https://www.facebook.com/pages/2012-Mayor-of-Steampunk-City-Election/147277682052111?sk=wall

The everyday world has these too, a friend of mine had a persona named Monique, whom she would use while clubbing, and she called it the fun and outgoing side of her. Those kinds of personas are rampant in the outside world. We know that “Monique” is not appropriate for everyday usage say for work, or meetings. Cultures like steampunk, cosplay, and Goth are cultures built on image and persona but sometimes participants don’t break character at all, which can be very annoying, to the point that people around them can be uncomfortable or insulted. At Cons this over usage happens a lot. You walk down the hall and hear “ Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon can I take your picture?” In this type of situation it’s appropriate. You don’t know the person’s name so you find a distinguishing feature to get their attention. It is like saying “ Hey you with the glasses”

Some however take it to far. To the point where about 2 years ago on the cosplay circuit that a Sailor Moon cosplayer was beating up another Sailor Moon because she was the true and real Sailor moon. Now you may laugh, it is pretty funny but this is a perfect example of what can happen.

In Steampunk it is the same with some – they never break character and some Victorian customs can be snobby and down right rude. Now everyone has his or her quirks. Redfeild herself does not like Neo-Victorians but if I were to go to a con I would never say or act like I did (unless I did not like the person themselves) I would never say “shut up you close minded git “ because it is insulting and Kathryn, the person, me, I don’t believe that. It is important to distinguish between you the person and you the character. I use this rule, if a person comes up to you and acts like himself or herself, than you should have the courtesy to do the same. There are some circumstances where this rule is null and void. This Rule holds especially true if you have decided that your character is an a**hole, keep it to a decent level. Remember I always say Steampunk should be fun FOR EVERYONE. If you are a jerk I can guarantee that you a taking away someone else’s fun and that is not Steampunk.                            greek cubed 

In the case of clothing it is the same; One, unless your friends don’t know what steampunk is and they ask you what are you supposed to be…Or two, you take off your goggles and maverick, look in the mirror and look like a Victorian, Goth or out of style by less then 70 years. Take another look at what you are doing always upgrade and replace as a friend often says . Take more time, don’t jump into Steampunk ‘cause your friends are doing it. Steampunk is about being you and being creative. There are other ways to do it, if Steampunk isn’t your thing. I would say if you do it twice and are not really into it then don’t do it. If your friends are your friends they will understand and still be there, even if you realize you are a hipster… we can’t all be perfect. And I can not stress enough Stemapunk Kits… don’t do it

Class, we are not talking about class as it is in India or even an Upper and Lower class of the modern day. There is still class in the world of steampunk. It is usually not seen at conferences based around Pop Culture, but it can be seen in smaller groups and Steampunk based conferences. We (steampunk) work completely the opposite of modern society, Makers and Artists are the stars, you know their name even if you don’t know their face.  The people that are the consumers don’t make the rules some are even act a lot like groupies. If you are a good enough Maker/Artist, people will pay you to come and give talks about your work and process.

We respect people on their work and creativity rather then their looks. The most popular are not necessarily the prettiest, though there is a place for that but the one that think outside the box for most.

The steampunk community can be very small, sometimes little clashes can rip us apart which almost happened to this New England branch over copyright laws. It is like a famous person protecting their rights (though the paparazzi forget that) Some of these Makers/Artists are trying to make a living selling there art, in this case a photo and a character idea. When someone takes it and crops out distinguishing marks and does not give the model (who came up with the character) or the Photographer credit. Putting it out and telling everyone they made they made it, is stealing even thought the person was not making any money on it and is not looking for fame or glory from it. The Steampunk society split makes the artist the bad party for saying “no, you did not ask take it down” and consumers say “but I like it, leave it “ When this happens and by virtue of numbers (there being fewer Makers/ Artist then consumers) they have made us second class citizens by taking with out thought, instead of the back bone kind Subculture.

The Great New England Steampunk Exhabition

(TGNESE)

This was a lovely time for the paying guests. While it was the first year for this con, it had a fairly large turnout. The one scheduling problem I found was the when Abney Park was scheduled there was nothing opposite it now I love there music but I have seen them so many times that I did not want to see them again. Because it was not an event where you bought a different ticket the price for the weekend was really to high.   However if you were a VIP guest you had a horrendous time, this is due to the hotel who blamed us for everything, from a loud drunk wedding party that ran up and down the halls yelling “Whhhooow Steampunk” to the fact that the lobby was left a mess by this same loud rude group.

I got a call to my room at 6:30 on Saturday saying that we have to move hotels and needed to be checked out by 7. Some people did not get this call, instead they where woken by a maid at there door telling them they need to clean for paying guests. Due to some back handed cuckolding on the hotels part, they charged us the twice the original fee for the use of the space and threatened to close us down at 3 different times during the event. I who worked 3 months on organizing a fashion show (on the first day… which is never heard of) did not get paid even though I was supposed to. NEVER NEVER I repeat NEVER go to the Co Co Keys, Courtyard by Marriott in Fitchburg mass. They are rude and have gotten lots of angry letters from the attendees of the Convention. On a much happier note, they are planning for next year and have already signed the Convention Center in Hartford CT which is where Conneticon is every year.

Charles River Museum. Waltham Mass  

This are show is for the Artist. There are one or two piece for the unschooled and definitely interesting to look at. I feel the one place the organizer went wrong was to make is a competition among artist. I could be bias because I did not win, not even an honorable mention, for the only piece of wearable art in the whole competition part of the show. It does not help that the space is not conducive to an art show. The opening was on Halloween, which was a good idea normally but on the other hand it was on a Monday. It was also after the huge October snowstorm so most of us did not have power in New England.   The party put on by Dr. Grymm Laboratories was very good, there were jack o lanterns, scary music, good lighting cobwebs and lots of food.

One of the Attendies, Katherine Zheng
to the show took this picture of my work : 

Mark twain house Hartford CT

A generally fun event. You could tell the non-steampunks cause they where dressed as steampunks and the people who are all ways steampunk wore different costumes.

Mark Twain House Hartford Ct

A fun and exiting art show and opening, the camaraderie was evident among the artists and makes a very cohesive show lead by the esteemed Dr. Grymm, of Dr Grymm Laboratories. The Bizzare on the whole is very, very friendly and not pretentious at all. You do not need a degree in art to understand the artists view point and story they are telling. This is a wonderful show for people of all ages and is a really good stepping stone for children to look at art and be introduced to the art world.  If you wish to see the exhibition please call the Mark Twain House the exhibition will be up till January 15th

And of corse yours truly is in this show.

Picture taken by Babs who takes pictures