Attention, west coast Steampunks! Go to the Dickens Fair in San Francisco this Saturday, for there will be a bonafide Steam Explorers Contest! The winner receives a copy of The Black Dossier, and I've read my copy and can vouch for its quality.

Another wonderful book is The Young Man's Book of Amusements, which fortunately is online - all 384 pages of it! - for one's reading pleasure. If you like this sort of thing, you may also like the offerings at Necromance, which has two brick-and-mortar locations but is also alive online. I particularly like the home decor items.

Another discussion/argument/debate about steampunk is afoot, which has sparked similar discussions on other parts of the web. Meanwhile, Les UX have been found not guilty for their latest escapade - restoring the Pantheon's clock in Paris. (To me, this is quite steampunk, what with the undercover efforts and repairing antique clockwork and all.)

And lastly, something which is not really steampunk at all, but is futuristic and weird and silly: a robot ladybug cleans restrooms and makes idle chit-chat with you if you like. I like the idea of a world with robot ladybug janitors.

 

(Also, not at all steampunk-related but also silly and fun: we're comparing Playmobil advent calendars each day over on Folderol, my other home. You can vote each day on which offering you prefer!)