The Sunday Morning Muse, October 7, 2012

I like October a lot. The ritual of cleaning out the garden, taking pictures of the colorful trees, pulling out sweaters from the closets.... decorating for Halloween....

I don't go overboard like some people, I just put a few subtle things around, like this skull in my rock garden, a few pumpkin heads and decorations and a few novelties on Coco's porch, but it's fun. A shame we don't get many Halloweeners anymore. Kids go to the better neighborhoods, plus there aren't many kids around here anyway. I buy candy just in case. But I end up eating it.

Another ritual I like is digging up old horror movies and watching them. Right now I'm watching Vincent Price's Diary of a Madman. I like the old movies better than the new slasher and violent type movies. House on Haunted Hill, House of Wax, Dr. Phibes...Vincent Price is great. My all time favorite horror movie is still Night of the Living Dead, made in Pittsburgh."They're comin' to get you, Barbraaaaa...."

Vincent

Halloween Candy- Your Personality Revealed

I'm not an expert, but I think I know as much as the next gal about candy. I certainly eat enough of it. That said, here is my personal analysis of people who like certain Halloween candy more than others:

Smarties: Let's just disclose that I really like Smarties. No, they are not chocolate, but Smarties have that nice sour taste... with a few variations of citrus...and have just enough sugar to give you that quick fix. Without all the fat calories. So... I see Smarties lovers as practical, level headed and somewhat reserved. Plus, you can eat some now and save some for later. And sharing them isn't a big deal.

Hershey Bars: Ahhh... also me. I love them. It's a state pride thing. I intend to give them out this year! It's a selfish thing. Since I don't get many Halloweeners...well... more for me! :) Hershey Bar eaters are kind, considerate, simple folk. They like Chocolate. Sure, I'll eat the Almond bars, too, but really, nothing is better than just your plain Hershey Bar.

Twizzlers: Thoughtful people like Twizzlers. You can chew on them and not talk for a long time. Einstein was probably eating Twizzlers when he dreamed up E= MC2.

M'nM's: Also me. I once got a whole case as a Birthday present. Other than Hershey Kisses, M'nM's are the best bite size candy ever made. You can eat them one at a time... or chug a lot and be a real pig. M'n M people love life, love food, and eat with gusto without regard to calories or their cholesterol level. They are smart. They know that if they eat half the bag.... that means that they SAVED calories by not eating the other half! And green ones? Well.. Let's not go there just yet. :)

Clark Bars: The last bit of chocolate left in your Candy Bag about November 5th. You ate all the good chocolate. Now it's either the Clark Bars or the Apples or the Sweet Tarts... I don't know anyone who eats them first. Maybe people with deep seated guilt who feel obligated to eat candy no one really wants.

Carmel Corn: Carmel Corn lovers want commitment. You really need both hands to eat it properly and you have to really chew it. And you end up with little bits stuck between your teeth, so it is a messy thing. Nothing easy about it, but with time--- and not a lot of dental work in your mouth, you can enjoy carmel corn.

Candy Corn: Stable, uncomplicated people like Candy Corn. This is a staple of Autumn, like jelly beans are a staple for Spring. You HAVE to eat some. Candy dishes were made for Candy Corn.

Mike and Ike: A fruity, fun candy with a burst of flavor that can be eaten relatively quickly.

Mike and Ike people are fun and flirty, but they have short attention spans.

The Sunday Morning Muse, October 28, 2007

Strolling down the costume aisle in the big box store, I saw this horribly lovely witch hat... it was black of course, with a pointy top, but was adorned with a beautiful green translucent bow made of a see through mesh material that was simply devine! And a wide assortment of cloaks, daggers, fake nails, spider jewelry and such that would make any witch's closet quite the fashion statement.

But is that what Halloween is all about? Fashion? I saw some costumes that looked more skanky than scary! Perhaps not enough left to the imagination, so to speak.


Rewind to the days of our youth. The faded, out-of-focus photographs from our school halloween parades..... those cold, and sometimes snowy Autumns of our childhoods..... back to the 1970's... when you had to be creative to come up with something really scary for halloween, something original! The alternative? You had to wear the horrible plastic masks with the tight
rubberbands around your head...that always broke. They had a little hole near the bottom to breathe through. Or you could wear the half mask. At least you could breathe, but they weren't very fun.

(I'm the cute little blonde bride. My little groom's name escapes me. But he did propose to me under the big oak tree during recess. Alas, the love didn't last.)

Ghost in the Neighborhood?

I found the following information on a haunted place website about a grave in a nearby cemetary. I went to check it out a while ago. You wonder how these things get started.

According to legend, there is a tombstone with a picture of a man with one white hand and one blank hand on it. If you put a white sheet over the top of the headstone on October 30th at midnight, then knock 3 times, the man is said to appear behind you.

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Okay, this is the grave. No, I am not going back on October 30th. In this picture the 'black hand' is a little hard to make out, but it IS there. Poor Guy. Born in 1878. Died in 1927. Hopefully rested in peace a long time. Now he's on the internet.