Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Fright Fest
When I was a kid, Halloween meant dressing up as Pac Man or E.T. (hey, it was the '80s) and eating tiny, stale Three Musketeers bars for the better part of a month. Sure, we had to take our candy to the emergency room to get it x-rayed (hey, it was the '80s) and wear bright orange sashes so our parents could feel somewhat less like we were going to end up under the rear wheel of a Malibu, but we largely got the run of the neighborhood, to the point that some years I actually hauled home multiple bags of sugary goodness, in addition to the occasional hopeful apple. One year we even trick or treated at the mall. Spencer's gave out some awesome Mr. Goodbars.
But now that I'm older, Halloween is mainly a matter of sitting in my living room with all the lights off since I forgot to stop by the Jewel for a bag of Hershey's miniatures. Oh, and hoping not to get egged. For the first time this year I am utterly without a costume, since I lacked the time to properly execute my Jeffrey from Project Runway idea, and in fact am still at work right now. I could try to sell my current look as some sort of minimalist getup, but "Irritated Man in Green Sweater" is hardly going to hit the plastic smock racks at Meijer any time soon.
Oh, and the jack-o-lanterns are totally rotted. Already. I'm beginning to worry they'll give me pulmonary spores, although I'm also half convinced that's something I just made up.
When I was a kid, Halloween meant dressing up as Pac Man or E.T. (hey, it was the '80s) and eating tiny, stale Three Musketeers bars for the better part of a month. Sure, we had to take our candy to the emergency room to get it x-rayed (hey, it was the '80s) and wear bright orange sashes so our parents could feel somewhat less like we were going to end up under the rear wheel of a Malibu, but we largely got the run of the neighborhood, to the point that some years I actually hauled home multiple bags of sugary goodness, in addition to the occasional hopeful apple. One year we even trick or treated at the mall. Spencer's gave out some awesome Mr. Goodbars.
But now that I'm older, Halloween is mainly a matter of sitting in my living room with all the lights off since I forgot to stop by the Jewel for a bag of Hershey's miniatures. Oh, and hoping not to get egged. For the first time this year I am utterly without a costume, since I lacked the time to properly execute my Jeffrey from Project Runway idea, and in fact am still at work right now. I could try to sell my current look as some sort of minimalist getup, but "Irritated Man in Green Sweater" is hardly going to hit the plastic smock racks at Meijer any time soon.
Oh, and the jack-o-lanterns are totally rotted. Already. I'm beginning to worry they'll give me pulmonary spores, although I'm also half convinced that's something I just made up.
