Halloween, and so forth.

I have no idea how it came to be November already, but somehow, that happened.  In a couple of weeks my parents will be heading this way to have Thanksgiving at my house since I'm tied up here with work and can't make it home for the holiday for the first time ever. So, my mom has volunteered to drive up and cook dinner while I'm working -- a plan that suits everyone because a) I work until 6, so if the parents weren't here and I ended up crashing a potluck at a friend's house there is a chance (however small) that all turkey and sweet potato casserole would be long gone and b) my parents won't have to conquer an entire turkey by themselves.

I wasn't lying.

Speaking of holidays, Halloween was a great success. James was in town, which made it extra special, and meant that king-sized candy bars were up for grabs for trick-or-treaters -- toddlers excluded -- who knew some things about U.S. History, like the name of the second president of the United States. Make 'em work for it - why not? Once we had wounded enough children's egos for an evening, we dressed up as angry Germans - James has a pair of lederhosen and I borrowed my roommate's dirndl - and wandered around to a few bars in the neighborhood.  A highlight was waving across a dimly lit 1984-themed bar to none other but ALF in all his glory and having him raise a paw to me in return.
   Even New Seasons, my favorite grocery store, was decked out for Halloween. When I went in to pick up last minute supplies for pumpkin pancakes, the freezer section had been turned into this (see below). Made my morning.              

Spooky frozen foods.

A few days before, we had gone out to Sauvie Island to pick pumpkins and run around in the corn maze. With the
help of our "Scriptural Passport" we made it out alive. Good thing we knew that baby Jesus was born a) in a manger, instead of b) in a hotel in Jerusalem. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened.

The "MAiZE"

While James was here we of course went to 80's Video Dance Attack at the Crystal Ballroom. It was a Friday-night tradition that died when my dancing partner moved to California, and I was happy to bring it back to life.  The great thing about 80's Night is that everyone is really just there to dance to Talking Heads and Madonna and see the music video for "Thriller" play on a big projector screen.  There's a good mix of people who actually grew up in the 80's and people like James and myself -- twenty-somethings who just want to dance to "Tainted Love." But really, who doesn't? Even if you think you don't, you do. And even if you think you can't dance, you can. At 80's night, you definitely can. This is a place where you could do the Sprinkler dance and get away with it, because at 80's night, in the words of Deee-lite, groove is in the heart.
     And what would 80's night be without some Delicious Donuts to top it off? Anyone who tells you that Voodoo Donuts makes the best donuts in Portland is lying.  First off, the people who own Delicious Donuts  are the sweetest people ever. Boun and Penny (the owners) have two boys named Aiden and Jaeden because Penny's sister is named Jenny and Penny wanted her kids' names to rhyme too. True story.  Anyways, they stay up all night making donuts and sometimes -- I speak from experience -- they'll let you in before they officially open and sell you donuts hot out of the fryer.  It doesn't look like much from the outside but the donuts live up to the shop's name, and you won't have to wait in line for two hours for one..who am I kidding...six silly donuts. You won't regret it.
     In other news, I met my first hermaphrodite dog. His name was Lumpy, and we became acquainted when he came into the flower shop the other day.  Apparently he went in for some kind of surgery and the doctor found a uterus inside of him. Who knew? Lucky for him, he lives in Portland. Happy Friday, everyone.