yo-ho-ho and a bucket of Halloween candy

I think we made pretty good pirates. (Or pretty baaad pirates, if you know what I mean.) Either way, Halloween was a blast this year. We had awesome costumes (it pays to hitch your wagon to an artistic-type, folks). We gave out the best candy on the block. And we took our bad-ass selves (and Gina) down to the Castro for the third year in a row.

The "Castro", for those of you unfamiliar with San Francisco, is the area in and around Castro Street, which became a sort of cultural hub for the gay community a few decades ago. Today it is a bit more touristy, but it is still the city's center for all things gay. You can see older men walking down the street holding hands and every single form of sexual self-expression you could ever imagine. Then, they have a great bookstore, lots of terrific restaurants, gift shops full of "tiny gorgeous things", as Corey would put it, and a beautifully-restored old movie theatre that still hosts great alternative films (including an annual "audience sing-along" version of The Sound of Music).

Oh, and there's a Starbucks, too.

And, the Castro is the hottest place to be on Halloween night. This year, they closed down like a six-block area around the Castro and made sure people weren't carrying any dangerous weapons (some people were injured last year). The closing-off of the streets made for a much bigger party area. Last year, the throngs of people just spilled out onto all the traffic-laden streets, causing numerous problems. Plus, you just couldn't move. You can see in the picture above that there was still a little breathing room this year. Last year, it felt like a European soccer game. Really, you just pointed yourself in one direction and tried to squeeze your way through the crowd, trying to let go of your attachment to moving in any particular direction or speed. This year, we could at least walk.

The best part, though, is the creativity. Some really wild costumes turn out for Halloween on the Castro. It's really just a night of people-watching for us. Everything from the cute and creative to the sexy and risque to the crazy and scary and just . . . well, freaky.
I'll put up an album of pictures tomorrow. You can see a few of them for yourself. (Like "Three Blind Mice" here)

Today has been all about recovering. The last week has been a hectic one and I'm trying to get back on track. Gina and I got the first disc of The Sopranos fourth season today from Netflix, though, so it's been, well . . . difficult to concentrate. And maybe that's not a bad thing. I certainly can't run at full speed forever. A day of rest is a good thing.

Posted: Sat - November 1, 2003 at 08:37 PM

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yo-ho-ho and a bucket of Halloween candy

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