Happy Halloween

Halloween Tidbits
*Halloween, as with many holidays, overlaps with Samhain,Feralia, and Pomona and leads up to All Souls Day and the Day of the Dead. It is a holiday that focuses on the changing of the seasons, the end of the harvest, fading of the light, death and the cycle of life, which death is of course a part.
*Some traditions believe that this is the time of year when the dead get to transition to the next phase, be it their place of rest or their next incarnation.
*Halloween's current position on our calendar, is a result of Pope Gregory III shuffling the Christian holdays (All Hallows and All Saints used to be celebrated in May).
*The idea of dressing up ghoulishly originated in Europe after outbreaks of the plague led to a lot of people having a lot of dead people to celebrate. In Celtic cultures, people dressed as animals to lead the dead (who they thought had been turned to animals) home.
*Trick-or treating is - depending on who you talk to - either a off shoot of the original Celtic hunt for soul cakes or a variation of the Guy Fawkes celebrations that shifted to a day that people were actually celebrating in the US. (Guy Fawkes Day is November 5th).
*Jack-o-lanterns used to be made with other vegetables, but they weren't prevalent in the US when the holiday caught on, so pumpkins were substituted.
*The candles - be they in pumpkins or not - are to help light the way for the dead. *Some culture's believe that god dies on Halloween and is reborn at Yule. (Which also coincides with the winter solstice and the days getting longer again.)

In whatever manner you choose, go forth and celebrate. (And remember holiday candy has no calories. For real!)

Thanks to belief.net and Wikipedia for helping me check my facts.

Sing!

I sing constantly. Even when around others - although sometimes I try for some internal singing. My brother threatened me when we went to see "Les Miserable" because he was concerned I would sing along with the actors. (I did not - alhough there was some toe tapping and mild seat dancing). Certain words trigger songs in my brain - I think the word crazy, and sing, "Crazy, crazy for feeling so lonely." There are others.

So - of course I sing in the shower. And as we all know the acoustics in the bathroom are great. Certain experts hhave suggested singing while washing your hands or brushing your teeth to help keep you doing it for the amount of time you are supposed to.

Well, in Australia, they are advising differently. They are suggesting people sing shorter songs in order to complete their shower more efficiently and conserve a bit of water. Here's the thing - maybe my experiences or off - but I have never once stayed in the shower because I wasn't done with the song I was singing. Is this really a big concern? Are people really not willing to cut off the song, or finish it while drying off? It just seems a bit silly to me. And I am against the stifling of singing in a place where it does not bother other people, and let's face it - this is one of a few.

Knitters Tea Swap

Between travelling, computer issues and blogger picture issues, it has taken me this long to properly give thanks to my Knitter Tea Swap Pal.

This is what I saw when I opened the box!

Inside we have Halloween dishcloths, tea (green, black, and herbal), cookies (chocolate covered and not), a yummy honey scented-candle, and candy corn! I am going to have to bring the candy corn into work so that I don't just snarf up the whole bag. And last but not least, some lovely alpaca navy yarn. I haven't quite worked out what it will become, but of the possibilities!
So thanks so much, Kat!

The Power of Fake News

A while back I purchased a Glarkware shirt that proudly proclaims, "The Fake News is All I Need". It is, for me, part toungue-in-cheek, and a bit true. I tend to avoid most television news, finding the presentation not to my liking. I get my news on the internet - from blogs and newspapers and news magazines. I listen to NPR on my commute. And I watch "The Daily Show". And occaisonally (it's on really late for me) "The Colbert Report". I love Better Know a District.

Well, apparently a recent study found that the fake news gets you pretty well informed as far as national news goes. And apparently, with elections looming close, politicians are increasingly leary of appearing on Better Know a District. I get it, much like advertising, it is unclear which things help more than they hurt or hurt more than they help - so sometimes no action seems better than wrong action. But seriously - we are talking about a ten minute interview that everyone watching understands is a bit of fun. Sure - it's not much fun for the object of the fun, but hey - Eleanor Holmes Norton got the not being able to vote thing in and I have to imagine that many who watched that (on TV or on the internet) hadn't known about it. So that makes me happy. Even if it was only three people who didn't know that, that's three more people. (Hopefully three more voiting people).

Thanks to ALOTT5MA for the links.

Too Cute!

Check this out - the nicest hijacking of a blog ever.
Thanks to Craft blog for the link.