Saturday night was my big Halloween party night, and, well… I was kind of underwhelmed. The highlight of the evening wasn’t even the party, it was the preparty at my friend Mike’s house, where we played a drinking game. The actual party we went to was at a bar, and the costumes were so lame and unoriginal I wanted to die of visual boredom. Back in college there were always a bunch of really creative costumes, so it was fun to walk around and look at them all. But on Saturday night, aside from my friends, all it was was guys dressed up as girls or pirates (except for a few, who were all Steve Zissou from The Life Aquatic), and girls dressed up as “slutty fill in the blank.” There were 2 slutty policewomen in the same exact $50 store-bought costume and at least 3 slutty nurses in the same store-bought nurse costume. Only a few people even noticed what my friend Jonathan and I were (Jonbenet Ramsey and John Mark Karr) (See Appendix A). I put so much time and energy into that costume, and I feel like it got pretty much wasted.

So I guess the cool thing to do, even though, guess what? we’re not in college anymore, is to wear the most hookerish getup possible, then pretend it’s a legitimate costume. I guess Halloween is the one night when girls all have an excuse to dress like ho’s. But all the normal slutty things have been done. And done. And done. And done some more. So next year I’m going to be a slutty traffic cone, or a slutty table, or doorknob, or computer. The boys won’t know what hit ‘em.

Appendix A:

At my elementary school, we used to sing a fantastic Halloween song around this time of year. Don’t you wish we could still do that kind of stuff? I wish a bell would ring at my office at 2pm every day, and we would all go down to “Music,” and sit in wooden desks and on carpet squares, and sing season-specific songs, and if we were really lucky we might get a turn on the glockenspiel, and if we were the luckiest person in the world, we could bang the gong! (By the way, my Elementary school was called Bell School, and our music teacher’s name was Mrs. Bell. So a bell at Bell would ring, signalling time for Mrs. Bell).

Anyway, so then at Christmas in my ideal office environment, we would all take hours a day to go rehearse for the annual Corporate Towers Christmas program. Each company in the building would do one number centered around a theme, which would usually either be “Christmas Around the World” or “Christmas Through the Decades.” Also, we would all participate in one Hanukah song, which might also involve sign language, just to cover our bases.

Then on the week before Valentine’s day, we would all decorate little bags or boxes, write our names on them, and tape them to our desks, and then exchange Valentines and eat goodies! I would probably do Harry Potter Valentines this year.

Alas, something tells me my company does not plan to participate in such activities, but have hope! I remember the words to my favorite elementary school Halloween song, and I will show you the lyrics. If you ask me, I will also sing it for you.

Have you seen the ghost of John?
Long white bones with the skin all gone
Oooooooh, Poor John!
Wouldn’t it be chilly with no skin on!?

I was looking at some stuff saved on my computer, and I came across this IM conversation I had with my mom a while back:

me: i’m headed to san diego tonight for elise’s birthday shindig tomorrow
me: we’re going wine tasting in Temecula

mom: Isn’t that Mexico?

me: no, your’e thinking Tijuana

mom: PLEEEEEEEEASE be very careful with my daughter!

me: i will be!

mom: You driving alone? Wear a hat, so your profile will look like a man.

me: hahaha, i’m not going to mexico!!!!
me: hahahaha

I’m trying to be positive here. The truth is, last year I had a pretty sucky fall & winter. It wasn’t fall or winter’s fault, but the short days and gloom didn’t really help matters. I like the crispness in the air in fall, but not as much as I like warm sunshine. Too many gray days depress me, and I don’t have enough shoes that I can wear with socks. I would say I love the beautiful changing leaves, but in Southern California we have none.

But there’s good stuff about the changing seasons, right? I’m going to try to find some, and list them here. OK, here goes:

I can wear my cute wool winter skirts with my cute black boots and cute sweaters — oh, and scarves.

I can wear my favorite medium-weight corduroy jacket with a furry hood (not real fur, of course. It’s like teddy bear fur).

OK, something that’s not about clothes… Um, OK, this might sound weird, but I like the sound of a football game on TV in the background. It’s somehow comforting.

Shopping for Halloween costumes

Tasty holiday food

Fires in the fireplace (ooh, that was a good one).

Bubble baths (another good one)

Christmas songs, specifically from the Chipmunks Christmas album

Lights and snow at the Grove

Bears are hibernating and do not pose a threat

No cockroaches

I can go hiking, then go shopping afterward without being all sweaty and gross (I know, because I tried it yesterday)!

Hot chocolate with a dollop of butterscotch schnapps (Try it and you will not regret it. But just a dollop, mind you. Otherwise it’s too sweet).

Outdoor jacuzzis — It works best if it’s snowing on your head.

Skiing, or snowboarding if that’s your game

Again, I really can’t say enough about bears sleeping peacefully.

OK, That’s it! Happy Fall, Peeps.

Sometimes for lunch I walk to a shopping center and get a burrito at El Pollo Loco. Then sometimes I walk next door to a shoe store called “Imelda’s Shooz.” The only person in there is a woman whom I can only assume is Imelda, and she’s always super nice, and always says, “Tell me you like anything ’cause I give discount.” (Hmm, or maybe her name isn’t really Imelda, it’s just a joke about Imelda Marcos. I just thought of that! Haha. I always wondered why Imelda was Asian but had a Spanish name). Anyway, I always want really badly to be able to buy some shooz from Imelda, but I just never find anything quite right. I’m afraid she’s going to go out of business, but right now I ain’t got the kind of dough to be buying shoes I don’t really want. But every time I go in there, I’m the only one there. And now I tend to shy away from the store because I’m afraid of getting Imelda’s hopes up, then dashing them.

In high school, a local folk singer named David Wilcox lived in my neighborhood and sang a song called “East Asheville Hardware,” in which he petitioned us to shop there so it wouldn’t go out of business. I took it seriously, and anytime my family needed anything hardware-related, we trooped on down to East Asheville Hardware. And every word of that song hit home to me, because I had been going there ever since I was a baby, and it was connected to a little mom n’ pop grocery store called Miller’s, where they sold the best soft-serve ice cream cones in the universe. By high school, Miller’s was already gone, so when David sang about the hardware store, I felt his passion deep in my bones. And of course, a few years later, East Asheville Hardware was gone, too.

That’s why I’m worried about Imelda. If you need some shooz, please pay her a visit. She’s got some cute stuff! Nice brands, too.

In conclusion, and in honor of small businesses everywhere, here are the lyrics to East Asheville Hardware, by David Wilcox.

An angel appeared
in a holy vision
Stood by my bedside
in the shivering light
Spoke my name
Told me my mission
I could not believe I was hearing him right
‘Cause he said, ‘Go, my son, go…

Always go to East Asheville Hardware
Before you go to Lowe’s

He said, “Go to East Asheville Hardware
Before you go to Lowe’s
You’ll help to keep them open
I’m worried they might close
From the stiff competition
From the national conglomerate
With the full page ad
in the color section of the Sunday paper supplement
and stacks of plastic swimming pools
and seven brands of power tools
and rows and rows of registers
all having nice days
But no, you go, he said to me with light around his face
He said, You go first to that age-old place
To that old wooden door
that you have to close behind you
To the wide-board wooden floor
worn down soft

To the real thing
Good advice, quality at a fair price
And know that they know how deep the frost goes here.

Sure there’s stuff you’ll have to find at Paty’s, Lowe’s or Sears

But go to East Asheville Hardware
Go to East Asheville Hardware
Before it disappears.

And it’s about rootin-tootin’ time, you’re probably saying. Here are some new albums:
Wan & Matt’s Wedding

Fall in the City of Angels (all the stuff that didn’t fit in its own category).

I keep uploading my Chicago album but half of it keeps disappearing… grrr. I’ll figure it out soon.

If you click on “All sizes” above each photo, you can view and/or download the original larger size (or a smaller one).

Enjoy!

I fully indended to update my blog while I was in Chicago (let it be known that nearly every time I try to type “blog,” I first type “blob.”). But I didn’t, because I was so, so, so, so busy that I had nary a moment to myself. I arrived on Saturday, went out for dinner and drinks with friends, then spent all day Sunday sightseeing with family. Mon.-Wed. I worked 9-6 every day, then met up with people for dinner and/or drinks and/or more sightseeing every evening. Thursday I went back to work for an hour and a half, then dragged myself and my full and heavy suitcase to the airport via train and lots of stairs, and flew home. Now today I’m back at work in L.A. So as you can see, I have a good reason for neglecting my blog, and that reason is, I was “doing things.”

That was the first time I’ve offically spent any noteworthy amount of time in Chicago, and there’s a lot to do! And I did lots of it. I saw tons of people, went loads of places, and I even went to the top of the Sears Tower on my lunch break one day. I was a productive bunny! Are bunnies productive, you ask? Well, this one was! I’ve got some gorgeous pictures, but I sadly forgot to bring the cable I need to upload them. So I’ll post them soon.

I realized something on the flight home: I have a friendly face and a place to stay in a good many cities in America: New York, L.A. (my house – haha), Chicago, Atlanta, D.C., San Diego, San Francisco, Kona, Hawaii, and Boston (oh wait, I’ve lost my Boston connection! Must remember to get a new one), not to mention many smaller cities speckled throughout the country, mostly in North and South Carolina. I guess I’m a pretty lucky lady! Also popular. Now I need to work on making some friends in Paris, London, Fiji, and the Greek islands.

When I flew into L.A. yesterday it was clearer than it has been in months. Blue sky and sunshine, white fluffly clouds, and a crisp fall breeze. Home sweet home.

P.S. I know this blentry is super boring, but throw me a bone! It’s been a while. At least I’m posting something, right? Sheesh.