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halloween is approaching. for the first time in five years, mrs. wintermute won't be hosting a halloween party (i've co-hosted for 3 or 4 of those years, depending on how you count it). between not really having a lot of friends in soflo and mrs. w's room mates working ridiculous hours at the hospital, we couldn't make it happen.

furthermore, we're not really sure what our plans are this weekend. no big parties in the hopper. we're trying to make it to key west for its annual week of hedonism, but to our dismay, this is not something to be planned on the spur of the moment. hotels booked up months in advance. the days inn is going for 3 night minimums at $299 a night.

this has not prevented us from getting flipping sweet costumes. in reprising our amusing but off-kilter couples theme (carrie and prom date, trinity and neo, leia and han, kip and lafawnduh), we've snagged hogwarts costumes: naughty hermione and harry potter. pretty sweet. good article in the nytimes (find it yourself) about the upsurge in naughty costumes for chicks, especially in the 25-35 year old set. i remember even as recently as college (which is rapidly becoming not that recent) that h'ween was simply a night to dress up. now it's largely become an excuse to wear lingerie. around the wintermute household, we like to call that saturdays.

on h'ween eve, we'll be in miami with the general lee and his parents. the next morning, jetting on a 6 am flight to atlanta for last minute acquisition meetings and then on to boston, where i'm hoping to still be able to get dinner w/ slim shady, nobf, and mr. nobf. there for the h alumni healthcare conference for a few days, then staying to see mpg, ms. mpg, and the fam. old stomping grounds. will be good to be in good old 02138 and 02163. friday night will hit the 02138 bars with attilla. charlie's kitchen for sure. a round of bodington's at shay's for sure. maybe even the kong. haven't been there since king friday's last gig.

speaking of 02138, it brings into focus my new life ambition: being on 02138 magazine's list of the 100 most influential harvard alumni. now, i've met the first (and arguably toughest criteria): going to the big h. from here, i figure it's all in my influence.

admittedly, the competition is steep. the drop out who started the most dominant and least innovative software company in the world. some asshole who's fucking our country. the former vice president who lost to that asshole. matt damon. princess leia's mom. the dem's best hope for the white house (sorry, hillary). the chief justice. that tall red head on late night tv. the only cello player you've ever heard of. the chick running ebay. the architect who makes everything curvy. the taxachusettes governor. his son / my section mate. the singer of weezer. the democrat who pretended to be a republican so he could be mayor of new york. tim zagat. the current poet laureate of the country that the asshole pretends to run.

and so on. see the whole list here.

the point is, this magazine is like cosmo for nerds. the list is like people magzine's 50 most beautiful people for geeks.

and i'm obsessed with getting on it. i just ordered my first issue of 02138 (the big h's zip code, by the way).

will keep you posted on my progress.