Mutterings of a Mad Woman

Gather round kiddies. Ol'Ghoul is going to tell you a tale that is like a teaching fairytale for adults: interesting characters, surprises, that moment where our protagonist gets into a bad situation because they didn't do what they should have...all the good stuff. The moral of my tale? Get dressed by 11 am even on your day off.

Once upon a time, there was a woman who'd had a whirlwind week (read: month). Her house was ramshackled. Her front lawn neglected. And she was expecting a visitor later in the day, a visitor who had never seen her home before and might be bringing a camera. The visitor - we'll call her Amy - was set to arrive around 5 pm.

The woman began cleaning her house early that morning. She had errands to run also, and thought about getting dressed. It was getting close to noon, after all. She decided to wait. She'd only be getting dirtier as the house got cleaner, and there was much left to do. And she wanted to make a good impression, of course.

It's important to make a good impression, isn't it?

Dusting, sweeping, sorting, washing, stopping only to brush her teeth (no time for the hair). 

Doorbell rings. 

The woman pauses her work, looks toward the sound, then looks down at her Popeye-themed pajama bottoms and oversized dress shirt she's wearing (she can't see the dirt, but she can feel it). 

It's only 11 am. No packages expected. No visitors until later. Just leave it.

Doorbell rings again.

She throws on her red hoodie as she moves to the front door.

A man in a black helmet (no not Vader) and sun glasses is at her door, holding a large envelope. 

A bike courier?

They share salutations and he asks if she is Ghoul Friday, which catches her off guard a little, but postal carriers do sometimes address her by that name.

She tells the man yes, and he hands her the large envelope, decorated with spooks and ghouls, her name in the branches, her address on the tombstone (blurred in the image so I could show it to you).

"Isn't that something!" she exclaims, remarking on the drawings. 

(picture from adaytimesinner on deviant art)

I had a grand theme planned for this year. Several large sculpting projects. One huge build. 

When September 1st hit, I realized I wasn't going to have the time or the budget to execute the plan this year (but maybe next year). As the start of September crept closer to mid-September, I started to panic. I couldn't decide on what to do. Finally I asked myself "if you could incorporate any theme into your Halloween party decor, just for your own enjoyment (as opposed to what I think would look really cool), what would it be?"

Well, THAT'S easy. Twin Peaks.

Huh. 

And just like that, this year's theme was decided.

I'm a big Twin Peaks fan. I would drop everything and run away with Agent Dale Cooper in a heartbeat. I've been to the real Twin Peaks (twice), sat in the real Double R Diner, and had coffee black as midnight on a moonless night with a plate of cherry pie.

I've refined the theme a bit, of course. I could do a general Twin Peaks party, but I wanted to stay true to the Halloween element. I'm designing the decor around the Black Lodge/White Lodge concept (for those who never watched the show, basically it's believed there are good and bad realms the spirit must to pass through, and where evil/goodness presides).

Yesterday (our Thanksgiving Monday) while Canadians everywhere were chowing down on Turkey dinners, I was painting.

I was able to get a number of figures completed (and a few close to completion). As you may know, I'm having my Lucky 13 sale on Etsy up until October 13th, at which point I will put the shop in vacation mode until after my last show of the season.

When they invented Halloween products for dogs, they had people like me in mind. They saw me a mile away.

My budget for this year's Halloween decor is tight. I mean stranglehold-tight. And with the exception of a couple purchases for this year's theme, I put myself on a Halloween diet: no spending besides what is on the list. 

But...