This weekend the hubbs and I did some serious Halloween prepping. This is a big deal, because Michael is somewhat of a tightwad when it comes to ponying up for stuff like decorations, costumes and home improvements of any kind. But, I have to say, he was a trooper. Part of his agreeing to join me in a Halloween shopping menagerie involved me agreeing to attend a toys and collectibles show (geeks ahoy) in Northglenn. After a little whining, I reluctantly agreed to climb aboard the good ship Nerds-a-lot. Said dork fiesta was held at the Ramada Inn off I-25 & 120th, in their restaurant atrium, which BTW smelled faintly like urine. Splendid. Once inside a large room packed with tons of crap and the weird vendors selling it, I started having a good time. Michael and I piled through boxes of old action figures, postcards and records. We cringed at the prolific collections of dolls that stared blankly at us from plastic eyeballs. We laughed at old lunchboxes and toys we used to have as kids. We nearly vomited when the speaker announced the commencement of the “bobbing for action figures” event. Sick. Bottom line: I actually had a great time.

After Mike blew some dough at the toy show (one fantastical vintage record, “Big Dame Hunter,” with a cheesecake leopard skin-clad lass on the cover, and one Rat Fink bobblehead), we stopped at a fantastical costume and party shop in Broomfield. This place was awesome. The outside of the building was set up like a castle, complete with giant fiberglass dragons and huge fuzzy spiders. Inside the place went on and on. After picking up a bag of severed body parts, we made our way over to the costume section. Tons of costumes and spooky masks. Unfortunately there was a whole section dedicated to slutty Halloween costumes, too. Why do chicks feel the need to look like complete whores on Halloween? Anyway, Michael was able to pick something out to complete his costume (details post-Halloween) and I had my bag of stumps. It was glorious.

Finally, we made our way to the pumpkin patch at Rock Creek Farm in Broomfield/Lafayette. That place is great. There were a ton of people driving in and out, but they had the whole thing totally organized down to the pumpkin shears. Once you got your shears and an info sheet, you make your way to the multitudes of pumpkins that lay waiting in huge fields behind the farm. There were acres and acres of pumpkins – I’ve never seen so many! Nor had I ever been to a pumpkin patch. It was really fun. After scouting out the fields, we picked a spot to park and gather up some pumpkins. A lot of them were already mushy or completely squashed. But we managed to find some pretty cool ones – most of which are ENORMOUS. We left with 5 pumpkins and a feeling of heartbreak because we had no extra money to purchase some of their homemade goodies. As we were leaving there was a cute lab that was hanging out the sunroof of the car ahead of us. That and the sunset were the perfect endings to our autumn day. Check out our photos below.

Avoid the imminent long lines at the polls and vote early. There have been several warnings from city officials in Denver predicting insanely long lines this November, and the best option is to participate in early voting. I actually just voted today – hooray! And it couldn’t have been easier, people. Well, my situation is a little different. I registered for mail-in voting a few weeks ago, so all I had to do was fill out my ballot and drop it off at any one of several mail-in ballot drop-off locations around Denver. Yes, I could’ve just mailed it in, but I didn’t for two reasons: A. I really wanted one of those “I Voted” stickers, and B. I feel safer knowing it’s nestled in locked solid metal box in a government building, versus floating around in the mail. While mail-in voting registration has already deadlined, you can still vote early if you’re already a registered voter. If you did register in time for mail-in voting and haven’t received your ballot yet, DO NOT vote at a polling station. You have to vote via mail if that’s what you registered for initially.

For more info on early voting in Denver, visit DenverVotes.org.

Polls around Denver doing early voting (must be a Denver resident):

This past Saturday night, me, my hubby and Steve splashed some blood on our faces and joined the deranged masses on 16th St. mall downtown for the 3rd Annual Denver Zombie Crawl. It was a HOOT. There were reportedly over 200 people walking in the crawl – all dressed to the nines in zombie regalia. The crawl started at the Denver Pavilions and ended at Double Daughters Salotto on Market St. Along the way there were tons of people laughing, taking pictures, and just watching. There were also quite a few al fresco diners eating on the patios of Marlowe’s and Paramount – some were amused by the zombie heckling, others were trying ferociously to ignore the weirdos dressed as dead people, pawing over their meals. There were also passer-by’s who would weave in and out of the crowd, giggling with what I’m guessing was a combination of slight fear and delight. I think most people just didn’t want to get fake blood on them. Some fellow zombies, however, were taking giant swigs of fake blood and immediately spitting it out, creating a “I just gnawed on somebody’s brains” effect. Personally I think they were borderline insane to put that stuff in their mouths – pretty sure it has that Red No. 4 in it or whatever. Gross. Anyway, we slowly made our way down to Double Daughters, where we happily gulped down many beers. After walking 12 blocks to the bar with your mouth cracked open and tongue dangling out the whole way, your mouth tends to get pretty dry. Overall the crawl was a giant success, and we had a blast taking part in it. Braaaainssss………..

That’s right kids. Denver is going to have its very own Zombie Crawl this year. Well actually this will be it’s third year. But this is the first year in which me and the hubbs will have participated! Huzzah! The weirdness begins at the Denver Pavilions on 16th St. Mall at 6 p.m. Apparently the organizers are expecting a big group this year, which is very cool. After said zombies have gathered, the crawl begins toward LoDo – specifically to Double Daughters Salotto. Along the way there will be tons of shuffling, moaning and victim attacks. People who want to be attacked by zombies have to wear a giant black “X” on their chest. It should be really interesting to see how the normal passer-by reacts to a giant mob of moaning idiots. One thing that scares me a bit is the possibility of being attacked by real weirdos. Or bumbs. Or both. At the same time. Well I guess we’re just going to have to brave it. We, being me, my hubby, Steve, Sean and Holly. Mmmm…brains….

PS – For fun photos of Zombie Crawls worldwide, CLICK HERE.

Ugh. It’s been a long, hard, irritating journey through the depths of coding, forums, php’s, themes, MySQL’s, databases and more, but I finally had to put my foot down and say, “Screw it.” And this is why DorkusMilorkus moved. I feel good about it though, folks. I mean – it’s a fresh start. Think of all the possibilities. Also, think of all the offensive and stupid postings that are now lost in a binary oblivion. Now there are scores more offensive and stupid postings just waiting to be born and splashed onto DorkusDASHMilorkus. Anyway, I appreciate your patience over the past couple months of zero new posts and general lameness. DorkusDASHMilorkus is here to stay and seems to be functioning properly, so keep visiting and checking into what’s shaking.