My main computer hobby these days is creating “lenses,” or single-page mini-sites, over at Squidoo. These lenses are great for me, because I like lots of different things, and the lens-building interface is very easy to use. I can delve into whatever my subject du jour is, organize everything I find, and share it almost instantly. I have been doing a few lenses per week lately, and I have to say I think I’m addicted. But that’s my problem, not yours.

I’ve lost count of my lenses, but I think I have about 25 active ones right now, [edit: I counted, and it's 41 as of today. My habit is worse than I thought!] with more on the back burner. I’m very excited that one of them, the Pumpkin Carving Video Showcase (doesn’t that sound fancy?) was awarded the coveted “Lens of the Day,” by the Squidoo gods on October 29, 2007. It’s a collection of the best and most popular pumpkin carving and other pumpkin-related videos on YouTube. It’s truly amazing what some people can do with a simple gourd. One guy carved Princess Diana’s face into a pumpkin. Seriously, that’s art. I can manage some triangles for the eyes and nose, and a zig-zaggy mouth, but that’s about it. And for people who are more about pumpkin destruction than pumpkin art, there’s a section on pumpkin trebuchet (punkin chunkin) videos. Fun, fun!

I grew up in rural Wisconsin in the 70s, and we didn’t have cable television. That means it was a really big deal when the Charlie Brown specials were on. Back then, the only time I could see cartoons was on Saturday mornings, unless you count Sesame Street, Electric Company, and Mr. Rogers on PBS.

Anyway, even though we have The Great Pumpkin on DVD now, and can watch it any time of the year (and we do!), it’s still a special thing to see it on the network. It doesn’t matter that I’m 30-something with kids of my own. When we sit on the couch to watch Linus in the pumpkin patch, it’s almost like being a little kid again. Thank you, Great Pumpkin, sincerely!