All Hallow's Eve Revolution

A revolution is needed.

Last year I was at a Halloween party. Naughty by Nature was on stage and I had fallen into a puddle of spilled beer (I hope) to avoid a fist fight between Jack Sparrow and Hulk Hogan that Winnie the Pooh was trying to break up. (Later that night, he asked me if I 'partied' and offered me some coke. I was like, "No thanks Pooh Bear.") And as insane and fun as that night was, I have to say, I miss the old Halloween.

I propose this, fair minded children-at-heart, responsible adults! We revolt! Enough of this thing they call Halloween! Down with naked girls dressed as bunnies and racist costumes and drunken frat boys and loud parties with more alcohol poisoning than tricks and treats! I say enough!

Perhaps I'm being a little dramatic. Imagine that.

I just love me some Halloween so much. I love making a creative costume. I love getting together with my friends and sharing our fun creations and yummy treats. I love cookies shaped like bats and bite sized candies. I love those old fashioned scares that have nothing to do with chainsaws or sexy teens or entrails. I guess really what I'm trying to say is I miss the Halloween from when I was a kid.

I remember when it used to be a spooky time. Not scary, not sexy, spooky! No threats of real harm or nightmares but the idea knowing that the spirits were out, whispering from the trees. The wind blew and the leaves crunched under your feet and you knew the jealous witches flew above, greedy trolls below and you were safe as long as you could make it to the next house. (And even then you could shout "Go go Power Rangers!" and that would save you from the mummy creeping around in the bushes.)

via lovemanor.com

My Halloween is "Something Wicked This Way Comes" where there is a fate worse than death at the midnight carnival. It's Edgar Allen Poe, Edward Gorey, Icabod Crane (if he can just make it to the bridge!) and Shelley's (and Whale's) Frankenstein. It's not Freddy or Jason, ice pick wielding mutants and gore/porn. Not for me, at least.

Or maybe I'm just getting old. 

Happy Halloween my ghoulish pals! Enjoy some classic Halloween this year!

Running Toward, Not Away - UPDATE GoMighty!

I should run away more often.

Since I decided to start training for my first race (if you consider the family 5K a race... and I do, damnit) it has been my most popular post by far. People either love to run or love Disneyland. I had not idea there was a category for both until just recently.

I also got invited to Go Mighty, which is great for setting goals and sharing your stories. So I'm there as well, sharing the steps I will take to get to Disneyland. Also, some fun trivia: If I were to run a 5K everyday until the race in August, I could literally run from my house to Disneyland. Now that's some motivation. And something I would never do. Unless there was some kind of zombie apocalypse then yeah, I'm running to Disneyland. I'll live on top of the Matterhorn since zombie hate paper mache and fun.

Is it bad I'm more excited about making my running costume? This girl has got in down over at According to Kelly. I should use some of her ideas. Or maybe some Mickey ears will do. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how I feel about things closer to race day.

On the less fun side of things, I've started to have some physical issues. Hip/knee joint pain and very sore feet, mostly in my big toe joint. I'm going to keep an eye on that and hopefully I can push through that. Any ideas, experienced runners?

Lastly, thanks for all the encouraging emails and fun stories; they're very motivating! So now it's time to leave my little perch in front of the computer and go run! Weee!