(no subject)
Hi everyone, I'm back. I've had a lot of stuff I could write about, but it was one of those strange writer's blocks where I never knew where to start so I just shut up about it. In the past 6 weeks or so, I could've written about:
- the adventures of Japanese class
- the inlaws' visit to America
- A-chan's birthday party at Sotto Sotto
- impressions of Las Vegas
- various lj interminglings: dinner with vertamae last month, randomly running into j_is_for_jihad in the neighborhoods of little 5 points, forcing extyger to stock the wonderful new Zandosis album George W. Bush Go Straight To Fucking Hell only to eventually buy it somewhere else (sorry! I did give you a chance though). Yes, that is an Amazon link. No, I didn't buy it on Amazon. Album of the year?
I could speak of these things, and maybe even one or two more. But instead, I'm going to speak about Halloween. You may have heard of this event if you're one of those cultural anthropological types, but I'll forgive you if your parents conceived you during the administration of Bush the Elder or beyond because it looks like you got shafted.
As a child I never really cared for Autumn. Its by far my favorite season now, but back in the day I associated it with the following: football, Thanksgiving dinners with family relatives who forgot that I hated southern food every year and asked me "don't you want more than bread and macaroni and cheese?", and colds. Pretty much in that order. Just about the only thing going for it was October 31, with TV viewings of "Its The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "The Wizard Of Oz" immediately preceding. November 1 was ALWAYS the most depressing day of the year in my book, and that wasn't just because of the aftereffects of the needles hidden in my candy (seriously, 5 gets you 10 that some baptist preacher thought that urban legend up).
The last time I trick-or-treated was at the age of 14 (one of the Blues Brothers; I had just discovered old SNL reruns and coincidentally TBS only had this, "Clash Of The Titans", and "The Green Berets" in their library because it came on every 5 hours). Yesterday evening was therefore the first time in 16 years I hit the Halloween streets, although now I was pitching for the other team as it were. While I've had my suspicions over the years about what had happened to my favorite holiday, last night gave me the sordid confirmation.
2005 was the first year I ever had trick-or-treaters visit since I moved away from home. We had about 40 kids last year, a not disrespectful amount, even though a couple of kids hit twice and I got pretty pissed about it. I also got frustrated over the lack of costumes or appropriate bags to put candy in, but on second thought I realized that the kids may have come from families who couldn't afford such things. Now that I've heard the same complaints from almost everyone, and now that I've been to these trick-or-treating places they come from, I don't give them the benefit of the doubt anymore. At least not the parents, who surely should have taught their kids the proper Halloween etiquette. Although who knows if they even know the etiquette, as there are a number of people who don't understand the "light on = we have candy to give away, light off = don't bother" rule. S thinks that this is some arcane rule I continue to adhere to (last night was not only A-chan's first trick-or-treating, but hers as well) and sadly by the end of the night I started to wonder the same thing.
I do give kids the benefit of the doubt now about hitting places more than once. Because we all talk about how few kids trick-or-treat these days, but if you look at it from the other side you see how few places actually participate in it these days. We live in an apartment complex, with a lot of young families from a lot of different backgrounds, but out of approximately 250 apartments we got candy out of no more than 15 of them. 15!! Granted some people may not have started handing stuff out when we began, adding to confusion later in trying to remember where we had or hadn't been, but it couldn't have been more than 5.
And of the 15 giving stuff out, about 10 of them deserved to go on the "bad karma" list. People giving out 1 Tootsie Pop. Or two Jolly Ranchers. No wonder the kids hit up our place every year, as this year's trick-or-treaters got a handful (mine, not theirs) from a bowl of Starburst, Jolly Ranchers, Smarties, Tootsie Rolls, and Laffy Taffys along with a giant Pocky (either regular or strawberry choco). I don't often brag about myself, which only shows how pathetic the give-outs of these other people were. Although I have to say that I'm glad they at least were at their door.
Alongside A-chan (who's now 13 months old), there was another little baby. Both of them were dressed up, A-chan as a ladybug and the baby as a bumblebee. Of the 30 or so other kids we ran across during the night, I saw a princess, a ninja, some kid with one of the Scream masks, a witch, and a teenager wearing a big box that he had scrawled "Marlboro" onto. Otherwise it was kids wearing their regular clothes. A-chan was the only one carrying one of those plastic pumpkins for candy. Virtually everyone else had Wal-Mart bags. One boy had his school backpack, and when I opened the door he already had his back to me with the top unzipped ready for me to drop it in. One girl (about 16) had a friggin' Coach bag. Take out the two baby outliers, and average age was probably around 13 plus. Sad sad sad.
I realize that nowadays just about every church has some kind of fall festival on the night, and apparently there are now events like "Truck Or Treat" (in which a bunch of, uh, trucks are in some big parking lot) and "Malloween" (where shopping malls give out candy at various shops), but Halloween was never just about candy for me. It was the costuming, the traipsing around in the dark, the neighborhood filled with dark shadows of kids in their various getups, the voyeuristic chance to peek inside the living rooms of the creepy people in the neighborhood. And it seems like its all gone now, with nothing left except the gluttony aspect. Forgive me for sounding too procreational, but this is not the way I want my kid to grow up. Taking Back America may be a ridiculous campaign promise in these cynical day, but I truly believe Taking Back Halloween can be an achievement in our lifetime! Who's with me?
On a bright note, A-chan loved Halloween. There was one beautiful apartment that had been done up all proper (strobe lights, hanging bats, motion-activated effects, fog machines, etc) which left her dropjawed for about 3 minutes. She started pat-patting doors after awhile, grasping that if you knock on it, eventually somebody will open it and give you something. And at the end of the night, I let her walk on the long way back to our apartment while grasping my hand. After about 150 feet, some traffic started to happen so I decided to pick her up and carry her for a bit. And immediately upon picking her up, she settled into my arms and was asleep literally 90 seconds later. Complete sensory overload, and what better thing for a child on her first Halloween? I walked her back home, put her to bed, and then S and I watched "Its The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" while I knocked back a Samuel Smith Winter's Welcome Ale (a very recommended seasonal pick). We may be tricked by the mainstream these days, but treats are still out there if you know where to find them...
- the adventures of Japanese class
- the inlaws' visit to America
- A-chan's birthday party at Sotto Sotto
- impressions of Las Vegas
- various lj interminglings: dinner with vertamae last month, randomly running into j_is_for_jihad in the neighborhoods of little 5 points, forcing extyger to stock the wonderful new Zandosis album George W. Bush Go Straight To Fucking Hell only to eventually buy it somewhere else (sorry! I did give you a chance though). Yes, that is an Amazon link. No, I didn't buy it on Amazon. Album of the year?
I could speak of these things, and maybe even one or two more. But instead, I'm going to speak about Halloween. You may have heard of this event if you're one of those cultural anthropological types, but I'll forgive you if your parents conceived you during the administration of Bush the Elder or beyond because it looks like you got shafted.
As a child I never really cared for Autumn. Its by far my favorite season now, but back in the day I associated it with the following: football, Thanksgiving dinners with family relatives who forgot that I hated southern food every year and asked me "don't you want more than bread and macaroni and cheese?", and colds. Pretty much in that order. Just about the only thing going for it was October 31, with TV viewings of "Its The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "The Wizard Of Oz" immediately preceding. November 1 was ALWAYS the most depressing day of the year in my book, and that wasn't just because of the aftereffects of the needles hidden in my candy (seriously, 5 gets you 10 that some baptist preacher thought that urban legend up).
The last time I trick-or-treated was at the age of 14 (one of the Blues Brothers; I had just discovered old SNL reruns and coincidentally TBS only had this, "Clash Of The Titans", and "The Green Berets" in their library because it came on every 5 hours). Yesterday evening was therefore the first time in 16 years I hit the Halloween streets, although now I was pitching for the other team as it were. While I've had my suspicions over the years about what had happened to my favorite holiday, last night gave me the sordid confirmation.
2005 was the first year I ever had trick-or-treaters visit since I moved away from home. We had about 40 kids last year, a not disrespectful amount, even though a couple of kids hit twice and I got pretty pissed about it. I also got frustrated over the lack of costumes or appropriate bags to put candy in, but on second thought I realized that the kids may have come from families who couldn't afford such things. Now that I've heard the same complaints from almost everyone, and now that I've been to these trick-or-treating places they come from, I don't give them the benefit of the doubt anymore. At least not the parents, who surely should have taught their kids the proper Halloween etiquette. Although who knows if they even know the etiquette, as there are a number of people who don't understand the "light on = we have candy to give away, light off = don't bother" rule. S thinks that this is some arcane rule I continue to adhere to (last night was not only A-chan's first trick-or-treating, but hers as well) and sadly by the end of the night I started to wonder the same thing.
I do give kids the benefit of the doubt now about hitting places more than once. Because we all talk about how few kids trick-or-treat these days, but if you look at it from the other side you see how few places actually participate in it these days. We live in an apartment complex, with a lot of young families from a lot of different backgrounds, but out of approximately 250 apartments we got candy out of no more than 15 of them. 15!! Granted some people may not have started handing stuff out when we began, adding to confusion later in trying to remember where we had or hadn't been, but it couldn't have been more than 5.
And of the 15 giving stuff out, about 10 of them deserved to go on the "bad karma" list. People giving out 1 Tootsie Pop. Or two Jolly Ranchers. No wonder the kids hit up our place every year, as this year's trick-or-treaters got a handful (mine, not theirs) from a bowl of Starburst, Jolly Ranchers, Smarties, Tootsie Rolls, and Laffy Taffys along with a giant Pocky (either regular or strawberry choco). I don't often brag about myself, which only shows how pathetic the give-outs of these other people were. Although I have to say that I'm glad they at least were at their door.
Alongside A-chan (who's now 13 months old), there was another little baby. Both of them were dressed up, A-chan as a ladybug and the baby as a bumblebee. Of the 30 or so other kids we ran across during the night, I saw a princess, a ninja, some kid with one of the Scream masks, a witch, and a teenager wearing a big box that he had scrawled "Marlboro" onto. Otherwise it was kids wearing their regular clothes. A-chan was the only one carrying one of those plastic pumpkins for candy. Virtually everyone else had Wal-Mart bags. One boy had his school backpack, and when I opened the door he already had his back to me with the top unzipped ready for me to drop it in. One girl (about 16) had a friggin' Coach bag. Take out the two baby outliers, and average age was probably around 13 plus. Sad sad sad.
I realize that nowadays just about every church has some kind of fall festival on the night, and apparently there are now events like "Truck Or Treat" (in which a bunch of, uh, trucks are in some big parking lot) and "Malloween" (where shopping malls give out candy at various shops), but Halloween was never just about candy for me. It was the costuming, the traipsing around in the dark, the neighborhood filled with dark shadows of kids in their various getups, the voyeuristic chance to peek inside the living rooms of the creepy people in the neighborhood. And it seems like its all gone now, with nothing left except the gluttony aspect. Forgive me for sounding too procreational, but this is not the way I want my kid to grow up. Taking Back America may be a ridiculous campaign promise in these cynical day, but I truly believe Taking Back Halloween can be an achievement in our lifetime! Who's with me?
On a bright note, A-chan loved Halloween. There was one beautiful apartment that had been done up all proper (strobe lights, hanging bats, motion-activated effects, fog machines, etc) which left her dropjawed for about 3 minutes. She started pat-patting doors after awhile, grasping that if you knock on it, eventually somebody will open it and give you something. And at the end of the night, I let her walk on the long way back to our apartment while grasping my hand. After about 150 feet, some traffic started to happen so I decided to pick her up and carry her for a bit. And immediately upon picking her up, she settled into my arms and was asleep literally 90 seconds later. Complete sensory overload, and what better thing for a child on her first Halloween? I walked her back home, put her to bed, and then S and I watched "Its The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" while I knocked back a Samuel Smith Winter's Welcome Ale (a very recommended seasonal pick). We may be tricked by the mainstream these days, but treats are still out there if you know where to find them...