Anti-Bullying Week: “I never felt badly for doing those things …”

All this week, YakkityYaks will be joining with past and present Reality TV stars and fans just like you in honor of Anti-Bullying Week. We will be featuring stories from Reality TV personalities, members in our YakkityYaks forum, and fans from Twitter and Facebook. In an effort to join forces and increase awareness, we encourage you to share these stories with your friends and family and encourage continuous efforts to make a difference! We all are capable and we just hope that this motivates and encourages each and every one of us to take a stand and put a stop to bullying once and for all. YakkityYaks, don’t talk smack!

Read on below for two personal accounts from fans on Twitter who felt so moved to submit their own personal and touching stories, in addition to all of our other coverage today. Names have been changed to protect identities, but the stories are straight from the heart and unedited.

If you are interested in participating in our anti-bullying initiative by sharing your story, please contact JDMontgomery@yakkityyaks.com or ShellyBB13@me.com (Big Brother’s Shelly). Each and every story can bring about great change. Oh and get your tissues ready for this one …

We also want to announce an exciting addition to our special features this week. Everyone who submits a story will be eligible to win a phone call from a reality TV personality!

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A Life Transformed

First I just need to say that bullying back when I was a child is FAR different than the bullies today, but the hurt can still be the same. Also, I don’t know why I became a bully. It could have been a type of defense mechanism for what happened to me early in my life.

Here is my story:

Back in the early ’70s, when the Civil Rights Movement was going strong, my family and I were constantly bullied by our neighbors. Our house was vandalized. Walking home from school I got death threats and witnessed some man preparing a noose to hang my brother from. I was only 6 years old and feared for my and my family’s life.

We moved to a different neighborhood, but were still the minority in it. This time, however, I turned the tables. Although I was still in grade school, I didn’t call it a gang then; instead, it was a club. I think I was the president of it, although I can’t remember. I just know that I called most of the shots & threw people out of the group if I felt like it. Our club song was: “Tick-tock the game is locked. Nobody else can play with us. If they do, we’ll take their shoe and beat them ’til they’re black and blue.”

Still in grade school I would make fun of girls clothes and what they looked like; whatever it was that I didn’t like about them I would tell them about it. I even bullied my sister. Although to this day she forgave me, she didn’t forgive anyone else. I’d tell her she was adopted and that her breath stunk and that she was fat….again, anything that I didn’t like about her I told her about it.

Whenever my mom & dad fought, we were bullied by my mom. My mom hated my sister and me. She only liked our brothers. We got “skinnings” for the most trivial things. We got spoken to harshly, all because she didn’t always like us. Yes, parents bully their kids, too.

I never felt badly for doing those things to the other kids; after all, did those people who hated my skin color care what they did to me? Did they care how they made me feel? Did my own mom care? To this day, she doesn’t remember ANY of it. She tells people she was a good mom. “Look at how well my kids turned out.” I have tried to make her see and hear the things she did to us and she is in total denial.

I became a Born-Again Christian at 11 years old. There, I learned how to treat people. That’s when I became aware of the feelings of others and changed my ways. Anytime I saw a classmate getting picked on, I’d go over to them and keep them company. I’d tell a teacher, too, and the teacher would keep a lookout for any trouble. Like I said earlier, those days were different; mostly verbal and maybe knocking books out of someone’s hands, but nothing that the kids are going through nowadays.

A karate demonstration took place at the elementary school and then the instructor picked certain students to bully, to see how we would fight back. I got chosen to fight, and man, did I have the will and the drive to destroy that full-grown man! He had the nerve to push me to the floor? I was going to kill him! And I fought and found out how much anger I was storing up inside. He gave me a nice compliment, but I wasn’t to become a black belt until many years later.

Junior high was a brand new world. I got bullied by both boys and girls. They’d make fun of my hair and clothes. The same thing I did to the girls in grade school. The boys would grope me. In art class a boy took my artwork and threw it in the trash. I made the pom-pom squad and the girls told me I should have never made it; I only made it because I have a nice smile. I was called ugly.

One day one of the girl bullies was coming down the hallway towards me. My friend, George, came up behind me and scared me and I turned around and punched him square in the jaw! It wasn’t him I really wanted to punch; it was her. She saw me do it and her jaw hit the floor. I know she went and told the other bullies, because after that day, they never bothered me again. As for George, he never accepted my apology. Then he moved away.

High school was uneventful. Nothing serious there. Sports saved me.

In college I got bullied because I was black and hung out with my white friends in the quad. The black girls would yell stuff out of their dorm windows at me. I was called Uncle Tom and other racist names. I never had to do anything about those girls, because one by one, they got in trouble for something at the school and got expelled or dropped out.

By this time, I decided to take karate lessons. I’ve earned two black belts and one brown in all my years of training in different styles. I never made it a public thing to tell people, because they’d want to test me. It was on the down-low except for my immediate friends.

Once I made it to the working world, not much changed. Bullies, bullies everywhere. I became friends with a guy who was constantly bullied, then he had a crush on me; but I didn’t like him like that. I just didn’t like seeing him hurting from the actions of others. He did his best to stand up to them, too. Again, nothing physical happened, although nowadays people get killed.

Then I became the target from the same people who bullied him. Things were slammed onto my desk, they would talk about me so loudly that they wanted me to hear what they were saying, they were turning people against me who used to be my friends. No one came to my aid, but that’s okay, because if it really came down to having to physically protect myself, I could. I told my supervisor once, but they didn’t seem to take it all that seriously. A second time I told them, but this time I warned that if I snapped, it could get really bad. Soon after, the mastermind bully was let go. Once the serpant’s head was gone, the rest of the snake died; no one else bullied me.

I have seen strangers just arguing in a heated manner that could have escalated and I’d just approach, asking if everything is okay. Luckily, no one has ever gotten so angry at me and told me to mind my own business or turn their anger towards me.

I’m a part-time crossing guard and I look for signs from victims of bullies. I befriend the lonely kids. They can barely look at me, but I think they appreciate my kindness because the next time they see me, they smile. I don’t see them getting bullied walking to or from school, and I’m glad.

I have known a bully or two, and when I call them a bully, they deny it! I try to make them see and hear how they’re treating others, but it goes nowhere. They don’t get it. And I’m talking adult bullies!

I just can’t really stomach seeing people hurting people. All of these kids on Facebook and Twitter who are crying out for help, I want to help them, but I don’t find out their stories until after they’ve killed themselves.

I never want to get physical if I see someone getting bullied, and it’s been quite a long time since I stopped training, but I believe I would die for someone who is helpless; at least that’s what I tell myself. No one really knows what they would do until they’re in a situation.

Thanks for listening to my story. Really, thank you again, for everything.

D.P.

__________________________

A Little Says A Lot

My 11 yr old grandson was assaulted several times last year in a small WI school by another 5th grader. He had a sprained wrist, fractured elbow, mild concussion, and all the bully got was an in school suspension. It was not the 1st incident either. There was two choking incidents prior to that. It saddens me that children are so mean. I support everything you are doing. Thank you!

B.Z.

Anti-Bullying Week: A Yakster’s Personal Account

Throughout the week, in accordance with our Anti-Bullying initiatives, we will be featuring stories from our very own members in our YakkityYaks forum. These stories are volunteered from people who call our website their internet home and it is just another example of our personal feel and family attitude we pride ourselves in.

That, however, is not the focus of this week. Many, if not all, of these stories don’t need an introduction. They each have a very special message that will speak to us in different ways.

Just a reminder, the stories are unedited and real truths. We have only changed the names of those involved to protect their identities.

__________________________

My son, Brandon, who is 11, has always had it fairly easy in school. He’s always been an honor student and is friends with everyone. I wouldn’t consider him to be “popular,” because he has friends in all of the cliques and really doesn’t fit in to just one. He likes it that way, because he likes all different kinds of people.

When he was five years old, he was a very bright kid…he still is. It seemed that everything that he would learn in kindergarten were things that he already knew—thanks to his sister, Emily, who is just one year older than him. She would come home from school and tell him everything she learned and he instantly picked it up. So, we had him tested by the state to see if was a candidate to skip kindergarten and move on to first grade. He aced the test, so we decided to put him in first grade with his sister. We were concerned about how things would work out socially since he was a year younger than all of his classmates, but he fit right in and had absolutely no problems with any of the students.

Last year was the first time that Brandon saw first hand a division in his classmates. He and Emily were in sixth grade and they went to the middle school. Until that time, all of the kids, regardless of race were friends with each other. However, at middle school his Mexican friends wouldn’t talk to him (or any other non-Mexican kids) and developed their own clique. The year before, Brandon’s best friend was one of the kids who no longer talked to him. Since he was a year younger, he was much smaller than the other sixth graders (and would have been considered small even if he had been in the fifth grade). He was immediately targeted by his ex-friend and their clique. It started out relatively harmless. They would stand near him and talk in Spanish making it obvious that they were talking about him. As he has been taught, he ignored them thinking they would stop. When they didn’t get a reaction out of him, they moved on to shoving his books out of his hands in the hallway. After a week or so of not getting a reaction, it escalated to them punching him, usually in the arm or the back. Because he is so small, he knew that he was better off ignoring them. One day he came home with a red, puffy eye, so I asked him what happened. He kept telling me it was nothing, so I asked Emily. She convinced him to come clean with me about everything that had been going on. It was at the time that I found out about everything they had been doing to him along with spitting in his face. He had been dealing with that for nearly a month and never let me know what was going on. I was heartbroken to find out that my son had been going to school every day and facing these kids and was so afraid of what they would do to him that he never told me.

The next day I was at the school in the principal’s office to tell him what Brandon had been going through. He appeared to be just as upset as I was that he had no idea this had been happening. After I left, he called Brandon into the office to get his side of it and to get the names of the kids who had been bullying him. After watching the video, every student who had bullied Brandon in any way (from shoving his books out of his hand to spitting on him) was suspended for 10 days. Every student who stood by and encouraged the bullying was suspended for 5 days.

Thankfully when they all returned to school, the bullying completely stopped. Brandon is now in 7th grade and was on the football team with a few of the kids in that clique and they get along very well. They aren’t friends during school, but they work together as a team on the field.

I feel so sad and fortunate at the same time. Sad because he dealt with that every day for so long and fortunate because the end result could have been so much worse.

Thanks for reading my story.

-YY Member, Kristin

Anti-Bullying Week: “I had to invest all my trust in myself…”

All this week, YakkityYaks will be joining with past and present Reality TV stars and fans just like you in honor of Anti-Bullying Week. We will be featuring stories from Reality TV personalities, members in our YakkityYaks forum, and fans from Twitter and Facebook. In an effort to join forces and increase awareness, we encourage you to share these stories with your friends and family and encourage continuous efforts to make a difference! We all are capable and we just hope that this motivates and encourages each and every one of us to take a stand and put a stop to bullying once and for all. YakkityYaks, don’t talk smack!

Read on below for two personal accounts from fans on Twitter who felt so moved to submit their own personal and touching stories, in addition to all of our other coverage today. Names have been changed to protect identities, but the stories are straight from the heart and unedited.

If you are interested in participating in our anti-bullying initiative by sharing your story, please contact JDMontgomery@yakkityyaks.com or ShellyBB13@me.com (Big Brother’s Shelly). Each and every story can bring about great change.

___________________________

A Victim of Bullying

Hi there. Saw the tweet about calling for stories, so here goes mine.

It’s been nearly ten years, but I still remember the day vividly. For years, I had been teased on a daily basis at school. It started off because of my eagerness to learn and my good grades. ‘Egghead,’ ‘nerd,’ ‘teacher’s pet.’ Then it became my weight. ‘Humpty Dumpty,’ ‘big gut.’ Then once I started junior high, kids started picking up on the fact that I might be gay. Heck, they figured it out before I did. But the things they’d say, whether it be sly sarcastic jokes or outright name calling, took a daily toll on me.

At its worst, I would be heckled and teased for hours on end, especially during agriculture class, something I didn’t have an interest in but which was mandated by the school. The other guys in the class would take our textbooks and find every picture in the book that featured any aspect of male animal genitalia and ask what I would do with them. These questions would follow me down the halls, into other classes. I would complain and beg for action from any teacher who would listen. I turned to the school counselor and asked for help.

The day in question, I was in agriculture class again. The lewd questions continued. The heckling got louder and louder until finally I slammed down my books and high-tailed it right out of the classroom. I went out to find the school counselor. Coincidentally, she was coming out to see me. “We want to have a little meeting,” she said, and she led me into the superintendent’s office. The counselor shut the door behind her, joining me in a small office with her, the super, and the high school principal. This is good, I thought. They’re going to tell me what they plan to do to stop this.

Not so.

Over the course of nearly two hours, I was subjected to interrogation from all three of them, asking me to try and pinpoint what it was about me that made the other guys make fun of me. They highlighted my ‘effeminate tendencies,’ my lack of interest in sports, and explicitly told me that I brought all the teasing upon myself. They asked me if I loved myself. The superintendent looked me straight in the eyes after I told her yes, and said “I don’t believe you.”

They then began to tell me they thought I might try to “Columbine” my school, highlighting the then recent one-year anniversary of that school shooting, and advised me that they recommended I seek professional help.

My trust in adults was broken at that moment, at least those in charge of that school. I had no defense, no backup. There was literally no one I could turn to who could do anything, or would do anything, to help me. I was faced with a choice: do I prove everyone right? Do I hurt other people or myself because that’s what these people expected of me, or do I continue on the way I was, relying on nothing but my own future?

I chose the latter. I had to force myself to wake up every morning with the objective of getting through it, promising myself that I would eventually get away from that place and never look back. I focused harder on my grades, graduated, moved on to college, and today I have a very nice, well-paying job and a very loving boyfriend of two years. (Our anniversary was Monday the 7th).

I had to invest all my trust in myself. I knew who I was and trusted that would carry me through in life. And it has.

-C. E.

______________________________

A Bully’s Personal Account

Hey,

I guess you kind of know me. I hate telling my story. Because in my story I was the bully. Now, I’m only 16 but I know what I did was wrong. And I regret it 100%.

I live in Philadelphia, a place where almost no one is like the next. I’m not a kid with money but I had it so much better than most. There was a girl named Marie who rode my bus, and she had a lot less. I used to tell her some awful things. Call her names. And once it even got physical. She moved after 6th grade and she was easily forgotten. This year, she moved back and I noticed her at my school. She was always avoiding me. Then one day I approached her at lunch, and I told her how sorry and wrong I was. There’s not a day I don’t think about how much hurt and pain I put her through. I hate myself for that. Now Marie and I have join the school club S.U.R.E for peace. I’m on the strong, growing team of Anti-bullying activists.

Thank you for reading my story.

-S.D.

Anti-Bullying Week: YakkityYaks, Don’t Talk Smack!

Tomorrow, November 14th, is the start of Anti-Bullying Week 2011. The theme for this year’s initiative is “Stop and think. Words can hurt.” And that is exactly what we hope to get across throughout our many exciting events planned for this week.

In conjunction with some familiar Reality TV personalities, the Yak will be bringing you a number of special features throughout the week detailing countless accounts relating to bullying. We’ll be hearing from people who have been bullied in the past, are being bullied now, or even from bullies themselves. We’ll hear from parents of the bullied and those who work in the educational system. We’ll hear directly from fans of many reality TV personalities and we’ll hear from some of the most memorable reality TV stars, as well. The amount of support and stories that we have already received have been overwhelming and extremely touching. If this is any indication of what this week might bring, prepare to be changed and want to push for change!

Keep an eye out on YakkityYaks.com all week for all of these special reports and publications that we’ll be bringing you throughout the next 5 days. We would like to point out that this movement doesn’t stop after Friday. This is just a way to encourage people to get involved and stay involved.

Not only will we be providing stories and personal accounts for all kinds of people, we will be providing you with ways to counter bullying, suggestions on how to talk with your children regarding bullying, as well as ways to support some great causes out there looking to put a STOP to bullying as a whole.

So, stay tuned, tell your friends. This has already begun to change us and we hope it will do the same for you.

If you would like to participate in this initiative, please email us at JDMontgomery@YakkityYaks.com. We will change the names of those involved to protect identities and submissions can be kept anonymous if you prefer. We have a very special surprise planned for those who submit stories. Details to come … Let’s just say that your favorite reality TV personality might play a role.

Huffington Post Sold to AOL. Really.

As the news broke last night about the huge purchase of Huffington Post to America Online for $315 Million, I have to say I was quite disappointed. In fact, I think there are many who are.

Huffington Post, one of the top 10 stops on the internet for News and Current Events was purchased yesterday in a move that some foresee as putting AOL back on top and others as watching Huff Post crumble. I, being a cynic, am in the latter group.

For many of us, we “grew up” internet wise with America Online. They were known as “the internet on training wheels” for many, offering up a dial-in service (and later broadband access) to exclusive content, games and information. At the top of their game, they were almost like ‘Facebook’ where people could keep in touch through message boards, chat rooms, interactive gaming and of course, their iconic “You’ve Got Mail” e-mail.

However, something happened to the giant around the early to mid 2000’s. They stopped offering their content exclusively, moved everything out to the world wide web where everyone could access it, and did away with their Community Leader program, which was, in fact, crucial to it’s persona. The Community Leaders of yore helped bring in user driven content, provided what was once a personal experience on the web and got more users involved. AOL went mainstream, with the help of their newly merged company Time Warner. They sold out their exclusive content in lieu of advertising dollars. They rid of their personalization and user-driven network in order to drive up commercial revenue. They did away with their software, their membership dues, to become a giant www conglomerate.

The people didn’t take to it. Their user base dropped dramatically. Their AOL inboxes were nothing but SPAM. The personal experience they had once felt became anonymous web surfing. The older generation, who found it simple to get on the web with the American Online software was now lost in the vast internet sea. America Online crumbled, and people were going elsewhere. It was a huge mistake on their part, one of which I doubt they will ever admit. How they continued on is a mystery as their revenue, reputation and influence dropped substantially.

Time Warner and America Online parted ways in 2009 in a move that many had hoped would bring AOL back on top. People hoped that America Online would return to what had made it great, being able to finally make it’s own decisions. This wasn’t to be the case.

After the split, America Online dropped it’s AIM ability for users to access AOL Chat rooms, a move that has seen a large dip in AIM patrons in the months since. It also acquired TechCrunch and Engadget, two premier sites offering reviews of all things technology. However what have those sites become? Well, according to the AOL CEO himself, Tim Armstrong, American Online wants those pages to be “story mills”… Pumping out search engine and profit optimized stories at a quick rate to make as much money from their advertisers as they can. Well, that’s great, but what about the reader? Can you trust the reviews? Is a bad review an advertisement for a different product flashing at you in the top banner? Is a good review with the relevant ad on the side a ploy? What was once great review sites that were dedicated to keeping users informed is now one large ad. It doesn’t appear America Online has changed it’s ways one bit.

Enter Huffington Post. The Huffington Post has always been a stop for me on the internet. The writers expressed their views on many different subjects and from many different angles. It was (somewhat) personal. It covered everything, from current events, politics, and Entertainment. It was a melting pot if you will of content. Will this change? Well, if America Online has anything to do with it, you bet it will. It may not change overnight, but change it will. Gone will be many of the premier writers you grew to enjoy. Gone will the honesty we sense in the writing. Stories will churn quickly, and profitability will be it’s goal. It just won’t be the same, no matter how much they try to tell you it will. I expect to see a lot more ads on my iPhone/iPad app soon. Course, that will most likely be the day it gets deleted.

As part of the deal, The Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington will be appointed president editor-in-chief of all of AOL’s content. She will not only run The Huffington Post, but will lead AOL’s news, tech, women, local, multicultural, entertainment video and community content businesses in an AOL entity that will be known as the Huffington Post Media Group. This will include MapQuest, AOL Music, AutoBlog, Patch, Engadget and TechCrunch.

However, we are also seeing the exit of some key people from Huffington, like CEO Eric Hippeau and Chief Revenue Officer Greg Coleman. We will also, eventually, see some, if not most, of the writers going by the wayside, guaranteed. Many of the big names will no longer contribute to the new conglomerate and wasn’t that the point of the whole thing to begin with? To hear angles on stories by some of your favorites? The personal experience has been squashed, in good ‘ol AOL fashion.

Arianna sold out, and it’s just a matter of time before everyone sees it, if they don’t already. In a blog statement by Arianna herself, as many of her longtime co-workers exit the building, she said “By combining HuffPost with AOL’s network of sites, thriving video initiative, local focus, and international reach, we know we’ll be creating a company that can have an enormous impact, reaching a global audience on every imaginable platform.” That may be true, for the moment.

AOL now claims that the combined entity reaches 117 million unique visitors per month in the U.S. and 270 million worldwide. AOL CEO Tim Armstrong says the new organization will be “a next-generation American media company” focused on content, community and social experiences.

What he should of said was the organization will be a last-generation American media company, focused on money, advertising and social spam. It is known as the “Aol Way”, which AOL CEO Armstrong actually called it when training the new writers and Editors of TechCrunch. The training included teaching these contributors to boost traffic by 5 to 10% with search ads and other ‘paid media’ and editors should decide to produce content based on ‘the profitability consideration.’

Yes, I’m a cynic, can you tell? However when you look at the current giant, Facebook, it’s all about personal experience, lack of in your face spam, and belonging. AOL has a history of squashing that, and therefore, the Huff Post receives an “outlook not so good” on my trusty 8-ball. Matter of fact, the same theory is beginning to set in over at Facebook as well, and it may well be the downfall of that giant soon. Selling your information, privacy breeches, more advertising… Facebook could learn a few things from the failures of the big boys, but will they see it before it’s too late?

What we didn’t touch on in this article is the changes to come in the content of The Huffington Post. Do you think we will see what is now a left-leaning slant begin a directional shift? America Online is known to be by many as right-leaning. How will these companies mesh? I guess we wait and see.

What do you think? Will you keep stopping at The Post, or is that bookmark already no longer in your faves? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Website that puts ALL Your Info Online (And How to Remove it)

There is a new website in town that gather all of your info, and puts it all in one neat little place for anyone to see. It has your e-mail address, any websites you participate on, a picture of your house along with your address, your age, pictures of you gathered from social networks, your income, your parents, if you have children, your hobbies, etc. etc. It’s called Spokeo, and you can get removed from the listings. Here’s how:

Go to: www.spokeo.com
In the Search Box, type in your full name.
Navigate to find yourself.
One you have, (and after you have taken a gander at all the info they collected) click on SEE MORE.
Once there, copy the URL (web address) in the top of the browser, and at the bottom of the page, click PRIVACY.
Now, don’t let them scare you with how the information is available all over the place, and pay us to remove it jargon… just enter the URL, your e-mail, and the security letters.
Go to your inbox, find the e-mail they sent you, and click to confirm removal.

They only allow 2 people to be removed from the service per e-mail address, so if you plan on removing more than yourself and one other, be prepared to have another e-mail address handy to give to them.

Next: SHARE THIS INFO! Forward your family and friends here for removal instructions. Please comment below on what you think about this nonsense!

Elizabeth Edwards, 61, Dies After Cancer Battle

WASHINGTON (AP) — A family friend says Elizabeth Edwards has died of cancer. The friend says the estranged wife of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards died in North Carolina Tuesday morning.

The friend spoke on the condition of anonimity because the family had not announced her death.

*More information to be included when it becomes available.

Speak Up! YakkityYak’s Best (and Worst) of 2010


Mike & Molly. The Walking Dead. Jon Stewart. Bret Michaels. Miley Cyrus. Sarah Palin. Modern Family. Glee. Cee-Lo. Eminem. Chilean Miner Rescue. Inception. Tina Fey. Mad Men. Ellen Degeneres. Survivor. The Amazing Race.

So many names and words to throw around to take you on a journey of the events of 2010. What stood out the most for you? We here at the Yak want to give you the chance to vote for the best and worst moments of 2010. Who better to determine this than YOU?! Member voices were already heard with nominations. What made the cut? Be sure to check out our VOTING BOOTH for the official polls of 2010. We’re still a month away from 2011, but let’s take a trip down memory lane and re-live some of your favorite moments of 2010! We’ve got everything covered from movies to music to TV to reality TV and more! You can join our forums for free to make your voice heard. So what’re you waiting for?? Get on in!

Special thanks to our very own member sas0327 for her graphic expertise in everything Best of 2010!

Happy Halloween!

Ahhh… Halloween. One of my most favorite holidays! I think it’s more about the season than the holiday (now that I am too old to trick or treat unfortunately.) However I do have customs for this holiday that we do every year. I ALWAYS roast homemade, fresh pumpkin seeds which after all the years of doing them, I seem to have finally perfected. (I have included my version of the recipe below) We also usually light a fire, and pour ourselves a glass of wine to enjoy in front of it, along with the seeds. My daughter generally has a “trick or treat” party, which now that she is 12, may be the last of the “trick or treating” part of it… but I’m sure the costume parties will continue. We plan on feeding all the kids hot dogs with homemade french fries (another thing I have pretty much perfected… I am VERY proud of my fries. Heck, even the kids tout them to other kids! I have included that recipe below too) before they go out… they are looking forward to that. We light candles about the house, try to get my older son to stick around and hand out candy so we don’t have to, and my absolute favorite… walking with the kids up and down the street. We have a pretty “holiday” active older neighborhood, so not only are most of the houses lit up and candy ready, but it’s also real safe around here. Down the street, there are 3-4 houses that get together every Halloween, and set out a long table for kids, and one for the adults. At the kids table, they get to put together their own home baked cookies with sprinkles, icing etc. At the adults table, they have a bowl of homemade chili and “witches brew” to drink (Spiked or not) and yes, if you don’t look the age, they won’t even offer that to you as an option. It’s a wonderful tradition that I look forward to every year.

My favorite Halloweens are slightly chilly, and well, kinda windy. Many people don’t like that, but to me, it really isn’t Halloween without the chill and the wind. Plus, the lack of chill would make my fire pointless. Tonight, after the walk, the chili, the roasting of the seeds with wine and the fire, we plan on watching the highly anticipated “Walking Dead” on AMC. It’s supposed to be REALLY good, so I am looking forward to that. The last few days, my daughter and friends have been watching “The Nightmare Before Christmas” over and over and over. Course siting here at the computer, I can only hear it, not see it, so I don’t mind. Plus the music of that movie is just amazing. Thank you Danny Elfman.

Anyway, I will leave you to your Dia de los muertos! We here at the Yak would like to wish you a most wonderful and safe Halloween! We hope you all get the BEST candy on the block, and that most coveted full size candy bar! Let us know below or in the FORUM what some of your traditions are!

Perfect Pumpkin Seeds Recipe:

Ingredients –
As many seeds as you can get out of your pumpkins
Salt
1/2 to 1 cup butter, melted (Depending on amount of seeds)

Clean seeds as much as possible, however having a little of the pumpkin “guts” on them doesn’t hurt, actually can add to the flavor.
Boil the seeds in a large pot with a generous heaping of salt on the stove for about a half hour.
Preheat oven to 350.
Strain the water from the seeds, and pour seeds in a bowl. Pour the melted butter on them and stir.
Spread seeds out on Cookie Sheet, trying to get them in all one layer. I cover the cookie sheet with tinfoil just to make cleaning easier.
Toast (Roast) in over about 10 minutes, then gently stir them around with a spatula. Roast another 10 minutes. They are generally done in about 20-30 minutes, but some ovens can take longer, or toast to your preferred taste. I like mine real crispy, and have sometimes let them roast for up to 40 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes to make sure they don’t burn.
Scrape seeds with spatula into a bowl and add salt to taste. You can also add garlic salt, or another “flavored” spice if you like. I have a friend who likes to add cinnamon and cloves, and another who likes chili powder. It all depends on your taste. Enjoy!

Homemade French Fries: (Deep Fryer Recipe)

Man these are good. I don’t make them all that often, because they are some work, and use a lot of oil (deep fryer), but when I do, EVERYONE looks forward to it. So here we go:

Ingredients:
Potatoes. Russet that is. I count on at least 1-2 potatoes per person. We usually have a few left over, but then I have a teenage boy, so I don’t have to worry about leftovers.
Oil. A lot of it. I use corn oil, it is my preferred taste. If you are more fond of another kind of oil, like peanut oil (for the more healthy alternative) go for it.
Salt
Large grocery paper bag

Peel potatoes, and cut them into fry shape. Some don’t peel and leave the skin on. I prefer without, but if you like that, then it’s yet another option.
Put cut potatoes in a bowl of ice water, and soak about a half hour. This is the perfect time to get your deep fryer oiled up, and warming to it’s “low” setting.
Once your deep fryer is ready, place the first batch of fries in the basket. Be careful not to place too many, as they tend to get stuck together.
Deep fry for approximately 7 minutes on the lowest setting. Once done, dump batch into a bowl to cool. Repeat batches with the rest of the potatoes.
Once the first fry on all batches is done, heat your deep fryer to high, and let the fries cool.
When the deep fryer is ready on it’s high setting, refry each batch, again for approx. 5-7 minutes. Halfway through, I stir them around (I use the metal part of the basket handle to do this) so they don’t get stuck together. Some like their fries a pretty golden, and some like well done. Look at them and use your judgement.
Once the first batch is done, dump them out of the basket onto a paper bag that you have cut and laid flat. I put the bag directly on the kitchen table so everyone can just help themselves. Pour your salt to taste. (You can use other spices as well if you prefer.)
Repeat this process until all the potatoes are fried, and that’s it! Seriously… YUM!