My neighborhood is not neighborly. So not.

My neighborhood had their Halloween block party today, which is one of my favorite events of the year...even though I'm always the only kid out of middle school who gives a crap and definitely the only one who dresses up.

Nobody trick-or-treats in my neighborhood because my neighbors are not the kind of people who want to sit around on Halloween answering the door and passing out candy. They prefer to party and drink their Halloween spirit in the form of orange jello shots. The people who actually have little kids aren't home either because they take their kids to a happier place to trick-or-treat.

Point being: you can ring the bell all you want, but nobody's answering the door.

My house is the only house on my street with anything remotely resembling a Halloween decoration. We have jack-o-lanterns, skeletons hanging from the trees, and a tombstone (in the front--I decorated the back and the inside even better). We look very out-of-place.

The one thing my neighborhood does in the spirit of Halloween is throw this block party where people set up tables with Halloween-related games, and kids trick-or-treat to the tables, play the games, and win candy. My sister and I created a Halloween-themed trivial pursuit/Jeopardy. We have a decorated game board and something like nine typed pages of questions separated into categories. Anny painted the board this year and it's adorable.

Anyway, the turnout for the block party was...lame at it's best. I think there were only 20 kids that came throughout the entire two hours. It's really sad. All the same kids from last year, too, hardly anyone new. Of course, any event in my neighborhood wouldn't be complete without an appearance from the notorious "golf cart kids." Definition:

Golf cart kids (n): Group of ubiquitous 12 to 14 year-olds that pack themselves into a golf cart like clowns in a Volkswagen, ride around the neighborhood blocking sidewalks, screaming, and making faces at you when you walk by. They have the right-of-way over cars, bicycles, and pedestrians, and that's just the way it is.

My neighborhood doesn't even have a golf course and yet, these kids are everywhere. Today a mob of them (maybe 10) showed up as the party was ending, made a grand entrance, swirled around the cul-de-sac at an unfaltering speed, and rode off. It's all about the show.

Next year I'm bringing all my friends to this thing...my sister's friends, too. We need people. My neighborhood is a cold, unfriendly place. No way are they crushing my spirit though! Halloween is my holiday!

Love and Halloween spirit,
Juliana =]