The Steal

Truth: I don't really like malls.  Or shopping.  I still have issues with clothes.  (Why don't they ever fit right?  Why are they all made for the super skinny?  Why do I have to dress the same way?  Why do stores all sell so much of the same stuff?)
So going to the mall today with some of my friends was sort of a different thing for me.  Obviously, I was going so I could chill with them.  They're all much bigger shoppers than I am.  I don't even remember the last time I was in a mall or out shopping.  Last summer probably, but I can't even remember.  Oh!  Now I know: I went out in May 2009 to help my sister look for a graduation dress.  I bought a dress for the Honors College Ball (one I looked amazing in) and bought two other dresses, and my sister didn't get anything, because if there's anything I've learned about shopping, it's the person who's not looking for something who finds exactly what they've been looking for. 
First, we went into this store that sells accessories.  I started looking through stuff.  I found this great top hat decorated with red lace ribbon.  Ever since my steampunk convention a few weeks back, I have been on the lookout for cool steampunk wear.  I could totally use something like this, even though I already have an (artfully battered) steampunk hat with gray ribbon.
I try not to be an impulse buyer.  I try to talk myself out of at least 75 percent of my purchases.  I talked myself out of this one. 

Meanwhile, Tori and Natasha were inspecting vampire stuff.  "What's this?" Tori asked, holding up a journal with a design from the Vampire Diaries. 
"The Vampire Diaries," I explained, thinking that was enough.
"True Blood?"
"No, that's a different show." 
"Wait, in addition to Twilight and True Blood there's another vampire thing?"
I decided not to mention Buffy or Interview with a Vampire or Anita Blake.  Might not go over well. 
We walked down to a store that sold body lotions.  We walked in.  "I have a headache," I said thirty seconds later.  Natasha heard me and laughed.  It was actually not that bad, but my Mom cannot handle those places at all.  She's very headache-sensitive. 
We looked through things, and I smelled some of the testers.  I kind of hate it when things are described as Midnight Rendezvous or April Showers, because I always think "What does that smell like?"  With something like Strawberry Sorbet it's like, sure, it's meant to smell like strawberries.  At least if it doesn't smell like whatever, you can still be like "Oh, well, at least they achieved a general fruity thing." 
Madison picked up this massive brush and hit me with it and it hurt.  I thought about Josie and pervertables.  She'd love to hear about this.
We then went into an actual clothing store.  While Madison was looking around, I went into the boy's section.  I really love guy's clothing, and a year and a half ago, I promised myself I would start wearing stuff I liked, regardless of where it came from (unless it was from a store that sexually abuses its employees.  I'm not supporting that.)  I'm a big fan of plaid shirts (or plaid anything, really.)  This isn't the right weather for it, but I looked through.  And then I saw this bag on the ground. 
When I went to that convention, I was really sorry I didn't have a better bag (I had just opted to take my handy-dandy goes anywhere black purse).  I had wished I had a canvas bag and there one was.  Like God had heard me thinking about it and asked my Dad if he had one, and then decided to send me to the mall and a store I about never go into. 
I picked it up.  It was a decent size, which was what I wanted.  It was a messenger bag, like I wanted.  It didn't have holes or tears.  Good, good...and I looked at the price.
7.99. 
It was cheap.  A bag like this is a minimum 20, sometimes 30.  How the heck...? 
Well, obviously, I had to get it.  And then, as the clerk was ringing me up, she was like "Oh, it's on sale, plus you get another 20 percent off.  5.49."
5.49?  Sold! 
I showed it to everyone and they were all impressed.  5.49 for a nice big bag like that?
I'm the kind of person who buys something and then instantly regrets it.  I keep expecting it to happen with this bag.  I keep opening it expecting a giant spider to come out and chew my arm off.  To be fair, it's a little awkwardly designed.  If I was making this bag, I'd order different clasps and shoulder strap, but it's really the right look.  
Hilariously enough, of all my friends, I was the only person who bought something today.  See what I mean?  When you're not looking for something, it finds you.  

Land of Nod

One of the things I picked up at the convention was an advertisement to this music festival called The Land of Nod.  It looks really cool. 

There are a bunch of bands playing there that I really want to see: of Montreal, Rasputina, the Eagles of Death Metal, and Murder by Death.  Obviously, everyone's heard of Montreal and the Eagles of Death Metal.  I know I've read about Rasptuina somewhere and Rory once mentioned that he loved Murder by Death.  
There are even a few bands listed here that I've seen before but wouldn't mind seeing again, including My Dear Disco.  I saw them about a year and a half ago and had a really good time.  They were more funky than disco-y, actually, but that's not such a bad thing either.   

Con Virgin, part 2

Like I was saying in my last post, Matt and I spent a lot of time in the game room, since Matt was interested in learning more about games.  And, as I also mentioned in that post, I was looking to do a little amateur anthropology work.
The game room ended up being the best place to talk to people.  Whenever I'm in these situations, I feel very much like Elizabeth Bennet, since I find myself being witty and doing my best to endear myself to people.
I made jokes making fun of Republicans, and those went over surprisingly well.  Because of all the time I've spent with Dean over the past few years, I guess I've gotten it in my head that all nerds are libertarians, but my sense was they were liberals, which made me happy.
One of the people I ended up meeting was Matt Arnold.  When I first noticed he was wearing a tag with that name, I was tempted to ask him if that was really his name.  (The last time I saw that name, I was at Westminister Abbey.  Go on, look up who the historical figure is.)  I was impressed with certain things about him, and he seemed game enough for my wit.  (Along with his friend Nathan, who played along.  Score!)  Briefly looking around on his website, he appears to be way nerdier than I ever have been, but that's okay.  And the best news?  He appears to be pro-poly.      
I hate to admit it, but there were some cute boys there.  And there were some not-so-cute boys there who also had personality.  And, let's face it, I'm a personality fan.  If you want my immediate attention, sure, looking cute helps, but if you want to keep that attention long term, you better be something more.  It's too bad that I will certainly never see some of those boys again.  Some of them might be worth it.
The strangest thing that happened was that a young boy named Milo followed Matt and I out of the game room.  He introduced himself to us as Milo.  He was so young, and maybe a little too young to be wandering around the convention alone.  Matt totally blamed me for getting him to follow us around, but honest to God, I didn't do it on purpose.  I didn't even talk to the boy.  But, really, he seemed harmless enough, so no biggie.  
Matt and I also sat through this discussion of a steampunk movie maker.  The movies were well-made, and the one director seemed a little boring, but his best friend with him was hilarious and maybe manic.  I'd totally love to see the latter do nerdy stand-up. 
So maybe I didn't end up doing much in the way of anthropology, but that's not the end of the universe.  I definitely feel like, for the most part, people were very friendly.  There were a few people who were exactly like the most negative stereotype of nerds, but I was mostly pleased with the experience.  
Getting home?  Not so much.
Matt is wonderful and all, but he managed to get lost three times on the way back home.  I know what happened the last two times, but I'm still trying to figure out how the first time happened.  I wasn't paying attention because Matt and I were having an intense, heart-to-heart conversation and I was dealing with frantic text messages from my Mom, so I wasn't watching where Matt was going.  I think the first time he turned somewhere funny, because all he had to do was go straight before we hit a particular freeway.  At one point, it became clear we were going east when we were suppose to be going north.  And then for some reason, Matt turned around and went south. 

Con Virgin

Yesterday, I headed over to a steampunk convention. As some of you know, I'm really interested in subcutltures, and steampunk is one of the newest around. I wanted to do a little amateur anthropology work.
But one of the things that happened was that I ran into my old friend Jack, who I went to high school with. It was through him that I heard about the convention.
Jack's a transman, which means that he's going through a transition right now. He's really cool. He mentioned to me that he wants to go back and see a particular teacher, but since he's begun taking hormones (his voice is very different now), he's a little worried about going back to see that teacher. Not so much because that teacher would hate him, but because it might be a little bit of a shock.
I know if I was in Jack's position, I would feel really awkward about it too. I told him that if he went with a group of friends (we all sat together in the back) or someone gave the teacher warning, it might be fine. I didn't think about it at the time, but I probably should have offered to go with him. Hell, I'd even be polite to my ex-boyfriend to get this to work for Jack.
Anyway, I digressed before I even got started on what I wanted to say. The steampunk convention was really cool. There was a merchants room, and I saw all sorts of cool costumes and props and other nerdy things for sale. Even though I had a fair amount of moolah on me, I always feel like I should be very careful what I buy. (NO impulse purchases.) So I mostly looked. There were some beautiful hats and costumes for sale, and they were very expensive looking. I actually managed to make myself a pretty decent costume just out of the stuff I have in my closet. The only thing I really need to do is to improve this look is maybe add an accessory or two to make it more steampunk-y. I collected tons of fliers and business cards, so I'm hoping that there will be people for me to go to for more stuff, should I decide to buy it. I'm a big believer that it's never too early to start making wishlists for Christmas or your birthday.
The only thing I ended up buying were some clip on magnifying glasses. Basically, one of the most important parts of a steampunk costume is the goggles. But of course these goggles have a very particular design, one that suctions down on each eye, making them less than ideal for those of us who wear glasses full time. So, even though this is one nerdy subculture, you can't help but feel, as someone who wears glasses, that you're being discriminated against once again. But they also make these handy magnifiers you can clip to your glasses to give you a steampunk look and still use your prescription lenses.

I'm also thinking that maybe I should use one of my belts and just buy a few simple add-ons, like a flask or jar or gun holster (with gun, obviously) and that will look way more steampunk than some of the other people I saw there. Steampunk is all in the accessories.
Matt and I headed over to the game room for part of the convention. We played the game Arkham Horror, which is based on the Lovecraft stories. It was this big, impressively complicated game involving investigators trying to stop monsters from destroying the town. The representative showing this game looking like he belonged in a mobster movie and smelled like Burger King fries.
100 posts! Which would probably be more impressive if I hadn't skipped two days of posting, just because there hasn't been much going on or too much going on for me to get to room in the day to post something.