Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Politics, Halloween and a couple of bookish links


I've been so distracted by the approaching presidential election that I have been neglecting my blog. That may be because the only reading I'm doing is on the political blogs. Late at night. Like a junkie. I'm not a math person, but I can rattle off polling numbers like an old pro...I can't wait for next Tuesday so I can resume some semblance of a normal life!

The other distraction from blogging at this time of year is Halloween. I happen to live in a neighborhood that pulls trick-or-treaters from all over, so Halloween around here is absolutely insane. No joke, I have to buy at least 1000 pieces of candy. And I don't go for the cheapo stuff, I like to give out what I like to eat--chocolate! So I spend the greater part of the week before Halloween at the discount store, picking up just one more bag of Halloween candy or decoration for the house, or last-minute flourish for the kids' costumes.

If you're an Obama supporter wanting to get into the Halloween spirit, there's a great website you need to check out: Yes We Carve. It has stencils! If you are a McCain supporter, not sure where you can go for Halloween inspiration...

As far as bookish links, here are a couple from boingboing provided by my friend Julie:

"How to make a purse out of a stack of old books."

"Tales of cranky booksellers."

11 comments:

Jeane said...

I love the pumpkins! And the bookseller story. And especially the purse. I'd like to make some cool storage boxes like that, but I don't know if I could bring myself to cut open a book, even and old crummy one...

Anonymous said...

Thank you for pointing out the "Yes We Carve" site. Now I have the perfect Halloween present for my Obama-obsessed mother!

Gentle Reader said...

jeane--I love the purses, too, but felt the same way--could I cut open a book? Doubt it!

jessica--the pictures on the site are really great--very creative people out there carving pumpkins :)

Anonymous said...

I've got my earful of politics at work so I'm trying to dodge the news coverage, except for the state-to-state poll numbers on yahoo.

Gentle Reader said...

matt--I keep checking pollster.com and fivethirtyeight.com for polling numbers, and for really fun simulations where you can project what might happen, 270towin.com. But if you get that stuff at work, I can understand avoiding it at home!

Tara said...

I love the pumpkins! I am also obsessed with the election and cannot wait until Tuesday! It's finally here.

Iliana said...

Cool purse out of books although it doesn't seem very easy to carry. Believe it or not, as much as I love books I have no problem re-creating books into something else. It just kind of depends I guess on what I'm trying to achieve. I've seen some amazing art work done with books.

litlove said...

The blog world has been notably quiet lately, so I don't reckon you're the only one whose been seduced away by the political blogs! Never mind - nearly there now. I just bought a pumpkin today, but I think I could only manage something simple with it. Hope you and the family have a really fun-filled Halloween!

Leah said...

You have been tagged with the '7 random facts: book edition' tag. Come on over to The Octogon to read your instructions :)

Anonymous said...

Love the Yes We Carve site. I can't wait for Tuesday either. I will finally be able to end my google news headline checking obsession!

Gentle Reader said...

tara--Now the political blogs are counting down in hours--yay! I'll take a picture of how we carved these pumpkins and post :)

iliana--I hope this isn't presumptuous, but I think recreating books works for you because you're an artist, and you look at things with an artist's eye. I've seen your journals--wow!

litlove--your comment about the general silence out there makes me feel better, thank you! We did have a lovely Halloween. Which makes me ask, did you? Is Halloween a bigger deal now in Britain than it used to be? Because when I was a kid, I remember that my British cousins didn't make as big a deal out of Halloween as we did. I'm really curious!

leah--thanks for the tag! I'll come check it out now!

stefanie--I'm glad I'm not the only one with an obsession! I'm counting down til Tuesday...
And we carved two pumpkins from the Yes We Carve stencils :)