Devil's Night Vampire Bytes

Halloween!!! And Devil's Night (the night before Halloween, when we attended the party)!! I'm pretty excited to report about the big party despite the fact that I slept through most of it. I actually thought Mom and Dad would be upset that I slept through the event, but they actually told me I was a really good girl. One man's lazy is another man's good. Although it wasn't laziness on my part, just sleepiness - there was a lot going on the last couple days. So Mom and Dad took me down to Reading on Thursday night to set up for the party, and I got to hang out with Jay and Hallie again. Dad set up his DJ booth, and Jay and Hallie finished with some last decoration details. The outdoor movie projector was set up and tested, and it was soon time to head back home. The next day, Mom helped Dad do his make-up for work. See, this was a special day for Mom and Dad because they transformed into different people. Mom put on her Merlotte's server uniform and became Sookie Stackhouse from HBO's True Blood. Dad freshened up his arm and chest tattoos, put on his make-up and linens, popped in his fangs, and became Godric the 2,000+ year old vampire from the same show. They made a strange couple since Sookie was actually William Compton's girl (and sometimes Sheriff Eric's in her dreams), but love connections are strange affairs. Perhaps she was drawn to his love of humanity and self-sacrifice. And one look into her beautiful eyes makes it obvious why he was drawn to her. Either way, they were no longer themselves by dark. And I wasn't quite myself, either. When we got to Reading I was transformed into a Gothling - an infant with predelections toward the morbid and punk side of life. I wore some sweet leg-warmers and super-sweet purple-stitched black vinyl shoes. And, to top it all off, Mom painted my nails with some dark purple nail polish to complete my "let's visit a cemetary at night and write some poetry" look. We made a dark and awesome family and fit in well within the dark and brooding Corby household. The decorations were extreme and everywhere. You couldn't find a part of the house that didn't contain a figment of a dark imagination brought to bloody, thrashing life. From the mason specimen jars containing bloody body parts scattered throughout the house, to the severed feet hanging from the bloody shower curtain in the bathroom, to the torture chamber in the basement, to the creepy portraits and scratch marks lining the walls, the atmosphere couldn't have been creepier if it were Ed Gein's farm-house. Actually, that place is probably pretty creepy, but the point I'm trying to make is that nightmares had given birth to interior design within these walls, and it made for an excellent Halloween party.

So here's the good news and the bad news. The good news - I'm going to let pictures tell some of the story for me, so I included a lot of them in this post. The bad news - I'm not in many of the pictures. Sorry. As I said, I fell asleep early into the evening and that was the end of pictures for me (except for the picture of me cashed out in the yellow sleeper - that picture is from Sunday afternoon, when I got a chance to get some good sleep). So, let me post the pictures of me first. That way, if you are here for pictures of me you can get your fill without having to read the rest. If you are here to also find out about the party, you can do that too, but first - pictures of me:

So those are the photos of me this time around. I hope you enjoyed them. I enjoyed taking the ones in which I was awake. Now for the party. I'll group the pictures into a few different categories. First, the people. Everyone at the party was not themselves. Jay and Hallie, for instance, had become Jessica (the vampire Bill Compton created in 'True Blood') and Tyler Durden from 'Fight Club'. And Dad and Hallie weren't the only vampires at the party. There was also a scary red-eyed vampire who was actually a published author on the subject! Who else was there? Among those in attendance were Quail Man from Nickelodeon's 'Doug', a couple officers of the law, Kevin from 'The Office' (wearing his patented tissue-box shoes), a Mexican Bandito, Charlie, Mack, and Dennis from 'It's Always Sunny' (Green Man also showed up to dance at one point), a hunter, The Wicked Witch of the West, Bat Girl (who was happy to learn from Dad that she did actually exist - in the comics - and was Commissioner Gordon's daughter Barbara, an intelligent investigator who eventually goes on to become The Oracle after The Joker paralyzes her with a bullet to the spine), The Burger King, a demoness, a monster, and even Borat! It was quite a collection of characters.
Next, a quick look at some of the decorations I mentioned earlier, as this sets the stage on which the cast of characters played the night away:

And even though I slumbered the night away in a bedroom, I was located directly above the DJ booth and was able to hear the music in my dreams. Was it an iPod playlist that vibrated the walls throughout the night? Nay. Well, sometimes. But when he wasn't on a break it was my dad who periodically transformed from Godric the vampire into DJ Hazbro! He does it old-school, with 2 turntables and a microphone:

And one thing I've learned in my short time here: where there is beer and music, there is a party. And in this case, there was a keg, a DJ, a beer pong/flipcup table, an outdoor movie theater (playing the greats like 'Evil Dead 2' and 'Planet Terror'), and snacks. So, yes, there was partying:

And at the end of the night the keg was empty, the records stopped spinning, the characters made their way to whence they came, the lights were extinguished, and the hosts found their way to bed to sleep perchance to dream.

The next day we had a relaxing morning reliving the night and watching YouTube videos (you have to check out 'Chad After Dentist' - the video response to 'David After Dentist' - hilarious!). Dad packed up the DJ booth, Mom packed up the bedroom, and we all went out for Thai with Jay and Hallie, where Mom and Dad learned a fun new knife trick - well, Mom learned it, I don't think Dad ever got it. Then we did a bit of shopping and headed home. Somehow it still turned out to be a long day for all of us, and we only made it to about half-time of the OSU/Texas game before sleep overcame us like an avalanche. The game was getting hard to watch anyway. If you don't know the ending to that story, I won't tell you, as I didn't like it the first time around. And Sunday was a day of rest, where I got to update the blog, and Dad got to catch up on some Ghost Adventures. So far, Halloween is definitely my favorite holiday. But I have heard good things about both Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we'll see how those go. In the meantime, I'll tell Dad to get back to taking Azja pictures now that he doesn't have to practice mixing every night. The next blog entry should be all me : ) Yay!

See you soon,
Azja Kathleen

Heard it Through the Grapevine

Howdy howdy howdy! An appropriate greeting for the month of October, as it was also a name given to the antagonist/demon from 'The Exorcist' - Captain Howdy. How do I know such things? Have you seen my dad's horror movie collection? Other kids will grow up watching Dora and Yo Gabba Gabba; I'll grow up with Bruce Campbell and George Romero as my role models. Hail to the Queen, baby!

Anyway, on to the pressing matter at hand. Pictures. I have heard through the grapevine that there was an uproar amongst my readership over the lack of pictures in my last blog entry. I check my comments regularly and saw no complaints, so I thought that a) nobody was reading the blog anyway (which is still okay, as I do this mostly as a sort of diary for myself), or b) everyone reading was satisfied with my posts. I was quite surprised, therefore, to hear of the umbrage given to my last post with the single picture of me (all snug in my carseat). I whole-heartedly apologize. I had been using the blog to keep tabs on all the latest goings-on involving yours truly. I have now learned that, as Andre 3000 so eloquently phrased in 'Hey Ya', "Ya'll don't wanna hear me, you just wanna dance." Except in this case, ya'll just want pictures of my adorable mug (Dad inserted the word 'adorable', I'm not that vain). So, as a peace-offering, I extend the olive branch of pictures your way. But first, a quick update of the latest goings-on (this is where you can skip down to get to the picture pages treasure trove).

I have recently discovered a new game I call "Messin' around with Parents" (presented by Jack Link's). The way the game works is one day I will sleep all day long. Mom will try to wake me up for some tummy time, and I'll maybe open one eye, Thom Yorke style, and then drift back off to dreamland. Then, that night, I'll switch it up and wake up every hour or so (or maybe every 2 hours, but just stay awake for 45 minutes after that). Basically, I'll vamp things up - sleep all day, stay wide awake all night. Now, because Mom and Dad like to do things the opposite, this really messes with them. Then, and this is where it gets good, the next day I will stay up all day long, with the occasional short nap, and sleep for 3-4 hours at a time that night. Mom and Dad will then be all, "Wowwee zowwee! I think she's getting it - good girl Azja!" Then, and I think you know where this is going, I'll switch it back again the next day! Oh man does that mess with Mom and Dad! The only problem with this game is that it actually wears me out. Eventually I'll probably get so worn out from this game that I'll just pick one mode of operation and stick with it. For now, though, what fun I am having. When I'm awake, I sometimes hear Mom and Dad talk about how cute it is when I smile in my sleep. Guess what I'm dreaming about? "Messin' around with Parents" : ) As Bugs Bunny often said, "Ain't I a stinker?"

Another thing I've been working on is something called 'dancing'. When I discovered this I was immediately blown away by the sheer beauty and simplicity. What you do is take the music that is playing in the room and channel it through your body. You become like a music lightning-rod and just let it flow through you. The resulting effect is shear bliss. You feel the beat from your head to your toes and just move with it. It takes listening to music to the next level - you actually become part of the music. I'm starting to think that's kind of what happens in church. They call it prayer, but I think it might actually be like becoming part of the music, only in that case the music is the something not heard with the ears but felt in a different way. They should call dancing 'praying to the beat'. Anyway, I've started to test this thing out lately, and I really dig it (do people still say dig? or is it now Digg?). I'm a fan of Rihanna and Walter Meego for dancing. For pure music enjoyment I like Poe a lot, but I now realize there are two different reasons to listen to music. Luckily, Mom and Dad like music a lot, so I always have a lot of different kinds of music surrounding me. Who knows, maybe in the coming months and years I may discover even more reasons for listening to music. Edgar Allan Poe speaks of the 'music of the spheres' in his "Conquerer Worm", so there are definitely other aspects out there to be discovered. But for now, there is dancing.

Also, the other thing I've been testing out lately is standing. I know it sounds easy for all of you locomotively skilled bipeds who can not only stand, but also walk, run, jump, hop, skip, and even cartwheel. But since I was born, I've only known how to lie on my back, belly, and side. I can now hold my head up on my own, and if I push my feet against something I can propel myself forward. But standing is something else entirely. It works my leg muscles in a brand new way. I first discovered it when Dad was holding me up to dance. He let go of my sides and just held my hands. Lo and behold, I was still vertical! Granted, my balance is best described as inebriated, and my leg strength gives out after a few seconds or so. But as long as someone has my hands to help me balance, I'm up there! Then I'm back down again, almost in slow motion. I know we have to learn to crawl before we learn to walk, but I beg the question: do we? Actually, once I finally figure out this crawling thing, I'll probably forget about the standing thing altogether for a while. But a girl can dream, right? Hehehe - sorry, just thought about "Messin' around with Parents". Which reminds me - I'm also smiling a lot more these days. It's almost to the point where Mom and Dad can make me smile on command. Almost. I'm strong-willed. Within a few more posts, you'll probably see all smiling pictures! Won't that be fantabulous?! And speaking of pictures, the cache I promised lies just below.

Tune in next post when I get to tell you about how the Halloween party went. There will be pictures of Mom, Dad, and I in our costumes (yay!), as well as some pictures from the party. DJ Dadbro has been practicing a lot, and I think he's ready. I hope that he doesn't stop playing music for us after the party, though. Maybe I can convince him to make some new setlists just for me. If I could combine a Dadbro setlist with one of Mom's awesome massages, I think I might be able to find heaven on earth. Oh - that's a good one for the setlist, Dad! Do you have any Belinda Carlisle?


Sincerely,
Azja Kathleen, Dancing Queen