Uncategorized
a Spooktacular Halloween…
I have fond memories of Halloween… dressing up, spending time with neighbors and family… and all that candy!?! What could be better for little (and big) kids than that!? I never associated Halloween with being evil, just fun. As October approached and my giddy-ness went on overdrive, I asked my brother and mom (who graciously accompanied me on a 4 store search for cobwebs and a candle that drips red) what they remembered about Halloween when we were kids. Costumes, pictures with family, searching out the best neighborhoods for Trick-or-Treating, daring to go through the [embarrassingly] mild Haunted House in my neighbors garage… then as we got older, it was my brother and I laboring over a Halloween mix tape and placing a boom box in the front window of my parents house to let “Thriller”, “Monster Mash” and “Weird Science” lure costumed children to our door, and my dad keeping count of the hundreds of kids that would squeal “Trick or Treat!!” on our porch. This explained it. My love for the spooky-just a little dark-not too gory-Halloween fun was nurtured from a young age.
The first Halloween Alec and I lived in our apartment, I came home late evening on Halloween to a packed neighborhood. I had almost forgotten it was Halloween, but was surprisingly nostalgic watching the kids (and dogs and parents) dressed to impress the candy dispensing adults who held the fate of their sugary future… Come to find out, our neighborhood is the Halloween mecca of Santa Monica!! We’ve enjoyed the last few Halloweens cruising the neighborhood with my brother and sister-in-law and friends. These people don’t mess around! One street is so elaborately decorated that they have to hire security and block off a section of the street. I assume some insanely creative (and wealthy) producer lives there – they host a full blown walk-through haunted house and there are ghostly scenes all over their corner lot including barbershop quartet dressed skeletons on a tandem bike and an open 50s convertible with a skeleton bride and groom – complete with a “just buried” sign and “Going to the Chapel” playing from the speakers (sounding so much more creepy that it used to!!) I’ll take pictures next year!
These days Halloween looks like this: drool over the Martha Stewart magazine Halloween edition (preferable with Lisa Welch, who giggles as much as I do looking at it), watch Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands until the DVD starts skipping, dust off my Poe anthology and re-read all the greatest, and enjoy a really fun night with my family and friends. I think we hit all the basics this year: enjoyed some ‘horror’ d’oeuvres – check. Got scared by two 10 year olds hiding behind a tree – check. Watched Thriller – check. Fell asleep with a tummy full of candy – check. Some things never change…
Atheist: I truly believe Africa needs God
Interesting commentary from atheist and journalist about what’s working (and not working) in the face of Africa’s gigantic problems (AIDS, poverty, no clean water, etc.).
As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God
“Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.”
