Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeen!

I have to wonder...Does anyone in the entire world love Halloween as much as I do? I feel such a rush of excitement and pleasure just thinking about it...and I think about it a lot!

I spend countless hours all throughout the year looking at websites devoted to my favorite obsession. Costumes, special effects makeup, haunted attractions. Ghosts, zombies, assorted cryptids and my hands-down favorite, Vampires!

Scary movies, darkly haunting music, books that keep me up late at night -you name it. If it's dark and spooky or mysterious, I want to wallow in it.

I can trace the birth of my profound interest in scaring and being scared. It was Scooby Doo. No, don't laugh, it's true. Think about it. Even the lyrics still thrill me to this day. "While Scooby Doo is running from a spooky ghost..." (happy shivers)

As a little kid with a predilection toward all things dark, this cartoon was like crack for me and it's still my favorite after all the intervening years. Each week Scooby and the gang had these grand adventures with all of the creatures that I find so fascinating. Imagine being chased by a wolfman! Hiding from a mummy! Tumbling down a ski slope to evade the abominable snowman! Holy crow, what a rush. I still want to be Velma when I grow up.

So yeah, Halloween is a big deal. A couple of years ago I hooked up with the local theatre to work behind the scenes on their annual haunted attraction-style fundraiser, Stage Fright. What a fantastic experience! A dream come true, really. I helped create life-size mummies, destroy and paint grisly faces on babydolls, find props, decorate sets and do makeup for the zombie curse-themed walk-through haunt. I even got to make up some E-VIL clowns for the funhouse maze, ah-hahahahahahah! I can't tell you when I've had so much fun! I'm so greatful I had the opportunity because that was the last year they put on that event. (Now they've decided to do the Rocky Horror Show every year instead. Maybe I'll audition this year - who knows.) The biggest problem - for me, anyway - with that decision is that now my beloved home town has NOTHING remotely scary going on during "The Season" and my merry band of ghouls and I have to create our own brand of fun. (More on that in a future blog.)

Like a little kid, I look forward to the big day all year long and every year I experience a profound sadness and sense of loss on November 1st - what will I do with myself for another whole year?! Nobody I know quite understands - they try, but.... Thank God for the internet and social networking sites - those places are full of like-minded freaks and I fit in there like it's old home week. Those folks are just as excited as I am in the weeks leading up to the hallowed evening and just as depressed as I am when it's over. So...we gather in cyberspace to celebrate - and bemoan our fates - together. It's therapeutic.

To the non-initiated, today is "only" June 8th, and Halloween is likely not on your radar at all. But we, the children of the night know that it's ONLY 145 days left till the most exciting, splendiferous, terrorific day of the year! Got your costume picked out yet?

I am my neighborhood's eccentric cat lady.

I've accepted it. And why not. Every neighborhood has one, why shouldn't I be her (she be me?)? Whatever.

You've seen my sweet girl Vladdy with me in my profile pic, but let me just come straight out and say it. There are 4 more at home in addition to her.

I know what you're thinking.

"5 cats? Criminy, that's a lot of critters!"

But I've really embraced my position in the neighborhood and I think I remember reading somewhere that 5 is the bare minimum you can have and still be considered "eccentric." Phew! Just made it.

"So how does one come to have 5 cats," you ask? It's really easy - you can do it too. Let me show you how.

About 3-1/2 years ago, I came home from work one day and there was the scrawniest little orange tabby I've ever seen on my front sidewalk. He was a polite and well-mannered gentleman and it was clear he hadn't been getting regular meals for some time. I would have been remiss if I hadn't done something to rectify that unfortunate situation. Luckily, I remembered I had a can of tuna in the house and before you can say "Presto," I had a cat. Now I just needed to know what to call him. Hmmm. He showed up right before Halloween, he was orange, and he was quite adept at sneaking around and startling me when I least expected it, thus, his name is Spooky. He is handsome utterly charming. And such a skilled hunter! Why, I once saw him leap into the air and snatch a bird right out of the sky, and he presents me with his trophies on a regular basis. I firmly believe he is still greatful for that first can of tuna.

Next came Bella. She's a cute, precious and very fluffy black and white tuxedo girl. She used to hang out with the neighbors down the street (and was named by their 4-year-old) but she decided she likes us better and she never goes "home" anymore. I can't say I'm unhappy about that. She is very gentle, though mildly feral and doesn't trust strangers. Unfortunately, if she hasn't met you 100 times, you're a stranger. I honestly believe Bella is mildly "challenged." She forgets. But Spooky takes really good care of her. They both prefer living outside and the two are inseparable. It really is adorable.

I thought for a while that our furry family was complete until I got a call from a friend about a year and a half ago. Her neighbor's cat just birthed a liter and the neighbor couldn't keep them. Did I know anybody who could take in one or more kittens? Why yes! Yes I did. The babies were only about a week old when I first saw them - their eyes weren't even open yet. We had to wait weeks and weeks before they were old enough to leave their mother, and we visited them every week until then so they would know us and not be frightened when we brought them home.

All of them were nearly solid black with one exception. A tiny tuxedo! My friend decided she looks just like her own cat Amir, and so the kitten was immediately dubbed Amir, Jr. A.J. is a sweet lap kitty who loves to watch me cook. She jumps up on top of the cabinet closest to the stove and watches every move I make. She cocks her head to the side like she's thinking about whether she would make the same spice-choices.

The second looked just like a little bear, or maybe even a Wookie. She was the cutest little thing. Black as night with just a small white blaze on her chest and a miniscule white dot on one ankle. I knew she would be perfect for my husband.

She always looks mildly grumpy or "put out" and my husband, book-junkie that he is, named her after a loveable old grouchy character he likes. Kitty's name is Trout. We always have to explain it, but she is sort of clumsy and a little grouchy so the name suits her. She is such a beautiful cat. If Merriam Webster wanted a picture of the perfect feline, it would be Trout.

While I dearly love them all, I've saved my darling Vladdy for last. She is my dark angel. She was the runt of the litter - only 3 or 4 inches long the first time I saw her. As I said, her eyes weren't even open, but when I picked her up and cradled her in my arms she immediately climbed my shirt and snuggled up against my throat. She is solid black, with one exception - she also has a blaze on her chest that is more a defined circular shape than Trout's. She's grown into them somewhat now, but when she was tiny, her ears were the same size they are now. They were gigantic on her tiny little head. With her little pointy face, big ears and (we were soon to learn) her penchant for hanging upside down, she looked for all the world like a cute little fruitbat!

So...
1) she's bat-like
2) with jet black, smooth short fur
3) and an avid neck nuzzler
Since I have a thing for vampires as well as cats, it made perfect sense to name her after the Dark Prince himself. Dracula. Vlad Dracul. And presto...a cat named Vladdy was born!

So as you can see, there are no Socks, or Mittens or Tigers for me (not that there's anything wrong with that). My babies' names are utterly unique. Just like they are.