Really? No one has any Halloween Thoughts they want to share? Come on, it’s Halloween! Did everyone have parents that just locked them up in the basement and didn’t let them go out to trick-or-treat?

I’ll go first by answering my own questions:
- I’ve already shared some of my favorite memories from Halloween.
- I only dress up now for the costume parties, but maybe I’ll dress up in last year’s purple haired witch costume to trick-or-treat with Jason tonight.
- I am planning on going to a costume party this year at EJ’s, but I can’t tell what my costume is. The theme for the party is “Dictators & Terrorists” - what do YOU think I should dress up as?
- My favorite Halloween candy is a toss up between the large Tootsie Rolls and the mini Reese’s peanut butter cups. I absolutely hate the peanut butter things in the orange and black wrappers.

So, how about you? Trick-or-Treat!

Reading Jenn’s post about Halloween got me thinking about it myself. This will probably be one of Jason’s last years going out trick or treating (he’s 11 - we get to stop soon, right?), and of course I have mixed feelings about this. It’s hard sometimes watching your child grow up. Ironic that some schools and churches worry about Halloween celebrating pagan rituals - which it does, I realize that - but Jason’s Catholic school allowed them to wear their costumes to school today. I think that’s great - it’s such a waste to spend money on a costume to wear it just a few hours.

When I was growing up, it seems like we always got to wear our costumes to school. In Kindergarten we had a parade with the other class, and then we had a big party. I dressed up as Raggedy Ann - my Mom made my costume and I had a wig made of red yarn. It was really quite adorable - I might have to see if we can find a photo tonight and post it!

My parents were involved with the Jaycess and Jayceettes, so they always worked on the Haunted Houses that they sponsored. I would go with them, watch them building the house, knew the maze pattern, what was contained in every room and how it was all fake. I remember one year, I was so excited to finally get to go through the Haunted House when it opened - and I was TERRIFIED! I started screaming and crying right after we went around the first corner, but it was too packed to get back out - so I ran through the whole thing, crying the entire way. I guess knowing all the secrets didn’t help in the end.

When we moved to Kankakee, there was a house in our subdivision that went all out for Halloween. They had the black lights, the glowing things, candles, haunted house music - and they would sit on the porch, dressed up as a scarecrow with straw and everything - and just as you convinced yourself that the scarecrow was fake, they would leap up and grab you! I think I fell for it every year, even though I knew to expect it.

My parents always got candy from me out of my goodie bag at the end of the night. I remember coming home, dumping it all out on the floor, inspecting it (because the days of razorblades and pins in candy had already started), and then sorting it out. The pile for my favorites, the stuff that was just ok, and the stuff that I hate. I am a picky eater, and I don’t like nuts in my candy bars. I love peanut butter, but I can’t stand peanuts in what should otherwise be a smooth candy experience. My parents got my Snickers and anything else with nuts, along with those nasty peanut butter chew things - the ones in the orange or black wrappers. I hate those, eating them feels like you are going to pull a tooth out!

What are your favorite Halloween memories from your childhood? Do you still dress up for Halloween? Are you going to any costume parties this year? What are you going as? What is your favorite Halloween candy? What is the worst candy ever?

I’ve never been a big fan of the “tip jar” that you see on some blogs. I understand why people put them there, but I don’t know if I would ever give someone money through one. Sure, if they were raising money for a specific campaign (walking for breast cancer, biking for MS like I will be doing in April) I am more likely to send a donation to the cause. Or I might send someone a gift from their Amazon Wishlist. But I don’t normally toss money right in to the tip jar. Then again, I don’t give money to the people begging on the street corner either.

Last week, I mentioned that I had been sent information on adding two basic, non-obtrusive text ads to my sites. In exchange for two little href links on four sites, I got a nice chunk of change. I will get that same amount of cash once a month, along with new links to switch out. Jennifer pointed out this post about blog spamming and said that she was going to change from my default skin to avoid the text links.

This confused me, and I really don’t agree with Orange Haired Boy’s post at all. I posted two text links, href tags only. I got to pick where they are at on my site, and if you scroll so far down on my sidebar that you even see them I would be amazed. I checked the links myself to make sure that they went to legitimate sites without pop-up ads that cart you off to some porn spam mecca - and they don’t. (I could have asked for different links if I wanted to even, but I took the ones they sent to me.) On one of my sites, the text is visible, but blends almost in to the page - and I made it display “below the fold” on a page that otherwise requires no scroll. My e-mail was from a different address and ISP altogether, and to be honest - I didn’t do that much checking in to it anyways. I wouldn’t have even looked at the headers of the e-mail if it wasn’t for OHB’s post. I think he’s wrong to suspect some scam - especially based on my own experience.

Maybe it’s just me, but if you wave some free money in front of my face, I will take it. I am all about the cash. Within 24 hours of posting my 2 links on 4 sites, I had cash sent on over to my PayPal account. Bing, bang, boom, and I was $90 richer. Oh yes, you read that right. $90 for 8 text links total. Plus if I refer friends and they sign up, I get a few dollars (one time only) more. Oh yeah, $90 a month and then some? I am *so* there! (If you want to sign up, leave a comment - I’ll have them e-mail you.)

Why pay money for text links? Easy! It boosts your rating in Google if you get a site that frequently updates (and is therefore frequently spidered) to post links to you constantly. In the past, I have seen traffic hit my site from Google just hours after my posts about things like Ben Affleck’s toupee. Google is my bitch. (I mean that in the best way, as I absolutely love to use Google for my searches all the time.) So there is no scam here at all - just a quick way to make some cash.

Considering the volume of spam I get, if I got more spam because of the text ads, so what? Spam is a lot easier to take if you are getting paid for it.

Speaking of Google, after seeing their AdSense ads on other sites and reading Matt’s feature about Blogging for Dollars, I decided to sign up. I never received notice about whether or not I was approved though - so today I tried to just log in to the site, and it worked. Guess they approved me. Now I’ve gone and added the AdSense banner to the bottom of every main page and to every individual archive page. It’s fun and amusing to see what ads you get for some of my posts, especially that last one about Howard Dean being metrosexual.

Which brings me full circle to the point of this post - edited at Google’s request. Just look at the PVR Blog results from talking about Tivo!

I’m all about the Benjamins… does that make me a bad person?

After seeing that Howard Dean has declared himself “metrosexual”, the first thought I had was to wonder if next we will see “Queer Eye for the Straight Politician”! Wouldn’t that be a riot?

I should point out that he later admitted he had heard the term, but didn’t know what metrosexual even means. I still want to see Queer Eye get ahold of him!

Let’s be clear. I know absolutely nothing for the most part about the three main candidates running for mayor in Houston. I do not live within Houston city limits, so I do not get to vote for the position. I tried to watch the debate last week between Orlando Sanchez, Bill White and Sylvester Turner. I couldn’t handle it. Between Orlando’s makeup and eyeliner (yes, seriously), Bill’s jug-handle ears that left me making gestures to the TV as if I could pick him up by them, and … well, Sylvester is just a freakin’ idiot that leaves me wanting to throw things at the TV - I switched the channel within 10 minutes. If I need a political update, I’ll just head to Chuck’s site and get the update on the Texas and Houston political scene.

I did notice the most recent television ad for Orlando Sanchez though. It starts off with an image of a tire splashing through a pothole, with the voiceover telling us how Orlando will fix Houston. You know, the usual babble that we always get. The handshaking, the smiles - the makeup and eyeliner. (I can’t deny that I find the man creepy, but that really had no part in my impression of the ad.)

At the very end, they show a crowd gathering around him. The crowd is diverse - blacks, whites, Hispanics, oriental - a mixture of people, much like Houston itself. One problem though - they were dim. I can’t really explain it, but it was as if there was no lighting on them - but Orlando?

Orlando was glowing. Like Jesus, risen on Easter morning. A glow that could probably be seen for miles. A glow that made me realize just how far politics in Texas have gone.

A vote for Sanchez is a vote for God. Smite him, and you will be struck down. I am sure of it, and I am glad I don’t get to vote in the Houston elections after all!

On a sad side note, the day after I noticed Orlando’s glow in the commercials and decided I really wanted to blog about it - I stopped seeing the commercials. For a week or so, I saw them all the time. The glowing image of Orlando was burned in to my brain. Now? Nothing. However, there are some old episodes of Seinfeld on the Tivo … maybe I’ll get lucky. Trust me, if I get a photo of it, I will share!

Just released today - MT-Blacklist Version 1.5! Mad props to Jay and everyone else involved for their hard work!

Now go and defend your MT powered blog from comment spammers!

Some days it’s the little things that amuse me:

:: 100 Days Left Until Super Bowl XXXVIII Kickoff: I think it’s really cool that our Super Bowl has three “X”s in front, and three “I”s at the end. It also makes it easier for me to remember.

:: An assistant director for Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ” was reportedly hit twice by lightning during filming in Italy. Maybe I’m just being superstitious, but I really think that’s a sign. At least he gets a cool nickname out of the deal - “Lightning Boy”!

:: The new Brawny man is dark haired, dimpled and clean shaven. I’ve never been a big fan of men with blond hair. The new Brawny man seems to be just so … Brawny. Good move there. (Also seen last week on Promo’s site.)

:: Gambling TV Channel To Premiere Next Year. Really? Is there a need for this? It just seems … wrong.

:: Puffy Combs Quits Sex For 2 Whole Weeks. Yes, that’s what the headline says. Two whole weeks. WHY is this newsworthy???

Whoo hoo! We finally have fall weather here in Houston! Today the high is only going to be 70 degrees. 70 degrees! At last! Of course, the high on Wednesday is expected to be 82. Will the summer never end?

Yes, a high of 70 degrees (right now it’s only 55!) is something to be very excited about. What? Why are you giving me that strange look? You mean 70 degrees isn’t “fall” weather in the rest of the country?

After my Library Adventures on Tuesday, I decided that I really want to revamp my Media blog and either include links to the books I’ve read as regular posts here, or make them easier to access on my sidebar. But then I start to wonder … what do you think? (Yeah, you. There. In that chair. I’m talking to you.) Would you care? Do you read books? Should I leave them tucked on the side in the sidebar links, or would you want to see them integrated here?

It’s sort of like those books you had when you were a kid - I’m proposing two options, you get to pick which one you want. How cool is that? (Ok, I only had one of those books - but my cousin had a ton. I always thought they were just the coolest thing…) I’m not doing decisions today - tell me what to do.

Tuesday, after the fabulous H-Town downtown blogger lunch, I had to go to the library to do research for a case that is going to trial soon. When was the last time you visited a library? I’ve gone to them a few times in the past 10 years, but always to just check out a book or two and go home. Nothing extensive, and I normally know what book I need before I even walk in the door. I have never visited the main branch of the Houston Public Library here in downtown. I’ve lived here for the most part since 1985 - but the Harris County Library is right by home, so why go downtown? And I haven’t spent hours on end doing research in a library since I was in college in 1990 - and a lot has changed since then. It was an interesting adventure, to say the least.

When I arrived, I went straight to the information desk. I gave her a brief summary of the obscure data I was looking for, and she sent me up to the business section on the second floor. I know I was the research librarians dream at that moment - I headed straight to the desk and asked for help. I swear, there was a sparkle in her eye as she took me to the SRIs (Statistical Research Index) and showed me how to look up the information I needed. Then it was over to the microfiche drawers to pull what I needed from them.

All seemed to be going really well up to this point. Then it all changed. First of all, they don’t take coins in most of the machines anymore - you have to find the machine that dispenses a plastic card that you can add money to as you need it. I’m a fairly intelligent person, I like to think. That machine almost beat me though. Even worse was the microfiche machine. I had to check out a lens, then find a lens that would work with the machine.

Once I finally got everything set up, I started going through films. Oh my. I forgot that reading things on those machines makes me sick to my stomach! It must be the zoominess of moving from row to row as you search out what you need. Ack! One of the other library patrons actually commented that I looked sick - my cheeks were all pink and flush. I was miserable for the rest of the night.

After I finished with the machines, I went and talked with the librarian again about other research options and I discovered something that is pretty cool and amazing. If you have a library card, you can go online and find all sorts of things on their website! They have a lot of the periodicals online, so I could find articles that weren’t available on the microfiche. Absolutely amazing - where was this when I was in college?

Being an information junkie, I had to head down to the main desk to pick up a library card all my own. Even though I don’t live in the Houston city limits, the cards are free for any resident in the state of Texas. How did I miss the fact that this whole wealth of information was right under my nose all this time?

With my fresh library card in hand, I wandered through the fiction section on the main floor where they have a sampling of titles from other sections. It took all the strength I had left (after the whole tummy issue thanks to the microfiche machine) to not check out 20 books to read. Instead, I limited myself to three, which is probably more than I can read considering all the bookrings I have signed up for over at BookCrossing. It was really cool to walk in to the room and see Cory Doctorow’s “Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom” standing up on display on the shelves - so cool, I actually stopped to take a picture of it! (Yes, I’m a dork. I’m well aware of it.)

I realized something as I left the library. As much as I love bookstores, I love the library even more. I don’t know why I have been avoiding them for all these years. When I was a girl, my elementary school was next door to the Kankankee Public Library and I used to go there all the time. It is such a pure delight to walk through the aisles, picking through all the books available for me to read and absorb and learn from. So much knowledge, so many words - it is almost intoxicating. Have you visited your local library lately? I know I will be returning to mine very soon!

Books, books, books - what wonderful things books are! Have you read any good books lately?

Have you thought about participating in Theme Thursday or submitting a photo to Picture Yourself in the past? Well, here is your chance to do both! This week’s theme for Theme Thursday is to take a picture of yourself - and submit it to both sites! Then over the next week or so (depending on how many are submitted), your photos will be posted on Picture Yourself. How cool is that?

So, this Thursday … how do you Picture Yourself?

If you’re using the default skin on my blog and you look at the very bottom of the sidebar on the left, you will see two text links. You may have seen them on the sites of other bloggers too. What are they? Links that I’ve been paid to post. No special requirements or anything, just post the links and be paid well. Want in? Let me know and I will pass your information on to the appropriate people and you can sign up too. Yeah, I probably get a referral fee for sending you - and you will get money too.

So you may say I’m selling out, but really it’s a win-win situation for all of us! Let me know if you’re interested!

Last week I went on a book binge at Half Price Books. It is amazing what they have for only a quarter, sometimes fifty cents. Great books that I’ve always wanted to read - it’s almost as much fun as getting a good find at a garage sale. I love that feeling of victory, as if you are conquering something great and huge by getting such a good deal.

As I stood at the counter with my $3.00 worth of books, the man at the next register was finishing up his purchase. He went to pay with his American Express card, and the cashier politely asked to see his ID.

“I do NOT have to show you my license. That is a federal crime asking for that, and I WILL NOT SHOW IT TO YOU!”

She apologized and asked him to calm down. She explained that it was management’s policy, she was just doing as she was told to do.

“Then your management IS STUPID!”

She remained calm - amazing if you ask me, because while I am a patient person, I might have just snapped by that point. Again, she asked him to calm down.

“I will NOT calm down! You do not need to see my license, that is a crime to even ask for it. Once you see my license, you have two-thirds of the information you need to steal my identity!”

She explained that she is not writing anything down, all she is doing is checking the photo and the signature. She calmly states that it is just a safety precaution, to verify that the person using the card is the legitimate owner. She tells him that she doesn’t need to see his ID though if he is not comfortable with it, she will simply complete the transaction. He can make his purchase, have his books and go home.

This is not enough to please this man.

He shows her his ID, covering the address information with his thumb. She graciously thanks him for showing it to her, quickly glances at it to reassure him that she is not copying down any pertinent information, and completes his purchase. The whole time, he is still grumbling about identity theft and how in California it is illegal to ask for ID with a credit card purchase, matter of fact it’s a federal crime. (I guess he realized he was in Texas at the moment, and California’s laws don’t matter here.)

The most amusing part for me? If you’re really so adamant about this, convinced that store clerks are going to steal your identity and all that, wouldn’t you be even more worried about the conspiracy theory ideas floating around out there and the fact that the credit card companies can track your every move based on the purchases you made? Because in the grand scheme of things, I would be a lot more worried about that. Maybe it’s just me… or maybe they really are watching all of us.

It’s nice to have my weblogs back after messing things up yesterday, which prevented me from posting and you from commenting. To celebrate, I’ve added six new photos to Pixelog. Enjoy!