kendermouse

If you see a broken preview image on one of my written works, (and this is IMPORTANT,) please keep in mind that it is likely a trigger warning, meant to protect those who might be pushed into a panic attack/dissociative fugue/bad flashback by what is written there, and read it with caution.

I'm very sorry that this is happening, (the broken preview images,) and I hope that devart fixes it very soon.

I love this month, with its full, joyous dive into autumn, and all the spooky trappings of Halloween, and the celebration of Samhain, and how many take the time to remember and honor loved ones and ancestors who have passed.

Where I live, it is warmer most of the year, so the leaves don't really turn all those firey colors like they do in other places. (Which is part of why I was so enchanted by my visit to Seattle a few years ago - it was the very first time I'd ever seen that phenomenon up close and personal!) They mostly just dry up and fall off, leaving the trees bare.

I also love candy, (who doesn't?) and dressing up in strange clothes, and pretending to be someone (or something,) I'm not. It's a night for ultimate fantasy, Halloween, a night when anyone can wear anything, and nobody will even look twice.

I remember one year, I worked at Phobia, a really awesome haunted house. (The BEST haunted house, in my opinion, but anyway...) I was the relief person, going through the house, one room at a time, taking people's spots as they took their breaks. I think I liked doing that better than I would have liked being in one place the whole time. I never got bored, and I got to play every part, and use every prop.

Afterward, Bunny and I (and often, a couple friends of ours,) would go out for dinner, and sometimes I got away with wearing my makeup to the restaurant, which was fun, because I'd get the funniest looks from people when I did. (It didn't happen often, though - most of the time, Bunny would refused to take me anywhere until I'd taken off the makeup, because hates fun isn't fond of anything that draws attention anywhere near his direction.

He was almost always forced to put up with me wearing it on the way there, though, because he was my ride, and he got off work fairly late in the day. This meant that I was usually getting there right when the place opened, so I had to be ready before I got there. And that usually meant putting my makeup on as we were headed there. (Luckily, I'm quite good at putting makeup on in a moving vehicle.)

I amused myself by confounding other drivers on the road, who were usually either alarmed or confused by my scary makeup. I remember one guy in a pickup truck kept peeeering my way, unsure what to make of me. I stuck out my tongue and waggled it, and he cracked up laughing. I was in a great mood all night after that.

And there were the years when the bratlings were little... those were fun years.

My oldest was just a month old the first time she went trick or treating. I bundled her up in some warm dark clothes and tights with pumpkins on them, and put her in her stroller, and a friend and I took her out, and went up and down the street, trick or treating. I told the people who answered the doors that it was "for the baby." A few of them laughed, thinking she was a doll, and the stroller a prop, that we were dressed up as a happy family, or something. We cracked up when they peered down into the stroller and were shocked by the sight of an actual baby staring back at them. Luckily, she was more curious than scared, so she didn't really cry at all.

My middle one was dressed in a lion  suit his grandmother bought him for his first Halloween. Unfortunately, it was rather warm that year, and the costume was fleece, so it didn't stay on long.

For my youngest's first Halloween, we dressed him up as a baby vampire. The costume had footed pajamas with a tuxedo print on the front, and a itty-bitty black cape. It was adorable.

That was also the year that I dressed up in what most of my friends seem to think was my best costume ever. (Ironically enough, it was also the laziest and cheapest costume ever.) It basically consisted of two items: a headband with springy antennae that my oldest had brought home from some silly thing she'd attended a few months prior, (she'd set it down on the bookcase, and promptly forgotten it existed,) and one of those peel and stick name badges that say, "Hello, my name is" on them. I wrote, "Gone crazy, back in five minutes" on it, and stuck it to my shirt. I never have quite understood how amongst all the creative costumes I've made for myself over the years, the one I scrambled together in five minutes flat ended up being the favorite, but I suppose I can't complain.

Actually, I'm thinking of making a similar costume this year, though I'll have to find a new headband - the original one has long since disappeared.

I think that's enough October reminiscing, don't you?

So, I think I'll finish this up with one of my favorite quotes from the original 21 Jump Street series, where Johnny Depp's Character, Officer Tom Hansen, was talking to a (then unknown) Jason Priestly, who was playing a guy named Tober.

Officer Hanson:  "Your name is Tober?  Why would your parents name you that?"
Jason Priestly's character:  "My 'rents didn't name me Tober.  I chose that name."
Officer Hanson:  "Why would you name yourself Tober?"
Tober:  "Because it's my favorite month."
Officer Hanson:  *looks confused*
Tober:  "October, man!  It's when everything DIES."

Kissed any one of your Facebook friends? --- Well, since I actually know most of them in person, that's kind of a given...

Been arrested? --- Yes

Kissed someone you didn't like? --- No

Slept in until 5 PM? --- Yes

Fallen asleep at work/school? --- Yes

Ran a red light? --- Yes, once.

Been suspended from school? --- Yes

Experienced love at first sight? --- No

Totaled your car in an accident? --- No

Been fired from a job? --- Yes

Fired somebody? --- No

Sang karaoke? --- Yes

Pointed a gun at someone? --- Do waterguns or BB guns count?

Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? --- Yes

Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? --- No

Caught a snowflake on your tongue? --- Yes

Kissed in the rain? --- Yes

Had a close brush with death (your own)? --- No

Seen someone die? --- No

Played spin-the-bottle? --- No, but I've played truth or dare.

Sang in the shower? --- Yes

Smoked a cigar? --- No

Sat on a rooftop? --- Yes

Taken pictures of yourself naked? --- No

Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? --- No

Skipped school? --- Yes

Eaten a bug? --- No

Sleepwalked? --- No, but I've talked on the phone in my sleep.

Walked a moonlit beach? --- Yes

Ridden a motorcycle? --- No

Dumped someone? --- Yes

Forgotten your anniversary? --- If I didn't have a calendar, I'd forget my own birthday.

Lied to avoid a ticket? --- No

Ridden on a helicopter? --- No

Shaved your head? --- Not fully, but I've had the back down with clippers to keep it looking neat.

Blacked out from drinking? --- No

Played a prank on someone? --- Yes

Hit a home run? --- No

Felt like killing someone? --- Briefly

Cross-dressed? --- Yes

Been falling-down drunk? --- No

Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? --- Yes

Eaten snake? --- No

Marched/Protested? --- No, but not for lack of desire to.

Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? --- No

Puked on amusement ride? --- No, I managed to wait until after.

Seriously & intentionally boycotted something? --- Yes

Been in a band? --- No

Knitted? --- Yes

Been on TV? -- Not that I know of?

Shot a gun? --- I'd still like to know if waterguns or BB guns count...

Skinny-dipped? --- There are pictures of me as a toddler, naked by a kiddie pool, so I suppose that's a yes.

Caused someone to need stitches? --- No

Ridden a surfboard? --- No

Drank straight from a liquor bottle? --- No

Had surgery? -- Yes

Streaked? --- Um, do childhood escapes from the bathtub through the house count?

Taken by ambulance to hospital? --- Yes

Passed out when not drinking? --- No

Peed on a bush? --- No

Donated Blood? --- No

Grabbed electric fence? --- Who would actually DO something that stupid?

Eaten alligator meat? -- No

Eaten cheesecake? --- Yes, yes I have. X3

Eaten kids' Halloween candy? --- Hey, Halloween candy is for everyone! (Though I wouldn't eat hard-earned trick-or-treat candy unless it was offered to me.)

Killed an animal when not hunting? --- I think I may have stepped on a lizard once...

Peed your pants in public? --- No

Written graffiti? --- Yes

Still love someone you shouldn't? --- Yes

Think about the future? --- Yes

Been in handcuffs? --- Yes

Believe in love? --- Yes

Sleep on a certain side of the bed? --- Yes

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