Every year I sit down and cause my right arm and hand untold pain. Every year I wonder why I entire this treatment for something that really only lasts one night. When that pumpkin is finally lit and sitting on the porch, it is all worth it.

This year I set out to carve another Big Lebowski inspired pumpkin. A few year's back I pulled off a pretty epic "Dude" and had been meaning to continue the series. So along came Walter Sobchak.

Then the daughter flaked on her carving and requested (very loudly) a SuperDog pumpkin. I didn't really know who this SuperDog was, but came up with the one on the left.

This is the PeaceMaker. It has served as my trusty wiffle bat for over 25 years.

We all lose pieces of our life along with bits of ourselves as we travel through time. Wiffle represents this for a good part of the population, both physically and emotionally. It is truly a kid's game and the vast majority left their childhood behind years ago, along with the bits and pieces.

For whatever reason, I held onto wiffle through-out the years. It is a place I can always go that is void of all the responsibility and stress of adulthood. It is a place where I am free to act like the wide-eyed energetic child deep within my soul.

A few years back, Jen painted one of our kitchen walls with blackboard paint. In her mind, I am sure she thought this would be for our daughter. Little did she know. It has been years, possibly decades, since I was drawing/sketching on a regular basis. Then one day I looked at the blackboard and thought "Aw shucks, why not?"

When I heard that Spike Jonze was making the film version of "Where The Wild Things Are", I was awfully intrigued. Now that we are within a few weeks, I am beyond stoked. To honor the release, I made a chalk drawing of Maurice Sendak with one of the wild things. I started with this photo of Mr. Sendak and this image from the book. My lack of colors kind of hosed me, which is why the video shows some serious adjustment to the wild thing portion.

If you have ever cruised around Vermont with me, you will have no doubt received some random commentary about a select number of pointless landmarks. Since I received my license many years back, I have spent countless hours traversing the state. I love random things, I guess that would be obvious from the videos, and Vermont is filled with them (though Northern NH is a bit more prolific).

Of all the great things to witness in the Green Mountain state, this is absolutely my favorite. Somewhere between Woodstock and Quechee, there is an antique store. And this antique store, that no one really notices, has two very normal signs announcing their place of business. But on the back of one is the old writing from some long past hot dog business.

Every time that I drive route 4, I look forward to seeing the sign for a good 20 miles prior. It is a combination of the location in one of the snobbiest parts of Vermont, the corniness of the message, and the complete random location. I finally have some photographic evidence, if you are on route 4 see if you can find it.