Yes. Halloween is spelled with an apostrophe between the two E's, as if it's supposed to be a remnant of the word "evening". Just one more piece of evidence that England puts way too much work into spelling every word ever crafted into existence. Abby, Aimee, and I had a lovely Halloween debate with some British gents about the spelling and pronunciation of "aluminum". Yeah. They like to add an I to the word, making it "aluminium". Ha. Spellcheck has deemed this spelling incorrect. I stand triumphant.
SO. Halloween isn't a big deal over here, which I know, is shocking. You'd think that the country that first conjured up the pagan traditional celebration of Hallow's Eve would want to make a bigger deal out of the holiday. But alas, it seems that America once again has proven to enjoy the bigger and better, and makes Halloween one gargantuan monument to partying. England has a fetish for costume parties on any day of the week throughout the year, with stag and hen parties being all the rage, so I guess Halloween just wasn't cool enough to turn many people's heads this year.
However, I still managed to celebrate Halloween twice this weekend, which is really the only way to do it. Abby, Aimee, and I (AKA the 3 As, AKA America) headed to a vampiric house party on Lenton Street where we met up with some of our friends from Musicality and a bunch of other attractive people that we were fortunate enough to meet. After chatting up the necessary American topics with some British gents (Canada v. America, Obama, Iraq, atrocious spelling habits), we headed to Forum (UNott's version of a massive, rave-style Roscoe's) for some serious dancing. We stayed there until 3, and then called it a night.
Our next adventure came Saturday evening in the form of a flat Murder Mystery Party! IT WAS EXCELLENT FUN. We all dressed up as characters from the 1920s, and created our own backstories and motives for killing Mr. Rosenblum. I WANT TO DO THIS EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE. Maybe. I was Roxy Malone, 1920s club singer with a string of lovers and a dark and destructive past. WHOA. INTENSE.
After the MMP, which ended up with all of us being killed by an anonymous murderer (Aaron Schmaltz) because none of the stories really lined up, we headed to Pit and Pendulum, a pub inspired by the work by Edgar Allen Poe, and thus completely perfect for Halloween. The pub was crowded, so we headed to the Hog's Head, where I couldn't help myself from dancing to the music videos playing on the TVs on the wall, which drew the attention of the bouncer outside who kept amiably making fun of me. When half of our group cleared out to go to bed, the rest of us meandered back to Pit and Pendulum to buy a drink for each of the Seven Deadly Sins. Although un-iced, THEY WERE DELICIOUS. Then home. And an attempt to watch Psycho, but we fell asleep.
Yesterday was glorious as well: a day set aside to the cultivation of my intellect -- reading from the Qur'an, Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, and Dante's Divine Comedy. There's so much for me to learn, and I am SO GRATEFUL for the time I have this year to do just that! To explore the classics, to learn from some of the greatest philosophical minds and creative explorers of all time. Yesssssssssss. This is living. This is life. This is MY life. And I love it, so much.
I've learned to truly follow my heart, even in the little things. It's important to be able to listen to those little promptings -- if you feel the need to lay on the floor and listen to music, do it. If you feel the need to dance around while walking to the bus stop, do it. If you feel the need to start reading something challenging, do it. Likewise, if you feel the need to read something completely romantic, go right ahead and do it. Life is yours to hold onto, and we must listen to what our hearts and telling us we need, and to act upon those whispers.
Love you all!
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