Happy Halloween, Part 2.

My most memorable Halloween could have been the year Mandy and I found ourselves in San Fransisco's Castro District. I was dressed as Meg White, Bridget was dressed as a zombie lifeguard and I forget what Mandy was- but it was total chaos. People everywhere. It was like an alternate universe, like a dream, like Hell even. We were surrounded by people decked out in the most serious costumes I'd ever seen. To me, the holiday had always been about jack-o-lanterns and trick-or-treating, and parents were with kids in their parent costumes, and most kids were Power Rangers or Barbie, very mild, non-scary costumes. But in the Castro, there was no telling men from women, young from old- anyone could have been under there. We joined a crowd gathering around this fire-juggler and I turned around to make sure Mandy was still next to me. But instead came face-to-face with this thing. It was a monster, or alien, unlike anything I'd ever seen. It had a long beak-nose, a black face, and was wearing a black nun-like garment concealing it's whole body. Lit by the fireballs, the effect was especially scary. I turned around and tried to forget it, tried to rationalize that it was just a person under there, but couldn't. I could feel it breathing on me. So I grabbed the girls and pushed my way out of there.

But I shouldn't rule out the year that I tried to face my fear of all things scary and see the re-release of The Exorcist. In the dark theater. On Halloween. While it was brave of me to try and see one of the scariest movies ever, it didn't help me face any fear. I drove home doing eighty, convinced that if I drove fast enough nothing that might be following me could catch me. I slept with the light on for the next two nights, and for the next two months I swear to God I could feel my bed shaking.

I really don't like being scared. I am such a scary-cat that I run away from turkeys. Literally. So I was extremely excited to last minute join my friends Erin and Hillary to the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor to see the Arcade Fire play a secret show. They were, and possibly still are my favorite band, and how appropriate to see them on the night before Halloween, because a lot of their songs were about funerals and death. We got there and took the haunted tour of the College, since there was time to kill before the show. The tour was scary- the campus alone would do the trick, but if was very foggy out that night. You couldn't see two feet past the dock to the water, and they had some girl in a white dress follow us. It was totally scary.

So I was really glad to be home this past Halloween, in no danger of getting scared. Josh was gone, so even though I was home alone, I planned on cooking dinner, showering and watching a non-scary movie. I had just finished the shower part of my night, walking out of the bathroom in only a robe, when someone knocked on the window, hard, frantic and relentless. I jumped three feet in the air, my breath was caught in my chest and my heart skipped two beats. Someone was be getting chased. Someone was murdered and they need me to call 911. It was a trick my some crazed rapist dressed as a werewolf. I ran to the door and opened it, unsure what I'd find... and it was my neighbor, a full grown man dressed as a dinosaur. Holding a drink. He wanted to invite me to his party, but didn't see my doorbell.

Fresh Air

Happy Halloween! Today my mail man or, shall I say, letter carrier asked me what I was going to be for Halloween, and I said that I was going to be home. Josh is gone to Third Coast, a big deal radio conference, so I might have persuaded him to go to a masquerade (free buffet with paid ticket) but instead I'm home. For dinner, braised butternut squash and chicken breast with a lime-cilantro sauce and broiled pita chips, then balancing by checkbook, then I'll spend some quality time on ABC.com.

The best costume of the day had to have been Portland columnist and really cool guy, Justin Ellis.

My new favorite radio program is Fresh Air with Terry Gross. I listen to the show almost every day, either to get me through the three o'clock slump by streaming on New York Public Radio, or on MPBN while I'm making dinner at home. She's got a great laugh, and transitions seamlessly from guests Steve Carell to that outed CIA lady.

The Bearded Lady

In addition to figuring out ways to save money on our heating bill, like which rooms we can turn the radiators off in (bathroom? no. dining room? most likely.) this is what I've been up to:

I saw the Darjeeling Limited, which was just as fantastic as I expected it would be. I'm getting a new neighbor. Josh and I cross dressed for a Halloween party this past weekend. He was the bearded lady and I was the Strongman. He drew a mustache on my face, and I helped him adjust his breasts.

Two weeks ago, I was almost kidnapped, raped and murdered (i.e. took a wrong turn on the trail and was lost for all of, 15 minutes.) The same weekend, for Josh's birthday I wrote him a list of my top 20 favorite memories we've had over the last year and a half. It warmed his cold heart. My sister is getting married and moving to Germany like, now.

The Red Sox won the World Series, and now I'm not sure what my identity as a fan is.

Pushing Daisies

I've been on a budget. I've even been balancing my checkbook. Part of the plan to conserve funds has been to not go "out" every weeknight and to bring my lunches to work. The first part, staying in, is going pretty awesome. But if Josh in engrossed in a baseball game while playing online games or working, I need a way to amuse myself that doesn't involve spending a whole lot of money. Sometimes I work on personal projects, sometimes I read, sometimes I'll call a friend, but most of the time, I stream television on ABC.com.

You might have heard about this new show on ABC called Pushing Daisies. Before it came out it was widely regarded by critics as one of the best new shows to premier this season (or at least, that's what they were saying when I heard the director interviewed on Fresh Air, I think.)

I can see now that it's because they completely ripped off Amelie, they admitted to totally ripping off Amelie, and I love it. Here are some really specific similarities:

There is a considerable amount of narrating.
Counting things by the years, months, hours and minutes.
In one of the scenes of Pushing Daisies, they used a song FROM the Amelie soundtrack.
The leading ladies have similar cheekbones.
Very bright, saturated colors, and a lot of red.
The espresso machines are the same
The outside of the pie place and the coffee shop are in the same type of corner building.

The Portland Club

I think it's pretty safe to say that my favorite thing is free stuff. Tonight, we went to an open house (with free snacks, deserts and a pasta station) at the Portland Club with food by the Black Tie Catering Co. Not only did I have the most delicious pita chips ever, but there was chocolate mousse in martini glasses. It's nice to hang out with my coworkers, because even though I spend more time with them than anyone else in my life, it's not fun, quality, hangout time. We literally have an office full of women, so we get to chatting often enough. For example, a few weeks ago, there was an owl at my house. Luckily, after seeing the second season of Twin Peaks, I wasn't scared of it because it was no more than six inches tall and therefore could not have possibly been possessed by an evil spirit. I snapped a picture with my camera phone, and when our conversation meandered to my fear of large birds, I happened to mention how there was an owl at my house. For the next fifteen minutes, we went back and forth, my coworkers and I, as to weather or not this little owl perched where the gutter ran out at the base of my house was real or someone was playing a trick. If it was a trick, whoever it was got me really good, because I am still totally convinced that it's real. We might start a once a week happy hour.

At the Movies

It's not every day you get to see a world record!

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I've been thinking about movies a bit recently, Josh and I just watched the Conversation. He really likes it, and I did too, but I couldn't help but notice how emotionally disconnected the main character was. As the main character was in his favorite movie, Five Easy Pieces. That last scene was completely devastating! It made me wonder about people's favorite movies, and what, if anything, you can tell about a person by what their most beloved films are. I, for example, love the movie Amelie. It's got an amazing soundtrack, the cinematography is incredible, and I am just as sensitive as the main character. She is shy and has a hard time working up the courage to get herself the things she wants, meanwhile being totally adorable and well dressed. But I also like slapstick comedies, and family movies, smart movies and silly. So what if Toy Story is on my top ten list? It was awesome, and everyone knows it. Do I have a favorite animated Disney movie? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean I can't watch an appreciate the Godfather or Dancer in the Dark, it just means I prefer warm, heartfelt, touching stories.

Does this just bring us back to the ever-ominous statement "What really matters is what you like, not what you are like... Books, records, films -- these things matter." Sometimes I feel like my life would be easier if I just still worked at Bull Moose!