More Halloween Fun

Rest of the Halloween Recap:
The Pumpkin Party was tons of fun. I was amazed we were able to turn the garage into crazy "spooky" venue for carving. The cider was a hit, and our pumpkins were all lovely (if not a lill burnt hehe) After carving we got pizza and watched Mr. Vampire. Mr. Vampire has now become a facebook group, the movie was so funny. You should all check it out if you haven't seen it and then ask to join the group after. ;)
Other points of Interest/discussion.
misa, Faraji, Erik and I went to a costume party on Friday night hosted by some former West High folks, and yes, I was pretty proud I didn't bring an IC townie with me. Though the banana did have to throw down for bragging rights upon our arrival. But, as any good fashion expert knows, it's all in the accessories. Because Erik had the sign and the maraccas, he can claim victory. I went as a devil, misa was a firewoman, (and I pointed out to her that really, with a viynl costume, she's probably be the first to go up in smoke) and Faraji was a vampire.
Saturday was spent doing something, but I can't remember what..(woo hoo for my memory being shot after a week, jeesh) Saturday night is the aforementioned post about Wylde Nept. And that, deer folks, was Halloween. Pictures, as promised, follow now...


and then:

Wylde Nept and Halloween Festivities

My introduction to Wylde Nept consisted of watching some cowboys (and one mexican?) swagger to the stage at the Mill to Kid Rock singing "I wanna be a cowboy, baby" which blarred through the bar's stereo system. I was not alarmed though. I had come to see an Irish/Celtic folk song band, and, given the number of people dressed for the holiday of Halloween, it was comforting to know that the band didn't abandon the idea of getting in the costume spirit.
I was more alarmed when the first song they played was "Save a horse, ride a Cowboy."
Nothing against Wylde Nept, but I have a complete aversion to that song. It stems from my days of riding horses. As a blonde teenager who circulated in the Eastern Iowa 4-H and local showing scenes, I was exposed to both country music and breeches and everything that went along with this set of folks. That set included overly-friendly guys, usually 20 years my senior, in their Wrangler jeens and dusty boots, who were quick with a smile, AND quick with an arm, that they'd throw over your shoulder as a form of howdy. I can't count the number of times I saw this phrase plastered on the bumpers of their beatup ole Dodge trucks/trailers. To this day, that song conjures up these images and leaves me with a slightly off-putting feeling in my stomach. So I just sighed and watched as everybody else began pounding on the tables to the rhythm. I perked up at the end when they shouted "Slaggo" and the clinking of glasses announced what I assumed to be a traditional Irish equivalent to prost or kanpai.*
The rest of the night was a lot of fun. It wasn't too smokey, so I was able to take pleasure in the whole concert without sneezing. They played a number of songs I couldn't join my seatmates in singing along with, but I could tap my feet to show I was enjoying myself. Lindsay even taught me the basic steps to an Irish gig. (Lord of the Dance I am not, but fun regardless) They even did a request and sang "Serenity" for a little Joss Whedon cowboy shout out. Also, the costume contest was funny. First place went to the Pulp Fiction couple, though I pointed out to a slightly dejected Erik, who claimed he couldn't compete with a hypodermic needle stuck in her chest, that this particular Mia Wallace wasn't nearly as tall as Uma Thurman, so their realism was a bit "eh". Erik was only slightly dejected, because, well you really can't be totally dejected when you've won second place in a costume contest. Third place went to both Wylde Nept look-a-like bands, which prompted me to wonder about the label the fans took. Lindsay says they are the "Neptiles" but honestly, I think the "Neptitudes" has a better ring to it. :)
We stepped out during one of the breaks between sets and headed over to Joe's place where Cas, Pete, Beth, Misa, Viv and Trica were. I was surprised to run into Adam there also (sans costume, for shame!). I really could only stay there long enough to give him a hug and pose for a photo before I began to choke on the smoke fumes. My eyes were watering five seconds through the door. We finished out the night back at the Mill. Yes, I did later till Erik he probably had nearly 3 pitchers of beer and a few shots.
Sunday was spent watching NFL football and lounging around. For some reason I am even more lazy on Sundays when Erik's visiting. Not that he really complains about the down time those days. One really interesting thing we caught on t.v was the Food Network's Candy Castle challenge. I am a huge fan of shows where I get to watch people be creative with food items. It reminds me of younger days spent making ghetto gingerbread houses with Becca and Misa for the holidays. You'd be amazed how easily those darn graham cracker walls cave in. I suggest we all tune in to admire the professional's abilities.
More about the Halloween festivities of other nights to come...

*I later discovered this is a particular made-up Wylde Nept toast, but it has the same effect. Everybody drinks. My conclusion, Wylde Nept is a good drinking game with good live music.

**** *****

I can tell Fall is coming. Actually it is starting to permeate the Iowa Summer Air. This excites me.*
hiking to see the color-changing leaves, wrapping myself in big fluffy sweaters and drawstring hoodies, football games, tailgating, hot chocolate and apple cider, halloween (this year's costumes already include Family Guy and Bubble people from Dude, Where's My Car
**
and hayrack rides and October will also be a month of anniversaries.
DRAMATIC PAUSE...and the BESTEST NEWS OF ALL....
GUSTER IN IOWA CITY!!!*** SEEING GUSTER LIVE!!!
concert is on the Pentacrest, which means, not only is it free, BUT, if I try I can get a good lawn chair seat, and maybe meet the boys!! Oh this makes me so happy. And I know someone who will be happy to see Guster with me (if it doesn't start at 6:30) than Lifehouse.****

*A random list of things that exicte me will be a future blogpost. Feel free to take notes.
**Incidently, does anyone know where to purchase/rent a banana costume for a person over 6ft tall? Or where to get pre-made bubblewrap suits?
***This is an anniversary of sorts for Guster, as this will be their third time in Iowa City.
****Thanks for seeing Lifehouse.

When in Rome...

I wasn't actually in Rome. But I did attend a toga party hosted by a good friend of Astrophysics boy. It was a pretty good time. People were friendly, pirates were present, and a golden retriever licked my hand. Sadly, the party didn't end on the best of terms, but luckily it had nothing to do with us and many of the other party goers who were all very nice and the wonderful hosts/hostesses.

Had I been in Rome, I may have missed the news that Pluto is now a "dwarf planent", cause well I don't speak Italian. Instead I got to hear a very logical explanation from a knowledgable source. So yay for science learning for the weekend.

Also went out to Bo James on Friday night for a going away party (been having many of those lately) so I wish her the best of luck (though she won't really need luck where she's going - a lot of coffee and a Boston Globe will get her through).

The other departed friend is hopefully doing well in her relocation. Hang in there girl. Mucho supporto from over here.

That is all for this update.

You HAVEN"T read the book!?!

Dear Indiana, Mom/Dad, Tina's, Waitress, PF. Chang's, Little Tibet, IMA, Residence Inn, B-town Theater, Trac, Erik, Rena, Jon, Steve, Becks, Misa, Aaron, Lenny's, Circle Center Mall,

Thanks for a nice drive to/from Indianapolis on Wednesday to pick up "Alaskaboy." Thanks also for a fine and somewhat windy drive to Indianapolis on Thursday for Thanksgiving festivies with my folks. Thanks also for not being too annoying with traffic or weather and delivering the other travelers safely to your state. Thanks also for not having the police decide that 10 miles over the speed limit was worthy of pulling over the blond in the civic...

Thanks to mom and dad for driving Thanksgiving food across three "I" states and sending me home with ALL of the leftovers. Thanks to Tina's in Bloomington for delivering a scrumptous pie. Thanks to the waitress at the Hilton hotel resturaunt for carding me and taking a long time to find my date of birth. Serves her right, haha. No thanks to P.F. Chang's mushrooms, though depositing them on other people's plates was a tad entertaining and the pin noddle soup made up for this slight problem with fungus. Thanks to Little Tibet for still serving their Iced Thai tea..sooo yummy.

Thanks to the IMA for having a real Norman Rockwell painting, which my dad found worthwhile and interesting to see (as so often I feel I drag him to art museums and subject him to lots of cultural things he could care less about.)

Thanks to the Residence Inn for having a hot tub! SCORE! :)

Thanks to the B-town theater for hosting a lovely and interesting affair called a matinee of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Thanks to Trac for pointing out things that are different between the movie and the book, since no, I HAVEN"T actually read this one (grad school got in the way). Thanks to Erik AND Trac for the combined effort to engrain the words "It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time" in my brain probably until I die. Thanks to Erik for attending some after movie dinner beer time at Lenny's. Thanks to Rena for letting us bug her afterwards.

Thanks to those I talked to on the phone: Jon, Steve, Becks, Misa, Aaron

No thanks are in order for Lenny's being out of my newly discovered Ruby beer. No thanks are allowed for the Friday morning 6 am wake up call for Circle Center Mall shopping, and no thanks for the fact that it was the record low for the past 16 or some odd years at 17 degrees upon the 4
block walk to said venue.

But THANKS overall for a good break.

Signed,
one of your visiting students from Iowa


PS: According to Trac - I should also thank Martha and her Baking Handbook something. :)

PPS: Faraji wants me to thank him also, even though I technically didn't talk to him over Thanksgiving weekend, but this evening - so thanks Faraji 11/30/05

Coming to you Live...

Location: Reference Room - Wells library
Listening to: Lauryn Hill, Miseducation Of,
Why?: Testing out the wireless card, AND working on my philosophy resources guide for class Wednesday.

Props to my friends for joining the blogger bandwagon. I must also give props to Faraji for having a blog that actually keeps up with current events and isn't just a rambling mass like mine. Go you Scandalous sexy almost "21" year old.

This weekend was an entire blast. I have to say, after the blah week I had, Friday night was just what was needed. I did my first client interview for L570 at noon, and the woman is really nice and very energetic and fun, so I think this project is off on the correct foot. Then Traci and I worked on Dialog almost all afternoon (due to her cataloging class being cancelled) We also attended a very short ALA-SC meeting, where candy was involved. We headed back to my apartment and got ready for the shin-dig. Neither of us went last year, and we didn't know we were goin to this year until Suzanne mentioned it the other day, and i'm really glad we decided to go. it was a total blast. the food was good, the socializing was actually a lot of fun...normally I'm not too big on huge group affairs where I know only a couple people and feel like small talk is the order of the day, but this event came off surprisingly well. After the reception a group of us, a LARGE and massive group at that, went to the vid. (one of the local bars) Traci got to let her hair down a bit, so to speak, and we had a really good time. I played some crappy pool, but more, it was just about getting to know people in my program that I've always thought would be fun to get to know, but haven't had the chance. It was also fun to see the professors in another environment besides the classroom.

I must apologize to Erik for essentially falling asleep while talkin to him online when I got home...ya know when you think you were just blinking, and then you realize it's two and half hours later? Oh ya, I know I'm just a rock star.

Saturday was spent with my nose in the books, and dishes, and laundry. Well not actually having my nose in the dishes...ewww, but you get the idea. I also have started investigating possible halloween costumes...

Sunday, well this is Sunday, and I'm doing homework in the reference room, then going to work in like ten minutes from now, then it's home to watch Family Guy and surprise...do more homework...

at least I got out on Friday night. That was fantastic, oh, and traci might say we "broke in" to Woodburn house after ten minutes of waiting outside...I prefer the term "snuck in" afterall, we future librarian types are not heathens, drinkers, or pool players, no sir-e.

Halloween Happenings

Shopping today. Played with a cute puppy at the petstore, and named him "Tuggers", which the woman at the petstore decided to call him since he didn't have a name yet. Funny. Screamed in the Spencers for ten seconds. That was pretty fun. I haven't had a good scream in awhile. :) Tanya got her devil ears to match the red dress, so she will be going as the "devil in the red dress" - instead of the "blue" dress. I got my costume to. Considering I'd started out with the whole "Rainbow Brite" idea, and found that I would have to MAKE that costume, and I don't really know how to sew beyond buttons and hems, that idea was out. Then, I was totally about going as the Bride from Kill Bill, not in the yellow jumpsuit - though it was comforting to know at least the manufacturers thought girls my size could pull it off. It wasn't original enough...so I figured I'd go as the pregnant Bride from the Two Pines Massacure...alas, no maternity bride dresses to be found at Goodwill in IC or places I'd looked around Bloomington. I still don't even know WHAT we are doing for halloween here, besides a few of us dressing up at SOME point, and hopefully carving pumpkins. So yay for carving pumpkins and dressing up!
Even if I have nowhere to GO to wear the costume, I'll still wear it to celebrate the Halloween spirit. It will not be something to wear to class though. Actually, what am I saying, it is TOTALLY something to wear to class, haha, as long as the people in my program didn't get totally offended by the mocking nature of my gist. It's totally the stereotypical librarian garb. It was a thrown together idea, mostly because I didn't really have to purchase much else to go along w. the parts of the costume I already owned. So yay for Halloween and Librarians!
Different than last year's "Gothic Angel" where I actually purchased the black gloves, and the make-up (I did already have the skirt from the previous year's outfit as the black cat - Meow!) And the leather tube top was from the year before that, when I went as the not so high priced call girl, hehe. Now THAT was a fun night. Halloween three years ago. Firstly, I dyed my hair red, secondly, I got dressed in my hooker gear. Thirdly, I strapped on the bookbag and went to take a 7pm journalism test. Oh yea, that was fun. It's really hard to take a professor seriously, as he passes out papers and he's wearing a red clown nose. I don't care what his official title of PHD means, that's just funny.
The BEST part about that night though, and I love ya Mees, but this totally takes the cake. Before leaving for that test, we agreed to meet at the chemistry building (where my test happened to be, since it was the biggest lecture hall on campus). Ihelped to improvse her costume though, because I didn't wanna be the only one of us strutting around as the call girl that night, so I roped her into it. Well, I will NEVER forget the fun I had that night when I got to pop her boobs. Yup. My improvisation was a hit. I never figured bubble wrap was much good for anything, beyond wrapping up your breakables and the occasional Mexican Hat Dance across the floor with sound effects. But actually, it worked quite a bit better than kleenex. I have to say, had I had balloons on hand, I would have prefered to fill a few with water and use those (for the consistancy factor if nothing else). Yay for Halloween and fake boobs!
Oh, of course there were other moments of fun, and some GREAT costumes out that night. Becks went as your standard kitty, Salena, the standard bunny, so we were all in great spirits. The best outfit had to be the guy who came dressed as the "One Night Stand" now THAT was hilarious. He literally had fashioned a night stand table to slip over his body, complete with a lamp, alarm clock and a drawer. I'm not sure WHAT exactly was inside the drawer, but it was rumored to be functional and contain a box of condoms. I hope he won one of the contest prizes that night. Props also go out to Tom for his costume last year, which I found very clever, especially for the "play on words". He went as an "Orgasm Donor" instead of an "Organ Donor". Nice work.
Should I have been celebrating Halloween in Iowa City this year, there was talk of going as "Troop 69" in which all of the girls would be dressed as girlscounts, and of course, one of the guys would dress up as our "den mother" - my contribution to the idea -- the belief that our merit badges should reflect our traditional girlscount talents -- sexual positions. So Yay for Halloween and the Troop 69 Girlscouts!
I think Christa will do Mary Poppins, her costume was at home in Michigan, where she is this weekend, and perhaps I can convince Traci into dressing up with the other gals for the festivities ;) (especially if she reads this haha) Even if all we do on actual Halloween night is sit around and play poker or watch movies, I don't care, so long as people are happy to be involved and enjoy themselves. Yay for enjoying ourselves!