"Consider earphones a social cue.
Wearing earphones is like hanging a “do not disturb” sign off your nose. Like an engrossing novel, they help you avoid interactions with annoying strangers on airplanes or subways. Unfortunately, they send the same go-away message at work. That’s useful if you wear them only when you’re on deadline, but your iPod is more likely to irritate co-workers if you hide behind it eight hours a day." - from The Morning News' correspondent Margaret Mason's article on iPod etiquette. I've posted on iPod etiquette before, I believe it was after I found out my friend Lynn wore hers TO THE DENTIST. I like this choice in concept. After all, who really enjoys the strange, controlled, one-sided discussions you have at the dentist? The brief spurts of talking between spits. But in practice, wearing the iPod during the teeth cleaning sends a message that seems a bit hurtful to the very kind dental hygenist and/or dentist on whom your pain management depends. And that is dangerous.

In other news, Halloween was fun, on the whole. Pumpkin carving and eating witch-shaped pasta and trick-or-treating were highlights. Right before Halloween we were "Phantomed", which is a new neighborhood "game". That I hate. Like her. I agree that it shares qualities with a pyramid scheme, or even worse, a chain letter. After a chiding phone call from a Mrs. Robin Guard-Davis who said she was chair of the Phantom Commmittee, and that I was officially on Phantom Probation for lying to my children (only for a day or two - I finally gave in and told them) and for not making homemade snacks, I tried to lighten up and enjoy the Phantom ride. (Mrs. Guard-Davis, as you may have guessed, is a pseudonym for an equally vitrolic and non-domestic neighbor who thought it very funny that I didn't tell my children we had been Phantomed. ) I swear - each holiday becomes more and more tiresome the closer we get to it, and that, folks, means something has to give. I can't take my children out of school, I can't avoid the church anymore than I already do, and I'm already seen as a bizarre mom who - gasp - likes to just hang with my family and play games....so the answer lies somewhere else. Where? I'll keep you posted.