I learned this Halloween that old horror movies, when watched today, can be incredibly funny. Case in point: the 1925 version of Phantom of the Opera, directed by Rupert Julian. If you don’t know, this is a film about an up and coming Parisian opera star, Christine Daae, being stalked by a masked man living under the opera house. At one point she follows him down into the basement of the opera house and seems to be on the verge of falling in love with him. You think that fact that he was living “five cellars down” in the basement and speaking to her through the walls would have been some kind of clue for her, but no. Her skill set is singing opera, looking gorgeous, and fainting dramatically. Of course in the end she rejects the phantom, who is then conveniently killed by a Parisian mob.

What I found the most hilarious was the dialogue and the way the characters reacted to their situations. The Parisian solution to any crisis seemed to be running around waving their arms over their heads in a crowd possibly trampling people. That and at the end they decided to form a mob and run around with torches above their heads instead. Two of the funniest characters were the new owners of the opera who didn’t seem to have any control whatsoever over what was going on. Just before they took ownership the previous owners told them it was “barely possible” that they would see a ghost called the Phantom. That’s like selling your house, and as you’re walking out the door, telling the people you sold it to that it’s “barely possible” the roof might cave in.

It was a really good production and a great way to spend Halloween. The music, performed by Duane Hulbert and Sarah Stone, was excellent. Nothing adds to an old timey horror movie like creepy organ songs. The whole thing got me laughing which, in my book, made it a success.

“Don’t take advice from your opponents, including me.”

“So that’s how were going to play this?”

My friend smiled and bumped my shoulder as we got ready to ante in. We were at Casino Night. There was twenties music and free food. Here are four things I learned from this experience.

1. Cookies with white chocolate chips taste as good as I remember.
2. In Texas Holdem you can have main pools and side pools. This happens when people go all in and can’t bet anymore. This makes things really hard for the dealer.
3. Don’t be the jerk who swears every other word and calls his opponents ****ers. You’re not as cool as you think you are.
4. Put yourself out there and meet new people. If you’re shy like me, sitting down at a table with six or seven others forces you to talk to them even if it’s just to say “call.”
5. Go check out the swing dancing upstairs. It’s a good way to loosen up, swivel those hips.

I think the loosening up is the most important. As college students we are constantly busy and that creates stress. Sometimes we start to feel like walking backpacks. Right now I’m juggling the start of my senior thesis, the search for internships, classes, work, and extracurricular activities. It was relaxing to let all that go for a while. It was a fun pocket of me time. Do something, like Casino Night, that lets you unwind. Even if it’s just a hot shower or listening to your favorite music. You won’t be sorry.

I began my morning by waking up early and volunteering at the Northwest Furniture Bank in Tacoma. It’s a nonprofit organization that provides furniture to people who are just getting their own homes. A group of us from Phi Eta Sigma went and helped the volunteers deliver the furniture to their clients’ apartments. A process that with just their volunteers would have taken thirty-five to forty minutes per apartment, instead took ten to fifteen. Overall it was hectic but quite rewarding.

First off, we got lost. It was a straight shot, ten minutes between campus and the furniture bank, but we managed to double that. We missed the turn and then the GPS began to give us really crazy directions. I think it was just messing with us. We got on the freeway, got off the freeway, and did a few extra loops. On the plus side we listened to some cool tunes on the radio.

Then the organization itself was disorganized. They weren’t ready for us and the person who our group leader had corresponded with wasn’t there. After a few awkward moments, including one where one of their volunteers asked why we looked so guilty, we got underway. Our group leader later said that we were guilty, “Guilty of being awesome.” I choose this interpretation.

The volunteer work itself was pretty basic, carrying furniture into apartments. Luckily for us, all the apartments were on the ground floor. One of the women we moved for said that she really appreciated our help, which felt good to hear. It’s always nice to know that you have made a difference for the better in someone else’s life. Also, there were these adorable kids waving at us out of one of the windows as we passed. We waved back. They seemed to think we were really fascinating.

It was a good experience. I got to get off campus and drive around Tacoma helping people. It was worth getting up early for.

I spent this afternoon putting up cobwebs and arranging body parts. This was to decorate Langlow House for the annual Halloween party. We arranged the four rooms we used by theme: graveyard, hell, murder room, and pumpkin patch. I even had the pleasure of hearing one fellow decorator say to another: “Put another spider in hell.” It was a cool sentence to take out of context. The house looks great, festooned with skulls, including our house mascot, Yorick. With luck the decorations should stay up until we choose to take them down…probably right before Christmas.

The party itself was a success. There were board games, costumes, and free food. We even did the mystery touch game. In this activity you reach your hand into a box of something named “Flayed Flesh” that is really just tortillas…you hope. A couple of people actually ate stuff out of the mystery touch boxes. It seemed like a risky move to me but then again it was a Halloween Party.

People put a lot of effort into their costumes this year. They ranged from a duo costume of Elsa and Anya from Frozen to a jellyfish with a real light on top. The jellyfish costume seemed like a real pain to carry around (the light was attached to an umbrella which was held above the head) but it looked cool. It was really shiny and it glowed. Sometimes that’s all you need.

As for the board games we played some Apples to Apples and some Survivor: Worst Case Scenario. I now know that to protect my valuables in a hurricane I should put some plastic wrap over the computer and television, and put the smaller ones in the washer or dryer. This should come in real handy here in the Northwest. Though with global warming…who knows? From Apples to Apples I learned that some people have a funky sense of humor. Also, spam is not romantic.

People got to laugh and shriek a little, let off some steam after midterms. As I write this I can hear “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” coming in from the other room. It was a good party.

I folded the pancake taco style and sunk my teeth into the soft gooey dough. It was beyond delicious. The sugar in the syrup and the slightly salty taste of the pancake complemented each other perfectly. The texture was amazing, warm and fluffy with just the right amount of moisture. My eyes rolled upward and I quickly scarfed the rest.

I had been walking down Theme Row when I heard it: “Would you like a free pancake? It’s waiting for you.” My ears pricked and I veered to towards the call. Who can say no to a free pancake? We’re college students; we practically live for free food, let alone free sugar.

There’s a house on Theme Row, the UPS Pancake House, that caters to just that need. It’s open from ten o’clock to twelve o’clock on Saturdays. They make the pancakes inside and there’s a table out front where they give them out. On occasion they add toppings, when they feel like “generous gods.” They mostly sit there yelling things like: “Free pancakes! We even have napkins if you’re feeling fancy.”

When I asked them how the process works they said: “We do a lot of shouting.” I can tell they’re glad to be there and enthusiastic about what they do. They are even making “Pancake propaganda posters.” If nothing else it’s a good alliteration. They told me that the the best part about it was: “People being happy that they’re getting free pancakes.”

So if you’re getting tired of the SUB or running low on meal points come on down there for some complementary sugar. It’s one of the tastier parts of the campus community, like they said: “We are a school of rhetoric and part of that rhetoric is that you get free pancakes.”

This afternoon I hopped across the parking lot to the tune of “Eye of the Tiger.” I had one foot pointed forward, one foot pointed sideways, and my right hand out in front of me like I was holding an imaginary sword. This was not part of a strange cult ritual or mental breakdown. It was a fencing club exercise to help us work on our form. By the end of it my legs were burning, my hair was sweaty, and it felt amazing.

Fencing club is an on campus organization where people attack each other with swords, in a friendly way of course. We get some exercise and channel our inner medievalist. There are three types of swords in fencing, foil, saber, and epee. Everyone starts with foil, and if they like they can go on to saber (we don’t have anyone who knows epee right now). We do some drills then free fence.

Today there was a wedding in Killworth Chapel where we usually practice, so we went out into the parking lot. It was a sunny day, probably one of our last, and it felt good to get out enjoy it. We had considered fencing through the wedding reception, to give the newlyweds a show, but decided against it. Here’s how that conversation went:

“We should go fence through the wedding.”

“Yeah that would be cool. No wait. That would actually be horrible.”

“Yeah it kind of would.”

So we went outside instead. If you want to join us sometime, we practice Thursdays seven to nine in the dance studio. Hack hack, chop chop.