The Halloween season is coming, or perhaps it has been here for a few weeks. As my friend Brian recently said, Halloween has taken over the whole of October, just as Christmas controls the whole of December. And I can't help noticing that a Spirit Halloween store has been operating in the site of a closed Office Depot in the local shopping center since late August.
I have blogged much blogging about Halloween over the years. (Just click the Halloween tag below to read the old posts, and analyze them for inconsistencies.) Halloween fascinates me because it's the time when we pretend that our monstrous fantasies could be real. But mostly Halloween for me has been an abstraction. No one ever invites me to any Halloween parties, and I am probably too old to go trick-or-treating (based on the fact that if I want candy, I can drive to the store and buy some.) That changed last year, when my place of employment held an event in which we were invited to come to work in costume. I went with my Spock costume from 2001—pointy rubber ears, a blue pullover sweater, and a Starfleet insignia that I made by cutting out a piece of cardboard and painting it gold.
Now I am starting to worry about what to do this year. Should I be Spock again, or try something else? I want something simple, because it's just a work event and there's no cash prize for best costume. Possibly the simplest costume would be Han Solo, because it requires only a white shirt, black pants, and a black vest. But I don't think that I could carry it off. Han Solo is a charismatic figure, and I don't have that kind of charisma, or really any charisma at all.
Another simple option would be to dress like Harry Potter, because, well, I kind of look like Harry Potter already. But I've never read any Harry Potter books or seen any Harry Potter movies, and generally have no knowledge of Harry Potter. And someone would say to me, "Are you ready to stop Wingledorf from stealing the magic Thumblewump?"
And I'd just say, "Whaaaa . . . ?"
Or maybe I could try a noncommittal and apathetic costume, in which I wear a really long scarf, and tell people that maybe I'm Harry Potter, or maybe I'm the fourth Doctor Who.
Here I was thinking that Utahns were inordinately into Halloween. Thanks for clarifying that it's not just Utah going crazy. The job I work remotely is having a bake sale and costume contest today, the school I attend is having a chili cookoff and costume contest this evening, and everyone here seems to be going gaga. I am thinking the Indiana Jones costume for tonight - two day stubble, shirt, leather jacket, brimmed hat, tan pants. A bullwhip would help, but I don't have anything to easily repurpose, and I'm too cheap to buy a prop for one time use. I may not have the charisma, but I figure I can just give people a half smile and a look of "I have to go now, there are artifacts to be raided." Hopefully no one comes dressed as a Nazi, forcing a fight to the death our paranormal showdown. -Mike
ReplyDeletegold and maroon scarf and a witches hat if you want harry potter. you'll need to draw that lightning scar on your head with some magic marker. don't worry, your adult co-workers won't have read the books either.
ReplyDeletegold and maroon scarf and a witches hat if you want harry potter. you'll need to draw that lightning scar on your head with some magic marker. don't worry, your adult co-workers won't have read the books either.
ReplyDelete