Sonnet IV

This weekend involved three quite different social scenes: the play on Friday, the Army Ball on Saturday, and a dinner party on Sunday in London. All interesting and fun in different ways. So, the Army Ball entailed a trip with Jessica to Temple Herdewyke and the army base there to hang with some British officers. It was a fancy dress ball (fancy dress in the UK refers to a costume party) with the theme "Shipwrecked." We were invited by Jess's friend from uni, Nic (her nickname is Knickers. And that is called alliteration, though not a very talented example and entirely coincidental), now an officer in the army. What else can I say? It lived up to its potential for being really random. I found the best dress ever at this vintage shop; it had nothing to do with conventional shipwrecks but based on my viewing of The Tempest the night before I became inspired to make a Forbidden Planet reference with my personal theme of spaceshipwrecked. Aww yeah.... obscure Shakespeare fifties sci fi reference + random seventies-ish dress, water pistol ray gun, and sticky glow in the dark ceiling stars in hair = a damn good costume. To see more pics, click on the photo above. I would tell you all about the dinner party on Sunday but then I would have to kill you.

The Odyssey

The Army Ball approached and what to wear?
Nic's notice did not give too much detail.
The costume Knickers planned: a pirate pair.
"And could you nick syringes?" she emailed. 1

That afternoon we cycled with great haste,
Our mission quite simple for these two pros.
The vintage stores threefold did yield a clue;
The museum, the toy store: treasure troves.

At Temple Herdewyke we truly shone.
Anne Francis lost in space, my sci fi twist.
And Jess a siren freshly quit her stone,
Her song the sailors' ears could not resist.

The booty on this isle was such a draw
We both went home attached to monkey's paws.

1. Nic asked Jess to get her syringes to give a "more authentic British beach feeling" to the party decor.