Mardi-Gras Masquerade Going away Party Madness

In a frantic search before the party to find a costume I made a quick circuit of the Benton Harbor shopping area. Which basically is comprised of the Factory Card Outlet, Wal-Mart and Meijer seeing as it was about 8:30 P.M. on the 26th of January. I had only found out that my friends were going to be throwing me a party a few days prior and had no idea what I should wear to this masquerade.
I ended up meeting Calie, Liz, Freeman and Rachel at The Factory Card outlet. As the real Mardi Gras is coming up soon the Factory Card Outlet had a fine selection of beads. From among the necklaces that consisted of grossly oversized beads to interwoven beads that formed a drink cozy I choose one of a cameo face mask that has an annoying red blinking light. Wandering around a bit more I happen to find the one thing that I though would be fun for a Mardi Gras party. The Two-Drink Baseball Helmet! You know the kind I’m talking about, a bright red baseball helmet with two can holders on each side and a double straw contraption for maximum hilarity! That was my first good find of the night.
Next, I went with Rachel and Josh to Wal-Mart where we suspected we could find some cheap, goofy shirts or kid’s clothes that would make good costumes. Something cheesy that wouldn’t break the bank. As always, Wal-Mart disappointed me for the most part. Except for the fact that I did find a pack of Glow-In-The-Dark Spider-Man Underoos… I mean what costume could fail if it includes a pair of these? This is the thought that I had in mind as I made my way to the U-Scan area, furtively glancing over my shoulders, trying not to feel like a pedophile while purchasing the Roos.
On to Meijer where I was in a frantic search for cheap, garish looking shirts that would complete my costume. I was unable to locate on of those screen-printed tees that look like a tuxedo, but oh well. I was able to piece together some cheap, plain white tees, a pair of suspenders (to hold the underoos on), and some pajamas with skulls printed all over them. This time as I U-scanned everthing I felt a sense of relief. A sense of contentment with the mishmash of articles I had bought. I still had no idea what they would look like on but felt confident that the night’s success had already been sealed.
When I arrived at Calie’s place, she Lis and Andrew were all getting ready. I ran into the bedroom in order to try and figure out my costume and get it on so we could go grab a drink and burger at the Stevensville Station before going to Lis and Freeman’s place. After getting everything just right I wondered where do I put my wallet for the night? Hmm? No pockets… Oh yeah! I shoved it in the underoos, making the whole ensemble that much more flattering!
Everyone enjoyed my costume and I loved theirs as well. Andrew looked like a News Reporter from the mid seventies. All turd brown leaisure suit, mustache and professionality. Now, if he had been drinking scotch it would have topped of the whole thing. Calies getup consisted of lime green tights, a scandalous dress and big crazy hair… I believe their were opera gloves involved also. Lis rocked an elegant black and white dress and a Mardi Gras hat with foil, sparkly wig all topped of withed a caterpillar mustache. In a last minute ditch effort to up the creepiness factor Lis cut a lock of hair off of Calies mannequin head, ratted and rolled it between her hands and then applied it to her chest with hairspray! It was probably one of the most brilliant make-up effects I have ever seen, it looked just like real chest hair!
So we went to the hole in the wall Stevensville Station that is right down the road from Calie’s house. It was definitely a shock to the usual crowd there to see us all dressed to impress, or rather dressed to freak out the squares. We met up with Mr. Bromagin there who wore a previous Halloween costume of the character Rorschach. We finished up our beer and burgers and went over the Lis and Freeman’s place.
It was a great night all together we waited for the other guests to arrive and took off yet again to terrorize the town. We ended up going to Czar’s. it was just another normal night there with a shitty cover band playing and the usual people hanging around. At first we got all sorts of odd looks and even hostile glares but then people began to warm up to us, and vice versa. A woman came up and told me that she had the same pair of Spiderman underwear. I remember Calie and Rachel drunkenly taking the stage while the band was playing. Andrew shared his mustache with the people at the table next to us. Frank helped me rig up my drinking helmet with straws so that I could actually use it to get to the bottom of my beers, thanks Frank. Freeman danced the night away in his pink bath robe. Lis asked a boy to dance but I think the chest hair might have had an influence on his decision. And the the night ended with me getting the great idea to throw my Underoos on stage for the bands last song(thanks to Lis for help with the actual throwing. Luckily the band played an encore with some crazy guy from the crowd singing for them. My night was complete when he picked up the underoos and finished the song with them on top of his head.
Who could ask for a better going away party?

Mardi-Gras Masquerade Going away Party Madness

Saint Joseph, United States