Halloween

As we all know, a certain holiday is right around the corner .... Halloween. And I simply must weigh in.

I have never really understood the whole adult halloween costume craze. In college I had several friends who were quite into dressing up for halloween, and I could never really get into it. I just never saw the value in running around to thrift shops, yard sales, craft supply stores, etc. -- in search of elements of perfect costume. I never really got into the spirit of the thing.

That said, this year I am on the guest list for TWO halloween parties, both of which are coming up this weekend. And I am not going to complain. The social deities have blessed me with a chance to get out there, have a couple beers, and chill with friends.

I must say, however, that I *dreaded* the prospect of having to find a costume. With this time off, fortunately, I was able to get a jump on the situation. I knew I wanted a store-bought costume, I just did not see myself putting one together from scratch. And while I certainly was in for something cheesy, I figured I could build on some cheesy store-bought costume and maybe make it a little less silly-looking (some would argue, however, that the whole point of dressing up is to look silly).

So, without further delay, I will tell you the costume I've selected: I will be dressing up as a mustard bottle, like you see at a diner -- that big yellow bottle, goes with the red ketchup bottle, both are solid in color and have a conical spout. The costume itself is a foam bottle-looking suit with a conical hat with a hole at the top (the spout!)

But we're not done yet....I told you I was looking to build on a store-bought costume. I won't just be mustard ... I am planning on being a bottle of hot mustard, complete with flames on the bottle. (Being the hot guy that I am, ha ha, why not?) But not only that .... I will also have a (strategically-placed) sash that says, "Squeeze Me!", which was an integral part of a mustard bottle way back when squeezable mustard bottles first came out. I think it will all be worth a chuckle. Fortunately, I have an excellent sister who is a whiz with sewing and costumes, and simply thrives at projects like this. Thanks to her in advance! (For my third grade costume, she made, from scratch, a shark costume that to this day my mom raves about as one of the cutest things ever.)

I have also heard rumors of costumes such as .... a guy and girl going as Hugh Hefner and a Playboy Bunny; the lead singer of a rock group I've never heard of, a Star Wars character -- I think somebody like Han Solo, a transporter I think, I'm not sure. One girl I talked to is going to go as a "White Lie", where she'll wear a white dress and have some sign on her like, "Oh, I'll definitely call you" or something like that. I always found costumes like that clever, you have to think about it a bit.

I'm sure it will be a good time. I figure I just need to loosen up a bit. Part of my problem I think is that I'm hesistant to just let myself be embarrassed by dressing up silly (like being a mustard bottle) but I have to remember: it's all in good fun. I took improv comedy for the same reason -- as we learned in the class, sometimes you go out there and just embarrass yourself, but you're better for it.