Introduce yourself (Mk. III)

[J. Wilhelm]

Good afternoon. After yet another prolonged absence, I feel it would be appropriate to re-introduce myself. I'm M.R. Graham, formerly known here on BG as Mad Miss Holmes, known in other corners of the internet as qui est in literis, or QEIL (which, I have been told, ought to be pronounced as "quail"). I'll still answer to "Miss Holmes", though.

It's been a while, friends. I've been off acquiring a Masters, turning out a few books, and floundering through the writhing, shuddering morass that is America's public school system. I'm afraid that, for the past few years, my steam and punk both have fallen by the wayside, and I cannot describe the depression that has induced. I can't stand it anymore, and so here I am back, if you'll have me.

Fond regards,
M.R.

Welcome back to the forum, Miss Graham, fellow Texican and former Miss Holmes! 

You will find most fellow Texans on Facebook I'm afraid, both on Texas Steampunk, and if you care also on the Austin Steampunk Society page (naturally the venerable Texas Steampunks aka Seahohlm Steam and Diesel, of which I'm a long time member, are still here and hopefully alive, although I confess I haven't heard from them in a very long time).

By the way. I hear that Mr. Willeford and Lady Clankington have organised some nefarious affair and are planning to travel from the darkest regions of the California Barbary Coast, to this, your City of Austin (aka the township of Waterloo upon the Colorado). Not being tremendously fond of said characters, I'm torn whether to attend next week - or not...  And I was wondering if per chance you would be thinking of attending this event?

I remain AYS,

Admiral J. Wilhelm
United States Airship Orca

[qui est in literis]

Admiral Wilhelm! Very pleased to see you still about.
Tragically, I am currently residing far, far away from bizarre and lovely Austin, here in the nether regions of our Great State -- which is to say, down in the Rio Grande Valley, which as far as I can tell, is entirely devoid of steam, and all its punk is of entirely the wrong sort. If you do go, though, I shall want photographic evidence!
I shall endeavour to locate the correct corners of the Facebook, though. I had already been following the Austin Steampunk Society, and I can't imagine why I wasn't already following Texas Steampunk.
You don't by chance happen to know of any s'punk further south than Corpus, do you? It's hot and lonely down here.

[von Corax]

Reid, Lisa, Inge and Aemilia, welcome to Brass Goggles. Miss Holmes, welcome back.

In my seven years (to the day) as a Brass Goggles member, I have not really introduced myself, so I suppose now is as good a time as any to rectify that. My name is not really Darwin Prætorius von Corax, but my initials really are DPC, and "Corax" is etymologically closely related to my meatspace surname. I live in Southwest Ontario, just north of The Deforested City (a real place, sarcastically renamed.) Those who know me only as Prof. von Corax would probably not recognize me in person, but those who know me in meatspace would find the Professor decidedly and unsettlingly familiar; I actually have documentary evidence to prove that I am (at least!) a third-generation congenital smartass.

When I am not here, I am an unemployed Clacker and Difference Engineer, and if anyone knows of an opening in my region I would show my profound gratitude by ensuring that you are among the first to be eaten when Dread Cthulhu rises from the deep.

[DikkeVetteVlinder]

@ Colonel Hawthorne; it is! I had no idea what exactly to expect, but they really are great live.
It's always awesome if you can actually talk to bandmembers, though I can understand it's more fun for them if a lot of people show up. At Elfia I didn't really get the chance to say anything, as I had to leave straight after (it was still a two hour drive back home) but I did contact them through Facebook and got a reply the same day. Needless to say, I didn't see that coming :')

@ Von Corax; Thank you! ^^

[T. C. Halloway]

Hello, everyone! A pleasure to meet you.

I go by Thomas Christian Halloway, T.C. for short, Halloway fine, too. I've been a Steampunk since before we were called that (I was given a top hat for Christmas for my eighth birthday, and invented a Shirtsleeve-Stored, Spring-Loaded, Extendible Helping Hand that same year). I am a student of Music, Languages, the Arts, the Sciences, the Classics, Prestidigitation, Hullabaloo and General Malarkey. I am a Jack-of-All-Trades, aspiring to the title of Renaissance Man. I make Huge Mistakes and have Grand Adventures. I have an opinion on just about everything and perhaps a surfeit of willingness to share them.

I believe the term is "Long time Lurker". Consider me out of the woodwork. Here's to getting to know you and perhaps, in some small way, contributing to the glorious, ausgesprochen schön Chaos.

Cheers!

[Danimalsaurus]

Hello all, my name is Danny and I figured I would join the discussion and introduce myself. I live in Oklahoma and I am a graphic/web designer. I guess ever since I discovered steampunk I've always thought it was really cool, but I've never really done anything steampunk. I love the fashion style, I could probably dress like that every day lol, but what I really enjoy are the gadgets and utilities. Like weapons, clocks, lamps, phones and ect.... So after some though, I think I am ready to try my first steampunk costume. I've been wanting to do this for a couple of years now, but was never really driven. I want to change that this year. I want to make a ghotbusters cosplay costume and I have a rough idea of how I want it to look, but I'm really not good at planning things. I have to start working on them and see them in front of me to really start designing. I have a little woodworking experience and a little wiring experience, but I think this costume is going to be a real challenge for me and I'm hoping this is where this forum can help me. I'm sure there are users out there with some great ideas and can actually help me achieve my goals. Well, that's it for now, I just wanted to break the ice. Thanks!

[ralnor]

Hello one and all,

I'm Alan, from the middle of nowhere (Derbyshire) in the UK.
I'm an archer (longbow), play harmonica and guitar, and seem to spend the rest of my time repairing things from computers to internal combustion engines to analog audio equipment...maybe one day, I'll move into clockwork.

I've admired the steampunk movement from afar for quite some time now, read lots, seen lots (online), listened to lots, but never really gotten involved in the flesh, as it were...I put this down to working too much and having far too much social anxiety to actually go out and do something.

Anyways. Hope you're all lovely people here and I get to talk to some of you soon!

[Colonel Hawthorne]

Danny and Alan, welcome to our jolly band.

There are all manner of helpful people here, and very few of them bite.  Have fun exploring and when you're ready, show us what you're making.

Best regards,

Hawthorne

[Seakrits]

I suppose I should introduce myself as well. There's always one of these treads on a forum somewhere and I'm never exactly sure what to write in them.

Let's see. I suppose the basics are always a good place to start.
I am, at this moment, 36 years of age. I've been married 16 years, have 3 children, 6 cats, 2 dogs, and so many holes in my memory it quite much resembles swiss cheese. (No worries, the holes are self induced, brought on by said 3 children, 6 cats, and 2 dogs.) I've been in love with the idea of Steampunk for many, many a year. I have admired it from afar mostly, squealed in delight when I've seen it in real life, and have only recently had the time and finances (be they small), to delve into investing into the genre, in the form of actual creations. I'm rather a d.i.y./re-purpose dabbler, so this is an exciting adventure I've put myself on.

My family has recently moved half way across the country of USA, from Cincinnati, Ohio, to farm country South Dakota. As our new house has a fully finished basement and I have had a long time dream of 'Steampunk-ifying' my living quarters, I decided that now is the time. Despite my years of drooling over gears and doo-dads however, I found that I was incredibly intimidated by the thought of actually starting this project, thus I reached out to Google to help me find those with more expertise, and have found myself here.

From what I have seen, you all are quite amazing in your handiness, and I hope to be able pick your brains over the next, possibly long, while as I transform my little world from drab and dull, to dreamy, brassy greatness.

[classicassassin]

Lisa - your horse also needs a costume!  There's a challenge ...

Thank you all for the welcome! I have contemplated that. She does have a pretty awesome bridle still being made… I depleted my budget on my costume so hers is going to be minimal. Right now I'm working on trying to figure out what kind of saddle pad to use.

[nofx1994]

Hello everyone,
I go by the screen name nofx1994 as this is what I am known as in the customization community. I have been doing custom windows visual styles quite a few years now. I did do one visual style that was steampunk related (Cogg Universe http://virtualcustoms.net/showthread.php/28648-Cogg-Universe-theme-by-NOFX1994), but at that time I was still learning my unique style. Now my style has evolved into a style of my own I have started on a new visual style that I think will be in true form and hopefully as accurate as I possible can.

[noisytrashcycle]

Hi - I'm noisytrashcycle and am quite new to all this Steampunkia.  I'm a 50 ( ) year old woman who has been interested in the genre for a few years and quite by accident blundered into the Eastbourne Steampunk Festival last year (we live in Eastbourne and had just gone in to do some shopping!).  So now we (that's my husband and myself) are working on our glamorous wardrobes for this year's extravaganza in September. So, hello to all of you out there.  Be kind to us....

[Dr. H. Tinkerton]

Ladies and Gentleman

I would like, if I may, to introduce myself to you fine dwellers of this splendid place of the AetherWeb.

My name is Dr. Horatio Tinkerton. In my youth I was a member of Her Majesties Royal Aether Fleet and have as such seen the crystal caves of the moon, the canals of mars and the damp swamps and jungles of Venus.

After an honourable discharge I used my spoils of war to get me a fine education spezialising in the sciences of the aether. There I made some progress, leading to some inventions.

One of them was the divergence engine, a device to ethereous navigate the timeline and her points of divergence to see alternate timelines. One of those brought me here where I found a kindred spirit, a hundred years from my now, and of all nations a german. After much experimentation I was able to communicate with him and through his help to you as well.

He is in his fifties and with his wife pursues something they call "Reenactment" and "Steampunk". I will try to incite him to reproduce some of my contraptions, so he can show them to you.

I am very pleased to meet you here, more kindred spirits in the pursuit of splendidness, science and creation.

Yours faithfully
Dr. H. Tinkerton

[J. Wilhelm]

Welcome Ms. Seakrits, Ms. Noisytrashcycle, Mr.  Nofx1994 and Dr. Tinkerton to this fine forum.

It is with great pleasure that I see a range of ages in our new members, for ypu will find all ages fit well in this small universe of ours.

Dear Ms. Seakrits , it sounds like a splendid idea to proceed with the transfprmatyion of yopur basement.  And why not? the rest pf the house.  Don't forget, that is is traditional for the lady pf the house to decorate the interior of the house and for the husband to pay for it!!    

Mr. nofx1994, I shall introduce you to (or perhaps you are well acquainted with) our own Yereverluvinunclebert, our resident Babbage Engine Steampunk Desktop guru. I have the honour to call him my friend and I adopted a few of his creations when Sony commissioned a Steampunk laptop a few aeons ago (actually it wasn't that long ago - but for me it seems forever - at the moment...):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUxsCUVe5QU

Lady Noisytrashcycle, it is an absolute honour to have you on board, and I'm glad you found our movement even if serendipitously.   There is nothing like meeting a Steampunk in person, yo make you want to join in the fun!

Dr. Tinkerton, it is and ahonour to meet you and my pleasure to shake your hand.  I'm Admiral Johannes Wilhelm, PhD. from the United States Airship Orca.  I'm well acquainted w HRM's Aether Fleet's divergence engines, given that I developed the Portable Timeline Synchronizer in the early 1890s, for the United States Airship Command.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I remain AYS

~ ~ ~
Adm. J. Wilhelm
USAS Orca

[Muse]

Æthel Muse here, and what a pleasure, I am sure, it will be to meet you all. Feel free to call me Æ, or Muse, if that's easier. I am in my late teens, though I am often told that I am mature for my age (I get along better with my mother's friends than with most people my own age), and I really, really like Steampunk. I think it is so quirky and innavotive and oddly beautiful. Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure where to start on my Steampunk journey, so I decided to join a forum dedicated to the subculture.

[Professor cogs]

Hi everyone
so I'm very new to Steampunk and find it very interesting and I didn't know there was such a wide range of steampunk styles. So I now need to find my steampunk style 

[Caledonian]

Hello!

I just made an account for this forum! it looks really interesting!
I've had an interest in steampunk for 5 years now, and for about a year I've been going to fairs and cons in my own steampunk clothing.
I'm not too sure of what to say other then hello.

[Colonel Hawthorne]

Æthel (if I may), welcome.  One sees so few diphthongs nowadays!  The most important thing about steampunk is starting, and now you've crossed that hurdle there are no limits.  Figure out who your character is, or if you're not comfortable being 'somebody else' (some of us aren't - doesn't matter), just what sort of things you'd like to wear.  Start simple - just an interesting hat is quite enough to begin with - and let us follow your journey.

Professor, see above.  There are indeed many styles; finding yours is just a matter of getting started and carrying on in whatever direction your whims take you.  You'll get plenty of help here; just ask.

Caledonian, 'hello' is just fine.  Welcome to BG.  What interests you most about steampunk - clothes, gadgets, weapons, other?  Let's see some photos of what you're doing after a year; it should provide some inspiration to the newer steampunks among us.

You're all very welcome, and we look forward to seeing more of you in the various topics here.

[Caledonian]

this may not be the topic to do this, but since you asked here's a few pictures

this gif is tilted   


and a little close up


I'm still working on it, but I'm a student so I do not have the money to go very fancy.

[Colonel Hawthorne]

An engraved brass lapel?  That's something I haven't seen before.  Well done, indeed.

[Caledonian]

Thank you, colonel. My mother is a goldsmith, so the engraving machine is standing there anyway. Why shouldn't I use it?
You also asked what about steampunk I liked....
The answer to that isn't very simple. I like gears and mechanics, i liked brass and copper as materials....and I also have an interest in british history...

[Taran]

Hello all,

I just joined the website today, which is a bit overdue. I've had an interest in steampunk ever since I read "Ticker Hounds" by Sean Peters for a comparative literature class in science fiction at the University of Alberta in 2009. That interest *mainly* came forward in art; I draw a lot; I've also written a few steampunk short stories (including "Iron Roses", published at Daily Science Fiction and now being reprinted in the Love Hurts anthology from Meerkat press, and a super-secret story appearing in a super-secret anthology which I'm not allowed to talk about yet).

I also really love airships. And have an ongoing fascination with the hollow earth that comes from reading some obscure 19th-century fantasies like The Goddess of Atvatabar and The Secret of the Earth.

I wrote a series of novellas beginning in 2010 that heavily features a zeppelin and Czarist Russia--I'm posting these online now as a serial; you can find the link in my signature.

Look forward to talking with you all!

[Caledonian]

Hello taran =8]:{D
Welcome to the forum

[MechanicalQueen]

hi. so glad I found this forum and so far I like what I see. im gothic mostly, but as of lately the steampunk subculture has found its way into my heart! ive always been fascinated with it, but never really went in for the dive until late last year when I found out my favorite roller coaster's new theme was steampunk, then I became hooked! I feel its no coincidence that id always been fascinated with everything that goes against the mainstream, namely gothic victorian, vintage, renaissance, with a little bit of technological aspect into it. I used to be a ham radio operator actually! I havre a deep passion for music (too many genres to name, with the exception of pop, rap, hip hop, classic rock, country and gospel). glad to join the gang, I tip my goggles to you all lol!!

[Major Vincent Smith]

Welcome to all the new people! We hope you enjoy your stay! Teabags are here, biscuits are in the tin.

Glad to see I'm still the youngest member (and moderator)