Technically, it’s not Halloween any more. So…. yeah.

I am quite pleased with myself, because instead of just staying home and being depressed on Halloween like I had no say in the matter, I did something about it.

Namely, I hooked up with the eternally fabulous Felicity to go see some fireworks, then go driving around downtown Vancouver to see people in costumes, with special attention being paid to Davie Street, because that was the place guaranteed to have some of the most fabulous (and sparkly!) costumes around.

So I spent an evening chatting with my best friend and watching fireworks, and that is time well spent indeed. The fireworks were quite lovely. We went to the South Arm fireworks. Turns out, the City of Richmond put on four different fireworks displays this year, so that everyone could get to see them wherever they were in Richmond, and I think that is wonderful of them. Restores my faith in government a little bit. I should find out what party is in power so I can vote for them.

Okay, so local politics are not exactly my beat.

I adore fireworks, as does any right-thinking persons. (Pets are exempted.) They have always filled me with delight, ever since I was a little kid. They are like the ultimate sparkly shiny thing. The way the sparks shimmer in the air is my favorite part. My favorite fireworks, therefore, are the ones that produce a big spray of glittery white sparks that linger in the air.

if I ever become rich, I am going to keep a supply of those just for days when I am feeling down. I see those, I’m a kid again.

We saw lots of great costumes at the fireworks. There was a family of ninja turtles – Mom, Dad, and a wee one all in ninja turtle costumes. Only Dad was cool enough to put on the mask, though. Maybe he’s the one of the two that was a ninja turtle fan from the good old days. Perhaps the whole thing was Dad’s idea.

Remember, nerds, up to a certain age, you can dress them however you like.

And there was a kid with a red lightsaber. And he was making full use of it, swinging it around with gusto and having a great time. I found that very life-affirming to watch. If I’d had a realistic looking lightsaber was his age (around 14, I’d guess), I would have been doing the same, even if I had to make the noises with my mouth.

But my favorite looking like quite an odd creature from behind. Like a man with a pillow for a head. When he turned around, it turned out to be a dad with a little tyke in the cutest little lion costume on his shoulders. Awwww!

Before the fireworks, we went to the Subway near where Felicity’s family lives which is becoming a regular haunt of our since it has healthy, tasty food and, and I can’t stress this enough, comfy chairs. Two nice big padded comfy chairs perfect for two big fellows to recline comfortably in.

I got my old standby, the Cold Cut Combo, which was called the Cold Cut Trio for a while for some reason. Maybe when they introduced the “Subway combo” to keep up with McD’s, they were worried people would get confused. “But wait…. I can’t order that! I don’t want a combo!”

And for all I know, people that dumb are out there, roaming the streets, unattended.

After the fireworks, we headed for downtown Vancouver. There were lots of people in costumes, including one fellow (or chick… hard to tell) on Davie who had this amazingly sparkly suit. Like, an all black suit with black makeup and a black bowler hat, but with some sort of deely bobbers (really, dictionary? You didn’t know “hopeless” but you know “deely”?) that sparkled all kinds of colors at the ends. I assume there was LED light involved, but I don’t care, the effect was marvelous.

We saw an accident on Davie. On this of all nights, that was a serious problem. Luckily, there were plenty of city people around to direct traffic and whatnot. But you kind of expect that when things get all crazy.

The craziest thing we saw was an ambulance being loaded onto a tow truck. An ambulance. The ambulance didn’t seem to be damaged, so we wondered what the hell kind of parking violation an ambulance has to perpetrate in order to warrant towing.

I mean, ambulances can park anywhere, right? That’s in the rules! One theory was that someone had abused their ambulance driving privileges by using it to park in front of a bar.

You have to admit, that might impress the heck out of a date, or your group of friends. Also, it would mean that somewhere in the Davie Street bars, there was a hot gay EMT.

What can I say, I have a thing for men in the caring professions.

We also saw some awesome church signs on the way back. Two of them, only six blocks or so away from each other. Makes me wonder if there’s some friendly competition between churches in that area.

On said “Nothing grows well in the shadow of fear”, which is one of the most badass things I have ever heard, let alone read from a church sign. It’s a very positive message, and yet I can imagine Emperor Palpatine saying it. I am trying to imagine a good guy character badass enough to say it and I am coming up blank.

The closest we came up with is Optimus Prime, only he’d finish it with “, Spike!”

The other went in a different direction. On one side it said “Warning, scary message on the other side!”

And on the other side, it just said “Boo!”.

I know I say this a lot, but these are my kind of people.

Maybe I should make a list or something.

That’s it for me for tonight, folks.

I will see you nice people again tomorrow.