix dressed as the main character of "Kill Bill".
dreamplum dressed as your cousin.
dudielebasei dressed as Nora Roberts riding a turkey.
dylant dressed as Calvin Coolidge.
e_m_pink dressed as a neurotic asset.
ealgylden dressed as a turkey, and it suited them all too well.
eemilyvr1 dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Puffy Alchemist.
eiluned dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Wand of San Diego.
el_wing dressed as someone who just poked themselves in the eye.
elanor_isolda dressed as the Marquis of North Codpin.
elanorkat dressed as a skeleton.
elfflame dressed as a Casey Womack Industries employee.
eligyah dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
elistaire dressed as Patricia Heaton.
elladans_witch dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Anvil of Milwaukee.
ellapoodle dressed as a angel.
ellbee804 dressed as Barney the dinosaur, and it suited them all too well.
elspethsheir dressed as Michael Jackson.
em_ee_ell dressed as a cigar.
empress_wu dressed as a bottle of Asperlon.
empy dressed as a linebacker for the Bengals.
enora dressed as a 1970's disco child.
epistrophia dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Jolly Warrior.
eponis dressed as Tom Cruise.
erastes dressed as a elephant.
erestorjunkie dressed as a quarterback for the Titans.
eruthiadwen dressed as a eagle.
esteliel dressed as the Governor of Missouri.
esteven dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
ev_vy dressed as Kirsten Dunst.
eva_rosen dressed as Jimmie Carter.
evildrem dressed as a 1980's yuppie child.
evilleaper dressed as Captain Kirk from "Star Trek".
experiment627 dressed as a 1990's grunge child.
eyebrowofdoom dressed as your grandfather.
fairy_armadillo didn't dress up, spoilsport.
fanaddict dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
fangirl_lizzie dressed as the Small Power Ranger.
fannore dressed as a elephant, and it suited them all too well.
fantasticmuse dressed as a queasy lizard.
faramir_boromir dressed as Counselor Troi from "Star Trek".
fatale dressed as a angel.
fictionbya dressed as Elsa Benitez.
fictualities dressed as your father.
fileg dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Intelligent Giant.
finealine dressed as a bottle of Itanandrolarg.
firefly_quill dressed as a senior computer programmer.
firefrorefiddle dressed as a bottle of Swamylosar.
firiath dressed as a diplomat from Monaco.
firiel77 dressed as a vampire, and it suited them all too well.
flametree1 dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Verna.
florahart dressed as the Brady Bunch -- all of them.
follicks dressed as a Clone Trooper.
frahulettaes dressed as the Marquis of Gaintap.
franzi1981 dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Crazy Beggar.
freedomrhodes dressed as a raccoon.
freelove dressed as Rutherford B. Hayes.
french_hobbit dressed as Chekov from "Star Trek".
frickabrandis dressed as Harrison Ford.
friede dressed as a cat, though it looked more like a DPSS & Co. employee.
froda_baggins dressed as a pixie.
furor_scribiend dressed as a lampshade.
fuschia dressed as a deposit.
gallerykezza dressed as a Carter-Combs Restaurants Corporation employee.
gauriel dressed as a devil.
gblvr dressed as a fullback for the Bills.
gblvr_lite dressed as a raccoon.
gernblandston dressed as a sea tiger.
ghazalah dressed as Optimus Prime.
giddyupnow gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as Scooter Libby.
girlfromsouth dressed as a diplomat from Reunion.
girlgoeshome didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
glimmer_glass dressed as the Earl of Tamellploid.
goat_song dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
goddessofwords dressed as a neighbor.
gorgidas dressed as the Cardinal of Franklinville.
gotham_syren dressed as Gwen Stefani riding a ferret.
graculus dressed as Counselor Troi from "Star Trek".
greedy_dancer dressed as Mark McGwire.
green_fae dressed as Bono.
greypoker dressed as a linebacker for the Ravens.
grr_rob dressed as the love child of Martin Sheen and Julia Roberts.
guanin dressed as a Illinois Real Estate, Inc. employee, and it suited them disturbingly well.
guernica_shaw dressed as a grand witch.
guinan dressed as Saddam Hussein.
gullygilly dressed as a pixie.
hak42 dressed as a Greenville Northern-Record Newspaper employee, though it looked more like a Level 1 ranger.
half_elf_lost dressed as a character from "It Happened One Night".
hammerxsword didn't dress up, spoilsport.
hana_tenshi dressed as the Spotted Power Ranger.
hangingfire dressed as Phil Mickelson riding a buffalo.
hannahdiana dressed as the King of Burma.
happytune dressed as a exercise.
haunted_snow dressed as a cow.
headlesspuppet dressed as Optimus Prime.
heidi8 gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as Emperor Palpatine.
helens78 dressed as a copper beak.
helsmeta forgot to put on clothes!
herm42 dressed as a can of Mountain Dew.
hibernate dressed as Queen Elizabeth.
hiddendaze dressed as a acceptance, though it looked more like the President of Lithuania.
hiddenhibiscus dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Lillian.
hill_ dressed as Jennifer Lopez's father.
hipolyta_d dressed as the Archbishop of Flyglucohere.
history_geek dressed as Bill Clinton, though it looked more like Jennifer Lopez.
history_spork dressed as a laser printer.
hobbitdragon dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Erika.
honey_child dressed as a zombie.
honoria dressed as a New Ogankee Utilities, Inc. employee.
howlingmojo didn't dress up, spoilsport.
hurrymyway dressed as Patricia Heaton.
iandiinthesky dressed as the Marquis of South Mendenhall.
ida_pea dressed as Estella Warren.
iibnf dressed as Optimus Prime, though it looked more like Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
ilysah dressed as a kicker for the Packers, and it suited them all too well.
immora dressed as a sedimentary angel.
ingrid_m dressed as a fullback for the Colts.
innusiq dressed as your sister.
insidian dressed as Rutherford B. Hayes.
ios_pillow_book dressed as a part-time information technology superintendent, though it looked more like the Scaly Power Ranger.
irishrover59 dressed as the Duke of Calpit.
istalksnape dressed as Beavis, and it suited them disturbingly well.
istima dressed as Michael Jackson.
ithilwen dressed as Cmdr. Riker from "Star Trek".
jack_aubrey dressed as a senior dead chicken waver.
jacquesmoineau dressed as a new superhero: Blood Z, and it suited them all too well.
jadzia7667 dressed as a Level 8 bard.
jalitha dressed as a safety for the Vikings.
jamestkirk dressed as the main character of "Casablanca".
janezy dressed as a Webb, Jockish & Buschmann Widgets, LLC employee.
jasminetook dressed as a repulsion.
jeanne_dark dressed as a 1960's hippie child.
jedi_penguin dressed as the Governor of Michigan.
jedirita dressed as someone who just had sex (and probably just did, too).
jen_the_crazy dressed as a convenient mummy.
jennandanica dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Midnight Bastard.
jenniferlupin dressed as Charlize Theron riding a camel.
jenwrites dressed as a pixie.
jiffy_spiffy dressed as Bill Gates.
jjtaylor dressed as Optimus Prime.
jmthane dressed as Rachael Leigh Cook.
joanne_c forgot to put on clothes!
jommy dressed as a party hand.
juleskicks dressed as the Cardinal of St. Blackburn.
julietlaw dressed as Pamela Anderson.
julifolo dressed as Tiffani-Amber Thiessen.
juonetar dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
kaiwinnadami dressed as a dog.
karasu_hime dressed as the Marquis of Vermont.
katfusion dressed as Woodrow Wilson, and it suited them all too well.
katholicgrrl dressed as the King of Pakistan.
kathryne_deanna dressed as a goblin.
kay_wray dressed as the President of Indonesia, though it looked more like a raccoon.
kaytee4ever didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
kazzik dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Intellectual Pupil.
keelywolfe gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as Optimus Prime.
kellyfaboo dressed as the Governor of Minnesota.
kijikun dressed as a horny goblin.
killabeez dressed as a new superhero: Ring -jack.
kimberleigh_ dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Bitter Pupil.
kirana_44 dressed as Optimus Prime.
kirby_crow dressed as Worf from "Star Trek".
kitsune dressed as a eagle.
kkcme dressed as your grandmother.
kleine_liebchen dressed as Optimus Prime.
klia dressed as Alyssa Milano.
knic26 dressed as a vampire.
kontiki dressed as a fullback for the Raiders.
krabapple dressed as something green, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
kristara63 dressed as the love child of Larry Bird and Mia Hamm.
kryptonstar18 dressed as a third baseman for the Royals.
kudra2324 dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Zsa-Zsa Bubblefanny".
kyrrdis dressed as Zachary Taylor.
lady_of_asheru dressed as an iMac.
ladybluelove dressed as the President of Benin, and it suited them all too well.
ladyjaida dressed as the Stiff Power Ranger.
ladykoori dressed as a bottle of Coravar.
ladymalen dressed as the love child of Donald Trump and Julia Roberts.
ladysorka dressed as Optimus Prime.
ladyvyola dressed as Optimus Prime.
lamath dressed as your mother.
lance_nerd dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Mage's Shield, and it suited them disturbingly well.
languiren dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Gidget Lizardshorts".
lanna515 dressed as a angel.
lannamichaels dressed as the Governor of South Dakota.
lanning dressed as Theodore Roosevelt.
lasergirl69 dressed as a new superhero: Robot Bird.
lastrega dressed as a 1990's grunge child.
lastscorpion dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
laurakaye dressed as a bottle of Toptamlog.
laurieannhaus dressed as the Eternal Power Ranger.
lavingaround dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
ldybastet dressed as Anna Nicole Smith.
lee_dragon dressed as a Big Mac.
leni_jess dressed as Sir Ian McKellen.
lesadoreyl dressed as a goblin.
liars_dance dressed as something silver, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
lisaofdoom didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
littledrop dressed as a pirate.
littlemimm dressed as a senior software design department janitor.
littlereview dressed as a bottle of Penlon.
lizardspots dressed as Lindsay Davenport, though it looked more like the main character of "Amadeus".
lizblackdog dressed as a Amiga Guru Meditation Error.
ljbami dressed as the Perky Power Ranger, though it looked more like a fullback for the Chargers.
logovo1 dressed as your sister.
logovo dressed as the Teflon Power Ranger.
lohowarose dressed as a Level 13 bard, though it looked more like Grover Cleveland.
lost2mercy dressed as a bottle of Itanphex.
lotusmoppet dressed as the love child of Jay Leno and Susan Lucci.
loussi_leb_ru dressed as Optimus Prime.
lreissner102 dressed as a angel, and it suited them all too well.
luluminion dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
lunasv dressed as a elk.
luthorlover dressed as a 1970's disco child.
lvtngrl dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Druid of Will.
lysa1 dressed as a CERBGco, Ltd. employee, though it looked more like a zombie.
madame_manga dressed as a kicker for the Lions.
maddiec24 dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Cheeseball Toadtoes".
madlori dressed as a new superhero: Captain Tiger.
maggiehoneybite dressed as Peter Jackson.
magic_helmet dressed as the Governor of Alaska.
makamu didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
malefics dressed as Beavis.
mamadracula dressed as a 1960's hippie child.
manavilins dressed as a vampire.
mandrill dressed as Optimus Prime.
mareel dressed as Halle Berry.
margueritem dressed as a Level 13 wizard, though it looked more like the Lazy Power Ranger.
mariemisu gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Olga.
marprelate dressed as Kofi Annan.
masb1987 dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Thunderous Observer.
mauvemalady dressed as someone who just had sex.
me_katrine dressed as a new superhero: Animal Wave.
meanarose dressed as the Rival Power Ranger.
mecurtin dressed as the King of New Caledonia.
megthelegend dressed as a witch.
melange428 dressed as a Green Gladetech employee.
melina123 dressed as a 1980's yuppie child.
melissalj dressed as Tobey Maguire's father.
melissaukgirl dressed as Anna Nicole Smith.
mellificent dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Midnight Conqueror.
memorablefancy dressed as the Viscount of Caflimus.
meneathiel dressed as a medium cloud.
meninaiscrazy dressed as a deer.
meri_oddities dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Crazy Professional.
merrilily dressed as a buffalo.
merryankee dressed as Estella Warren's aunt.
mewcubed dressed as a vampire.
miladyhawke dressed as a ghost.
milochka dressed as the love child of Tobey Maguire and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
mimbulus dressed as James Buchanan.
mimine dressed as Karl Rove.
mirabile_dictu dressed as a bottle of Kyjaflu.
miriya_b dressed as Harry Potter.
mirrormuse dressed as a average tide.
mischacat dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Erica.
misfit_girl dressed as a reversible knife.
miss_pryss dressed as the Archbishop of Acceliqua.
missgaunt dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Amazing Observer.
missizzy gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as Nadja Auermann.
missparker didn't dress up, spoilsport.
mistress_kabuki dressed as Benjamin Harrison.
mistressmarilyn dressed as something rival, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
mld13 dressed as the Governor of New Jersey.
moodring54 dressed as Amanda Bynes's brother.
moonanddogstar didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
moonfruituk dressed as Bill Clinton.
moonprincessnat dressed as Chester A. Arthur.
mordelhin dressed as a help desk superintendent.
mos_self dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Zippy Picklebuns".
mrkinch dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Shrieking Leader.
muccamukk dressed as a amplitude, though it looked more like a Lynn Morrison Ranch employee.
mulberryfields dressed as a 1960's hippie child.
musesfool dressed as Kimora Lee Simmons riding a hedgehog, and it suited them all too well.
musigneus dressed as Bob Dylan, though it looked more like the Archbishop of St. Cronin.
myhappyface dressed as Michael Jackson.
mysala dressed as Bob Dylan.
nadjalee dressed as the Cardinal of La Octesa.
nasturtium dressed as the King of Poland, though it looked more like the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
nativemoon dressed as your brother.
ndmzero dressed as the Tasty Power Ranger.
neotoma dressed as a hooker.
nigita dressed as Yu-Gi-Oh, though it looked more like Al Pacino.
norie47 dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Stella.
noukran dressed as "Bones" McCoy from "Star Trek".
nullabona dressed as the Governor of Kansas.
nytelover dressed as Anna Kournikova.
obelix dressed as a character from "Goodfellas".
obeythebunny dressed as Conan O'Brien.
office_ennui dressed as a sword.
oh_contraire dressed as Jennifer Lopez.
onebitchficrecs dressed as Nicole Kidman.
oulangi dressed as the love child of Michael Douglas and Tonya Harding.
ozarque dressed as the White Power Ranger.
ozcmom dressed as a second baseman for the Cubs.
ozfille dressed as a pirate.
pakeha dressed as your grandfather.
pat_t dressed as a new superhero: Danger Squid.
paulamcg dressed as Hugh Grant.
peak_in_darien dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Heidi.
pegkerr dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Anvil of Light.
pekeana dressed as the Archbishop of Bussey, though it looked more like a elk.
pen_and_umbra dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Zsa-Zsa Gigglechunks".
penguingal dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Beloved Lover.
pepperjackcandy dressed as the King of Falkland Islands.
peppermint_art dressed as a ghost, though it looked more like a horned drizzle.
peregrine_ek dressed as a happy witch.
peregrinuscanus dressed as a deer.
perkypaduan gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as a doctor.
permetaform dressed as the Governor of Tennessee, and it suited them disturbingly well.
persnickety_pru dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Quiet Will.
phantomas dressed as a outfielder for the Reds.
phantomberkanna dressed as a turkey.
phantomtale666 dressed as a bottle of Prevtarg.
pictishqueen dressed as a interrim paper pusher.
pipyn dressed as a skunk, and it suited them all too well.
pitchblackrose dressed as an external hard drive.
pocketrocket dressed as a cigarette.
pre_expansion dressed as a vampire.
przed dressed as Optimus Prime.
psu_jedi dressed as a rook.
pupsicle dressed as a 1990's grunge child.
quentelin dressed as Dwight Eisenhower.
quine dressed as a Level 9 fighter.
quondamquadrat dressed as Sirius Black.
ragtime_to_time dressed as something opaque, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
rakshi dressed as Jon Stewart.
raneclowd dressed as the Constant Power Ranger.
raviahmad dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
rayphile dressed as the love child of George W. Bush and Queen Elizabeth.
rectacular dressed as the King of Georgia, though it looked more like a outfielder for the Diamondbacks.
redjeweled dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Oprah Pottylips".
reposoir dressed as Jesus, though it looked more like a rubber frost.
resonant8 dressed as Jennifer Lopez.
rexluscus dressed as a chicken.
ribby dressed as a senior button pusher.
rinliel dressed as the Lord of Blue Plains.
rinsbane dressed as a Level 5 bard.
robinwest dressed as a third baseman for the Mets, though it looked more like a pizza.
rochefort dressed as Martha Stewart.
rocky_t dressed as a Tracey.ComCorporation employee.
roitelet dressed as a cigarette box.
rose_whispers didn't dress up, spoilsport.
rosedemon dressed as Rebecca Romijn's cousin.
rosemont1021 dressed as Dwight Eisenhower.
rs_scouting dressed as someone who just had sex.
ruedifference dressed as Ted Williams.
ryhasso dressed as Kurt Cobain.
rynne dressed as William Henry Harrison.
sadiethenymph dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Diane, and it suited them disturbingly well.
saimhe dressed as a evil human resources flunkie.
saintrobert didn't dress up, spoilsport.
sakurazukakami dressed as a can of pork 'n beans.
sambre dressed as a new superhero: Warrior Warrior.
samson28 dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Erratic Wizard.
sandrainthesun dressed as a character from "A Streetcar Named Desire".
sandrine dressed as the Slimy Power Ranger.
sangerin dressed as the Marquis of Darlington.
sarcasticchick dressed as Famke Janssen.
saturn92103 dressed as David Beckham riding a hedgehog.
savageseraph dressed as a conversion.
scaffold dressed as something bankrupt, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
scarlettmoon dressed as Valentino Rossi, and it suited them disturbingly well.
schemingreader dressed as Hurricane Alexander.
scribblinlenore dressed as a goblin.
seafreeair dressed as the Duke of toxbic.
seascribe dressed as something awkward, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
sebastiane dressed as a safety for the Jaguars.
seemag dressed as the Governor of Idaho.
seki_raku dressed as a compound angel.
seleneheart didn't dress up, spoilsport.
setsi dressed as Shania Twain's mother.
settiai dressed as Bono.
sex_and_tea gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as Wolfgang Puck.
shadowspin dressed as Andrew Johnson.
shayenne dressed as a diplomat from Mayotte.
sheafrotherdon dressed as a character from "The Wizard of Oz".
shehasathree dressed as something frightened, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
sheldrake dressed as Ashley Judd.
shieldmaidenelf dressed as a first baseman for the Blue Jays.
shoeless_girl dressed as a kicker for the Bengals.
shortofserenity dressed as Sarah Michelle Gellar.
shota_hunter didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
shrinetolust dressed as Paris Hilton.
sienamystic dressed as Judge Judy Sheindlin riding a giraffe.
silentmorgan dressed as a doctor.
silver89kitten dressed as a Level 4 barbarian.
silverysnow dressed as James Madison.
sinisterf dressed as a pixie.
sio dressed as Hillary Clinton.
siriaeve dressed as a Ebony Moller Computers employee, though it looked more like the love child of Johnny Depp and Milla Jovovich.
siriusblackout dressed as Tom Cruise.
siriuslysnogged dressed as a surprise, and it suited them disturbingly well.
sistermarysith dressed as a eagle.
sivib dressed as Calvin Coolidge.
sizequeen dressed as a Level 2 barbarian.
skandrae dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Pauline.
skuf dressed as Shaquille O'Neal.
slytherinboyz dressed as Keri Russell riding a eagle.
snapes_nightie dressed as a skeleton.
snarkyducky dressed as Paul Harvey's aunt.
snegurochka_lee dressed as Abraham Lincoln.
soggyoptimist dressed as a new superhero: Mega- Flame.
sol_se dressed as William Henry Harrison, and it suited them disturbingly well.
sombras_azules dressed as a juice, and it suited them disturbingly well.
spacenewt dressed as the Cardinal of Black Bridge.
sparowe dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Hammer of Omaha.
spiderboots dressed as a justice.
spiritspeak dressed as Worf from "Star Trek".
squeeful dressed as the main character of "Witness for the Prosecution", and it suited them disturbingly well.
sscrewdriver dressed as something rich, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
star_raiser dressed as Will Ferrell.
starfishchick dressed as Radioactive Man.
stella_by_moor dressed as Harry Potter, and it suited them all too well.
stewardess_lotr dressed as a failure.
stexgirl2000 dressed as something surface, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
stiffleaves dressed as a Level 9 thief.
stillcaenis dressed as a bottle of Canata.
stone_princess dressed as a second baseman for the Yankees.
strawberriezgrl dressed as Halle Berry.
sugata dressed as the Earl of Flulon.
swatkat24 dressed as the Governor of Texas.
syredronning dressed as a rainbow fish.
tabiji dressed as Daisy Fuentes's grandmother, though it looked more like Thandie Newton riding a giraffe.
talathwen dressed as Warren G. Harding.
tammylee dressed as a new superhero: Power Lightning.
tarzansgirl dressed as Emeril Lagasse riding a rat.
taurean_sin dressed as the love child of Larry Bird and Martina Hingis.
telesilla dressed as Daniela Pestova.
terri_coco dressed as your sister.
thaisa dressed as a first baseman for the Angels.
the_reverand dressed as a sorry zombie.
thedivinegoat dressed as Paris Hilton, and it suited them disturbingly well.
thefourthvine dressed as Karl Rove.
thehighbrow gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as Julia Roberts.
thelovehater dressed as your uncle.
themostepotente dressed as a character from "The Sixth Sense".
thepiratequeen dressed as a peanut.
thescarletwoman dressed as a bottle of Mylostretol.
thesnarryfairy dressed as a Level 3 thief.
thespacesbtween dressed as Trent Reznor.
thetinydemon dressed as a nice witch, and it suited them disturbingly well.
thetreacletart gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as a ClermontCorp. employee.
thewenchywiccan dressed as the Governor of Maine.
thia dressed as Osama bin Laden.
thistlefics dressed as a Level 14 sorcerer, though it looked more like the Viscount of Kyjiqa.
thistlerose dressed as Frylock.
timberwolfoz dressed as Beavis.
timetiger forgot to put on clothes!
tinwoodsman dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Lumpy Wafflebrains".
tipgardner dressed as a bottle of Certformlog.
titagale dressed as Wesley Crusher from "Star Trek".
todayiamadaisy forgot to put on clothes!
toooldnotto dressed as Santa's Little Helper.
totallykate dressed as your father.
trekkiegrrrl dressed as a diplomat from Greenland.
trevelyan_s dressed as a second baseman for the Diamondbacks.
trexphile dressed as a new superhero: Dawn Light.
tryllian dressed as a safety for the Falcons.
tullysatre dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley, though it looked more like Chekov from "Star Trek".
twistedchick dressed as Kelly Hu.
twjudy dressed as a firefighter, and it suited them disturbingly well.
tyellas dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
ubervirgin dressed as your cousin.
uisgich dressed as a priest.
unanon dressed as a Glenbeulah Bulletin Newspaper employee.
undomiel_ dressed as Sophie Marceau's cousin.
undonne dressed as something nice, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
undunoops dressed as a interrim computer programmer.
unicorn33 dressed as the Earl of St. Cheney.
untappedbeauty dressed as Bette Midler riding a eagle.
ureima dressed as a new superhero: Electra- Wasp.
valerienne dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Will Hound.
valis2 dressed as the Lord of Diazac.
vamptinkerbell gets drunk, strips naked, and somehow emerges dressed as the Governor of New York.
vaverine dressed as a angel.
vejgeta92k dressed as a horny bark.
vejgeta9 dressed as Kurt Cobain.
venivincere dressed as a squirrel.
venusian_sage dressed as Reese Witherspoon's uncle.
venusinchains dressed as a intelligent butter.
vertigo66 dressed as a meat.
vily dressed as a Louhr-Hsieh & Company RailroadAmalgamated employee.
viola_dreamwalk dressed as the equator.
violet_quill dressed as a third baseman for the Royals.
virgofolkie dressed as the Duke of Favcyclolog, and it suited them all too well.
vissy dressed as a outfielder for the Padres.
viverra_libro dressed as a slimy resistance.
voxarcanum dressed as a 1980's yuppie child, and it suited them all too well.
voyagerina dressed as a furious ghost.
vulgarweed dressed as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
walkerminion dressed as a giraffe.
watergal dressed as Martina Hingis.
wednesdayschild dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
wee_minxy dressed as Anna Nicole Smith.
weedy_tea dressed as a witch.
weetanya dressed as Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, though it looked more like a zombie.
weightymatters dressed as a foreign taste.
weiwei007 dressed as a rainbow fish.
wha_hoppened dressed as a bottle of lotion.
whitesangria dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Nicole.
whoisus dressed as the Cardinal of Humadine.
wildcardgal forgot to put on clothes!
wildreality dressed as a first baseman for the Devil Rays.
windsweptaway dressed as a carpet.
wolfma dressed as a new superhero: Dawn Enigma.
wolkendunst dressed as Space Ghost.
wyoming_knott dressed as a social pixie.
wyomingnot dressed as the Brady Bunch -- all of them, and it suited them disturbingly well.
xavantina dressed as a associate webmaster.
xochiquetzl dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Janie.
yeungmaisu dressed as Osama bin Laden.
youngest_seeker dressed as a new superhero: Bat Cat.
yukipon dressed as Counselor Troi from "Star Trek".
zagara dressed as the President of Sri Lanka.
zaneetas dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Concord of the Anvil.
zasjah dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Flunky Tofusquirt".
zavoot dressed as a giraffe, though it looked more like Queen Elizabeth.
zipudding dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Fluffy Giggleshorts".

Throw your own party at the Hallomeme!
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The Giants beating the Cowboys is almost always a cause to be pleased, particularly when it's so clear that the Redskins will not be a force in the division this season!