Thank you for lettin' me be myself!

This is a random, stream of consciousness list of things I am thankful for right now at this moment. This is in no way intended to be an exhaustive list, and it is not in any particular order.

Things I'm thankful for:

• Friends - old and new and old ones that are new again.
• Heat - including hot water. I don't know what I would do if I could not get a hot shower every day. And being in a warm house makes the cold weather a bit easier to take.
• Elastic.
• My job - I get frustrated and sometimes feel overworked, but I love my job. I'm so grateful I get to be involved in an organization I believe in, doing something that fits me, and working with people who are passionate and intelligent.
• Hope - ever since K sent me a garden rock with the word "HOPE" on it when I first started trying to have a baby (almost 10 years ago, believe it or not), the word "HOPE" has been something I've carried in my heart as a personal mantra. And I connected with Savannah because she named her daughter Hope, and I loved that name. All over my house I have little ornaments with the word "HOPE" to remind me of the power of having hope, even when things look bleak. I'm hopelessly hopeful.
• Nephews - my two nephews have filled me with so much love that I feel like the luckiest aunt on earth. I love those kids more than anything, they are smart and funny and cute and loving and just fun to be around. I'm also lucky to be an honorary aunt to some very special kids, who also fill my life with joy, even though I don't get to see them as often as I'd like. The children in my life have healed my heart more than anything else.
• Family - yes, all families are dysfunctional in their own way, but we all love each other and that counts for something.
• I've lived past 30 - I never thought I would. I don't know why, I just never thought I would live this long. So every day now is like a bonus!
• Chocolate (I don't think I need to explain this one)
• Clean water - after working with people from around the world, being exposed to advocacy issues concerning water, and traveling abroad to places where you CANNOT drink the water, I am aware of how lucky we are in the U.S. to be able to turn a faucet and have clean drinking water.
• Being debt-free - S. and I have been able to pay off all of our debts this year and that is something I am so grateful for. I am very aware that it is not something that many folks can experience, especially in this difficult economic time and in the midst of foreclosures. After receiving an inheritance, we were able to pay off our house and loans. It's interesting that now that I can afford it, I don't feel like spending money. (But I did get a new camera and an iPod, for which I am also grateful...)
• Sparkly stuff
• Faith/Spirit - I am grateful for spiritual mentors and friends who have helped lead me to a belief that fits me. I'm thankful for those who have listened to my theories and theologies, my questions and questions and questions, my anger and bitterness, my desire to have answers and understandings. There isn't a name or religion-label to put with what I believe, but I'm finding a spiritual comfort zone, and I am grateful for that.
• Music - I could not live without music. When I did my uterus collage, I put music notes in the ovaries, and my mom said, "Of course your ovaries would have music in them!" I love that I continue to find music that moves me. I love music. My iPod sleeps closer to me than my husband.
• Sake and Clonazepam - two things that help me get through the tough days (besides friends, crying, and sleeping). Sake is a new discovery for me. That will likely be a future blog entry.
• Sense of humor - I may not be interesting or funny to anyone else, but I find myself pretty entertaining! My self-deprecating humor is a self-defense mechanism. My sarcasm is often a way of telling the truth. I'm so glad that I am able to laugh and find humor in life. There was a time when I never thought I'd laugh again.
• Forgiving before being asked.
• Realizing that if you act with love, you can't go wrong.
• Eggnog milkshake season is here again.
• Quiet - I think some people might be surprised to know that I crave quiet, but I do. As I've dealt with things in my life, being alone and quiet has been more than a desire - it is a need for me. Doing anything with other people for long periods of time is very hard for me - I need a break from talking and engaging. Sometimes I take a bath and sink my head down under the water to cover my ears, close my eyes, and just listen to the water and my heartbeat. It's about the only time when I'm not thinking about something.
• Hugs.
• Google Maps.
• That I've somehow managed to lose 27 pounds this year, and even though some was not intentional, some was, and I am feeling better physically and emotionally as I've gotten some health issues under control in the last few months.
• Febreze.
• That even though the universe did not create me beautiful, it did create in me the ability to see and appreciate it in the world.
• Porn (yeah, I said it)
• Oceans and rivers and lakes and ponds and puddles that quench my thirsty soul.
• Deserts and grass and mountains and parks that dry me out when tears overflow.
• Independent movies and music.
• That there is no limit to my capacity for love.
• The kindness of strangers.
• Flushable wipes.
• Grilled cheese at my favorite restaurant, Pickwick & Frolic (they make it with Gouda and bacon!)
• A month without a plane ride.
• Facebook (yes, I'm addicted - but it has also brought special people back into my life and helped me connect more)
• That art is as meaningful as science - and just as important.
• The right to vote.
• Really nice, helpful people as cashiers, drive-thru order-takers, and pizza deliverers.
• That fat women like me now have more clothing options than muumuus.
• Orgasms.
• That there always seems to be a rest area just when you need it.


• and YOU!

Dropping a Blog

This blog entry is dedicated to B-Tom (yes, that's what I'm gonna call you now because it sounds cool), who inspired it with his comments on my blog. His comments made me think about all the euphemisms we have for pooping.

There are some that are more universal than others, like:

• dropping a deuce
• pinching a loaf
• catching up on some reading
• disposing of some hazardous waste
• dropping a log
• dropping the kids off at the pool
• making a deposit at the porcelain bank
• paving the Hershey highway
• releasing the demons
• taking a load off your mind
• dispensing some Soft-Serve
• exorcise the demons

Some funny ones I've never heard of, but of course someone on the internet has posted (note: I will not post or use the derogatory ones):

• bombing the Oval Office
• dancing with Deuce Bigalog
• full moon over troubled waters
• helping the groundhog find his shadow
• launching a corn canoe
• negotiating the release of the chocolate hostages
• taking the Browns to the Super Bowl
• updating the captain's log
• backing the bus out of the garage
• cleaning out the vertical file
• clear out some inventory
• colon bowlin’
• make a Cleveland steamer
• make a donation to the porcelain god
• open up a can of soup
• visit fortress of solitude

Wait a second! Why are so many of these derogatory references to Cleveland??

My patented term, by the way, for having diarrhea is: "ASSplosion" as in, "I gotta find a toilet quick! I'm about to have an ASSplosion!"

Another favorite of mine, as coined by my brother when he was in the Army, is "jumpers in the door." This is a reference to when paratroopers are at the door, and they say, "jumpers in the door!" Sometimes we just say, "Dude, I got jumpers!"

This is probably an appropriate place to share that intestinal issues are a family trait. My brother and I have been known to wrap up a box of Imodium AD and put it into each others' stockings at Christmas.

Some more of my personal favorite euphemisms for when you need to go:

• turtle poking its head out
• prairie doggin' it

My final topic of this blog entry is the strangely named trucking company, A. Duie Pyle. Everytime I see one of these trucks hauling down the highway, I think, "Does no one else think that's a kinda funny name? It must be a joke, right? Right??" But apparently, it is not.

A. Duie Pyle was founded by Mr. Alexander Duie Pyle of Coatesville, PA in 1924. Why he chose to call the company A. Duie Pyle and not something like A.D. Pyle, I'm not sure I know. Maybe back in 1924, the word "doo-doo" didn't have the same meaning.

Feeling a little flush

I can't believe a day like this would slip by me, but November 19 was World Toilet Day.

You know me, I'm ALL about potty humor, so I thought, "Wow, a day celebrating the toilet? How cool is that?" But, World Toilet Day might not be what you think.

November 19 was declared 'World Toilet Day' in 2001 by toilet associations around the world to raise awareness of the global sanitation crisis. That's right, "toilet associations." Since 2001, then there has been an annual World Toilet Summit and Expo.

We might think this is kind of silly, but what if there were no toilets? Where would you "go" when you had to go? Where would EVERYONE go? Toilets are a very serious issue in developing countries where hygiene is a matter of life and death.

• 2.5 billion people do not have somewhere safe, private or hygienic to go to the toilet.
• One gram of feces can contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 parasite eggs.
• The simple act of washing hands with soap and water after going to the toilet can reduce diarrheal diseases by over 40%.
• Safe disposal of children's feces leads to a reduction of nearly 40% in childhood diarrhea.
• Every year 4 million people die from diseases associated with contaminated water.

The World Toilet Organization (the other WTO) asks each individual, in their respective country, to request better equality (more facilities for women); more accessibility and special provisions (for the disabled & mothers with babies); clean toilets (for everyone); and more toilets (for the less fortunate).

One of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals is to cut in half the number of people living without "basic sanitation" by 2015. Did you know that in the U.S., every toilet flush uses as much water as the average person in a developing country uses for a whole day's washing, cleaning, cooking, and drinking?

In the summer of 1858, London experienced what historians call the Big Stink. At the height of the British empire, the city of London burgeoned with people. And all those people had to poop. And that poop, well, it had to go somewhere. At that time, people went in chamber pots which were emptied into the streets or backyards. Streets, basements, and yards were flooded with excrement, which eventually made its way to the River Thames. Of course, this happened every year, but the summer of 1858 was hotter than usual, and bacteria thrived. The odor was so overwhelming that people soaked curtains in chloride of lime and many left town. This provoked a much-needed sanitation reformation in London, and eventually led to the flush toilet.

Disease epidemics like cholera were directly caused by sewage contamination of drinking water. Even today, diseases from water contamination are the second-biggest killer of children worldwide, causing 5,000 deaths a day, five times the number dying from HIV/AIDS.

When I went to China in 2006, I was not prepared for the "toilets" we would encounter there. We were told to practice "squatting" so we'd have the leg muscles to do it, since all the toilets in China are squat toilets except for the ones in the hotels.

Here's a picture of a typical squat toilet (and yes, I used this one, and no, it had no door...)

With squat toilets, there isn't really any flushing, and you are not supposed to put anything down there except your excrement. Most restrooms have a little trash can where you are supposed to deposit the toilet paper (if you are lucky enough to find it provided for you). As you can imagine, the trash can of used toilet paper makes all the restrooms have a very distinctive odor. About halfway through the trip, I realized my urine was starting to smell like those toilets, presumably because the diet is so similar, and we were eating what the regular folk eat.

Here's a picture of me going into the squat toilet on one of our train rides.

Yes, a squat toilet on a moving train. Luckily, there was a railing you could hold on to. You'll notice that I have a baggie with my toilet paper, baby wipes, and hand sanitizer. This baggie went with me to every bathroom trip. Also, you may notice the window above the toilet. If you didn't squat down far enough, and we happened to stop at a station, you would give the waiting riders a little show.

Now, you may want to stop reading here if you have a tender stomach. This toilet was nothing more than 2 short walls of bricks and a hole in the ground. Right out in the open. My mom used this one, I did not. This next toilet was the one for the children at the school where we visited. Yes, I did use this one (when you gotta go, you gotta go). As you can see and can imagine, sanitation is an issue. And there was no running water here for hand washing. The organization I work for built a new school for these children which has running water and toilets.
The first time I pooped in a squat toilet, I emerged with my arms in the air as if I had won a victory. "I did it!" I yelled. I think it was day 3. Up to that point, I had managed to time my poo with the times when we were in the hotel. But that day, we were at the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi'an, so I didn't have a choice. I'll never forget that moment.

The next time you go to the potty, be grateful. Chances are, you celebrated World Toilet Day without even knowing it. And if you didn't, you should probably go to the doctor...

Twilight Time

Since the movie version of the first book in the Twilight series opens this week, I decided to dedicate this post to the Twilight phenomenon.

I've read the first book. I read it in like 2 days, and let me just say, I rarely finish a book, let alone that quickly! I was completely sucked in (which is funny cuz it's a vampire book). I first heard of Twilight on Facebook - I was like, "Who is this Edward Cullen? What is all this Twilight stuff?" I asked around, found out about the books, and then heard from a few young women that I HAD to read them, I just HAD to - and then I would understand.

I did not want to like Twilight, but I was intrigued. Cynical, but intrigued. After all, very few things live up to their hype.

So, I bought the first book and set it on my pile of books for a couple of weeks. Then I got the puking/pooping/fever illness. When I started having enough energy to actually be awake, I fumbled blindly at the pile of books next to my bed and settled on Twilight.

It's hard to describe Twilight and its appeal. What is it about? Vampires. But not really. There isn't any biting or blood sucking, really. No hanging upside down, no sleeping in coffins. I know some people are "into" vampires, Anne Rice books and whatnot, but I am not one of those people. I've never read an Anne Rice book, Interview with a Vampire was an OK movie. I will admit that Bram Stoker's Dracula is one of my top ten movies. Why? The love story, of course - and the supremely awesome soundtrack.

The Twilight series is about love. But there's no sex (at least not in the first book) or nudity or bad language or anything. As I've been telling people, I can see why so many young women get so caught up in Twilight - it's because the love in these stories is the way every woman wants to be loved. Passionately, deeply, protectively, as if their life depended on your love.

The main character in the story, Bella, is a smart, witty young woman, but she is shy and awkward and thinks she is plain and uninteresting. If you were a nerd/geek in high school like me, you can relate to her. Edward, the vampire who loves her, appreciates her in every way - most especially the things that make her real - her intelligence, her humor, her flaws.

He watches her sleep and thinks she's beautiful. He sings to her. He watches out for her and protects her from harm. He wants to know everything about her. He puts her happiness before his own. He puts his trust in her. He wants to be near her. He is inspired by her.

It makes my heart flutter to think of being loved like that.

Now, I want to admit, Twilight is not particularly well-written. The characters and the charm and elegance and intrigue are what draw you in. The writing won't change your life. I felt the same way when I read The DaVinci Code - it was a fun story, but not such great writing. I can see why these books are popular because they are what I call "accessible" - no complex sentence structures, no big words, just a fun story. Not what you would call "literature," yet addictive stories. Nothing wrong with that.

Stephanie Meyer writes in a way that makes it easy to visualize everything that is happening - you know the town, you see the faces of the people, it feels very real, which makes the love part feel even more real. It's the melding of the fantasy and the relatable that draw readers into these stories.

Every woman dreams about that perfect love. We know that isn't reality - as everyone likes to tell us. But the escape and the dream are beautiful things. Besides, why can't we be loved like that? Some of us are worth it!

Refrigerator Raider!

Finally, a holiday worth celebrating! A holiday that truly makes an impact on our world and makes our lives better. That's right, today, November 15, is National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day!

Presumably, it's not International Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day because, well, only in America do we throw away endless amounts of food. Besides, I think they are still burying salted meats underground in most other countries.

If you're like me, leftovers of a meal I didn't really enjoy the first time around are put into plastic containers (tupperware, rubbermaid, etc.) As more important items like beer, wine, sake, hard cider, ameretto, sweet and sour mix, maraschino cherries, etc., are added to the refrigerator, the plastic container of god-knows-what gets shoved further and further into the back of the refrigerator.

Days or months later, you discover the container, peer through misty plastic and try to determine what it is (or was). If you are lucky, the item is glowing from within, allowing you a clear view of the new universe you have created in the airtight environment. If you don't remember putting anything into a container, chances are, you don't want to open it. If it's one of those ziploc containers, it's not worth it - don't open it, just toss it. But you paid $25 for the tupperware container, right? So, you're not going to just throw it away. You open it, carefully. The "psssssss" of the hermetically sealed airlock being broken is the warning signal. And then, the smell. The putrid scent that is so unholy and unnatural, you can't believe it was once something you ingested. And the sight! You may think, "I don't remember buying bleu cheese..." or "What kind of herb was that green stuff?" If it wasn't for the smell, some molds are actually quite beautiful, blossoming from rotten sloppy joe meat like a spring field of wildflowers.

I know people who, when met with a piece of moldy cheese, cut off the moldy part and eat the rest. Or, scrape the moldy part off the top of the spaghetti sauce, and dig into what lies beneath. I am not one of those people. If there is any hint of mold, or a strange scent, or a slightly slimy appearance, it's done. It's not frugal, I know.

Then there's the "crisper." I remember a very old Drew Carey stand-up routine where he talks about the "crisper" and says, "They should call this thing the rotter, because that's what's happening." Why do refrigerator manufacturers even make these bins anymore? It's true, whatever is put in there is soon forgotten until you clean out the fridge and find a mass of green sludge that was once a tasty mango (that no one tasted). At our house, we continue to call it the "rotter" and have a new plan to keep veggies and fruits from dying in the black hole of those bins. We use the rotter for beer and soda cans. That way they get used, and the veggies and fruits are put in a more visible location (where, sad to say, they usually still rot, but at least you see them going bad and can toss them sooner).

Now let's talk about the freezer. If you're like me, you like to think that anything put in the freezer will last indefinitely. But if you've ever pulled a pack of ground beef from the permafrost that has gone from its healthy red-pink, to red-brown, to gray-brown, to the color of death, you know that things in the freezer don't last forever. Today is the day to throw it away. Trust me - when your Eggo waffles are coated in ice crystals, they turn soggy in the toaster. Ick. Toss 'em.

Some other helpful tips as you clean out your refrigerator:

• Take everything out;
• Wash down and disinfect the inside walls of the refrigerator, the shelves, and all along the door seal;
• Wash everything going back in - bins, racks, and even the outsides of jars;
• Vacuum the coils at the back of the fridge, if your model has them;
• Clean the floor underneath the fridge.

I can vouch for those last two - it really is important to vacuum the coils at least once a year. We've gone through 3 refrigerators in 12 years and finally someone told me to do this. It's especially important if you have pets because pet hair collects on the coils, and the toys can get stuck under the fridge near the coils.

So, why National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day? It has been speculated that it's just good timing, to allow room for Thanksgiving goodies and holiday leftovers. Besides, if you have guests coming over, you don't want to be mortified when they find something that looks like a Mogwai living in your fridge.

As another point of reference, the Red Cross offers these tips for food safety if your refrigerator dies or the power goes out: Food Safety in a Power Outage

So put on your hazmat gear and dig in. It's Saturday, and if you live in Ohio, it's probably raining, so what better time to do it. I don't need to do it - we had to throw away everything in August when our refrigerator died and we got a new one. The old one, with it's Fridge Graffiti is still on the back deck (without doors). Click here to read about how we violated the poor old fridge. In the new fridge, we only have like 5 items in the freezer and everything is new. Guess I'll go to the movies.

When the gales of November came early

Five years ago today, I was facing the reality of losing my son, my baby, my infant child not yet ready to live outside of me.

Every year on this sad anniversary, I take the day off, have a quiet, gentle day, and write in a journal dedicated to Eroll. I write what I wish I could tell him, I write about the ways I remembered him this year, and the things I did in the last year, the ways I've changed, the feelings I've felt.

This year hit me hard. Years 3 and 4 seemed easier somehow, but this year it was so hard. Yesterday, I woke up feeling anxious and depressed. I went to work, only to spend the day on the verge of tears the entire time I was there. That ball of grief welled up in my throat threateningly. A few times, I couldn't stop the tears. The second time I started crying, my boss sent me home.

I realized then that I was remembering not the day that Eroll was born, but the day before that. The day my water broke and I went into labor. The horrible feelings of knowing what was happening and not wanting to accept it. And in the triage area, seeing my son on the ultrasound - the last time I saw him alive. All the membranes had ruptured and he would not survive inside me - and was too little to survive outside of me. No one said, but I knew he would die.

It was an awful, stormy, windy night - as they induced labor, we waited, tried to sleep some, but the sleet hitting the window of the hospital room kept waking me up, not that I was able to sleep too soundly anyway. I keep thinking about all the feelings - the horror of knowing I was losing him, and then having to make decisions - would we want to see the baby? Name him? Baptize him? And through all of it, I just wanted them to knock me out and wake me when it was over. But I had to go through labor - 18 hours later, our tiny son was born dead at 9:32am on Thursday, November 13. I sometimes wonder, at what point did he die? Did he suffer?

We did see him. We held him and looked at his tiny fingers and toes. We named him Eroll. And we had him baptized.

As soon as the epidural wore off, I was moved to another room to spend the night. I'll never forget the emptiness I felt. I was alone that night - more alone than I have ever felt. I had pain all night, and just getting to the bathroom was a chore. By the next morning, I was able to get up and sit in a chair. I'll always remember just sitting there, looking out the window and not knowing how I could go on living. What was I supposed to do with myself now? That night, that day, and days later, I don't remember any color. Just gray. Everything was gray.

The emptiness was a heavy weight that sometimes comes back to me when I least expect it, like yesterday and today. Crying is a release, but I know there's a scar within me that will always ache. The sharpest pain has ebbed, my body has healed, I no longer feel his phantom kicks that I felt for months after losing him. And we have some answers now - that Eroll was perfect genetically, but the loss was because I have incompetent cervix - my body could not hold him in any longer. Sadly, most women have to go through a loss like this before they know they have incompetent cervix.

I'm blessed by the people who understand and care. Those who remember my son. It means so much to me that he is not forgotten, that people still know my pain and that it will always be a part of me, even though I'm healing.

November is a difficult month for so many. One of my closest friends experienced an ectopic pregnancy and loss in November a couple of years ago, and a subsequent loss this month. A new friend lost her son at 20 weeks in November, too. It made me wonder about tragedies this month. I'm compiling that for a future post.

For the full blog entry about my experience of loss, go to: This is My Story, This is My Son

A bit corny...

It's no secret that I LOVE corn dogs. I will gladly endure throngs of humanity in mullets just to get a fresh, fair-cooked corn dog.

This past weekend, being Halloween, a friend told me I should dress up as a corn dog next year. It's a GREAT idea! Also this past weekend, I found a gem at a quirky little store called "Big Fun" (which, incidentally, had these awesome Barack Obama paper dolls that included Michelle and the girls!).

At the right is what I found - it is a CORN DOG AIR FRESHENER! That's right, folks. And get this - it's MUSTARD scented!!!

For those of you living in another country, corn dogs are hot dogs dipped in corn batter, deep fried and served on a stick. Corn dogs were supposedly created in 1942 for the Texas State Fair by Neil Fletcher. Corn dogs are an excellent source of calories, fat, cholesterol and salt.

National Corn Dog Day

"National Corndog Day coincides with the Saturday of the final 32 teams in NCAA basketball tournament (in 2008, it was March 22). This Saturday is the only day all year that one can watch a quadruple-header of college basketball games (that’s a good 7-8 hours of college hoops) from start to finish without having to change the channel. NCD officially starts with the tip-off of the first game – 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern. To help pass the time, have fun with friends, and to celebrate being blessed with such a thing as a college basketball tournament, we eat Corndogs!"

Now, I'm not really into basketball at all, but I do very much enjoy corn dogs, and would watch basketball (or at least have it on the TV in the background) in order to celebrate National Corn Dog day properly.

I love that LilCherie made me stickers of fairies with corn dogs. She did a "wandectomy" and in place of their little fairy wands, put corn dogs. I need more corn dog stickers. LilCherie also made me this crazy arrangement in a "dirty pot" (a clay pot decoupaged with naughty images). Inside the pot are things like feathers, pussy willows, sunflowers, birds, and bees. But the best part is that she made corn dogs out of fimo clay and put them on sticks into the arrangement! I'll have to get a picture of it, it's great!

So, LilCherie, look what the internet spewed forth:

The Iowa State Fair is the best because they have FOOTLONG CORN DOGS!! That's right, FOOTLONG!

And, another LilCherie corn dog moment, she took this photo of me when they were visiting in August. I now refer to this photo as "Porn Dog."

Some Corn Dog Links:
I do not believe in corn dog violence.
National Corn Dog Day News
Hillbilly Housewife Corn Dog Batter Recipe

Not all the saints were in the "All Saints" post

In looking back at the "All Saints" post, I realized I didn't upload one of my favorites from the day.

This memorial statue is referred to as the "Haserot Angel" and it stands atop the grave of Francis Haserot and his family. The Haserots family is famous for institutional-sized canned good. Their company, Northen Haserot, supplies hotels, restaurants, schools, hospitals, and other institutions with canned meats, seafood, dairy, beverages, and produce, as well as certain types of food-service equipment and cleaning chemicals. I've seen their trucks a lot during my many road trips.

Northern Haserot was founded in Cleveland in 1892 and has been located here ever since. They only ship to the Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Youngstown, Toledo, and Columbus areas, but they manage to operate two distribution facitilites and a USDA federally inspected meat plant.

The statue at their cemetery plot was sculpted in 1924 by Herman Matzen.

The statue has been referred to as "The Angel of Death Victorious." The male angel has his hands folded on what looks like a sword, but is actually an upside down torch, symbolizing a life extinguished. It is a beautiful, but creepy piece, and the weather has streaked his bronze skin and caused his face to look like it is stained with tears of discolored metal.

"For what is it to die, but to stand in the sun and melt into the wind?"

- Kahlil Gibran

All Saints

Yesterday, I spent a chunk of the day at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of my favorite places in the world. Because it was November 1, when I told people where I was going they thought I was being creepy and Halloweenie, or doing the "All Saints Day" thing. The truth is, it was a beautiful fall day, and I love the place.

It was a bit overcast, so not ideal conditions, but I still took a bunch of pictures. And it was at least warm. Here are a few of my photos to share...

My New Glasses

The promised photo in my new Shanghai Tang glasses!

This is Halloween!

Here was my costume this year...



I wore it to work, even though it's politically incorrect and I want to insist that I was being self-deprecating - NOT making fun of eating disorders which are of course very serious.

The funny thing is how many people didn't get it! I hope my blog readers do!