Halloween preparations

I doubt that I will get any Trick-or-Treaters tomorrow. There aren't very many youngsters in my part of NoRO and if there were they would probably be at a party rather than going door-to-door.

The Calvinator hates to wear any type of attire. He has a raincoat but the elastic band hits his pee-pee in an odd spot (a bit uncomfortable I would say) so he would just assume get wet. One year I tried to dress him in a clown costume and let's just say he didn't like it. He also has a baseball cap which he won't wear. He's very much a nudist I guess.

Back to the subject at hand. I can't decide if I should buy some candy just in case someone comes knockin' on my door in NoRO. And I guess I should buy something that I like. Last year, I bought several bags of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and I ended up eating both bags; not all in one sitting.

In this morning's Houston Chronicle, there was a story about candy and what it says about you. Joe Helm of the Washington Post asked Steve Almond, the author of Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America to give his analysis and this is what he said:

• Three 3 Musketeers: Does well in groups but is somewhat pompous. Prone to fancy costumes and arcane weapons. Wears hats in public that are ill-advised.

History: Created in 1932 by Mars, the candy bar got its name because it originally had three pieces in one packet: vanilla, strawberry and chocolate.

Calorie count: The Fun Size (17 grams) has 71 calories.

• Almond Joy: I'm going to put aside my aversion to coconut in praising these folks as happy-go-lucky.

History: Introduced in 1946 by the Peter Paul Candy Manufacturing Co. in New Haven, Conn. It's a companion to the Mounds bar, which arrived in 1920.

Calorie count: The snack size (19 grams) has 91 calories.

• Bit-O-Honey: They have contradictory personalities, hoping to express generosity but also having the passive-aggressive desire to damage the fillings of trick-or-treaters.

History: The honey-flavored taffy was first manufactured in 1924 by the Schutter-Johnson Co. of Chicago. It is now made by Nestle.

Calorie count: The snack size (7 grams) has 26 calories.

• Butterfinger: Evasive, slippery, not necessarily to be trusted.
History: Invented in 1923 by the Curtiss Candy Co. of Chicago. The crunchy bar wrapped in chocolate is now made by Nestle.

Calorie count: The Fun Size (21 grams) has 100 calories.

• Candy Corn: Purely deluded people. They don't get that candy shouldn't attempt to imitate other food groups, particularly corn.

History: Invented in the 1880s, it was first manufactured commercially by the Wunderle Candy Co. in Philadelphia and by the turn of the century at the Herman Goelitz Candy Co. in Cincinnati.

Calorie count: A serving of 22 pieces (40 grams) has 140 calories.

• Good & Plenty: Optimistic, perhaps overly so. A little bit of Weimar energy. Strong advocate of gay rights; acquainted with the bitterness at the center of most lives.

History: The licorice candy was first produced in 1893 by the Quaker City Confectionery Co. in Philadelphia and is considered the oldest branded candy in the country.

Calorie count: A serving of 33 pieces (39 grams) has 140 calories, or 4.2 calories per piece.

• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: Generous souls. Those who understand the salty in life, as well as the sweet.

History: Created by Harry Burnett Reese in the 1920s. Reese was a former dairy employee of Milton Hershey, founder of the Hershey Co. In 1963, the Reese candy company was sold to Hershey for $23.5 million.

Calorie count: A one-cup package (17 grams) has 88 calories.

• Snickers: Just going with the crowd, the safe candy choice, guaranteed to please the masses. Not ambitious, but dependable.
History: Created in 1930 by Mars, Snickers bars sold for a nickel. The Fun Size was introduced in 1968.

Calorie count: The Fun Size (15 grams) has 72 calories.

• Twix: Both brittle and supple in social situations; sort of trapped between personality types.

History: A Mars product, caramel-and-cookie Twix bars were created in the United Kingdom in 1967 but weren't sold in the United States until 1979.

Calorie count: The Fun Size (15 grams) has 80 calories.

• Twizzlers: Sickos. Truly demented. Plastic people living plastic lives.
History: The Twizzlers brand was introduced in 1929. The red licorice strips are manufactured by Y&S Candies, a company established in 1845 that is now a Hershey subsidiary.
Calorie count: One package (70 grams) has 240 calories.

In other news:

• I'm in a slump. I can't get excited about going running or spinning. My shoulder isn't hurting as much so I'm using that as my excuse to not do weights. Not sure what the deal is.


• Memorial Park bridgeBASH Kickoff Party!
  
  When: November 7th
  Time: 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
  Where: Mosaic Houston (in Bayou Place above VIN), free admission.
  
  See the proposed pedestrian/cyclist bridge design for Memorial Park... a living bridge... a green solution... with access for all! Meet the winning architects from the 2007 Rice Design Alliance Partners Design Charrette and Memorial Park Conservancy staff. The event is also introducing their signature event on January 26, 2008... Memorial Park bridgeBASH: Taste of the Park! See more info at their website: http://www.bridgethepark.org/.
  
  Contact: bridgethepark@yahoo.com