I won!

The Ferrari costume was a hit! I was one of four winners, actually, and I watched Steve make up the categories on the spot, but I accept! My category was "A for Effort."

I did draw the Ferrari logo and the word FERRARI on my shirt, with BUELLER on the shoulders, and a license plate reading FERRIS on my butt. (I stole the front plate off Dale's truck and covered the actual numbers with a sheet of white paper, held on with magnets. Nothing butt the best.) I decided on 000728 1/10 for the mileage on my odometer, which was an oven thermometer on a gold chain from the stained glass shop of I-Lisa. And a $3 plastic truck offered up its wheels for my earrings.

Only one person offered to push me backwards off the balcony.

Other categories were:

Best character from a TV show. The entire Marketing department came as characters from "The Office," and I think some of them were pretty good, but I don't know because I haven't seen the show. I particularly liked the guy with the fake male-pattern baldness who carried a bowl of M&Ms around. (Please don't explain it to me; I just want to look on in wonderment.) Then several folks from Design came as Gilligan's Island, and Mary Ann won the prize for this category. She was unmistakable - that's how good her costume was. (She said the wig itched.) There were also the Pink Ladies from Grease, but that's not really a TV show. They didn't have poodle skirts but they did have pink jackets and scarves around their necks.

I thought this was funny, that a couple of groups went for group "themes," because my team has done this for the past three years: first, the Wizard of Oz (I was the Yellow Brick Road); then everyone came dressed as *ahem* ME; and last year we were all Swedish Chefs. So this year other teams got in on the action, and glory be, Research didn't! <laughs> I still think Sir William would have been great as the principal, though.

Best politically incorrect costume: Also from Gilligan's Island, a native: in grass skirt, with intricate war paint, carrying a spear. When photographed, he stuck out a tongue as phenomenal as Gene Simmons'.

We don't know what it is, but we like it: Six interns dressed as "Joe Sixpack," or maybe "Joe's Sixpack." Their sandwich-board beer cans said "Joe's" on them - superimposed over the state of Alaska, although this was lost on some people standing near me. Well, there was a crush of people; maybe they just didn't get a good look at the logo.

And then there was me, in the A for Effort category. <takes a victory lap> I won two tickets to the Jackson Pollack/Willem De Kooning exhibit at the Art Museum, yeah!

Other costumes of note:
- an astronaut
- a lion tamer (female); her lion chickened out, or weaseled out, or jackaled out, or something, so she was solo, looking a bit dominatrix with her whip
- a very classy lady pirate, who had trouble with her hat
- the Grim Sweeper (bwahaha) in black, with witch's hat, face covered with black cloth (and gray mustache hairs poking through), sweeping around everyone's feet with a broom made of paper bags

So I wanted to tell somebody: I won! And of course I can't go tell Dale. This should probably make me all melancholy, but it didn't. <shrugs> The sun is shining, the weather is perfect, and I won a costume contest as a red Ferrari! It's hard to be sad on a day like this, and I'm just not going to put the effort into it.

Comments

[Nicole]

WAY TO GO, KAY-O! It was quite the costume indeed.

I was shocked that Research lacked a collective theme. (Thought for sure they'd be the parade crowd for your Ferrari.) Was glad to see so many peoople get in on the fun. I may give it a go myself next year ...

[Nina]

Wa-hoo!! *Celebrates with chocolate. Hey! I could have a Bailey's in your honor! That's the ticket!

[Weird Uncle Al]

Maybe the Gilligan's Island native was, in fact, a Maori. They stick their tongues out as a symbolic challange to battle. Also makes them look scary.

[BigBrother]

"Mi dicono che siete fantastici."
- Michael Schumacher Ferrari, "Cars"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317219/quotes

[KayO]

Grazie!