"I don't know what you did in your past life, but it must have been BAD"

I have bad luck. I know a lot of people think they have bad luck because they don't win contests, or they get speeding tickets or whatever. That is small time bad luck. The kind of bad luck that I have is on a much bigger scale. Don't get me wrong, I don't win contests either, and I get plenty of speeding tickets. But it goes way beyond that. Yesterday was a perfect example.



Maybe you remember last year around this time, when I was all excited about being the word-reader at a spelling bee. Well, yesterday was this year's spelling bee, and Rebekah and I have been excited for months (we're nerds) to be word-readers again. I got off work early (which was kind of a big process in itself), and drove up to Heber, which is about an hour from SLC. Right as I drove into Heber, I called to tell her I was there. Apparently though, minutes before I called her, there was a bomb threat called in to the school district building, saying that a bomb was going to go off in one of the district's schools around 2pm. All of the schools in the district were evacuated at the exact time the spelling bee was supposed to start. I realize this is probably a bigger deal to those poor little spellers who had studied all those words. Or to the thousands of students who were scared of a deadly explosion in their school. But immediately, Rebekah blamed me and my bad luck for making the whole thing happen. That might sound harsh, but in her defense, she has every reason to blame me. Not because I called in the bomb threat (I didn't, I swear), but because history proves that wherever I go, I bring bad luck with me. Here are some examples:

--A few years ago in a scary bus station on the border between Mexico and Belize at about 1am, I tried to use the ATM to get money for the next bus we we had to take. I had run entirely out of money, so it was crucial that I get some cash. I put my card in the machine, and the very second that my finger was about to enter my PIN, the power went out in the entire bus station. About 30 seconds later, the power came back on and I thought "oh good, I can't to lose my ATM card in Mexico"....but the machine had reset itself and there was no way to get my card back. It was stuck in the machine. I had no money for the bus back, or for the rest of the trip (Rebekah saved me, don't worry).

--After the ATM incident, Rebekah and I found ourselves on a scary bus in the middle of nowhere, at 3am. We were the only Americans on the entire bus, and we were both sitting at the very back. Suddenly, our bus came to a stop, and we were surrounded by flashing lights. A Mexican police man came onto the bus, and began shining his flashlight up and down the aisle, looking at each face. He shined his flashlight at Rebekah, and then gave her a little smile. Then he shined it at me, and was really angry for some reason. He just said "passport". So I showed him my passport, and he looked it over very suspiciously. Somewhere during this time, he even gave a little wink to Rebekah (who incidentally has amazingly good luck). Then the police man walked back off the bus and we started moving again. No explanation.

--As I've previously mentioned, I am not a good driver. This is something I have known for a long time. I could list all the accidents I've been in, or tickets I've gotten, but I don't want to stress out my dad, who will read this. Anyway, there was this one span of about 3 years where I didn't get any tickets or any accidents. I was pretty proud of myself. Until one night when I was safely asleep in my bed, with my car parked out on the street in front of my house where it always was parked. Sometime in the middle of the night, someone crashed into the side of my car, and then drove off. It caused a lot of damage that my insurance wouldn't pay to fix, since they didn't know who did it. So basically, even when I'm asleep in my bed, I get in car accidents.


I've got a whole list of other things I was going to mention, but this is getting too long, so I'll stop here. I won't go into the story about that one house I lived in during college, in which there was a freak sewage problem, and we ended up with a closet full of our own waste (true). Or the time that I got pulled over by 5 police cars, because I matched the description of a drive-by-shooting suspect (for real). Or when I got arrested and handcuffed, because someone with my exact same name had a warrant out for her arrest. I even had to pay bail. Or even the time my friend Spencer made up a new card game, trying to test my bad luck. All I had to do was not choose the one card he was holding in his hand, and I would win. I chose the 3 of clubs, which was the exact card (out of the whole deck) that he was holding (I have witnesses). I could go on and on, but I won't. I do however, want to issue a formal apology to everyone (mostly Rebekah) who my bad luck has effected. Just by being near me, you have had to endure strange and upsetting events, and for that I truly apologize.

awesome

Here are a few things that I think are really awesome lately:



--I love jeans. And, I am a true believer that it's worth it to pay a lot for jeans, if they fit perfectly. Having said that, I end up paying a lot for jeans. So when I heard that Costco was selling designer jeans at Costco prices, you can imagine how excited I was. Of course, they sell out in the actual stores immediately, but you can still find them online here (just click on "fashion").


--It's probably been around for a while, but I just recently discovered the DIY Network (channel 130 at my house). A lot of the shows have to do with home improvement, which doesn't totally apply to me, but they have some craft shows too. My favorite is Martha Stewart Crafts. Say what you will about Martha, but she sure knows how to craft.




--This game. It was developed by a father who wanted to come up with a creative way to help his son study for the GRE. The World Food Program helped to get advertisers to pay for it, and now any time you get a word right, you're donating 20 grains of rice to the World Food Program, for hungry people around the world. Plus, it's fun.


--Diet Coke. I know it's not anything new, and I've been drinking it (lots of it) for many years, but lately it tastes extra good.

Happy Birthday Amy!

I wanted to find a picture of my sister and I, and post a little birthday tribute to her. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a single picture in which she and I both looked good. Not even "good", but I couldn't find a single one in which one or both of us didn't look like sweaty men or something. So, she might not be the most photogenic girl in the world (no offense Amy), but here are some things that she is.





*smart
*caring
*the first person i call when I'm crying (sorry about that)
*a really great mom
*a good listener
*pretty
*forgiving (for instance, she'll totally forgive me for saying she's not photogenic)
*a thoughtful advice-giver
*honest (sometimes brutally)
*a great cook
*very very funny
*tougher than me (per the results of our sibling poll)
*understanding
*the best sister a girl could ask for

Lastly, here is my all-time favorite picture of Amy and I. I look really bad in it (keep in mind I was about 14, and it was in the middle of the grunge era), but it just kind of sums up our relationship. I'm crying, and she's probably saying something sarcastic, and mildly offensive, trying to cheer me up. I love it. (Note the black and white pictures of little kids giving each other roses and stuff, on my bedroom wall. I was so into those)



Happy birthday Amy! I love you!

3.14

So, I know some people think I'm exaggerating when I say this, but until tonight, I hadn't eaten pie in about a year. I found out about my gluten allergy in October, but before that, I don't remember eating pie for a long time. So I think it really has been about a year. Anyway, that all changed tonight.





My new favorite person, Judy, had a pie party at her house (Friday Pie Day). I mentioned that it wouldn't kill someone to make a gluten-free pie, mostly jokingly. But guess what Judy did? She made a gluten free pie. And not just any old pie. It was a gluten free peanut butter cream cheese pie. Wow. As you can see from the pictures, it was awesome. She made the crust with rice flour, and almonds all smashed up. and the inside was incredible. I got really excited about it and ate way too much pie, and made myself a little bit sick. But it's ok because I probably won't get another chance to eat pie for a long time. So I'm glad I took advantage of it.




Also, I fell in love at the pie party. Cosmo is his name. And I feel like it's safe to say the feeling is mutual.

shiner

i had surgery this morning. i just had a cyst removed from my eye, but i look like i was beaten severely. as far as i know, i wasn't. but then again, i was completely drugged and asleep during the whole thing, so i guess it's possible. anyway, here's how pretty i look:

the nurses were so nice. and it was so cold in there, that they kept bringing me heated blankets. i decided that heated blankets are my new favorite thing ever. i haven't had surgery since i was 8 (tonsils), but i don't remember them even offering me a single heated blanket back then. is this a new thing? i loved it so much, that by the time i was ready to leave, i had 8 heated blankets on me. the nurse wrapped one around each of my limbs, and then around my back, just to make sure i wasn't going to get cold. i think i want to start heating up my own blankets, maybe in the oven, before i go to bed. i recommend you all do the same. i doubt it's a fire hazard or anything.

also, rebekah was kind enough to pick me up from the hospital, and had to sign me out. The line she had to sign on said "significant other". the last thing rebekah and i need is another implication that we're dating. we're not, i swear.

the news

I've been really sick the past few days, and staying home from work. After two days at home, I'm trying to remember why I used to love staying home from school so much. It's so boring! Daytime TV does nothing for me. Judge Judy, Montel, Little House on the Prairie (I know this makes me sound evil, but I've always hated that show). So anyway, I've found that my boredom has led me to a new obsession: the news! And I'm not talking about US Weekly, or People magazine, which I usually refer to as "the news". I'm talking about the actual news.

I usually try to avoid watching the news (and have even been forbidden to watch it by people at times), because I end up thinking about it too much, and it makes me sad. Basically the news is just a big downer. But there's some crazy stuff going on these days, and I wanted to share it. Here are a few of the gems I've found:


1. This huge snake in Australia ATE a family's pet Chihuahua! And the kids were watching! But if you read the article, you'll see there are some sketchy elements to the story. First of all, the family says the snake had been "stalking" their dog, and they even saw the snake in the dog's bed a few days before the attack. Don't you think, if you saw a 16 foot python in your dog's bed, that you would do something about it? Also, when the emergency zoo guy came to help, he didn't want to remove the dog (which was only partially ingested at the time), because it could have harmed or killed the python. So? Doesn't the python deserve it, since he just traumatized 2 small children?

2. These two college students got kicked off of a Southwest Airlines flight, and immediately assumed they were being discriminated against for being "too pretty". Someone should point out to them that Heidi Klum flies all the time without getting kicked off. That's all I'm saying.


3. Cindy Crawford Eats Cupcakes, Looks Skinnier Than Ever. That is the actual title of the news article. Does this really count as news?

4. This one did kind of make me sad. This little 9 year-old girl in Australia (hopefully not the same one who watched her dog get eaten by a python) got banned from her local tennis club for grunting too loudly while playing tennis. Personally, I think they kicked her out because they're jealous that she's too pretty.

Don't worry, I'll keep you updated on anything else that happens in the next couple of days.

I'm in a bad mood.

Things I hate (in no particular order):

*domestic violence
*barfing
*shania twain
*sitting at a table covered with fluffy bagels and cream cheese that you can't eat (gluten), when you're starving
*misspelled words
*my empty mailbox
*waking up two hours late and not being able to wash my hair
*my hair
*Frasier (the tv show--it's not funny. ever.) and Everybody Loves Raymond too, for the same reason.
*being SO SO SO tired, but then not being able to get to sleep
*phil collins
*acne


Maybe someday when I'm in a really good mood, I'll make a list of things I love. Maybe not.

R.I.P

OH NO! I just got home from work and got some horrible news in the mail. My very favorite magazine (besides US Weekly) has "ceased publication". No! It didn't even give any details or reasons. Just a little 3x5 card saying it's cancelled. I think I at least deserve a personal phone call. I feel so abandoned. It's like if someone told you your dog died, but didn't say how or why. I need some closure. If anyone knows why this had to happen, please inform me.

If US Weekly ever ceases publication, I don't know what I'll do. Something drastic.

this shouldn't come as a surprise

Something happened about two months ago, that just barely is becoming funny to me. At first it was just really upsetting and a little embarassing. But now that time has gone by, and the situation has been (mostly) resolved, i feel like i can talk about it. Basically what happened is this: I crashed into Lee's car, and pretty muched ruined it.

It was December 11, and we were on our way to Becky's birthday party. We decided to take seperate cars, because we had to go our seperate ways afterward. So I was following him to Becky's house, and the roads were as clear as ever. We stopped at a busy intersection (700 E. 400 S. in Salt Lake). Lee was in front of me. The arrow next to us turned green, and lee started to move forward just a tiny bit. I guess I wasn't paying much attention, because I figured if he was moving, the light must be green, so I just stepped on the gas. I ran right into him (hard), and pushed him into the intersection. His back window shattered all over him, and his spare tire came off from under his truck. Normally, the spare tire thing would be the least of our worries, but in this case, it was a major problem. It was in the middle of the busy intersection, and people were either swerving around it, or running right over it. Just as Lee was about to run into the street to get the tire, a car ran over it at full speed, pushing it further into the intersection, and right in the line of Trax. We both saw this happen, and looked down the street to see the Trax train coming right that very minute. I instantly had visions of the tire derailing the train, killing hundreds (or at least one hundred) travelers, and making the 10 o'clock news that night. Fortunately though, the Trax driver saw the tire, and stopped the train so Lee could go retrieve it. Very embarassing.

Here are some pictures of the damages. As you can see, my car didn't suffer nearly as much as his did:







So for the past month and a half or so, this has still been kind of a sensitive subject. I felt really bad of course, but Lee did a good job of making me feel better, even though he was the one who probably should have been consoled, with all the damage I did to his truck. Now that his car has been fixed, this whole thing is seeming more funny to me. Like the time I was handcuffed in Provo because of a warrant I had (later I found out it was actually someone else's warrant, who happened to have the same name as me). Or the time when my car caught on fire at the Pocatello Airport, and the parking lot attendant kept telling me I had to move it, because it was in a no-parking-zone. After a while both of those things became less traumatic, and more funny to me. So that's why I'm writing about this two months after it happened: it has taken that long for the transition from upsetting/embarassing, to funny to take place.

62

it's my dad's birthday today, so i wanted to give him a little internet tribute. here's me and my dad at disneyland in the early 80's:




and here's my brother, my dad and i playing. my brother is clearly not having as much fun as i am:


so as you can see by his haircut, i have a very hip dad. happy birthday dad! you're my favorite dad ever.

geography

I did WAY worse on this than I thought I would. I'll tell you my score after you tell me yours.

click here to find out how much you've forgotten since 3rd grade

INFP

I have been getting a lot of complaints lately (all from the same person) about my lack of capitalization when writing. I haven't been into capital letters since high school, and I don't really know why. When I said to The Complainer "Just for the record, E.E. Cummings (my favorite poet) never capitalized letters", he responded "Just for the record, you've never written poetry". Though rude, he makes a good point. So I'm trying out the capitalization for now. We'll see how long it lasts. I'm mainly doing it because The Complainer has been showing his protest by using all CAPS when text-messaging me. This is very annoying and I would like it to stop.


Also, I took another quiz! It's basically a simple version of the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, which I love. I urge you all to take it yourselves. I know you're all dying to see my results, so here you go (basically, the results confirm what you might already know; that I'm pretty great):

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. In love, you tend to have high (and often unrealistic) standards. You are very sensitive. You tend to have intense feelings. At work, you need to do something that expresses your personal values. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist. How you see yourself: Unselfish, empathetic, and spiritual When other people don't get you, they see you as: Unrealistic, naive, and weak

What's Your Personality Type?

ho ho ho

so the past few weeks have been full of holiday cheer, and i thought i'd post some proof of that.

first, since i was going to be out of town for christmas (keep reading), lee and i had our christmas before i left. it was pretty great. we both gave each other the same book, and then i gave him a sweater (he liked it so much, he almost started making out with it). here's proof:




so then i left for a cruise to the mexican riviera for a week. my parents and rebekah and i all went, and it was really fun. unfortunately, i only took 5 pictures during the entire week (which is good because, no offense to rebekah, but neither of us were at our loveliest during the trip). but here's one of the gems i took---it's in our room on the ship. this is rebekah enjoying the sunset:




i learned on the cruise that i am very ready to be an elderly person. i like things like buffets, naps, crossword puzzles, and bingo. i even considered playing shuffleboard, but i figure i have a few years before i need to start doing that. my family got on the cruise's version of Family Feud (it's been a dream of mine to go on that show for many years), but i didn't get to participate because i was sick. they came in second place without me. i don't like to brag, but i feel like with my presence, we might have won it all. i'm just saying.

oh, and my dad brought me some mint m&ms that he found in portland! it took me about ten minutes to eat them all.

happy new year!

merry merry merry merry christmas!

I love christmas time for many reasons. getting presents, giving presents, santa, the smell of pine...but with a lot of thought and study, I was able to narrow my favorite things about christmas time down to two. they are similar, but both worth noting:



mint m&ms. i'm normally not a huge m&m fan, but these are not normal m&ms. They are little candy-coated pieces of minty heaven. the problem is, you can't find them anywhere. somehow the word got out that they're so great, and now i can't find them anywhere. Target, WalMart, Shopko, Smiths....no luck. they have a million kinds of m&ms, but no more mint. so if anyone knows where to find them, please let me know. I finished my last bag weeks ago, and now i'm panicking.


thing number two:



these are new, so i'm not sure if they're seasonal or not. but i recommend getting your fill ASAP, in case they're gone after christmas. They're soft and fluffy like a regular 3 Musketeers, but they're minty! and it's dark chocolate! i really can't think of anything they could do to improve on that. maybe wrap it in money or something.


*both of them are also gluten-free, in case you were wondering.

thanks

thanksgiving this year was really fun. we went to the oregon coast with my family. here's what it looked like:





as you can see, my nieces and nephews are very cute.

5 inches

i got my hair cut.





the flash was really bright.

don't be so selfish for once in your life.

if you don't hate helping people, you should look through this list and maybe pick one of these things to do for the holidays. these are all just ideas from my place of employment, but if you don't live in SLC, i'm sure your local homeless shelter has plenty of opportunities as well. if you want to do one, let me know and i'll give you the contact information. or just go HERE.





HALLOWEEN
We are now accepting Halloween costumes for children from toddler to age 17. We have approximately 55 children in Shelter and 125 in our Housing program. Costumes may be new or gently used and can be delivered 7 days a week to our facility at 210 S. Rio Grande Street (455 West).



WINTER SHELTER
Adopt a bed for our Community Winter Shelter in Midvale!

The Winter Shelter is scheduled to open November 1st. Adopt a family bed for one family or for the season. A bed kit includes:
- One top and one bottom full/double sized sheets (they do not need to be fitted)
- Two pillow cases
- Two pillows
- Two washable blankets large enough to fit a full-sized bed

Five bed kits will adopt a bed for the winter season!
Our goal is to get five bed kits for each of the 60 beds in our family shelter to provide residents throughout the winter months. Residents are allowed to keep their bedding when they transition out of the shelter.



THANKSGIVING
Thanks to so many Thanksgiving dinners provided in the community, our shelter residents are able to eat their meal at one of these events. We do not have an opportunity to serve a meal at the Shelter, but we do collect items for turkey boxes which are delivered to residents in our housing program. For a list of items, click here: [Turkey Box Needs]

If you would like to find out more about volunteering to help serve a Thanksgiving meal in your area, visit www.informationandreferral.org.



CHRISTMAS
Our holiday Radiothon Broadcast tradition is coming up; we will have six radio stations broadcasting live from our shelter on Thursday, December 20th and Friday, December 21st. We will need volunteers throughout the day between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. to help gather donations from the street, organize donations in our warehouse, and take donor calls in our call center. We are also looking for volunteers on Saturday, December 22nd, Sunday, December 23rd and Monday, December 24th to help in the same areas. Sign up early! This is a great opportunity for families, groups and individuals. Email jpaulsen@theroadhome.org to schedule a time.

Men's Christmas Bags
We are now accepting donations of items such as full-sized bottles of shampoo, shaving cream, razors, etc. for the Men’s Christmas Bags that will be handed out to 600 homeless men on Christmas Eve. For a complete list, click here: [Men's Christmas Bags]

Candy Cane Corner
The Candy Cane Corner is our holiday store stocked with all new donated items. Our families have a time scheduled so they can shop uninterrupted for their spouses and children. Volunteers are on hand to help pick out items and gift wrap. We are now accepting donations for the Candy Cane Corner. For a complete list of needed items, click here: [Candy Cane Corner Gift Ideas]

Volunteers are instrumental to the Candy Cane Corner (CCC). We need volunteers to help stock the store, organize the inventory, assist families with shopping and gift wrap items. Volunteers are needed Monday through Friday from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. beginning December 3rd.

what a crock.

i bought a crock pot, to help with my previously mentioned health condition. i figured since meat and vegetables are "safe", a crock pot would be the perfect thing for me. so i bought it last week, and cooked chicken and vegetables twice in it already. i brought it to work for lunch and everything, and it tasted so good. but all week i've been wanting to make a roast. in fact, when i pictured myself buying a crock pot, i pictured myself making delicious roast and having a real sunday dinner with friends or something. well, tonight i made my first roast---

let me preface this by saying that i was a vegetarian for 10 years. from the time i was 13 until i was 23. it all started when i had a really gross dream about bacon fat. i was eating tons of sausage and bacon, and drinking the fat (in the dream), and then i woke up and ran to the bathroom and barfed (in real life). then i decided i never wanted to eat meat again. so i didn't, until ten years later when i was in Hawaii at a restaurant called "Cheeseburger in Paradise", and the guy next to me was eating a tasty cheeseburger (in paradise), so i decided i wanted one too. i've been a meat-eater ever since that moment. i haven't however, been a meat-cooker. that part still grosses me out.

so i don't know why, when i was having those daydreams of myself cooking roast, it never occurred to me that there would be things like fat, juices, and grease involved. but there were. i thought i had picked a really lean looking roast (with some "marbling" like my sister told me to look for). i seared it just like they say to. i put in potatoes and carrots, and a little bit of broth, and salt and pepper, and then let it crock all day. by the time lee got off work, i was pretty excited to show off my home-cooking.

i do want to point out, that lee was happy with the roast. he even said it was as good as his mom's (maybe he said that when i was crying, but it still counts). i however, was not happy with it at all. there was so much grease! my plate was all slippery from it. and it seemed like the vegetables had been cooked in pure fat or something. they were heavy and tasted fatty. needless to say, i felt sick all night, and was so disappointed. it was so bad, that when i went to put the leftovers in tupperware, i was gagging, and considered just throwing it away.

luckily, lee will eat it. he better enjoy it while it lasts though, because my red-meat-cooking days are over.


*p.s. that picture is what i imagined my roast would look like. it didn't.

i can't. i'm allergic.

as you might remember from previous posts, i have been sick a LOT lately. enough that i was starting to consider quitting my job and trying to collect social security for my disability. the annoying thing was that all of my symptoms sounded like the kind of symptoms a 10 year-old would make up if they wanted to fake sick and stay home from school. Nausea (constantly), bowel issues, headaches, always tired, feeling dizzy, etc.

so anyway, i took a few trips to the doctor, who first told me i was anemic (yeah, i know). then he told me i am allergic to wheat (also referred to as gluten). so at first i was like "oh good, i finally know what's wrong with me!", but then i immediately changed to "oh no! i can never eat bread again in my entire life!".

so the last few days (since the life-changing diagnosis), have been a huge struggle to figure out what is safe to eat. the first day i pretty much lived on Fritos, because my friend told me that corn chips were safe. yum. and i used to eat oatmeal every day for breakfast, but those days are gone.

here's one thing that made me feel better though.



at least being wheat-free doesn't mean i have to be healthy or something.

boo

i don't know why i always think i like haunted houses. i do this every year. i get all excited, and try to convince people to come with me to a haunted house, and we wait in line--i'm still excited--we talk about scary things. then the minute we walk through the door/web/curtain/whatever, i completely lose it. and not in a "oh, this is so scary and fun!" kind of way. no. more in a "where is the exit, i'm having an anxiety attack" kind of way.

so yeah, i did this again last night. this time, it was more embarrassing than ever because it was at the lamest, cheesiest haunted house there is. at lagoon (which you may remember from this). there's this thing called Frightmares (for those who aren't familiar---which i wasn't until last night) that lagoon does every October. i guess they just kind of make all their rides spooky? i'm still not totally clear on it. anyway, they also add a few haunted houses. so brooke, jefe, lee and i went, and brooke and i convinced them to wait in line forever for this cheesy haunted house. but as soon as we walked in the door i remembered why i hate haunted houses so much, and i was immediately, legitimately scared.

i don't know what it is about teenage drama geeks and goth nerds dressed up as scary monsters, and jumping out at me around every corner, that i can't handle. i am fully aware that they legally aren't allowed to touch you. i am also aware that they are pre-teens who probably have to be home by eleven, and definitely did their own scary make-up. still, when they are hiding in dark corners and snorting (? i didn't understand that but it still scared me) at me, my heart beats really fast and i feel like i want to cry (but i didn't, don't worry). part of it might stem from the fact that school shootings and crazy family murders are always executed by those same drama geeks and goth nerds. so maybe, deep down, they have the potential and desire to turn it into a real haunted house, and torture everyone. well, luckily lee caught on to the seriousness of my fright fairly quickly. he went from pushing scary guys into me and laughing in the beginning, to completely shielding me from them in the end. and he didn't even make fun of me until much much later in the evening when i had calmed down.

pretty much, the pre-teen fellow dressed in all black, with glow-in-the-dark lipstick, who jumped out at me at one point and stayed right in my face, summed it up best when he loudly whispered into my ear: "i'll be in your nightmares!"...needless to say, he was.