Happy Hallowe’en to those who celebrate it.  Don’t feed me religious grumblings about the evils of the day or how it’s celebrated.  I saw one such complainant on the news last night harping about her daughter’s school putting on a Hallowe’en program.  Her response is simple: rather than handing out candy, she intends to hand out Christian literature.  Um, what the fuck ever.

Hallowe’en is a pagan holiday like Christmas and Easter, yet I don’t hear her saying the same about those.  This day is about having fun, dressing up and being weird, getting some treats you normally couldn’t have in such mass quantities, and generally observing the change in seasons.  If you want to nail yourself to a cross because of it, knock yourself out.  It just means one less fanatical lunatic on the planet.

That personal diatribe notwithstanding, enjoy the day if you’re so inclined.  Have fun and be safe.

Oh, and if you have black cats, keep them inside at all costs.  It’s for their protection.

[Update] And yes, I intentionally use the apostrophe spelling of Hallowe’en since it’s more grammatically correct as the word is a shortened contraction of All Hallow Even.  You’re more than welcome to call me a linguistic snob.