Wow, the craziness has subsided. Rugby World Cup is over (New Zealand – The All Blacks defeated France in the final, in case you live in a cave, under a rock, with earplugs on). It actually wasn’t the most amazing game to watch (it was intense. Those dastardly French almost had us! We only beat them by 1 measly point!). The NZ v. Australia semi-final was much more exciting – and incredibly brutal, I might add!
RWC fever is over. The tourists are all gone (we only have cruise ship tourists now. Ugh. aka: How to spot a retired American couple from 100 yards). Graham Henry has stepped down as coach of the ABs now that he has his RWC win. And it’s another 4 years ’til England (who will be the 2015 hosts). Four years to save, that is! I would definitely attend another RWC. It was SO MUCH FUN! Maybe it was more fun as a hosting country, but the past 8 weeks have just had this amazing positive energy vibe. It’s been incredible. It wasn’t something you could capture on film. And it’s not something I can adequately convey in words. You just had to be here to feel it. 2015 probably won’t be the same. But, I reckon it would still be very fun to follow the ABs through their next RWC campaign. So save up, I shall… : D And I have all that expensive (‘professional grade’) black and white hair paint – I didn’t buy it for nothing!
* * * * *
Another Halloween has past (yes, I pulled off the matador costume at the last minute. Not quite as sparkly as I would have liked, but there were only so many sequins I could sew on at the absolute last minute (yes I was wearing my costume at the time). Sure, there was no Dia de los Muertos party like I wanted (since I am now sans-house), but I went as a matador regardless of the fact that I had no bull. And in a costume like this, who needs one?! And of course, there can always be Dia de los Muertos parties in the future!
The Matador
Can I just say how fun it was dressing up as a man?! My flatmate gave me a big (further) inflated ego by saying it takes a lot of balls to dress up as a man (I think she used the term guts, but I prefer balls, particularly in this context). Especially since I actually looked quite, er, mannish. The mustache, in particular, added to the effect (and to think I wasn’t sure if I should wear it or not!). In fact, many people commented on how well the Mo suited me. I am slightly flattered and creeped out at the same time. But man oh man, it was fun pretending to be a Matador! I always love something a little different or unusual, so to be dressed up on Halloween and not *trying* to look sexy as so many of my contemporaries do was – it felt, well, empowering! I think I might wear a non-sexy costume every year! My new motto:
“Thou shalt not give in to the pressure to look and dress like a skank on Halloween.”
Speaking of amazing, non-sexy costumes for women, this is probably the coolest one I saw. An absolute inspiration!
Shipwreck costume by Threadless.com staff member (from facebook)
Angler-fish costume in 2012, anyone?