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I would've thought the old stereotype about bloggers/computer geeks being pathologically averse to real-life human contact was outdated, but either no other Buffalo Bloggers besides (e:strip) and Punaro could actually be pried away from their computers long enough to leave the house, or the prospect of speaking to strangers overwhelmed all the other Buffalo Bloggers.
I know the (e:strip)pers can be kind of a close-knit cliquey group, but we don't bite and we'd've been happy to talk to other people... But I was so uncomfortable there, the way all the middle-aged surburbanite ladies were staring disapprovingly at me, that I really couldn't tell whether any of them were trying to socially network or not, and it did a real number on my propensity to happily meet new people. I mean, I'm not shy, but who'd've thought a Ye Olde Busty Beer Wench costume would get so many disapproving glares? At OKTOBERFEST! My skirt was longer than that old dude's lederhosen! Come on. I've never been so disapproved of in my <i>life</i>.
I really won't be terribly eager to show up to any more Buffalo Blogging events in the future-- there's nothing quite so uncomfortable as being told there's a party and then having the person who told you about it not show up. It's an unpleasant timewarp back to junior high. At least when (e:paul) hosts a party at his house, you know he'll be there.
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I mean, whatever-- we had some fun, I enjoyed the pierogis and beer, it wasn't so bad. But Jesus. I didn't go as a stripper-- i decided, somewhat last-minute, that I should go in the spirit of the thing, as a beer wench.
I don't know how many of you have seen me in costume before. Roller derby has cured me of the last tiny vestiges of body shame I had; now I really don't mind if the whole city sees most of my ass, because it's all in the spirit of things. Now, I didn't dress skimpily-- I decided I would opt for 'tasteful', as you never know who'll be at these things. But my 'tasteful' simply involves showing less than three inches of cleavage* and no ass-cheek whatsoever.
So I wore a sprung-steel-boned corset, a three-quarter-sleeved white (opaque!) chemise, and a miniskirt with a frilly corset. I also wore opaque tights with black lace thigh-highs over them. Out of habit, I wore short bike shorts under the skirt, ensuring that no ass cheek would show even if the skirt flipped up. All in all, it was slightly racy, but obviously a costume as opposed to clubbin' gear, and no underwear was exposed.
I got stared at. Other women were wearing dirndls of varying degrees of authenticity. Other women even had short skirts. There were people in all kinds of clothing, including a girl in a black mini-dress and fuck-me boots. Yes, my breasts are unsubtle, particularly when elevated in a corset, but it wasn't a lingerie corset-- it was a reproduction 16th-century noblewoman's pair of bodies, which is generally tubular in shape and elevates but squashes the breasts. I really wasn't showing that much tit.
Anyway. It was a deeply uncomfortable experience, and maybe there were other bloggers who were too busy disapproving of my un-cool garb to speak to us? I don't know. The only other person who self-identified as a blogger there was the dude from Punaro.org, who wouldn't even sit with us, but sat with his family at a neighboring table. I assume they were his family, anyway.
Maybe there were other bloggers there, I don't know. Maybe I should've made more of an effort to find out. I don't know. But I was far too intimidated by the disapproving and faintly-hostile glares of the rest of the Oktoberfest attendees (men too! Since when has a man in his late 30s been so horrified by a woman's cotton-covered breasts that he can't even look at her? People were falling over to avoid looking at me, unless they were glaring at me.) to be able to nerve myself up to go talk to them. So I sat next to the Blogtoberfest sign from 6pm until 9pm, and was carefully Not Spoken To by anybody except the (e:strip)pers.
Awesome-- I feel so much a part of Buffalo's Blogging Community, I'm totally going to more events. I can't wait to be ignored or glared at by yet more people. It's so worth my time and effort. I love social networking.
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- As Edith Wharton comments in The Age of Innocence, and I'm paraphrasing because I haven't read the book in a decade or so,
I thought you looked just *smashing* when I looked at the photos (e:metalpeter) posted. I loved the entire get up and yes! the hairstyle. It was perfect.
Those people at the fest were too snotty for their own good. Screw them.
So, what happened to the pasties you were so adamant about wearing? ;)
Eh, maybe I just hit a site error, I don't know-- I didn't try too hard.
But yeah.
I also found the original post about it on jennifer-zipcode's site.
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Be there or we'll talk trash, she says.
Trash.
I wonder what flavor trash she'd like talked about her?
I'm just wondering, though, if maybe these people sort of assumed that by "Buffalo Bloggers" they meant just themselves and their particular online local friends? Like, did we crash it, or something, and they were there and were like, "Oh shit there goes the neighborhood" and went in the other room to meet up and be all, "those fucking estrippers"...
I don't know, I'm just trying to figure out why it was so lame. I'm just riffin' here.
wow, you can't even comment on that train wreck of an evening on a site that promoted it?
Class.
You and Z where there before we even left so I can't comment on what happened then. But the one guy I saw was so checking you out or atleast that is what it looked like to me. Maybe some of those glares where people checking you out and not disdain. I did notice at least one other wench in the short time I was there. At first I thought the girl was working there and maybe they had wenchs as servers, that would have been pretty cool. I don't know why but it kinda reminds me of this Drew Carey episode. Drew and the boys go into a bar where cate is working and a guy calls her a Beer Wench and he gets all upset he calls her that then sees that it says it right on the back of the uniform. I guessing the glares you got where a generational thing like how the older more traditional people look down at the younger (to them) dressing slutty crowd. The outfit you had on from a distance looks kinda fetishy but up close it isn't really revealing at all. Maybe next year the people will do a better job and make sure to make a place for bloggers that makes them feel more comfortable.