Today is All Souls’ Day which commemorates the departed in general as opposed to yesterday All Saints’ Day which commemorates those who have attained sainthood. But strangely, the whole bunch of people went to cemeteries yesterday on Nov 1 instead of today. Probably it was because Nov 1 is usually declared a holiday.

On any ordinary day, I don’t like going to cemeteries, a childhood full of horror stories and flicks sort of ruined it all for me. Plus the reality that many cemeteries here are overcrowded with the dead. But Nov 1 makes the cemeteries overcrowded with both the living and the dead. And it is the living who pretty much completely spoil whatever remaining charm cemeteries may have. They turn what would otherwise be a solemn and somber memorial into a raucous and rowdy circus.

Besides, I like to think the dead are up in heaven rather than under the ground. Or maybe in hell, in which case I don’t want to have anything to do with them.

I used to use Old Spice. Mainly because my dad used it. Later, I found that girls whose dads wore Old Spice liked it. That’d be quite a few of my friends and acquaintances. But even back then, it had this reputation of being an old spouse‘s scent. But I’ll be if these Old Spice videos didn’t make it even just a wee bit cooler. I use Old Spice.

I sometimes bring Jeanne with me when I go out in the morning to fetch the car from the parking building. It’s a good opportunity to spend a few extra minutes together before leaving for work and for her to breath some fresh air and soak in some sunlight. I also get to show her things along the way. This morning we saw a yellow butterfly as it fluttered randomly around one of the pocket gardens between buildings. Reminded me of back when I was a kid we when we would go around the garden catching butterflies. It was a fun experience (though not for the butterflies) and I hope Jeanne will be able to experience it.

The thing I like about long weekends is I can do at a leisurely pace all the chores that had piled up and still have enough rest. Saturday I babysat Jeanne while Michelle was out shopping. When Michelle got back, Jeanne gave away candies to trick or treaters. Sunday I washed some dirty clothes but it was generally a rest day. We got started watching Fringe and I made pizza for lunch and baked macaroni for dinner. Monday I swam, washed some more dirty clothes, ironed the dry ones, mopped the floor, and washed the plates (one long weekend worth :D). We even had time to go to some get together with some of Michelle’s distant relatives and drop off the Suunto Observer at the shop for repairs. And there’s another long weekend coming. Awesome!