Nevermore To Carve A Pumpkin, Nevermore, My Sweet Lenore

A tale of being pumpkinless for Halloween, Edgar Allan Poe costumes and Purple Stars.

I grew up in England, and at least a couple of times before I was ten and moved way to New Zealand, we got to hack up lovely orange pumpkins and scoop out the insides and learn about the goblins and witches and bogles that they were meant to keep away on Hallow's Eve, as they all danced around in a last fling before All Hallow's Day when no evil creature could venture forth.

And then we moved to NZ, and the pumpkins were pale green things that took over the entire garden and were weeds, that sprouted giant gourds in the grass at the wrong time of year. Also, I dislike pumpkin, so have no interest in figuring out the exact shade of pale green that indicates ripeness. Suffice to say, there are no pumpkins to be found in October.

This has been a source of silent, simmering, regret, slowly burning away, fanned into active jealousy over the years as  was exposed to the internet and could no longer ignore the fact that people on the other side of the world were carving up pumpkins for Halloween. Big, orange, toothy, inventive pumpkins. Orange pumpkins. And putting candles inside them to make flickering, glowing lanterns.

So I channeled all this anguish and annoyance into - no, not a sulking fit - something actually practical and... uh, sensible. Yes, staying up until 5am on the night before work is sensible. If you do it right. Which, obviously, I did. Obviously. And made a page about all the ways you can carve pumpkins without actually having a pumpkin (and Jedi mind tricks don't feature... although I may now have to add them).

And in the process of writing that page I discovered - they make fake foam pumpkins. They actually look realistic (the name is cringeworthy though - Funkins? seriously?)

And preceding that, I saw a post on GeeksAreSexy about obscure, geeky, cosplays and had to rave a bit about making the Edgar Allan Poe costume. Because it has a RAVEN *dodges rotten tomato pixels*

And I found the greatest EAP cosplay ever. A Zombie Edgar Allan Poe.

The claws are made from quarter inch aluminum, leather, steel springs, and brass hardware.
Modeling, makeup, wardrobe, photo editing by Danny;
Jabot: Laura Vaughn

Photographer: Allen Peterson

But seriously, ravens are awesome. They tell stories and are smart birds and live for years, and if they ever leave the Tower of London then Doom Shall Befall. There was a great little side story (okay, it was morbid, but that's par for the course) from Cain and Abel in the Sandman graphic novels. and now I want a little Raven Finger Puppet that I can pull out and go "Nevermore" at people with.


"Are there any more laptops?" 

"Nevermore..."

"How long are you open til?" 

"Nevermore...."

And in completely random news, the page I put together for my mother got awarded a purple star on Squidoo! it's about her visit to Barcelona and has lots of photos of Antoni Gaudi's buildings, such as the (I was forced to agree after the three hour slideshow - he is the greatest architect in recent history. And so I attempt to inflict him on others...)

Antoni Gaudi's Architecture: The Treasures of Barcelona