October: Take Ten

1. Vampire Diaries
In early October season six of Vampire Diaries dropped on Netflix, and I binged it hardcore--watching all 22 episodes over the course of eight days. and it was glorious. It is for sure an over-the-top, CW teen soap, and I love it. I exchanged hundreds of texts with fellow Diaries enthusiast Sam as I watched the season following Bonnie who was trapped in a pocket universe, Elena who lost all her memories, Caroline who switched off her humanity, and the season's Big Bad, Kai, who ruined EVERYTHING! and much more. I can't wait to binge watch the current season next year.

2. Scary Movie Nights
It's decorative gourd season, and what is more festive than watching some terrifying flicks? When I was a child I hated horror films which didn't change until college. But I was somehow present when my roommates watched The Grudge, and it wasn't all that scary. Then Slarue and I watched 28 Days Later and The Shining which were for sure scary, but in a fun way, and now I'm a fan. So this year Sam and I got together every week to get our fright on. Here's a list of what we watched:
The Haunting (the original thank you very much)
The Watcher in the Woods (Disney was very strange in the 80s)
The Others
The Exorcist (this is the one I was most reluctant to see--possession! gah!--but Sam was insistent. in the end it was pretty interesting and not as scary as I thought it would be)
The Orphanage (still super scary the third or fourth time around and it reduced Sam to a quivering puddle)
The Amityville Horror
The Conjuring
Sam and I also went to see Crimson Peak which turned out to be not so scary. though very beautiful but also a bit meh. and Jessica Chastain was giving me some serious Eva Green vibes.

3. Book Club
My book club met in order to discuss Henry James's ghost novella The Turn of the Screw. (We were also supposed to compare and contrast it with James's friend Edith Wharton's ghost story All Souls', but nobody else read it.) The Turn of the Screw seems to be popular (at least in academia) because it is short, lends itself to close reading, has a (potentially) unreliable narrator, and is a useful example of James's second period. Following Edmund Wilson's seminal essay "The Ambiguity of Henry James" we were divided into apparitionists (Devin) and non-apparitionists (Elyse and I). We then watched the excellent film adaptation The Innocents (also very scary), and I started to rethink my non-apparitionist stance while it firmly cemented Elyse's viewpoint.

4. Fall Baking (i.e. Pumpkin Everything)
Two of my favorite things to make in October is this Pumpkin Roll and these Pumpkin Cookies. I served the roll at book club and it was a big success esp. with Alex. The cookies were also a success when I brought them to work where several coworkers demanded the recipe. Because it uses melted butter instead of oil and no egg, the cookies have dense, chewy texture instead of the cakey/muffin-y texture common to pumpkin cookies. 

5. The Light Princess
Tori Amos co-wrote a musical based on George MacDonald's fairy tale, and the original cast recording was released in October. (The musical premiered two years ago at the Royal National Theatre, but no album was produced at that time.) The Light Princess a coming-of-age story of Althea, who, becoming weightless after her mother dies, must learn how to feel to find her gravity. It's an empowering musical about growing up, parents and children, and facing the world. It's my favorite thing she's done since 2007's American Doll Posse (an album that's fallen sharply in my estimation). It's a good, operetta-leaning musical (and while it lacks big, showstopping numbers, several of the tunes have wormed their way into my earholes), but it won't replace Into the Woods as my favorite musical or even Fun Home as my favorite new musical this year. 

6. HBO NOW
The HBO Now monthly service f i n a l l y came to the Roku player in October, and it was the best day ever. However, after catching up on Game of Thrones (so many deaths in the last episode! *spoiler*), I am not sure I love it. It's not quite as user-friendly as I would have hoped, and it has constant buffering problems. So I may not continue my subscription at this time, but I will def return when GoT does.

7. Debt
I finally paid off all my credit card debt this month! All I have left is a residual interest payment of 3 and some odd dollars. With my undergrad loans and credit cards paid off, all I have left is grad school--for the rest of my life. Now I can start saving for Paris! 

8. Adulting
Back in September, I got a flat tire on campus, and as I didn't have a car jack, my dad had to come rescue me. and he bought me a car jack! Well, less than a month later I had to use it as I got another flat. The lug nuts were rusted on pretty well which caused a lot of cursing, but, eventually, I changed my very first spare tire all by myself! and was only 30 minutes late to work. Continuing to adult only slightly more successfully than New Girl's Nick Miller. 

9. Books
All that Vamp Diaries and GoT interrupted my reading time which means that the only book I actually finished in October was the first trade issue of the new Ms. Marvel series--which is pretty good (and short). I got about 70 pages in The House of the Seven Gables before dropping it and only 18 pages in to The Witches of Eastwick before stopping. I am currently about 80 pages in Seven Ages of Paris and halfway through Night of Shadows. I have also made it halfway through Stéphane Heuet's graphic adaptation of Swann's Way which is more accessible than but does not come with the same bragging rights as the original. And in November I finished Nimona, a web-comic-turned-book that has been shortlisted for the National Book Award in the Young People's category. Nimona is a shape-shifter who teams up with moral villain Lord Blackheart in his fight against the nefarious Institute and spurious hero Sir Goldenloin where science mixes with magic and medieval and modern technologies coexist. I hope to finish more books this month.

10. Frightmares, Halloween and Hook
Gramantha had their last Lagoon day of the year during Frightmares where we only went to one haunted house because that enough for Kristen, thank you very much. and I think Sam was more scared of the swings and the Ferris wheel than the haunted attractions. For Halloween the rest of the crew went as Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back characters and I went as Hook from Once Upon a Time. It was a fun night even though I was ready for a nap by the time we got to our first party. 

Bonus: October Babies 
I seriously think that at least half of the people in my life were born in October. Seriously, what is going on in January? Oh, right, nothing.