Just your average snowy Halloween weekend, First Sequence

I feel like I've sort of neglected my blog this month. I've been sort of busy with a number of things, some of which I've talked about on here and some which I haven't. I remember when I first started this blog, and I was all about updating twice a week for an average total of eight times a month. Haven't done that in a while. Then again, I also thought back then, my dutiful updating would eventually form a coherent message and at this point my blog would have evolved and be getting its own book deal (presumably something along the lines of "Dinah Tales: An Anthology of Cat Blogs," but I'm just spitballing.) So I guess a lot of things haven't really fallen into place yet. Nevertheless, I can't let not having a theme stop me from writing; I have an established readership (and I appreciate all of you!) and what better reason can there be to write?

But in an effort to up my blogging stats for this month (and also because it's already snowing like crazy outside, and I'm trying to put off going to the grocery store), I'm going to do a little marathon blogging on the last couple of days this month. I will even be following a particular theme: Halloween. I have mixed feelings about Halloween. I love dressing up and (although not this year), usually really enjoy making a costume. I also used to be something of a candy fiend, although I've been trying to scale that back in recent years. The things I'm less into are scary movies, haunted houses, and people jumping out at your for no particular reason. I like my horror movies campy and usually featuring zombies (or other things I don't believe could actually kill me) to slasher movies with serial killers (which, while improbable, are a more real threat). I'm not a big fan of haunted houses even at their campiest, but some of the ones I've read about in New York push the envelope beyond what I feel like anyone would want. There is apparently one where you have to sign a waiver allowing the actors in the house to touch you, and you have to promise to do anything they ask. Then they spend the haunted house torturing you (as in, according to reviews, they literally put bags over your head and waterboard you) and prodding you along pitch dark hallways. It costs $40 for the privilege. Oh and it's already sold out though closing this year.

Anyway, my way of celebrating day 1 of Halloween weekend was to go down to Coney Island on Friday night with some friends intent on going to Astroland's Nights of Terror. We didn't end up going to the amusement park because it cost $30 to get in, and it seemed like most of the rides were closed (also it was under 50 degrees, which makes roller coasters seem less appealing). However, having never been to Coney Island at night, I realized it is just sketchy enough to be kind of terrifying on its own. Instead we rode some bumper cars and played just enough skee ball in the arcade that when we all pooled our tickets, we could get a tiny plastic slinky (the kind that doesn't actually have the proper weight to function as a slinky). If we'd only persevered and brought our total tickets up to 53,000 (the slinky cost 50), we could have gotten the DVD/VCR combo, which I assume has been there since DVD/VCR combos were actually a thing someone might want. After that, we got a hot dog (and some bacon cheese fries) at Nathan's and head backed up to the city, one tiny slinky richer.

Nathan's Famous, which on a summer's day would have hundreds of people pouring out of it. Also, you can't really see it, but the billboard to the right tells you that it's only 262 days to the annual Coney Island hot dog eating contest.

So that's day 1 of Halloween Weekend 2011. Tune in tomorrow for an update on my Halloween party tonight, which I really should start preparing for by actually going out in the snow and buying food. I promise to update with photos of people's costumes (or at least all the people who say it's cool if I post their pictures on my blog). Happy Halloween, readers!