Friendship is Magic

OakMonster - Otto and Bob's Big Boy

I was told a few times that my life would make for a great reality television show.  All the things I do are fascinating, they say.  I am quite certain someone else’s life is probably a hell of a lot more interesting than mine. But mine really ain’t that bad.

But none of that fun stuff wouldn’t happen without my awesomely diverse group of friends I have come to know.

I mean, what got me to write this post is this twitter conversation.

OakMonster.com - Scorpion Chile

Sure. You’d laugh at that little miscommunication about a recipe for the world’s hottest chile pepper.  But the thing is Aric CAN actually secure me scorpions.  His question is 100% valid despite the misunderstanding of chile being a pepper and not the stuff you put on your hot dog.

And later on, another friend also sent me a link to a Trinidad Scorpion Chile recipe.

“Only Oakley would have a friend who does THAT!”  Whatever THAT is, is something uncommon to the general population.

I hear that a lot.

[The list has been edited on March 2016]

For example, I have a friend who is…

a dark fashion photographer.

…an award winning home brew master.

a Michelin star restaurateur.

…a bow hunter.

…a jazz musician who can play just about any instrument handed to him including a didgeridoo.

…an ER doctor.

…an armorsmith. Yes, he makes suits of armor. And more friends who can fight toe to toe with each other wearing said armor.

…a shaman married to an urban farmer.

…a retired drag performer.

…a seamstress for Disney Parks.

…and soon, a transgender super star.

And of course, I have friends in many flavors of tech geeks and sci-fi nerds including a few cosplayers.

My broad range of awesome friends always lead me into some kind of an adventure. There’s always a good story to be told.

I mean, like this one.

OakMonster.com - Quidditch

Yeah.

Last week, my cosplay buddy and soul sister Christine and I did a dress rehearsal for our Brian Kesinger’s Otto and Victoria cosplay a few days before heading up to Clockwork Couture, the steampunk outfitter and home of the TARDIS, for a book signing event.  Mainly, we just needed to know how much time it would take us to get into our corsets and wigs.

Christine is a HUGE fan of Brian’s work. Naturally, she got me excited about it too.  She originally suggested that I’d come with her as the TARDIS to her Victoria so we can recreate this moment.

Brian Kesinger - Otto & Victoria - Doctor Who

I thought it’d be more fun if I’d go as Otto the Octopus–or in this case, the DOCTOpus–instead. I mean, who else would think to dress up as an octopus!

However, I do not own a sonic screwdriver. (*GASP!*) At first I thought I wouldn’t need it, but the whole thing wouldn’t come together without the sonic.

Then Brandon remembered that our friend Lee has one. So after we got out of our corsets, we all piled into the car and headed over.

At a stop light by Whaley Park in Long Beach, Christine’s gaze drifted to the activity in the park.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are they playing Quidditch?”

Christine asked from the back seat.  I craned my neck around Brandon who was also looking over to see.

Before I could confirm, she answered herself.

“They ARE totally playing Quidditch!”

“Holy shit! You’re right!  Do I pull over? Should I pull over? Do you want me to pull over? Can I pull over? Fuck it. I’m pulling over!”

And so I did and we walked out to watched a few last minutes of the game.

“Well, now I have to text Lee to tell her we’re going to be a little late,” I told Brandon as the team captain came over to talk  to us.

Brandon laughed.

“I think a girl who is loaning us a sonic screwdriver would understand.”

I’m telling you. My friends are fantastic. And my life is richer because of them.

Hooray for friends!

OakMonster.com - Otto and Victoria Cosplay

P.S. Oh, and I was right about cosplaying Otto, by the way. Not only was I the only Otto there, according to Brian himself:

More pictures from Otto and Victoria’s day out here.

2 Comments

  1. Amy   •  

    Wish you had a picture of the Quidditch match!!

  2. christine   •  

    Ahhhh… THAT was great day. 🙂

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