Tricks? Treats?

Happy Halloween!

If that's your thing, that is. I loved it when I was little, and many of my early birthday parties involved costumes. One year Mom refashioned one of her bridesmaid's dresses into a "princess" dress paired with a crown re-purposed from a ballet recital. Really, Mom made most (possibly all) of my costumes - clown, gypsy, and my all-time favorite, Rainbow Brite. (Oh yes, complete with yellow yarn wig! I think Mom still has the pattern . . . ) But now, I really have zero desire to dress up, hand out candy to kids or otherwise generally participate in any spooky, goul-y revelry. Call me curmudgeonly.

Of course I have to relent when KZog thinks up fun costumes for us. Two years ago he dressed as D.B. Cooper and I as the Northwest Orient stewardess to whom he handed his extortion note. He has another great idea, but I'm holding on to that one for next year . . .

No tricks or treats in Doha.  Hotels likely throw parties, and I hear that some of the expat compounds organize trick-or-treating for the kiddos, but otherwise Halloween barely registers here.

For me, this Halloween marks one week until I travel home!

Decidedly not a treat is the length of time it took for a book I ordered off Amazon to arrive in Doha. Turns out the censors singled out this book for inspection:

Controversial Book?

I had heard of people having their books checked by customs, often medical texts or books discussing aspects of sex (even in academic, non-smutty contexts), but I didn't believe that I had ordered anything that would raise the maroon and white flag. Evidently, the music and dance of Native Americans requires further examination. Yes, "they" would have known the title of the book, as anything arriving in the country must be cross-checked against a detailed inventory. Perhaps "dance" provoked suspicion? Maybe "heartbeat"?  The world may never know. 

XO,
JZog