Mauled

My Dad has this thing were he likes to go and walk around the Mall.  As someone who likes walks, this appeals to me.  As someone who doesn't like shopping, it's location does not.  But I decided I needed to get out today, so I went. 
It's been a really long time since I've been to the Mall.  I've been living elsewhere and when I am around, I'm usually too busy to even think about something like this.  The place hasn't changed much, honestly, but in the bad economy, a lot of stores have closed down.  It was kind of sad.  There were whole blocks of nothing. 
While we were walking about, my Dad noticed a sign advertising new aluminum-free deodorant at the Body Shop.  I've mentioned before that I'm on the hunt for aluminum-free products, the first one being deodorant.  Jennifer already pointed me to a place that sells some, and I like it so far.  It's good to know there are other options out there.  The guy was really shocked to see me so enthusiastic about the stuff.  Once you've read the research, you will be too, trust me.
I also hit up my favorite store at the Mall: Hot Topic.
I know that a lot of people like to hate on Hot Topic.  I can understand that, on the outside, it might look like a terrible thing.  But when I was a young girl and discovering my Goth-i-ness, Hot Topic was the only store I could go to for the things that were close to what I wanted for self-expression.  When you're only going to be able to buy stuff you save your allowance for and don't have your own car, a place like Hot Topic, which is accessible and relatively cheap, is a Godsend.  And really, most of the stores in Malls across America sell the same basic looks, and they always change based on "what's in" in mainstream fashion.  If you want something different, Hot Topic is one of the few distinctly differently places. 
I also went in to check on one of my friends, who I haven't seen in four years.  He's changed so much.  He has a beard that reminds me of Daniel's.  He's still super hot.  (Why did I not date him when I had the chance?  He's clearly perfect for me.)
He was giving me the scoop on some mutual friends.  Emily graduated.  Jack is awesome and amazing, as I already knew since I saw him six weeks ago.
What surprised me was what he said about Ben and Shannon.  Ben is my ex-boyfriend who I haven't seen in years either.  Not because we had a fight or anything, we just grew apart, and, strangely, not even over our breakup.  (We were really good friends in the two years after the breakup.)  I knew that Ben and Shannon got married this past December. 
What I didn't know was that they had packed up and moved last week for South Carolina.  They both got teaching jobs.  Ben once told me that I would probably end of teaching at the college level and he would probably teach high school.  Now, at the very least, the last part has become completely true.  And of course, I would be happy to teach at a college, but I don't know if that's ever going to work out.  There are no guarantees in life. 
I have mixed feelings about them moving.  On one hand, I'm sad there's no chance of me running into them, since I like them so much.  On the other hand, Ben had this fatalist thing going on when I was younger about how he would never leave our hometown, and he would live here forever, just like countless generations of his family before him.  I'm glad to hear he actually got out of here, even if it's before me.

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.