But who says you have to choose? In one epic night I celebrated halloween, watched the game in a rowdy crowd and ... didn't run a marathon.
Getting a costume
The day begun with errands, like any other weekend day. In the morning, I went to a car mechanic and got my windscreen repaired. When it was done, I started my search for a costume. I had a plan, carefully crafted the night before. I would dress up in the most classic of all halloween costumes. The vampire. But not just any vampire. I would go as Edward, the puritan, teenage dream of a vampire.
I thought I was being really smart. Edward doesn't have wings or fangs and he wears regular clothes. He glimmers in sunlight, but guess what, halloween is at night. How hard could it be? All I would need was a yellow glow in my eyes, fancy hair and an incredibly handsome, pale face.
I'm already very handsome so that part was easy. It was much harder to get the eyes right. I went to Look Sharp in Albany first. It had everything for any costume or party. The only problem was that everyone knows that. It was like Christmas day shopping. Impossible to move. And yellow contacts were sold out.
Next door there was a pharmacy, where they also sold coloured lenses. Here there was no crowd, but crazy lenses were sold out anyway. Undeterred I visited another Look Sharp store and 4 more pharmacies before I found a pair of honey glamour lenses. They would have to do. I also bought some cheap black and white facepaint to get some of that paleness going for me.
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| Finally got my Halloween costume |
Hi Jenni
When I got home, I packed a bag with my new costume and my outfit for the game later. Then I waited for Jenni to come and pick me up. She's a cool girl, that I recently met at a Research Association function. This whole day happened because of her and her man Nic. When I said, that I had no one to watch the game with they invited me not just to the game, but to an entire epic night.
At four, she picked me up and took me to West Auckland, to watch a game of netball. It's the first game of netball I have ever watched. Netball is huge here. So big, that nobody knows what basketball is. The two games are very similar, when you are just watching. Two teams throwing a ball around and trying to shoot it through the hoop of the other team. But from a players perspective I imagine it will feel very different. Basketball feels fast and physical, netball is about technique and tactics.
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| Well played Jenni |
Jenni's team won a crushing victory. Meanwhile, I was being entertained so much by my fellow spectators that I must have missed at least a third of the game. On my right two cheery Maori were telling me all about the game and the players and on my right a flamboyant gay was joking with me. Hilarious.
Dress up
Back at Jenni's place we changed into our costumes. I tried for an hour to apply the facepaint in an even, unnaturally cold blooded way. It didn't work. Jenni succeeded in applying her makeup, but I gave up on the white. But I did get the contrast right. I think some dark shading around the eyes and black eyebrows go a long way to make you look paler. I'll let you be the judge of that.
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| Yes, it's too subtle and the eyes look almost natural I should get points for effort though - applying makeup is not easy |
The game
After two great Halloween parties, we changed once again. This time into All Blacks fan wear. I felt awesome in my new All Blacks jersey. I borrowed a New Zealand flag from Jenni to wear as a cape and later we put on temporary tattoos as well.
It was a great game. An overpowering performance by the All Blacks. I couldn't have wished for a better game. But I do wish I had been less tired. My eyelids were so heavy during the halftime break I almost fell asleep on my feet. It had been a long day. And night. So all in all, I fancied taking a cap home to my bed more than joining the marathon runners. They were running in the streets as the sun rose over Auckland.
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