Those of you that have been around this blog for a while know that Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. Over the last few years, I’ve had some pretty amazing costumes and pumpkins…

In 2004, I dressed up as a fireman, which, though not that unique of an idea, was amazing because the costume I wore was intended for wear by kids aged 4-8 (and was purchased from Duane Reade).

In 2005, I took the physical challenge and went out as a Double Dare Contestant. Put together completely from scratch after visits to Conway, Wal Mart, and Home Depot, this is my proudest costume to date. I also carved my first pumpkin that year. My carving - the Batman symbol - was simple, but not bad for a first attempt (in my opinion, which is all that matters).

Last year, I continued the Nickelodeon theme and went as Quailman (from the Doug cartoon). Not many people got it, but those that did LOVED it. I also intricately carved the Michigan Block M into a pumpkin - quite possibly the best work of art I’ve created in my entire life.

(Side note: In college, pre-blog, my greatest costume was right around the 2002 World Series, when I dressed as the Anaheim Angels’ Rally Monkey. What can I say? I’m a badass.)

This year was no exception. Last week, I got together with my usual crew to continue our annual pumpkin-carving tradition. Without further ado, my cannibalistic pumpkin:

While shopping for a pumpkin, I found a deli selling the little ones, and decided to roll with the idea. I had to buy a fairly large pumpkin to make sure I had enough room for such a big mouth, so scooping it out took FOREVER. On top of that I had to carve out the front and back of the little one too, so that light could shine through. All in all, a lot of effort, but the results were worth it.

When I got home that night, the doormen in my building were so impressed by it that they asked if they could keep it on their counter. Since I was leaving the next day for a long weekend in Chicago, I happily handed it over to get maximum exposure. Sadly, it was gone by the time I got back (one of the doormen said they eventually had to trash it because of flies), but apparently it was a pretty big hit while it was there. They took a picture of it and put it in the front of an album they had of residents’ costumes. I’ve never been so proud.

More pics: light and dark closeups of the scared little pumpkin being eaten, another angle of the whole thing.

I spent last weekend in Chicago, so I celebrated Halloween weekend there. This year, I went as part of a group costume - the Scooby Doo Gang. My costume, though not as ‘homemade’ as in previous years, was still a lot of fun to wear, and it attracted a lot of attention.

We didn’t have a Velma. The girl next to me played Angela from The Office. Sadly, the above is the only picture I have from that weekend, and it doesn’t show Bier, who played Shaggy (which was funny in its own way, because Bier is completely bald). I would have had more pictures, except Mike (Fred, above) very stupidly deleted all the pictures in his camera. And he claims to be a ‘professional photographer’ too. Ha! (You wanted a mention in the blog? You got it, pal!)

Since I was using a borrowed costume in Chicago, and didn’t have the rest of the gang with me here in New York anyway, I went with a different costume on Halloween night, paying homage to one of my favorite shows on television.

In case you can’t tell, the back of my shirt reads:

Michael Scott’s Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race For The Cure.

I also carried around a giant check for $340 made out to “SCIENCE”.

As always, a great halloween. Can’t wait for next year.