He is so 1982!

I don't know but I've been told, if you keep on dancing you'll never grow old.



--Steve Miller Band, "Dance, Dance, Dance"



    Alright, if you haven't already been put off by a quote from Steve Miller Band, then read on. Yeah, I turned 26. The thing I have been hearing the most from people is some variation on the theme of me having peaked, and now being past my prime. Well I just want everyone to realize that Haile Gebrselassie set the marathon world record when he was 34 years old, and still competing today at 36. That gives me like, at least 8 more years, so get off my case already. Oh, and Ann Trason set the women's record for the Wasatch 100 mile race when she was 38. Her time has been undefeated for ten years.

    So the thing about being 260 miles from any sort of store is that you have to improvise and make things out of other things. Now imagine how great a costume party would be under such circumstances. In fact, rather than imagine, check out these photos (we live in a visual world and I am a visual girl).



I chose "ninja" for reasons ranging from comfort to plain old awesomeness.

 This costume drew many compliments until I stepped outdoors into the light and someone said: "Are you just wearing your underwear?" Sadly, the answer was yes.

Andrew, my tent-roommate chose the timely "Saudi sheik" costume, complete with machete for beheading infidels (too soon?).

We briefly discussed whether or not it would be a good idea for him to run 1/2 mile down the road to the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline and start climbing on it in that costume. The infidel in that photo (Max) is dressed as The Unicycler.



There were many other inventive costumes including Morgan as a knight ...

Jeff as a highly suggestive unicorn ...

The '80s were a recurrent costume theme, as you can see from several costumes in this photo ...

 

As well as in Phil's choice of costume, "Prince" (my favorite one of the whole night).

Seriously, where does a guy get a purple cape in the middle of the Arctic? (Also note the wristband.)



There were a couple of geographically specific costumes as well: Andre as a trucker and Chad as a bear attack victim.

There were some other great costumes which are too numerous for me to chronicle. The thing about costumes, though, is they beg to be danced in! 

There are many things of note in this one, particularly 1. Rambo drinking vodka mixed with Cranberry juice, whatever that's called. In just a few minutes, he will spill it all over the floor. 2. Me dancing with my arms in the air somewhere in the back, intoxicated by pure rhythm and 3. Lancelot chatting up Flava-Flave.

 But if that wasn't enough, there was also Pin the Horns on the Musk Ox.

And a Piñata! This one is meant to look like me, and I was little frightened to see how accurate it was. It's even creepier when hanging from a tree.

It made me a little uncomfortable beating that hideously handsome thing to death. So I had my eyes covered to avoid developing PTSD.

And was spun around for an added challenge. (By the way, these photos were taken at midnight under an overcast sky).



I tried my hardest, but my the thing was nimbler than I expected!

It even managed to elude my signature move, the Flying Uppercut of Fury*!

Eventually I conceded victory to my disembodied likeness, who hung mockingly, gently swaying from the breeze and the slight graze he suffered at the end of my wiffle bat.

Luckily the Purple One rescued us all from a night devoid of sugar, and charged the fake TR head with unrestrained, unblindfolded rage! (And a machete.)

What an ordeal! Well, back to dancing... 

 

Yeah, sorry, that's the same photo from before.  

Anyway, what a great party. Mr. Frodo sure seemed to think so!

Oh and thanks to Kari for taking all of these photos and sharing them with me, and for helping put this ridiculous party together. She's the one dressed as a reverse cow in these photos.



*To execute a Flying Uppercut of Fury, hold down the X button while pressing up and down repeatedly. It helps to hold your breath as well.