Without even asking for clearance, a new aporia design has landed! I made the mood a bit more fun and simplified the layout-- the site is now frameless and easier to link to/from. The section links are also much easier to read, obviously. How do you like it?

Just one day till my birthday and two till Thanksgiving! Evan and I are driving up early on Thanksgiving day, spending the night at my parents' and driving back Friday, on which I unfortunately have to work from 2:30-5:30. I think my anticipation for the holiday might kill me.

On Sunday morning Evan and I ventured to J&J's Flea Market, a 175-acre yard sale on steroids a few miles outside of Athens. Although we went in search of a new bed, we also found intrigue, excitement and, yes, even a dash of adventure.

	Everything was already going full-force when we pulled in around 10am.
	Several vendors brought their pets to keep them company behind their tables. Rather than helping them pass the time, this usually just meant that both the vendors and their dogs looked thoroughly bored.
	Just a sample of the unique merchandise to be found. At $2.50 a pop, Evan and I both bought one.
	The more prosperous sellers seem to have their own shops off the main floor.
	One of the buildings has its own butcher shop; there was also, judging from the man we saw walking to his truck with a live chicken under his arm, fresher meat for sale elsewhere.
	Luxury, thy name is discount sleep sets! An old man named Willy was selling this queen-size set for $150; it was in good shape and incredibly comfortable but more expensive I had budgeted for (and Willy refused to haggle). There were mattresses for sale by several other vendors, but most were either of awful quality or priced over $300. In the end I figured it was too good to pass up. Willy made 150 bucks and now I'm getting much, much better sleep.
	was up
	This is a Mexican restaurant set up at the end of one building that was packed with people whenever we went past it. We were nervous about the prospect of having to order in Spanish, but the food looked and smelled too delicious not to try. When I placed our order for two "Mexican sandwiches"-- there was no Spanish-named equivalent on the menu board-- I spoke in halting Spanish while the server spoke in halting English. Soon enough, though, we picked up our food and found ourselves face-to-face with...
	...the biggest goddamn sandwich ever to roam the earth. The scale of this thing is not immediately apparent, for which I apologize, but that's a full-sized styrofoam plate almost completely buried beneath it. And we got one of these apiece.
	This was the beverage stand, which we never found the courage to try. A woman behind the table would ladel whatever drink a person ordered into a big, sloshing syrofoam cup and hand it over to them. But how did everyone know what the flavors were?
	Another bored animal.
	The mysterious but delightfully free J&J railroad taunted us all day. I plan to snag a ride next time.
	Several Hispanic vendors were selling big bags of this same mystery snack; at this stand they were only a dollar each. The woman explained that they're called chicharrones, they're made from wheat, and typically they're eaten with mustard or hot sauce. Mostly they taste like salt and grease.
	I was underwhelmed.
	Bringing this meandering post back to its theme, here is my glorious new bed, ensheeted with nobility and teeming with wordly comfort. The day could be labeled nothing but a success.

The theme of today's post is: tests!

In the exhilarating, sweeping field of health and well-being, I took Phatty to the vet last week for help with his ear mites and his yearly vaccinations. The vet, a tiny, grouchy old woman to whom I took an instant liking, told me as I was leaving that "You have a wonderful cat there. He is just a dandy!" I couldn't help but agree. Last week, I got an HIV test and six days later was declared zestfully negative. Today I met my new doctor under my new insurance (which I'm still quite overjoyed to have) and had an extensive physical, simply because I could. I should hear back about the bloodwork in a few days. (I also nabbed the next-to-last flu shot in the entire four-doctor suite-- which may or may not have been a good idea, considering my less-than-stellar immune system. The next few days will be adventurous! And experimental.)

Continuing to speak about testing, I am also trying out what I hope will be an engaging (at least for me) premise for a series of comics. Inspired both by several splendid webcomics with restrictive premises and by the consistently breathtaking absurdity that is LiveJournal, I want to make a group of comics set to some of the more preposterous LiveJournal content I've found. One such comic has been completed, inspired by this post, and I have a few others already planned.

By the way, today is Dynamic Adjectives Day! Did you notice?

More Halloween pictures:

- In costume and practicing the Jack Squint™.
- A close-up of the finished tattoo. Evan did a fantastic job painting it and concealing mine.
- Both of us before heading downtown.
- Bonus: a self-pic of Evan from a while back that I found rather striking. The man's a supervillain after my own heart.

What a great Halloween. I'll post more details and pictures later, but I thought this one was particularly pretty and colorful and... Halloweeny.