Halloween Funsies-Fright Fest and being Festive

Hola readers!

I hope this week’s blog finds you coming off an entertaining and productive week. I know mine was! Although things were busy as always, it was nice having festive Halloween going-ons occurring simultaneously. I’ve never personally been the biggest fan of Halloween, but this year I found myself once again enjoying the sentiment. I think all the awesome Halloween-themed funsies in the surrounding area are actually rather enjoyable. Caitlin posted earlier about the various options for frights and thrills at local theme parks. I tried out Knotts Scary Farm my freshman year. This year, my friends and I decided to hit up Fright Fest at Six Flags. Since we were on a time budget, we skipped the mazes (which didn’t seem all that scary anyway), and opted to just ride a lot of roller coasters in the dark. I learned that I’m not as much of a weenie as I think I am when it comes to roller coasters. I rode every terrifying coaster in the park, with the exception of Superman. That thing is basically a free fall at a high speed. In general, though, I very much enjoyed all the other rides. I highly recommend checking out the park sometime. It was a great environment. Although there were actors positioned throughout the park to harass and scare the visitors, it was fun watching them break character so easily. My response every time I received a boo or a menacing look from a “scary” anything was a kind and upbeat “Hello!” The actors clearly did not know how to respond, and usually just said hello back and moved on to a more easily scared victim. It was quite amusing.

I think one of the best rides in the park was a giant wooden roller coaster that we were able to ride backwards! According to the tram driver at the park, this roller coaster only runs backwards for 13 days of the year. We caught the second to last day of backwards action. I think riding backwards provided an excellent view. One thing I learned from all these coasters was that you can tell how high up they are built until you are sitting on one, waiting to plummet. Overall, the park was a great experience. I got to test my limits with regards to ride fear, I made friends with some ghouls, I was able to dance to Gangnam Style, and I discovered some new music artists in line. I can’t say I loved the music, but it did provide comedic relief to the evening for me. No offense to any Meg and Liz fans out there…Also, who is in charge of programming at Six Flags? The screens in line has the most random assortment content in a given period of time than anything I’ve ever witnessed before. We jumped from Meg and liz music videos, to Jack Link Advertisements, to previews of the new HitMan video game, to a first look at a new Kevin Bacon sitcom, and finally back to Six Flags funnel cake advertisements. Talk about an emotional roller coaster waiting in line for an actual coaster…(Ok not one of my better jokes. I’ll do better).

Check out the lolfest (or serious musical talent) that is Megan and Liz here. To be fair, they have nice voices.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq3iagZzloU

Since I was in a group of all men besides myself (engineering life, it works for me), hunger manifested itself among the group once the park had closed. I suggested an awesome place on Sunset that roommate had informed me of. It’s called The Waffle, on Sunset Blvd. Given that it is open until 3am, we ventured over there for some late night noms. Although I was not hungry enough to part-take in the delicious waffle eating myself, the stuff looked good. So much so, that I was compelled to return and try it last night. I give it five stars. My personal recommendations are the waffle grilled cheese sandwich with waffle fries, and a red velvet waffle with cream cheese frosting. Probably a good idea to workout the day you go to avoid intense guilt…But either way no regrets! That place is definitely worth the caloric binge. I know I enjoyed it! The menu is almost too exciting to look at. Try it out if you are ever in Hollywood!

Finally, this year I decided to be festive and actually dress up for Halloween. Or rather, my housemates all forced me to dress up. I walked around campus as a toothbrush on Wednesday October 31st. I think my costume was a hit. I got laughed at by students, locals, police officers, and others on my walk to class. In class, I received more giggles, compliments, and even hi-fives from strangers. I was glad to be able to make so many people’s days. Finding something as amusing as the toothbrush will be difficult next year. I challenge myself to make it happen! Until then, enjoy the pictures of Halloween this year with me and my housemates.