Murder Mystery Dinner Party

While I was in California, Corey told me he had set a brilliant idea in motion: he wanted to host a murder mystery dinner party. I was less than enthused about the "brilliance" of this plan. I thought it was weird, and that it would turn out to be a night full of more awkwardness than fun. Corey eventually wore me down, assuring me that he was putting together the right kind of group for the event, that everyone was excited about the idea, and that the party would be great.

He was right. It was fun. Goofy and slightly weird, but fun.

Our murder mystery revolved around a group of athletes who were stranded on an island in the Great Barrier Reef after a hurricane hit during an international competition. We tried to cheese it up as much as possible with costumes, decorations, and food matching the story. Everyone came dressed up and got into character.

(Even after completing the game, we have no idea who this character was supposed to be or why he was there.)

(Wolfgang Kupersmidt- a 400lb German weightlifter)

We went through the 3 acts of the story, everyone revealing their own set of clues. The ad-libbing and goofing around as silly characters was the most fun part. The mystery itself gave somewhat random clues that connected sloppily, and only one person correctly identified the murderer.

That murderer was, by the way, Solveig Belakavich- a female Russian rhythmic gymnast played by our friend Ed (who also won best costume). He looks so innocent... sitting there quietly, enjoying the conveniences of having large breasts for an evening:

In fact, several men ended up playing female roles, and all of them were quite intrigued by their fake boobs...

Good times! Maybe we'll do another one sometime.

I feel like a kid on Christmas!

NEW CAMERA GEAR ALERT!!

I've been waiting for this load of goodies in unquenchable anticipation for a week, and it all arrived in one big bang today (much faster than I expected). I'm SO excited! Let me introduce you to Lou and Tonky:

Lou is a Canon 24-105mm f/4 IS L lens. That's right- my first L glass... yay! He will replace my kit lens as my main walk around go-to. His name implies that he is reliable and handy, all the while being fancy because his name starts with an L. His friend Tonky is a Tokina 11-16mm 2.8 wide angle lens. He's a little quirky and will be so much fun to play with, especially practicing grand, sweeping landscapes. His scope is intense!

(This is the box my lenses were shipped in. I did not tear it apart in my eagerness to get my gear- that's how it was when I picked it up. I simply snipped the bits of tape that were holding it together. You can see how beat up the brand new lens boxes were in the photo above. Luckily, everything seems to be working fine, but I was scared for a few minutes.)

I also finally got some filters. 'Cause, you know, gotta have filters. They're not special enough for names.

Then there's the icing on the cake, the object perched next to me like a beloved pet even as I write this (I may or may not be softly stroking the leather and singing it's praises in soft, gentle tones):

A new camera bag! This beauty is from Epihpanie- the Ginger model. I don't even have to come up with her name; Ginger was already complete from the moment I birthed her from her shipping box. I love her. She will make a cozy, safe home for Rufus the Rebel, Lou, Tonky, Harry (the 35mm I acquired from my Dad), and all of their accessory friends.

Here's the first picture I took with Lou:

[What's all that going on in our house? Another topic for another time (namely sometime after Saturday). ]

Misawa City Festival (Goodbye Summer)

The Misawa City festival celebrates the end of summer. Like last year, I was gone for a large chunk of the summer in Misawa. This means I missed out on some cool stuff- festivals, floats, the good fruit season, fireworks. However, it also means I avoided a substantial portion of the disgusting, wish-I-was-dead, sticky, heavy inferno of summer heat up here. I shouldn't be complaining because I've only had to deal with it for a week and it will probably be over pretty soon, but eww. I'm not a fan. So in that respect, I am happy to think about summer coming to an end and very much looking forward to fall.

So anyway, this festival was pretty neat. The floats were much more impressive (and numerous) than we had envisioned for a little town like Misawa. The float-makers went all-out. They were ginormous, but from our parade perch we didn't even get to see them fully displayed, as they had retracting parts that shrunk when passing underneath street signs and wires.

So you can get an idea of the size, performers, and "special effects" most of these floats had, here's a short video clip I took:

Kinda cool, right? In addition to the floats, we chowed down on the brightest ice cream cones known to man:

Good festival! Bring on Fall! (For more festival pics, click here)

Taking a moment...

I haven't posted in a while now, and before I resume with normal-life kind of stories, I feel the need to take a moment and write this (more for myself than anything)...

As I'm sure everyone who reads this blog knows by now, my dad passed away a month ago after a battle with cancer. I thank all of our friends and family from the bottom of my heart for all of the amazing support we've gotten in the past month; without you this would have been impossible to face. I feel so fortunate to have you in my life.

I've been trying to decide if/what I want to write here about the awesome man my dad was and what it's been like to lose him. I realize it's not exactly happy blog material, but as I've been chronicling all the major events of my life over the past year and a half, it felt wrong to move on with the happy, normal posts without acknowledging this.

I shared at his memorial picnic what I wanted everyone to know and remember about my dad, and I'll re-share here a story I told then. Words don't really work for this kind of thing, but I guess it's the best I can do to try to explain what he meant to me.

I’ve been told the story of my birth many times throughout the course of my life. I hear it was a little bit rough- my mom had a long labor, and when I finally was born there were complications and I was immediately whisked away by the doctors to be worked on: poked, prodded, and all kinds of not-fun stuff. When things finally settled down and it was clear that I was going to be ok, it was time for the nurses to take me to the nursery for the night so my parents could get some much-needed sleep. Well, my dad didn’t like the idea of this brand new little life spending her first night in the world in a cold, impersonal hospital crib all alone, and instead of resting and recuperating after the whole slightly traumatic ordeal like he could have done, he sat up the entire night, hour after hour, holding me in his arms and doing all that he could to show me that the world was a safe, warm, happy place full of love and human connection. It was vitally important to him to start me out with the best possible introduction to this life, and he did that just by being there that night and sharing with me all of his empathy, compassion, and thoughtful humanity.

On the first day of my life, my dad was already giving me the best that any child could hope for. At my most vulnerable, most fragile state of being, he was doing everything he could to keep me feeling loved, safe, and wanted. What more could anyone ever ask of a parent? I obviously don’t remember that day, but I feel it. I’ve always felt the things he began giving me that day, and I’ll keep feeling them for the rest of my life.

I love you Dad, and I miss you.