(At work this week I attended a class about writing directly and in plain language. I did not care for it, but I will try to apply the lessons from the class to this entry. See if you notice.)

This past Saturday was Halloween, and I would call the long-awaited Wolverine costume a success. In the end it cost me a little under $200, but if I had to do it all over again, I would try to find a cheaper alternative to the jacket. I suppose China doesn't have vanity sizing like America do because the jacket is a bit tight for day-to-day use, which is a shame because the it cost a hundred dollars. I have no absolutely regrets about the claws, as people enjoyed them everywhere I went this year. I also purchased a blue and yellow t-shirt patterned like Wolverine's Astonishing X-Men costume and custom made dog tags with the number from X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

So where did a crazy man dressed like Wolverine go this year? First, I went with Will to a party hosted by some of his friends. I only knew about half of the attendees yet it was a nice, if a bit uneventful, affair. The one thing that concerns me about Will's friends that their respective friends are getting increasingly younger as they're getting older to the point where they're becoming "The cool old guy who buys kids beer". Despite telling myself that I wasn't going to do it this year, the Thursday night before Halloween I had the nerve to shave my chin and mustache and go to work in a slightly modified version of the costume, with a red plaid shirt over a white t-shirt instead of the blue and yellow and no claws. Since he unfortunately wasn't going to be able to make it on Saturday, I wore my costume to Matt's house Friday night and had a mini-Halloween which involved us going to Taco Bell for dinner followed by Target to buy candy where we discovered some outrageously delicious dark chocolate Reese's mini peanut butter cups.

Saturday I went to the Tom's River Halloween Parade with Will, Niki, and crew. For a relatively small affair, the parade was awesome although my personal highlight was all the attention I was getting. For instance, Angie got excited that two people recognized her incredibly reverent Michael Jackson costume so it became a competition of sorts. I started waving to the kids in the parade with my claws out and they loved it.

Final score:

Wolverine 12

Michael Jackson 7

Now my hair is short again, and I kind of miss it. I have more to write about Halloween this year, but I wanted to get the facts out first. I'm finding that I have increasingly less energy to write blog entries and it frightens me.

The votes are in... and after tallying all the votes, the winner... by a two to one margin... is...

( *Drumroll* )

45825243 t78 a

This year, some friends want to go to a Halloween festival in Toms River. I thought the House costume was good for last year, but this year I want to do something more because given my age, the fact that it falls on a Saturday, and the [dull] culture of my department at work I don't know how many good Halloweens I have left. Working in a middle school, my mom has the belief that the pinnacle of a good costume is a humanized prop for under $20 whereas my insecure manchild self usually shoots for what I think is cool at the time. With that in mind, let's see some random ideas I had.

( Let's meet the contestants! )


( Ignore this. This is just an address I was given and have no place to save. )300 Perimeter Park Drive
Morrisville, NJ