With my mother and sister.

School pictures.

My sister and I as clowns.

My husband and daughter in day wear.

Me and my daughter in 70s garb.

The survivor lap.

My husband and Mom walking the survivor lap.

Amethyst in night wear.

A few “girls” during the Miss Relay contest.

Recently I was introduced to the steampunk movement (via my husband actually). I realize that I’m coming along pretty late in the game. Apparently this has had a following since the late 1980s (where have I been exactly?!), but has just recently become “the next big thing”. The definition of steam punk according to wikipedia is: a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction which came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of “the path not taken” of such technology as dirigibles or analog computers; these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or a presumption of functionality.

Call it the geek in me, I have always liked this genre, but never knew there was a name for it until now. Steampunk has had a strong presence in movies, tv shows, and even children’s entertainment (I can think of at least a dozen movies right off the top of my head, including kid’s movies like Atlantis, and even an episode of Backyardigans). Steampunk covers many different areas, from electronics and technology, to fashion, bands, home and office interiors, comic books (remember Mr. Hero?), and just about anything else you can imagine.

Datamancer’s laptop

Of course I have pictures and links to share.

The first site I stumbled across was steampunk workshop, which has amazingly cool modded electronics (check out the motorcycle!).

Datamancer is a great steampunk artist.

And steampunk lab with more mods.

An article by Wired, and another by New York Times.

A huge sculptural steampunk treehouse.

Abney Park - a steampunk band.

telectroscope in NY

steampunk motorcycle

watch

Below is the original post:

From now until May 19th the National Marrow Donor Program has a special event going on called the Thanks Mom Campaign. The first 10,000 people who sign up online (and first 36,000 who sign up in person) will be able to become entered into the registry free of charge (regular cost of $52.00). This is a great opportunity for anyone who wishes to help others without having to pony-up the initial costs out-of-pocket.

They will send you a kit in the mail with cotton swabs to take your own samples and mail back free of charge. That’s it! The website gives you complete information: the whats, whos, whens, and such, and walks you through the initial sign-up process. It’s so easy and you might just save someone’s life one day.

Michael Parkes is America’s leading Magic Realist painter and printmaker. Though he studied graphic art and painting at the University of Kansas, his unique style evolved very much in isolation, after a period in which he gave up the practice of art altogether and went off to India in search of philosophical illumination: born in 1944, he was very much of the hippie generation. Earlier on, he had painted in the generally Abstract Expressionist style normal among his teachers, but after his pause for reflection he began to draw and paint in a meticulous style of detailed representation which would enable him to give full expression to his inner world of images. The style was in principle realistic, the subject matter magical, and Magic Realism has characterized his work ever since.

He has studied deeply in esoteric doctrine of the East and the West, and his imagery is drawn from a range of wisdoms including the Cabalistic and the Tantric, but embodied in forms from his own imagination which are immediately accessible. Here strange beasts encounter mysterious winged women, good and evil fight out their immemorial conflict (though who can be perfectly sure which is which?), and in this weightless environment worlds are unmade and remade nearer to the heart’s desire.

Even as a student Parkes was fascinated by various graphic processes, and in recent years he has become highly proficient in the difficult medium of the color stone lithograph.

Gargoyles

Deva

The Creation

White Sphinx

Dragon Fly

There are many websites where you can view more of his works, and all forms of art to buy. lithographs, posters, books, sculptures, and the list goes on.

View his personal website here.

And a great article about him here.

You can do an online search and come up with dozens of online galleries and poster stores full of his work.