N is for Night

Photo Credit: Doree Weller

I’m a night owl.  Don’t get me wrong; I’ve seen my fair share of sunrises, and there are days I like mornings, but for the most part, I feel my most creative and alive at night.

For me, there’s nothing like sitting alone at night with my laptop or a notebook, and writing.  I love the quiet stillness of night.  Sometimes I imagine that I’m the only person who’s awake, which isn’t a bad thing when I’m staying awake on purpose.  (Though I hate it when I wake up at 3 a.m. and can’t get back to sleep.)

I love writing horror, and something about night makes everything scarier, makes it easier to imagine the bogeyman.  One of my favorite villains as a kid was Freddy Krueger, the original master of the night.  The night becomes like a living thing.

At night, no one I know is on Facebook and Twitter, so even the internet “quiets” down.  I can unplug, without actually unplugging.

That’s one of the reasons I love camping.  When we camp, night is allowed to fall naturally.  We light a campfire, not to keep the darkness away, but because that’s what people do in the dark.  While we might chatter on under electric lights, enveloped by the night, the pace seems slower, more contemplative.

I love watching the stars and the moon, and seeing a shooting star is always a wonderful bonus.

Do you prefer night or day?

Sexy Costumes

Yep, that’s me. Halloween 2011.

When I was in my 20’s, I dressed in some sexy costumes.  Who doesn’t use Halloween as an excuse to step a little out of the comfort zone?  However, I really think the “sexy” costumes are getting a little out of hand.  (Is this me being old?)  Halloween is a FALL holiday, and I’m seeing costumes that don’t cover much more than a bathing suit’s worth of flesh.  Is freezing really sexy?  No one has ever said to me, “Those goosebumps look great on you.”

Plus, what happened to being scary or having fun?  Sexy and nurse go together, but sexy and Freddie Krueger??  (Freddie is a burned up weirdo… just sayin’.)  He’s supposed to be scary.  He murders people!  I think it’s cool to dress up like him because I love the Nightmare on Elm Street movies.  But to make scary be sexy (unless you’re being ironic or sardonic) seems just odd to me.  Like writing to convicted murderers looking for romance.  And a sexy nun?  I’m not religious, but that just seems disrespectful.

I guess it all boils down to what Halloween is about for you.  For me it’s a time to watch scary movies, dress up and have a lot of fun.  I like to look good but I don’t have to be “sexy.”  I like ghosts and witches and vampires and Freddy and Jason.  I like giving out candy and smelling pumpkin and apple spice.  I like when it gets too cold to wear skimpy clothes and when leaves crunch under my feet.  I love going to haunted houses and getting the jolt of fear, just for a second.

I don’t like freezing various parts of my anatomy off or having to worry that if I bend over, I’ll be showing off parts I prefer to keep covered.  The bottom line is that Halloween is for fun, and should be about whatever is fun for you.

This year, I’m dressing up as a sugar skull.  I can’t wait to see how my makeup turns out.

While we’re on the subject of sexy costumes: Here’s a link to men dressing up in sexy Halloween costumes.  I love this one.

Here’s another one to 32 sexy costumes that don’t really make sense.  I agree with many of them.  I just shook my head and wondered why.  Especially the crayon.  Who ever looked at a crayon and thought, “I’d hit that?”

So what’s your vote on Halloween costumes?  Sexy or not?  And do you find anything skimpy to be sexy, or does it have to make sense?