October 31st

Last night I was torn about what to do. I hate feeling like I should have plans just because everybody is talking about a silly holiday. I also worry about grown men who get overly excited about wearing costumes, particularly when it involves dressing as the opposite sex. On the other hand, something was telling me I should at least drop in at some dive bar for a few rounds, knowing full well that wherever I go, comedy seems to follow. I also tried to connect with Casey, who was in town, but she didn't get back to me until early this morning. Well, I ended up taking a long walk through the Tenderloin and Nob Hill, planning a new story in my head, and saw a few amusing costumes, not to mention the usual assortment of tweakers, but nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary. There was a second where I thought I might head over to the Castro, just to see the anarchy, but the last Halloween I went to there, which was in 1998, I saw more dangling ball-sack and heard more lisps in a four-hour spell than I ever cared to, not to mention a friend of a friend getting his bare-ass kissed in the middle of the street, so ultimately last night I decided to cut things short and go home. Something seemed pathetic though, this going in early, but I tried not to let it get me down, returning back to last Friday night, when everything went so gloriously. Then this morning I read that seven people were shot in the Castro, and several others were stabbed in the middle of the crowd, along with two or three sexual assaults, and I thought, well, you know, I think I made a wise decision after all.....

I ended up watching The Fog of War, which I recommend for those looking to educate themselves about 20th-century American history. That's not to say that Robert McNamara isn't problematic on a lot of levels, but nonetheless, without putting too much weight on partisan ideology, I think it's an interesting film, and it was told in an effective manner, and at the end of the day I'd rather watch a documentary that causes me to rethink a few things about the world than some mindless, numbing sit-com or another reality series that has all the chubby women at the watercoolers the next morning discussing the highly calculated drama.