Halloween 08

It's been a strange weekend. I finished my Harley Quinn costume (barely) in time for Halloween. It turned out pretty sweet even though I didn't finish the head piece and the diamonds were hot-glued on.

I won first place at a costume contest. Won a free pint glass with infinite refills between 12-1AM, which was sort of a bad prize honestly. It came down to me being able to bring as much liquor to the table in one hour as we could drink. Two friends were downing beer like water, trying to squeeze in as much free victory booze as possible. One of those ended up crashing her bike. She didn't even make it out of the parking lot. Poor kid.

Next day bike-crash-friend and I went to her boyfriend's place in Berkley - which turned out to be pretty wild. The party ended in a broken chair, a broken thermostat, and Sharpie on Dimitri's face. One guy was dressed up like Dave Chapelle's crack-head character with a broken car stereo and white powder on his lips. Funny as hell guy. Pretty too. Left the party early - c'est la vive. I was one of the only people who got his costume, surprisingly. He didn't get mine. Also talked to this guy from the Midwest with crazy messed up teeth, which I stared at intently while he chatted me up. He probably thought I was an asshole. I've been too awkward in public lately - I think I've lost too much weight and too much sleep and my brain doesn't work any more.

Went to sleep that night around 4. Woke up at 11 to meet with Ali and drive back home. Little did Jerry and I know that we would be taking an all-day detour to a nudist hippy commune up north of Napa. Ali and her boyfriend might have joined a cult. Not too sure about that. I played along as best I could, trying my damdest to not mind the nudity part. People say that nudity makes them feel free and childlike.... I do not get that.

Naked in public is never something I will be into. I'm not an exhibitionist on any level. It's funny too because I'm totally comfortable with my body, it isn't that. I simply have no desire to see random people naked and I have no desire for random people to see me naked. I really don't feel like clothing is an imposition of societal pressures. People say that public nudity is not sexual... but I think it's an encroachment upon intimacy if nothing else. Maybe that just shows my disconnect with humanity. I suppose people who feel comfortable with public nudity feel an intimate connection with people in a general sense.

Anyways this place has mineral pools of various temperatures where people hang out. We also did yoga there for what seemed like 3 hours - and clothing was required there, thank God. I really do not want to see naked middle-aged people doing positions like downward dog or happy baby. Haha. The yoga was great. Ali's friend showed us acrobatic tricks afterwards. She let me do one position with her where she laid on her back with her feet in the air and I did a back-bend into her feet. This resulted in her supporting my body by the small of my back with her feet and nothing else. It gave the feeling of suspension, with hands and feet hanging in the air, looking up at the sky. It was quite possibly the greatest sensation I've had in a long time. This was the high part of the trip.

The place was truly beautiful, nestled in the wooded hills and mountains of the Calistoga region. It was raining, which made the place even more strange and ethereal. Overall, it was total culture shock compared with the night before. I feel pretty mellow now, all that yoga really helped my head.