End o' week musings

Ooooo I love Halloween and I love fall! There's nothing better than the crisp air and crunchy leaves and an opportunity to dress up!!

Last Saturday I went to the Glass House to see Emilie Autumn. In a word- fantastic! Her concert was more like a play with lots of music and some circus acts. Her backup girls all have characters that they maintain throughout the show, along with talents that include fire eating and aerial acts. Autumn rocks, whether she's on violin or harpsichord or singing and she's just one massive burst of energy that grabs you and keeps you throughout the performance... not that you mind...

I was very impressed by the concert, but my biggest moment of awe came during the encore, when Autumn took on Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." All women singing and Autumn on lead vocals and using her violin for the guitar parts! Wow!

Sunday I joined Vernor for "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistance." OK, it's not a thinking film, but it was fun. It had a bit of everything- comedy, romance, adventure, horror... just a good way to spend a couple of hours and let your brain go.

Yesterday we had our Halloween party at work and I came as Abby from "NCIS." It was my mom's idea and a good one. My dentist's assistant Tracy let me borrow one of her lab coats and the rest of the stuff I had in my closet (should I really be confessing this??), so it was easy to pull the outfit together. I had also entered the pumpkin carving contest with my creation which boasted a peace sign in a heart on the front and looking through I had carved LOVE into the back.

I didn't win the pumpkin nor the costume contest, but I had fun. It was cool when people recognized who I was supposed to be and funny when guys in here who never gave me the time of day before said how cute I looked!

Tomorrow I am going to go to Carin and Tom's house and be a part of their neighbor's haunted house. I'm going to revive my voodoo woman outfit (probably with a warmer top) and work on being extra spooky.

Next week will be short for me and you may not get my Friday wrap-up, as I'm heading to Pioneer Town and Joshua Tree to see Vampire Weekend. I'm moteling it one night, then camping and going to the farmer's market and exploring the area. I haven't been there before that I can remember, so I'm excited about a new adventure!

In rotation this week: HorrorPops, Nekromantix, Van Helsing's Curse, Emilie Autumn and Tim Curry.

Photos we got 'em: A couple of pet pics from Stuffonmycat.com and Stuffonmydog.com, plus a photo of Danse Macabre, a cool goup of musicians and dancers, in their creepiest attire (my friend Joanne is a drummer in the troupe and I'm still not sure which one she is!) and shots of me as a voodoo woman and Abby.

Thought o' the week: Embrace the changing season. I live in a small apartment so I don't have a lot of room for decorations, yet I have lots of cool stuff. My way around this is to change over items each season and sometimes mid-season. I don't always go for the traditional it's winter so I have to have holiday ornaments thing... if I've been feeling down, I may perk up with seashells and flowers.

It's not really what type of thing you display, it's what makes you feel good. Yet you should pick a theme so it doesn't look like a jumbled mess. If you love the holidays, don't be shy about showing off your snow globe collection in July. If you're especially patriotic, stars and stripes are fine any time of the year. If you want to leave your spooky stuff out through the New Year, that's OK too. Be creative, have fun, be happy! Just make your world your own.

Keep on rockin'

Mickie