Friday, October 24, 2008

Death by Chocolate

This past weekend, our RWA chapter ran off to the mountains for our annual weekend retreat. I live for this weekend. I wait all year for it to come around again. We stay at the most wonderful little inn and they take fabulous care of us despite being so loud and crazy. I have so much fun each year. The talking, the laughing, the eating, and of course...the murder party. I am such a nerd, but I get all excited about it. I know several other playfriends are luke warm at the prospect, but Instigator and I have a really good time with it. We channel our inner divas and go nuts.

Last year I organized the game, so I wore a costume, but I didn't really participate aside from being facilitator. This year, I turned it over to PC so I could play. Our game was set as a bridal shower at a chocolate themed day spa. We had a chocolate fountain with tons of goodies and PC made delicious chocolate martinis. There were chocolate heiresses, race car drivers, gold-diggers, catty bridesmaids and me - an uber biyatch. I was a stockbroker who had not only lost a lot of people's money, I was completely unremorseful about it. I had no problem sharing what I thought about my BFF's upcoming marriage, and I gloated about being maid of honor over the other bridesmaids. Honestly, I was so loud and irritating, anyone could have killed me. I wanted to kill me.

I had a special surprise planned for everyone when my time came to die. I was supposed to be poisoned, so I worked up to it, complaining about a stomachache on and off for a while. A few people thought I was actually sick, so I did a pretty good job, I think. It progressively got worse until I slipped some alkaseltzer and starting rabidly foaming at the mouth. I dramatically collapsed to the floor amongst screams and much activity I missed (being dead and all).

I have to say my people can be cold. Last year, everyone at least pretended to be upset after Big Jim was shot. Me? Oh no...as I lie there dead, I was robbed of my money and shoes, called names, and half-heartedly moved (and dropped) because the spa owner didn't want a dead body in her lobby. I certainly did not need to know that it took that many people to carry me 2 feet, even as dead weight. I was not a good dead body. I kept laughing. I couldn't help it. I had to cover my face with a napkin when they tried performing CPR on me because I was laughing so hard.

The best part was that everyone went to dinner and I changed into my second character - a wacky psychic. I was a looney bin. I wandered around muttering about the spirits and what they were telling me. I would show people various tarot cards and shake my head in dismay before dashing off to talk to someone else. One person said I needed the thick glasses and I would've been a spot on Professor Trelawney from HP. I had a lot of fun stirring things up after dinner, too. I'm surprised they didn't kill my new character off just because I was obnoxious.

I'd hardly claim myself to be an actress of any sort, but this was so much fun it was easy for me to do it. When in doubt, go over the top. I just feel bad for the girls that came in to paint our nails. In the five minutes I was sitting with them, I yelled words that curled their toes and nearly got in a cat fight with Instigator. Didn't chip a nail, though. :)

Do you have an inner actress waiting to get out? Have you ever done one of these parties? Would you rather sit them out or are you fired up to play?

SP

15 comments:

PM's Mother said...

I don't have an inner actress, but there is an inner craving for chocolate. I just thought I would share this DANGEROUS CHOCOLATE recipe with you.

DANGEROUS CHOCOLATE CAKE-IN-A-MUG
1 coffee mug
4 Tbsp. cake flour (plain, not self-rising)
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa
1 egg
3 Tbsp. milk
3 Tbsp. oil
Small splash of vanilla
3 Tbsp. chocolate chips, optional
Add dry ingredients to mug, mix well with a fork.
Add egg, mix thoroughly.
Pour in milk and oil and vanilla, mix well.
Add chips, if using.
Put mug in microwave, and cook for three minutes on 1000 watts.
Cake will rise over top of mug--do not be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little; tip onto a plate if desired.
Eat!
(This can serve two if you want to feel slightly more virtuous.)
***And WHY is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?
Because now we are all only five minutes away from chocolate cake any time of the day or night!!!

Problem Child said...

Stupid blogger has eaten my comment twice already.

I just want it known (and I must, if I'm willing to type it for a third time) that I smudged my nail polish laughing so hard at SP's death scene.

And those poor girls who came in to paint our nails...they were only there for an hour, but I'm sure they heard enough to keep them talking about us for weeks...

Angel said...

I have to admit, this isn't my favorite part of the weekend. Mostly because I'm horrible at it. I laugh when I'm not supposed to, have a difficult time staying in character, and am totally intimidated by people accusing me of stuff and being mean. I'm usually stripped of any money I have before dinner.

This year, PC was smart. She gave me a character with a job, so I felt much more comfortable. Until one of the other participants went off script and started yelling that I was a lesbian. Great. Sigh...

Now, if I could sit on the sidelines and watch everyone else do it? That would be great entertainment!

Angel

Linda Winstead Jones said...

I had never done one of these parties before last year, and I really love them. It's so much fun to be someone else, for a while, to dress up and wear fake hair and send cutting glances, insults, and a sneer or two to friends. :-)

LJ

Maven Linda said...

I had to try four times before I could read the blog because . . . there was too much traffic! People may not be commenting, but they're sure reading :-).

I love the mystery party. It brings out my inner actress too. I channeled Joan Crawford this year. I got to rob bodies (though I didn't rob yours, SP). Sorry about dropping you. It's tough dragging a body that's convulsively heaving with laughter. I was laughing too hard myself, which is why I dropped you.

I can't wait for next year.


Linda

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

I LOVE these parties! It gives me a chance to dust off the community theater skills I haven't used in years. Although, when I was on stage the lines were written for me. With the party I have to be intelligent (and remember where Rio is) all on my own. Not always good after several yummy chocolate martinis.

Instigator

Lynn Raye Harris said...

I'm going unplugged today to get some work done, but had to pop in here. And I'm glad I did! Wouldn't want to miss the murder party talk!

Surprisingly, I LOVE it. I'd have never guessed that about me. I have an inner thwarted actress, I guess, which is hilarious because I'm typically an introvert. But it's so much fun to be another character.

I was searching for a way to kill you, SP, but then you conveniently died. :) And I STILL didn't get to be the Maid of Honor!

Okay, off to write pages! Today, I shall conquer this mss! (or wrestle it to the ground anyway...)

Renee Andrews said...

I had a ball! Wonderful party, wonderful friends, wonderful one-nut-wonder ;)

Can't wait until next year!
Kelley, aka Blair

Playground Monitor said...

Okay, finally! I've had trouble getting onto Blogger today too.

I don't have an inner actress but I think I did better this year than last. I think we all did because we knew what we were doing -- or at least we had a better idea.

I like my black satin PJ's I bought for my character. My second husband robbed me blind and the only reason I still have my pink diamond earrings is I was wearing them when he cleaned out my safety deposit box. And I'll tell you again, there was NOTHING honorable about that maid of honor. She sleaze stole the money I gave her to invest and...

Oops! Gotta push Tyra back behind the scenes. ::grin::

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

Need I remind you that the money you invested with me was stolen to begin with??

Playground Monitor said...

That didn't mean you had to compound the situation by losing my investment. I was merely trying to earn more money for the children's charity. But noooooooooo! You stole my investment. As I said... absolutely no honor in that maid of honor. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I must confess I've been involved in other murder parties in the past (pre-HOD) and didn't care for them. They are really not my bag of tricks. I would be far better suited to the role of Charon, ferrying the "souls" of the "dead bodies" over the Styx. Now, if I could portray a goddess ...

Katherine Bone said...

As you know, SP, I worried myself sick about the murder mystery party. But once I started playing I had oodles of fun!

There's a part of me who loves to be the center of attention, but most of the time the 'normal' part of me, the one who's been trained to follow the rules, balks. And, as I try to stay in character, focusing on my role, I forget to pay attention to what's being said around me. I forget to be ruthless! Of course, that may have something to do with not wanting to get killed. LOL!

Last year as the mayor, I channeled Groucho Marx for some reason. :) This year, as the Black Widow, I tried to channel Marlena Dietrich without the accent. ;) There's nothing like getting stared at or being told you weren't invited to the wedding shower. I have to say, I tried my best to stay in character and stare the mother of the bride down, which was probably laughable, at best.

To next year! Salute!!

Lynn Raye Harris said...

Kathy, hon, I think you were AWESOME! I don't know why you worry about these things. Your Black Widow had me in stitches -- the thighmaster, OMG! You are funny and pretty good once you get going. I thought you were one of the top actresses of the night. Seriously.

Oh, and that chocolate cake in a mug looks evilly wonderful!!!!

Sherry Werth said...

Ugh, Blogger has not let me on today! Finally!
I had a good time at the murder mystery party. It was my first so I was a little unsure of myself. I had the most fun watching all of you guys play your parts. You do go all out! Maybe next year I'll do better at keeping a straight face, or not. :D

Thanks PM's mom for the recipe. I'm going to try it out this weekend. It sounds great.