Halloween is a very important holiday for me. Some people don't really put that much effort into their costumes, but on a yearly basis I really try to give it my all because it's a fun outlet for creativity and when you do a good job people actually really seem to enjoy what you've done. The last few years I've been on fire, as my Hamburglar and Evel Knievel costumes have been well received, creative, and home made. Of course, I wouldn't have been able to do that without the help of a number of people (my mom, Amy, Kim and my boss to name a few), and I really appreciate that.
No less, with Halloween rapidly approaching, I was stuck between two ideas: dressing up as Max from Where the Wild Things Are or Bea Arthur's character from Golden Girls as part of a group costume. I wasn't crazy about either because I figured there'd be other Max's out and the Golden Girls idea just wasn't my style. Then at Amy's goodbye dinner, we came up with a great and incredibly original idea: Senator David Harper.
It's not that dressing up as a candidate version in itself is that great (it's just a suit after all), but if you really go for it, it can really work for you. So what I've done recently has been go for it (almost to absurd lengths), as I worked with a graphic designer who works in my office to have buttons designed (500 count!) and a campaign poster created (see the top) for enhancement of the costume. Then, I created a propaganda poster using Paste Magazine's awesome Obamicon.me site and Joanne and I put them up all across downtown and midtown Anchorage. Basically, if you go to a bar or coffee shop in that area, you'll see my face demanding that you party.Then, I created a Facebook fan page, a Twitter page, a blog and an email address and randomly noted that on each of the posters (before putting them up of course). This all adds up to the first viral costume I've ever even heard of. It's pretty entertaining as well, as various Anchorage based news outlets are following me. The prospect terrifies me, as I hope to god they realize this is a joke. Someone questioned a friend of mine wondering what I was going to get out of this. Well, simply put, I'm going to get a really good time out of it. I'm taking it fake seriously, but really it just gives me an entertaining creative outlet for a couple weeks, and allows me to be truly original on my costume again.
So yeah, that's that. I was going to wait until Halloween to announce this on here, but it doesn't really matter. No one should think this is serious, unless you're handing out a button of mine or putting up one of my posters. In that case, you should be utterly serious and suggest to the person that they should vote for David Harper in 2010. He's the Party Party candidate, and he's running for the U.S. Senate seat in Alaska.
Have a good Halloween all, and make sure to support me on the pages below and by god, if you see me on Halloween, buy your candidate a drink!
Thanks to Michael Kim for designing everything, Joanne for helping distribute everything, and everyone else for your support. Yes we can!
Twitter: @harperin2010
Blog: Harper in 2010
Facebook: David Harper in 2010 Fan Page