Random Non-Sequitur Posts Are For Hatandcoat

So let's keep that over here, eh? I offer you a challenge: try to stick to one subject on Districted. I'll try your method over here, sometimes...

I got hated on today on my bike on Georgia Avenue, going south towards the Beltway. All of a sudden, the road was congested and the cars behind me kept honking. They kept yelling as they passed me all too closely "Right side!" or "Side!" Maryland law states bikes are allowed to use the roads with all the rights of other vehicles, except that they are prohibited from "the travel lanes of roads where there exists a smooth shoulder or bicycle lane (except to make left turns or to avoid debris in the shoulder space)." There was no shoulder, and there was plenty of stuff to avoid all the way on the right. I was as much on the right side as I felt safe to be. Covered! So I biked up to one old lady while she was at a red light. She refused to roll down her window (although she had rolled it down to yell "side" at me). I said "But you don't know the law!" She shook her head and jabbed her finger at the right side of the road. "But that's not the law!" I said, as she drove off. Hopefully she will look it up.

I didn't end up spending Halloween with my friends last night. I felt bad because they'd lugged my Little-Prince-o-lantern to the house where we were going to be. I had my costume ready: I was going to be a biker with a (Tostitos) chip on my shoulder. I was going to walk around like I owned the place, cutting people off, shouting "LEFT" whenever I would go around someone else, and chiming my bike bell whenever I was moving. I got ready to go and found that the tire that I'd fixed by myself was again deflated. I thought, hm, it's in Virginia, and walking to the Metro adds about 40 min to the total time, plus I'm getting on the road late, plus I have a lot to study... man, I want to see people but I'd mainly be going just not to be a flake. So I gave up, fixed the tire, curled up with my schoolbooks and read and slept the night away.

What's up with everybody trying to call Halloween "Hallowe'en"? In the US, UK, and Canada, the predominant spelling is sans apostrophe. The original name of the day is "All Hallows' Even." Yes, in poetry, some people abbreviate v with apostrophe, and that's likely how we got to spell it "Halloween." There's no need to be overly archaic about putting the apostrophe in. I don't know that that was ever a standard spelling. It just looks weird, and I think that's why people use it--it makes them appear smarter for using "Hallowe'en" instead of the common spelling.

Also, I overheard a woman at my school, an administrator, say she didn't want to call 10/31 "Halloween." Why? "Because it's the Devil's birthday." Come on! There is no Satan-worship in the origins of Halloween. Lots of cultures celebrate days of the dead, but they're never Satanic. Samhain, the pagan god of the Celts, was not their idea of Satan. Furthermore, just dressing up in costumes does not mean you are worshipping the Devil. I wonder if this woman believes in giving gifts on 12/25. Does she believe in Easter egg hunts?

I am not prepared for my Japanese test, coming up on December 7. I'm really not. What am I doing, blogging like this? I should go away and study.