A Halloween Reverse Trick or Treat!!

Hello Guys and Ghouls We've been a little absent - or ghostly even. I wanted to post a quick note to explain that there is a shiny new feature on our blog. It is nothing we ever wanted to put there, and it's a humbling and almost embarrassing thing to have to resort to, but those of you who know our current situation will know why it's there. It's a shiny new pretty yellow PayPal Donate button. We've set up a secure way to have friends, family, strangers who support the cause, or random drive bys to help us out. We have no illusions that we'd make the $15K we need to raise this week, but the point of the donation button is that even a dollar here and there will totally help defray the costs and keep us afloat while we do battle in courts of law.

So, in the spirit of Halloween, help us defend our castle and lives against an evil ogre! Wear a costume while you donate. Wear costumes while you share our link with other costume wearing folk. I can't promise any candy in return (and I can't say anything about tax breaks because we aren't a non-profit) but I will tell you that fighting to keep Lisa and I together in the home we made together for 6 years, that is indeed a tasty, chocolate wrapped prospect that we can all share in.

No matter if you can help with donations, spreading the word and the link, or just leaving us some words of encouragement - it's all anon anyway, and we love each and every person who takes the time even just to read this and think about us - send us some good energy for the battle ahead. It's taking a toll, but we won't let the Troll win!
If anyone wants more in depth information about what is going on and why we are doing this, paying no attention to the man behind the curtain, contact us privately. All I will say is, what would normally be a small inconvenience for most US citizens becomes a battle to prove our side to avoid deportation. Unlike the opposition, we will remain tactful and professional. The best revenge isn't revenge at all - it's using the truth to prevail in unfair situations without sinking to a scummy level.

So, Alice, Lisa and I thank you - for anything and everything you do. <3 <3 <3

Merry Bi-Polar Halloweenie

Ok, I LOVE Halloween. Love it. This year, with all the life stress and general crap going on, I honestly don't give a crap. It's Alice's 5th birthday, so I'm psyched for that reason.

I keep oscillating from "Oh! I want to take my nieces out Trick or Treating and freeze and giggle and drink hot chocolate with them!" to "I want to stay home, lock the door, and turn out the lights." So, what gives? A few days ago I was set to have the outside fire pit burning and pass candy out to little ghouls and goblins. Now I am pondering lining the driveway with mouse and bear traps and our pumpkins are on the porch, uncarved. What gives? Why am I so damned indifferent?

Meh.

Well, here's a good photo of Alice in her costume. We were going to have her out there with us to give out candy, but now who knows?

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

My biological clock, that thing I never really believed existed, has been running on Duracell recently. And by recently I mean the last 2 years, with the batteries getting stronger every day.

In hindsight, heading over to the baby section in the local Halloween store was a bad idea.



Say it with me now: Uter-Yoink!

Seeds In My Teeth

It used to be that some holidays were for everyone - and Halloween was the best example of that. The only real "cost" of Halloween was the candy, or in the case of some houses on my block, the tape to wrap 5 pennies together, to give out to the kids. Costumes were inventive and usually consisted of stuff found around the house. Pumpkins were the cheapest veggie on the market (no pun intended) and your goody sack was an old pillowcase. Actually, you got a bonus on Halloween from your pumpkin because not only did you carve it and light it with a candle and show it with pride, but when you gutted it, you could dry and bake the seeds and happily munch on 'free' snacks for the next few days.

I decided to rant briefly when I was looking around for a really intricate pattern to carve on my pumpkin this year. Ok, what I meant to say was a pattern to carve on the down payment for a new car that calls itself a pumpkin. When did this orange lump become such an expense? Seriously, I didn't expect an average sized pumpkin to cost me $10 bucks! I wasn't really paying attention while in line to weight it, and then almost died when the family in front of me bought 4 big pumpkins and a gallon of cider and forked over $100! That sucked some of the fun out of it, but I was determined to stay positive.

My niece wanted a costume of an anime character. I told her we could make one easily, and she scoffed and said it would need to be bought. So much for the home-spun costumes that cost very little, but the one she wanted went for no less than $60 PLUS shipping anywhere online. She also made a comment about the types of candy given out, and how some houses weren't "worth it" to stop at because they had smaller, crappy candy. What?? It's still free candy!! Going T&T'ing was all about running around with your friends from house to house. We went to all the houses that were lit up, regardless of what the booty was from them. Now there's a politics to the candy? (Side Note - last year when I took the nieces around, one house actually wrapped the candy in political ads for the local council nominees! WTF?)

But last night, I wanted to find a decent pattern to use as a guide to carve a really great image on my pumpkin. Now, I'm no slacker. In fact I pride myself on creating really difficult and interestingly scary scenes on the flesh of the veggie. I just thought that with the design I had in mind, I could use a little guide so I didn't mess up the $10 pumpkin. So, I hunted online. Every page and every site that advertised and professed to have what I needed was a "members only" or "pay to view/download" gimmick. I must have gone through about 35 different sites and pages before giving up in disgust. It's a pumpkin carving design, made from a character from a movie. I will muddle through and do it myself and hope for the best. I'm just disgruntled that a fun and economically friendly holiday that I really cherished has turned into a profit mongering event also used to peddle political agendas with candy and fear (as exhibited by the Maryland decision about sex offenders. The jury on my head is still out about whether or not that was a wise idea).

So, sorry for the rant. I'll be the grumpy aunt driving her nieces from street to street in their purchased costumes to selectively pick up politically active candy from possible pedophiles and even worse - lonely old people. Oh, and look for my hand carved pumpkin design to appear in a later post!

Happy Hallow's All!

Audience Participation Requested

Hello Freaks and Fairies.

I'm putting together an updated Hallowe'en iPod playlist version 2.08. I have my usual goodies like "Halloween" by Siouxsee and the Banshees, "Everyday is Halloween" by Ministry, and yes, even "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus. (and before you jump on it, I have most of the Nightmare Before Christmas on there) Actually I have over 60 songs so far, with some still being considered and others heading to the chopping block.

If any of you have funky ideas or suggestions to add to my list, please comment. I'll take anything from Alice Cooper to the Misfits. Please do NOT insult me by suggesting "Monster Mash". That crap will not be considered!

Reach deep into your freakish and seriously depraived minds and iTunes, kiddies. I'm looking for blood and glory here.

Muah Ha Ha!!!