Thursday, November 05, 2009

Masked Men (and Women)

I've been very busy with non-blogland activities for the past week, but I wanted to post my Halloween picture before the season slipped too far away. And yes, I'm still planning to finish up my report on my summer vacation--before next June at the latest!

Here is Herr Doktor and I pretending we have pseudonyms. Simple as they were, our costumes seem to impress our viewers with an uncanny feeling. Numerous people insisted I had to drop my mask so they could see my real face, while a surprising number got that Herr Doktor was "The Corporation" without being told and confessed his costume was the most frightening thing they'd seen all night.

I myself was pretty creeped out by his deliberately measured gestures and his real eyes peering out at me through the plastic eye holes. The thought flashed into my head--yikes, do I know this person?

Nothing like Halloween to bring out a different side of you.

My younger son made a splash on bustling Mariposa Street with his fancy light saber, rushing from house to house like a Jedi on a mission. To my relief, my older son returned unharmed from trick-or-treating with his high school buddies in the wilder part of town. His costume (Garth from Wayne's World) was appreciated by many, especially merrymakers who may have smoked a bit of weed themselves. He also suffered from some hazing at the door due to his advanced age. One guy studied him for a minute and said, "You have a mustache, you shouldn't be trick-or-treating," leaving his chronologically older friends unchallenged. But at least he gave him candy anyway. Another man told him, "You look like my ex-girlfriend. And that's not a good thing." After that, my son took off the long blond wig and went as a nerd.

One gripe though--Baby Ruth's and Almond Joys were nowhere to be found in the candy piles on my living room floor, while the loathsome Three Musketeers and Milk Ways (both promptly tossed in the trash) were sadly abundant. I mean Snickers are okay, but those frothy, wimpy Three Musketeers? What is the world coming to? Do I have to go buy coconut and nougat candy at a real chocolatier or something?

I hope your Halloween was illuminating and sweet!

10 comments:

Jeremy Edwards said...

"You have a mustache, you shouldn't be trick-or-treating"

Is that how it works? No wonder Salvador Dali failed to show up at our door, Halloween after Halloween, when I was a kid!

And I'd also like to note that this was the second time I encountered the word Mariposa today—both times as a proper noun, both times in nonbutterfly-related contexts.

Jeremy Edwards said...

Ha! Nougat! The next spamword up—I trick you not—is hanuget.

Emerald said...

Those costumes are quite striking! Thanks for sharing!

I didn't actually have any trick-or-treaters, but I bought a bag of Mounds just in case. : ) Thus I have been doing my best to ignore them sitting on my table since then....

Erobintica said...

My son no longer trick or treats and we don't get any, so no yummy candy for us. :( I did have some stuff left over from a previous evening's event, but it was unsatisfying (despite being consumed).

Sometimes simply hiding one's face is all the scary that is needed. I did that last year and it did freak some of my friends out.

my spam word is

joysan - sans almond joys

Craig Sorensen said...

I love the costume. I can relate to Herr Doktor!

I may have mentioned this before, if so, just tell me to pipe down, but my older brother once made a costume from a suit, a gorilla mask, fur lined gloves, turned inside out, and his briefcase. He wore his glasses under the mask, so they looked glassy.

For the beginning of the party, he barely said a word. Just grunted.

He called the costume...you guessed it: Monkey Suit.

Donna said...

Okay, Jeremy, I'm intrigued--where else did you see the word "Mariposa"? A pretty word, isn't it? Around here it's a short block of big houses where the residents decorate the hell out of their yards. And you know, I SWEAR blogger has an intelligence at work with the spamwords. I might have to try one of those hanuget chocolates ;-).

And Emerald, uh, mind if I drop by to help you out with those Mounds? They don't seem to be popular on the left coast, sadly. I am a total coconut Easter egg fiend, but what's wrong with starting early?

Hey Robin, well, actually the candy isn't all that satisfying, but I do get a nostalgic thrill and tell myself transfat doesn't count on 10/31. Subtle changes do exert surprising power, don't they?

You did not mention the Monkey Suit costume before, Craig. It's brilliant! I hope it won a prize :-). Homemade costumes do offer that extra pleasure of creativity. Of course, the price was right for Herr Doktor's--$3.99 at the Spirit Store. Depression era prices indeed!

Jeremy Edwards said...

I was searching on something this morning, and a reference to Mariposa County, Arizona, came up. (It's the only county that picks up and migrates to Brazil each fall.)

Danielle said...

that picture is fantastic! isnt it awsome what masks do to one? they take away your own personalety and fill you up with a new one...they are scary, sexy, cool..whatever we have on our minds..or rather say on our faces...

anyway..thank you for posting:-)

EllaRegina said...

I love the photograph!

Scary!!!

My word: contlit

Not sure if it's dirty or about literature...

SusanD said...

Great mask, Donna! And your husband's costume IS creepy! Sorry you didn't get the candy bars you wanted. BTW, your columns this month were most excellent, too.