Halloween Party

Pre-post note:

Some bloggers have insightful or useful things to say, or they are plugged into some source that few have access to, which makes them a valued information outlet.  Over time they accumulate faithful readers who find their blogs to be enriching or edifying or eloquent or entertaining or what have you.  On the other hand, our blog is rarely any of these on any consistent basis, so LL and I do not have many readers...but we do have at least ONE.  And She is like our own personal blog-stalking stadium crowd.  Around every cyber corner She lurks: a clay-and-ll junkie craving more more more!  She has even tracked us to facebook and made demands about our blog on other people's walls!  Sad...not to mention the pressure it puts on us!  What if my posts turn out to be boring, or unfunny, like the now-infamous and never-to-be-broached-again topic of uninstalling Windows Vista?  Even my wife made derisive comments about that one.  It is therefore with enormous trepidation that I now click the orange "Publish Post" button on my screen, knowing that Stalker Una will see it (no doubt within 15 minutes...as she has probably been hitting "refresh, refresh..." since the last post a few weeks ago).  Most painfully, I actually hope she likes it.  Seriously??  Do I fear rejection from my own stalker?  I gotta say, this is all around a sad state of affairs.  

Actual Halloween Party

With that out of the way, let's get on to the fun.  A few weeks ago, LL and I threw a roaring (howling?) Halloween party!  It was also an unveiling of sorts for our new apartment.  This was the first time we'd had a bunch of people over.  And we decorated (by that I mean that LL went out and bought the finest plastic goods that the Oriental Trading Company has to offer).  

For example, we purchased this lovely black "bat tree" (the thing that looks like a cassette tape caught in a blender), as well as little plastic spiders (sprinkled around for dramatic effect).  In addition, LL made cute drink recipe cards and framed them.  We had all the drink ingredients (not pictured) lined up on the counter and everyone was encouraged to make their own poison.  The different drinks were a big success!  

Oh, I should mention that the theme of our party was "Lame Costumes."  We even gave out prizes for people whose costumes represented a real lack of effort or lack of available costume resources.  Here are the nominees:

1.  Wade.  He is dressed as a human chalkboard.  Required for this costume are a black t-shirt and chalk.  No one really knew what he was at first sight (I thought he might have been a "child left behind"or something like that), which definitely puts him in the running for Lamest costume.  Extra points would be awarded if he didn't actually have to buy the chalk.  

2, 3, 4) Here are (L-R) Jim, Kim and Simon.  Jim is prisoner 24601 (for any Les Mis fans out there) and Kim is a witch.  Way too much effort guys: you have no hope of winning Lamest Costume.  Simon is a wraith, and his costume had to be shipped...a clear violation of the Code of Lameity.  Simon is also our neighbor: our front doors are separated by about 4 feet.  He's English too, so he's surrounded by people with silly American accents.  

5,6) Ben and Ali came dressed as the Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.  Again, not a lame costume at all (didn't you get the memo??).  Ben is also wearing a kippah, a nice touch.  Extra points to them for drinking without removing their plastic teeth.  LL is in the middle...we'll get to her costume in a sec.  

7,8) This is Mike and Meg.  Mike is dressed as a raver, complete with candy necklace and glow sticks.  Definitely a contestant for Lame costume.  Meg is dressed as a victim from the Hitchcock film The Birds, and she completely disqualified herself by wearing something not only creative, but with local flavor (The Birds takes place in nearby Bodega Bay).  

9,10) Pete and Liz.  Are they even dressed up?  Actually, Pete has a fantastic dog costume.  It is both super lame and easily (and usually) jettisoned.  

11,12) LL and I also dressed in Lame Costumes, but we were not eligible for prizes since we were the judges.  LL is "Hef's #1 girlfriend."  She bought bunny ears and a bunny tail, but was otherwise just wearing jeans and a shirt.  I mooched off her by wearing the pink bow tie that came in the same plastic wrap package as the ears and tail.  I pulled it all together by throwing on a bathrobe over my jeans and t-shirt and telling everyone I was a washed-up version of Hef.  

And the winners are...

We wish to congratulate Mike and Wade for winning "Most Lamest Costumes."  Wade sealed his win by abandoning the black t-shirt about 30 minutes into the party and just looking like a guy from Liberty, TX on a random Friday night.  Mike initially felt a little dissed by our lame designation of his costume, and upon reflection, maybe Pete deserved it more.  But at the time we gave out the award, Pete had recently sported his dog-head (I'll post a picture of it if I get a chance) while Mike had lost his candy necklace and was twirling his glowsticks around.  Congratulations!