Halloween

It's been a pretty hectic week and I'm finally getting a chance to relax and post Halloween pictures.

Last Friday, I took the kids to get pumpkins. Two minutes before we set out to the pumpkin place we go to every year, it started pouring rain, of course. Fortunately, the rain eased to a hard drizzle by the time we got to the pumpkin place.



It was fun watching them scope out the pumpkins, picking out the perfect one. I remembered doing the same-- there was something about it-- the pumpkin that matched the perfect one that you saw in your head.

The next night, we put newspaper on the dining room table and using the kit Kim picked up, carved the pumpkins.



While they worked, it was my job to sift through the "pumpkin glop"...



to extricate the seeds.



More on that later.

When they finished, I put tea light candles in the jack'o'lanterns and put them on the back porch.







Wondering about those pumpkins seeds? I cleaned them and put them in a bowl of saltwater, put them in the refrigerator for a day. Then I spread them out on a cookie sheet...



...and baked them at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes or so, turning them with a spatula several times.



One of the things I love about being a parent is that it gives you an excuse to do things that you're purportedly too old to do now, like pumpkin-carving. And to get some pumpkin seeds while you're at it. Maybe next year, I'll do a costume too, if I can think of a good one. The kids both had great costumes this year. Mel was one of the characters from High School Musical.



Adam, the Evil Dictator, became the Even More Evil Dictator, Dick Cheney, for Halloween. The picture is actually missing part of the costume-- a flannel shirt and a toy hunting rifle.



In the meantime, I'll post soon about the role that my love of pumpkin seeds played in my days as a fourth grade "playah." In honor of Halloween, here's a video of the Dead Kennedys doing my favorite Halloween song, about people who live their true lives only when they think that society approves.



Halloween

So it's Halloween
And you feel like dancin'
And you feel like shinin'
And you feel like letting loose

Whatcha gonna be
Babe, you better know
And you better plan
Better plan all day

Better plan all week
Better plan all month
Better plan all year

You're dressed up like a clown
Putting on your act
It's the only time all year
You'll ever admit that

I can see your eyes
I can see your brain
Baby, nothing's changed
[repeat]

You're still hiding in a mask
You take your fun seriously
No, don't blow this year's chance
Tomorrow your mold goes back on

After Halloween

You go to work today
You'll go to work tomorrow
Shitfaced tonight
You'll brag about it for months

Remember what I did
Remember what I was
Back on Halloween

But what's in between
Where are your ideas
You sit around and dream
For next Halloween

Why not everyday
Are you so afraid
What will people say
[repeat]

After Halloween

Because your role is planned for you
There's nothing you can do
But stop and think it through
But what will the boss say to you

And what will your girlfriend say to you
And the people out on the street they might glare at you
And whadya know you're pretty self-conscious too

So you run back and stuff yourselves in rigid business costumes
Only at night to score is your leather uniform exhumed
Why don't you take your social regulations
And shove 'em up your ass