There are many out there that think they have to have a house built for them. Not only do they want a house built for them, it has to be big, they are thinking about square feet. It doesn't matter that there are some really good old houses that were built solid and look great, they have to have it built from scratch. The problem is, they can barely afford the mortgage, so forget about furnishing the place.

Now imagine this, a place that is big, but no real furnishings, or very minimal ones. Why would you want that? These people are trying to keep up with others. If your house is so big, their house has to be bigger.

Many people have to get a brand new car all of the time, even if they can't afford. Forget going out for dinner or doing anything fun, they have to make the mortgage payment and car payment that is really more than they can afford.

Look, I don't drive a beautiful car and I didn't have a house built for me. When I am ready to buy a house, I want an old brick house with a ghost, I have talked about this in a previous post.

I don't understand trying to impress people by such crap. Impress them by being smart or something. Impress them by dressing nice. Impressing them by being nice. You can use the money you save to do something fun. Take a vacation or even some day trips, go out to restaurants or to the movies. Enjoy life rather than living a lie. You just might enj

I love Halloween, it is my favorite time of the year. I love to decorate, I start early doing it, normally August. I love carving pumpkins. I love watching scary movies (I do it all year long).

Another thing that I love is going to the fun houses, the haunted attractions that are put on locally. In Indiana, I really love going to the Green Center Haunted Schoolhouse. It is located in the tiny community of Green Center, in Noble County. It is on a county road, and I think that adds to the charm. It isn't really that scary, just fun. I go every year, normally around my birthday, with a group of friends. I recommend it to anyone in the area. They do their best to put on a good show. I would call it more of a fun house, but you will have fun. We also like to go out and play on the rides in the playground afterwards and act like silly kids.

Fort Wayne has the Haunted Castle and Black Forest. The Haunted Castle was great when I was a kid, being located at an old church. They tore down that structure though, and the new one is not half as good. The Black Forest is still fun. It is more of an outdoor attraction, but I always have fun there. The Haunted Cave can also be fun, but I have not been there in years.

Huntington has the Haunted Hotel, which is a 3-D event. I'm not really into 3-D, still I love this event. It is well put together.

When I was in Florida, I enjoyed Universal Studios during Halloween. I hope to return to this event.

Regardless of where I move, I hope to always find these places to go. I am still a kid at heart and love these attractions. We love the idea of getting scared. We put

I just turned 39 years old, so I don't expect to find a woman who has never been married. I also don't expect to find a woman who doesn't have any baggage, they just don't need to use it as an excuse.

Okay, so where to begin. I got a late start dating. I had a blind date my Junior of High School,  and a handful of dates my Senior year. I didn't really date much until college. I had my first kiss at 19, so I really developed late. That being said, I tried to make up for all that in college. I dated many women at this time, some very interesting. I thought about marriage a couple of times, but nothing happened. They were not the right women for me.

After college, I went away to law school. I was single again. I had to focus on my studies, or I wouldn't make it through. Somehow I graduated, and I returned to Indiana from South Florida (what was I thinking)?

After I returned, you would think it was time to go back to dating. Well, then it was tougher. Women my age were already married, while I went to school, they got married. I still found people to go out with, but it didn't go great. I am sure that I hurt some, which I feel horrible about. I remember one lady in particular, I did not handle the situation right. She stuck by me during times she really should not have, then I let her loose. I was a jerk and regret.

After a bit, I really wanted to try and settle down. It seemed like the right time. I was now over 30 and didn't want to wait around. I met some great ladies, but they were either divorced or had a long-term relationship end. They had been used to being treated horribly, they didn't seem to know how to deal with me. I was a gentleman. I treated them with respect and chivalry. I was raised by my grandma and mom. That is the way you are to treat a lady. Regardless, they liked it at first, and then started to freak out. They walked away rather than discover that good things could happen. I have never understood why you run from a good-looking, well-educated man who treats you with respect. They seemed to run back to the typical midwestern dirtbag, unnatractive, dressed like a slob, and who treated them poorly. It was upsetting. What could I do.

I then tried Eharmony and Match.com after one particular bad end to a relationship. There was talk of marriage one day, and the next she was done. Again, she is married now, like the others. They seemed to marry the next guy after me, even if he was a dirtbag.

Through Eharmony and Match.com, I seemed to go through the same stuff. The girls were the same there. They claim to be looking for a good relationship, but they fall into the same patterns. The same patterns would hit me. They would really enjoy me at first, then get scared since things were going well. I still don't understand this, and found it completely upsetting. It makes you afraid to put your best foot forward. The pattern continued, and was completely frustrating.

I want to eventually date and get married. Then again, it is frightening to imagine going through the same thing again. Maybe the best bet is to order a bride from the former Soviet Union. I've looked at the pages. These are good-looking women with high college degrees.

Regardless, when the right woman comes along, she will be appreciated.

The 1990's, what a decade...I started out a rapper and ended it a law school student.

I graduated high school in 1991. I had switched from a small private school to a large public school between my Sophmore and Junior years. It was a tough adjustment, and I don't think that I really had much success making friends at Northrop High School. Then I started college and things changed. I started to really discover more about who I was as a person. I guess that is what college is all about. I also started getting involved. I started out in the French Club as the Treasurer. I was then elected to the Student Senate and was chosen to serve on the Student Body President's Cabinet, then returning to the Senate. I was then elected Student Body President, serving one term. I would graduate in a semester, so I did not run for re-election, and instead returned to the Senate as a sort of elder-statesman. Those were amazing times in my life.

I worked through college, but had to take out student loans. I had interesting jobs. I worked at JC Penney at first, I started my Senior year of high school. It probably helped me a bit in getting out of my shell. I then ended up at a local chain of grocery stores called Scotts. My brother worked at two of these stores over the years. While the job itself sucked, I met some fun and interesting people, some who are friends of mine today. I then ended up at Marshall Fields (it was still called Hudson's when I started). I loved working there. I actually got to work with my brother for a bit. There were always lots of hot women at the store, which made it much more exciting (especially since it didn't really pay much, maybe beer money for the week).

The decade ended with me getting accepted to law school. I still can't believe I got accepted, let alone graduated.

When I look back at the 90's, one thing I remember is the music, listening to bands like Counting Crows, Nirvana, or other college favorites. I remember movies like Batman Forever and Clueless (sorry, the girls were hot, even if it was a stupid film). I remember watching Wings and Frasier. I remember going to the bar almost every night, either doing karaoke or dancing.

Yes, I said I started out as a rapper. I had been rapping since the late 1980's. I went by The Cool M.C. KE (pronounced key, since there was a skeleton key over the E). I recorded three songs, two were used on an independent horror film soundtrack. Now I don't care much for rap, I love the classics from the 80's and 90's, but not from today, I got older.

I then started to spend time at the Dash In Cafe, a local coffee house. There I wrote poetry, or tried to. I guess I tried a few ways to e

I guess this was a time when I started to find my voice. These were good times indeed.

I loved watching Elvira on television as a kid, and mostly for her large and delicious breasts. Okay, that is one reason, but also because I loved those movies, those horrible, B-grade monstrosities of cinema. Who doesn't enjoy Attack of The Killer Tomatoes and similar films.

I would love to host such a show. People who know me know how much I love bad cinema. I also grew up watching USA Up All Night. I love watching Sorority Babes in the Slimeball-Bowl-a-Rama, Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity, Assault of the Killer Bimbos, Bad Girls From Mars, and Killer Klowns From Outer Space. These are the kinds of movies that put a smile on my face. They are like comfort food is to many people and I look forward to viewing such films.

I don't think I would have a real edge though. I look so normal compared to most people. Then again, I guess I look normal until I open my mouth. Then you see my eccentric side come out, which I guess could be fun.

The question is, what kind of host should I be? Should I play the ghoul or the zombie, or something else? I guess that most years I am a vampire for Halloween and I write vampire stories, so I guess that I should be a vampire, a vampire with a very strange sense of humor. I can always crack a bad or tasteless joke in the show.

I may not be endowed with Elvira's large endowments...mostly just how damn funny she is. Then again, I hope that I am not as annoying as Gilbert Gottfried used to be.

So come on

I am guessing that we probably all have a favorite placed we have lived during our lives. For me, I probably run across two places, the farm and Ferndale Drive.

I have told my friends multiple stories about growing up on the farm, and the fun that I had. Still, as I got older, I wanted to be closer to my friends who lived in the city. That being said, I have many great memories of that place.

The other place that I really loved was my grandmother's old place on Ferndale Drive. It was of course much better to just go and visit her before moving in there after her stroke. I remember spending those days with her watching t.v. or just talking. I miss talking to my grandma.

Still, I loved living there, maybe knowing that she was a part of the place helped. I always felt so comfortable there, unlike some other places. I remember decorating the place for Halloween or Christmas, or having friends over and watch movies. Whatever it was, there was a good feeling.

After moving, I still like to drive by the place, thinking of the fond memories.

I turned 39 years old today. I guess every time we hit a birthday, we take a look back at the previous year to ask ourselves what we have accomplished. This past year I guess I had a major accomplishment, and a few things that could be a step forward. We all want to take the step forward, even though sometimes we have to take a step back to take a step forward.

Last year I got a raise, moved to another company in an advanced position, and released two books. I had a third book approved that should be released around Halloween. I guess that is what can be seen as accomplishments.

I grew up in a French-American household, and as much as I loved and admired my grandmother, what she went through with the war, I didn't always get to see the sunny side of things. There are times that I have focused on the negatives more than the positives, and I am working on changing that. The truth is that only I can change that, and I have taken steps to make changes in my thinking.

Many times I get frustrated that I am not in the career I wish to be, or that I am not yet married. The thing is, I will get that career, and I will find the right person, things will come along. I have to be patient.

I guess patience is a virtue that I am still learning. I don't like to be behind on things. When I'm at a job, I like to know what I am supposed to be doing. In a relationship, I like to know what the other person is thinking. The truth is, we are not going to have things always go the way we want, but that is not a bad thing. It can actually make things better, and give us a new perspective on things.

As a new year approaches, it is both exciting and frightening. Great things may be on the horizon, but there will also be challenges. Who knows, I could end up in a new city or state, I could be in a dream career, I could be engaged, I could have a book that shoots up the charts. There is unlimited potential. I have to actually seize the bull by the horns and do something about it. I am the only person that I can blame, but there are many people that I can give thanks.

I hope that through the next year I will have good and exciting news. I guess that I will keep you posted!

For whatever reason, zombies are really big nowadays. There are popular movies out about zombies like The Living Dead Movies, Zombieland as well as playing parts in recent the recent releases Dylan Dog: Dead of Night and Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides. AMC has turned the popular comic book series "The Walking Dead" into a television program. There are many other zombie comics, such as the extremely popular Marvel Zombies series and others. Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies and World War Z have been a great selling novels.

Why are zombies so big now? First of all, we are not talking about the zombies from the Carribean, the body without the soul, but of what I like to refer to as the Romero version. Here, zombies are normally infected by a virus or some other sort of agent and feast on the flesh of the living. Many times, they move slow, but not always (such as in 28 Days Later and its sequal). In the Return of the Living Dead movies, they like to eat brains, since brains ease the pain they are feeling.

Because of the recent upswing in zombie related products, some think we are being warned to watch out for the zombie apocalypse. There are many bioligical agents that are capable of doing this to people, so we need to get ready and prepare for the outcome. As Leslie hall sings in Zombiekillers "Shoot the in the brains if you want to live." These people fear we need to be ready because there will definately be an upcoming zombie apocalypse.

Is it possible, I believe in the possibility of just about anything, but it is not probably. I doubt we will see a zombie apocalypse, and if there was one, it would be nothing like we would or could have expected. Movies don't answer all of life's questions.

Sure, they tell us the valuable lesson of never get close to zombies, to shoot them in the head, and not to get bitten or you will be turned. Guns seem to be the most valuable weapon, but there are many methods different films show us.

I am currently not ready for the zombie apocalypse, so I guess that I am off to Barnes and Noble to pick up a new copy of World War Z or the Zombies Survival Guide. Hopefully by reading these books, I will learn how I can survive in a world run by zombies.

When Pluto was reclassified to the new classification of plutiod, many people, including myself, were upset. It is funny the emotion that we felt for this frozen, lifeless body so far from our planet.

As a child, Pluto was a favorite planet. I thought of the dog from Mickey Mouse maybe. It was distant, at the edges of what was to me our known solar system. Maybe the distance was what made it such an attractive place.

My life may have been distant, my father had left us behind, I was painfully shy and had struggled to make friends. Maybe I could relate to Pluto. Maybe I was Pluto, that outlier at the edge of the Solar System.

As time went on and I learned more about the Solar System, I still loved Pluto. Now I knew that it was actually named for, and more about its places in the cosmos. It was fascinating.

I am very much looking forward to the upcoming mission that will explore Pluto. It was exciting to see the pictures when Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and their moons were eplored, and the pictures that came along with it.

As kids, we love space, and I think we keep that love as we grow up into adulthood. We still dream of colonizing space, travelling in space, and so on. While I may never