Top 10 Obscure Halloween Costumes that I Dream of Pulling Off

As Halloween approaches there is a lot of talk about costumes.  Many people try to come up with creative costumes to show off to their friends.  I'm no different.  I am always thinking of clever costumes that others have most likely never seen before.  Sometimes I'm successful, sometimes I'm not.  Past costumes of mine have ranged from Jack Nicholson to Nemo to Flavor Flav (before Flavor of Love).  But there are some costumes that I haven't pulled off yet.  Here is my top ten:

10. Denver, the last dinosaur - a cartoon classic from the late 80s/early 90s, he's your friend and a whole lot more

9. The Great Pumpkin, or Charlie Brown's ghost costume - Since no one actually knows what the Great Pumpkin looks like, that might be hard to pull off, but the Charlie Brown ghost would be easy to pull off.

8. Madame Leota from Disneyland's Haunted Mansion - because I think it would be cool

7. Norm from Cheers, complete with bar and stool; although, most people would say I'm more like Cliff, either one would do

6. Mark Twain - I'm sure it's been done before, but how often have you seen it?

5. Tron - this one is probably less obscure now that the new movie came out, but I still think it would be cool.

4. One of the Gummi Bears, the cartoon version, not the candy - bouncing here and there and everywhere

3. Secret Squirrel - Enough said

2. The DNA guy from Jurassic Park

And, finally, the cream of the crop, the holy grail of Halloween costumes, at least in my opinion.
1. Grape Ape - yes, that's right, Grape Ape is my number one

 As you can tell I'm a big fan of cartoon characters.  They just seem to make great costume ideas.  And I left other classics such as Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw off this list.  But hopefully I've inspired you to search for your own obscure costumes for future reference.  Happy Halloween!

55 Word Story

Have you ever tried to write a 55 word story?  It's harder than it may seem.  Here's what I came up with tonight.

The bobble head sat on the shelf nodding silently.  He could see the sailboat on the opposite shelf.  As he went to take his first step to freedom and a life at sea, he was suddenly stopped.  Alas, his legs would not move.  He could only nod.

Yea, I sing in the grocery store. So what?

For those who know me, you know I'm not against busting out in song just about anywhere I go.  And those who have worked camps with me know that sometimes I just make up songs to sing.  It's part of what makes me unique.  And it's how I try to make life more fun.  I realize that I don't have the best singing voice in the world, but that doesn't stop me.  I get songs stuck in my head and the only way for them to get out is for me to sing.  I may be in my car, I may be in the shower, I may be in the grocery store, it doesn't matter.  I'm singing.  Yet, for some reason, people seem to think this is odd behavior.  I get weird looks from people all the time when I sing in public.  Now, I'm not belting out songs at the top of my lungs, mostly it's just softly under my breath (except in my car, of course).  But people seem to find this odd.  Am I bothering them?  Am I ruining their shopping experience with my dulcet tones?  Really I'm just trying to make my experience more enjoyable.  And none of my campers have ever complained about my singing.  Well, they haven't complained a lot.  Perhaps I'm the only one who does this.  Maybe others keep their singing prowess to themselves.  If that's the case, I challenge you all to let loose, have fun, and sing a little throughout the day.  It's fun, trust me.  Don't confine yourselves to karaoke nights.  Let your inner Whitney Houston out.  And if people give you weird looks, just look at them and say, "Try it, it's fun." 

Where did you learn to drive?!

I've been living in Arizona for 12 years now, which means I've had to put up with Arizona drivers for that long.  I learned to drive in California, and I've heard all the complaints about drivers out there.  But, in my mind, those complaints are coming from people who were not properly taught in this state.  I mean, the licenses don't expire for 60 years!  So here are my biggest pet peeves about Arizona drivers.

1. Accelerate through your turns!  It drives me nuts when I'm behind someone who is riding their brakes all the way through a turn.  Or even worse, someone who comes almost to a complete stop before making the turn.  It is proper practice to slowly accelerate as you drive through the turn.  Likewise, you should also accelerate as you enter a freeway, but that doesn't bother me as much.

2. Understand the right of way rules!  When you pull to a four way stop first, you have the right of way!  If another person pulls up ten seconds after you, you don't have to wait for them just because they are to the right.  You got there first!  There's a difference between being polite and being annoying.

3.  Stay out of my blind spot!  Drivers out here seem to have a habit of hanging out in my blind spot as they drive next to me.  Word to the wise, that's not a good place to be.  The other driver can't see you there, that's why it's called a blind spot. 

Those are my top three.  Spread the word.

Stop with all the Mike Stoops hate!

Mike Stoops was fired as head coach of the University of Arizona football team today.  There seems to be a lot of joy over this decision and a lot of hate towards Mike Stoops.  Personally, I don't understand why.  Now, I don't think Stoops was the greatest coach in the world, but I do think he did a lot for the UA program.  Let's have a look at where we were when he arrived in 2004. 

We were coming off of a 2-10 season.  Players were ready to mutiny against Coach Mackovic.  We struggled to fill half the stadium.  Games weren't even being broadcast on local TV.  We hadn't made a bowl game in six seasons.  In other words, the program was in shambles.  Then Stoops came and restored some order.  After a couple rocky seasons he got things rolling in the right direction.  People started coming to games, the team was competitive, and there was some excitement surrounding the program.  In 2008 we made a bowl game for the first time in ten years.  Then we made two more in the years following.  That was only the second time in program history we made three straight bowl games.  Games were selling out.  The tailgates were packed.  Games were being shown on ESPN.  Heck, even College Game Day showed up in 2009!  The program was relevant again.  Then the 2011 season came along and the expectations were high.  Maybe too high.

That seems to be the biggest problems with UA fans.  They expect things that likely can't be delivered.  How can you expect your team to go to the Rose Bowl every year when they have never been?  It's fair to expect our women's softball team to go to the College World Series every year, and our men's basketball team to go to the NCAA tournament.  But Stoops was never able to deliver a Rose Bowl so he must be a failure.  Right?  Well, I don't believe that.  He did a good job for a program that is not a national powerhouse.  And I think we should recognize Stoops for what he did do for the program instead of focusing on what he didn't do.  It's only fair to him, his players, and his coaches. 

Will the next coach have any more success than Stoops did?  I don't know, but I do think we should temper our expectations.  Let's focus on making bowl games every year, and, hopefully, a Rose Bowl will come one day.  For now, Coach Kish takes over and I couldn't be happier for him.  I've been lucky enough to get to know Coach Kish over the last eight years and I can honestly say he is one of the nicest people I have ever met.  His family is absolutely wonderful and I know this is an exciting time for all of them.  I know that he will be successful and represent the program with class and dignity.  And it is important to know that his first game as coach is a Thursday night ESPN game that ultimately would not have existed without the work that Coach Stoops put in.

Bear Down!  Go Cats!

I must be a genius!

I recently came across a book of "Mensa Sudokus" so I thought I'd give them a try.  I've always enjoyed logic puzzles and the recent sudoku craze really piqued my interest.  I gravitated naturally to the number puzzles and quickly became quite good at them, if I do say so myself.  So the idea of attempting "genius" level puzzles was quite intriguing.  The introduction in the book said the puzzles get progressively harder as you get towards the end, so I went straight for the very last puzzle in the book.  It took me less than 20 minutes to finish the puzzle.  I tried another one.  Same result.  These puzzles were way too easy.  I've played more difficult puzzles on my ipod app.  Yet, they were advertised as "Mensa" puzzles, which leads me to only one conclusion.  I must be a genius!

Now, I've been saying this for years, but no one seems to believe me, and I really didn't have any proof to support my claim.  But now I do!  No one can refute this now.  People should just be thankful that I'm not an evil genius.  Although, I'd have to admit, being an evil genius could be kind of fun.  Maybe I'll give it a shot.  So, with that, I'll sign off as I work on my plans to take over the world.  (insert evil laugh here)