Declaring Halloween in February, I’m doing all stories this week about Halloween stuff. Enjoy!
I recall one year we threw a Halloween party at our apartment, sometime between getting married and having our first child. Not terribly experienced in hosting parties myself, I mostly organized this one by telling a bunch of people to show up and then throwing everything together at the last minute.
So the night of the party found me getting home from work some 20 minutes before everybody was supposed to show up. And me without a completed costume, even!
I jumped into the bathroom and started assembling. First, I stripped down to t-shirt and shorts. Then I taped a couple of square cardboard pieces to the bottom of my socks. Next I pulled a pair of green plastic trash bags over my feet and taped them onto my shorts. I ripped a hole in the bottom of another bag and pulled it over my head, taping the bottom over the leg bits. Another couple of of bags over the arms, and one over the head with a face cutout. Some green makeup, and… PRESTO! I’m Gumby, dammit!
For those who don’t recall, in the 1980’s Eddie Murphy had a recurring bit on Saturday Night Live where he played Gumby as a washed up Jewish comedian. Eddie had a MUCH better costume than I did.
I carried a cigar and yelled at everyone, and generally had a good time. Occasionally (ok, make that frequently) I went out on the front porch to cool off, because it was 20 degrees outside and I was basically sitting in a giant plastic bag. (HOT!)
Sometimes, it pays to plan ahead.
P.S. Happy birthday, Diane
So this is what I looked like… I think Eddie’s costume might have been a little bit better.