Everytime I think I have all the stuff I need for an apartment, I think of something else. But what do I need? There are the things a person needs, like a bed and lamps, and there are the things a person wants to make a home a place you enjoy coming home to and showing off , like art and throw pillows, and there are the things that you don't precisely need, but they do make you feel as if you're living in a proper, grown up home. Like coasters and butter dishes. I think some of these things can wait.

Hmm… now to talk about my Halloween.



Well, I went dressed as an angel, with wings I handmade. My clothes felt really tight- I think I need to increase my workouts. And the wind was strong, so I wore satin pajama pants underneath. Anyway, driving to B&N to meet up with friends, the truck was being blown all over the road, so I had to detour and take back roads the rest of the way. Thankfully they waited for me.

I had some nifty eyeshadow I was going to wear, but it wasn't as great as it looked in the ad. I felt really light headed, I thought it was a combination of the anxiety of driving in such strong wind and the tightness of my shirt (it felt almost corsetlike). Kat's husband drove us to Salem- there was a weird incident with a cop that pulled us over because the license plate "wasn't very clean".

Traffic going in was awful. But we found a great parking space, free, right downtown.

All night long people kept asking me if I was cold. I thought of getting a t shirt made that said "Yes, I'm cold." The wind was so strong I was almost lifted off my feet several times.

The crowds were thinner this year, and there were fewer costumes. The weather probably kept people at home, although the people who came dressed as Christian street evangelists shouting at us to repent of our sins- that's an amazingly lifelike costume, if I do say so myself. I almost thought they were real.

When we were in one shop, someone complimented me on my wings and said they looked professional. I think I have another craft that could potentially make me some money. I might include in the ad "Wings have been tested in Gale Force Winds conditions."

Eventually I gave up on the costume. I stopped at a bench, took off the camisole/wings combo and put my hoodie on. Sometimes, at random moments, I am surprisingly uninhibited (seeing as how what I was wearing under the white lace cami was a black cami and a pink bra and the black one was fairly skimpy).

So I was sitting on the bench, with Kat, waiting for Joline to come out of some store. I'd changed into my hoodie, but I'd strapped my wings on over it. This guy runs up to me, and shove a small book in my hands, with a sly expression on his face. Then he's gone in a flash. I looked down, and got so excited.

It was my first ever Chick Tract!

It's going straight into my collection.

Went to all the stores. I felt like I'd bought tons of stuff, but when I got home and unloaded my bags, I'd actually only bought… a scarf, a sweatshirt, three bags of herbs, and a bottle of oil. Salem is so overpriced, you can get a lot of this stuff for half the price in the Manchester or the Concord occult stores. It's just that you don't get the experience with those.

That's why I always have to end my trip at Laurie Cabot's, even though I never buy her stuff. Joline said she thinks the place has a spell on it that encourages people to buy, and I once heard it has an anti shoplifting spell. Wow, it must work, I've never had the urge to steal from Laurie. Heh.

It's just…such a cheesy place. It's a beautiful store, don't get me wrong. But 1) who crowned her spokesperson of witchcraft? Her shop is I guess supposed to be "educational" too, it's full of little notes printed on fancy paper that explain the displays - "witches believe in reincarnation", "witches believe in the threefold law" etc. 2) She buys occult looking things at HomeGood and TJ Max, then resells them at twice the price. Oh, not everything, it's only a few Venetian masks, and little mirrors, and she's always careful not to market them as actual occult products or to claim that she made them. She just puts them out there, knowing that people will think anything that comes from the shop is magical or at the very least, antique.

Laurie Cabot herself is almost never there.

I was wrong about the sign above the knife display. It doesn’t say you have to prove you're of a certain degree in order to purchase a knife. It says that knives can only be purchased for religious purposes, so you need to show them evidence that you're a practicing witch or pagan, and IF you're part of the "Cabot Tradition", you have to show your degree certificate.

None of the other stores have a sign like that. Don't know if my trad requires me to have a knife or not. But my first instinct, since like everyone else the first books I learned from were written by Wiccans, says I ought to have a knife.

At one point in the evening, on the street, I had this random flash of anxiety. That's been happening a lot lately. A) because I really am anxious a lot and it's hard to turn that off even when you're Having Fun, and B) I was in one of America's creepiest cities during the time of the year when the veil is thinnest.

Sometimes I think I'd like to live in that city. Then I think about how expensive it is- not just in the tourist shops, but everywhere, and how insane the traffic is. Salem is like a lot of other very, very old cities, especially in MA. It's difficult to get into, and equally difficult to get out of, yet you can never leave the same way you went in. Maybe it's something to look into one day when I'm making more money. And can, you know, leave NH. Heh.

We stopped at Friendly's. I never need to worry about being unable to afford most of your average family style resturaunts- I'll just order appetizers. I usually can't eat any more than that, I could barely finish my mozarrella sticks.

We ended up, somehow, heading through Hampton/Exeter instead of going back toward Manchester, so I just asked ot be dropped off at home. I would just pick up my car at B&N the next day.



The next morning I had to get up at the crack of noon and ride to Manchester with my dad to pick up the truck. I was still in my pjs and hoodie. Came back to town, so he could register the truck, went home to get my laundry, went back into town to do that and engage in some banking and food buying. Found a gorgeous sewing machine table just abandoned by the side of the road. Called my dad to come and help me move it- fortunately he was right across the street and could actually see me waving at him. Loaded that up. Did my laundry, went home, planted bulbs. Waited for my mother to get off the computer and now here I am, finally finishing my entry for today. I only have an hour left to be online.