Just wrapping things up here at work today before my and G's long weekend - yay! We're taking Halloween day off together...it's our "New Year," - Samhain - so we take it off every year. I can't wait to read our tarot cards and see what's in store for the coming year. We also have some newly deceased loved ones - Al and Minnie - to remember and celebrate, along with those that we've celebrated in years past. It's weird...the other day, Al came to my mind really vividly, and last night, G had a dream about him. I think he's still sort of hanging out with us. I miss that cat so so so so very much, it still hurts like hell. I miss Minnie too...but Al is always the one whose face vividly haunts my dreams and my memories. Maybe it's because his death blind-sided us so badly...whereas Minnie's was so evident. She had been deteriorating for months before she died, but Al really hadn't. We weren't ready for him to go. With Minnie, we were ready, and we feel so lucky that we were...

Anyway, this weekend is mostly gonna be G and me time. Very low-key this year, which is good because every year for many years, we've had parties...I'm kinda just wanting to RELAX this year. We are having G's sister and mom over on one of the nights to have some Halloween-themed food and watch a fun movie together, but that'll be very laid back too. I'll probably bring out Practical Magic for them. I don't think they've ever seen it, and I love watching it every year. It's one of those Halloween movies that moms and sisters would enjoy, so...we'll keep it "safe" for them, then bring out the depraved horror movies for later on that evening, once they leave.

The Tivo is quite busy recording all sorts of Hallow-TV for us! We'll have stuff to watch well after Halloween, which is good, because I always get a little sad when Halloween is over. This will help "bring us down" gently.

I can't wait to show you all my costume this year. One of the "parts" arrived in the mail yesterday...should be fun.

So what do you all have planned for Halloween this year?

M O O D:

a l i i i i i i v e!

In case you missed my previous posts, we created a new song specifically for Halloween, called "Fantomatique."

We posted it for review on Monday at garageband.com, and it's been getting some pretty good reviews! Today, it has been awarded "Track of the Day" in the Industrial category. [And our mySpace friends/fans have really been enjoying it too].

This was mostly G's baby - it's mainly instrumental...I do some "aahs" in it, but I'm definitely not in the foreground this time around. We're going to always do a few cool instrumentals on our albums, we've decided. Cradle of Filth does that a lot, as does Dimmu Borgir, and I always enjoy those tracks - totally creates an epic feel, dresses the whole album in mood...for us, it's all about the mooooooood.

Work is still busy - Thanksgiving is next, and of course, since I did so great with Halloween, I am now in charge of coming up with Thanksgiving and Christmas campaigns. *roll eyes* The rest of the year will be quite busy for me...at least we have 3 4-day weekends each month thru January.

I need to stop for a minute and say once again: I am SO thankful that G is working here again. It was SO stressful last holiday season...him working from 3-11:30, not getting paid holidays, having to drive home after midnight all the way across town often on icy roads. That was a hideous, hideous time and I'm ever grateful it's over.

OH! And guess what? The people who were responsible for wreaking havoc on our offices two years ago? They BOTH are now GONE. They were [of course] given the "rich person's retirement," but they're GONE. The balance [of the force - heh] is finally moving into place.

I owe you guys some more downloads of my Halloweenie stuff! - LOTS of great feedback from everyone this week. We had a few SNAFUS come up, but all was easily remedied [and not my fault]. So...yeah, it's been a pretty good Halloweek!

M O O D:

p e z z e d!

Pandas are fucking METAL.

M O O D:

u n d e r - t h e - w e a t h e r

[I stayed home sick today...bleh].

But somehow, someway, I and my amazing team got EVERYTHING out by the deadlines on Friday. Hell, I even left work ON TIME Friday. Amazing. Some hairy moments did happen...mainly though, they were caused by my boss getting all anxious and paranoid for no reason. - But overall, she was very "hands-off" compared to how she normally gets with projects that are this high profile. I just can't wait to see it all air starting tomorrow! Eeeeks!

So here's the first download. You'll have to "right click/save as" to your desktop - please do not try to sream it. These will be airing during commercial breaks throughout the week. - Each is a little :05-second ID. I wrote them, came up with the overall concept, and also directed the music. The music is a "spooky" version of our channel's normal "Station ID" music. -My boss' boss REALLY loved that. My extremely talented graphics designer came up with the beautiful green colors and the black widow spider - both of which turned out to be my favorite part of the "look". -It originally was going to be sort of a gray "crypty" look with red text, but when you start dealing too much with black/gray/red, it doesn't translate too well on TV screens.

Anyway, this "look" was what sparked the whole campaign into action. Let me know what ya think. And if you DO get "my channel," tune in next week to see how the whole campaign comes together - there's even more elements that I'll show you next week as I collect some clips here and there. Again, if you don't know what network I work for, email me privately and I'll tell you.

Now then...maybe it'll be "business as usual" next week. I dunno though...they want me to do a Thanksgiving campaign, so I'll have to start on that IMMEDIATELY. I did learn a LOT this first time out, though. I am all the wiser, so I think with each campaign, the process will get much more refined.

Okay, here's the download. Enjoy!

Time to get all caught up with our fans and friends at myspace and on my bazillion emails. Looking forward to getting caught up with YOU all next week!

M O O D:

R E L I E V E D