Why (for a moment) I Felt Like Dean Koontz

     See, I have this thing.  

     There are some tasks where I do only what's necessary or expected, nothing fancy.  Just...enough.  I don't go for anything spectacular, jaw-dropping, or even worth a glance.  This is usually how school assignments go.  I do what the teachers want, and that's good enough for me.

     Then there's times where I go all out.  I have an inspiration, a vision, and I do what I can to make that dream a reality.  Provided it's relatively quick to do.  In this case, about four hours is quick.

     It all started in my science class, where my teacher and TA have a shared fixation on dinosaurs.  Every class has a picture of a dinosaur in it somewhere.  Every week, I learn of a new dinosaur. (And a new shark, but that's irrelevant here, even though it's cool.)  Dinosaurs dinosaurs dinosaurs.  It's awesome, but there are some unforeseen side-effects.  Especially since it's approaching that time of year when pumpkin carving is accepted as a pastime.  Yes, that's exactly where I'm going.

     Behold, the mighty T-rex!!

     And here's a candle-less shot...

     A friend of mine and I shared in the carving experience.  We picked out our pumpkins in a grocery store after a football game, arranged the New York Times on the floor of his building's lobby, and set to work at about 5:30 on Saturday.  He was done at seven.  I was done at nine.  I told him I'd take a long time.  He took the opportunity to add some extras to his already thrilling pumpkin.

     Anyway, we set them outside by moderately frequented walkways so people could see our pumpkins in all their glory.  There were questions like "What is that?  Is that a dinosaur?  How long did that take you?  (and my personal favorite:)  Are you an art major?"  We let them sit out there overnight, and, sadly, Mr. Jackson some ended up on the ground in pieces...but this is BYU, so I'm going to pretend that it just fell.  Very hard.

     Worried that Alan (it was suggested that I name it) might face a similar challenge, I moved him to the bench in front of my building.  Sunday afternoon, I was hesitant to see gourd shards littered on the sidewalk, but I had to know if Alan survived.  I was pleasantly surprised by what I found instead.

My favorite part is the end...

     My mind was boggled as well.  I moved it back to that original moderately frequented walkway spot for the day (the worst stuff always seems to happen at night, you know?).  Later, Sunday evening, as I happened to pass it on my route, I noticed someone sitting in front of it, sketching.  The conversation went something like this...

Me: "Hi..."

Him:  "Hi.  Cool pumpkin, huh?"

"Oh, uh...thank you."

"Wh-...you me-...you carved this?"

"...uh huh..."

-stands and offers his hand- "Wow, it's really good.  I'm [John or Jared or something]."

-hesitantly follows through with the handshake- "Um, thank you.  Are you...drawing it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a graphic design major.  This is really good."

"Wow, um...thank you [again]." -starts to leave-

"Oh, what's your name?"

"I'm Zoe..."

"Right, well, have a good night!"

"Yeah, you too..." -ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh-

     It was like being a famous author or something.  Completely caught me off guard.  Luckily, it hasn't really happened since.  Alan was reported to still be alive this morning, but as of this afternoon, he's disappeared, along with the note.  There wasn't shrapnel anywhere, so I'm thinking it was just the BYU landscaping crew cleaning up, something like that.  Some have suggested that it might have been stolen.  Who's to say?  On one hand, I'm glad the "popular" days are over.  On the other, it makes me want to carve another pumpkin.  Something a little more anonymous.  Something a little more...school-spirit-y.  You'll see.

Stay crafty, my friends.