Ah, I think I have the title for my novel: "The Days You Live". Sometimes you feel like you are waiting for something to happen in your life, going through a routine, or on a steady trajectory towards some goal, and then there are the times when you just live. You just be, and everything is okay, and maybe you even have an adventure. I had such a day.

I've been up for two days straight - which always does something weird to my seratonin and I end up being unusually mellow and easygoing. I was frantically making my Halloween costume - not something I do every year, but there are times when I get a creative idea that stimulates my OCD and I have to follow it through to completion. I decided to dress up as a Starbucks cup. I thought it was so brilliant and original and apropos that I just had to make it real. I put in 17 hours of work on the costume (12 straight through without eating), not to mention plenty of stolen moments constructing it in my head.

I was a little embarrassed bringing my costume to work on the bus. I didn't wear it, because it was too bulky, but I showed about 5 people what it was. At work everyone was impressed, especially with the fact that I freehand drew and painted the logo (some thought it was printed). I brought it to my writer's group, and everyone was similarly impressed. I was a bit impressed at this point at how much attention it was getting. Leslee dragged me to the Starbucks adjacent to the Borders we have our meetings at, showing the amazed employees, and one of them took my photo to send to Starbucks corporate (I didn't get any free coffee though).

After the group (where we actually did prompts for once, Leslee and I eerily almost writing the same story), I went home to Waikiki, to meet up with my friends Cory and Emily strolling the huge (gynormous) Waikiki block party on Kalakaua and Kuhio streets (several miles of thronged, costumed people). I've never seen anything like it. Halloween is *huge* in Hawaii. The best comparison might be New Orleans during Mardi Gras, but without the beads and the parade.

Cory went as an 80's tourist (a level of subtlety he pulled off with pitch perfection), and Emily went as a brain donor, complete with surgical stitches and jello brain in hand. We walked the strip, marveling at the array of costumes. Many were obviously purchased off the shelf, but about half were homemade. Lots of people went in themed groups, like the shepherd with his flock of sheep, or the group of samurai complete with flags and beating drums. What shocked me was the fact that everywhere I went, people yelled out "Starbucks, Woooo!" I was stopped at least 20 times so that people could have a photo op with me. I got hit on several times (mostly involving someone say some variation on the phrase "I want to drink your coffee"), and a lot of people yelled out their Starbucks drink at me. One street performer even pulled me into his act for a few minutes, which was interesting, to say the least (Cory and Emily have photodocumentation). The performer was actually I guy I knew from the slam scene.

After awhile, Cory and Emily needed to attend to Jeep business (their poor Jeep), so I hung out with my friends Michael, Derrick, and Skitz. We just hung out on Skitz's lanai, being silly, playing bongos, and yakking about nothing in particular as we occasionally peered down on some of the partygoers below. It was just a fun evening :-)