My halloween costume: I am dressed as a serial killer. Just remember—serial killers look like everyone else.

Brad's costumed today—check out his cam.

Good news—I just found out today that I got a big design project. I'll be redesigning the site for a mall down in Birmingham. I'm pleased—it appears that they're going to give me full design freedom on the site. That's rare, and it's a pleasure when it happens. It's nice to be trusted. Might even be worth posting screenshots for!Other news…

Word for the day: synesthesia. A random memory dredged up from studying psychology in college. (Yes, Brad, I know that to you it's probably 'synaesthesia.')

I actually got a rather disparaging comment from someone about domesticat, which rather amused me. Maybe I should make this clear—domesticat isn't a weblog. It's a journal. It's never going to be a weblog, because of the inherent differences between the two. If you're wanting to read something where you can dip in and out, without expecting plot or returning characters, domesticat is not for you. I'm not interested in feeding your link-of-the-day habit, because I don't surf the web that much.

If you want to find out what it's like to look at the world through someone else's eyes, and you're willing to try out my point of view for more than thirty seconds at a time, then you're probably the kind of person who should be reading domesticat.

So, anyway. Welcome to All Hallow's Eve. Since I didn't learn about anything except overtly Christian holidays growing up, I find myself rather ignorant of other (non-Christian) holidays. Thus I find myself celebrating a holiday today whose origins I don't wholly understand or even know. That bothers me, in the same way that celebrating Christian holidays (when I'm not a practicing Christian) bothers me. I should do a little reading tonight—find out what the origins of Halloween are. Go to bed thinking that I actually learned something today.

While I was in D.C. I bought a book that I'd read a couple of years ago, titled Sophie's World, by Jostein Gaarder. It's half philosophy textbook, half novel. It's not light reading—but for anyone who is interested in a history of philosophy and the varied ideas espoused by the many philosophical schools of thought, I'd recommend this book. I was delighted to find a used copy. Since I've been itching to do some learning lately, I thought this might be a nice jumping-off point.

I'm starting to have itches to learn something. In the same way that a pack horse feels strange without work, I miss school. I have a bachelor's in MIS—I gave up studying literature to get something that would actually get me a postgraduate job—and I find myself wanting to delve back deeper into the arts.

Graphic design, perhaps. Creative writing. Something.

I've been fascinated by leaded glass ever since I was a child. When I was younger I greatly enjoyed creating drawings like one would do with leaded glass—blocks and shapes of various colors shaped together into form and pattern and meaning. Why? Perhaps it's because I'm plainly and blatantly artistic, yet I can't draw—but I'm fascinated by color.

I've thought about finding some people locally who create leaded glass and asking them if I could take lessons from them. I doubt seriously that something like that is offered at UAH. I took design-oriented jobs in the hope that they would slake my desires to create. Instead, I find myself wanting to do more—to expand into other media, to see what I'm capable of.

More thoughts: I need to haul out my Christmas decorations soon. Since we moved into the house only about a month before Christmas, I wasn't in the mood to decorate. Now I am; I've been here a year and I'm ready to celebrate.

I wonder how the cats will deal with the Christmas tree?