I carved this fellow all by myself, grumbling quite a bit as I did so. Unlike Une Femme who not onlyrevels in the Hallowe’en festivities herself, but also links to a host of other revellers, I’m somewhat of a Hallowe’en grinch. For me this weekend, picking out and hauling home a pumpkin was one more thing on a to-do list, as was having to think up a face and carve it into said pumpkin. I can’t help feeling that this is something I did for my kids when they were young and it’s their turn to pick up the slack now. I was pleased to find that my son, at least, was carving his second pumpkin when I called yesterday, but I was muttering miserably as I hacked away on Monday night — I’m ready to pass along this particular torch! In our apartment in Vancouver and before that in the apartment in Ottawa, Paul hasn’t carved a pumpkin for close to a decade and somehow instead of wicked fun, my pumpkin-carving seems simply to mean that I got tagged a domestic “You’re it” and I haven’t been able to catch up to anyone else to tag yet. Bah, humbug! Of course, I could simply refuse to carve, keep the lights turned very low and ignore the costumed little people traipsing by, but, my weakness, I can’t quite resist them. Pretty soon, the dog will start barking like mad and my Private Practice watching will be interrupted by the latest generation of neighbours to mooch candy from me — Trick or Treat!
I’ve come back after my initial posting to explain to potential first-time visitors that I’ve been trying to post about a different pair of footwear each Wednesday — a My Shoes Wednesday following Manolo’s great Whose Shoes Wednesday feature. See the column on the right for links to previous shoes posts; the following is my latest addition:
I photographed a pair of shoes and a pair of boots earlier this week so I’d be ready to post, once I decided which pair were more suitable; then tonight, the boo. . .ts play on words made my choice obvious (yes, it’s pathetically corny, but you get it, right?). I got these last year at Stephane de Raucourt which was on Robson Street in Vancouver and doesn’t seem to be there any more. Very comfortable, fairly rugged, and, I think, good-looking as well. Lots of staying power to these, style-wise, with the equestrian boot being big this fall but being classic enough that I could probably wear them 5 years down the road.
They’ll be at the door soon, so I’d better get going. Before I do, though, I have to tell you about some blog feedback I’m bemused by. One of my daughters hasn’t yet commented here and I wasn’t sure she’d even bothered checking my site at all, so when we went out for sushi the other evening I was giving her a bit of a hard time about that. She said she actually does look from time to time and then started laughing and said she had a story that would illustrate how irritating one of her co-workers could be. Apparently, she’d showed this woman, who scarcely understood what a blog might be, a few of the recent posts, especially as a handy way to find family pictures — and the woman said, “Your mom’s kind of weird, isn’t she? I mean, why does she put pictures of her shoes on the internet.” I couldn’t help but burst out laughing — after all, from many perspectives, out of context, it does sound rather odd. As well, the notion that it might be acceptable to tell someone who’s sharing elements of family with you that your mother’s weird, well . . . But I’d love to know what you think, although I might be asking for more honesty than I can handle: How odd do you think I might be, judging from how much of me you know from the blog? On this Hallowe’en night, though, it might be wise to think of my blogging persona as just that, a mask through which you only glimpse the non-blog me. Oddness? Weirdness? Comments, please!
It felt weird looking at a pumpkin that YOU carved. Dad, ok, but you… I felt bad. I should be there carving that pumpkin for you. I know that you don’t get off on that sort of thing.
I can just picture you at the kitchen table brainstorming the pattern and procedure. Good on ya mom! It looks great. I am very very impressed.
Its kinda funny too that you did it and not dad. Dad and I were talking the other day how much you manage to get done in a day, your wonderful ability to multi-task. When we refernced your knitting Dad suggested that he should learn to knit too.
Slow down! Mom carving pumpkins! Dad knitting!…. What next Bronwen taking Hip Hop dance classes????? hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Well, I wouldn’t call you weird – perhaps delightfully eccentric! (I’m British, so to me that’s a compliment!!) You seem to be someone who has accomplished a lot in life and is still achieving and growing. I’m guessing that I’m just a few years behind you in age, so you’re actually a bit of an inspiration to me – keep on blogging! Love the boots by the way. Patricia
Fabulous boots!
My favorite type of historical display in museums and such is one of everyday objects. It gives a little glimpse into the daily lives of people and how they made their way in their world. To me, your shoe posts are like that. But no, I’m not insinuating that you’re an artifact or anything.
😉
I don’t think it’ weird at all! She just doesn’t understand the point of blogs. Shoes are something that you enjoy and so you should share them! I love all the glimpses into your life and style.
Blogging’s just a new way of communicating, and those of us who have limited access to family (e.g., you) or limited time with adults (e.g., me) can find it rewarding, fulfilling, and a way to make new friends.
My favorite museums are the old houses people lived in long ago, with scratched furniture, rumpled linens, and well used tools laying about. It’s so much easier to imagine the people’s lives without everything being all pristine. Also, I’d rather tour a lived-in house for sale, rather than one that is “staged.”
I was nearly out of my mind last night, trying to get daughter to eat before going out for candy, getting the boys down for the night, eating myself, getting daughter into her costume, donning my red lacy and spidery witch hat, finding the candy, answering the door, chatting with friends and neighbors and mom. The Halloween miracle at our house: even through all that, the boys didn’t wake up once! And our house is quite small!
And excellent tall black boots. A staple, a requirement, a must have.
Hi! I read yur comment on Cafe Mode blog and I liked it, so I decided to discover yours. I really enjoy your picture at the top. I cna’t answer you question because I don’t know you yet.Nice pumpkins; we also had a lot of them in New York. I’ll come back to read more…
Hey, you put whoever you want on your blogroll, and as many shoes as you want in your notes 🙂
Thanks for sharing your experience about carving pumpkins. It’s still quite rare to do that in France, I didn’t know what I was missing!
I can’t tell you how good it felt to receive the many comments on this post. First, this is the first post that’s generated comments from so many new visitors, and second, I’m realizing that there is a little cyber-community that “gets” this part of me. Cool!
Meg: it wasn’t that bad — and the pumpkin turned out pretty well, don’t you think? And you seem to be suggesting that if there’s weirdness, well, it’s a shared family experience!
Patricia: in real life, I’m not particularly (or delightfully, darn it!) eccentric at all, so it’s rather fun to have a whole new persona on the blog. Glad you like the boots.
Déja: that’s exactly what I believe — I think that the materials of daily life tell us so much. And I’m glad you don’t think I’m an artifact, yet!
Jillian: this was my first response, although I thought I might just be being defensive. I do think you have to understand the concept of blogs. I’m always very aware that I’m getting a very filtered version of someone, through a very particular lens — and I find that fascinating.
Dana: Wow! I do remember those years, but not the intensity. My husband used to take ours out, and I used to be quite pleased to be left behind in relative quiet to hand out goodies. You sound very, very competent. And about tall black boots as a staple — absolutely! (And you should see the beautiful pair — Jil Sander? — that Café Mode (commenting above) recently acquired — simply beautiful, classic.
Anne: I’m glad you stopped by, and I’ll wait to see how weird/odd you might think me after you’ve made a few more visits 😉
Café mode: So glad you stopped by. I enjoy your site so much for a bit of horizon-broadening and just plain fun.
i hate the pumpkin carving thing too but i remember how much i loved halloween as a kid and force myself to get a pumpkin and carve it every year – the reward of course is those wonderful roasted pumkin seeds. every other visit to the kitchen i grab a handful of them instead of one of those dreadful guilty leftover halloween candybars.
rachel
I carved my pumpkin for a contest at work. It turned out really well. Unforuntalely, on the evening prior to the contest date I got extremely intoxicated (actually that wasn’t too unfortunate). The real unfortunate bit was that I was too hungover to make it to work to submit my pumpkin. Happy Halloween
Does your struggle with “unfortunate” above — once you’ve mastered it, I note that you want to demonstrate that mastery! — reflect some of that experience with intoxication? You should send me a photo of your potentially prize-winning pumpkin. Happy Halloween to you too.