I happened to be at my parents' house on Halloween night, and was given the task of passing out candy to the little trick or treaters. My mom bought six bags of candy, and I thought that was way too much. But sure enough, at 6:30 p.m. there was a knock at the door, and before I knew it, the candy was almost gone.
The kids who stopped by were pretty darn cute, but they made me feel out of touch in terms of 2011 cartoon knowledge. I asked a little girl with blue Pippy Longstockings braids who she was supposed to be, and she held up a tiny doll dressed like her. "I'm a Loully," she said. Duh. Well, okay.
I left the bowl of Halloween candy out next to the door, and the next day my mom called to tell me that Rain the dog had eaten all the candy when no one was looking, wrappers and all. Luckily, I had handed out most of it. I'd also eaten a good chunk of the candy, including all the dark chocolate, which is dangerous for dogs. So poor Rain had no adverse effects from her little Halloween adventure.
"Some might say that I'm a hero for eating the candy so the dog didn't end up eating it," I told Joe.
"You know, if you had put the bowl away in the first place, the dog wouldn't have gotten into it at all," he said.
Hmm, yes. We aren't used to misbehaving dogs. I suppose this is a good a time as any to note that our beloved dog Hunter has passed on to the rainbow bridge - Halloween would've been his 16th birthday. That is really old for a dog, I know, but I had begun to believe he would never die. He'd just always been there, for the majority of my life. I've been meaning to write a little tribute to him, but let's just say he was practically perfect, much-loved and had the best life a dog could ever have. He would never have eaten the candy. Now that Hunter is gone, Rain has no role models in her life and is clearly acting out.
Trick or Treaters, I'm Worried About You!
Halloween 2011 marked my laziest Halloween ever. I thought about recycling last year's Andrew WK costume. No one understood it last year and it deserves another chance. Plus, this year he had a contest for the best Andrew WK impersonator and the winner got a congratulatory phone call from the man himself. Surely I would be in the running? I ran out of contact lenses, so I would have to go as the "bookish" Andrew WK.
But no, I was so lazy that I didn't even bother putting on the Andrew WK uniform of white jeans and sneakers. I had a party for work on Saturday evening, so I just showed up at Carolyn's boyfriend's Halloween party wearing my formal wear, and Carolyn was nice enough to give me a witch's hat. Done and done. They went all out for the party, with fake skeletons, dry ice, strobe lights and a lethal looking Halloween punch. So fun! Plus you couldn't get a better location, right near the Black Cat.
I left after 2 a.m. and the cabs were just not stopping. I had to wait for the bus, but I didn't mind since you can't find a better day for people watching than Halloween. There was a fake Princess Beatrice arguing with her boyfriend while wearing that ridiculous hat. As I walked to the bus stop, a wasted guy started yelling at me. He was dressed as a sailor, could barely walk and didn't look a day over 21.
"Are you Meghan McCain?" he asked as he lurched drunkenly toward me. [Talk about an obscure D.C. reference.]
His friend started dragging him away, but he kept yelling. "Because you have big titties and they are all out!"
Number 1.) That is laughably incorrect, and
Number 2.) Sir, how did you arrive at that conclusion given that I am wearing a zipped-up parka?
Ha. I think that says more about his impression of Meghan than it does about me.
The more people I saw as I waited for the bus, the more I started to worry about them. Who could be an easier mugging target than a drunk guy wearing a cow costume? What about the girl teetering on her heels while being supported by a guy who is asking, "OK, so where do you live?" Oh you, hapless, hapless Halloween people. God help you, as you make your way home at 3 a.m. in the cold while dressed as a Rubik's cube.
I walked briskly to my street after getting off at the bus stop. A super hero-costumed guy weaving his way across the sidewalk stopped me as I was about to turn onto my street.
"Excuse me. Which way is south?"
Cardinal directions are not my forte. "Where are you trying to go I asked? Dupont?" I said.
"South," he said. "Just south."
Hope he made it!
Guest Post: New Year Sure Sure - Radio for an Iceland Road Trip
Happy Friday everyone! Julie, my super cool friend from San Francisco who traveled with me to Iceland, is taking over today. I thought she could write about the radio stations we listened in Iceland, mainly one that seemed to be called "New Year Sure Sure" but my Icelandic is a little spotty, so take that with a grain of salt. Here's Julie's rundown of Icelandic top 40 and beyond:
Greetings everyone, this is Julie, guest blogging on GGG this week. Adele graciously asked me to write about something “cool” in music and all I could really think of is Kreayshawn’s viral single “Gucci Gucci”. Clearly I should just stick with writing about Iceland.
Besides basking in the magic that is Iceland, we spent a good chunk of our time there driving around in our rental car. Like all our past road trips, we forgot to bring our own music and had to heavily rely on the radio. You can learn a lot about a place from its local radio stations and Iceland’s radio stations were like a breath of fresh hipster air with a hint of Norwegian Death Metal.
Bon Iver, Mumford and Sons, Adele were on heavy rotation, but not much of Katy Perry or Britney and strangely enough, not a single Bieber song on the radio! That makes me wonder where those Icelandic Bieberers get their fix and why is he everywhere but the radio, I just don’t get it!
Over the course of five days of driving, we switched from our favorite station that sounded like “New Year Sure Sure” to their top 40 station with lots of Lil Wayne and Rihanna. Every once awhile we would hear the latest single from Cake. Yes, you heard me, Cake and it has nothing to do with short skirts nor going for the distance. Cake, have no fear, Iceland has not forgotten you yet, while the world has since the 90s.
Another popular band was called Awolnation, which we had never heard of before Iceland. If AFI and Bassnectar had an emo angsy dubstep lovechild, it would be them. I’m assuming they were very popular there since their single came on like a broken record. Somewhere between being wet and cold from our horseback riding and getting lost on our way to the Blue Lagoon, I saw Adele’s angry fingers fumbling to switch stations when that song came on for the fifty-millionth time.
The radio highlight? Going apeshit for Bjork. What would Icelandic roadtrip be without Bjork?! Not gonna lie, it was epic when her songs came on the radio. Something about the combination of the desolated landscape in Snæfellsjökull and her music made us realized, “holy shit, we’re in muthafuckin’ Iceland, AHHHH!” It made me want to just pull over our VW and break out running with the sheep and smallish horses! But instead Adele just filmed us going gaga with her iPhone (a much safer alternative).
Who knows what would’ve happened if Sigur Rós came on, we might have made a beeline straight for the ocean. Too much Iceland to handle!
Editor's note: We never heard Sigur Rós on the radio, so that theory wasn't tested. Instead, they played a lot of Jessie J, who just doesn't inspire the same reaction. And here's that iPhone video with Bjork playing on the radio whilst driving in the Icelandic countryside.
Tunes Tuesday: "We Own The Sky," M83
I'm really excited to see French electro-pop group M83 on Friday at the Black Cat - thanks so much for the tickets, Linda!
Iceland Souvenirs
The customs officer asked me what I purchased in Iceland. "Stuffed animals and a bottle of vodka," I said.
He gave me a look and sent me on my way. Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Except I forgot to mention the bow tie. Sorry, U.S. customs officials!
I bought this as a joke. I really wanted to get the Skipper's Pipe, but I couldn't find it at the airport shop on my way home. So I had to stick with Salty Fish. Sure enough, Salty Fish are salty - it's black licorice encrusted in salt, not sugar. Blech! Most people who've tried it have spit it out.
If you want to try it, I'll mail it to you. Seriously. First person who emails me gets dibs on the already opened box of salty licorice. Don't all volunteer at once.
More Touristy Stuff in Iceland
After a couple days in Reykjavik, we hit the road and headed to the Golden Circle to check out some of Iceland's most popular tourist attractions.
Þingvellir went way over our heads in terms of historical/cultural importance. We got out at a rest stop, went in an uninformative gift shop, snapped a few pictures, used the bathroom and left. Tourism in true American fashion.
Next stop: Geysir. Oh, hello gift shop that I thought would be tacky but turned out to be a hipster, urban-farmer clothing store mecca.
I've never been to a windier place than this.
I wondered, "How do I know that the wind isn't going to change and blow this steam right in my face?"
Gulfoss was our favorite of the three attractions by far. So beautiful! So Lord of the Rings.
I don't think these pictures do it justice.
We randomly pulled over here and happened upon a giant 3,000-year-old crater. That's just another roadside attraction in Iceland.
I really wanted to go hiking in the steam valley at Hveragerði to a heated spring where you can go swimming, but let's just say I am no Mark Trail. I was confused about where the trail started and ended up leading us on a trail from one parking lot to another parking lot. That took an hour and we didn't have time to go on the actual trail because we had to book it to dogsledding. So a scenic parking lot trail it was. Thank God Julie is a patient person!
This is a neat little stepladder over a barbed wire fence cutting through the trail.
After dogsledding, we stopped for dinner at Fjöruborðið, which is renowned for their amazing lobster. Holy cow, that was the best lobster I've had! They were miniature lobsters swimming in butter, as lobster should be.
I think this picture Julie took is so cool, but it looks like it was taken during the Great Depression. Why do I look so doleful? I'm about to dig into a lobster feast!
We went horseback riding at Hestar on our last full day. It was cold and rainy, the kind of rain that comes at you sideways and stings your face. To say I was miserable would be an understatement. Not only miserable, but really scared of the whole endeavor, which could not end soon enough. I keep forgetting that I hate horseback riding. It always sounds fun, but in practice, I never have fun. As soon as the horse starts galloping or even walking quickly, I'm holding on for dear life and imagining myself just bouncing out of the saddle and into the mud.
My problem is that I know that I am not in control, and that it's the horse whose calling the shots, and that is not a good feeling. I admire those who are good at horseback riding though! Julie was a natural, and at least she had fun. I on the other hand, refused to dismount from the horse during our break because the instructor said, "Be careful, the horse might run back to the paddock with your foot still in the stirrup." I just assumed my horse would do that and refused to take the chance.
