It’s almost summer and I’m almost 25 years old… and I’m slimming down. Enjoy the new theme and let me know what you think!

I am on vacation, so watch out for a funny thing happened on the way to this FRIDAY post later in the week.

I’ve also been incorrectly attributing my safari blog photos to my cousin Scott; turns out my Aunt Candace is the true magician. Thanks to all the family!

As I am sure you have noticed, I am still learning about graphics and design. I have decided to try a new look; let me know what you think!

Check out my article on Wilmington, North Carolina here.

Follow me on Twitter @JenniferELevin!

Wanelo is an AWESOME website. Check it out for funky and artistic jewelry, gifts, clothing, and accessories.

This morning a special report I wrote for FierceBiotechIT was published. It highlights ten mobile applications in the life sciences field that are helping biopharmaceutical professionals in their jobs. This is my first byline on the Fierce network. Check it out: 10 Mobile Apps in Life Sciences.
                                    (image compiled by Dawit Tesfaye)

This post is a musing on the way Halloween fun transfers from childhood into adulthood. When we were kids Halloween was the best. Candy, staying out late, costumes, fake spiderwebs, candy!!! And now, Halloween is fun all over again. Though, despite the ominous nature of this thought, I’m not sure for how much longer. But now, costume parties are kind of like costume contests with lots of drinking. A theme party loved by even the theme-party hater. I feel as though there was a liminal phase around high school, where we fought being too old but certainly couldn’t party like we would be able to in a few years. Sophomore year of high school was the best of this time for me: my dad turned our garage into a haunted maze for my little brother’s soccer team, and my friends and I, I believe after a completely failed attempt at trick or treating, got to play the scarers.

The Then:
-o- trick or treating – well, of course.

-o- the year ten pieces each got argued up to eleven – when we were kids, we got to pick ten pieces of candy, and the rest went with my dad to his office. Well, maybe. Who knows what my parents really did with it.

-o- the year I devised a way to smuggle half my candy to my locker in school

-o- running into other neighborhood kids – late in elementary school and in middle school (first crush time), when girls went together and boys went together, half the fun of trick or treating was running into other groups of kids and joining up for awhile.

-o- mischief night – okay, I admit, I never did this. But I know people that year and I think one year someone took our pumpkin. But I sure thought the kids that did this were cool!

-o- my dad’s desire to have the best candy around, and equip his kids with the best costumes – he always gave out king-sized candy bars and more often than not they came with some obscure coin, like a half-dollar. Thanks goodness we live on a cul de sac and didn’t get much traffic.

The Now:
-o- streets that all but close to cars and all residents sit out front with bowls of candy and sometimes costumes, decorations and performances

-o- clever costumes – this was fun when we were young too, but now it’s part of the game.

-o- how friendly everyone is to one another in costumes – one year I was Princess Lollipop from Candyland and I lost many lollipops but gained many friends on the metro that night.

-o- group costumes – Twister board, Fanta girls, the Magnificent Seven…

-o- haunted houses – okay I really don’t like these, but I do like them more now than then.

-o- Mean Girls – the slut rule – whether you take advantage of this rule or not, it’s nice to have a night where nylon and polyester costumes with pretty sparkles and feathers are acceptable around other people.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Last night I went to a Halloween party in Baltimore. It was wonderful. There were kids there from 7-9 and then 20- and 30-somethings there from 9 until the early hours of the morning. So, the best of the then and the now. The kids were so excited about their costumes; there was a clown, an Anakin Skywalker, a cat, and a scary boy in black with a pump in his hand that made a red globulous attachment on his chest pulse. Then later, there were clever costumes including Hunter S. Thompson and Professor Plum with the candlestick and his lovely lady Miss Scarlett. There were mozzarella and olive eyeballs, roasted pork flesh, live bait worm-shaped jello shots, and white chocolate spiderweb-coated cupcakes. There was punch with orange sherbert and champagne, and bowls of candy everywhere (pleasant for the then and the now).

So, in conclusion, Halloween is a great holiday. What did everyone else do this year? Is anyone planning on buying candy for trick or treaters?