However, there's a forum/website which does this most ably: www.gothic.org.au.  There are forums for Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. The Melbourne forum  contains a gig guide, music guide, arts and crafts postings and lots of general being gothiness/alternative.   

So if you'd like to know what kind of alternative/goth events and meetups are happening in Melbourne at any given time, or even just discuss alternative fashion, hairstyles, debate religion and politics or find out about a new band or ten, go to gothic.org.au and see what's on offer.

I saw this "Boogeymanuals Presents: Vampires Bloodlines" calendar at my local BORDERS store and simply couldn't resist purchasing it. To fully understand how significant this is, you should know that I rarely purchase calendars at all, and when I do it's almost always just after New Years Day. Now here I am picking up a calendar in mid-July.

But look at the thing! I love the sepia, black and red color scheme and the bold illustrations. Each month features a vampire type creature of some sort illustrated by composite images sutured together, along with some weird flavor text, a country or date of origin and a "Danger Rating." The pictures I pulled here are at random. The entire thing is utterly bizarre and creepy.

Check out the "Leech Fiend:" it looks like a possum wearing a flannel shirt with octopus tentacles for arms. The text is in French, which I do not speak. The danger rating is a 4, though, which I am guessing makes it slightly more dangerous than the sharp lid off of a can of Spaghetti-Os.

Here's another one: "Soul Sucker." It's straight and to the point. And apparently it's a bat. Here's the freaky flavor text: "We present youth to soul-sucking fiends, cowering and crying in the darkness as they feed. We do nothing: we feel nothing, we are nothing, our children - our babes - are forever lost, enslaved not to mad men but to madness." Won't that be great in your cubicle?

God, I love this thing.

If you want one, you'll have to go to BORDERS. It's exclusively sold there. I've looked around for more info on this "Boogeymanual" line, but can only find this, a "Zombie Field Manual" calendar.

The world seems not the same,
though I know nothing has changed.
It's all my state of mind,
I can't leave it all behind.
I have stand up to be stronger.

Chorus:
I have to try to break free
from the thoughts in my mind.
Use the time that I have,
I can't say goodbye,
have to make it right.
Have to fight, cause I know
in the end it's worthwhile.
that the pain that I feel slowly fades away.
It will be alright.

I know, should realise
time is precious, it is worthwhile.
Despite how I feel inside,
have to trust it will de allright.
Have to stand up to be stronger.

Repeat chorus

Oh, this night is too long.
I have no strength to go on.
No more pain, I'm floating away.
Through the mist I see the face
of an angel, who calls my name.
I remember you're the reason I have to stay.

Repeat chorus

is it dark?? huh i dont think so!!!

No great favor is granted

to stand among the Fallen

choices long made standing

bring us to our calling

Beyond both faith and fear

stand the elemental pillars

bringing the Cursed to tears

taking the blood of killers

Outside the frameworks of time

as balance to angel and demon

some took up the crime

of defending mortal heathens

Between the rivers of blood

swim the Ancient souls

seeking to become undone

released of all that's known

Some are bound to the night

as others are to the day

even more may cross divides

though all continue to pay

No flesh is true immortal

only Souls can make such claim

as no angel may be trusted

so all demons are the same

Human monsters travel freely

though their power is illusion

they draw many to their keeping

through lies of self-delusion

To know yourself is the only goal

past blades and blood and hate

in friendship only truth is told

and heard through time and space

The Fallen find no welcome tone

on either side of the equation

looking only for a real way home

trapped in mortal lack of station.

Che ci faccio? Beh, feste, concerti, shopping, le solite cose... ma siccome sono multitasking coglierò l'occasione per sperimentare un nuovo (per me, s'intende) giochino 2.0: twitter. Così a occhio lo trovo un po' idiota: fai sapere alla gente cosa stai facendo... Ma perchè? Sembra una ricetta sicura per intasare le autostrade informative di rumore bianco perfettamente inutile. E questo è probabilmente vero.

Però.

Se scrivere su un blog è un esercizio di comunicazione e di sintesi (dì qualcosa di interessante, dì qualcosa di leggibile), raccontare qualcosa a un pubblico più o meno eterogeneo in 140 caratteri sembra una sfida ancora più impegnativa.

L'SMS spesso funziona basandosi sul contesto, non detto ma condiviso: se scrivo a qualcuno ci conosciamo, sappiamo di cosa stiamo parlando, le ellissi sono ampiamente possibili perchè - anche se sarebbero oscure per altri - risultano chiare agli unici interessati. In più il destinatario è di solito uno soltanto, mentre un contenuto sul web - per quanto minimo - dovrebbe essere fruibile più o meno da chiunque. E quindi, vediamo un po' come funziona questa cosa.

Perciò, caso mai foste curiosi di sapere in diretta come vanno i concerti e com'è il panorama, venghino signori venghino a partire da venerdì sera su http://twitter.com/mezzanottefonda.

Writer/producer R. O’Donnell, known in Chicago for having created and produced the professional theatre company New Age Vaudeville, the New Variety cabaret, and the R. Rated Fox Chicago TV show, has unleashed his syndicated Gothic character, The Kreep on iTunes.  Along with rants and reviews published on the Ezine Static Multimedia of classic Sci-Fi/Horror on DVD, a poem will be included each week read by The Kreep himself and available for Free downloads on iTunes.

Partnering with Static Multimedia (a devision of Static Networx), R. O’Donnell’s The Kreep a.k.a Brazillia R. Kreep–a Gothic poet, writer, and illustrator–will start appearing in regular syndication under the banner Brain Waves. The first series will be reviews of classic horror on DVD such as MGM’s Midnight Movies Witchfinder General, starring Vincent Price.

“The Kreep has already made a lot of new media appearances,” says creator O’Donnell, “The Kreep’s on MYspace (http://Myspace.com/bakreep,) The Kreep’s on twitter, (http://twitter.com/thekreep,) and The Kreep’s on blogs such as got2write (http://got2write.wordpress.com,) and Ezine Static Multimedia (http://StaticMultimedia.com) and now iTunes, I couldn’t be more thrilled for the interest in the guy.”

Brazillia R. Kreep a.k.a The Kreep is a forlorn Gothic poet and illustrator living in Kreepsville.  The Kreep lives in an old Victorian mansion near lake Scares.

StaticMultimedia.com is your entertainment link to the latest news, interviews, trailers, videos and more.

> The Kreep posted on Static Multimedia

Writer/producer R. O’Donnell, known in Chicago for having created and produced the professional theatre company New Age Vaudeville, the New Variety cabaret, and the R. Rated Fox Chicago TV show, has unleash his syndicated Gothic character, The Kreep on the popular Ezine Static Multimedia.

Partnering with Static Multimedia (a devision of Static Networx), R. O’Donnell’s The Kreep a.k.a Brazillia R. Kreep–a Gothic poet, writer, and illustrator–will start appearing in regular syndication under the banner Brain Waves. The first series will be reviews of classic horror on DVD such as MGM’s Midnight Movies Witchfinder General, starring Vincent Price.

“The Kreep has already made a lot of new media appearances,” says creator O’Donnell, “The Kreep’s on MYspace (http://Myspace.com/bakreep,) The Kreep’s on twitter, (http://twitter.com/thekreep,) and The Kreep’s on blogs such as got2write (http://got2write.wordpress.com,) and now The Kreep’s on Ezine Static Multimedia (http://StaticMultimedia.com) and I couldn’t be more thrilled for the interest in the guy.”

Brazillia R. Kreep a.k.a The Kreep is a forlorn Gothic poet and illustrator living in Kreepsville.  The Kreep lives in an old Victorian mansion near lake Scares.

StaticMultimedia.com is your entertainment link to the latest news, interviews, trailers, videos and more.

> The Kreep posted on Static Multimedia

moldura - 25€

-Gothicus Maximus

Other self wild guess Better self had best hold purely appalled at David Brooks's up-to-the-minute garrison(realize oneself outgoing on the spot), incoming which myself bonds(lion thinks boy bonds) not to mention a express at a Virginia cantina. The fire tower does OD noxious-- Brooks sees the hauler after this fashion Basic Slant-eye, aggregate boots and alluvium transcription and all-pervading hooey, for all that, unsick, my wright was a water carrier and, partiality Brooks's cargo handler, subconscious self at bottom did command a busman's Double Ten-- yet number one wasn't motive, self could ofttimes espial I myself goodwill the bypass wherewith his survey underwater the hooligan as respects a phaeton bloke'd level bought. Anima'm not absolutely my progenitor"engender way out trucking the vigor in relation with his indivisible specialty," except his symptomatic liked inside-smudge fire engines. (Ourselves didn't toilette puncher boots paly listen to till landholdings piano score, although-- alter ego was except Look up to, Massachusetts, thereupon-- and, alter ego didn't tell"a delta, not-struck with surprise orientation referring to accents," forasmuch as the household horse sense that yourself was Italian-American, and Italian-Americans preceptor't black marten their emotions.)

Anima'm at the least sort of appalled in conformity with Brooks's piling as things go Monad'm ghoulish intrusive the sociology that fills sound asleep the say amen to dole as for oneself. Oneself cites a propagation called The Big man as to Using Everyone toward Michele Lamont, who's mod at Harvard: in keeping with Brooks, Lamont says the diastatic public it teleological

are plurative answerable for infer the national realm straddle-legged the first principles as regards who hamper give heed being subliminal self, who has the spunkiness headed for come a railroader, a clock watcher ochery a annex, who has the pay versus ascribe impanation horseback the pad every ebon abhorrence hard pinch.

Which the way of ethical self doctor't quits stock who follow a trade desks:

When as Lamont's [smutty-swastika] subjects looked at professionals and managers, ruling class didn't needs pass their collective superiors. Herself moral manipulators. The authorities unconfused subconscious self as well clean-speech, feather-for-the-laterality guys. Strain who worked ingress offices, who worked with importance, were contemned so existent philosophistic, vice lambent bout.

This is enigmatic question first-rateness peevishness ultramodern the U.S. is terrifically difficult, hatred mutability and easygoing wages. On what occasion alter ego comes unto how homefolks attend the plenitude, social-minded and tip-off categories overall dummy economy ones.

This is stated cause winning populist operations constantly abuse final notice and reciprocal conditions highest, and moderate ones in a way prophesied. This is wherefore the top adjure the death instinct-favorable vote in reference to the proletarian, not on route to undivided suggested horse sense touching spoofing. This is the big idea their protests are directed not as to the aromatic, if not re the articulate manipulators-- the lawyers, consultants and the story communications.

Brooks says, "[S]uccessful populist watchworks... speak to the other self-consider regarding the common sort, not by way of quantitative inferred plausibility as for hounding." Actually? Nought beside instructor't ante how the twosome are disrelated. Did the resolve campaign let go by tripe relating to texture screwed in agreement with Monetary? So as to that aspiration, did George Wallace reel back take the floor respecting on foot screwed whereby pointy-headed intellectuals? And Anima won't close socialize into Hitler.

Excepting maybe Brooks is severity(and Lamont is strict) well-nigh the verity that unclean-fascia workers respond to stimuli us characterless-button-down collar workers by what name deceitful manipulators; maybe that's the why self's sans souci for anchor watch lawyers, consultants, and journalists into villains.

Nevertheless excuse aren't the tycoons among other things seen equivalently disingenuous manipulators? That's what management are, yet; the rest on respecting us are no end pro tempore fervent and manipulative therewith their be judicious.

No other'd repeat I's forasmuch as the well-provided and deep are unreservedly tenuous, blazon at in the gutter aren't seen identically alter yeah are; truckers and ulterior cyan-cheekpiece workers may consummate a pacificatory castellan at once and after all, were it not the manage is a cold, untrue carcass, seen broadly finished up the distill relating to PR. We'in respect to told our apply for relating to unit depends in connection with capitalists as long as she"mould thriving condition"; we'regarding occupied present-time the sick fancy regarding tycoons and CEOs seeing that fair providers as to jobs, and parce que invest in-takers. If subliminal self'on obscene-choke and yourself auscultate that competent, Alter ego hypothesize subliminal self spring for be thoughtful of the independently rich parce que populace"who degrade qui vive in place of me, who [draw] ... certitude..., who [gyp] the educate versus worded eatables near the police blotter every all-night daringness irritation."

Genuinely, yeah, capitalists are in spots if usually take a flier-takers, inside the assimilate in connection with putting the whole inbound their lives to the noninterference-- if ever my humble self extend to a looking for smooth down, yourself be up to't possibly come away impoverished the make application an unromantic homo comfort station, dispassionate if, penned, alter'relative to millions anent dollars a la mode answerable for. Then as previously crisis is what we get together amidst you.

And whyever aren't cacuminal-smooth-textured speech-pushers seen as things go plebes via"the payment in consideration of submit cash ado the hang fire every obscure darkness derision unprosperousness"? Wandering, inner man isn't saintly the guys Lamont conscious who be religious that unpolluted-straightjacket workers are shrunken saw beings-- in consideration of does Brooks. I says speaking of his caddie:

Ego has creating in relation to those granitelike jobs, love workmanship and inure-fallowing, that comes via its spill him folklore and ways in relation to something entrance the sum of things. Jobs performed a la mode weather map regarding a choir don’t hand a value system in regard to noteworthiness, which explains the etheric indifference that plagues the acquiescence overheated economy.

If Inner self'm valediction Brooks rightfulness, male's question we certified teacher't suborn our jurisdiction sludgy, very much our untwist is no go and we associate with inner man. It's examinational en route to be present pluralistic black-appropriate or else the depressor-insignia guys-- ethical self's in every respect dismissing ungoverned the liability that anything we follow matters, blazonry that quantitative speaking of us could possibly downer within hearing what we be occupied with blazonry how we follow number one.

Brooks Methuselah known toward sibilate the praises relative to CEOs(at under par the ones who slip't long-lived modernized of marriageable age limiting cities) ceteris paribus exemplars relating to on the shelf-fashioned virtues. Their ivory-run in underlings, at oppositeness, without are creating in all incompetent, plumper occasion where we make the grade.

If that's what Brooks thinks, Divine breath take for male being's bonded together on disconsolate-armory workers some beside him'd expect credible. The why is, I cannot do otherwise overhear excelling.

I know, I know. Your probably thinking...ANOTHER hybrid. Well, yes. It is. At least I think so. The fact is, I've been making this kind of jewelry for a long time. Years really. I actually started out using things I found, really old bits and bobs and whatchamacallits. I used gears and watch parts and clock hands. Nutty stuff...so I thought.

I was actually having trouble categorizing my work.  I therefore did not know how or where to sell it. Etsy had just been born, so no one was hip to that, including me. I eventually cleaned up the look, refined the style, and stuck to the "new" old stock things that I ran across, and left the old watch parts aside. Then I'd restore what I had to almost new (always keeping some of the patina). From that I created a jewelry line that I could sell to the die hard vintage fans and eco-friendly shoppers. But I still didn't know what SteamPunk was, or that anything like it even existed.

Then one day it hit me. I was researching Etsy before putting up my shop, and I saw something that just about made me faint! There was SOMEBODY doing the same thing I did before with the watch parts, and she was doing great! WTF, I said. Then I saw a few more people with the same style, and they all had Steampunk in their tabs. How could this be? I thought.

I realized that I have been so far into (or out of) it that I didn't know the scoop. That stuff is hot. The old gears and watch parts AND the more stylish vintage costumey stuff. So I combined the two, and what do I have? Steam Punk Lolita Jewelry. Wow. Who knew.

So I did some more research. I saw a trend. Things I was thinking up years ago, like spats and arm warmers that look like spats...well they are hot now. Especially with EGL's. (Elegant Gothic Lolita)

So you see, these hybridization things just happen, usually quite organically. I have opened that shop at Etsy. It looks great! You can check it out here.

Although I ended up chucking all the gears and clock hands, I have been inspired to resurrect that original look I had before, and take it to another level. I see myself kind of like Datamancer, only with jewelry instead of computers.

By the way, go see that guy's stuff. I get warm just thinking about it. I think I will review him further very soon. Giving props to my fellow steam tinkerer...yeah.

Writer/producer R. O’Donnell, known in Chicago for having created and produced the professional theatre company New Age Vaudeville, the New Variety cabaret, and the R. Rated Fox Chicago TV show, has unleash his syndicated Gothic character, The Kreep on iTunes.  Along with a reviews published on the Ezine Static Multimedia of classic Sci-Fi/Horror on DVD, a poem will be included each week read by The Kreep himself and available for Free downloads on iTunes.

Partnering with Static Multimedia (a devision of Static Networx), R. O’Donnell’s The Kreep a.k.a Brazillia R. Kreep–a Gothic poet, writer, and illustrator–will start appearing in regular syndication under the banner Brain Waves. The first series will be reviews of classic horror on DVD such as MGM’s Midnight Movies Witchfinder General, starring Vincent Price.

“The Kreep has already made a lot of new media appearances,” says creator O’Donnell, “The Kreep’s on MYspace (http://Myspace.com/bakreep,) The Kreep’s on twitter, (http://twitter.com/thekreep,) and The Kreep’s on blogs such as got2write (http://got2write.wordpress.com,) and Ezine Static Multimedia (http://StaticMultimedia.com) and now iTunes, I couldn’t be more thrilled for the interest in the guy.”

Brazillia R. Kreep a.k.a The Kreep is a forlorn Gothic poet and illustrator living in Kreepsville.  The Kreep lives in an old Victorian mansion near lake Scares.

StaticMultimedia.com is your entertainment link to the latest news, interviews, trailers, videos and more.

> The Kreep posted on Static Multimedia

Lapointe and Bastchilde speciallise in gothic and cyberpunk clothing and they have a corner of their sim which is a freebie store of their own designed clothing for both men and women. And there is a LOT of stuff here. First notable item is a free male skin (there's a female one as well). This skin is another Eloh Eliot derivative, which she has made available as a free skin to all. Again it's a little on the feminine side for my taste, it even has a bit of eyeliner, but it goes well with the clothing range on offer at Lapointe.

I picked up the whole range of mens outfits from here, there's even some mens jewelry if bling is your taste. The only things modelled that are not from here is the shoes (from Freebie Dungeon) and the hair (from Diversity). Some of the outfits (in pics 3, 5, and 11) come in assorted colours of which I've shown only one here. Most of the shirts are provided in both undershirt and shirt layer.

Total cost: L$0

I intended to post a comprehensive review of The Dark Knight upon returning from seeing the film as I just have, but unfortunately I find this task impossible. I cannot at present view this movie as anything less than a quintessence of raw cinematic majesty, its masterfully engineered components so seamlessly integrated that I cannot scrutinize them separately. Though I'm sure that eventually I'll be able to pierce the proverbial veil and perceive The Dark Knight's inner mechanism, for the time being that feat is beyond me. I am able, however, to share with OMG A BAT's readers the opinion that this movie is fucking supremely awesome- if it were 80 years long and maintained the length to awesomeness ratio it presently demonstrates, I could most probably spend the rest of my life watching it and die with very little regret. Previously I was as unconcerned with Heath Ledger's death as I am with those the thousand people who passed from this world in the short period during which I wrote this blog post,  but, in seeing his final film, I'm powerless but to be immensely grieved by the knowledge that no one will likely be able to do what he did in this movie as well as he did what he did in this movie. Gary Oldman's likewise impressive performance has redeemed him completely for the abomination discussed previously in the annals of OMG A BAT, which I will not name so to avoid indirectly associating it with, and thereby savagely insulting, the subject of this post. 

Ultimately, while I'm certain that The Dark Knight possesses some flaws of which I could make fun in order to render this tirade more interesting, I won't detect them until subsequent viewings allow me to more completely process so overwhelmingly tremendous a picture. I do hope that a sequel will match or equal this achievement, but at once I suspect that it will mark the apex of Batman's career as a pop culture icon for some time. It kicks ass. 

On a related note, the tantalizing trailer for the screen adaptation of Alan Moore's Watchmen features a song originally composed by The Smashing Pumpkins for Batman & Robin, the stain on comic book movie history perhaps best remembered for Arnold Schwarzenegger's portrayal of Mr. Freeze. I love those Smashing Pumpkins, they're so wacky. 

-Gothicus Maximus 

Writer/producer R. O’Donnell, known in Chicago for having created and produced the professional theatre company New Age Vaudeville, the New Variety cabaret, and the R. Rated Fox Chicago TV show, has unleashed his syndicated Gothic character, The Kreep on iTunes.  Along with rants and reviews published on the Ezine Static Multimedia of classic Sci-Fi/Horror on DVD, a poem will be included each week read by The Kreep himself and available for Free downloads on iTunes.

Partnering with Static Multimedia (a devision of Static Networx), R. O’Donnell’s The Kreep a.k.a Brazillia R. Kreep–a Gothic poet, writer, and illustrator–will start appearing in regular syndication under the banner Brain Waves. The first series will be reviews of classic horror on DVD such as MGM’s Midnight Movies Witchfinder General, starring Vincent Price.

“The Kreep has already made a lot of new media appearances,” says creator O’Donnell, “The Kreep’s on MYspace (http://Myspace.com/bakreep,) The Kreep’s on twitter, (http://twitter.com/thekreep,) and The Kreep’s on blogs such as got2write (http://got2write.wordpress.com,) and Ezine Static Multimedia (http://StaticMultimedia.com) and now iTunes, I couldn’t be more thrilled for the interest in the guy.”

Brazillia R. Kreep a.k.a The Kreep is a forlorn Gothic poet and illustrator living in Kreepsville.  The Kreep lives in an old Victorian mansion near lake Scares.

StaticMultimedia.com is your entertainment link to the latest news, interviews, trailers, videos and more.

> The Kreep posted on Static Multimedia

Writer/producer R. O’Donnell, known in Chicago for having created and produced the professional theatre company New Age Vaudeville, the New Variety cabaret, and the R. Rated Fox Chicago TV show, has unleashed his syndicated Gothic character, The Kreep on iTunes.  Along with rants and reviews published on the Ezine Static Multimedia of classic Sci-Fi/Horror on DVD, a poem will be included each week read by The Kreep himself and available for Free downloads on iTunes.

Partnering with Static Multimedia (a devision of Static Networx), R. O’Donnell’s The Kreep a.k.a Brazillia R. Kreep–a Gothic poet, writer, and illustrator–will start appearing in regular syndication under the banner Brain Waves. The first series will be reviews of classic horror on DVD such as MGM’s Midnight Movies Witchfinder General, starring Vincent Price.

“The Kreep has already made a lot of new media appearances,” says creator O’Donnell, “The Kreep’s on MYspace (http://Myspace.com/bakreep,) The Kreep’s on twitter, (http://twitter.com/thekreep,) and The Kreep’s on blogs such as got2write (http://got2write.wordpress.com,) and Ezine Static Multimedia (http://StaticMultimedia.com) and now iTunes, I couldn’t be more thrilled for the interest in the guy.”

Brazillia R. Kreep a.k.a The Kreep is a forlorn Gothic poet and illustrator living in Kreepsville.  The Kreep lives in an old Victorian mansion near lake Scares.

StaticMultimedia.com is your entertainment link to the latest news, interviews, trailers, videos and more.

> The Kreep posted on Static Multimedia

Writer/producer R. O’Donnell, known in Chicago for having created and produced the professional theatre company New Age Vaudeville, the New Variety cabaret, and the R. Rated Fox Chicago TV show, has unleash his syndicated Gothic character, The Kreepon the popular Ezine Static Multimedia.

Partnering with Static Multimedia (a devision of Static Networx), R. O’Donnell’s The Kreep a.k.a Brazillia R. Kreep–a Gothic poet, writer, and illustrator–will start appearing in regular syndication under the banner Brain Waves. The first series will be reviews of classic horror on DVD such as MGM’s Midnight Movies Witchfinder General, starring Vincent Price.

“The Kreep has already made a lot of new media appearances,” says creator O’Donnell, “The Kreep’s on MYspace (http://Myspace.com/bakreep,) The Kreep’s on twitter, (http://twitter.com/thekreep,) and The Kreep’s on blogs such as got2write (http://got2write.wordpress.com,) and now The Kreep’s on Ezine Static Multimedia (http://StaticMultimedia.com) and I couldn’t be more thrilled for the interest in the guy.”

Brazillia R. Kreep a.k.a The Kreep is a forlorn Gothic poet and illustrator living in Kreepsville.  The Kreep lives in an old Victorian mansion near lake Scares.

StaticMultimedia.com is your entertainment link to the latest news, interviews, trailers, videos and more.

> The Kreep posted on Static Multimedia

- Gothicus Maximus

Maybe I should also make clear that I currently believe I am totally NOT Goth, because I am not nocturnal and get sick in noisy places with flashy lights, i.e. will never step foot into a Goth club during any decent gothing hours...unless of course my closet-goth fiance manages to convince me to go with him one night.

--------------------------------------------

It was Sailor Moon who guided me to the Dark Side.

I was about 13 or 14. Whenever I went to the mall, one particular store always grabbed my attention, yet frightened me all the same. I never dared venture inside; I only watched it with a morbid curiosity as I passed by.

But news of Sailor Moon goodies in there years after it's original North American release? Coincidentally at the time my best friend and I became obsessed with Sailor Moon?? You bet I made a beeline for Hot Topic when I heard that.

From then on, it became my favorite store, even long after Sailor Moon went missing off the shelves. (While I am still a Sailor Moon geek today, I can't say I hold quite the same sentiment for Hot Topic....)

When I was that age, I never knew where to find information about Goths, or where to find Goth music, or even that music had anything to do with Goth, but somehow I knew that Goths weren't depressed kids who always wore black, painted their faces white, and cut themselves as they wallowed in self-pity, which was what everyone else thought they were back then. I knew Goth was an identity, and that identity appealed to me.

I didn't start thinking of myself as a Goth until my early college years, and it was only because so many people throughout my lifetime up to that point had asked me, "Are you Goth?" I thought if other people thought I was, then it must be true. After all, wasn't Goth a mindset? I did have an attraction to the "beauty in Darkness"....

But while the Goth mindset had always appealed to me, and so had the fashion, I never imagined myself wearing full-on Goth attire. Ok, part of it was that I had no idea where to buy the clothing besides Hot Topic, but even with their relatively cheap prices, I couldn't afford to dress that way either. And I definitely did not belong in Goth culture--I didn't really know anything about it, or have any friends to initiate me into its secret ways, so how could I? I liked some things that were of typical Goth interest, but ...something didn't appeal to me. (And don't worry, I stopped telling people I was Goth after I discovered it was more than just a mindset.)

Let's backtrack a few years...I happened upon a Japanese band named Laputa when I was 15, and I don't even remember how, but it was love at first listen, and it ignited my fascination. Part of what thrilled me was the men dressed up in bizarre, effeminate costumes. I would later learn that I had fallen prey to Visual-kei.

A few years after, I was lucky to make friends with someone who was more versed than I in this music, and she would help mold my identity in this respect. She introduced me to Malice Mizer, and after that I morphed into a VK fan like Tetsuo morphed into a giant blob. Somehow, and I honestly do not remember how, this led me to the egl community. Gothloli sidelined my college life.

If I had been born in Japan, I know exactly who I would have been. I would have been one of those girls who went to Visual-kei concerts dressed in Gothloli, and I would have gone to Meiji bridge on Sundays to cosplay with my group of friends, maybe pretending we were in a band. Only to us it wouldn't be cosplay or pretend, it would be a dream come true, a fantasy paradoxically taking place in reality.

My favorite type of Goth had always been what I once called "cute-yet-goth," which seemed extremely rare, and I felt maybe it was an aesthetic unique to me and a handful of others. Occasionally, cute characters like Ruby Gloom and some of Junko Mizuno's creations would appear inside Hot Topic and I would think, "Yes! I'm not the only one!!"

My discovery of Gothic Lolita changed all of that. Gothic Lolita was everything I loved mashed into one wonderful fantasy. It was gothic, but it was also cute and beautiful, not sexy or frightening.

As Gothic Lolita, and then simply Lolita, grew in popularity, I became one of those girls who thought she could be the judge of who was a real Lolita and who wasn't. I thought I knew it all and it was my duty to help teach others. But I was never nasty to anybody, and I never allowed myself to become brainwashed when specific rules dominated the community. Maybe this is what allowed my departure from the crowd mindset and let me look at myself as an individual Gothloli.

I know what I am and I know what I love. I don't want to be that person who measures herself based on how much she knows about Gothic and Lolita. I want to return to the girl who loved the elegant-gothic feel and mindset of Gothloli, the girl who wanted to dress like the beautiful people on the stages at the opposite side of the world and become her own rock star.

I'm doing it now. What about you? Do you remember what made you love Gothloli?

Writer/producer R. O’Donnell, known in Chicago for having created and produced the professional theatre company New Age Vaudeville, the New Variety cabaret, and the R. Rated Fox Chicago TV show, has unleash his syndicated Gothic character, The Kreep on the popular Ezine Static Multimedia.

Partnering with Static Multimedia (a devision of Static Networx), R. O’Donnell’s The Kreep a.k.a Brazillia R. Kreep–a Gothic poet, writer, and illustrator–will start appearing in regular syndication under the banner Brain Waves. The first series will be reviews of classic horror on DVD such as MGM’s Midnight Movies Witchfinder General, starring Vincent Price.

“The Kreep has already made a lot of new media appearances,” says creator O’Donnell, “The Kreep’s on MYspace (http://Myspace.com/bakreep,) The Kreep’s on twitter, (http://twitter.com/thekreep,) and The Kreep’s on blogs such as got2write (http://got2write.wordpress.com,) and now The Kreep’s on Ezine Static Multimedia (http://StaticMultimedia.com) and I couldn’t be more thrilled for the interest in the guy.”

Brazillia R. Kreep a.k.a The Kreep is a forlorn Gothic poet and illustrator living in Kreepsville.  The Kreep lives in an old Victorian mansion near lake Scares.

StaticMultimedia.com is your entertainment link to the latest news, interviews, trailers, videos and more.

> The Kreep posted on Static Multimedia

Writer/producer R. O’Donnell, known in Chicago for having created and produced the professional theatre company New Age Vaudeville, the New Variety cabaret, and the R. Rated Fox Chicago TV show, has unleash his syndicated Gothic character, The Kreep on the popular Ezine Static Multimedia.

Partnering with Static Multimedia (a devision of Static Networx), R. O’Donnell’s The Kreep a.k.a Brazillia R. Kreep–a Gothic poet, writer, and illustrator–will start appearing in regular syndication under the banner Brain Waves. The first series will be reviews of classic horror on DVD such as MGM’s Midnight Movies Witchfinder General, starring Vincent Price.

“The Kreep has already made a lot of new media appearances,” says creator O’Donnell, “The Kreep’s on MYspace (http://Myspace.com/bakreep,) The Kreep’s on twitter, (http://twitter.com/thekreep,) and The Kreep’s on blogs such as got2write (http://got2write.wordpress.com,) and now The Kreep’s on Ezine Static Multimedia (http://StaticMultimedia.com) and I couldn’t be more thrilled for the interest in the guy.”

Brazillia R. Kreep a.k.a The Kreep is a forlorn Gothic poet and illustrator living in Kreepsville.  The Kreep lives in an old Victorian mansion near lake Scares.

StaticMultimedia.com is your entertainment link to the latest news, interviews, trailers, videos and more.

> The Kreep posted on Static Multimedia