Tell him to buy me 30 acres of land

Continuing on with the 26th Annual Arizona Renaissance Festival: the Best Part!

My Royal Press Pass - which they made me return!

At last! The Steam Pirate Airships!

I am giddy with excitement! Look at that top hat and goggles!

Ooh, the sign has a cameo like the one I gave Clementine!

I am overcome with excitement.

"You've got a friend in me."

I am the Queen of the world! Or the airship! Or the octopus! Whee!

Getting ready to see my boney prince Bobbie.

Momma making sure I look my best for Ded Bob.

"Look into my eye sockets...."

"All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."

Watching Ded Bob flirt with other women. He is dead to Me.

Snuggle close, Ded Bob, snuggle close.

Hmm, it looks like The Tortuga Twins like The Big Bang Theory, too.

Always looking for new parasols, I'm saddened that this vendor has none my size, but this is close!

I can't wait to go again. Have you gone yet? What is your favorite part?


Click here to see the first half of my Renaissance Adventure.

It's about time!

Wilde Imagination

Momma and I have been in mourning ever since Wilde Imagination announced in December 2012 that it was discontinuing its Imperium Park steampunk line.

It took a year, but photos of the newest Ellowyne Wilde were released today in all her steampunk glory.

Introducing, Just in Time!

Pru insisted we take a walk by the bay
But I didn't want to come out to play.
It's much too early, I rightly say.
But she talked me into it, Hip Hip Hooray.
I had to scurry, I had to race
to make it before the sun bared her bright face.
A stroke of luck!
I'm JUST IN TIME.
I get to see the sun rise,Isn't it sublime?

Just in Time Ellowyne features a hip steampunk-inspired ensemble and arrives bearing shiny hazel inset eyes behind thick lashes and a full rooted mane of mink. Including a cream bodysuit with elaborate collar, rich burgundy wool jacket with golden buttons and cameo detail, burgundy stripe skirt with fashion chain and bow detail and ribbed cotton tights, even Jules Verne himself would be proud! Our fashionable time traveler's ensemble is complete with sassy period button-up booties, a burgundy top hat with ribbon and chain deco, and of course, goggles. I dare say, the game is afoot! 

A limited edition of 1,000 dolls is scheduled to be available in April.

How shall I wait until then? Thank heavens my birthday is April 9!

Accessory after the fact

I was asked today what are my "must have" accessories.

Hmm, so many choices....

Well, my Unusually Stout Parasol, of course! I never leave home without it. Even if you don't see it in my photos, it is somewhere close by.

A tiny top hat since a lady never leaves the house without her hair covered. Besides, it looks fabulous! (I also use a headband and snood to keep my hair out of my face.)

My tinted glasses (or goggles) since they give me an inscrutable look.

My chatelaine - a chain belt with a padlock. The padlock keeps it safe upon my person while reminding me that NO ONE will EVER put ME in chains again. On it I have:

• Aether Pistol - in case my parasol fails me - which it never has.
• Flask (for medicinal purposes)
• Candle stubs
• Notebook and pencil
• Compass
• Scissors
• First-aid kit
• A coil of stout cord
• Magnifying glass
• Telescope

Boots - they protect my lower legs while making a grand sound while I stomp around. They help deliver sharp blows to villains, too.

Bling - It might not be sparkly (the enemy can spot sparkly a mile away) but I love to wear flowers, necklaces (especially my shell necklace), and lace mitts.

Unmentionables - I blush to mention them but you never know when corset stays might come in handy for picking a lock or filing bars. The same goes for my hoop skirt or crinoline.

Hat in hand

I forgot to mention that a male joined my Steam Team last week while I was out pirating.

Introducing Stryder Mortensen. I hope to someday get him the Imperium Park Clockwork Hypothesis outfit.

This impressive outfit includes a white shirt, cravat, pinstripe pants, lined jacket with golden decorations, pleather vest with buckles, matching armbands, belt, and pouch, gloves, socks, boots with grommets and lacings, goggles, and matching hat.

For now, he wears nothing but a hat.

And a smile.

I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore

Tonner Doll

Imagine my surprise today while perusing the 2012 Tonner Fall Holiday Collection, only to spot Tornado Traveler Dorothy.

Swoon.

For a mere $179.99 you too can receive:

• Dressed Doll
• Face includes hand-painted details
• Fine quality vinyl and hard plastic
• Judy Garland head sculpt
• Cheerleader body
• Tyler skin tone
• Brown painted eyes
• Brown rooted saran hair
• Brown faux leather hat with black ribbon trim and antiqued gold buckle
• Gold molded goggles
• Brown faux leather choker
• Brown faux leather bolero
• Brown faux leather corset dress with white bodice
• White and blue checkered skirt with brown faux leather straps
• Brown faux leather belt with bottle holder and green decorative bottle
• Brown faux leather gauntlets
• Blue striped tights with attached panties
• Brown faux leather spats
• Red glitter canvas shoes with red rhinestone decoration
• Stand
• LE 500

I do love that man's style.

Wonder women

I like to think that I am a trendsetter.

Steampunk dolls seem to be everywhere nowadays.

Doll designer Robert Tonner, who has obviously seen the steampunk light, is now offering Wonder Woman, Steampunk#1 for a mere $174.99.

• Dressed Tonner character figure™
• Face includes hand-painted details
• Fine quality vinyl and hard plastic
• Diana head sculpt
• 16” Heroic body
• Green painted eyes
• Black rooted saran hair
• Tyler skin tone
• Metallic blue faux leather bodysuit with navy blue attached skirt with silver stars and burgundy faux leather corset
• Gold faux leather lasso belt
• Silver faux leather gauntlets
• Silver and burgundy faux leather boots with gold stars
• Nude pantyhose
• Burgundy choker attached to the bodysuit with "W"
• Burgundy faux leather hat with gold trim and a burgundy star
• Gold vinyl goggles
• Stand
• LE 500

Wonder Woman is a fictional character, a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston, who first appeared in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941).

Wonder Woman is also well known for the 1975–1979 TV series starring Lynda Carter. Carter went to high school with Momma's cousins!

What has Me excited is the doll's description as Steampunk#1. Who else is going to receive the steampunk treatment?

Rutter does not my heart flutter

Sometimes there's no accounting for taste.

Take my dear friend Ellowyne Wilde's friend Rufus Rutter.

A friend of Ellowyne’s since seventh grade, Rufus is the handyman at the Victorian house where Ellowyne lives with her grandmother.

Always cheerful and a little shy, Rufus harbors an unrequited love for Ellowyne. Will he ever have the courage to confess?

Bleh.

Even Steampunked (from the 2010 Tonner Con) I think he looks like an accident victim. 

Rufus is definitely back and with a new, Steampunk look! Light brown hair, inset brown eyes. Rufus comes dressed in his own unique steampunk style outfit including tweed pants, shirt, vest, long coat with a gear applique, shoes, shin guards, cap, and steampunk-style goggles.

I think he looks much better with his face covered by his goggles, don't you?

Ellowyne's Imperium Park friend Phineas Jules Bennett is a vast improvement, in my not so humble opinion.

Steamrolled

I look at Ellowyne and what do I see? 
A girl that wishes she were more like Me;
So accomplished and pretty, and well spoken, I'm told
Poor Ellowyne doesn't even notice when she's being STEAMROLLED

Steampunk Gone Wilde - Letting Off Steam! A 2010 Tonner Convention Exclusive. Introducing Amber Stanhope - Ellowyne's childhood nemisis and friend? Dark red hair with inset blue eyes and applied lashes. Outfit includes long, layered skirt, aviator-style jacket, arm gauntlets, stockings, boots, aviator hat, and steampunk-style goggles. Mean-girl attitude implied. Designer saddle stand also included. LE 150

Estimated Ship Date: Sold Out

Debut Date: May 2010 Tonner Convention Exclusive - Steampunk Gone Wilde Event.

Day and night

Have you ever felt like their were two different personalities inside you?

Ashton Drake's Delilah Noir knows just how you feel and embraces both.

By day, she's a well-behaved, straight-A student. But when the sun goes down, Delilah Noir is ready to unleash her wild side! Off with her daytime preppy look, and on with the edgy, romantic Goth fashions she really loves!

Delilah Noir Steampunk is a brand new (and apparently last!) entry in the Delilah Noir line of ball-jointed dolls. A dealer exclusive, she has red hair, pale pink lips, totally awesome outfit including the necklace, and top hat with attached goggles. Her gold and black high-heeled lace-up boots are just kicking'!

Artificer Made the grade

Yes, the Artificer of my Dreams has done it again.

Inspired by Yours Truly, he has made yet another pair of awesome steampunk brass goggles.

And while I warned him not to make them more epic than mine, what did he do?

He made them even more epic than mine.

Sniff.

So run, don't walk, to Artificer Made's Etsy shop to get these epic Steampunk Goggles for your American Girl Doll.

Before I find the moolah and do so myself.

One can never have too many goggles, right?

Close, but no cigar

I have decided what to do with the lovely cigar box the Artificer of my Dreams packed my goggles and brass rose in.

It will become my writing desk.

My Dear Friend Betsy Ray stores her stories in a cigar box at the beginning of Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown by Maud Hart Lovelace.

"The perch in the maple tree was Betsy's private office. Here she thought out stories and poems and wrote them down. Here she kept what she had written in the cigar box that her mother had given her and Tacy had helped her nail to its present place."

She later uses her uncle's theatrical trunk for her desk, but she never forgets her humble cigar box.

I figure if Betsy can create stories with a cigar box and a theatrical trunk, I can do no less with my cigar box. After all, it's Illuminati which is the plural of Latin illuminatus, "enlightened."

(Plus, it's a handy place for this Perfectly Awful Girl to store my pipe, cuspidor, rum and absinthe.)

The goggle ogle defense

gog·gle noun, verb, adjective

noun
1. goggles,

• large spectacles equipped with special lenses, protective rims, etc., to prevent injury to the eyes fromstrong wind, flying objects, blinding light, etc.
• spectacles designed for a special purpose, as night-vision or stereoscopic goggles.
• Informal . glasses, or eyeglasses: I can't see a thing withoutmy goggles. Synonyms: specs, shades.

2. a bulging or wide-open look of the eyes; stare.

verb (used without object)
3. to stare with bulging or wide-open eyes. Synonyms: gape, ogle, gawk, gawp, glare.
4. (of the eyes) to bulge and be wide open in a stare.
5. to roll the eyes.
6. (of the eyes) to roll.
7. Informal. to spearfish.

verb (used with object)
8. to roll (the eyes).

adjective
9. (of the eyes) rolling, bulging, or staring.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English gogelen to look aside; compare agog

Related forms
un·gog·gled, adjective

Can be confused: goggle, Google, googol.

Thanks Artificer Made!

Snail mail

It's not really snail mail since my new goggles are coming from Michigan, but it sure feels like it!

I'm awaiting the mail carrier anxiously, using both my telescope and binoculars alternately.

Do you think he will be surprised to find me ready and waiting?

The shirtwaist off your back

Reading the penny-dreadful inspired by the Artificer of my Dreams steampunk goggles reminded me that Sunday was the 101st anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in New York City.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire on March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of New York City and the second deadliest disaster in New York City – after the burning of the General Slocum on June 15, 1904 – until the destruction of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

(The PS General Slocum was a passenger steamboat that caught fire on June 15, 1904 and sank in New York's East River. At the time of the accident she was on a chartered run carrying members of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church to a church picnic. An estimated 1,021 of the 1,342 people on board died.)

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers, who died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling to their deaths. Most of the victims were recent Jewish and Italian immigrant women aged 16 to 23; the oldest victim was 48, the youngest were two 14-year-old girls.

Because the managers had locked the doors to the stairwells and exits – a common practice at the time to prevent pilferage and unauthorized breaks – many of the workers who could not escape the burning building jumped from the upper floors to the streets below.

Know what really steams me? The company's owners, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, who survived the fire by fleeing to the building's roof when the fire began, were indicted on charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter in mid-April.

The jury acquitted the two men, but they lost a subsequent civil suit in 1913 and fined about $100,000 in damages from the fire but were paid $160,000 by their insurance companies to recover it. (Blanck was arrested again in 1913 for locking his factory door during working hours. He was fined $20.)

The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers.

So please say a silent word of thanks the next time you put on a blouse made in a factory. People have died for the shirt on your back.

Good golly Miss Molly

photo courtesy of Artificer Made

I have found the Artificer* of my Dreams!

Imagine my delight when I spotted these steampunk goggles for American Girl dolls by Artificer Made.

After first making goggles for a cat Christopher Bright decided to try making some for a doll, and voila!

These are sized to fit an American Girl Doll and designed to be just as rugged as any original accessory. The goggles will, of course, fit any similarly sized doll as well as a cat or small dog. Fitting to anything other than an American Girl doll may involve a little more tweaking to get everything just right but there is an expansion spring on the back of the strap that allows for a little flexibility.

You can read more about these goggles, including a video and lurid penny-dreadful story, at his blog: http://artificermade.blogspot.com

And you thought I was crazy. Goggles for cats!

*An artificer is a skilled person who makes artifacts.

Religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin

There he is! There he is! It's the Great Pumpkin!

I don't expect you young whippersnappers to understand, but Momma says there was nothing like the yearly anticipation of watching annual holiday TV shows.

Nothing.

According to Momma (who is of A Certain Age) television schedules would be scoured, memorized and marked for the yearly events. Meals would be planned around it.

Woe be unto the child who missed the yearly event and had to wait a whole year for another chance to see it since there were no videotapes or DVDs to watch.

And. Then. It. Happened.

At Halloween it was It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, a  Halloween special that first aired on Oct. 27, 1966.

(Not to date herself, but Momma says she's watched it every year since it first started airing.)

We have it on DVD and have been known to watch it at other times of the year, but Momma still claims nothing beats watching it on TV, complete with commercials.

Sometimes I just don't understand nostalgia.

What's my favorite part? Snoopy, of course!

Lucy: What kind of costume is that?
Charlie Brown: He's a World War I flying ace.
Lucy: Oh, brother. Now I've seen everything.

When assuming this personality, Snoopy dons goggles, a flying helmet and a scarf and climbs on top of his doghouse, which he claims is a Sopwith Camel. (The Red Baron's presence is indicated through the bullet holes that riddle the doghouse.)

To make room for modern commercial breaks, ABC cut two scenes which were later restored:

1. Lucy begging Charlie Brown to kick the football, and subsequently pulling it away as he tries to do so.
2. Snoopy (as the World War I flying ace) prompting Schroeder to play World War I era songs.

So what WWI songs does Schroeder play on that amazing toy piano of his?

• It's a Long Way to Tipperary
• Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag
• There's a Long, Long Trail
• Roses of Picardy

Sniff. I think I'll go hoist a root beer in Snoopy's honor.

And watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown with Momma for the 45th time. At least.

Oh, you beautiful doll!

Being a Time Traveler can be a Challenge but has its Rewards, too.

A Challenge? Remembering what Year it is, what's been Invented (or not), and what Tense to use when Speaking.

Rewards? Knowledge!

And this time a really Great Doll.

When Momma and I Ran Away from Slavery I had to leave my doll behind. So when I spotted this Little Darling in 1934 I knew she had to be mine.

Thankfully, I was able to Smuggle her back to 1864 since she's Homemade with materials available in 1864.

How could I Resist her?! My own little Steampunk Aeronaut Doll complete with Goggles!

I named her Amelia after Amelias Bloomer, Earhart and Peabody.

Momma thinks she's a Boy doll since she's wearing (gasp!) Pants, Jacket, Cap, Goggles, Boots, and Gloves. (Momma doesn't acknowledge Rational Dress yet.)

I've been Humming this Song since I got her:

Oh! you beautiful doll,

You great big beautiful doll!

Let me put my arms about you,

I could never live without you. 

Yes, I know it's a Song from 1911. (See what I Mean about the Challenges of being a Time Traveller?)

But the author of the song, Seymour Brown, was Born in Philadelphia in 1885, so maybe he'll Hear me someday and Then write it!