If superpowers existed, there are so many things I’d love to be able to do: fly instead of walk, clean my apartment just by thinking about it, shape-shift into some gorgeous model or some giant beast, know what number s to pick to win the lottery…

I also think it would be awesome to astral project – to send my soul outside of my body and travel invisibly anywhere in the world, anywhere in the universe.

Unlike superpowers, astral projection and out-of-body experiences have been said to exist. I myself accidentally projected once falling down my basement stairs (you can read about that here). It was enough to spark a twenty year obsession with this particular aspect of the paranormal. And the end result of that obsession is my novel Untethered.

In Untethered, Sylvie sees her ability to astral project as a curse. But for today, let’s see it as a superpower. Something fun and fabulous and not freaky or forbidding. So if I could astral project and go anywhere? Do anything? What would I do?

Here’s my list:

What kid doesn't like to dress up as a Disney-themed character during Halloween? From princesses to cowboys to superheroes and spacemen, there's no limit to the imaginative costumes kids can put together to embody their favorite movie characters during the most mischievous, candy-filled night of the year. Here are a few of the most popular Disney Halloween costumes for 2013:



For Boys

Captain Hook

Although pirates are no longer the swash-buckling characters they once were, they live on in cartoonish infamy with characters from films like Peter Pan and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. So it's no surprise one of the most popular costumes in the Disney Store is the Captain Hook costume, with its maroon-colored shirt and hat, plastic sword and prosthetic hook – and of course, the gold-adorned boots.

Woody

Who doesn't love Toy Story and its gun-totin' protagonist, Woody? For younger children, it's hard to find a cooler character than Woody: he hangs out with Mr. Potato Head AND international spacemen, and gets to wear an awesome costume with a bandana and a fancy weapon belt. Pair it with a HobbyTron model gun, and you've got a dag'gone good costume, if we say so ourselves.

Halloween is often the best time of year for children. They get absorbed in the whole day; hankering after fancy dress costumes, decorations for the house and themed treats to enjoy. This all sounds great, but the price of everything can soon start to mount up - so how can you keep the cost down but still make sure everyone has a great Halloween?


Buying an entire Halloween fancy dress costume can be very expensive, particularly when you think that there is quite a good chance they will have outgrown it by the following year. If you want to keep the cost down and also get something that can be reused, you may find you're better off investing your money in accessories.

A pair of fairy wings or devil horns can be used at any age and will last for year after year, making them worth the investment. You can then create a lot of the outfits from clothes you already have in the cupboards at home. For example, you can dress your child up as a minion with just some dungarees, a yellow t-shirt and some swimming goggles.




Every child is going to want treats when they go trick-or-treating and is likely to want them to come to after school as well. You can often bulk buy some treats from the supermarket, which can work out cheaper than buying lots of individual items. Some places stock huge tubs of sweets that will last you long after Halloween has passed so you might save some money this way.

Everyone wants a car that is efficient with fuel. However, there are many important factors to consider when you need a new vehicle. Many people suffer from buyer’s remorse immediately after purchasing a new vehicle. As a buyer it is your responsibility to make sure your new vehicle has everything that you want and need. A new car is not a purchase that you want to make hastily. Take your time and consider every detail down to the smallest minutiae and you will end up a happy car owner. You would be wise to consider the amount of passengers you will have normally. This information can narrow down your choices substantially. Test ride your vehicle with all of your regular passengers before you make the big decision. Make sure the ride is just as comfortable for your passengers as it is for yourself. If you’re looking for a vehicle that can be fuel efficient, and perform truck duties while having enough space for luggage and passengers, you may want to check out a GMC Acadia in Kansas City.

Looks Are More Important than You Think

Another seemingly less important factor to consider when searching for a new car is aesthetics. Many people claim to care only about their vehicle getting them from place to place without problems.

So, Billy assigned me a theme for this post, and I think I know why: because if he had left me to just cut loose, you would’ve all learned who the REAL coffee-addicted writer is. So I’m not going to talk about that. I’m not going to say a single, solitary word about that. One pot a day since I was twelve. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Anyway, I’ve been invited here to talk about my love of the zombie genre. First, let me qualify what, exactly, that does and does not mean. I am a purist after a fashion, though I think my definition of a zombie, while rock solid, is flexible enough to encompass a whole lot of ground. All I insist on is that a zombie must at some juncture have been dead. I cannot equivocate on that point.

I have no problem with the shambling corpses of Night of the Living Dead, Return of the Living Dead, Cemetery Man, Zombie, Fido, The Walking Dead, World War Z, The Rising, etc., etc. They all fall wholly into the Venn diagram counter-splice area of “dead” and “re-animated.” I’ll tell you where I draw the line, though: zombie-like behavior in the still-living.

Evil Dead? Evil Dead II? Both inestimable classics of horror and gore, but nope. Sorry. Zombie-like, perhaps, but living people possessed by Kandarian demons is too far off the mark.

Planet Terror? Perhaps the virus causes zombie-like symptoms, but these still-living infected people are decidedly NOT zombies. Resident Evil IV? Perhaps the greatest Resident Evil game of all time, but, sadly, Las Plagas parasites are no replacement for actual, clinical death. 28 Days Later? Doesn’t count. The Rage virus, while it again exhibits many zombie-like symptoms, only affects living human beings. No death or re-animation. Not a zombie movie.

(Note: I have no issue with “fast” zombies provided they are indeed the resurrected dead. That is not my issue with 28 Days Later. For instance, the Dawn of the Dead 2004 remake also features fast zombies and I don’t disqualify it in any way, shape, or form. Ditto Zombieland.)