Hallowe'en 2007

[JadziaKathryn]

I myself have never been one of those Christians who refuses to have anything to do with Halloween. Unsurprisingly, though, I only partake in the commercial aspects.

What was cool this year was that I took my neighbor and her boyfriend to a haunted house. They're exchange students from South Korea so Halloween is a new American experience for them. It was really fun to see them enjoy it. Which is a good thing, because I don't like to be scared. Haunted houses are not my cup of tea.

Then we stopped at Dairy Queen. The pumpkin pie Blizzards are awesome.

[Emberchyld]

I didn't think the mask was scary at all, but I guess the kids just expect the adults handing out candy to be dull and ordinary.

They don't get that at my apartment! I tend to be more in costume than most of the children who come to the doors (kids are getting LAZY nowadays!).

Me at the PA ren faire on Sunday, but the costume is the same (and my hair isn't freakishly flattened after an entire day in the wind, or my lungs incredibly crushed after a day in a loosely-laced victorian corset...).

I usually slip a little something on for work (haircolor streaks, interesting makeup, or this year would have been ears), but today I had a meeting with the president of the company, who wouldn't have appreciated any Halloween goodness.

Weighed in at weight watchers before getting home to the candy bowl. I still have three full bags of chocolate that I need to keep away from myself.

I get to read Linda's story tonight, yay!!!!!!!!!!

And sometime tonight I'll do a tarot reading for myself. (Just have to pick the deck... I had one show up out of nowhere a day or so ago that I had totally forgotten about, so maybe that should be the one I read) I'm catholic, but a lot of the ancient Celtic and ibero-roman traditions followed in my familys' home towns up to my grandparents' generation have given me something of a connection to the ancient religions as well as respect for those who follow them. Grandmom still tells stories of divination rituals (and for beltane, bonfire jumping, and midsummer-- more divination). And... I'm apparently not half-bad at reading tarot for others.

For all who celebrate it, Happy Samhain!

And for everyone-- may your candy be sweet, your pumpkins be scary, and may you not have a bellyache tommorrow morning!

[TPoptarts]

I'm not doing anything because I don't have anyone to go trick or treating with.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

So howdya spend it?

We don't really have Halloween here across the pond. There's a All Saints' Day on Saturday, but that's quite a different holiday.

For the past ten years or so businesses has tried to conjure up the Halloween thing here for commercial reasons, and been moderately successful. But the past few years I've noticed a rather sharp decline in halloweening here. Since it's an imported thing it never went very deep into our collective consciousness. In yet another few years I expect this aberration to be gone. It's a American tradition that just doesn't work over here, much like baseball, what you call football, cheerleaders and stuff like that. Trick-or-treating could actually be viewed as harassment, especially the "tricking".

[dark_rain]

Trick-or-treating could actually be viewed as harassment, especially the "tricking".

Oh yeah, you should see some of the news stories here in the UK, some of the stuff that goes on is nothing short of psychopathic.

As for what I do; Very little. I live in a small seaside town who's name sounds more than slightly bathroomish, so nothing really happens.

[enterprikayak]

Yeah, the whole "trick" thing is actually totally frowned on here. However, it *does* happen. This afternoon I drove out and noticed the rural mailbox that serves like 40 people was smashed to smithereens. No doubt by some early "tricksters" (aka federal criminals).

I took Aureilia for her first TrickorTreating tonight all dressed as a fairy! She had drawn on her face earlier today with a blue ballpoint pen (?) so I left it on and we called it fairy makeup.

She was SO CUTE! Looka me! she kept saying. Looka me!

I'll post some pix when my mom emails them to me.

Right as we were done, a nurse was standing on the corner calling out, "Come on down to the old folks' home! We're doing candy!"

So mom and I took Aureilia down there and she busted through the big double doors into the lobby, and there were thirty old people sitting there in chairs and wheelchairs and couches and a ravenously collective "Ahhhhhhh!" went up at the sight of my tiny, wing-ed, elvin creature. She yelled Trick or Treat! and went around shaking her bucket at all the elderly and they filled her tub with chocolate. She's just 26 months.

So cute!

[Emberchyld]

Yeah, the whole "trick" thing is actually totally frowned on here. However, it *does* happen. This afternoon I drove out and noticed the rural mailbox that serves like 40 people was smashed to smithereens. No doubt by some early "tricksters" (aka federal criminals).

One year, some "tricksters" smashed all of the ground lights around our home. Fortunately, with stepped up police presence and curfews on "mischief night" (the night before halloween, called different things by everyone, including the Philly/Camden "mischief night" and the Northern New Jersey "goosey night" and "Stinky cabbage night". North Jersey people are wierd, fyi), things have gotten much better.

As the owner of a beautiful black cat (that all of my neighbors know by name), I'm always terrified and keep my windows and doors firmly locked in the week leading up to Halloween. It's unfortunate, but I've heard too many stories of people abducting and torturing black cats to be paranoid.

E-yak, what an adorable story and baby! She's one of the reasons why Halloween is so magical, regardless of the tricksters!

[Elessar]

I wanna build a pumpkin mortar....

Btw, Ember, nice costume! You should do the elf thing, you have the look for it

[evcake]

Here in Seattle, lots of people take their pumkins to the zoo - the elephants eat 'em.

[TPoptarts]

Well here in the zoo lots of people take their pumpkins to Seattle. Nah I just made it up.

Sigh. Yet another missed Halloween and like Darth Vader just walked by saw me sitting in the hallway instead of trick or treating and looked at me with that "what a pathetic little freak" look of hers.

[TPoptarts]

I saw a zombie movie and the Nightmare Before Christmas... does that count for "Halloween activities"?

[justTripn]

I swept off the porch, raked up the leaves, and stayed home to hand out candy--to lots of little cutie-pies dressed as cheerleaders and Star Wars characters. Also plenty of princesses and witches. It was warm, 70 degrees out, nice night.

My twins are too old to trick or treat, but they had a bunch of friends over to do some homework project. We got two giant hogies (sandwiches) for them to eat. Then a bunch of girls came to the door trick or treating and asked to see them, so for once the house was full.

[Linda]

The Celtic Studies Department at UWM had a Halloween-Samhain party last night. They talked about divination techniques historically popular in Ireland and Scotland. I knew about the pumpkin in North America replacing the turnip that was used in Scotland. My immigrant (from Scotland) grandparents never told me about that, though.
Robert Burns' poem "Halloween" is full of divination techniques. And I just love his poem "Tam O'Shanter" which reminds me of Washington Irving's story "Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Irving met Sir Walter Scott (who met Burns when Scott was a child). So I am wondering if there is a connection there, or both authors dipped into the same ancient legend for their stories!

[krn]

we just had all the neighborhood wee-ones come trick-or-treating. I got a shipment at work that came on dry ice - so I took it home and made the front stoop all foggy. We got cute light-up pumpkins and witches hats so it looked pretty neat. The kids loved it.

[Navigator]

I wanna build a pumpkin mortar....

trebuchet is better.

bwahahaha!