2020 has been a freak show on the nerves, to be vague and precise. Thus, it’s largely unstrange that this year’s Halloween will be of no ordinary occasion. You heard right, a full Blue “Hunter’s Moon” (that’s actually red in color, aka “Blood” or “Sanguine”) is heading our way. Although it's a popular belief that a full moon occurs on the 31st every so often, one hasn’t made an appearance since the 40s. Even more eerie is the fact that the ripe lunar phase will be visible, for this one rare night, across the entire globe.

If someone had told me a year ago that I along with everyone else in the world would be living through a global pandemic I never would have believed it. But alas, here we are. The new normal of course is social distancing and continuous mask wearing. No one knows how things will turn out a week from now, a month, a year. You name it. However, one thing is for sure. To be healthy and alive during such strange times is a blessing. And it is for that very reason that I am looking forward to finalizing the details of my dinner party. What dinner party you ask? Well to put it quite simply, it is a special dinner meant to honour the local everyday frontline workers within my neighbourhood.

The elegant tea cup set presented before you is in dedication to a special artist at his royal dinner birthday party. The party is in honor of the artist named John also known to have many names who passed away, but still here in spirit. The rainbow lights extending from the ceiling hit the fine colors on the paintings exhibited on the wall. The long hallway provides an art walk of John's paintings; for the guest to view before taking a seat at the table.

In the early days becoming a writer, to me, meant hosting or attending sophisticated dinner parties in a brownstone apartment with crown molding and paintings on the walls in some city like New York or Paris. This might explain why I’m a much better dinner party hostess than I am a writer. My capacity for rigid discipline only extends to planning dinner party menus and playing the woman of society.

My daughter and I have a Custom Gulf Stream Time Machine that can go anywhere anytime, and we’re in the mood for a beachside dinner party with a couple of our heroes. On average writers can be a reclusive bunch. There are few dynamic personalities among the authors whose work I admire most. For instance, Hunter S. Thomson knew how to party. That is what made his Gonzo style of writing so engaging. The reader gets to live vicariously through him when he jumped headfirst into dangerous and often self-destructive behavior. We do not have to dodge bullets, get beaten up by a biker gang, or go on lengthy acid trips to know what it is like. As a reader of Hunter S. Thompson’s work, we can get a play by play of the moment to moment smells, sounds, and feels that made Gonzo writing so popular.

Having dinner with Van Gogh is a dream of mine. He is one of the most influential artists of all time, and a favorite artist of mine. He possessed so much genius, so much creativity, and although he left the world too soon, he gave the world a beautiful gift in every single one of his paintings. I was at an art museum once, looking at a self portrait by Van Gogh, and I was struck by the reality that Van Gogh had stood in front of that painting, where I was standing now. His hands touched the space in front of me and created the work of art which was now inches in front of my face. It was almost difficult to fully acknowledge and to really take in. But it got me thinking about how much I would have loved to know him in real life. What would such a genius be like on an average day? These curiosities only heightened when I looked at the painting of his bedroom a few minutes later. It was such an ordinary space, yet painted with such emotion and story.

Ever since I discovered writing was something I like to do, my life changed. Seriously, I am not exaggerating on this one. I have always been a fan of pop culture, video games and entertainment in general. I love cinema and I feel so blessed for being alive to witness the live portrayal of my favorite comic book characters or playing in digital worlds where I can lose myself.

I’ve always gotten fluster when asked “If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would you have dinner with?” I’ve never narrowed it down to one person; I mean you have the greatest, Elizabeth C Stanton, you have the awesome Tupac, my personal favorite my dad and of course the most recent ones, Obama and J Cole.

“Not spicy enough,” I thought, making to add another dash of paprika before panicking. “Or is it too spicy?” I had no idea how my guests would like it. I could only imagine the food they were used to might differ pretty tremendously. I took a mental glance down the list of my dinner guests for the evening and decided to add a little more paprika anyway. It was going to be quite an evening! I had showed my mother the list of guests last week over tea and she had expressed concerns about how they would all get along.