Honestly.

I’ve noticed more and more comments lately with the theme of “You’re Not Entertaining Me! Jump Higher!” I am completely and utterly appreciative and grateful for the contributions of you and the rest of the BBers. If it weren’t for you, I never would have learned Kitteh, and my life would be a little poorer.

And well said TNH.

If folk don’t want Steampunk then why bother looking at it and whingeing about it. For me, it’s one of the things that make BoingBoing what it is.

“A Directory of Wonderful Things”, to state the obvious.

Human communication has come to rely, at least partially, on the internet. The need for transparency in this new mode of communication has created a backlash and its representation.

I truly enjoy and respect the Steampunk aesthetic

i always liked the victorian science fiction thing.
and we will have to live with the term steampunk it seems. not crazy about it but usually love all the things it describes. especially objects. the time machine and nautilus from them old movies still haven’t been beat though !

the nay comments – well, i get them cause i suffer from having instant opinions but i won’t visit your house and tell you the colour of your kitchen is all wrong.
even if it is.

For myself, I love Rothwell’s works, although I would have described them as more generally “gothic”, maybe even a bit “Cthulhuean“. It’s art with a glorius twist that would have made Lovecraft proud. It’s well worth thumbing through his online listings. If the first couple posters got turned off just because of the “steampunk” label, they should click the link and have a look at what’s there. They can always apply a different label if they want!

I’ve had lots of hallucinations (and flashbacks), but mine were always fun and never involved guidelines. The cranks need better drugs.

The only thing I’m considering calling a moratorium on is comments that complain about Steampunk. If you’ve been reading Boing Boing long enough to complain about getting tired of Steampunk, you’ve been reading long enough to know that (a.) Cory really likes the stuff; (b.) the other Boingers are friendly to it; and (c.) Boing Boing is broad church about what qualifies as Steampunk.

Gentle readers, if these habitual practices distress you, allow me to suggest that you could more rationally address your discontent by scrolling downward with greater celerity when you perceive that a new entry touches upon the subject.

First, I love steampunk for the same reason I love antique wood furniture as compared to the particle-board, veneer, and plastic crap we produce nowadays. The antiques are more beautiful, more durable (chip oak, it still looks good; chip laminate and it’s like an open wound), and they have a sense of history about them.

I’m writing this at an oak desk which was made around 1900 and will probably be around in 2100. That provides an enormous sense of comfort and “place” in a world of disposable things.

Steampunk has that same aesthetic. In the early-to-mid 20th century, technology became increasingly less simple and less “organic”. Simple base materials of wood, copper, oil and glass — and big chunky mechanical parts like wheels and gears — were increasingly being replaced by aluminum, plastics, industrial lubricants, circuit boards and computer chips.

When I look at a train from the 1890s, I can see how all the parts go together, and I can even imagine myself capable of building one given the basic raw materials (and the machine shop of my dreams). Nothing requires a clean room or microscopic engineering tools. It’s technology I can relate to — “open source” in the physical world.

Now, that’s just the Victorian aesthetic. But there’s an added fantasy element of steampunk too: the idea that you could build a robot or a time machine with wheels and brass gears and maybe a handful of exotic material like Cavorite.

This type of Steampunk embodies the romantic idea that all our technological marvels (and more) might exist, but in a way that makes them more comprehensible, durable, and accessible to the common folk.

And that’s what I like about it.

Oh, and @forgeweld: BoingBoing is free, and no one is forcing you to click the links or read the articles.