Happy Halloweeeeeeen!

It's a beautiful, warm day and it's perfect for dressing up like a monster, princess, hobo, or presidential candidate and wreaking havoc across the city. And by wreaking havoc I mean running around, looking for candy to eat until we can run no more.

We're meeting Dan and Mona at Archie's for some drinks before going to Bull eh Dias for a costume party. Simona's working and will apparently be dressed as a '20's flapper, Dan's going to be the Dow Jones, Mona's going to be Universal Healthcare, Trevor will take on a modern-day Groucho Marx (using the nose featured below), and I'm going to be a jack-o-lantern. Fun will be had by all, and hopefully a lot of candy will be consumed. 

Tomorrow night we're going to hang out with Trevor's uncle Mark, who's coming to the States from Amsterdam for the first Halloween in years. Tomorrow is also Greg's birthday and he's having dinner and beers with friends, so I'm hoping to fit that into the mix as well.

In less pleasant news, Tuesday morning, about 2 a.m., the water heater in the unit above ours split open and flooded our next-door neighbor Sarah's place. We got water leaking through half of our closet ceiling and some bubbling in the bathroom wall, however it's apparently 'ignorable,' said Trevor, compared to Sarah's damage next door. He said that there was literally water pouring through the ceiling, walls, and light fixtures. His glasses fogged up when he walked into her place, and his shoes were getting wet as he stood there talking to her. And of course, she took it all in stride because she's fantastic. Thankfully this time it wasn't my fault! The girl upstairs, though, is out of the country (in Mexico) until Sunday at midnight. She's already submitted a claim to her insurance company (thankfully she has insurance), so we've got to figure out how and when to fix it. Yahoo.

Rather than leave such a fun holiday on such a craptastic note, here's a wonderful shot of Trevor's costume for tonight (while I was writing, he came in dressed up and let me snap a shot). Happy All Hallo's Eve!

Maureen K. Coleman 1953-2004

       

October, Chapter One:
Laura Makes the Front Page

Yes, I made the front page--of the Northwest Herald, the McHenry County newspaper. But still...the front page! Some of you might recall my early Banned Books Week celebration blog and the story about my "religious" student's objections to the book we read in my summer Comp 2 class. Well, she and her mother, dissatisfied with the dean and administration's refusal to discuss the banning of books from any class's curriculum, went to the press. Yup. That's just how crazy they are! It's curious that the NW Herald published the article at all, given the one-sided nature of their information. Much of the article's "facts" are untrue as filtered through one girl and her mother. So have fun, and read on.

Did you like it? I've finally stopped losing sleep over this (just about eight long nights of restlessness and anxiety). Everyone at school has been very supportive, and some of my students have commented on it to me (in my favor, which, though I couldn't say anything, was reassuring). A number of my English Dept. colleagues have used it in their classrooms as examples of biased journalism. The plight of celebrities has finally touched a nerve in me and I'm thrilled to never have something negative written about me again. But I guess that means I'll have to stop disseminating pornography! (damn.)


October, Chapter Two:
Sonny Acres

Last Sunday we went with Sean and Angi to watch the Bears game at Neill, Fran, and Destiny's. Although the Bears lost (it was really a heartbreaker), we had a great time watching with everyone, and then we drowned our sorrows in elephant ears and lemonade at Sonny Acres. None of us got a pumpkin, but we got some goodies nonetheless: carmel apples, chocolate covered pretzels, miniature foam skulls, pumpkin pencils...such good stuff. Destiny was unimpressed by the haunted house, though did like this wrapped up fellow:






For more goats and pumpkin witches, check out Trevor's Flickr page.


October, Chapter Three:
David Sedaris

When Trevor picked me up from the train station Monday evening, he had a surprise: David Sedaris was reading at the Auditorium Theatre and there were still available tickets. We sped home on Trevor's trusty steed (we ride in style), hopped on the bus/train to get downtown, grabbed some tickets, and still had time before the reading to eat some dinner.



The reading was great (although he didn't have the monkey); Sedaris read all original stuff, including something that will be in The New Yorker later this month (likening the "undecided voter" in the upcoming presidential election to an airline diner debating between the chicken and a pile of dog poop peppered with shards of broken glass. Guess who's the poop?). It was a terrific reading and a great idea by Trevor.


October, Chapter Four:
Art Openings, Ribs, and Next Semester

Last night while I was eating ribs and talking books with my friends Angie and J.C., Trevor and Angi Power were checking out art at some gallery openings in the Fulton Market district. Since Flatfiles' openings usually coincide with the other neighborhood openings, Trevor isn't usually able to go. He was excited to see some of the good, the bad, and the pooping:





The ribs I was eating were messy and delicious, and the Rice Krispie treat I got for dessert tasted like it was made with horchata, and was hands-down the best Krispie treat I've ever had. I traded books with Angie, got a couple of dvds--one of an afro-samuri t.v. show starring Samuel L. Jackson, and the other, a movie called The Fall by the same director who did The Cell (dazzling to look at, though not so great on plot)--and got caught up on After-Words gossip. I was just happy to have finally gotten rid of a two-day migraine and successfully turned in my book orders for next semester. I'm teaching two developmental classes, two Comp 1 classes (with a new e-book), and the creative writing class! I'm thrilled and nervous about it and will probably start developing the syllabus soon.

Henry and I went on a walk to the park today and stopped by a corner grocery store that didn't nearly measure up to our corner Green Grocer. But I did get a cherry soda and food for tonight's dinner (I made tacos. Yum). Trevor has also recently become obsessed with a dice game called Farkle, which he's currently playing on his phone right now. He keeps yelling, "Farkle!"

I've got to buckle down tomorrow and grade some papers, and Trevor's got to work. Though we're going to end the night with pumpkin raviolis for dinner, so all will not be lost. Hopefully there aren't more front-page stories in our future, but if there are, you'll all be the first to know. Cheers to the First Amendment, academic freedom, pumpkins, and Farkle!