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Five Halloween Movies (that are kid friendly)

Happy Halloween!

This, my friends is my favorite holiday. I love a good scare, the costume, the creepy decorations, the delight of believing in the ghost in the attic or the monster under the bed even if for just one night.

My sister is less enthused. Anything to scary gives her anxiety. My baby niece is also getting to an age where she’s paying attention and could get frightened of what’s on the screen.

So my family has had to modify our scary movie watching quite a bit (at least during the daylight hours). Here is a list if Halloween-ish movies that we love and can all watch together.

Note: None of these movies are terribly scary, but each kid will react different (I remember being terrified of Labyrinth as a kid). Judge this list based on what you know of your own kids and their readiness level.

1. Hocus Pocus (1993)

“Three hundred years ago the Sanderson sisters bewitched people.” These witches might be silly and rather stupid, but they’re a lot of fun to watch cavorting around the modern era. There’s plenty of corniness, but also some great jokes and a dance number. Bette Midler and her fellow witches are all great.

This is a favorite of my family and one that’s almost always one TV during the Halloween season.

2. The Monster Squad (1987)

A group of kids, obsessed with horror comics, have created their own monster squad to battle evil. Little do they know, Dracula and the other classic monsters are real and are coming to town to find a secret amulet that will allow evil to rule the world.

This one doesn’t translate as well. The humor is cornier and the story is silly, but it’s still a fun movie.

I remember watching it as a kid and not knowing what a virgin was and thinking it was a nationality (because the virgin has to read from a German book to stop evil). Also while it’s never specified, the virgin in case apparently has to be a girl.

Still, gotta love the appearance of all the classic baddies at the same time. It’s ridiculous and absurd and fun.

3. The Witches (1990)

A young boy goes to a retreat by the sea shore with his grandma, and discovers that it is has become host to a gathering of purple eyed witches (with Angelica Huston as the head witch). When the boy gets caught by the witches, he is turned into a mouse and has to convince his grandmother to help him stop their nefarious plans.

The monster makeup when the witches peel off their human skin is fantastic and some scenes are genuinely delightfully gross. Great dark fantasy movie.

4. Young Frankenstein (1974)

Mel Brooks retelling the classic Frankenstein story in the most hilarious way possible. When Dr. Frankenstein’s heir inherits a castle in Transylvania, he can’t help but follow the same experiment and bring the monster to life once again. The black and white filming, fantastic comedic timing, and Brook’s genius all make for a fun homage to a classic movie monster.

5. Beetle Juice (1988)

This is probably belongs at the top of the list in all its weird, hilarious awesomeness. For those who don’t know, the story involves a couple who die suddenly in an accident and are trapped within their house, haunting it. The realm of the dead is twisted and strange with the dead locked in their bodies as they were when they died. When a family moves in and starts restructuring their dream home, they call on Beetlejuice to help them get rid of them and end up with more than they bargained for.

This is probably the best (or at least my favorite) movie on the list.

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I know there are plenty of others that I missed. The Adams Family movies come most immediately to mind and there are many others, I’m sure.

What are your favorite not-so-scary Halloween themed movies?

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“The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.” – Philip Roth

Goodness, it seems it’s been almost two whole months (!) since I’ve last posted a Monday Update. During that time I have completed next to no writing and, while I have been doing my weekly training at the gym, my running days have been sporadic at best. Since all my traveling is done for the year, I’m planning on hoping back on the wagon and getting some thinks done by the end of December in the hopes of completing most, if not all of my primary goals for the year.

November is NaNoWriMo, in which writers from around the world attempt to write 50,000 words in the month of November. Technically this is supposed to be a new novel, something you haven’t touched before. But since I really want to complete the draft of my werewolf novel, Under the Midday Moon, I’m planning to use the challenge for that purpose with the hope that 50,000 words will be enough for me to finish the draft. If I can get this done, then next year’s big goal can be focused on editing the dang thing.

As for the running…, it is still possible to reach my goal of running three complete miles by the end of the year, I suppose. So, I will still keep working toward that goal. If I can get to where I’m running one mile, though, I’ll be happy. I’m also thinking of buying the zombie runner app, just because I think it would be fun and would add some variety to my training.

To be accomplished in the coming week:

  • Write a minimum of 5,100 words on Under the Midday Moon as part of Nano challenge
  • Submit something (poem, story, whatever)
  • Do a minimum of two runs.

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Good Reading: I’ve found two posts that could be helpful in my own goal setting this week.

“Visuals for goals make an impression” talks about how adding a visual element to your accomplishments can help spur continued progress, like awarding yourself gold stars on the days you workout or pinning up your race bibs as Lisa J. Jackson did. I’m thinking a calendar for the year for posting stars would be great. I might also incorporate not only stars or smileys for exercise, but also for when I submit some of my writing for publication and/or when I receive an acceptance. I’ll have to get a variety of stickers for that purpose. Posting rejection letters, acceptance letters, and/or race bibs is also a great idea, and I may do that as well. 🙂

And on Courage 2 Create, Ollin Morales talks about “How To Add More Time To Your Day (AKA: How to Make The Most of The Time You Do Have),” something that I’ve been definitely feeling as a challenge lately.

“I have tried to see how I can literally add more time to my day. Unfortunately, I have learned that there is no way to actually add more time to your day, but I have learned that there are ways to make the most of the time you do have, and also how to make it appear as if the time is stretching out longer, rather than shrinking at a rapid pace.”

His advice is pretty darn good, and I’m going to try to practice a few of his suggestions in the hopes of getting done what I need to get done.

We’re in the fourth and final quarter for the year. How are you doing with your year long goals? Or, how are are you doing with your day-to-day goals?

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A Black Hole of Baby Love

I have long since dubbed my sister’s house the Black Hole of Baby Love, because ever since my niece has been born, visiting her house means the loss of hours, time sucked away in gleeful love of the cutest little girl currently in existence. In our family, little Sienna has become the center of gravity from which none of us can escape — not that we’d want to anyway.

I had tentative plans this weekend to clean my bedroom (which had dissolved into a disaster of epic proportions) and catch up on some reading.

However, I decided to visit my sisters house for a few hours (hah!), which turned into many hours. As the day drifted on we decided to lounge around the house and watch some movies. We watched The Monster Squad (which I hadn’t seen since I was a young teen), while also chasing the baby around the living room, watching her giggle in delight as she tried to get away from me. And, then once baby went to bed, we watched The Conjuring (a terrifically creepy movie, all the more so because these people portrayed were real).

I told myself to go home that night. I told myself that if I slept over, as my sister invited me to do, then I would surely spend the entire next day there and get nothing done. I told myself in earnest that no matter how scary the movie might be, I could walk myself through the dark knight to my car and drive home.

In the words of Alice, I gave myself very good advice and didn’t follow it.

In other words, I slept over. (Though, this was in part because after The Conjuring finished, I had a headache so massive I could barely concentrate on falling asleep, let alone driving anywhere.)

Waking to the sound of my niece babbling in the next room, though, was a great reward for staying over. Plus, I got to have early morning cuddles with the baby, which are absolutely very different from any other kind of cuddles.

I might have gone home, if I wasn’t made aware of baby’s first pumpkin carving to happen that afternoon. Why go all the way home only to have to come back again, right?

So, I hung out and carved pumpkins.

Let the carving begin! #pumpkin #halloween

Baby Sienna took one tiny poke at the pumpkin guts and then wouldn’t touch it again. We tried to show her how it was done, but she wasn’t having it. Little Sienna is very dainty that way; she doesn’t like to get dirty (at least, not that kind of dirty). Her avoidance of even touching the pumpkin was adorable, though. (^_^)

Honestly, I feel ya, baby, I hate the “guts” stage of pumpkin carving, too — the icky, slimy, stringy, gooey that has to be pulled out is not the fun for me. ‘

My sister Pilar (other sister, not the baby mama), meanwhile, LOVED the gooey stage and dug into her pumpkin’s guts with delight. “It’s just so messy! I love it!” she squealed. Yup, that’s my Pilar.

But the carving stage I love. And this was my final result (sorry about the bad cell pic, plus the candle light wasn’t quite bright enough…).

Finished! It needs a brighter candle, but I've done Cthulhu. #pumpkin #cthulhu #halloween

All praise the Elder Pumpkin, Cthulhu!

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Florence!

Firenze!!! (This is coming a bit late, as it's been days since I've had Internet access.) #florence #italy #travel

Part One with my travel in Venice is here.

I did not fall in love with Florence. I can’t fully explain why, but it was kind of dirty and crowded (also unexpectedly high levels of tourists for the season), which contributed to the feeling, I suppose. I also feel that Italy in general is a place to travel with someone, someone to linger over leisurely meals and share a bottle of wine. Ultimately, I guess I just didn’t resonate on some fundamental level or I wasn’t in the right headset (I actually think I love Mexico City far more, based on my experience of both cities this year).

I mean, don’t get me wrong, there are ridiculous amounts of stunning art and architecture throughout the city, so much in fact that its’ actually really overwhelming. I remember walking around a street corner and all of a sudden seeing El Duomo (the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore) and just being momentarily stunned, because it stands out so clearly from any other building in the entire city with green, white, and pink marble. It really is gorgeous, and an amazing feat of architecture. Construction was started in the 1200s, the dome with first of its kind engineering techniques was completed during the Renaissance in the 1400s, and work was ongoing until the facade was finally completed in the 1800s. El Duomo is definitely worth braving the crowds to see, and you can climb to the top of both the bell tower (which I did) and the dome.

Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Flore, aka El Duomo. (I climbed that tower. There were lots of stairs.) #florence #italy #travel

El Duomo from the bell tower. #florence #italy #travel

View from the Duomo bell tower. #florence #italy #travel

There were some really fantastic moments — I loved seeing Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” and “Spring” paintings, as well as other masters, at the Uffizzi Gallery (also ridiculously crowded), seeing Michelangelo’s David, and exploring the archeological museum and both of the Medici family palaces.

Plus, I bought myself a gorgeous black Italian leather jacket. I wasn’t going to, at first. I knew I wanted one, but was put off by the cost as I’ve been trying to save money. But I was walking through a market in Florence with stall after stall of gorgeous leather jackets and bags, I made eye contact with the little old Italian lady, who ushered me around the corner to their small family shop.

The man in side had me try on the jacket, adjusting the sleeves and collar so that I can see how it fits perfectly — and oh, how it fit perfectly. “Fire proof and water proof,” he said, taking a lighter to the cuff to prove it, while my arm was in the sleeve (according to my brother-in-law, this proves it’s genuine leather since fake leather is made with polyester and will go up in flames).

“And the man who made it is right here,” the shop owner said, pointing to a man on a small couch in the corner, who gave me a little smile and a wave.

After the shop owner said he would give me a good deal, dropping the price from 440 Euros to 250 Euros, well, I couldn’t refuse. It was just too perfect. I handed over the money and haven’t once regretted it.

As I was leaving and walking back through the market, the little old Italian lady again. She saw me in the jacket and her face lit up in delight. She came running over, shouting “Bella!” and kissed me on the cheek. Just a perfect little story to go with my perfect jacket. (^_^)

So, yeah, the trip to Venice and Florence was really great (and the work conference wen well too). But I’m so glad to be home and be able to relax and try to put my life back in order after my trip. 🙂

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Venice!

I've arrived! #Venice #Italy #travel

I loved Venice. It’s a small city, which is actually made up of something like 120 islands connected by over 400 bridges. The only way to make your way through the city is by foot or by boat (the bridges make even bikes impractical).  I’ve never seen anything else like it in any of my travels.

There were an unusual number of tourists while I was there (according to the locals), and this was mainly due to some new cruise ships that had come it. (The cruise ship, huge monstrosities, are so jarring to see sailing through the main canal, their bulk erasing the cityscape behind them.) But the tourists all stick to the main tourist areas, and it’s not hard to get away from them, as only a street or two will lead away from the swarms to quiet cobblestone avenues.

#venice #italy #travel

#venice #italy #travel

In fact, one of my favorite things about the city was getting blissfully lost. The city is like a giant maze with no streets crossing the city in a straight line. To cross from one side of the city to the other I would just pick streets at random and see where it lead me, letting them twist me this way and that, until I began to circle back or they dead ended at a teal-green canal. I might sit at the steps leading down to the water and watch a nearby boat, tied up to a 12 inch wide “dock” bob gently. And then I’d move on to another corner, tunnel, nook to discover.

It was in this way that I discovered the Ca’ Pesaro modern art museum, which had a lot of fantastic pieces (some by Gustav Klimt, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol) and a great Asian art collection.

I also waded through the crowds to check out the main sights, including St. Mark’s Square (including the Basilica and a tour of the government building, the Bridge of Sighs (not romantic, as it was really named for the sighs of prisoners being secretly transported to the prison), Rialto Bridge and other well known areas.

View from my hotel window in #Venice. #italy #travel

Venice at sunset. #venice #italy #travel

I’ve heard that men in Italy will sometimes follow women down the street and get too close in their attempt to flirt, talking and not taking no for an answer. My friend has experienced this, but I  but on my last day in Venice, I met a man who started following me down the street. He asked me polite enough questions about where I was from and why I was in Venice, which all led up to his asking if I wanted to have company as I walked or if I wanted to sit and have drinks with him. When I said, no, that I would prefer to be alone, he smiled and waived goodbye and went on his way. It was all very tame and not the intense thing I had been lead to believe happened.

#venice #italy #travel

#venice #italy #travel

(I have a ton more photos, but haven’t uploaded them to flickr yet. I’ll provide a link when I do.)

I would LOVE to return to Venice. It evokes a kind of romance and mystery, the kind that leaves me spinning stories. It would be awesome to just stay a month or more there and sketch and write poetry and wander here and there.

Advice for Traveling in Venice:
• Since getting back and forth to the airport requires traveling by boat, keep this in mind while booking plane tickets, because it can be a pain to try to make early morning flights out of the city (as I discovered).
• Mestre is the town on the mainland directly across from Venice. The hotels are less expensive there and its a cheap, easy bus ride into Venice to see the sights.
• Wandering aware from the central tourist points is awesome and a great way to find less expensive places to eat.
• Speaking of good food, little pizzerias and cafes are everywhere in Italy. You can buy an drink (coke or water) and entire pizza or a panini for around 3-8 Euros (about $5-10), which is one of the cheapest ways to get fed, if you’re on a budget.

I also traveled to Firenze (Florence) while in Italy, and I’ll do write up on that tomorrow.