Big Giant Head for Halloween

The Big Giant Head made his inaugural Halloween appearance tonight. Greg, Sharon and Mark were all working on getting him set up at one point.

We had a steady stream of trick or treaters tonight. Annie stopped by, which was fun. I believe a good time was had by all.

The Gypsy Costume and other Halloween Costumes at Work

After considerable deliberation, I ended up going to work dressed as a gypsy. I want to state for the record that I made a sacrifice in wearing sandals today, so my multiple toe rings were visible. It was a 38 degree windchill when I left the house. We have to suffer for fashion - or whatever this would be.

I had lunch with Teresa, who was dressed in the cutest costume I've seen in ages, and when I went outside after lunch it was much colder than when I went in.



I decided to don the jeans and closed toe shoes I had brought with me as soon as I got back to work. I also took off all the jewelry except the earrings. I swear, I could barely hold my head up from all those beads.

Unfortunately, I forgot to remove the massive amounts of blue eye shadow when I got home. Tonight in the ladies room at Carolyn's Essenhaus in Arlington I noticed I still looked like I had applied makeup thinking people 40 rows back in the theatre needed to be able to see my eyes. But, it was too late to worry about it at that point.

Someone asked me about something I was wearing today and I had to laugh and admit that I wasn't wearing anything that I didn't already own. In fairness, I did buy the shirt a year or two ago with the idea that it would be perfect for Halloween. And I did buy the earrings for 99 cents a month or two ago thinking they'd be perfect. Everything else was already in my possession.

The beads... well, I went to college in the 80s... what else needs be said? The fringed scarf was my wrap for my senior prom. The pink scarf I bought in Paris. The others I've had since... hmmm... maybe high school. The purse I bought at a 90% off sale one year at Target. That has been probably a decade ago and, as of yet, it has only been used for dress up occasions, and never for its intended "formal" purpose. I just don't have a lot of call for formal wear, what can I say?

The winner of a day off at work today was our front desk manager, Kyla, who had a very inventive costume. And she made it herself. Really.



Is that not just amazing? She made it from a piece of plastic and traced a copy of the lettering with sharpies. I was amazed at how precise it was. As she so eloquently put it, "It took four hours and a case of beer." I was impressed!

Coming in second place, with a half day off, was Phyllis. Last year she dressed as an elderly woman. This year she came as an elderly man and had the coolest "act." She tapped her cane and repeated, "I'm looking for my wife. She was last seen here this time last year. She's a fine looking woman... fine looking woman... and I miss her." She was great.



Coming in third was the marketing department's own Michele, who came as the misunderstood witch from Wicked.



That's green eye shadow, in case you're wondering. And she had to put it on with the eye shadow applicator. It took her about 45 minutes, she said.

I had to get up an hour early today to get ready for work. There's something very wrong with that. Very wrong.

There were nine people total dressed up, but I didn't get pictures of everyone. I did get Karilynn in her farmer's outfit.



It was a fun way to start the day, but I was ready to not be dressed up after a couple of hours. Not sure if I'll wear the same thing tomorrow or do something different. We'll see.

Halloween Costume Dilemma

You'd think given the number of Halloweens I've dressed up for this would be a simple process. Yet, here I am, less than twelve hours before I need to leave home in a costume still debating. And, yes, I know, people have far more important things to think about - including me - but nonetheless this is what I'm thinking about.

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Dentist

Today was a dental appointment I've been dreading, but all went well. There was a cavity that was threatening one of my laminates but my dentist was able to fix it and I'm so thrilled. I'm still a little numb, and it has been more than six hours since I had it done. But, far better to be numb than not, so I'm not complaining.

 

There was another tricky procedure today to remove a cap and replace it with a different one. I'll sum that up by recounting the following conversation:

Dental Assistant to another one outside the room: "Could you bring me the crown pullers?"

Dentist to Dental Assistant: "There's no need. I will have to grind it off."

 

This is not something a person wants to hear, regardless of how numb you are. Although, frankly, needing "crown pullers" doesn't sound much better than grinding. However, I have to say, I had NO pain at all in either procedure. None.

 

After the dentist I went back to the office for a little bit and then off to a meeting. Once again, I did nothing in my house tonight. Mark, and maybe Carl and Kris, are coming for Halloween and there are just pathways in my house. They'll just have to understand because I am not bending much these days. The house is bad. But I guess it will just be that way for awhile.

 

Well, I'm going to make another attempt at getting to bed early. Maybe I'll not be numb when I wake up.

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Gongs and Quiet

Greg took this photo of me before the gong bath on Saturday. I wasn't familiar with gong baths but they're popular in other parts of the world as a way to meditate and relax.

 

After things were setup I was able to lay down and listen, too. I was thinking how unusual it is for me to be doing nothing for over an hour. To just be listening to something that doesn't require my focused attention, to only be doing one thing, to be relatively still. It is rare.

 

I have some meditations on my zune and listen to them on a regular basis but something I know about myself is that I need the guided ones. Otherwise my brain starts to wander into dozens of different alleys.

 

On Saturday there was nothing for me to do except lay there and listen. I tried to relax but it is a struggle for me, even when I want to. My brain was racing most of the time, although there were a couple of times when I was able to quiet it very briefly.

 

I think it's probably good practice for me to try and relax more, to be quiet more, to be still more. I had lunch with Kristine today and we were talking about this in the context of my upcoming recuperation. She suggested I view this time as a gift of time to contemplate and I think that's a good way to approach it.

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Computers

Greg asked me the other day if I was going to buy a computer that would have sufficient speed for what I need. I responded honestly that I do not believe such a thing exists. I've been using personal computers nearly daily for about 15 years. I've had the latest and greatest at various times. As of yet I've never used or owned one that did everything I wanted it to do at the speed I desired.

 

I am beginning to understand it simply does not exist and apparently never will. I'm not sure why, but apparently it is beyond the reach of computer architects everywhere.

 

I spend a tremendous amount of my work day waiting on the computer. Then I come home and spend a lot of time waiting on my home computer. Unfortunately, a considerable amount of work I need to do involves the computer, and computers seem to require waiting. Way too much waiting. Lots of waiting.

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Ritual

"Ritual maintains the world's holiness."

            ---Thomas Moore in "Care of the Soul"

 

A few months ago I reread "Care of the Soul," and have had it sitting on the shelf near the computer since then. I marked dozens of passages in it. Tonight I was flipping through, looking at some of the flagged and highlighted notes, and this one struck me.

 

I need ritual. I know this about myself. And I have created dozens, maybe hundreds, of rituals over the years.

 

In the last few years I've had to let go of a number of them and it has often been difficult, sometimes heartbreaking. This year has required letting go of any number of things, including rituals, and the remaining weeks of the year will demand more of the same.

 

I'm not sure where that leaves "holiness" in my little corner of the world, but hurting it would seem. Obviously something I need to spend more time thinking about that.

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