Remember, you have to shoot them in the head.

Prombie II (the prom for zombies, aka Mike's Halloween party) was super-fun, aside from the allergic reactions (to Mike's cat) suffered by poor Edmund. He was coughing so hard at times, I thought he was going to hyperventilate.

I said, "Do you want to go?"

"No -" *hack hack hack hack hack wheeze* "- I'm having fun!" *hack koff koff gasp*

Which, to me, was the best part of the evening - seeing that my delightful boyfriend likes my friends so much that he will brave poisonous dander-filled conditions to spend some time with them.

I would also like to point out that the highlight of Eileen's evening was - yeah, baby! - meeting my man. That makes me happy. So happy, in fact, that I'm allowing some chicken that's sauteing in the kitchen to burn because it's way more interesting to type this than go turn it over.

Aw, crud, I can smell it burning. Be right back.

...

OK.

I can tell you without even asking that the highlight of Edmund's evening was Anne Elisabeth telling him how much she likes the Web site he writes for. He couldn't stop grinning the whole way home.

Would you like to see pictures of the zombie party, taken by my very own boss-man Beryl? Of course you would. If you have questions about the you-had-to-be-there captions, do ask.

(Oh, yeah - did I mention? I have a boyfriend now. More on this story as events warrant.)

Greetings from Cleveland!

The Holiday Inn Select has free Wi-Fi!

... and a $15-per-night charge to park in its garage.

Oh, well. Nothing's perfect.

Kari and I are heading to the American Copy Editors Society's Ohio workshop today. We'll learn about cutlines, headlines and the problems small papers face - and I'll be participating in something called Grammar Smackdown! (The exclamation point is part of the title, not an expression of my excitememt over the workshop.)

But I am excited. I've been feeling kinda burnt out lately, and ACES events tend to recharge my copy-editing batteries and get me excited about my job again.

Also, Ohio's foliage is at its peak, so the drive back should be purty.

The masses clamor for updates ...

Seriously, I've got like three Friendster testimonials that just say, "Update your blog already!"

Well, just a little one, to get back in the swing of things.

DVDs in my big damn "To Watch" pile:
- Ned & Stacey
- Gilmore Girls
- Firefly
- Sex and the City
- Arrested Development
- Jesus, don't I watch any movies anymore?

Modern doodads I'm thinking of getting (advice, please!):
- TiVo/DVR
- Netflix

Things on my mind lately:
- Calling 80 restaurants in three days for our dining guide (half of them think you're selling something and hang up on you)
- The American Copy Editors Society's Ohio workshop this weekend (gotta make that hotel reservation)
- Looking for an apartment (why an application fee? shouldn't they be courting me and not the other way around?)
- The OSU/Indiana game next weekend
- Flag football schedules
- Halloween costumes
- Considering taking a few days off and just relaxing for a while