Thanks for all the views and comments! I really hope to continue pursuing my artistic endeavors beyond the pumpkin carving season. A lot of people have been asking me why I love pumpkin carving so I'd like to take this time to put into words the joy of pumpkin carving

What makes pumpkin carving so wondrous and beautiful? You'd have to delve into the nature of beauty to answer that. Beautiful things can be split into 2 categories: the fleeting and the everlasting. The fleeting kind is like a rose: it bursts into a momentary and fiery spectacle then withers, never to be seen or experienced again. Things like dances, musical performances, fireworks, and youth are all of this type. A case in point: watching a recorded video of a live concert is missing the point. The everlasting kind is like a diamond: it is a serene and enduring beauty. This quality pervades things like paintings, photographs, sculpture, and literature.

Where does pumpkin carving fit in? Pumpkin carving is definitely of the fleeting variety -- sometimes carvings don't last even a day. And to most people it seems really foolish. Why on earth would you spend all that time carving into something that will eventually rot? they ask. It's a valid question. But it's this beautiful irony, this stark dichotomy -- an elegance normally reserved for marble sculptures in a vessel that is decaying every second -- that makes it so marvelous.

And not all pumpkin carvers actually get it. It's the journey and not the destination that matters. When you carve a pumpkin, you should embrace the fact that it will rot and disappear from the face of this earth. Foam pumpkins... excessive photographs... pumpkin preserving chemicals... these are indications that you have not yet accepted that it is simply a process and not an end goal. The moment your pumpkin was plucked off the vine it has entered its first phase of decomposition. The moment your blade cut the skin, you hastened it's demise exponentially. Why not simply enjoy the process of creating, learning, challenging, and then starting all over? Every created piece is just a stepping-stone. And ultimately I'm not simply talking about pumpkin carving; it's a universal principle that applies to all disciplines.

...and I'm tired of writing! I just had to put it on paper into words before I went to sleep.

Anyhow, how about them llamas? Sorry if you feel like I'm spamming them. But I feel that it's a win-win situation:

a.) You get a llama, +pageview
---- i.) Chance for +fave, +watch, +comments from me.

b.) I actually get nothing back directly
---- ii.) Chance to meet new people, +pageview, +faves, +watch, and +llama. Of course, there is no obligation to give me anything in return.