Ruby Gloom Costume

Since Halloween is coming up, I thought I'd write a Halloween related post. I like Halloween because I get to be creative. I get to choose who I want to be and then I get to figure out how to be that character. That's the fun part for me - creating the costume.

This Halloween my daughter wanted to be Ruby Gloom. Anyone who is a fan of Ruby knows that her merchandise is few and far between and there are certainly no Halloween costumes for her. So, if you are looking for an easy solution for this costume, tell your kid to choose another character and go to Wal-Mart and buy it for them. For those of you who like a little challenge, read on.

First we need to have a look at the character, Ruby Gloom. Here she is in her cute outfit (which never changes). Really, it is quite simple. She wears a black knee length dress and red & yellow stockings with black mary janes. Simple enough, right? Well, let's start with the easy parts.

The dress is simply a black dress; I chose to get one in velvet for warmth and it was appropriate for the holiday. You could search your local Salvation Army for such a dress but I chose the easier route of going online to Ebay. Ebay is a great resource for used items. You can find virtually anything and for relatively cheap prices. If you live in the US, its even better as most merchants are based in the States so your shipping costs will be lower or in the rare case, free.

Here's a picture of the dress I bid on and picked up for $10 on Ebay. It was actually a Gap dress and in very good condition. It fit my daughter perfectly and with a little hemming to bring it up to knee length, it was ready to go.

The next simple item is Ruby's hair. She has a cute cherry red flip haircut. Since I was not willing to dye my kid's hair flaming red, I chose a wig. Again, I went to Ebay and found an inexpensive wig for $14. They sell them cheaper than that but I wanted something a little better quality and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice this wig was. I don't even have to style or cut it - it's perfect as is.

Now comes the hard part - Ruby's stockings. You wouldn't think it hard to find a pair of yellow & red stockings but I guess that color combination is not popular for anyone other than Ronald McDonald because after hours and hours of searching online, I could not find one retailer on the net that sold them, except for clown supply stores. So, I purchased a pair from Clown Antics. Yes, that's right, I bought clown socks =)


The actual pair I bought are called Striped Socks (Red/Ylw Gold A51230).

The good thing about clown socks is that you can buy them in almost any color combination and because they are made for adults, they go way up on my daughter's legs (up to her thighs). So, even though they weren't tights, they still worked out and they were a very thick quality material so they'll keep her warm enough on Halloween. I actually purchased two different types since they were cheap and I only had to pay one shipping price. Its a good thing because the ones they suggested for kids were not as good quality and not the ones we ended up using.

Ruby's shoes are black mary janes and it just so happens my daughter wears those in school as her indoor shoes. So as long as she remembers to bring them home for Halloween, we are good to go. If you do not have a pair of appropriate shoes, check your local Salvation Army thrift shop or Value Village. They have great deals.

The rest of the costume is simple - a little white base makeup for her face, some black eyelashes drawn on and voilà - she's Ruby Gloom. I'll have to get a picture of the final product posted after Halloween but in the meantime, these tips should help those moms who are desperately looking for a solution to their daughter's wishes to be Ruby Gloom for Halloween.

Where did you get those shoes?!

Kerio Chic began in May of 2007 at the Antrim Flea Market. They have a lot of hard to find must-have unique fashion accessories. They carry Think Pink products in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Our favorites are the Believe Ball Cap with a Pink Ribbon and the "I Fight Like A Girl" Pink Ribbon Cotton T-Shirt. They also carry a wide variety of handbags and purses in many colors and styles. But their hottest item is the Topless Sandal. It is like a flip flop but without the flipping and flopping. Topless Sandals stick to the bottom of your feet without leaving any sticky residue when you take them off. The Topless Sandals will give you the freedom of walking barefoot but with a comfortable protective sole. You can also accessorize your Topless Sandals with a Foot Thong or Barefoot Sandal. Or try the Tiara Anklet and a Toe Ring. Kerio Chic Topless Sandals come with a Natural Boar Bristle Brush for easy cleaning of your Topless Sandals and it extends the life of the "Stick."

Ask about their Hello Kitty T-Shirts, necklaces and watches. Also ask about the designer replica watches, necklaces, bracelets and purses. Or visit them at the Antrim Flea Market (just west of Ottawa) Sundays from 9am-4pm. For those of you who are out of town, you can visit the Kerio Chic Online Boutique at www.kerio-chic.com.

You will effin help me or I will cut off your nuts!

I was perusing a gaming forum the other day, reading several posts of gamers helping gamers, giving advice and tips when I came across one that was rather shocking. The author of this particular post had utilized the F word approximately every 3 words so that her post was one long, drawn out swear. Apparently, she had some bad luck in her gameplay and demanded that someone give her a magic answer to make things right.

When another gamer pointed out that she had lost due to her own mistake and no one had cheated her, she became enraged; spewing profanities so fast and furious that would make even a seasoned sailor blush. For all intents and purposes, she was having an online temper tantrum and we were all at her raging mercy.

Now, I am no saint (my friends know that) and I can appreciate a well timed use of the word "fuck" but one would think that when asking for help, one would get better results when asking
nicely. You know, the whole honey and flies thing? What has happened to us as a race that something as simple as a game sets us off into a dizzying, mindless rage where insults are flung mercilessly at anyone and everyone in range. Has the whole world gone topsey turvey? Have we lost our grip? Have we all become so self important that we are incapable of common politeness towards others?

As I write this, I realize there is no conclusion to this post. No answer. We can only reflect and perhaps try to learn from others, from what we observe in the world. I fear that the scene I've described above is a trend that is becoming all too common. There is so much anger, hate and bitterness in the world that we have lost touch with our ability to be kind, merciful and civilized. This goes beyond a simple out of control gamer, this is a sad reflection of what we have become as a species.

In Memorium

Today I want to remember our beloved family pet hamster, Sneezy, who passed away yesterday. Sneezy had developed a crippling illness 4 days ago and the very difficult decision to euthanize her was made yesterday so that she could be at peace. Sneezy was a very lively, affectionate critter who always made us smile. She was not only a pet, she was my friend and company when my children could not be with me. She will be very missed. Goodbye Sneezy; we love you. See you on Rainbow Bridge.

Until next year...

For those of you missing Christmas already... just have a look at this blog. That should quickly dispell any urges to crack out the tinsel and garland just yet.

It's Reigning Cats

In the great cat vs dog debate, I will admit, I am a dog person. Now don't get me wrong, I love all animals, even cats. But there is something very aristocratic and impersonal about cats that just rubs me the wrong way. A dog will come when you call it, sit when you tell it to and generally be happy to be in your presence. If you call a cat, it will turn the other way, walk over to a corner and proceed to lick its backside. Not my idea of the perfect pet.

My beef, however, is not with cats...they can't help what they are... it is with the cat owners. For some reason our government has omitted a law restricting cats to their owners' dwellings and because of that oversight, cats have been allowed to run freely in my neighbourhood. Every morning I see a fresh set of paw prints wandering around my yard, even onto my porch, without restraint. Clearly these prints belong to some neighbourhood cat who's owner thinks their pet Puss has some God-given right to roam the neighbourhood at will without any second thought to what Puss might be up to. For one day when I was angrily following those paw prints onto my porch I discovered the reason why Puss liked to visit my porch so much. There, in the corner, on a nice bed of leaves, was a large, Tootsie Roll-shaped turd from sweet Puss. I was disgusted, appalled. I moved in to get a closer look...could it be? Yes, Puss is using my porch as a litter box.

Again, I am not blaming Puss for his behaviour.... after all, would you want to crap in the snow? I blame the ignorant cat owners on my street who allow their cats to run amok and are naive enough to think that Puss will "hold it" all day or selfish enough to not care if they don't. This is only the tip of the cat-hating iceburg though. There are plenty of websites that echo my complaint about the reign of cats and some are not so nice in their solutions. In fact, with all the nasties out there that can harm Puss, one must wonder if their owners care about them at all; or if they are simply hoping that Puss will get run over, shot, poisoned, trapped or perhaps eaten by a Fisher. One thing is for sure though; I will not shed a tear if they do.

iPod Touch and VoIP

For all you techies out there, you will be pleased to know that the Uber Techies at touchmods.net have found a way to turn your iTouch into a VoIP phone. Simply, Voice over IP or VoIP technology enables you to make phone calls using the internet to transfer your call instead of conventional phone lines. The cost is a fraction of what conventional phone companies like Ma Bell charge. There's usually a lot of perks like free voicemail, caller ID and such that go with your account. To make this happen on your iTouch, you will need a microphone which you can order here. Then you need the software and of course a WiFi connection to make it all happen. If you are looking for a good SIP provider, try InPhonex. They offer a free voip service that makes a perfect test account and if you want to cross over to the PSTN (regular phones) you will need to pay for an account. InPhonex is inexpensive and reliable. I use them.

Links:
InPhonex (VoIP Provider)
touchmods' SIP VoIP FAQ
Another SIP-VoIP Guide

Random Musings is born

Welcome to my new blog. While this might be just another blog in a sea of useless blogs, I hope you will find something useful, funny, enlightening or otherwise interesting enough to stop here. Call me Trinity. These are my musings.