21 days to Halloween

Have you decorated yet?

I don't do much decorating for Halloween anymore. Just some scattered reminders that it's October again. I'll have my Jack O Lanterns, a few evil-eye stickers, and sometimes a hanging scarecrow I make out of dried leaves and old clothes. Not the scariest looking thing in the world, sure. Unless, that is, you are walking past in the middle of the night with no idea it's hanging there.



This year, I haven't decorated at all yet. I've been focusing on my Halloween goodies. Today I made some Halloween shaped sugar cookies that still need icing. Next on the list: candy apples and pumpkin pies. But that won't be today.



What are some of your decorations for Halloween?

October Eve and Halloween Radio

Happy October Eve!

Remember that old Halloween Radio post I mentioned a while back? Remember how I said I still get hits on that particular post? Well recently a friendly blog-prowler, neverendingwonder, pointed out another source for Halloween Radio.

His source, http://www.neverendingwonder.com/

I suggest you check it out. It's free, which is always a plus. But even better is that the music is good. There's a number of different applications you can use to listen (everything from Winamp to itunes), and the website features some contests and other Halloween info. Oh, and it's the only internet radio station with an elf in a jar!

Thanks to The Insane Uncle Ozma for the heads-up.

Little Big Planet

I like entertainment, and I don't discriminate. I love watching movies as much as I love reading. But I never talk about my other addiction: video games.

There's one video game in particular that I want to talk about called Little Big Planet. It's a fun little side-scroller (like the old Mario Bros. or Sonic games), and you play as a tiny "sack-boy" who gads across the screen.

The most impressive feature of this game, however, is the ability to create your own levels and publish them on the online community for all to play and rate. There are currently over one million of these user created levels available to play.

You must now be wondering why I'm talking about a video game during my "Halloween Countdown."

About a month ago, I tried my hand at creating a level. And of course, the level turned out being Halloween themed. Recently someone was kind enough to make a video as they played through. So I present, for your viewing enjoyment, "The Cursed Pumpkin Patch."

(Feel free to fast forward. The players tend to die a lot and start over.)

Follow Friday: Halloween edition

On Twitter they have this thing called "Follow Friday" where you type out a bunch of people's user names that you think others should follow. This isn't exactly the same, since I'm spotlighting only one blog. Plus, you know, this isn't Twitter.

Our friend Anita Marie at Anita's Owl Creek Bridge is dishing up the Halloween goodness by the truckload. Head over now and try to catch up; she's been posting some great stuff all through September.

For those wondering if I have mono, TMJ, or spiders nesting in my neck, you'll have to wait another day or two. My lab results took longer than anticipated.

Also, for those masochists who enjoy reading my horror reviews, I have three new ones over at Dark Scribe. You can either use my handy dandy links under "samples of my work" on the right sidebar ------->

Or you can go straight to Dark scribe and peruse the other great content as well.

Let's kick off the Halloween Countdown

In the past, I've relegated the 12 days leading up to October 31st for my *almost* annual Halloween countdown. But this year, as I'm feeling the tingly fingers of Samhain a tad early, I thought I'd post a smattering of Halloween goodness in September as well as throughout October.

Also, I'm feeling guilty about skipping last year, having taken a yearlong break from the old blog. So the last time I really vomited orange all over Tales at Twilight was in 2007.

To kick us off this year, I want to promote some Halloween music. In 2007 I also posted some links to free Halloween Radio. Interestingly, this post *still* gets hits to this day, suggesting people are dying for good Halloween music.


Kristen Lawrence to the rescue. On her WEBSITE you can find Kristen's Halloween EP, "Arachnitect." It's on sale now as either a download (less than four bucks!) or a CD. And according to her info, this is just the first of many volumes of Halloween music to come.

Kristen has a full version of her song "Ghost of John - Bare Bones Version" for FREE download on her site, as well as a few clips of the other songs.

From her description of the style of music on the CD: "Sounds like J.S. Bach bought some Marshall amps and Danny Elfman tromped through a 16th century masquerade festival."

I strongly (ignore the knife in my hand) suggest you check out the clips. You'll be happy you did.

More Halloween fun to come. Keep posted.

EDIT: Just another note. Kristen's newest CD, a full length offering entitled A Broom With A View will be available very soon. Keep posted on her website in the news section.

The Mysterious Case of the Swollen Lymph Nodes.

A few days ago I noticed a hard cyst-like bump near my jawline, and slightly under my ear. My first panicked conclusion was that I had some sort of cyst or tumor. Grainy films of large needles and scalpels played in my mind as I contemplated the draining or removal of the lump.

Until more levelheaded and knowledgeable people explained it is probably a swollen gland. Over the following two days, the lump became painful, and other nearby areas of my neck and head began to hurt. And besides, I didn't feel sick. I had no sore throat or cold-like symptoms. Just these swollen glands.

I managed to come up with all sorts of fanciful diagnoses. I felt a couple of large bug bites on my head and decided they were made by a particularly venomous spider, and my swollen glands signaled my system fighting the poison. Or I have telepathic glands, and they were responding to a coming virus, yet to arrive.

I decided insurance or no insurance, I was going to the doctor.

The doctor confirmed, swollen glands. She asked questions like, "Have you been scratched by a cat recently?"

To which I said, "No."

She asked, "Any other complaints?"

"No."

She checked my ears and throat. All clear.

I told her my bug bite theory. She laughed.

Then she told me her theories. And *I* laughed.

Her diagnosis? She said I may have mono. Or, I may have TMJ.

Mono because of the swollen glands. TMJ because I was chewing gum when I walked in. I asked, "How else would I know if it's TMJ?"

She said, "Your jaw would hurt."

"But my jaw *doesn't* hurt"

Shrug. She wrote something on a prescription pad and handed it to me. "Go for blood-work. Call me in a few days. Take ibuprofen three times a day."

So I went and let them stick a needle into my arm (those fever dreams weren't so far off after all), and here I sit, contemplating my possible illnesses.

The hell of it is, once she told me what it *could* be, I started feeling really tired, and my jaw started to hurt. Like a good hypochondriac, I've got all the symptoms to the two possible sicknesses I probably don't even have.

So, I ask you, good readers, can you solve the Mystery of the Swollen Lymph Nodes? I've given you all the facts. Now you tell me:

Do I have mono?

Do I have TMJ?

Do I have a third, as yet unidentified illness?

Write out your deductions in the comments section. I'll have the answer by Friday, at the latest.

Gosh, isn't this fun?

Good thing there's Twitter.

I almost named this post, "Thank God for Twitter," and immediately scrapped it. I wouldn't want to imply that I think Twitter is heavenly. Besides, if God created the world in seven days, Twitter would have been a sneeze. But I digress.

I'm glad there's a Twitter because when I lapse into anti-blog mode, which I'm known to do, I still have that nifty "Twitter Update" device over on the right side of the blog -------->

That way at least the two or three people who stop by know I haven't croaked. They'll see my last tweet, "I've got the bacon sweats," or "2 x 2 = murder," or "The sweetest sound on Earth is a thump in my trunk," and know that I'm alive and well. "Well" in the physical sense, and not necessarily mentally.

It's like a placeholder. "Out to lunch."

Keeping you informed of my whereabouts 140 characters at a time.

Speaking of keeping you informed, I've been hard at work lately. I finished writing a new story called "Just Once More, Little Sister." Yeah, I know. The title creeps you out and makes you think it's about something extremely nasty. Well, it's not. Or, it is, but not what you think.

I sent out a couple more stories to some magazines. Put out a few more queries as well. I like having lots of papers floating around the ether. Makes those lazy days feel constructive knowing submissions are being considered.

Or not.