Been A While

I haven't been posting like I used to, for a variety of reasons. One is that work has picked up quite a bit, and I used to be able to write during quiet moments (like today, when the doctor and my boss are both on vacation. Woohoo!). Lately, I've been picking up more responsibilities, which is good career wise, but bad, blogging-wise. The other reason is that I've been pretty much burned out of late on all the topics that I normally blog about. Religion, politics, current events, Disney stuff, and even all things pirate-y (gasp!) have become pretty much bland subjects.

I am still taking guitar lessons, still ploughing my way through "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd, and still playing City of Heroes, although the latter is starting to get repetitive in some respects. Every so often my characters seem to get caught where they are too weak to finish a mission, and need to spend time leveling up before they can go back and get things done. This means roaming through the city, finding muggers or mutants or whatchamacallits and beating the tar out of them. Depending on the level needed to finish the original mission, that can take a while. Plus, I didn't want to drop to the level of ultimate geekiness by reporting on my exploits in a game!

But there are some things going on around here ...

One Ring was out of town this past weekend, which meant that yours truly was once again enjoying some much needed introvert time. On a whim, I pulled out and dusted off the Haunted Mansion model that I started just before our Dachshund Peanut fell ill and died. Up until now it's been sitting on the bookcase in our spare room, neglected and in dire need of repair. So I reinforced one of the chimneys and then built and installed the central tower:

Not too shabby, I figure!

The weather vane attached to the tower was a royal pain, as was the cone. But after some determined effort, a toothpick, and not a little cursing, it went up and looks pretty nice. Now all I need to do is get the front staircase and the sunroom / greenhouse that goes on the east wing finished and I'll have a pretty cool Halloween centerpiece!

Speaking of Halloween, my favorite time of the year is approaching. I'm already on the hunt for good horror films, and, as always, my preferences (so slashers, little gore, well written plot) are severely limiting my choices. I'll probably end up buying 1408, mainly because that was the one of the last really good mess with your mind films I've seen - although a clergy friend of mine recommended Drag Me to Hell. Problem is, I've already read about that one on The Movie Spoiler (amazing how much money I've saved by reading spoilers instead of going to see the movie) so I know the ending. Might be one of those rare times when I wish I hadn't.

In other Halloween news, we're thinking of having our yearly Pumpkin Carving Party sometime between the 19th and 24th. I'm already pretty psyched about that, and am looking forward to the latest designs from Pumpkin Masters and other carving websites that are out there.

Well, this post has gone on long enough, so I'm going to close it here, with 1 1/4 hours left until I head home and take care of a sick wife.

Peace.