Rock the bus!

For xtracyx. 'cuz she asked to see pictures. Also for all of you, since you were all so nice and supportive of my costume.

I wish it had turned out better...but if I may say, it was none too shabby. I didn't spend much money at all this year. I got the wig on sale for 7.69, the eyepatch was from the Wal-Mart first aid department for 2.77 covered with white and red felt at 28 cents a sheet, and then my nurse's hat was another 28-cent sheet of felt. I got my snazzy garter belt (which I know you can't see....but I am sooooo in love with garter belts now) on clearance at my department store, no less, so it only cost me 5.09. And then the stockings cost me another 4.96. I couldn't be bothered buying "appropriate shoes" 'cuz I'm not much of a white-shoe kind of girl. A bit of sewing here, and a bit of glue-gunning there and I was all set. Only thing I regret was the dress. In actuality, it was my brother's lab coat that he uses for his lab sessions at the university. Taking that into consideration I couldn't alter it to my heart's content. Hence, I hemmed that thing like you would not believe just so there would be at least some chance that my attention to detail (She DOES wear stockings and a garter belt in the movie) would not be in vain. I couldn't cut the sleeves, so they were longer than Elle's, and there was only so much rolling-up I could do. The worst part was that my mom and I couldn't take it in enough for my liking. Alas, I was Elle in a frumpier nurse's uniform than on film.

Anyway, yes, that pic wasn't taken on the day of the club crawl...so you could consider it my "dress rehearsal." That's me and my baby sis (as Avril Lavigne) on Halloween night as we waited for the Trick or Treaters. For other pics, both of Halloween night and the few that I have of the crawl thus far, may I direct you to my Buzznet lineup to your left. Hopefully Daisy will have some better pics that I can share with you all. I'm not all that happy with how mine turned out.

The club crawl was, as always, a blast. This was my 3rd Halloween crawl to date, and my 5th crawl ever. Even if I get too old for the whole crawl thing, I can't imagine celebrating Halloween any other way anymore. There just aren't a whole lot of great (and fun, fun is key) options for adults to get dressed and have some Halloween fun of their own. I figure I've got a good couple of Halloween crawls left in me at least.

What I've learned about garter belts and stockings: They are absolutely annoying to connect...but I love how I look in them. So, if ever I wear them just for you you better dang appreciate them and not take them off too quickly. There's a lot of effort in putting together that "look" on your behalf.

We were pretty lucky this year...our crawl's stops were Tantra, Tequila, the Palace, and the Crazy Horse. Tantra is the renovated Drink. I love what they've done with it! Definitely contemplating having my birthday dinner there next year. The bar for "classy" here in Calgary is surely raising. I noted that they were offering bottles of Cristal for 475 (roughly 340 American dollars). Does that sound reasonable? I've never had Cristal yet. When I make it big, baby, when I make it big. Anyway, not to scare you all away, their food prices are very reasonable and other "normal" drinks are typically priced. Since the crawl started at 1 we hadn't had time to eat yet (not good when a lot of drinking is in order) so we got an order of vegetarian samosas and nan bread to split and it only cost us 15 dollars altogether.

Also, that way me and my friends who still enjoy dancing don't have to go anywhere once dinner is said and done! Hmm yes, birthday at Tantra is sounding better and better. Too bad I still have 5 months to go still. If I haven't had a Senor Carlos fix in that time I'm sure I'll be dying to go back there again instead.

Oi, I digress. Ok, yes, Tantra was fantastic. Tequila was fabulous, as is to be expected. Palace is still sticky and disgusting...an absolute shame, really. Crazy Horse was a great new experience. More on that later.

Public service announcement: Would the parents of poor little Gagandeep please consider addressing him by his middle name from now on? It's either that or be prepared to pay some hefty therapist bills in the future 'cuz your son is going to have a hell of a time getting through school. Especially in jr. high...jr. high kids are heartless.

That's right, somewhere out there in Calgary is a little elementary school kid named Gagandeep and he takes the bus to school. We know this 'cuz we sat in his seat from Tantra to Tequila. Unfortunately for him, his seat is now nameless since the guys on the bus thought his name was too priceless not to snatch and stick onto his own cowboy hat. And I realize it sounds a bit racist to suggest that little Gagandeep change his familiar name since his name, I assume, has a lot of cultural background behind it...but it just won't fly around here. He better be a strong-spirited little guy, is all I'm going to say on that matter.

"This is good...but I need a better name" says the drunk "cowboy" on the bus "Help me find 'Twoballsdeep' or something like that...I need to be 'Twoballsdeep.'"

There were some great costumes out that day...John Travolta and Johnny Depp were all over the place. I saw Agent Sands (Once Upon A Time In Mexico) and Captain Jack (I assume that's his name in Pirates of the Caribbean which I still have not seen.) Where was Edward Scissorhands?! I also saw Vincent Vega (picture on my Buzznet) and Tony Manero. Where was Danny Zucko? Needless to say, I really dug Tony Manero. Unfortunately, everytime I got my camera to snap a picture of him dancing there would be a sudden flood of people out on the dancefloor.

Mugatu (Zoolander...sooo cool) and Speedy Gonzalez were there...I loved that. The Ambiguously Gay Duo (Saturday Night Live) were in attendance and lucky for them they managed to stay away from Eminem and 50 Cent (both guys looked amazing) There were some Jazzercise instructors (clever!), a couple pairs of the Fook twins (Goldmember...brilliant), Strawberry Shortcake (I was in absolute awe...I was Strawberry Shortcake one Halloween as a little girl. But SHE managed to even be "strawberry scented!" That girl was genius), Foxxy Cleopatra (Goldmember), a couple of Wonder Women (I was jealous.) and waaaaay too many school girls. I mean, yes, I realize it looks really hot, but it's hardly original. And to ease all my fears, I only came across one other Elle Driver on my particular crawl...and her costume was not "complete" seeing as she had shoulder length brown hair. What is up with that????

"Hey! I'm you, too!" says the other Elle Driver. Ummmm....no.

Thankfully, there were quite a few people who recognized my costume. Most of them only knew me as "Kill Bill" though. I could've kissed the guy who came up to me and said "You look like Elle!" All I managed was a "Yup" and a clinking of our bottles. No kisses for him.

"What's your name?....Leah?...Leah, I wanna lay ya." The coroner gave me that line. I was speechless. In all my 24 years here on Earth I had never even thought of that play on my name. Mind you, it would not have been a good thing to hear when one is 8 years old. No matter how cheesy that line was, the coroner guy deserves some sort of award for stumping me like that.

Crazy Horse was a bar I had never been to. It has a reputation of being for the older crowd, older than the Whiskey, Skybar, and Tantra. Side note: when I was talking about Crawy Horse with my brother the next day, he had been under the impression that it was a "gay bar." Apparently, a lot of us had false assumptions of the place since I would say maybe 15 percent of the people on our crawl stayed behind at the Palace rather than continuing to our last stop. Those of us who did come along were pleasantly surprised. I didn't know it at the time, but just for that occasion they opened up Mescalero (Crazy Horse's restaurant) so that they could accommodate all the crawlers. Unfortunately, that was the area that Daisy and I liked the most. It was cooler, more spacious, better music. Given what I know now I'm not sure if I'd chance going to the Crazy Horse again for fear of only having access to the dancefloor downstairs.

Some guy (or I assume it was a guy) got a good grab on my ass and squeezed it twice like it was a bicycle horn. How's that for some imagery? :) I couldn't figure out who it was, but I was so amazed that he could get such a good hold like that on my non-existent flat-butt that I spent the next couple of minutes trying to discreetly squeeze my own butt. My reenactments never achieved the same results he had accomplished.

Also at the Crazy Horse, Daisy and I got "followed" by a 14-year-old admirer. Well alright, you got me, but he sure looked 14. Daisy quipped that she swears she must have taught him during one of her substitute jobs.

"Hi!" he said. "Hello! Where'd everyone else go?" *I look to Daisy to see if she knows who he's referring to by "everyone." She looks just as puzzled.* "Did they all go and leave you here?"

"Yeah, they gave up already. They're gone." Little does he know that our friends gave up and left a couple of years back. *giggles*

And the night just wouldn't be complete without one of those clueless, must-be-so-drunk-he's-lost-his-senses type of guys.

So the clueless guy of the evening comes up to me while Daisy and I are dancing.

"I am seriously enjoying your nurse's outfit." You know, as opposed to him enjoying my outfit in only a "leisurely" capacity. And then when he realizes he's neglecting my friend adds "yours is nice, too." He starts to pull us all close together...oh lord, he's going to try one of those multi-person grinds....when you hear this angry girl behind him.

"RYAN!!!"

"Excuse me ladies, I'll be back in just a second."

Riiiiiight.

I wish I could have danced all night. Nothing makes me happier than having good music surround me and being able to just groove away. At this point we had been going strong for more than 8 hours. This is what it would be like to go clubbing as a career, just in case you're ever wondering. Unfortunately, my body betrayed me. Mid-dance my knee started aching pretty fiercely. I carried on for maybe another half an hour but that was all she wrote.

It always feels weird leaving the clubs at 10. I mean, the night hasn't even truly begun...but I was pooped. Nevertheless, it was another successful Halloween. I wish all of you could have been there in some way or another.