M.I.A.

Whenever I disappear from the blogosphere for a while, it is usually for one of two reasons. Either I am off somewhere, too busy to blog, and accumulating content that will take a while to process into a proper post. Or, I am dealing with an emotionally heavy topic that will take a while to process into a proper post. This absence has been due to both reasons. Expect posts of both sorts in the near future. In the meantime, here are two lighthearted distractions...

1. Jeremy and I were discussing today how much fun it would be to give children really twisted first names with really normal nicknames. For example: Annie (short for Anarchy), Stu (short for Stupid), or Abbie (short for Abyss). In honor of Hallowe'en, I'm having a contest in the comments. Can you think of any other really good, twisted names that shorten to normal nicknames? There will be a prize for the best one! (Disclaimer: Prize may not have any monetary value.)

2. Didn't get around to making a Jack-O-Lantern this year? Carve a pumpkin online! (Hat tip to Sarah for the link.)

P.S. Haven't had enough Hallowe'en? Check out Matazone's extremely disturbing Hallowe'en animation (warning: extremely disturbing and somewhat graphic) or TwilightTreader's Hallowe'en short story (warning: mature language and subject matter).