Happy Halloween!

In celebration of the holiday...



(Also, what to do if you are being "constantly harassed" by a vampire. Bonus tip in the video: "Try searching your phone book for a good local sword dealer.")

Jack-O-Lanterns '08

The boyfriend and I carved pumpkins on Sunday.

This one is his:


And this one is mine:


His owl is more elaborate than mine (show-off), but here its face looks a wee bit smooshed ... All right, all right, I know I should have taken these photos on Sunday when the pumpkins were much "fresher." Oh well. I promise to get my butt in gear next year.

Happy Halloween!

Photos: Sway Sovay

R=4r

This is the fabric hanging on one of the walls in my apartment.

I'm aware it might look a little crazy taken out of the context of the rest of my apartment, but I like to think it goes well with the rest of the interior decorating.

But anyway, to the point of my story ...

Remember the friends with whom my boyfriend and I went camping at the Grand Canyon? While they were here, they stayed with us. Stayed, in fact, in very close proximity to this wall hanging.

While they were here, it somehow came up that my friend's husband, who is a geologist, had been going nuts staring at this thing. Why?

Because it irked him that the black circles do not continue in straight lines, but instead curve in toward the center.

When he brought this up, my boyfriend quickly chimed in, "I know! It's been driving me crazy for months, too!" And then the two of them frenetically began discussing the geometrical shapes' finer points. "I know, and you see how that line should be here..." "And the radius there..." "I'd say it's a parabola..." "Yeah, that's what it is..."

Meanwhile, my friend and I are looking at each other like, "Aren't boys such special creatures?"

Especially ones who are obsessed with math.


My friend and her husband eventually had to return home. A week or two went by. And then, one day, I walked into that same room and my boyfriend had taped this next to the fabric.

Me: "Um, what is this?"

Boyfriend: "Oh. I had to find the radius of the big red circle."

Me: "You what?" Pause. "Why?"

Boyfriend: [Jumps off the couch, runs over and points at his calculations.] "Look! Can you believe that the radius of this big circle is four times the radius of the little black circle? This is great. I figured it out. Man, that was gonna bother me."

Talk about a piece of home decor that's a conversation-starter ...

Photos: Sway Sovay

At This Point it's Mostly Machine Anyway

My car has a terminal illness and it's trying to tell me that it's time for it to go.

I will be getting a new one. Soon. If the stress involved doesn't kill me first.

That's All She Wrote

Ask me anything about Scottsdale Fashion Week and I can tell you the answer because I finished my article!

I handed it over at exactly 5:59 p.m. yesterday, one minute away from my 6 p.m. deadline.

Funny thing about my article -- my editor asked me for three pages; I gave him seven.

(I was eventually able to cut it down to five. By the way, it is so depressing to spend over 30 hours to write this kind of a sprawling article -- that number doesn't even factor in interviews,
transcribing, e-mails, phone calls and research -- and then have to cut it down by about 2,500 words.)

What can I say, I got really into the subject and uncovered a lot of interesting things to include.

Although I'm sure there will still be images coming in over the next week and other various tidbits of information that may have to be added, I am so glad it's (pretty much) finished.

I will be celebrating this weekend by doing nothing that requires writing.

Except for this.

Art Made by the Heavens, Experienced Under a Volcano

There's an interesting post on this site about James Turrell, an artist who is doing major renovation work underneath a 400,000-year-old volcano, Roden Crater, near Flagstaff, Ariz. The project is expected to be completed in 2012.

OK, so the volcano is supposedly dormant. Which is good, considering the size and complexity of Turrell's underground tunnels and light chambers that would be blown up if the volcano were active.

Turrell has constructed the rooms and "windows" below the crater to capture the light of celestial occurrences that can only be seen from Roden Crater, among a few other locations on Earth. I'll admit that I don't really understand the entire concept, but I understand enough to imagine that this project is colossal in proportions. This is a creation that future civilizations will find and view as another Stonehenge.

Oh and get this: Turrell has owned the volcano and its surrounding land since 1979. The man owns a volcano. I want to own a volcano. Do you think any are still up for grabs?

Anyway, check out that article because you're going to want to see those photos.

DIY: Jewelry Board

Today I made a jewelry board in order to remedy my long-standing storage issue when it came to my earrings and necklaces. (Tangled chains are such timekillers.)


I'm really happy with how it turned out, and it was quite easy -- it only took me about an hour from start to finish.

Make your own using this tutorial at Joyful Abode.

Photo: Sway Sovay

The Incredible Library

If you are a history buff, Jay Walker's amazing library will have you giddy happy.

And even if you're not a history enthusiast, this is still probably the most impressive library you'll ever see.

Zack + Kelly 4 Ever

I almost didn't work out this morning because when I turned on the TV an episode of Saved by the Bell was on.

Whatever, don't deny it. You watched it, too, back in the day. In fact, you think you're over it, but you're not. I bet you're running to YouTube right now to watch more clips. Like this one. Or this one. Or maybe even this one.

There Have Been So Many Red Flags Along the Way

This short article is both funny and absolutely true.

Remember this moment, because if one day I end up being unemployed for longer than six consecutive months, we will all look back at this post and I will have to admit that our beloved Gawker (oh, and also the New York Times, have you heard of it?) forewarned me of the bleak future to come.