• Super creepy story – “Daddy’s Girl“
• The Attractiveness Scale
• Cool refridge magnets
• Dirk – the interconnected game

I have to have a t-shirt.

Puzzle, originally uploaded by timbu.

Matthew and I have nearly completed a 550 piece puzzle. This is a big deal since the largest puzzle to date was a 200 piece and prior to that we had only done 50-100 piece puzzles.

Halloween, Alaska CD Release Party, originally uploaded by howwastheshow.

Halloween, Alaska is playing Friday at the Varsity Theater. Doors open at 7:00. They are playing with Cloud Cult.

Will I be there — no, I am missing another Halloween, Alaska show. My absence guarantees they will play “State Trooper” which I’ve never heard them play live.

Silver blades, originally uploaded by Pensiero.

Yesterday I had my first skating lesson.

I had been on skates a couple of times in my life, probably the last time was when I was 14 or so. When I found out one of my co-workers taught children how to skate, I figured he could teach me too. After all, I have a nice ice skating pond behind my house, I might as well be able to enjoy it.

The lesson went pretty well. I practiced t-starts, stopping, walking like a duck, picking myself up off the ice. Surprisingly, given my lack of coordination, I could actually glide around the ice a little. I’ll be back for another lesson next Thursday.

Apple Pie, originally uploaded by timbu.

This is the first apple pie I ever baked from scratch. It was entirely from scratch including the dough. It turned out good. This pie looked and smelled amazing. The only minor problem was that the apples came out a little soupier than I expected and I should have left more crust around the edge of the pie tin. It wasn’t as good as my mom’s apple pie, but it was pretty good.

Packer Bike, originally uploaded by timbu.

Green Bay is now 0-2 for the regular season. While the last game wasn’t a blow-out it looks like it’s going to be a long, long season.

While sailing I had the luxury of finishing up a few books I’ve been working on.

My favorite book of this batch was “The Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver The narrative style, which switches between points of view, was jarring at first, but I adapted and even looked forward to the different voices. I loved the way that the book told big stories about culture & religion, colonialism & nationalism, white & black, wealth & poverty all in the context of a dysfunctional family. I liked the authors writing style, the description of the mother’s grief has stuck in my mind.

The book made me think a lot — I am just really glad I don’t own a parrot. Thanks for lending me the book, Brooke.

Next book was “That Old Ace in the Hole” by Annie Proulx. I liked the descriptions of people and places in the book, but found the story a little weak. I liked “The Shipping News” much better, although both books had a fantastic sense of the characters that inhabit a place. There were a few passages in the book, usually droll descriptions of characters that made me laugh out loud. In the end I liked the tiny stories that the characters told – more than the actual story told by the author. I’ll read other books by Proulx — this isn’t my favorite.