I mentioned briefly that I’m going to be a bridesmaid in a wedding coming up soon. Well, that “soon” has now become “this Sunday.” Which is, technically, very soon. As is the standing tradition, in U.S. weddings at least, I will be wearing a dress chosen by the bride. As it will be an October wedding in New England, the bride has chosen fall colors. My dress is in burnt orange, a very pretty color, though a somewhat unusual one in my wardrobe. And is also often the case for such occasions, I am to have shoes that match my dress. This means that I have needed to get some dyed. I picked up my shoes yesterday afternoon. And I have to admit that I was quite startled to see them. You see, they are orange. I now have shiny orange shoes. I don’t think you can ever be fully prepared to see orange shoes.
Anyhow, this weekend I will be donning the orange, and perhaps as such, feeling a bit like a pumpkin. Hopefully an elegant pumpkin, mind you, but a pumpkin nonetheless. But seeing as it’s October, pumpkins are all the orange rage right now. And in honor of their orange pumpkiness, I bring you a pumpkin-based Themed Things Thursday.
A vegetable. Or a fruit. Depending on your choice of taxonomy. Generally eaten cooked. Used in lots of baked goods, like pumpkin pie.
A movie starring Christina Ricci.
A song by Tricky off Maxinquaye (YouTube video)
In many versions of this fairy tale, Cinderella’s fairy godmother turns a pumpkin into a carriage to carry Cinderella to the ball. Cinderella must leave the ball before her ride turns back into a pumpkin. Leading to the expression turn into a pumpkin, meaning depart, go to bed or otherwise turn in for the night.
A ghostly character from Washington Irving’s story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow“, who carries around a pumpkin head.
A character from the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. Later had his own book, Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz, though it wasn’t by Baum.
A horror movie involving a demon dug up from a pumpkin patch.
a song by XTC. (YouTube video) Later covered by Crash Test Dummies.
A nursery rhyme. Also a song you can play on the piano using only the black keys.¹
Peter Peter pumpkin eater
Had a wife and couldn’t keep her
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well
A mythical holiday character that never appears in the animated Peanuts special It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
A character from Tim Burton’s animated movie The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
It’s a Halloween tradition to carve a face into a pumpkin. These are then typically set outside, with a candle inside. It’s also a Halloween tradition for mischievous kids to steal other people’s pumpkins, and smash them.
A band. Performs songs such as “Tonight, tonight” and “Tarantula” (YouTube videos)
An endearment or nickname based on the word pumpkin, which is sometimes pronounced without the word-medial [p]. Gives us [pʰʌŋkɪn] (Where the nasal has then assimilated to the place of articulation of the following consonant, a velar. Not that you asked.)
¹ I admit that I’m recycling this particular item from my vegetable ThThTh list. But recycling is good, right? Or should I be composting, since it’s vegetables we’re talking about?
That was far from compost. Repurposing maybe.
will you be posting pictures of the elegant pumpkin dress? Hope the wedding is Smashing! (oh! I kill myself!)
maggie-
reduce, re-use, repost!
painted-
Ha ha! I may have to use that smashing joke. Especially if I get smashed at the wedding.
I think making you dye those shoes orange is just plain cruel. Like you’ll ever wear them again. It should be a sin, I tell you.
oh, i love the orange shoes! they are really more of a pumpkin color, but still lovely…
but pumpkin pie and lil’ punkins are also favorites ;)
The pumpkin coloured shoes are very striking! I’m sure you will be an elegant pumpkin … not two words normally adjacent to one another, but here’s hoping, right? ;-)
Wow. The pumpkins are great but the shoes are….special.
Oh, no! There’s a pumpkin on my blog!
KC-
Well, perhaps it’s cruel. But I’m told I can re-dye them black. Which I may do. Or perhaps I will learn to purchase more formal wear in orange so as to be able to wear them more.
maja-
They are kinda pretty, in a quirky way. The color has actually grown on me.
mimi-
They are striking shoes, aren’t they? And I did refrain from striking anyone with them.
Patient-
Yes, special. I always take that as compliment. Gosh darnit, I am special, too.
jwbates-
Look out!
Ichabod Crane
Uma Lenda
imortal
que vai viver
nas ruas
nas arvores
e na mente
do vento frio
do dia das bruxas.
fred albano
jacarei sp
Brasil
viva o folclore do mundo
I love your orange shoes (and I’m a man!)
How do you find so much to say about pumpkins? You must be an encyclopedia!