Monday, October 31, 2005

Halloween Part II


Greetings, gentle Reader! It is that time of year again. Time for costumes and trick-or-treating! Time for ghost stories and haunted houses! Unless, of course, you're the type of person that views Halloween as evil and then you are just sitting at home with your lights off while kids file past your house saying "No, don't go to that house. They don't give out candy." I just have four words for you partypoopers: More candy for us!

My Belovéd and I traveled to the other side of Pennsylvania this weekend to visit Jon & Kat, some friends of ours, for the weekend. I found out that this past week they got engaged! I'm so very happy for them!

We basically just lounged around for the weekend, eating and shopping at flea markets and thrift stores. Why is it that the good thrift stores are over 5 hours away? I don't even think we have a good flea market around here. We have an "Antique Mall" where there are some antiques, but mostly just overpriced old stuff.

I found some sweaters that I can wear (including a yummy cream Liz Claiborne angora/lambswool sweater for $4!!!) and some sweaters I can pull apart for the yarn and some lovely scarves. Kat and I decided that we have the perfect symbiotic shopping relationship. I have good luck, generally, when I go to a thrift store. I can find stuff that I want that actually fits most of the time. I also have the ability to share that luck with the people who accompany me. (Hope I didn't just jinx myself!) Anyway, I helped Kat find some really sweet deals and she kept me from buying half the store. We had a great time!

Morgan (Kat's puppy) and Jaws (my puppy) got along well, although Jaws wouldn't chase Morgan as much as she wanted. She darted from room to room, play-bowing to Jaws to chase her, but he just wagged his tail and watched, mostly.

We had a fabulous turkey dinner followed by a showing of "The Life Aquatic," for which My Belovéd dressed up once again as Steve Zissou. I promptly fell asleep after Esteban was eaten and did not awaken until after the end credits. I think I'm all Zissou-ed out.

Friday, October 28, 2005

"A disaster! It's a disaster!"

I have relatives living in New Orleans and their lives were devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

My Uncle John escorted my Great Aunt Ann back down to her apartment near the French Quarter. One of her windows was broken, her awning had collapsed and her fridge needed to be cleaned out, as all the food had rotted. It took 2 days to clean the fridge and she still wasn't satisfied. She stomped through her house muttering "A disaster! It's a disaster."

Meanwhile, my cousin Neil, his wife Allison, and their 2 children, Neil Jr, and Jennifer were much less fortunate. The items they were able to salvage from their house were all from the attic and were not enough to even fill the bed of a pickup truck. Their house is ruined. Their second floor collapsed into their first floor. Their walls are covered with black mold. All of their belongings are waterlogged and unsalvage-able.

Neil Sr. sent pictures back with my Uncle John of the devastation. There were cars on top of fences, through roofs, and in swimming pools. There were houses in the middle of the streets they once lined. On the houses were the spray-painted marks of the search and rescue teams, noting the date, their initials and the number of living and dead they found. There were warnings spray-painted on some houses. There were invitations to loot on others. Some houses became billboards, advertising where to reach the former occupants; leaving word that pets had been found; thumbing their noses at the storm that had robbed them of their residence and their wordly possessions, but not their lives or their dignity.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Halloween Part I

This weekend was FABULOUS!!! I really didn't want to start out this week, but here I am stuck in the middle of it already.

Heather & Charles' party was a whole lotta fun! Their costumes were smashing, as usual. Charles has honed his sewing skills over the past few years. He said he made "everything but the boots, the socks and the underwear." Heather outdid herself once again in a stunning cream number made with material she found for a steal at WalMart. The great deal allowed her to splurge on the underfabric of her dress, which on sale cost $20/yd.

I felt Karen's baby move in her belly, which was one of the coolest things ever! Plus, the baby was wearing a costume too. Underneath her geisha robe, she wore a plain white tee shirt with a thought bubble drawn on it. In the thought bubble were the words "This is my constume!"

I went as a Sith-in-training. Not nearly enough face makeup, but it was cool. I found a bracelet at The Mission, an alternative clothing store where my little sis, Adrienne, works. I used the bracelet as the basis for my face makeup by repeating the pattern of the design in the "tattoo" on my face, centering the design around my eye. Carl (my Belovéd) was kind enough to paint the design on my face with the stage makeup from my Makeup for Stage & Screen class. I returned the favor by frosting his beard so that he more resembled Steve Zissou, Bill Murray's character from The Life Aquatic. I also knit the obnoxious red cap that literally topped of his costume. Not everyone at the party knew who he was supposed to be, though. One of the first comments as he walked through the door was "Hey Papa Smurf!" Following that, there were several requests for him to do the voice of Travelosity's Roaming Gnome.

As the evening wore on, we crowned the new Queen of Halloween (I was the Queen last year, so I got to do the honors). Actually, the new queen was supposed to play Dracula in an impromtu wedding ceremony revolving around the theme of the party: The Vampire's Wedding. A Bride of Dracula, a Best Man, A Maid of Honor and a Minion were assigned by the draw of "toe tags." A hasty and amusing ceremony was performed with all lamenting that it was not caught on video. After the ceremony, Her Majesty called for the start of the Halloween games. The Ring Toss was a disaster for everyone but those who used The Force (ahem, ahem). Out of 45 tries (15 people each armed with 3 rings) I was the only one who got a ring on the pole. And I'll be damned if it wasn't a fluke. It was my first toss and I wasn't even aiming. The subsequent tosses were more calculated, but less successful. I won a plastic chalice filled with candy that came in rather handy when Her Majesty opened the Candy Casino. Black Jack was the featured game of the night, although a feeble attempt was made to play roulette. My other sister, Erin, cleaned up and walked off with all the Mini Twixes (which had a value that translated to $10 each in American currency). [Hershey kisses were worth $1; Mini KitKats were valued at $2; and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups were worth a generous $5.)

I will post pictures when my father emails them to me.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Latest knittings

As you may already know, my most recent obsession is knitting socks. I knitted my first pair this past week...sort of. The first sock that I knitted is an oatmeal color and is actually a little too short for my foot. I wear it anyway. My second sock is a chestnut-chocolate color and is the right size. A mate for the second sock is in the works, but I fear I may not have enough yarn for a second of the same color throughout. I may have to use the leftover oatmeal color to finish the toe. I'll post pics when I can get my hands on a digital camera...which will hopefully be this weekend.

This weekend will also be filled with Halloween fun as very dear friends of mine are gathering for the annual Hallow's Eve party at Heather and Charles' house. I was Queen of Halloween last year and this years duties will include crowning the new King or Queen. We will also be debuting our latest short film "The Newlydead Game." It turned out extraordinarily well since the whole thing, from conception to completion, only took about 6 hours. I also look forward to Heather & Charles' costumes. Each year they make their own period pieces. After debuting them at their annual party, they take them down to New Orleans for the Halloween bash that is nearly as large as Mardi Gras. I'm not sure if their plans have changed this year, due to Hurricane Katrina.

My Halloween costume is still in the works. I currently lack the drive to do much of my own sewing. [I think that may become a New Year's resolution, and a rather good one. ] I usually just slap together a few staples from my costume chest [okay, it's not really a chest, it's more like a cardboard box in my attic.] This year the only idea that has stuck is a Sith. My Belovéd has created a Light Saber for me and it really would be a shame not to show it off. As for female Siths, it really was a shame that George Lucas didn't explore that possibility further.

The hour of "CSI" draws nigh.

à bientot