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Halloween Party Photos & A Failed Costume

Doug and Heather

Doug and Heather

True story: three years ago in New York City I decided to attend a Halloween costume party dressed as Jackie O. My husband dutifully accompanied me as a secret service agent. I wore a mauve, tweed suit with a three-strand pearl necklace, large sunglasses, a pill box hat, white gloves, and a brown wig. We entered the party with much fanfare. I was quite pleased until someone approached and said,

“Great costume. You look JUST like Monica Lewinsky!”

I started a new diet the next day.

This year I decided to be something that no one would mistake – a vampire from the Underworld movie series. My husband was supposed to join me as a co-vampire, but this year he dug in his heels and decided to do his own thing. What could be better than a vampire escort?

Steve chose to be “Lad Armstrong,” Lance’s older brother. He wore bicycle shorts and a helmet and wrist guards, with an ankle bracelet. He claimed to have taught Lance everything he knows about cycling, but is still sore about him stealing his anklet idea and developing it into a livestrong bracelet cult.

Anyway, I thought you’d enjoy some photos from the party. Someone’s dad dressed up as a flasher. I thought it was pretty clever. Unfortunately my camera was not fast enough to capture the goods during a flash. So I’ll leave that up to your imagination.

I did have a friend help me with my vampire look. Hope you all had a safe and entertaining Halloween! What did you dress up as?

Vampire Val & Lad Armstrong

Vampire Val & Lad Armstrong

The Friday Funny: Happy Halloween

Science Fiction Writing Contest – Sponsored By Epocrates

Attention science fiction buffs… it’s time to put pen to paper (er… keys to keyboard) and create a fictional account of some aspect of the future of medicine. This is Medgadget’s third annual science fiction writing contest. You could win a Palm Tungsten E2 handheld with Epocrates loaded on it – and the glory that only this honor can bring. Please go to the Medgadget blog for contest rules. You have only 2 weeks to submit your entries. Good luck… I’m one of the judges this year!

Periodic Table Of The Condiments

Thanks to Book of Joe for highlighting this whimsical diagram (and yes, it reminded me of my Rock Star experience in LA that I just blogged about).


Vote In My Poll Or You Will Be Forced To Read About Cats Forever!

Alright, well a little melodrama never hurt anyone did it? I’m trying really hard to listen to my readers and adjust my blogging themes/topics/approach accordingly. I actually have no idea what you like to read – health policy, touching stories, humor, research explained, expert interviews, celebrity health initiatives, health tips… etc. So I’m asking. What would you like me to blog about? Please vote in my poll on the right hand side of this page. (Or if you’re viewing this message in a reader, well please come on over to my blog and vote.)

So far (my poll has a N=11, not a very high statistical power) you readers seem to be saying that you like personal stories about the blogger (I guess that means you want me to tell you about my cat – well there she is, featured in the top left-hand corner. Her name is “Ona” and she has an insatiable appetite for grilled asparagus.)

But I have this sneaking suspicion that you don’t really want to hear about ME, you’d like to hear about healthcare and medicine from a fresh perspective. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this should be a cat blog? Please do vote in my poll so you can water down the voices of those crazy people who are asking for more personal blogging. If you don’t… my only choice is to give the people what they want…  and you may be doomed to read about kitties, etc. forever!

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Bizarre event of the day: I was voted as one the top 20 most influential health voices on Twitter. So go ahead and follow me there. My Twitter name is drval.

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