Photo by Maximum Mitch.
The day of Halloween might be best celebrated at home for us San Franciscans — especially those of us in the Castro. Most merchants I’ve been chatting with over the past week have been saying they’re all renting movies and ordering in. Typically, it’s like our version of Mardi Gras, but sadly, every year we get more violence. It’s regular drunken crowd violence, as many people are just rowdy tourists (often not in costume) to just be obnoxious in the street. Some merchants have expressed sadness; saying it used to be a community street party. But last year there were shootings, so the police are closing off my neighborhood at like 6pm — for reals.
Photo by Maximum Mitch.
But saturday night I decided last-minute to have a few friends over (for many cocktails) and we went out for some very old-school Castro Halloween festivities. Lots of costumes, smiles (plenty of polite and smiling police officers, even) and a really great crowd were all out in outrageous outfits. And just plain hot outfits.
Scott has a great photo post about it here. Great, great, great sets of “secret” Castro Halloween:
* Scott Beale
* Lane Hartwell
* Maximum Mitch
Photo “Violet and her Helio” by Maximum Mitch.
I was lucky to be with a very loving ‘brat pack‘ of photographers; we went out, split up keys to my house and met back at the Blogger Bungalow throughout the evening. It was a blast! Our out of town guest this time was my dear friend Steve Diet Goedde (omg, we go back almost ten years).
Photo by Steve Diet Goedde.
I was lucky to be with so much loving, bratty, sweet family. It’s been a rough year for everyone, and we all just had grown-up fun like a bunch of kids. It’s so extreme that it’s been such a painful year, but I’ve never been so happy.
Photo “Morticia and Gomez” by Scott Beale/Laughing Squid.
My close friend Chriso topped every costume in the Castro — his “Senator Craig” mobile toilet stall had him stopping and showing his “wide stance” every ten feet to adoring and cackling fans and queens alike, even some people wanted to “sign” his stall wall. Almost every SFPD officer we saw while walking through the gold-glitter fairy and uber-queeny throngs grinned hugely at the Senator, and laughingly complimented his costume! Even the dreaded ‘blue screen of death’ made an appearance on my doorstep. So awesome.
* An aside, I had no idea how much I look like my own painting of Leila Waddell.
