I had a passenger today ask me the origins of Halloween. HEE! Ask a pagan the origins of All Hallows….oooh I can give you a really good detailed answer on that one! But I don’t think that’s what she was really expecting.
Whoa, that’s a lot of information
Well, I studied art history, you pick up weird things
In reality though, you don’t really feel All Hallows out here on the water, perhaps it’s because we’re so constantly moving, nothing really has a chance to settle. Nothing has a chance to ‘find’ me persay. This year, unlike years in the past, they’re silent, and once I’m aware of that I find it disturbing, I’m not used to them being silent. Not at all. But even so, there’s a whisper just the tiniest bit of a whisper
Can you hear them? You can’t hear them. You look at me like I’m crazy. I am not crazy. I may be the only sane one here. Buy into it or not, play along or not, but I can still hear them…
But I try my best to put it out of my mind and focus on the entertainment part of the holiday instead.
As usual, I spent a half hour in the salon chair having my hair pulled and twisted into a mass of beautiful tiny ringlets, which were then cemented into place with what feels like a half-bottle of hairspray. Up until the very last moment I was still considering the possibility of being the Green Faery, but as my hair dresser pointed out, it’s not so much whether or not the costume is appropriate (I could probably get permission from the HM if I asked) but a question of whether or not I want the guests to look at me in that light. So, Green Faery out, Cheshire Cat in. Either one of them required curls. I warned the hairdresser that she was going to need a lot of hairspray to hold those curls in place, as my hair does not want to be curly, and while she used a fair bit I still had to douse it with my own super-hold stuff when I got back to the cabin.
There was a slight scramble as I had to locate either purple or hot pink nail polish (kitty needs claws!), but ultimately the costume turned out extremely well. As usual, I get stuck with the ‘cute’ label, which isn’t always what I’m going for, but is definitely suitable for a work environment.
No one is ever quite sure what to expect from a passenger Halloween party. Sometimes they’re a hit, sometimes they fizzle like flat coca-cola. There’s no predicting it. We were lucky with this one, the upstairs lounge was packed, and there were actually some surprisingly creative costumes. Including two people who dressed as showers! Yikes! One team member even came as a marionette, which was both disturbing and insanely entertaining.
The thing with theme night parties upstairs is that even if they start out crowded (and in this case the dance floor truly was packed), by the time the live band finishes their set and hands things over to the DJ there are only ever a few die-hards up there, which is when it makes a definite shift into being a crew party.
It’s been a long time since I danced that much. I was aching like I’d run a marathon the next morning. But it was worth it. Mostly just to see the looks on people’s faces, for some reason it always seems to surprise people that I know how to do more than just sit behind a desk.
Geeze, Shaughnessy you didn’t tell me you could dance!
Yeah well, they let me out every so often, then I have to go back into my cage like a good girl
HA!
I had intended to change costumes and go down to the Officer’s Bar for the actual crew get together later that night, and I even went so far as to get ready (thank heavens for my extra-strength make-up remover/moisturizer clothes, otherwise I’d still have the remnants of a black nose!) but when I got to the door down to A-deck I suddenly really didn’t feel like it.
Sometimes the best end to a really good night is some time to yourself, especially since that’s such a rare commodity around here J
I hope everyone had a Happy and safe Halloween.
Bright Blessings
Shaughnessy