Halloween Discussion Forums, Costumes, Horror!

Oh, wow, I didn't know that. I'd better investigate. My daughter would love to have Billy and Mandy.

Well, nobody can know what will matter 100 years from now. Sometimes family stories inspire fine novels. The novel Cold Mountain, for example, which I think is a very fine one (c 1997), was based on a family story the author heard about an uncle several generations back.

I think learning about ...

I showed this picture to my daughter just now, who immediately asked, " Why is Mrs Claus a vampire?" She said that woman spells her name "Mrs Claws" and told me that you need to watch the animated special "Billy and Mandy Save Christmas."

If you are unfamilar with the series Billy and Mandy, which ...

I do it alone. I started it because my kids weren't asking me the questions I'd asked my mother, and I knew it was likely that they'd want to know this stuff someday when I'm no longer around to tell them. Also, around the year 2000, there were a lot of deaths in my family. Most of the older ...

I don't doubt it. Sometimes I'll cue up a song I really want to hear on YouTube. But most of the time I'm in the car when I'm listening.

I'm with you about avoiding killing bugs as much as possible. I know I can kill them, but I can't give them.life. Of course, I do eat meat, which means I'm complicit in the killing of animals. If I had to kill them myself I know I'd become a vegetarian. But I do eat what others have slaughtered ...

Bing Crosby was a great favorite of my mother's. She remembered when he was young and an A-list singer as well as movie star. I think he actually won an Oscar way back when. I knew him mainly from those Christmas specials, when he was older. I liked him, but he didn't mean to me what he'd meant to ...

I think it's possible we may be held responsible on Judgment Day for the things we've wasted that could have helped other people.

Your philosophy reminds me a lot of Voltaire's at the end of Candide, 'Let everyone cultivate his own garden." It's not a selfish statement, but a recognition that if everybody were to do the best they could to care for their immediate circle, the entire world would be a better place.

It's ...

The tv series Grimm had some Christmas episodes. My husband loves the one from Season 3, entitled Krampus. He laughs at it every time and sometimes references it at other times of the year.

HH, I'm pretty sure Crosny died in the 70s, which I think was before your time. Maybe you saw some of his ...

Oh, me too!

Oh, my! I can see they'd do that in CA, but I think I'd be happier to go artificial in that case.

My husband taught at a school like that in Virginia. The first day of hunting season was an unofficial holiday. The school was still in session, but nobody marked the hunters absent.

I got some larger LEDs for the yard a year or so back. They look like the old ones you're talking about, but they're not.

Last year I bought something called "scentsicles" for our artificial tree. They do emit fragrance. In fact, you have to be careful.not to overdo it.

I've had trouble a few times lately, too. I'll be typing and posting just fine, then suddenly it will tell me that I'm "forbidden."