Halloween in the big city

Halloween this year was a two-night affair. I went, in costume, to a club in midtown with some girls from TC on Friday night, and on Saturday night I went to the annual Halloween parade in the East Village before meeting my friend Eddie at a house party in Harlem.

This, alas, is the only picture I have of my wearing my costume, so I am posting it despite my not-so-fetching expression. I was a Freudian slip (get it?). Below, by the way, is a picture of my Krazy Glue-covered fingers after sticking the letters onto my slip. Eddie, to my left, was a homicidal maniac, although by the time I met up with him he'd gotten rid of most of his costume, which apparently was cumbersome. Eddie and I taught English together in Japan, and it's great to be in the same city he is again. To my right is Jake, whom I met for the first time at the party. I believe he went as a slacker, since his costume consisted solely of that mask.

I got only one or two good pictures from the parade. It was dark and so most of them came out blurry. (I eschew flashes.) It was really crowded despite the pouring rain – thank goodness I thought to bring an umbrella and wear boots – so I can only imagine how many people must show up for this thing when the weather's good. Anyone who wanted to could walk in the parade, and my little group chose to do that rather than standing on the sidelines just watching it all go by. It was a good choice, I think: It kept us moving (and therefore warm) and made things much more interesting. Among some of the more memorable costumes we saw: Barack and Michelle Obama, balloon boy (Falcon, the kid whose parents claimed to have sent him up in a homemade balloon), several Tetris pieces accompanied by the theme song on someone’s iPhone, a bowl of ramen noodles complete with chopsticks, a FemBot, a piece of bacon, Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, Popeye and Olive, Salvador Dali, and Andy Warhol. I was surprised to see only one Michael Jackson.

The party was in an incredible three-story brownstone in Harlem. Apparently Eddie knows a few of the guys who live there from college. It was a typical house party – fun, but nothing too exciting. All in all, it was a fun Halloween, and this was definitely my favorite costume yet.