San Francisco Chocolate, Colds, and Parodies

I was in San Francisco this weekend, getting back home Sunday night at 1:00. This really would've only been an hour late for me, except that I was getting sick. So I decided to sleep through all my classes on Monday, taking my first sick day since fourth grade. But at least I am now well, except for the longer-lingering cough.

What was I doing in San Francisco? Attending the Fall Luxury Chocolate Salon, of course, and otherwise looking for chocolaty experiences. (Look for my write-up of the event and the chocolates I picked up on Chocablog). Here are two pictures, one from Saturday morning and one from Sunday evening, taken along the coast.

An interesting city, architecture-wise, if a little chaotic as far as street-navigation goes.

And one more thing, which I meant to post about a week ago. The Hillywood Show, of whom I am a great fan, released their Eclipse Parody on Thursday. Makeup and choreography have blown me away yet again, and this video parodies more than anything they have ever done. Just watch it and see if it doesn't make you laugh, too.

New Classes

My class registration for spring opened on Monday.

I was so anxious/excited/something-like-that to sign up for the three classes I knew I wanted to take that I did so from my phone an hour after my slot opened up (a whole hour later because I had been in class).

Then I spent a week, unsure of what other two classes to add. Today I finally realized I couldn't take it anymore; so what if some people's registration still isn't open, I feel late/remiss/something-like-that not choosing the last two classes.

The result? Many English classes. I hope I didn't swamp myself in reading too much. I'm almost done with general, required classes, so the only one I will be taking next semester is Latin 202 (which, by the way, will probably be my last Latin class -- I don't know if I would enjoy going any further). Also on the agenda: Intro to Contemporary Lit., Major American Novels, American Indian Lit., and a Tolkien-based class on medieval motifs in modern culture or some such notion.

The amazing thing is that they all sound interesting. This is what I remember looking forward to in high school: digging into specific topics, topics that you yourself choose. Latin is a crazy puzzle, I know I need better insight into modern works, the reading list for the novels class is probably my list-of-books-I-need-to-get-to-someday, Native American studies are just fitting for the Southwest, and a class based on Tolkien is just ideal.

The other perk? Only two classes on Monday and Wednesday, one on Friday, one on Tuesday that isn't until 4:40, and nothing on Thursday. So even if I have a lot of reading, I think my in-class schedule will be loose enough that I'll manage.

Skunks and Lobsters, Oh My!

Some people dress up for Halloween, going trick-or-treating or to parties; some stay at home and do nothing; and some get too creative. I'm normally in the middle category, letting the strange holiday pass me by, but this year, my parents bought a couple of costumes and since I was staying this weekend with them . . . Here is what happened:

Three dogs in costumes, myself in "accented" clothing (including glittery eyelashes, which stayed on despite it being a hugely windy day), at the square in Prescott, after a pet costume contest. Yes, there were about 25-30 four-legged contestants. Here are our two vampires meeting another one, who also happened to be the winner.

This tiny thing was Superman; he was incredibly cute.

People really know what's best for their dogs, don't they? This little round pumpkin looked completely himself.

And the little diva here seemed pleased with herself (by the way, hers is actually a girl's costume).

A skunk and a ladybug.

Don't forget the bumblebee.

This guy was harder to understand at first. Once you saw that he was a shark, though, he was fun.

So prim, isn't she?

I took a few pictures of these two because I was trying to get the best angle on their costumes; I never really succeeded. One is the now-classic hot dog; the other is carrying the headless horseman.

An interesting event. Overall, though, it was a good example of pet ownership. Most dogs didn't have headgear, but those that did seemed comfortable with it. None of them were scratching or biting at their costumes. (Like our own lobster Molly: her costume had a hood, but we left it down because it just didn't work for her. It completed the costume, sure, but that's not a big enough reason). There was a brief bark-off when everyone first stepped into the middle, but after that, there was good behavior even with so many dogs in such close proximity. They all knew they're loved . . .