For whatever reason, Phil Collins’ “Don’t Lose My Number” has been an earworm for the past couple weeks, so now I’m sharing it with you in the hopes of it moving on to a new home for a bit.
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to share a Halloween-themed list. I thought I’d share ten bookish characters who might be fun to dress up as, since you’ve still got most of a week to put together your costumes:
Phryne Fisher: 1920s society girl/detective from Kerry Fisher’s mystery series
Pippi Longstocking: Swedish wild child and red-haired bad-ass from Astrid Lindgren’s children’s books
Anne Shirley: Speaking of red-haired children, puffed sleeves are in fashion in this year and I can’t help but think of her every time I go to a clothing store.
Dobby the House Elf: Fashion yourself some long ears and pair them with a bathsheet or two and mismatched socks. (The Harry Potter universe is a goldmine of Halloween ideas.)
Max from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are: Add a tail to a union suit-style of pajamas and top the look off with a crown.
Harold from Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crocket Johnson: Speaking of onesie-pj’s, pair this with an oversized violet coloring implement, and it won’t take someone long to guess. I’d probably replace the crayon with sidewalk chalk myself.
Nancy Drew: Pair a sweater-set and skirt with a magnifying glass, and you’re all set. (Actually, if you can get your hands on a magnifying glass, you can probably get several years’ costumes out of the way: Sherlock Holmes (combine with a trench coat), Harriet the Spy (combine with a notebook), and Miss Jane Marple (combine with a shirt-waist dress and knitting project) immediately spring to mind.
Arthur Dent from Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Put on your bathrobe, grab a towel, and add a notebook on which you emblazon, in your most comforting font, “Don’t Panic!” Bonus points for carrying a cup of tea or getting the number “42” somewhere into your costume.
The Cat in the Hat: Make a red and white striped stovepipe hat out of construction paper, tie a jaunty red bow around your neck and fashion yourself some cat ears and a tail.
Princess Magnolia from Shannon and Dean Hale’s The Princess in Black series: Combine a black top and leggings or a skirt, a black mask and cape, and a crown, and you’re ready to go. Bonus points for transforming your unicorn, Frimplepants, into your trusty steed, Blacky, by giving him a black mask, too.
The weekend started in Salt Lake, with Mexican food for supper on Friday and a trip up Emigration Canyon to a diner I’ve wanted to try for Saturday brunch (I had part of the leftovers on the plane and the other part for dessert tonight). We stopped at King’s English bookstore, where I picked up an emergency book for the plane ride home (I ended up not needing it, but only because I had it), and then I headed back east to Corey.
This morning there was a trip to the farmers market, and, later, to Virginia to return library materials and shop their Friends’ used book sale, where I picked up a bagful of books. On the way home, I stopped at the garden, the grocery store, and the drug store and chatted with my folks. Our cat sitter stopped by to return our keys and I spent the rest of the night curled up on the couch.
How was your weekend?
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Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll head east again, and Rudi will stay here to continue our work for another 10 days or so.
We’ve nearly filled three dumpsters full. We’ve found many of the things Rudi was hoping to, but not the thing his mom’s been asking about, which distresses me.
We’d originally hoped this trip would allow us to get the house emptied and on the market, but I’m less optimistic that’s goong to happen than at the outset. But maybe one more trip after this.
2. The crews, a team of professional organizers and a group of haulers, Rudi hired to help us clear out his mom’s house here in Salt Lake have been as good as promised. The ground they’ve helped us cover would have taken us months.
3. Rudi needed a pair of shorts, so I took a look at tops for Rudi’s mom. I found two, both of which she liked.
How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?
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