Eradicate Foul Moods with Steampunk!

Yesterday was one of those days that presented an endless panoply of irritants, beginning with Erasmus throwing up at 6:45 am. Let me tell you, nothing rockets me out of bed faster than the sound of the dog horking wetly, as I know I have eight seconds to get him outside. I threw my bedroom door back and Erasmus raced for his doggie door....and then stopped and stood directly in front of it preparing to vomit. I have to literally push him out the dog door, then go back to my room and clean up some barf he had let fly loose. The day went downhill from there; quite frankly it was a fairly normal day but I was in such a lavishly foul mood that the slightest of irritants seemed like a major catastrophe.

In my dark mood, I grudgingly laced myself into my corset and donned my "officer of the Horizon" costume for the steampunk military ball, all the while grumbling to myself about why I had chosen a career that required me to play dress up like a four year old and ratchet myself into a bloody corset on regular occasions. Not thinking properly, I forgot that shoes go on before the corset, and had to unlace myself to get my boots on, snarling all the while.

However, the Steampunk Society of Nebraska outdid itself at the Military Ball. Special kudos go to Erica and her amazing decoration skills; she well deserved the medals that were pinned to her jacket at the awards ceremony for all the hard work she puts into steampunk. We had a grand night out last night, and one particular fun event was the session on 19th century dancing we learned. Two uniformed officers lead us through the Grand Waltz and the Virginia Reel on a dance floor that was a tad too small for the number of people we had trotting around on the floor, so the officers had to act as traffic cops and redirect the swarms of dancing couples in the right direction. Boots kicked, medals jingled, sheathed swords banged into shins, hats tumbled to the floor, sleeves caught in various steampunk accessories, beads went rolling away, bustles bumped, toes were trodden upon. At one point, Nick and I were holding our arms up to help form the human bridge, and my additions to the proceedings were limited by the fact that I am short, my corset was holding me back, and my jacket is too tight across the shoulders, requiring the people ducking under my section of the bridge to practically crawl.

I think I speak for the group when I saw a very good time was had by all. What a ball!

On the home front, I have spent the past two days running around Omaha putting up my posters. If any Omaha people have venues for posting and want to hang a few posters for me, just give me a call! I've also been contacting steampunk groups around the world to introduce myself and ask if they would be willing to post my Kickstarter link on their group pages, but I have yet to hear back from anyone. I have a contact at the Iowa Nonpareil and I am hoping I can get a news article out of him. Yesterday I met a student working for UNO TV and I told her about my project, and she might do a feature. Octopodicon and Emerald City Steampunk Expo will be great marketing opportunities. However, I know there is more I can do to get my project out there. Anybody have any idea or suggestions?

So far, http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/melissaconroy/steampunk-trilogy-gears-airships-and-more is standing at $712 pledged with 42 days to go, so if you feel lead to contribute, you are more than welcome! Kickstarter takes any pledge amount of at least $1, so you can give as you feel inclined.

Captain Roberts is currently dealing with a monkey situation on board the Horizon. When I last left Chapter 15, he and Miss Victoria Pickens were having an argument about said monkey, and Miss Pickens was in danger of winning it, much to Roberts' better judgement. Captain and crew are heading to Istanbul, and I am in a bother trying to discover if there are any Google-map type programs out there that plot courses for marine ships. I honestly don't know how long it would take a 19th century steamer ship to get from Gibraltar to Istanbul, and thus I am not sure how much time to allot for the journey. They will need to stop more than once from coal or otherwise obtain needed fuel, so that is another consideration. The Horizon can take the birds-eye path if it chooses, but it is currently sailing with the merchant marine Morning Star and the two need to remain in eyesight of each other.

Well, I need to figure out what costumes I am bringing to Octopodicon next weekend and make any further adjustments. Quick, to the craft room!

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