manifesta | hello Seattle

My salsa friends and I made our monthly pilgrimmage down to Seattle last night to go salsa dancing. Sometime around 1AM on Capitol Hill while walking back to the cars, I spotted a pair of steampunks. One of them had a clock tattooed to the top of his hand with some kind of design trailing upward and under his sleeve. He wore a pair of small, black goggles on his forehead. She had larger, clear goggles, and her boots featured some kind of intricate lacing involving metal clips. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain, and so I didn't get to see the rest of their outfits. I haven't been jumping on the bandwagon with steampunk fic because... well... I don't like bandwagons. But the steampunk culture and lifestyle seems to have been gaining popularity around here, and I have to admit, I do love most of the clothes.

As someone who appreciates taking a more masculine style (the 'punk' in this example) with feminine elements, I adore the woman's outfit (see above picture). I have this thing for wearing really frilly or flowy dresses/skirts and combining them with badass boots. Had I known this back in high school, instead of those strappy sandal-heels, I would've worn leather boots with my floor-length gown to prom.

Also: THANK YOU Dreamwidth for upping the number of free-account avatars from 6 to 15! A few big reasons I decided to convert from LJ to DW is because of the diversity statement, the site's lack of ads, and the designers' committment to user-focused progress. Not to mention the detailed weekly updates.

I realize that my being on DW may make it more difficult for my LJ readers, but I do appreciate you taking the extra time and effort to read and comment! I loved LJ for a looong time, but it's been going downhill for quite a while, and I'm excited to see how DW will expand once it comes off beta. Thus, if anyone wants a DW invite code (even if it's just to create an account to cross-post from LJ to), I've got some.

EDIT: You totally don't have to be a regular commentor to ask for a code, either. Just leave your email in the comments!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A clock tattooed to his hand? That is SO COOL!!! Oh man. Wow. Just...wow.

Its okay. I'm not jumping on the steampunk bandwagon either. Its not because its a bandwagon, but I also know that I wouldn't be able to do the genre justice. ;-) Heck I'm not even sure that I am doing the fairy tale retelling/fantasy genre justice. The only thing I know how to do justice is those poems you write at thirteen when you're angsty. :-P

Yeah. I was exhausted so I had to do a double take, but it was pretty cool.

Hahaha. I definitely knew how to write angsty poems at 13. I love fairytale retellings! I don't think it's possible to really do them wrong, either. Making each one different is part of the fun. :)

Hi,
Love the idea of steampunk dressing! I don't think I've seen it yet - not sure the idea of it as a lifestyle has occurred to anyone in Canberra yet.
Just replying to your comment on my blog a week ago - of course I don't mind you commenting. So great that you do Salsa too! The Sydney Congress is Jan 28th to 31st. I'll attempt attaching a link, if not, it's at least it's the website if you're interested :)

http://www.sydneysalsacongress.com.au/

And your dark fantasy novel sounds intriguing...
Astrid

OOOOH Johnny Vasquez will be attending?! I LOVE his performances with Carolina Cerisola! You must blog all about it afterwards. :)

Here's the website of the Seattle congress I'll be attending at the end of the month: http://www.seattlesalsacongress.com

I'm glad you stopped by! It's always good to talk to other salseras.

I totally love that picture--it's awesome. :3

I actually didn't really have a clear idea of what steampunk was until a few months ago, and even then I just thought it sounded sorta cool and intriguing. I had no idea there was going to be an industry blow up. I sort of hate this influx of faddish, all-alike genres.

Saying this, though, sorta makes me a hypocrite, because I have a steampunk novel in mind, too. :p

I haven't really delved all that too deeply into its plot or world mythos, though, and I don't think I will just yet, because I don't really favor using the genre boom. I'd rather just get by on what little talent I have than ride a fad wave to publication, y'know?

...Did that even make any sense? :p

I didn't either. I actually first heard about it from an offline friend, and when I started paying attention to the pub industry again, I discovered it was becoming this huge trend. Who knew?

You made sense! Riding a fad makes me feel uneasy, too. I'm just happy there isn't a real fad for whatever kind of fantasy I'm writing atm, just a loyal underground following. :)

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