These days, I'm not much of a Halloweener. I like carving pumpkins and I'd happily hand out candy, but our neighborhood isn't very busy on Halloween. Everyone goes to the big, gated communities and trick-or-treats where the king-sized candy is doled out.
Because I don't trick-or-treat anymore, I have no idea if those same warnings about tainted candy are out there, but this video makes a hilarious mockery of something we heard a lot as kids.
Anyway, I used to love Halloween, and not just for the leftover and half-priced candy the next day. I guess it's easy to love when it's a chance to dress up like this:
Anyone else remember those blocks from pre-school?
My favorite costume ever was this wizard robe. My mom used to make our costumes, and I think this is one of those. Steph and I used old Halloween costumes as dress up clothes, and I seem to remember wearing this purple getup pretty frequently.
I've mentioned before that my sister's clock costume was my favorite of hers, too. It's just so perfectly cute!
The wizard costume got a lot of good use, as Stephie wore it the following year.
Halloween in Ohio meant finding something warm and calling it a costume. This velvet blazer was a perfect witch's coat.
I remember my costumes being pretty intricate, but looking back I'm realizing I was always a do-it-yourselfer who threw things together and hoped they worked.
Honestly, I don't even know if this was Halloween or if Zach was just wearing a creepy mask and I was just playing dress up. Ah, the good old days.
Dominatrix and Flava Flav. Oh yes, college was...college.
Eventually, costumes became a thing of the past. I might put on some homemade devil's horns for a party, but Halloween more often finds me gutting pumpkins and cooking the seeds while Matt turns them into artwork.
Halloween with Jenn.
Calm down, 2009-Ali.
Such an artist.
The last time I dressed up, Matt and I went out with friends as Fiona and Michael Westen (from Burn Notice.) My costume was pretty lame, but his was perfect...complete with yogurt and everything.
Matt's had some pretty good costumes, himself. He really seems to become his character. Who else could pull off Gilligan this accurately?
This year, I think we'll opt for a quiet night in. I'll probably get a little bowl of candy and a bowl of non-food treats for the Teal Pumpkin kiddos, but chances are I'll end up with quite a lot of leftovers and a long run the next morning to sweat out all that sugar!
What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid? What are you doing for Halloween this year? ABK
Today, Matt came across this story about a girl who dressed as a Boston Marathon victim for Halloween.
(I won't post a picture of the costume, but there is one in the link.)
The headline sums it up nicely, really. This whole thing quickly became a shitshow.
My initial reaction, looking at her costume, was that she's clearly a runner because she had the gear to put this costume together, but that she must not really know what it means to be a member of the "running community." Matt's response was that she doesn't know what it means to be a member of any community.
Further insight into the article shows that she's made multiple dumb decisions...and these decisions led to this most recent one - the costume - becoming a huge deal.
I'm not condoning the response by any means. I think calling her home, threatening her parents, etc, is beyond gross. She deserved backlash, but not at all the way it escalated.
Took the words right out of my mouth, Rebecca Brown
I also don't find her apology to sound genuine. Her "I made a mistake" excuse is probably one she used for posting her license online and posting nude photos to Tumblr. Clearly this girl doesn't learn from her mistakes. Not to mention that she seems to go back and forth on accepting responsibility and claiming she thought the costume was perfectly acceptable.
And don't get me started on the whole, "I have a friend whose dad was in the marathon and he was okay with it so..." To me, that smacks of "I have a black friend so I can't be racist" and other such excuses. It's pathetic tripe.
When did being offensive become the equivalent to being funny? Where did genuine humor and wit go?
As a runner (hell, as a human being), I don't know how someone could think of the Boston Marathon bombing and think of it as fodder for Halloween. To me, that would be as bad as dressing up as a 9/11 victim for Halloween. How is that at all funny or acceptable?
Really, I'm just saddened by the whole thing. It's ugly on all sides.
Had you seen this story before today? What are your thoughts on the costume? On the response?
