Maze Pays

The weekend just past was full of activities. I hardly seemed to have a single moment of peace or rest. I'm glad to have social activity to my name, and yet I sort of wish I didn't have to be there for it. In any event, one of the events I was party to was a visit to a pumpkin patch, petting zoo and haunted maze. If I had to say which one of those things was the most worth the money, I would be stumped. It was not a great place.

We actually didn't patronize the petting zoo, as it was enough to see the handful of animals languishing behind the fence without getting in there too. We also didn't buy pumpkins, but we could see them and their prices, and they did not match up. They were rather overpriced in my opinion, although maybe I'm supposed to value them higher on account of their coming from some small-time farming operation. I guess that's worth something.

This Year's Clothes

In past years, Halloween has consisted for me of numerous costume parties, each of which represented a chance to strike gold with a costume haphazardly assembled at the last minute. Sometimes I have just thrown things together and played my intentions close to the vest until a consensus emerged as to what people thought I was. The last couple of years, the costume that proved to be the most memorable was an inexplicably fat version of someone (last year David Lee Roth and the year before, Doc Brown).

It has helped to be the steward of a prop and costume box whose primary function is supplying the production of comedy sketches. It has sometimes supplemented a costume, but is not in itself enough to furnish any complete costume. This year it did contribute one or two things for me and for my roommate. I do wish it could have done more, because I didn't this year come up with anything better than my very mediocre average.

Carving

A little while ago, I carved a jack-o-lantern, along with some friends who each carved their own. It's a hell of a feeling to cut a whole in the top of one and rip out the guts. That's a neat tactile experience, and one which it's difficult to mess up. You pull out the easy stuff, then scrape until it's clean in there. That's the part leading up to the hard decisions, but so long as you're just engaged in this clean-up, it's easy fun.

My original plan was to make a jack-o-lantern whose sole decoration was an obscene written message. I went so far as to figure how easy it would be to render , and I determined that the lone difficult character would be an "O". I discarded the plan anyway, not because it would be difficult, but because I decided to be nice and to live up to the traditional values of the occasion. A consequence of this was a more difficult design, however.

No More

The Halloween holiday season is, as I have made clear enough over the last week or so, a time of anxiety over having to come up with costumes. That alone is hard enough, let alone all the other times when some people are inclined to come up with a costume and a reason to wear it. It used to be, I think that they had to keep such things to themselves once. I do believe in people getting to live out their lives in the manner that they choose so long as it affects no one else adversely, but there's a limit.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that there was a party the other day where people were asked to dress in costume as a tribute to the birthday boy. I certainly can respect that, as I would myself be honored if anyone decided to do that for me. It hasn't happened yet, but it easily could one day. It's regrettable though that this birthday should fall just when I am in the throes of costume-concocting and wearing fatigue.

The Last?

I've described a number of costumes that I've worn so far this Halloween season, and you can be excused for getting the idea that I have been consumed entirely by this solitary matter. As it happens, I have devoted no more than forty minutes to the bunch of them in terms of conception. I think about them after the fact far more than I do in anticipation of what I want to do. That's a regrettable habit with me.

I have given some thought to the pitfalls of costumes. You always start with some uncompromising vision, and if you're more motivated than I am, you actually carry it out. Let's suppose, for example, that you want nothing more than to be the female M & M from the commercials, and you procure the whole thing. It starts out great, with you admiring yourself in the mirror before heading out trick or treating or partying (depending on your age).

The Next Evolution

I've described each of the Halloween costumes I've worn so far this year. There have been two: the 80's yacht-owning rich guy outfit which I had recycled was the first. the second was that tentative, hapless step into cross-dressing, Morticia Addams. Neither of those seemed up to the task of being run out there again, and there was yet another party to be prepared for. Leading up to the party, I gave the matter little thought.

Somehow I kept thinking that something would work out for me- that I would just come up with something. Even an hour before I was to leave, I had taken no practical steps towards effecting a solution. I just figured I would work something out, and so it came to pass that I started looking into what to do with around forty minutes before I meant to head out for the party. The party was set to start at 8pm, and I was for once planning on arriving only when the party had gotten going for real: 9pm.

Dressed

Yesterday I put on a costume for about the third time so far in the Halloween season, and the big day is yet ahead of us. The first two times, I recycled a costume from months ago that was all right at the time but becomes less acceptable with every wearing. I resolved to do better, and so I went with something else when a costume was called for again at a friend's pole dancing performance. It worked passably well.

I had available to me a costume which identified itself as "Morticia Addams". It contained the gown only, which was regrettable. I could have used the hair, to say nothing of proper shoes. I had little time to try and augment it with any accessories. Luckily, it was not too bad on its own, although it proved to be rather difficult to operate in. I worried over the tendrils hanging down from the fishnet sleeves, as they tended to get caught on things. I managed.

Dressed

There we were, my friend and I, venturing out to an improv show in Halloween costumes. It was to be a free show for those so dressed, and furthermore a "jam" (a free play performance of sorts) was to be open only to those so dressed. Now, I had not meant to go to to the show, but I changed my mind at the last minute. Had I resolved to go earlier, I would have ridden with my roommate in his car. As it was, I took the subway.

It's an interesting experience to ride the subway in a costume like that. Most people will pay it no attention. A lot of crazy things are to be seen there, and odd outfits barely register at all for them. You get rather jaded, as I can attest. Still, there are those who do comment on costumes, on the street as well as on the subway. Each of us, I ought to say, drew some remarks, although they were slightly different.

First Time Out

We are now firmly in the midst of the Halloween season. I take no notice of when the stores start decorating and stocking things, because that's a generally misleading indicator, but there are now legitimate signs that it's upon us. When you read this, I will have attended the first costume party of the season, and I must confess that it has caught me off guard, as it was initially billed as a mere birthday dinner. I decided to use a costume that was already together from something else.

As a child, dressing up for Halloween is very important, and then you get too old for it. I forget just what grade that happened in, but I remember the experience of doing it for one year too many. I think everyone does that, and it's just as likely that no one makes the mistake of doing it two years too many. I recall my "costume" was nothing more than my Charles Barkley Suns jersey, and no attempt to appear anything like Sir Charles. That's really probably for the best.

Halloween Birthday

I had known for some time that my roommate Marcus had a birthday party brewing, although I think I was not entirely conscious of its proximity to Halloween. As the party drew closer, I began to consider more a lot of the logistics of it from my end. I had to get there from where I was, spend a minimum amount on food and come up with some kind of costume. I've been the one who shirks the serious responsibility of dressing up on Halloween before, and that's at least one social "No-no" that I won't be repeating.

Really, I didn't do anything about any of the things on my mind until around three hours before the party. I knew very well that, already being unhappy about spending twelve dollars on the party itself, I had not intention of spending more than a pittance on my costume. I had noticed a pop-up costume booth had materialized at a gas station down on the corner of the nearby major crossroads. I had some idea of picking up something cheap on my way to the party and changing in the bathroom. Luckily, I instead went to check it out right after I showered so that I could change at home. As I was browsing, a young girl came to help me. First it was "Can I help you", and then she had a recommendation: "For you we have 'Axe Murderer". She looked right at me, sized me up, and determined that to be the best costume for me. The costume was a jumpsuit plus a mask of Michael Myers from the film 'Halloween', who is known at Latino-run costume booths as 'Jason'. At a price exceeding forty dollars (for an axe murderer costume which did not include an axe) , I declined.