Happy Halloween!

I almost won a costume contest Friday night. I went to the Graduate Student Association Halloween party at a big barn near my dorm. I got beat out by a bunch of grapes. No hard feelings, they looked really good with price stickers and all. My outfit came together perfectly as did Siri's (a My Little Pony) and Leonardo's (a pizza dinner.) The three of us also went to a second party on Saturday night, attended mostly by physicists at Fermilab. It was a very surreal feeling because I couldn't tell who the people were behind the masks and face paint, although I'm sure I've interviewed some of them in the past.

Dress up

I'm going to be the Corpse Bride for Halloween, inspired by the movie. I'm putting the finishing touches on my costume right now. I bought a long white dress at the Good Will for $6. They also had real wedding dresses. Poofy sleeves, long trains and tons of buttons, but they came with a $50 pricetag. As I sifted through them a couple people walked by pointing and cooing. I let them think I was soon-to-be married in one of the early 90s-influenced dresses and even tried one on. Despite its perfectness, I stuck with the thriftier version. It's six sizes too big, but I'm working on sewing the sides in and it should work. My stitching is really ugly, however, I figure that since the corpse bride was buried for a while, a ratty looking dress will just add to the character. I also bought some lace and made a veil. Tomorrow I'll spray everything with fake blood. I'll post pictures later.

On pointe

I realized this weekend that I've never seen a real ballet, not counting our annual family trips to the Nutcracker. I saw the Joffrey this weekend in Chicago with John and Alison, two friends from my internship in Erie who I haven't seen since that summer ended. The show was great. John is a ballet freak so I knew it wouldn't be disappointing. And it makes me want to see more. I should be taking advantage of what the city has to offer. Maybe not just ballet, but plays, museums, all that stuff. So for as long as my budget allows, I'll be there.

Letter from the past

Here's an email I received today:

Kendra,
When you were a freshman you did a story about a dear friend of mine and she was killed in an accident on this day in 2002! I wanted to thank you for making the story heard and that you have made me remember her forever. I did not go here at the time, but wanted to! I stayed at home and went to Community College where I pursued my dream of one day being a police officer. But also had the dream of coming to MSU to finish what I have always wanted to do and that is be a Spartan as well as a police officer! So here I am now at MSU when she would be alum. I was older than her, but she had big dreams and she is truly missed. But, thanks for letting us remember the life of a wonderful, beautiful young woman.

Talk about unexpected. I couldn't remember the story he was talking about until I looked it up on the State News archive. I guess it speaks to the number of deaths I've covered, or just the sheer number of stories I've written in the past few years. His friend was 19. She was walking along a road during the night in East Lansing when she struck by a car and killed. I feel horrible that I couldn't remember her when this guy can recall all the details, including the reporter who wrote about her death three years ago. Journalists go in and out of so many people's lives on a daily basis. We usually don't feel we have much of an effect. But maybe the impact is larger than we perceive.

Still alive

I had the scariest car ride of my life. I went along with a physicist to a local high school for a classroom visit today and the 20-minute ride was terrifying. Let's ignore the fact that he seemed to view stop signs as a mere suggestion. The worst was a right-hand turn from the left lane. The maneuver required us to swerve ahead of a car stopped beside us, all performed while the light was a deep shade of red. 'Sorry, I know that was bad,' he said. 'But that car was annoying me.' Don't mess with a physicist on the road.