halloween 2009: drowning girl

inspiration:


1963. Oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 67 5/8 x 66 3/4" (171.6 x 169.5 cm).

"Lichtenstein found sources for many of his early paintings in comic books. The source for this work is "Run for Love!" published by DC Comics in 1962. In the original illustration, the drowning girl's boyfriend appears in the background, clinging to a capsized boat. Lichtenstein cropped the image dramatically, showing the girl alone, encircled by a threatening wave. He shortened the caption from "I don't care if I have a cramp!" to the ambiguous "I don't care!" and changed the boyfriend's name she calls out from Mal to Brad. In addition to appropriating the melodramatic content of comics, Lichtenstein manually simulated the Benday dots used in the mechanical reproduction of images."

not as scary as a lot of my past costumes, but i think i still looked a bit creepy! here are a bunch more images from halloween. i think i'm going to do a different costume tonight but we'll see!







makeup in progress:





i tried to do my arms and legs but it did not work out so well. plus, i ended up wearing my coat for most of the night, so it was alright!


dress: for sale in my etsy store
apron: thrifted, 50 cents
hat: thrifted years ago, had never worn it, got stolen last night :(
necklace + earrings: thrifted
shoes: steve madden on sale years ago


salima was supposed to be a member of abba (for work) but was not happy about it. i gave her a fur hat and then we sang fernando.


ashli went as a droog, after i persuaded her that sexy schoolgirl was not a good idea.




there are about 50 photos of me posing ridiculously, i will spare you


smurf and cavewoman?


here you can see my blue hair a little better... and my makeup fading as the night progressed.




i swear i was not the only one dancing, even if it looks like that.


i can't resist dancing to beck


my friend andré was a mad scientist, and our lovely host! his wall is plastered with drowning girl.




i went to a party to see if i could win a prize, but i didn't have enough money to get in sadly. oh well! i doubt i would have won anyway.


close up!


it wasn't nearly as time consuming as i thought it would be, took maybe 15 minutes?


my favourite costume of the night!


did not know this guy, did not know why he wanted to touch my face.


dance party with friends!


as you can see, i quite liked my sign!



hopefully tonight, OFFICIAL halloween, will be just as much fun. we'll see...
what did you go as last night? what are you going as tonight? what is the best costume you've seen so far this year? share links!

question: how do you do a "cut" on blogger?

old people in a cemetery

i took these pictures a long time ago (the 6th of october) and meant to post them then but have been so busy! i think i'm going to make one big post of things i've worn this fall, since it is starting to feel like winter in québec city. we've already had snow on the ground two or three times, and the wind is starting to cut right through you. trop triste. but! i do enjoy winter. i only wish the seasons were more equal in duration in this province... spring is here for a minute, summer and fall as well, but winter lingers on for months and months.



i bike past this cemetery three times a week on my way to work, and i often stop by if i have a few minutes to spare. some of the gravestones are very beautiful, and this one is probably my favourite. québec city is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) cities in north america, so needless to say there are many wonderful cemeteries throughout the city. this one is in ste. foy, where there were mostly farmlands up until about 60 years ago. by far my favourite cemetery is right near my house, where the gravestones have all aged and eroded and some even date from the 17th century. unfortunately it has been under construction since the summer so i can't go and play my ukulele like i did before.








second favourite headstone in this cemetery.





i think another reason i didn't want to post these is because i feel it is a bit strange to take photos of yourself in a cemetery where no one you know has been buried. it was strange, though, because i found a headstone with my grandmother's (married) name on it. that said, jacqueline caron is not a very rare name in québec but it still struck me.

and here is a song for you: old people in the cemetery - of montreal

zombie walk 2009

zombie silent film stars

i am a big fan of zombie walks, even though i've only participated in them twice. my first venture into the world of zombie walks was last year in toronto, when i went with my friend morgan. as you can see above, we had a lot of fun getting dressed up and walking the streets scaring small children.

recently, i was complaining to my friends in québec city that it is too bad there isn't an annual zombie walk here... and then a week later i discovered there was! this past friday, i failed in convincing 99% of my friends to come with me, but successfully got my good friend ashlee to come. and boy were we the happiest zombies you've ever seen. most everyone else had tons of blood or dirt or other various things but ashlee and i were limited to white face paint and eyeliner. i think we did well with what we had!



yes, you are seeing things properly: there is snow on the ground. in october. it snowed all day on thursday and made for some great eerie photos. here are some of my favourites. i wish i had taken some of the group but it would be out of character for a zombie to be taking group photos! braaaaaaaaaainssss!!!






pre-zombie, post-zombie


zombie team! zombie widows







edited to add: just found some group photos! some are great, this is my favourite



can you find me among the happy zombies? it's like where's waldo... but with zombies!

i am somebody

i found this far too beautiful not to share with you guys. watch it! you won't regret it.

halloween is just around the corner.

to be perfectly honest, i am feeling a little disenchanted about halloween this year. i've put off posting this because i was hoping i could decide on something for myself before encouraging others to pick their halloween costumes. also, it doesn't help matters that none of the people around me are very excited for it. in fact, i had planned to have a halloween party at my house but then everyone said they wouldn't be able to come or had other plans, so i cancelled it. i still haven't decided what i'm going to be, but know i would regret it if i didn't dress up! so i am digging up old inspiration. here is a list i posted on livejournal last year slightly modified/updated for you guys!

1. remember that halloween is supposed to be scary. yeah, it might be fun to dress up as kitty or a doggie or a deer or joan holloway or edie sedgwick or whoever, but at the end of the day, there should be a touch of morbid dark humour to your costume. a friend of mine suggested going as sylvia plath with an oven over my head, and i thought it was hilarious! it could be stylish, and morbid at the same time! zombie overdosed edie sedgwick? now we're talking. i'm not denying that it's fun to have an excuse to dress in a way you wouldn't normally, but it is not just any costume party. it is halloween! the point is to be scary. it makes it more fun to dress over the top that way if you remember that it is HALLOWEEN.

2. CHOOSE SOMETHING. stick to an idea. don't wait until the day of to try and whip up a super great costume. (i really need to take my own advice here...) but try and be witty! do you want to be classic, like a witch, or a zombie, or a ghost? do it up! do you want to go as someone you admire but who still kind of freaks you out? that's fun too! (for the record that is kind of what i do every year; go as someone i admire a lot, who i think i could emulate well, but who still kind of freaks me out. it was so much fun to go as frida from las dos fridas, because that piece is heartbreaking but really morbid; she's cutting her heartstrings!)

3. recognizeability. think about how recognizable your costume will be, and hell, if you care whether or not people recognize you and your costume. last year i was the whore of babylon, and no one knew what i was supposed to be but i still got lots of compliments. i did prefer when i was frida kahlo and people came up to me and talked to me as if they knew me because of who i chose to be dressed as for halloween, so i think it is just a matter of preference.

4. dress weather appropriate. there are a million costumes i want to do but just can't because on oct 31st, it's usually pretty effing cold, especially at night. sometimes even snow! think about where you will be, how much you will be outdoors, etc and try and work some warm (or cooler) stuff into your costume

5. don't underestimate thrift stores, or online stores. etsy has some great resources for costumes, and ebay is always a treasure trove. i'm a huge advocate of thrifting; all three of my costumes above were results from thrifting for most of october. combine it with pieces you already have, borrow from friends, instead of spending a bunch of money on something you'll probably only wear once.

6. stumped for ideas? think of your favourite movie characters! a david lynch heroine, like laura palmer, has such potential for a great halloween costume. those are always fun. ask your parents what they went as, if they have any old costumes laying around. brainstorm!
7. dude, don't be racist. are "indian princesses" really a good halloween costume? or do you just want an excuse to wear your trendy minnetokas and wear your hair in braids? is blackface really a good idea in 2008? be creative, and don't fall back on outdated stereotypes.

8. have fun!

here are my ghosts of halloween past...

Halloween 2005: Sylvia Plath







Halloween 2006: silent film star Louise Brooks (complete with intertitles!)








oh how i love her.

Halloween 2007: Frida Kahlo in Las Dos Fridas









Halloween 2008: The Whore of Babylon (inspired by Metropolis and the Bible)





what is the best costume you ever came up with? what are some of the best costumes you've ever seen? do you think there are other suggestions that could be added to the list of halloween advice for feminists?