Art of the Odd

I do. It’s an HTC Touch Pro, and I’m pretty sure it’s smarter than I am.

And guess who’s a finalist in Susie Bright’s Sarah Palin Halloween Costume Contest? That’s right - me again. (The winner is amazing - I won’t spoil it. Just follow the link, if you haven’t already, and check it out.)

And if you haven’t voted already, please go out and do that tomorrow. Even if you got a flier on your windshield that said you should wait ’til Wednesday. (I only wish I was kidding.)

Following up on yesterday’s post - I didn’t intend to be Sarah Palin this Halloween. And actually, I wasn’t Sarah Palin. I was Caribou Barbie, which I first read as a disparaging reference to the gun-wielding governor of Alaska, and later heard is something she calls herself. In either case, I didn’t actually decide on the costume until Friday morning, but once I’d put it all together, I decided to enter it in Susie Bright’s Screamin’ Sarah Palin Costume Contest.

This afternoon, I got an email from Susie. I’m a finalist. I’m floored. But what did I do? Well, I didn’t even blink. I just pulled up my PitBull Panties and emailed her right back, with a quick rundown on how I became Caribou Barbie, and what it took to get me there.

“Yay!” I said. “I’m so excited!

“I’m a last-minute kind of person, so it was Friday morning that I said to my husband, ‘If I’d thought of it earlier, I could have been Caribou Barbie.’ Then, riding my bike to Albertson’s to pick up some Halloween candy (like I said, I’m a last-minute person), I realized that all I needed for the costume was a shiny blonde wig, and a way to attach some antlers to the silver plastic tiara I already owned. So, I left Albertson’s and headed north on Lincoln Blvd., to the Spirit store, where I found a ‘Trixie’ wig that looked perfect. At home, I found my suede-and-faux fur boots, my faux-fur collared jacket and a dress (I’d intended on a short green dress, but wound up in a long black dress with one side of the skirt pinned up to show the boots).

“The antlers were a bit of a challenge. My first idea was to use a pair that my husband worked into a headdress a couple of years ago. He put screws through a heavy leather belt and into the base of the antlers, then padded it with an old bandanna. Those antlers are big and heavy, though, and I remember the weight gave him a headache. We do have a smaller set of antlers, which I also considered, but then he told me I could try making some with rolled-up newspaper and masking tape. I didn’t have much luck with that (he’s much craftier than I am, and he wasn’t home), but in trying to find some online instructions that might help, I found this adorable necklace holder. Two wire coat hangers, some blue masking tape, silver spray paint and glitter and I had a set of shiny antlers, which I attached to the tiara with pink zip ties. I also used pink zip ties to attach the tiara to the wig.

“I loved putting the whole thing together, and I was ridiculously proud of myself that I’d managed to do it all at the very last minute. (I don’t think I could have done it if I didn’t work from home!) My husband quite liked the blonde wig, which surprised me. (Though he hasn’t yet asked me to wear it to bed.) No one at the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval seemed to “get” the costume (someone did say “Hi, Reindeer!” to me, and someone did ask me what I was “trying to be.” She looked confused when I told her.) It’s not the first time I’ve developed a costume I had to explain, though, so I didn’t mind.

“I won’t be wearing it Tuesday* - I’m volunteering on the Election Protection hotline (www.866ourvote.org or 1-866-Our-Vote), and it’s very important that we appear non-partisan, but I think I will wear a version of it for the next Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade - though I might skip the furry coat, and add fairy wings.”

*Susie does intend to wear her Sarah Palin costume to the polls on Tuesday.

Just to make it clear what we’re watching tonight. George C. Scott looks nothing like Angelina Jolie.

Last night was the West Hollywood Halloween crush. NovySan’s daughter hadn’t ever been, so off we went. We had to park a good two miles away (and unfortunately, the daughter in question was wearing heels), and even though we walked right by 8 Oz. Burger, we decided it would take too long to sit down and eat. So, we found an excellent taco truck in front of a gas station, and fortified with burritos and tortas, forged on to La Cienega.

If you look at the video closely, you probably still can’t make out the protesters in front of the laser show. They weren’t protesting the lasers - they were protesting fun. Homosexuality, yes, but also a long list of other sins, all of which would be punished in fire and vengeance. They were quiet, though, and the crowd seemed to be leaving them alone. At the end, some of you will recognize NovySan, as a Chaplin impersonator (a very specific Chaplin impersonator - his great-grandfather, in fact), and his daughter (who morphed during the course of the day from an undead pin-up to a vintage Bond girl).

And me? I was Caribou Barbie.

(I did manage to get that left antler bent into a more natural shape this morning. The basic shape cam from Crafting for Cheapskates.)

According to my calendar, it is. And that means NaNoWriMo’s coming, and so is NaBloPoMo, and yes, I’m intending to do both.

To kick it off a few days early (and try to get myself back in the habit with this blogging thing), I’m taking a cue from Sarah Morgan’s post “10 Years Ago Today,” which was brought to my attention by Be the Boy. NovySan went into his IMDB record to find out what he was doing, but since mine doesn’t go back that far, I had to do some math.

2008-10=1998, give or take a few days, and we end up with Halloween 1998. (We’ll call it Halloweek, just to cover our bases.) That was my first year in law school, and the year my first marriage fell apart. Or, at least, it was the year the cracks really started to show. Sometime after Thanksgiving 1998, I was sitting in front of my computer sobbing, looking up California divorce info on a dial-up connection - but I didn’t file the paperwork until 2001. Halloweek 1998, though, I was coming up on my 6th anniversary (yes, we got married on Halloween), and I really can’t remember what we did for it.

I’m also not sure where I thought I’d be in 2008, but this is where I’ve ended up - I’ve just reactivated my legal license (and it’s no easier to find a job now than it was when I passed the Bar in 2001), I’m very happily remarried, and the only thing I know about 2018 is that it’s 10 years away, and that’s plenty of time to get wherever I’m going.