It’s October!!!

This is one of my favorite times of year… The air gets cool and brisk, the leaves begin to change and speckle the landscape with beautiful colors. Spooky decorations adorn houses, creepy costumes are bought, horror movies are on every channel.

And this is the time when I break out my gigantic book, Complete Tales And Poems, Edgar Allan Poe and spend the entire month reading my favorites over and over again. Yes, this is what I do for fun, people… I also read Shakespeare, Beowulf, The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri… for fun. I never said I was normal… A lot of people seem to find that a bit unsettling. I suppose I don’t seem like the type of person who would read these kinds of things for pure enjoyment; I don’t know. Maybe that’s why I don’t really tell anyone…

I don’t care who you are; everyone is familiar with something Poe has written. The Tell-Tale Heart, The Masque of the Red Death, The Cask of Amontillado, The Fall Of The House Of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Black Cat, The Raven… Everyone knows at least one of his works. And, honestly, they’re just as creepy and disturbing now as they were back in his day. It’s just that they weren’t appreciated back then… Poe was way ahead of his time. Truly the master of the macabre.

And, just for the hell of it, to celebrate October, I’d like to share my favorite poem with you:

I heed not that my earthly lot Hath little of earth in it– That years of love have been forgot In the hatred of a minute:– I mourn not that the desolate Are happier, sweet, than I, But that you sorrow for my fate Who am a passer by.

I have no clue why, but that’s my favorite poem. I think it’s actually quite lovely in a way…

And what would Halloween be without some weird ass movies…?

One of my favorites is Arsenic and Old Lace. It may surprise you to know that the suave and sophisticated Cary Grant actually did comedy originally and was really good at it!

For those who have never heard of this movie, indulge me… It takes place on Halloween and avid anti marriage writer Mortimer Brewster (incognito, of course) goes to the courthouse to marry his sweetheart, Elaine. Afterward, he stops in to see his two spinster aunts who are the sweetest, most adorable little old ladies you’ve ever seen. Also living in the house is their brother Teddy, who thinks he’s Theodore Roosevelt. But, as Mortimer soon learns, Teddy isn’t the only looney in the house. He learns that his aunts have been murdering gentlemen travelers who have no money and come to rent a room from them. They then have Teddy dig a hole in the basement (which he thinks is Panama) for yet another malaria victim. That’s not bad enough news for Mortimer… His brother, Johnathan soon turns up with a “doctor” associate and a dead body… Poor Mortimer has to try and keep his new bride at bay while he tries to figure out how to fix the mess that is his insane family. I won’t spoil the fun… Watch the movie; I promise you’ll enjoy it.

Another movie I like to watch at this time of year is Tod Browning’s Freaks…

Do take into account that this movie was released in 1932, so there was no such thing as being “politically correct”, so don’t get offended by the fact that they referred to these people as “freaks”. That’s actually what they were considered at the time. And don’t feel sorry for them, thinking they were exploited. On the contrary… Most of these disabled people were dumped by their families and had nothing and no way to support themselves. Freak shows were a way for them to make a living, have a purpose and find a family among their fellow “freaks”.

If I remember correctly, YouTube has the full movie you can watch. But I’ll give you fair warning… There was no CGI then, no trick photography was used. These were real “freaks” used. Some of them are a little disturbing simply because you can’t figure out how in the hell they survived or how they functioned biologically (look up Johnny Eck). The storyline is a bit lame, but I still love it.

On a totally different note…

I had my two week follow-up appointment with the foot doctor yesterday. And I was discharged! My toes are doing great and I don’t have to go back (for this, anyway)!

I took this picture right before he came into the room to show how they look. The left one is completely healed, though still a bit sensitive. I know, it still looks as if I have a nail. For how badly the nail was curled into the sides and top of my toe, I don’t know that those deep creases will ever go completely away. Maybe over the years, but who knows… The right toe has finally scabbed over and, as you can see, was dry as fuck! That’s actually quite painful in and of itself. The good news is that I was told I can start putting lotion on it to keep it moist and hep the scab to eventually come off. Sweet! That dry skin was killing me! So I used my Hempz lotion last night and this morning it’s a night and day difference. Plus no more pain when I walk! Woot!

And… today also starts the update in Animal Crossing New Horizons! The October/Halloween update brings some pretty amazing things with it, so I’m very anxious to play and get shit rockin’ and rollin’!

I’m sorry to say that I’m probably going to be spamming my blog posts with goofy pictures from my game… Yeah, I play it entirely too much, I’m way to into playing a goofy video game, but it relaxes me. It also helped me get through the COVID lockdown. It kept me occupied and it also gave me some sort of socialization when we weren’t allowed to be around real people. If I hadn’t had something so involved and goal oriented to to, I swear I would have lost my fucking shit completely. Just something to think about when I’m adding a billion goofy pictures to my posts, I suppose… Besides, I may have some spooky Halloween ones!