Well, so far New Rule is working out well - I feel happier (perhaps part of my frustration and feeling of suckiness was that I was actually intellectually bored?) ANNND I got a bunch of knitting done on a very simple, seed-stitch scarf that I'm making of LB Suede.

I did run out for about an hour yesterday evening to make some Necessary Purchases.

I was invited to a costume party tonight - the theme is "Prom" - and originally I wasn't going to go because, you know, I don't have ANY formal clothes down here with me (my bridesmaid's dress is at my parents' house. And I own a tux but it's there too, and besides, I didn't want to go in drag). And I didn't want to try going to the Goodwill and seeing if I could find a formal that would fit me, because, I'm like, the average size of women in this town, so my size is always picked over everywhere.

But then I thought of the PERFECT character, a character who would not need a super formal dress. A character who would be fun to play. And a character who is fairly close to my diametrical opposite:

Angry. Goth. Chick.

(Apologies to past, current, or future Goths: I am playing it as a VERY broad stereotype, and I'm sure most of you aren't angry.)

I was going to just wear a very plain severe black dress I own, but then I decided to hit Goodwill (looking, mainly, for some kind of retro "structured" 50s-style purse for her to carry) and I found the perfect dress: it's midnight blue, velour, long, very plain in style with long sleeves. It's actually a fairly NICE dress, and with different accessories, something I'd probably wear in reality. And it was 2 bucks.

Next stop was the wal-mart: I found black fishnets (which fit badly - bag around the ankles - considering how expensive they were). Bought black eyeliner, mascara, midnight-blue eyeshadow (I spent far more on the cosmetics - which I will probably never use again - than I did on the outfit part of the outfit). Bright red lipstick which is actually a bad color for me (I found out when I tried it on last night) but it will be inappropriate and I guess that's what I'm going for. Red nail polish to match the lipstick (Yes, I know, for Full Goth Effect both of those should be black but I couldn't find black). The two pieces de resistance were also found: a choker with a silver skull on it (woot) and 2 yards of a black lace fabric with spider webs worked into it (which I totally love and would wear on a "regular" day as a shawl except I know I would get some VERY strange looks).

I'm going to wear a ring on just about every finger, and I have a pair of heavy clunky lug-soled black oxfords which will just be the right inappropriate touch with the outfit. And I'm going to comb my hair all over to one side, and have a couple locks down over my face, and I'm going to spray it in place so it will stay.

(The fact that I am willing to wear BOTH mascara and hairspray for this party shows how seriously I've gotten into "doing" this character).

I'm going to slide my glasses down to the end of my nose - I thought of buying a little round pair of dark-tinted nonperscription sunglasses but figured it would break my cool too much to be running into walls and stuff. And I've been practicing a voice - it's about an octave deeper than my normal voice, and quieter, and as close to an ironic monotone as I can manage. And I have some stock phrases in mind to use:

"That's weak."
"You like the dress? I got it at an estate sale. Some woman *died* in it."
"My loser boyfriend ditched me for this new chick who claims she's a vampire."
"That's totally bourgeois."
"Play some Bauhaus. You don't have any Bauhaus? That's weak."
"I'm going to be writing about this in the campus underground paper."
"This is a total bonfire of the vanities."


My "out" (the party is supposed to go until midnight but I am not staying that late) is either to say "This party bites. I'm out of here" or to walk up to the hostess and say "Rhonda, don't, like, tell anyone I said this, but your party wasn't totally bourgeois. I have to go now, it's, like, my curfew."

I don't know if I'll be able to keep it up without cracking a smile. It's been a long, long time since I had the chance to play-act ANYTHING - I did some drama in junior high and high school and enjoyed it and I'm really surprisingly excited about doing this.

I tried the full get-up on last night - except for hairspray - and it was quite a good effect. (I tried taking a picture but I wasn't happy with how the picture came out). They're doing "prom pictures" at the party; maybe if they're in a digital format I can get a copy to post here.