Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

The Martial Artist
in his doctor costume

After we left the retirement party for The Gryphon's bosses, we drove to the home of The Book Lover and The Martial Artist for their Halloween party.

There were already quite a few people there when we arrived, most of them crowded into the kitchen putting together a dinner of tacos. After depositing the sodas we'd brought, I went upstairs to the bathroom and changed into my costume, a beat poet. Then I came down and socialized with people.

Most of the guests had already arrived. The White Rabbit was there, not wearing a costume. Other non-costumed guests included The Warrior Princess, my College Roommate and her husband, The Treasurer, The Genealogist, Pimp Daddy, The Devil's Advocate, Batman and The Paper.

I didn't realize until later that The Cheshire Cat was wearing a costume. He was dressed as his wife, The Paper, wearing a shirt with her bank's name on it and a name tag with her name. By the time we arrived, he'd removed the name tag.

The Dormouse was wearing a great costume. He was Elvis, and he even did an Elvis pose for me when I snapped his photo.

The March Hare was dressed as a character from the SF show Stargate.

The Cousin and the Photographer, along with their two children, were all dressed up, but I didn't manage to get pictures of all of them. The Cousin was a gypsy fortuneteller and The Photographer was wearing a suit and plastic hair, while the oldest daughter was dressed as a punk.

Sporting an ingenious costume, The Court Wizard wore a sign that read, "COSTUME DELAYED UNTIL 3Q 2007".

Arriving later, The Laughing Man and his family were all in costume. He was a tree. The best part was the demented squirrel on his shoulder.

His wife was a kitty and had brought a cake designed to look like a litter box, complete with a plastic scoop for a server.

The children were dressed as Godzilla and as a pumpkin. He had a lot of fun going "Roar" and threatening to knock people over. When he did it to Batman, he roared back at him and put his hands up like claws, and they chased each other around the party, growling.

I also managed to convince The Book Lover to get a picture of me in my Beatnik costume.

After getting myself a drink, I went out to the living room and chatted with the Warrior Princess about such things as nutrition. We both agreed we were trying to stay away from the junk food at the party. I told her that my goal this year is not to put on the holiday weight like I did last year.

Lately, I've been watching Babylon 5 with The Gryphon, and I told The Warrior Princess that it took me four seasons, but I finally figured out who Commander Ivanova reminds me of: The Warrior Princess. Both of them are tough with a dry sense of humor and long, brunette hair. She seemed pleased at the comparison.

I talked to The Paper about wedding planning. She told me how she planned a very nice wedding for surprisingly little, and she shared some tips for saving money. Also, my College Roommate gave me a book she'd used to plan her wedding. She said I could keep it or pass it on.

A couple times, I took out my book of Beat poetry and read some aloud. I began to think it would have been better if I'd written some humorous poetry instead, like I used to do when I was playing Berlin St. Croix in college. It would have gotten a better reaction. As it was, I got some halfhearted snapping from one group and, when I repeated the performance in the kitchen, The Cheshire Cat joking, "It's not a poem; it doesn't rhyme."

I chatted with The Book Lover for a while. She told me she would wear her Arwyn costume on later in the evening. Guess I was right that she's lost all her baby weight, considering that she made that costume last year!

A little later, I hung out with some guys in the kitchen. That was a mistake, since it put me near the food. I tried a sliver of homemade pumpkin pie, and I also weakened and had some chocolate and a few cookies (bad Alyce!). Next time, I'll have to remember to write down everything I eat so I don't go overboard. I've found I'm worse when I've been drinking, because the Superego takes a vacation and lets the Id party down.

Batman showed us all a movie he'd made as a class project in high school (I think). It was a low budget martial arts movie, and we all got a kick out of it (pun intended).

Then The White Rabbit showed the trailer to the fan parody S.T.E.A.M. and started the movie. I didn't want to be tied down to a movie screen, so I watched part and then drifted upstairs to talk with people.

The Laughing Man's wife told me about a seminar they took party in before they got married, sort of a pre-marriage counseling session. She promised to send me the info on it.

I'm sure I engaged in many other conversations over the course of the evening, but they all run into each other. Overall, we had a very good time, and we left at about 10 p.m., as other guests were leaving. Our hosts had set that as the end time for the party so that their baby boy could get some quality sleep, and them as well!

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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