Appetizer - Punkin Eat Punkin

pretty fierce, right?

Getting excited for All Hallows Eve yet? (For the ignorant layperson, that means Halloween.) If not, maybe the gallery of super creative jack o'lanterns at pumpkinway.com will getcha in the mood for the upcoming holidayz. Many of them employ that technique, skinning, in which the top layer of the punkin is peeled off, leaving the white flesh underneath. Perfect color for the jack's choppers or peepers! I tried it out this year when I made this cannibalistic pumpkin. Last year, I tried my hand at a puking jack o'lantern, or "barfkin -" you just let all the gourd guts spill out of its mouth. It worked pretty well, but I'll leave it to your imagination ... I would not want to further spoil your appetite for Halloween candy!

Dinner - Llama Edition

Prepare for the next installment in the My Fave YouTube Videos series - Llamas With Hats! This disturbing but very funny movie features a coupla chapeau-sporting llamas called Carl and Paul. In this edition, the two find a hand-less carcass in their home (it turns out Carl stabbed 'im and cooked up his hands.) There's also the next installment, where the slightly psychopathic Carl sinks a cruise ship, and Llamas With Hats 3, in which he topples a South American government. Viva La Revoluçion!!

If these videos have turned you off of llamas forever, I apologize. However, you may take comfort in the fact that they are still cooler than Hannah Montana - at least according to this Facebook group!

Dessert - You Don't Wanna Meet the Spider That Lives in This Web

Check out these giant spider webs. Calm down, arachnophobes: they aren't genuine. These humongous cocoons are spun from almost 170,000 feet (and 100 pounds) of packing tape. The tunnels and webs are big enough and strong enough for visitors to explore. You totally want to visit? What a coincidence - me too!

Breakfast - Light Show!

I recently tried this "light painting" technique where you take your camera out at night, set a really slow shutter speed, and wave your flashlight around or draw stuff with it in the air. It's fun but rawther hard to get a good picture. Here's one of my attempts at a heart ...

<3

I also tried a peace sign (lookity down below) and my name. However, I soon realized that everything comes out backwards in the pic, and writing your name backwards in the air with a flashlight is no piece of cake. Though that does sound tasty ...

Snack - Nom The Tiny Donut

Check this out if you like food and like cute things (I think that's about everybody, right?) A part of the Cheezburger website network (which includes places like the classic Lolcats site) EpiCute (presumably, the title is derived from the phrase "epically cute) is an upload-your-own-photos blog of adorable noms. Images are usually desserts, ranging from diminutive donuts to charming fondant animals, but there are a few cheese ladybugs and teensy tomato skewers thrown in as well. One warning, though - don't look at it if you're hungry!

Snack - Neck Beard Equals Threatening

Have you ever met someone and found that he appeared very friendly just because he had a full beard? Apparently, you're not alone. This well-designed infographic details the usual trustworthiness of different beard types, ranging all the way from Very Trustworthy (Full Beard; The Philosopher, Goatee and Mustache) to Disastrous (Pencil Thin Mustache a.k.a. The John Waters, The Joe Jackson; The Hitler.) The graph doesn't mind making blanket statements - unfortunately, you could be a very nice person, but if you were sporting the facial hair style of a werewolf, you would be considered "Dangerous" by readers of the chart. Life is so unfair.

Brunch - Giant Rodent Edition

Are you trying to decide which pet is right for you? Consider a giant rodent! This page shows some pics and description of Melanie Typaldos' capybara Caplin Rous, including an image of him next to a considerably littler guinea pig. According to the article, Cap' weighs 100 pounds - probably heavier than yours truly! And this page tells us that "Rous" stands for "Rodent of Unusual Size." I for one won't dispute the fact that his size is unusual!

No house space for a 'bara of your own? Compensate by watching the charming next installment in the My Fave YouTube Videos series (this film was linked to from Caplin Rous' website, gianthamster.com. It's pretty much three minutes (and five seconds) of somebody walking between a bunch of dozing capybaras and scratching them on the back. When scratched, they all roll over onto their sides - kind of like cow tipping, but more small-scale. And probably a lot cuter.

Breakfast - Head Suction Cup is Perfect for Subway Sleeping!

DIY-ers (for the uneducated in acronyms, that stands for "Do-It-Yourself-ers,") get excited - here's a page on Extreme Repurposing. This blog post shows ten ways to change household items into ... other household items ... but way cooler. For example, a clothespin's spring attaches to a pair of chopsticks for easy-peasy use or a funnel turns into an attractive coat hook. Some of them are a wee bit improbable (putting a lightbulb inside a water wing makes a lovely lantern, but the plastic would probably melt and get quite disgusting) and some are a wee bit odd (taking an eyepiece off a pair of goggles and attaching it to your head so you can lean against the window in trains.) Overall, though, everything is well-presented: each project is shown through four photos (the original object, the object being deconstructed, the object repurposed, and the object in use) and the ideas are clever. I don't recommend looking at the blog's comments, though - some peeps have nothing better to do than dis the projects and be annoying. Well, now you probably will look, since I mentioned it. You just don't listen, do you?