Ready, set ... not so fast
Truly.
I hate the cobwebs hanging everywhere and all the monster masks and goofy costumes, and the animated creatures that suddenly go Booahahahahaha when you pass by them in the drugstore, their eyes lit up all red.
If I see one more Party City commercial set to the song Thriller, I'll scream.
I do not do Halloween. At all.
Be that as it may, I love to dress up and I've had a lifelong love affair with candy.
And I've been told that I myself am scary.
I freely admit to a certain enjoyment of creepy stuff.
For example, I'm a regular reader of Quigley's Cabinet. That says a lot about a person.
Also I love Edgar Allan Poe.
Why, just today I read The Raven. I do that every year. I like this part:
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven, of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door.
Perched upon a bust of Pallas, just above my chamber door,
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly, grim, and ancient raven, wandering from the nightly shore.
Tell me what the lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore."
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."
You should read it all! Today! Or Saturday at the latest.
Also I love The Addams Family. Morticia's "look" resonates with me.
Like Morticia, black is my favorite color. I'd rather wear black than anything else. Plus which, I have dark hair and pale skin.
I like the theme song too. Very catchy. Especially all that finger-snapping.
Even now as I write, it's a dark and stormy night and that's totally my favorite kind of weather. Moody, gray, rainy. I never get enough of it.
TG thinks I'm crazy. He prefers endless sunshine.
Also I'm a sucker for a gothic arch ...
... or any gothic detail, for that matter.
And you know how I am about cemeteries and graves.
By the way? My article Bonny, Bony Bonaventure will be featured in the November edition of American Cemetery.
On Friday night I have a date with TG to watch The Revenge of Frankenstein on TCM at 9:30. I plan to wear black lace.
Before the season is out I'll watch (or at least have playing on the TV as I do other things), Johnny Depp's adorable voice-over of Victor Van Dort in Corpse Bride, his heartbreaking Edward in Edward Scissorhands, his murderous barber in Sweeney Todd, and if there's time, maybe even his star turn as the inane (and possibly insane) Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
For sure I'll watch his delicious portrayal of Constable Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow (has he ever been more gorgeous?).
There was a story in the news this week about one Karen Arbogast, a 51-year-old Washington State woman who suffered a fatal brain injury when her car was broadsided in an intersection by a FedEx truck.
Ten hours after the accident, Karen's doctors gave her husband and children the terrible news that there was no hope. Karen was brain dead.
The family said their farewells and released Karen's body for organ harvesting, which had been her wish.
She was taken to a hospital in Seattle for the surgery.
Only, once there, medical personnel noticed that Karen had brain activity and showed signs of preferring to keep her organs. As in, she wasn't really as dead as they thought she was.
Now the doctors say she has a one-in-four chance of recovering to the point of being able to live her life again.
I'd say that was a close one. I told TG, please don't give up on me after ten hours. I might just be resting!
At present I have three books on my bedside table. I "sip" at these books at bedtime. One of them is Mary Roach's bestseller Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers.
It's hysterically funny and wonderfully informative. I highly recommend it.
If you like that kind of thing.
Last night when I was reading, I got to the part about how, a couple of hundred years ago, doctors were often not sure if a person they thought was dead, was really dead.
Apparently, being buried alive was a very real fear. I can understand that.
The unsettling prospect of live burials led to the construction of large, ornate waiting mortuaries where bodies believed to be dead were laid out and monitored.
The idea was, if the person you were keeping an eye on began to decompose, there was no doubt it was time for a funeral.
Sometimes a string, attached to a little bell, was tied to the maybe-corpse's finger so that if it moved even slightly, the bell rang and alerted someone nearby that they might have a live one.
Certain coffins were even rigged with bells, just in case.
That's where the expression "saved by the bell" comes from.
(Some say the term has its roots in pugilism, but I prefer the not-dead-yet explanation.)
All this talk sort of reminds me of the Obama administration. We think it's dead but is it really dead?
I'm sure this is a scary time for them. It's a scary time for me.
November 2nd -- two days after Halloween! -- is the day, if all goes according to plan, this administration will be quasi-interred in a political waiting mortuary.
I don't think any little tinkling bells will be necessary, though.
And we'll all have a lot to be thankful for. Hello? November.
May the most monstrous presidency in the history of the United States rest in pieces. Boooooaaahhhhhahahahahahaha.
And may God bless America.
That is all.
Reader Comments (8)
I love the open gate shot. Boooooo! Love Ichabod Crane as well.
Have I told you that I love you? :)
I read this whole post, agreeing with every single thing. I hate Halloween, but like all those things you listed. I love your cemetery pictures and I'm so happy to hear you are being published!
Now I have to tell you something funny. Last night I dreamed I saw your daughters here in our town. I went up to them and asked if they were Jenny Webbers daughters and told them I knew them through their Mom's blog. That was the extent of it. Who knows why I dreamed that!
@Irene ... the gate shot is creepilicious, no? LOLOL
@Mari ... you dreamt that? Oh my goodness! That is amazing! I just know we're going to meet someday and have a truly wonderful time together. I don't know if it'll be here or there, but it'll be somewhere and it'll be great. I can't wait. I love you too!
Black lace....hilarious! I think this of one of your best posts ever and I lost count of how many things we have in common. I have heard that I can be scary too! It's a good thing. I shall be very jealous if you and Mari get together without me. Maybe we can arrange a threesome!
@Sue ... that would be most interesting! You, me, and Mari could have us some fun eating and shopping and gabbing! Scary.
wow this post is makin me like Halloween girl!..fabulous!! BOO!
I should have known Johnny Depp would be in here somewhere, ha.
Not my favorite holiday either when it comes to decorations.
I've been gone all day, haven't even posted anything at Right Truth. Can't seem to catch up.
@Angel ... O NOES! LOLOLOL
@Debbie ... yeah girl, you knew I'd get Johnny in there one way or another, and it turns out he has a bunch of movies that fit for Halloween. The list goes on. I watched two of them today. You'll get caught up this weekend!