October is well on the way so I suppose it’s about time for a Halloween MSPaint event.

Last year’s event, complete with over 30 entries, was a big hit. This year I thought I’d continue along the same lines as before with a ‘make a costume for mike d’ contest.

But this time with a bit more flare.

I’ve created an MSPaint body template.

Included in this template are a series of eyes, mouths, heads, skin tones, and bodies to allow you all sorts of flexibility in making your best costume for me.

For starters, click on the thumbnail above and save the image to your computer.

Next, get this final template. This will standardize entries and help with sizing etc.

Open up two MSPaint windows and copy the body components from one MSPaint into the canvas of the final MSPaint template. Then, add some accessories and some color to make the ultimate costume!! Finally, add a title and e-mail it to me! (MikeDiDonato AT gmail D0T com)

Really, anything is allowed, but if you’re looking for a theme I’ll start you off with SuperHereos and Supervillains.

MSPaint tip:

When you’re pasting each component into the final template, make sure you have this highlighted in the toolbar:

It’ll help a lot.

Here’s a quick one that I came up with just now. Dr. Hurt. Dr. Hurt’s shield has the chemical composition of cocaine engraved into its face. He’s intense.

If you have a hard time getting the files or manipulating MSPaint send me a quick e-mail and I’ll help you any way I can.

Halloween MSPaints will appear in the ‘quickthoughts’ section for as much of October as I can provide.

(side note: if you feel restricted… feel free to make your own ‘bodies’ or features. there’s no rule saying you have to use only what’s provided)

Good luck!!

MIT.

from Shamus.

Here it is, 1:30am on Friday. And I’m not sure if I’ve ever been so happy to be awake.

I was having trouble sleeping. It was 12:30 or so and my bedroom was hot. As I tossed and turned I suddenly heard the rain. It beat down on the roof ferociously. In not so much as a moment, I was out of bed and running downstairs.

I grabbed a big bin and brought it outside to collect the liquid gold. I had my big polka dot pajama pants on and when I walked outside I was immediately drenched.

Drenched head to toe… strange… this downpour felt a lot like a shower.

I threw the bin to the ground and bounded back upstairs. I grabbed a bottle of head and shoulders, some body wash, and my bath towel. I skipped back downstairs and straight out the door. The water was cold on my skin but not unbearable; think ‘Atlantic Ocean’ in early July. I ran around to the front of the house and yanked off a downspout. I threw my head under the condensed stream, added some shampoo, and scrubbed.

I rolled up my pajama legs and then started in with the body wash. It was cold, but oh so refreshing. When I was finished I ran back around to grab the bin of water. A healthy 2 inches of water had collected. I raised the bin up over my head and poured the water over me. It was bliss.

Once clean, I stuck the bin under the drain spout to collect more water. This, in addition to the five 5 gallon jugs of water that Liz and I took from work, will provide us between 30 and 35 gallons of water entering the weekend.

Never before have I looked at Rain as such a wonderful gift.