Werewolf Bar Mitzvah
Halloween Jukebox [via yewknee]
Mashuptown Massacre

Yewknee's Halloween mix [+ two bonus Halloween mixes from THE PAST]
Team Treehouse: An Experiment in TERROR, Part Two
Monster Mash-Up and Son of Monster Mash-Up
The Bride of Monster Mash-Up

Tiki Chris: 31 Days of Halloween Madness 2007
DIY Halloween
Halloween Photo Tips
Mr. Toast for Halloween

Photo © Gwen Harlow

That man is absolutely terrified of rollercoasters. I can't even tell you how much and I almost always get a bit or more pissed off whenever we go to the amusement park because HELLO, YOU ARE NOT EIGHT and I really, really, really love rollercoasters and in all those daydreams I had about me and Shaun Cassidy? We were holding each other and shrieking with laughter as we rode the rollercoaster at Magic Mountain over and over, and now I have a real-life boyfriend who's a million times better than those dumb little pre-teen fantasies except he won't go on the MF-ing rollercoaster with me.

The charm about Chad is that once in awhile he'll agree to go, just once, let's be really clear that it's just this one ride and don't expect that next time we're at the boardwalk he's going to do it again, let alone tonight, but he'll go, and we walk up to the ticket booth and spend $9 on a pair of one-ride tickets and stand in line and climb into the car and he turns to me, white-knuckled and all the blood drained from his face, a moment before we careen down the track, and asks where it is they take the picture because he doesn't want to look so scared this time because it's a little embarrassing and god, I love that man sometimes, you don't even know.

Photo © Gwen Harlow

There were about 80 warnings when we did our online reservations about the bears. The two ladies running the camp warned us about the bears several times. The folks in town told us that bears have been parading about like they own the place all summer and hoped we'd be careful. They terrified us with their bear tales and we were stored everything -- even our lip balms! -- in the bear locker and then we saw NO BEARS AT ALL and it was a bit disappointing.

» More photos from our summer vacation 2007

Photo © D'arby

[Photo stolen from my child, who took this most awesome self-portrait.]

D'arby and her bandmate on the Typhoon, which is the two giant hammers that swing back and forth in opposite directions and you're sitting in the hammerhead and eventually you make it all the way around and at that moment it is better than the Giant Dipper and all the drop rides put together, being upside down and barely held inside this aluminum-barred car by a fraying old 1960s-style seatbelt and you hear change jingling out of pockets and bouncing on the ground a million miles below your head.

You *wish* you were 16 again.

Photo © Gwen Harlow

Today's Photobooth Friday!

The summer Chad arrived, a little more than a month after he showed up on my doorstep. D'arby was at her dad's, we wanted to go somewhere but didn't have a car so we took Greyhound to Santa Cruz, his first visit to one of my favorite places. The arcade on the boardwalk has several photobooths. We had dinner at Positively 8th Street? 6th Street? A little diner that was written up in the weekly and had a train running around the room near the ceiling, we were never able to find it again, I think it closed. Walked along the promenade, down the pier. It was our first trip together.

Photo © Gwen Harlow

Have you checked out Cade? I know I told you to, but maybe you forgot. He does the hilarious blue doll story sets, Barbie's Love Dilemma and Barbie in the Big House -- be sure to read the captions, they're almost as good as the photos.

Also fabulous: his Self Portraits, especially The Twelfth of Never. And the bathtub one. Dead sexy and hanging on my bulletin board. I never get tired of looking at that photo.

None of this is particularly safe for work. Like that ever stopped you.

Photo © Gwen Harlow

The annual Oakland Museum of California White Elephant Sale was this weekend. I went once, a really long time ago, and barely remember it. I probably blocked it out because it is jam-packed with everything under the son and there's this Byzantine 18-step method for purchasing anything [which you must go through for each department] and omg there is so much stuff. The books section totally freaked me out.

Haul:
small wooden pelican for Chad: $18.50
rusty old edger for the yard: $2 [it works!]
a couple cards of vintage buttons: $2.30
folio of old photographs of Mexico: 25¢

I love succulents. There's a house down the street where the whole front is dozens and dozens of pots of all manner of succulents, and I'd love to have at least a section like that here. The Christmas cactus I tried to start off with last month didn't make it through a deluge and a bunch of cold, so here are attempts #2 and #3, though I just read that that lovely flower means my cute little desert lotus is going to die. I guess that's my lesson for today, don't count your hens & chicks.

The lava rock planter came with the house and has been sitting out in the yard gathering moss all winter.

Bunches more after the jump...

I should have just done this in the first place but I was so excited to start gardening when we moved here, I just cleared a little space and threw down some seeds. The iris was overgrown, even after dividing a bunch of it out [the gaping holes there], not to mention way off center, and I didn't clean the dirt where I planted the alyssum and catnip well enough; it was too late in the season for them to do much anyway, but being overrun by grass and oxalis didn't help any. And the strawflower was doing all right but then the frost got it...

Iris corner, after

...so I bit the bullet and pulled everything, thinned the iris a bit more and centered it, then put in rosemary, Provence lavender, and parsley. It's kind of sparse right now, but it should fill in nicely soon enough. I was thinking about planting some basil and sage, but I'm going to put on my Shoes of Patience and wait to give whatever extraneous seeds might have snuck through a chance to sprout and be removed first.

Two new roses, two of six iris in front

A couple weeks ago, I divided the iris by the porch and put six bits along the sidewalk, which should fill out nicely and are already starting to show hints of blossoms, and Monday, I added two roses.

Back and Newty

Chad started attacking the bamboo roots again, and pulled out a bunch of oxalis along the fence where I'm going to plant some vines. It looks kind of trailer park right now, but I'm hoping it turns into an oasis by summer. I found an arboreal salamander while I was breaking up the dirt, his name's Newty and that's him in the fishbowl on the table.

And those are the peas lower left, they weren't doing much for awhile but the days have been a bit warmer the past week and they're growing again.

Parsley, strawberries

I planted the parsley out front with the iris on Monday, but I'm holding off on planting the strawberries until we have a couple frost-free mornings in a row, which doesn't seem like it's happening any time soon. They might end up living in a big bowl out back for awhile.

January 21, 2007
Days of grapes and roses

I generally avoid the big box stores -- I don't shop at Wal-Mart and Target because of their restrictive policies, and I prefer to spend my money where I know I'll get great service and quality and can support our local economy, like Thomsen's Garden Center and Pagano's Hardware Mart -- but once in awhile there's something at Home Depot, like a couple small, bare-root roses [we checked Thomsen's first but theirs are all gorgeous giant $30 ones that I can't afford right now] and the grape vines I'm going to plant in back.

January 18, 2007
Every gd morning

We live in California, at sea level, where the climate is usually very mild -- the year-round average here is 60° F, and it only dips into the 30s a few times each winter; I can count on my hands the number of times I've seen frost in the past five years. This year, we've had two straight weeks of frost so far. This was taken after the week that killed off most of California's citrus crops, ending tangerine season when it had barely begun; this morning, a week after this shot was taken, our front lawn was completely white when I got up and still has frozen spots at 10am. The only upside is the cold is apparently great for the stone fruits that ripen in summer, which includes my beloved pluots, but I'd prefer we had our normal weather back.

December 18, 2006
Frost rocks

...though I thought it was pretty darn neat when it first showed up in December.

Foolish heart

Frost TLA

December 17, 2006
Tulip magnolia at 5th and Santa Clara

These started showing up in mid-November here. In 2005, at my old place two miles away, they were super-early when they started blossoming in December; usually it's Januaryish for us, so I'm counting them as two months ahead of time.

December 16, 2006
Neighbor's fern

Viney's first bloom

This is as good as Viney's first bloom got. She suffered a bit of frostbite and the blossom shrivelled into itself and died.

Photo © Gwen Harlow

A bit late but it's good through March.
Download printable PDF of January-March 2007
Original photo

Photo © Gwen Harlow

When you go to the dentist and it turns out you have an abcess and need a root canal first thing Monday but in the meantime get a something-otomy to relieve the pressure on the nerve and it requires eight shots of novacaine because damn, that is one messed-up tooth:

Do not run right out and eat a sandwich, even if you've been in so much pain that you haven't been able to eat in days, because you will gnaw half your lip away without feeling a thing and not realize it til hours later when someone points out that OMG WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR LIP, and you will go look in the mirror, and you will be very, very sorry.

Anyone coming to the flickrmeet at the base tomorrow who tries to get a shot of my face will get the end of my boot instead.

Photo © Gwen Harlow

Am taking suggestions for a name for my bonsai.
A bunch of fresh garden photos after the cut.

Noel #2

Noel #1

Viney's first bud

Rather, the first one that looks like it's going to survive the vicious leaf munchers and dastardly swooping birds.

Veenie IV, pod person

I bought Veenie IV [who is actually my fourth Venus flytrap, but I named the Cobra lily Veenie III because I was feeling uncreative that day] just in time for her to go dormant -- you can see the dead black traps back there -- but she's not quite ready.

Veenie IV, claptrap

Veenie IV, saying Aaaah.

Ursula

I bought this nice shrubbery from the plant sale up at Tilden awhile back. I have to look up the name, I have it postied in my book. The variety of whatever it is has ursi or something in the name

Not Rosemary

I thought this was the rosemary seeds I planted many months ago finally coming up but my sister says they're not. I do have some nice moss going, though.

Splattered narcissus

The surprise flowers the previous tenants left.

Lily, point

Lily inside

Bonsai, trunk

Bonsai

Vera #3

Vera #2

Vera #1

Introducing: Veenie IV

Tulip magnolia, super early

Reachin'

Photo © Gwen Harlow

2006 was the absolute worst year ever. 2007 better do a 180 or someone's going down.

On the base next to the ships, watching the SF fireworks, L-Rish: me, Chad, Tim passive-aggressively covering up Gary, Maria, D'arby, Victoria, Lily.

Photo © Gwen Harlow