"How could Bryan possibly go away on Halloween?" said Kelly when I told her he was in Vegas this weekend. "It's like... It's like your Christmas!"

Too true. Luckily I was able to wrangle two fair maidens for a twist on my original costume endeavor. And if I do say so, the result is pretty damn genius: Witness, The Degradation of Britney Spears.

I'm actually a huge fan of this picture. You can almost see my Cheetos.

Halloween in San Francisco was decidely replete with fabulous costumes as usual. Some of my favorites:

1. Ali G and Borat (I like people who work in groups)

2. Ghostbusters (A for effort)

3. The Garden of Eden (like, damn!)

The most fun was to be had in Jess and August's limo, where little Britney had her first sip of champagne (she seemed to enjoy it) and I tried ineffectually to recreate the aforelinked Britney wedding expression of trashy joy. I forget that showing off one's engagement ring is not really done in the same manner as giving the middle finger.

Luckily we got the final DJ to play a little "Baby One More Time" before calling it a night.

I just wanted to let you know not to worry too much, my schedule does allow me to keep up on my US magazines, which allow me to keep up on the grocery lists of the stars (Britney and Kevin: Fanta, Cheetos, and Coca-Cola, for the record.)

Jess started her weekly radio show this past Friday, named She Said, She Said in honor of our defunct blog (and even more defunct column.) Needless to say, one of the Shes (me) did not partake in the inaugural airing, and the co-host duties went to August in my stead. I thought they were great, and August did us proud with his witty comebacks and radio-friendly style.

As Jess says in her post (the first in five months, and it's duly entertaining!) I am hoping to join her on-air at some point -- but right now I'm feeling completely unable to take on additional projects in my currently crazy and hectic life. Not that Jess's isn't equally crazy and hectic, but she thrives on it, while I get all stressed out and cranky.

Some things going on with us right now:

1. We just found out that one of our cats (the sweet one, of course) has advanced-stage kidney failure. I'm bringing him back to the vet tomorrow to investigate options, which include -- agh -- daily injections...

2. Jess and I are going to London for work in November. Now that is damn exciting!

3. Bryan has started his duties as TV Time-Out guy for the Raiders and 49ers. Which basically means he gets to stand on the sidelines of every home game with a headset on, making funny arm and leg signals to the referees. Maybe even more exciting than #2.

4. And yes, I am fasting right now. Not exactly like Jess and Bryan, as the molasses/lemon drink made me violently ill on Day 1. Or something did -- I vomited like 9 times -- and now I can't bring myself to drink that nasty combo. So instead I'm doing a traditional juice fast, which means I can consume glasses of stuff I actually like, while still "cleansing" and kick-starting that commitment to healthy eating. I'm on Day 3 and considering a 5-day total fast.

5. Work. Omigod work. It never stops, and I'm barely treading water. I guess this is what consumes me most of the time. The debates and upcoming election have made our jobs terribly relevant, which is cool, but very intense.

6. I really need to make our wedding album, don't you think?

Plus parental visits and trips to Napa and best friends moving and jury duty and other things I can't talk about here. Well anyway, there's more but I'm tired of typing. Do I have you convinced yet? I'm not sure that I am.

In the meantime -- you can listen to the radio show from 6-8 p.m. PT Fridays online. Check it out!

So, Heather and Eugene moved. As my brother pointed out recently, my blog (and related pictures) seem to imply we spend a lot of time with them. We do. We did. We'll miss them terribly but wish them San Francisco-style happiness as they make their new home in Providence, Rhode Island.

I have to say though, I never took a single second for granted. I really didn't. I knew how lucky we were to have those kind of friends.

And we still do, just in smaller numbers.

Photos from the going-away soiree are here.

Also, much belated photos from Farm Aid/Seattle, including a previously unreleased picture of Bryan's first interlude with David Matthews. Oh and pretty pictures of carrots.

Also also, much much belated photos from our first annivesary overnight to Napa. We stayed at the Carneros Inn, which might just be the nicest place I've ever been. If you excuse those nasty biting tsetse flies. Bryan loved the flat-screen TV, and I was equally enamored of the indoor/outdoor connected shower.