Whine and Cheese

Sometimes I struggle to come up with a costume for Halloween, other times it just comes to me. This year it was the latter as this idea just sprung up on me in my mind a couple of months ago. I'm not sure of the source, but I just thought it would be cool.

One of the beautiful parts of Halloween is that you get to step outside your comfort zone. Now while I may post shirtless workout photos, I rarely go out in public that way. I know I work out, but I always see the mid-section too big, etc. This year, I decided to disregard the feeling and go whole hog (so to speak) with this costume. I kept my costume a secret for the most part, buying the pieces online. So with all the pieces ready, I dressed up and went to a friend's Halloween party last night.


Mark the Satyr
I'm not sure why a satyr, but why not. I also knew there was a chance I'd be cold, but I was actually really comfortable even outdoors.

As soon as I went in, one of the hosts said, "Wow... I was not expecting THAT!" He then called his partner over and said the same thing. Things were very flirty with several of the other attendees, one of the guys even said that mine was the best costume there.

It's probably one of my favorite costumes. It felt good to get out and have fun.

My love for horror-themed TV and movies is pretty well known. I'm always looking for things I've not seen. One of the podcasts I listen to is all about 1970's horror TV shows and movies. A recent post by them was about a British TV-series called "Thriller", which aired on British TV in the early 1970's.

Now there was an early 60's series in the USA called "Thriller," hosted by Boris Karloff. Both shows are excellent and had similar themes -- supernatural, mystery, and crime thrillers. The US series felt more like toned-down Twilight Zone, whereas the UK series seems to dwell more on murder mysteries, with the occasion supernatural twist.

I got the entire UK series on DVD for less than $20 on Amazon and it showed up earlier this week, so I've been binging on it. It's fun to watch as there are some British and US TV stars in the stories in their earlier days, such as Donna Mills, Hayley Mills, and Helen Mirren. According to Wikipedia, it was broadcast in the USA as part of the CBS Late Movie series.

This is probably my favorite time of year, cooler temps, changing leaves, and Halloween! This series is putting me in the seasonal mood.

When my neighbors hand out candy, a lot of them park themselves at the end of their driveways. I never have done this. My driveway slopes toward the house, so it's not comfortable to sit on and it's below 40 degrees F outside tonight. So I left the front door open, making it freezing in the house, but I could sit on my couch and watch "Halloween" on DVD.

I had about 12 kids tonight. About twice that literally walked past my house from what I could see from the living room window (my couch faces the window). I figure I am handing out free candy, including good stuff like M&M's, Milky Way bars, and Starburst, so the least they could do is trek to the door from the sidewalk. Lazy brats.

My favorite costumes tonight were the two boys who came as strawberry jelly and JIF peanut butter. Big clunky box costumes, but very well designed. I closed up shop at 7:30 PM, even though treating goes until 8, as almost no kids show after it gets too dark. One little girl knocked on my door at 7:35 though and I rewarded her by dumping the rest of the contents of the candy bowl in her bag. Her mom started laughing and I thanked her for letting me get rid of the rest of it.

Between knocks at the door, I doodled this, then colored it after I closed up shop downstairs. I saw a commercial of parents who let their kids wear opposite gender costumes, with their son going as Wonder Woman and their daughter as Batman, without making a fuss. I thought it was awesome, so I let my hero Grizzly go as a flying witch.

Happy Halloween!

Friday at work was horrendous. It was like everyone wanted a piece of me that day... and got it. Acting for my director didn't help as most of the headaches was covering for her. Her job is hard and some folks that report to her (not me) make it harder for her than needs to be.

I slept in on Saturday. After mowing the yard, showering, and grabbing lunch, I spent most of the afternoon drawing on my comic book. Around 6 PM, I got my Halloween costume together and drove to northern Cincinnati for a Halloween party. I love the creativity of the gang who goes to this party. My diet was blown to pieces, but I admit I had a lot of fun doing it. And as usual, there was a photo booth:


KY Jelly, Anyone?
Yes, I went as a tube of KY Jelly. I sewed the costume myself, printed the labeling on tee-shirt transfers and put them on, and made the tube cap out of a child's police helmet, a popcorn bowl, a small soup bowl, and lots of hot glue.

The costume was great for various lines, like "Excuse me, while I squeeze through." Others made similar lines, which makes me think the costume was a success.

Last night was the annual costume party I attend. It was a fun bash as usual. The hosts were dressed up as the creepy nun from "The Conjuring 2" and looked amazing. What really made me happy was the photo booth, which was set up like a parlor room with a mirror that reflected others from the side.

My costume was a mime outfit. I felt it was a cop-out, but the "KY Jelly" tube costume was just too hard to assemble at such a short notice. I spent the last two weeks getting the pieces together for the mime outfit(the beret, the suspenders, etc.), but it was the make-up that did me in. Not really being well-versed in applying make-up, it was a mess on the first try. The cream make-up dried and cracked and looked more "zombie" than "mime." Since I couldn't find the right make-up, I had to resort to an old trick from when I was a kid -- shoe polish. I'm sure it's not good for the skin, but ... it worked.




After a few hours of enjoying the party, I came home and spent the better part of a half-hour scrubbing my face. Today has been a recovery day. I was beat from the party, but didn't drink, so I'm not sure what wore me out so much. Tomorrow is the costume contest at the office, but I don't think I can handle putting the get-up on again for an entire day.

Halloween is my favorite holiday of year. A lot of people say their favorite is Christmas or Thanksgiving. The odd person may say Labor Day or Columbus day I guess, but Halloween has always done it for me. Horror movies are playing every night. Costumes and costume shops appear. Certain candy is only on sale this time of year. It is when I think my creativity reaches unusual heights.

So this year, when I was putting my costume ideas together, I was thinking of the most horrible person the public has encountered this year, seemingly ripe for parody for her bigotry and most public spectacles.

I went as Kim Davis, "Christian" wignut and media whore in her daily guise as Rowan County Clerk here in my home state of Kentucky. She's that "lady" (I use that term loosely) who was refusing same-sex couples their constitutional right to get a marriage license.


Bearded Kim Davis

After going through a couple of wigs and finding that ankle-length horizontal-striped dress at KMart (for a whopping $4.99), the costume seemed like a must! A couple of other shirts, some accessories, and an iron-on transfer and I was good to roll.

The party I went to tonight was fantastic, thrown by a couple of guys I play softball with. I was thinking I'd be one of many Kim Davises in attendance, but amazingly enough I was the only one. The shirt sold my identity to anyone who had questions. I had a blast playing the role, telling people that "Jesus loved them (so I wouldn't have to)" and that I was in search of my fifth husband because the last one had gotten dirty.

What was fun was that everyone played along. Most people didn't bother learning my real name, and I was called "Kim" across a room all night. In the photo booth the hosts set up, I gave my disapproving looks, my hands to the heavens poses, and a photo op for anyone who wanted it. One lady was involved in the legal proceedings of the Obergefell case and wanted a photo with me, particular with me in a headlock. I gladly obliged. Other pics involved my being kicked in the cooch, having a dude dressed as a S&M chick up my dress, getting laid by Twisty the Clown from AHS: Freak Show, and me laying sexily in front of a group of partygoers. I can't wait for the guys to post the photos.

Like all good parties, it had to end at some point. So I took off my wig and dress and drove home in my tee-shirt and gym shorts.

The party was a blast and I'm already wondering what I'll wear next year. Hopefully, it will not involve a wig as they are a pain in the butt.

It was a pretty busy weekend, but it was a great time.

• Friday night, mickeymac and I grabbed dinner followed by a visit to the USS Nightmare, a haunted riverboat on the Ohio River. He told me that he usually doesn't get to do these things because his partner isn't much for scary stuff. So I took the lead through the boat, he was right behind me, followed by a trio of girls we didn't know. I loved the layout and the shocks. It was really fun. The best part was watching mickeymac scream and jump throughout the ship. Afterward, we decided to go see "Annabelle," which he hadn't had a chance to watch. Again, more jumps -- so much fun.
  
  
• Saturday was the usual working out and lunch, followed by some shopping for my Halloween costume which is nearly done. That evening, the Cincinnati MovieBears met for a showing of Dracula Untold. It's an interesting twist of the history of Dracula prior to the events of the book by Bram Stoker. It's not overly accurate historically, but twisting Dracula into an anti-hero of sorts was pretty cool. And Luke Evans, the Welsh actor who plays the title role, is pretty damn hot. And he wasn't the only one. The movie also stars English actors Ferdinand Kingsley and Dominic Coopers, both very woofy! So the eye candy alone was good. The guys seemed to enjoy it.
  
  
• Sunday involved my working on the costume. That was pretty much a huge chunk of the day. I spent most of last night catching up on "American Horror Story: Freak Show" and "The Walking Dead"... OMG, that was good entertainment.
  
  
• I took today off because I have quite a bit of unburned vacation time.
  
  
• Tomorrow, I scheduled an impromptu Cincinnati MovieBears event to go see "Pride" at the local arthouse theater. It's drawing a decent crowd, so it should be fun.

Before I get started, I've noticed today that when I respond to a comment, the user pic resets to my default no matter what icon I choose for the posting. Is this happening to anyone else? If I go back and edit the comment, I can reselect a different icon and it works. Weird.

So last weekend, the Cincinnati MovieBears and I went to see "The Maze Runner." A young man awakes to find himself in an elevator, arriving at a camp full of young men. None of the men have any memories prior to their arrival at the camp, except for their first name. The camp is surrounded by a maze that select members race through to map when the doors open in the morning. They must hurry back before the doors close at dusk or remain trapped in the maze overnight, which no one has apparently survived. When the new guy breaks the rules and rushes to help a fallen man, he gets trapped on the other side and learns a lot about the maze and why they are there.

The movie was okay. It's trying really hard to be the next "Hunger Games" series, but it never really sold itself to me. A lot of the bears in attendance agreed that it probably doesn't have the momentum that other series have.

Last night, I watched a Netflix horror DVD called Nurse 3D, about a nurse-by-day/serial-killer-by-night type who fixates on a young nurse and starts framing her for different crimes. It has a five minute cameo by Kathleen Turner and supporting roles by Corbin Bleu and Judd Nelson. The lead actress is Paz de la Heurta who was HORRIBLE. Her only redeeming quality is that she apparently has no problem with full-frontal nudity as she's naked for significant parts of the movie. Her voice is childlike, she can't project feeling, and her sole expression is boredom. The fact that she not only has the lead role, but does a great deal of voice-over in other scenes means she's wrecking large chunks of the movie. Sadly, everyone else is really good in the film, but it doesn't save the flick. The chick fights were fun though. Overall, it's a movie to be heckled.

Tomorrow night, a buddy and I are going to see "Annabelle," which looks to be good. I do love the Halloween season. :)

I've spent several weeks putting together my Halloween costume this year. My folks never really had the money to spend on costumes, so we kids always had to be somewhat inventive. One of the perks of being an adult is that I can spend a little money, but still like to put my costume together myself for the most part.

I wont lie, I love how this one turned out. I did one last "dress rehearsal" of my costume to make sure there were no snags to fix. I took some photos and couldn't decide which I liked more. You can tell me which you think is the best.



STAR BOY

(click the name above if you have no idea who this is...)








I never thought I would ever wear spandex. Thank heavens black is slimming!

bestbear_icanbe, you can borrow the costume if you want ;)

Due to a tie for second place, the voting lasted another day to get some additional votes in, but I was just notified that I won first place in my office's Halloween Costume Contest. Those with congratulatory hugs, smooches, and/or gropes can line up to the left here.

Being a past winner in 2002, I know the honor of being crowned and this time it came with a sash, albeit one of my own making. The prize is a $15 gift certificate. Given that I spent well over $40 for my costume pieces, I can honestly tell you that it was not about money, but bragging rights and the joy of making people laugh out loud when they see you for reasons other than the norm. The fun of having to stand before a new employee class and teach in a skirt all morning was just gravy. Never have so many camera phones been pointed at me at once. I felt like Paris Hilton, only smarter.

Where do I go from here? Who knows. The problem with winning the contest is that you are now expected to somehow top it next year and it always brings out the creative juices of others and the competition can be so fun. Given the often-mentioned magical power of lipstick, I may buy a tube and grow from a petite flower of a brownie scout to VP Candidate for the Republican party.

... 'cause I'm a Mav-er-ick... *wink*

... but I'm sure by then something better will have come along...