A Hallowe'en party, and Hogwartz resort

[vaneramos]

Photo: the mummy and Prunella.

~~~~~~~~~~

Last night Danny and I went to the monthly dance. This being October, it was a Hallowe'en costume party. I finally got myself organized to put together a costume, with Danny's help, that I've wanted to try for years. I went as a mummy made of Saran, duck tape and tensor bandages. He was Prunella, in a lovely, sparkly purple dress and lacy black bra his sister gave him. The hat was something else.

I had hoped people wouldn't recognize me quickly, so I dropped Prunella off at the door all gentleman mummy like, parked the car and followed her in a couple minutes later. But I hardly fooled anyone. Sylvie's jaw dropped. She was dressed as an alien pretending to be a human; just Sylvie with a couple feelers sticking out of her lush, black hair. Apparently my eyes gave me away. A woman I met at the Pennywhistle on Wednesday night recognized me as soon as I approached her. "Your eyes are too nice," she said. And Crystal said she recognized me from a distance by the way I move and nod my head. So those low moans I had been practising, to breathe in people's ears, didn't shock anyone. At least Sylvie thought I was creepy. Sarah thought I was a broken condom.

One of the best costumes was Jon's. He had hit the thrift store and picked up a fabulous magicians hat to pair with a long, black-and-white striped nightshirt. He had fluffed his hair in a wizardly way and applied some eye shadow. I thought he was supposed to be Albus Dumbledore, but he said he hadn't thought of that.

When it came time to judge the costumes, we were supposed to walk in a circle for everyone to see, but Jon cut out and headed for a shadowy corner.

"Come on," I said. He protested, but I pulled him back into the circle anyway. "You have a good costume," I told him.

But on the other side of the circle he slipped away. I tried to pull him in again, but he refused quite firmly and moved into the crowd.

The winners were Michelle and Michelle, as Martha Stewart hand-cuffed to her arresting officer.

This morning I had another one of my Harry Potter dreams, but everything was different. There was no Harry Potter and Ron; instead I was Tom Sawyer and my friend was Huck. Hogwartz was not a castle, but a large summer resort with low green-shingled pyramidal roofs, big screened-in porches and a number of guest houses sprawled around. The white siding had that spiderwebby, stained look of seasonal cottages.

But it was not much fun. The headmaster was a pig of a man who played favourites with his son. The son at least was Draco, but his father looked like a bald, fat banker in a dark grey suit. We were writing our art history exam, were supposed to recognize a bunch of paintings and compare them with another series that had already been given to us. The headmaster and art professor had given Draco all the answers ahead of time. I was appalled. There was a series of scenes in which we attended various exams, and I was barred from writing one because I had been late, when in fact I had been on time.

In one scene I was inexplicably running alongside the highway at the top of the road where I used to meet the school bus. We had a lot of cottagy houses along our road. Missing the bus was a particularly catastrophic and embarrassing event when I was a child. Apparently Hogwartz was supposed to be where I grew up.

Then, in front of the entire class, the headmaster stated Huck was such a bad student that he might as well hang himself.

Huck did not show up for the next exam, and I went running around campus looking for him, peering up at screened attic windows where I expected to see my friend hanging from a noose.

Then the train arrived. I ran to the platform to meet Albus Dumbledore, who had finally returned from vacation. I seized him by the arm and started to tell him all the outrageous things the headmaster had done, and that we had to find Huck. But Dumbledore just laughed and started to walk away. I still hung from his arm. I knew he would eventually listen to me. This was some kind of test. He headed downstairs to the subway, me still clinging to his sleeve. And then I woke up.

Dumbledore was Jon.




Magician Jon with our friend Greg, another choir member

Comments

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

Uh, Clingfilmnestra? Saranaella? Oh I know. Sarandipity.

[crazysoph.livejournal.com]

Playing with image is great fun, but the results can be unpredictable. I was in a play, during part of which I appeared on stage, with five others, wearing black clothes and a mask. My friend Essie had no trouble recognizing me, and when I asked how she did, she said, "The hands."

However, in another incident, involving a change from wearing glasses with dressing down, to putting in contact lenses, doing "control freak" make-up and dressing in something approaching the twin-set and pearls, I had several people who should have known better walk right past me... it was only upon hearing me speak that they realized they'd been tricked.

Great costumes! Bet you lost a ton in water-weight, though...

Crazy(and sensitive to the hydration issues after giving herself migraines)Soph

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

Um ... well, those costumes on you and Danny are certainly scary. Takes me back to fetish demonstrations I've seen at leather bars (the clingfilm) and bears in drag.

Yeah. Scary. :)

Then again, I've bought a glittery purple wig for Halloween, and I wear eyeliner on stage in a goth band, so who am I kidding?

The bit about being recognizable under goop is not a big surprise to me, though. When we watched the episode of Star Trek my brother was in, Pepper picked him out right away. I had seen pictures of his getup beforehand, so I knew what to expect, but she hadn't. How the hell did you guess, I asked her? "His body movements are JUST like yours," she said.

[shawnsyms.livejournal.com]

A broken condom! Ha!

Adorable pic of you two.

:-)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Honestly! Does my mummy have boobs?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

He tried to put his arm around my shoulders and I had to stop him. :-)

It wasn't a particularly warm costume, especially with outdoor temps in the 40s. Even so, it kept the sweat in. Fortunately I left air spaces under the arms and around my neck, and the tensor bandages on my head breathed perfectly. On the drive home my costume became clammy and unsexy, so the first objective after cutting it off was a rub down.

But the most uncomfortable aspect of the costume was my moustache, which kept prickling my bottom lip and sticking into my mouth.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Fortunately it was a chilly evening and even the dance hall was well ventilated. It wasn't a particularly warm costume, so I didn't sweat too much, but of course the clamminess became uncomfortable on the drive home.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

On Star Trek? I missed that. Which series? Which episode?

Yeah, the fetishy aspect of my costume seemed completely lost on this small town, slightly-more-than-half lesbian crowd.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :-)

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

He was on an episode of Voyager called "Drive"--Tom and B'Elanna compete in a space race against a bunch of aliens from various worlds. Steve was the nonspeaking blue-suited alien sidekick.

He played a dead Vulcan priest in a later episode, or something like that. Hollywood is easily as glamorous as rock and roll! :)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Gosh, I remember that episode with Tom and B'Elanna. I was a big fan of Voyager for a while. Too bad I can't remember it visually.

[handlebear.livejournal.com]

Nice costumes. Scott and I are trying to think of our costumes now.

[ubermunkey.livejournal.com]

great entry
I love the costumes.
Prunella is just plain scrumptious...
I am impressed that you had the uh, er, balls to go out like that, sounds kind of cold tho!
do you know what dijo's inspiration was? If I knew for sure we were having a party somewhere here I'd try to find a nice little slinky dress and make up my eyes but leave my head stubbly and go for the beard, kind of slinky night bear kiker animal look... lol.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Be sure to post pics. ;-)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Actually his sister put it together, mostly clothes she has worn before, plus a bit of costume jewelery. His family seems pretty nice. Too bad they're in Winnipeg.

[leafshimmer.livejournal.com]

How cute! I liked Sarah's notion that you were a broken condom. Sarah sounds like my kind of gal.

Your eyes look so alluring peeking through the bandages. A surprising scintilla of harem-girl hotness.

Danny's costume is charming and most lady-like, especially with the detail of his substantial beard. I do adore that hat! Would love to see bitterlawngnome wearing it.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Shimmer, my female side is not for your pleasure, she's Sigourney Weaver as Dian Fossey, so don't mess with me. :-P