Favorite Halloween TV Episodes

Happy Halloween (almost)!

I thought I would do this since I don't have an EYM to do. As you probably know by now, I love TV shows and movies, and if I had the money, I'd go back to UArts and finish my Writing for Film/TV Major because I'm a screenwriter at heart (which is terrible as someone trying to be an author!). And as you know, there are many TV shows who pull out a Halloween episode around this time of year, so what are some of my favorites?Well, my first two aren't even TV series, but I love to watch them (even though I haven't seen them in a few years now. *sniff*)

Disney's Hocus Pocus. Now, this is a cult 80s kid classic starring a kid whose name I never learned, Bette Midler, some girl that kind of looks like Hilary Swank but isn't, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Nijimy, and a young (and annoying) Thora Birch. Also, if you watch NCIS, a young McGee as Thackery Binx. lol For those who live under a rock, it's the tale of the Sanderson Sisters resurrected by a virgin who lit the Black Flame Candle, and they need the essence of a child to become immortal. It's cheesy, and I love it. It comes on every year on ABC Family, and I just missed it on Sunday. Grrr.

Michael Jackson's "Ghosts". Yes, MJJ actually made another Halloween short film. I like "Thriller," but "Ghosts" is scary in a creep-you-out way. It's about some townspeople trying to throw the local weirdo out of town for scaring their kids, and what ensues is a bunch of dancing ghosts with some awesome music. Then some really freaky crap and it ends. lol

Martin: "The Night He Came Home". Martin was one of the shows I was allowed to watch as a child for some reason. I couldn't listen to Janet Jackson, but I could watch Martin...Anyway, in the first season, they had a ghost story episode where they tried to scare Martin with the tale of Old Man Ackerman. They tried to Ouija him into the apartment, and for a while, you think they did, with things flying through the air, Tommy getting possessed, then everyone disappearing, all to find out, Martin's friends pranked him...Then, as it's just him and Gina relaxing, Old Man Ackerman walks through the house and turns off the lights. Scary stuff!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Halloween" I vow to finish this series one day, but in the early years, there was the episode of Buffy where everyone became their costumes during Halloween (Oddly enough, Fairly Oddparents did a similar episode). I don't remember much about it (I remember Xander was a soldier, but had to wiki that Buffy was a noblewoman. I just remember she was funny) but I do remember Willow being a ghost because of the awesome scene where Giles is reading, and she walks through the wall and scares the crap out of him.

Those are just a few of my faves, but I don't want to bore you guys. Share some of your favorite Halloweeny episodes with me!

45 Things!

Happy Friday!

I'm posting this Wednesday because I found this questionnaire on my sister's friend's Facebook (I hear myself saying that with upturns every few words like a teenager). If you were on Myspace like I was in the mid 2000s, you did these all of the time. Let's go back. Way back. Back into time. ;)

And if you would like to do this, go ahead!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE:
I was named after Deborah, the judge in the Bible. Coincidentally, my aunt Deborah thinks I was named after her, but I can see how that's confusing...especially since she was named after her aunt Deborah...

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
The Thursday before last when I watched Glee, "The Quarterback." I'll never be the same again, and I'll probably watch it again. Greatest episode since the finale where Quinn went into labor at Regionals.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
It's serial killer writing sometimes. I try to adjust it, but it's bad.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT?
Pastrami, thanks to Carnival.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
*sigh*

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I'd probably try, but I'm such a hermit that I'd never see me.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Too much.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
No. I'm afraid of falling.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Hm....Chocolate Cheerios.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
No.

12. DO YOU STILL TALK TO YOUR HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART?
I don't even know where he is.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Tin Roof Sundae or Moose Tracks

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Their eyes. Though this cute red-head in Wawa who had a beard and a bun the other day, I noticed his whole being. lol

15. RED OR PINK?
PINK!

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
My ability to not care, and oddly enough my over-empathy.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My college friends.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
Only if they're bored and so inclined.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Blue plaid pajama bottoms, no shoes.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
American Dad

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Burnt Sienna. lol It's confusing and almost like Raw Sienna, but it must've been out in the sun too long.

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Lit fireplaces. Fabric softener.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My older sister.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
No one sent it; I stole it off of Facebook.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Technically, I watch sports entertainment, WWE.

27. (Natural) HAIR COLOR?
Dark brown

28. EYE COLOR?
Dark brown

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
I love seafood!!

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
It depends on my mood.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
I feel like it was that movie with the characters who were all personalities of a serial killer...If so, I need to watch another movie.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Pink!

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer for pool time, Winter for looking at the snow...when it snows in Delaware. >.>

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Kisses.

36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Chocolate mousse

37. IF YOU COULD MAKE A WISH, WHAT WOULD YOU WISH FOR?
That I'd have this book published, that's for sure. And world peace. I'm serious.

38. WHAT (in general) BOTHERS YOU THE MOST?
People who pretend to be something they aren't.

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Some tiny bumps so my finger grease doesn't wear it out, I think.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
Nothing, had choir rehearsal.

42. FAVORITE SOUND(s):
(This is weird, don't judge me) The sound of your tires running through a puddle of water.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
The Beatles! GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE!

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Mexico

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
I do voice impressions. I've done them since I was a little kid. Why I never thought of being a voice-over artist is beyond me.

Express Yourself: It's Like Cand-ay!

Welcome back to the weekly Express Yourself meme, brought to you by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests.

This week, they ask us about what candy we couldn't wait to get on Halloween.

I loved (and still love) the Hershey's Special Dark and Krackel chocolate bars.

My next favorite would probably be the singular Twizzlers and the Smarties, which (inappropriately) we pretended like we were popping pills. Sheesh.

I hope everyone has a happy Halloween, and don't eat too much sugar! You'll rot your teeth out. ;)

Friday Freeday: On the Bright Side

Good morning.

I'm pretty sure I'm still asleep, but I have to make the little money that I do. But some good things did happen since last Friday, so I thought I'd share them.

I DO have two hard copies of the collection with my short story "El Celular Roto", so yay.

After they posted the Admin Assistant job that is in my building, then took it down with no explanation, they finally put it back up last Friday, and I re-applied. Everyone's rooting for me, which is nice. This might be this company's last chance with me, though. While I love playing Hexatron Rogue all day, sometimes I want to work, and with two school loan agencies on my neck, I need more money!

I picked up a beta reader! Hopefully he's enjoying the story. I haven't had much luck with CPs and Betas, so I'm glad I reached out for more.

I wrote a few lines down in one of my fantasy prequellettes (yes, I'm totally creating that word), and that was hard because it was the first time I just WROTE. I'm one of those people who struggles with not writing exactly what I want to write, so that I made myself shows progress. :)

I hope everyone's had a good week, and here's to a good weekend!

Express Yourself: Halloween Costumes!

Welcome back to Express Yourself, the weekly meme brought to us by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @Bouquet of Books.

This week is a fun question: What was our favorite Halloween costume?

My favorite costume was a Snow White costume I wore in the 1st grade, but everyone thought I was Little Red Riding Hood...EVEN THOUGH I had the Disney Snow White dress on. >.>

Another favorite costume of mine was a makeshift pixie costume I made when I was at FSU. I wanted to dress up for the kids that never came to the door to get candy. -_-

The makeup on my face was ALL eye shadow, and let me tell you, don't do that. lol It was MURDER trying to scrub that off of my face.

Friday Freeday: The Idea Pool

Guten morgen!

So as I've said a few times, some of my stories hit me through dreams I have. My fantasy WIP was a major example of that: one scary chase with more visuals than I can ever remember having in a dream turned into a novel.

I had a short dream the night before, and if you follow me on Twitter, you know that my sister and Richard Gere were there and nothing fun happened! >:( It was a sad dream, and before I could conclude it--because I knew what my next move was going to be--I woke up. It will be a great flash fiction if I execute it correctly, but I think writing it as a play would be better, and that's because (the weird part of the dream, as there always is one) my sister and I, while we were both there, were definitely one person. I need a dream analyst for that one.

That said, I wanted to know how some of you guys come up with ideas for your WIPs. How does your muse manifest? Feel free to tell me in the comments!

Express Yourself: First Lines

Happy Tuesday (technically)! It's time for another Express Yourself question!

A big thanks for Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests for bringing this meme to the blogosphere. This week, they ask us to share some of our favorite first lines.

The first I want to share is actually the chapter title, which reminds me of a Friends episode title. lol (Also, if you ever want to know why the Friends episode titles are so plain, I actually know the answer!) This is the title to the first chapter of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys:

Chapter One Which is Mostly About Names and Family Relationships.

It's so cynical to me, and it's kind of Fat Charlie's attitude through the story, especially since his dad embarrassed him his entire life.

Another is from Vanessa Diffenbaugh's The Language of Flowers, and if you haven't read this book, dear God, do!

For eight years I dreamed of fire.Trees ignited as I passed them; oceans burned.

First off, awesome imagery. Secondly, the TURMOIL! Clearly there's something behind that, and what a ride to learn what it is! Wonderful.

I've read like a million books, and I was sleepy an hour ago, so I'll do one more. Christopher Pike began my love for young adult horror which I never followed up on in writing. lol Matter of fact, I'm pretty sure he just wrote YA paranormal, but I didn't know the difference when I was a kid. But Remember Me was one of the first books of his I read, and with openings like this, it wasn't the last.

Most people would probably call me a ghost. I am, after all, dead.

Thanks for stopping by. What are some of your favorite first lines?

Friday Freeday Question

Hello. Extremely short entry today.

So, I went to click one of my links that showed my college publication "El Celular Roto" and learned that portion of Temple's site no longer works. What do I do now, since that was pretty much the only real publication I had so far? =/

Bonus IWSG: There is now a website!

As if the Insecure Writers Support Group couldn't get any better, there is now a website that will have encouraging posts and info on publishers, agents, queries, marketing, et cetera! So stop by the page and *looks for the follow button, clicks to join* join the 62 people already following!

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

Insecure Writers' Support Group

Welcome!

Once upon a time...in a galaxy far far away...the voyages of the starship Enterprise...brought us Alex J. Cavanaugh!

If you wondered where I was going with that, it's okay, I did, too. lol

Every month, a bunch of us crazy writers get together and pour our hearts out onto this here thing we call a computer. It's my bedtime, so I'm doing it loopily.

My 10-year high school reunion is at the end of this month, and I've been watching my classmates get married and have children and all but save the world since we graduated, and I feel like Brian Griffin.



At any rate, I know now to not set goals in stone. I can at least say some interesting things like, "I'm the Music Coordinator for my Praise & Worship team," or "I'm the President-in-name-only of our Young Adult Ministry." That's better than "I'm a single 29-year-old temp barely making it every week." That's a little depressing. Blah.

So in a nutshell, this is going to be an interesting month for me, and I hope it will be for all of you!

Express Yourself Birthday!!

Happy First Birthday to the Express Yourself Weekly Meme!! Brought to us by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests, writers get together each week to answer the questions these ladies have for us.

In honor of the birthday, the question this week is: What has our favorite EYWM Question been?

My favorite question was the Soundtrack to our life question. It was great to see the type of music other people put to their lives while sharing my own. :)