Tribe.net. Local Connections Sizzle http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#caea34cc-4d89-4d7b-991e-981c6a05d67b 2009-02-02T07:34:44Z 2009-02-02T07:34:44Z

well this is going well, i'm finding so much in the reflections each of you are holding up for me... i like this.. going native ... i whoreship all of you on this litttle alter box of light... more ....i want more...i'm not saitiated yet...

Sizzle 2009-02-02T07:34:44Z Rig http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#e5229f42-c70e-414a-9250-f4c09e766636 2009-01-30T17:07:40Z 2009-01-30T17:07:40Z

Many seasons ago while I was still green, the boy that turned me on to LSD (we were like 17) told me something that has been a bit of a touch stone for me. "Be a little crazy, then people will look at you and say, hey, so he's a bit weird, he's just a bit crazy." What he was saying is "It's OK to be different, it's OK to be unpredictable" I've also been lucky enough to have good self confidence. My "civilian" style has been "black" for years. WAY easier in the morning to just grab a shirt, any shirt, and a pair of pants, any pair, and know they match. My faerie style is, well, faerie. At my prior job, one of my bosses asked if I had anything other than black in my wardrobe. I said, yes but just about everything non-black was a skirt. She knew me well, chuckled and asked, "How may skirts do you have?" I answered "More than my wife has". Why am I "alternative"? Mostly because I'm me. Turns out my mix of sexuality and spirituality and sadism and community and "twisted, kinky, poly" is way, way unusual within society in general and even quite far from the center of gay/queer folk. Hugs, Rig Daddy

Rig 2009-01-30T17:07:40Z Woad http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#1e22e252-f913-4e38-bb48-1ac4cc2daad5 2009-01-30T15:35:01Z 2009-01-30T15:35:01Z

It's funny but I agree with the thought of there being no mainstream. I look at the legions of hipster children that populate this town and most of them represent a sort cultural dead end for the subcultures they borrow their fashion from. They have no sense of the history or subversive backgrounds of their attire and they are all largely alike. They don't dance and are addicted to fixed gear bicycles. Not to bag on it, it is just not unusual to see a kid decked out in Morrisey garb but not know who the Smiths are. Style over substance is what I guess I am observing. I used to classify myself as Goth but life is complex and like aging wine so is my flavor these days. I won't lie and say I didn't try to be different. I was bent on differentiating myself from the rednecks that represented the status quo. I still lean towards darker themes when it comes to clothes but I have a professional wardrobe for library work at SCAD. I pull my plugs out of my ears during the week and save my glamour for the weekends now. I go and learn tribal fusion belly dance during the week. I practice witchcraft... I am getting flying monkeys tattooed on me for my birthday. I hardly fit societal norms and I tend to avoid any all encompassing labels as they tend to limit potential.

Woad 2009-01-30T15:35:01Z Mike http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#abd2f74d-2794-47a6-8740-0ac509e011e6 2009-01-28T16:21:23Z 2009-01-28T16:21:23Z

I’m just me. Alternative, for me, is just one of many labels coming from a society which is programmed to identify, label, package, and box. Which is ok with me, I’m not concerned or have control of what others think. And I do love those manly musky boxes - my favorite Alter - Native to kneel in front of and worship.

Mike 2009-01-28T16:21:23Z Mr. M http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#4130aabc-48f2-497d-a024-a3b6eb38de27 2009-01-28T02:52:41Z 2009-01-28T02:52:41Z

I'll take a ticket on that not giving a fuck train too.

Mr. M 2009-01-28T02:52:41Z Neur@l http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#554cc894-7714-46de-b853-0906db66b05b 2009-01-28T02:45:40Z 2009-01-28T02:45:40Z

To be entirely honest. I really don't give a shit if I'm "alternative" or not, or for that matter if people consider me alternative. All I really give a shit about is that I'm an individual with individual wants and needs. That I follow my own beliefs and abide by them. Whatever that makes me so be it. If that makes me a member of mainstream society, more fucking power to me, if it makes me "alternative" again more fucking power to me. Dressing in a fashion for the sole purpose of "shocking" someone is redundant. Dying your hair blue because you want to get a rise out of someone is ridiculous. Now dressing the way you want to dress just because you find aesthetic value in it, now that's being an individual. Or dressing that way for purposes solely to the self are individualistic. Nonetheless, I agree, the idea of having to explain why you're "alternative" or what have you is trivial and pointless. I take a more apathetic and nihilistic approach to these kinds of things in the fact that I could honestly give a shit less as to what social "category" I belong in. Fuck cataloging human life and just live it. Stop trying to be goth, jock, prep, or whatever other fucking castes exist. Just try to be yourself, in mind, body, and soul. That truly makes you an individual, and whatever "category" that makes you fall in, do what I do and give a shit less. Categories exist to make life easier for people who feel the need to restrict themselves from hanging with the other crowds. I hang with whomever the fuck I please, be they of a different social class, category, color, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. I could care less about what you belong to, I only care about WHO you are as a PERSON. There I'm done ranting, Neur@l

Neur@l 2009-01-28T02:45:40Z Sizzle http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#5dff9245-5b50-4483-957e-0199f8a9f9f6 2009-01-28T02:25:12Z 2009-01-28T02:25:12Z

very good ... keep going.... good start , ...go deeper... more. "please sirs , thank you sirs , may i have more sirs ,please sirs!" or if you are more the sub-type ... "tell me what I want to know , now , bitch!"

Sizzle 2009-01-28T02:25:12Z Mr. M http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#dd43807c-4179-4fb5-a611-d57e4135a1ff 2009-01-27T06:09:31Z 2009-01-27T06:09:31Z

I'm not either, and yet I am, simultaneously. Oh so complex.

Mr. M 2009-01-27T06:09:31Z Dave http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#ce6d6102-0485-4ace-b976-269bf663b572 2009-01-26T21:28:17Z 2009-01-26T21:28:17Z

I love exploring my psyche and all of the illusions in which we live. I am not content to become numb to it.

Dave 2009-01-26T21:28:17Z Weirdo http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#295944e4-ce69-450e-8c0c-e231b4197b3b 2009-01-26T11:24:43Z 2009-01-26T11:24:43Z

My political, social and religious views don't match up with the majority of people so by default I'm alternative. I don't ever actually use the word when describing myself. It's just a feeling of difference between myself and the majority. I think being gay probably put me on the outside to begin with.

Weirdo 2009-01-26T11:24:43Z Raven http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#8df8a249-a925-4706-9181-ca8bf7d4d0d7 2009-01-26T05:45:28Z 2009-01-26T05:45:28Z

I've tried different expressions of myself at different times, from Goth to Hippy. I've always done what was organic at the time, even if I later thought "that wasn't me" -it was learning about myself that was important. This doesn''t necessarily make me "alternative", though. I guess the "alt" thang comes from being willing to just be myself, and sometimes be blind to what the world says about it... For instance, when I was Gothed-out, I was sometimes consdidered to be doing it for the attetion the look got. I really never was like that. I simply wore what caught my eye. and meant something to me. I was a bit Ren/Medieval in style, and I appreciated the nod to history. But still, people thought I was doing some of it just for attention. Which seems odd to me . It's sort of like kissing a boyfriend in public. I'd be dumb to think it's not, by it's honesty, a poitical statment. But I would not kiss him just to MAKE a poitical statement. I would only do it when it was a genuine act of love and appreciation of what we have. The opinion of others is so secondary to the truth of it, ya know? I am naturally pretty positive-minded and am much more intersted in what kindness can achieve than judgement, or punishment or negative thinking (as I see such things- everyone has their own reality, ya know?) There's a phrase I heard once... I think I'm badly paraphrasing it but here goes: Don't ascribe quickly to human malice what can more often -and more accurately- be ascribed to human misunderstanding. We all fuck up, so there it is... let's just do our best and help others do theirs. Peaceout, ya'all

Raven 2009-01-26T05:45:28Z D' ner http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#91fb9c95-0a67-4d8f-b1ff-55e14ffa87b4 2009-01-26T05:12:08Z 2009-01-26T05:12:08Z

i....am open to others, i love to get to know everybody... i try to see the best in everybody, and i try to be myself :)

D' ner 2009-01-26T05:12:08Z Mr. M http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#384092bd-f62d-4cf6-8bf8-76dd87c6d3d6 2009-01-25T15:08:41Z 2009-01-25T15:08:41Z

I don't see myself as alternative really. But I do know I am not as inhibited as alot of people can be. I can pretend to conform. But I don't think I really can conform. And why would I want to? To be a conformist? I think not. Alternative doesnt necessarily equate "better." Just different. And arent most gay people "alternative" to straight society just by being gay?

Mr. M 2009-01-25T15:08:41Z skooter http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#533b9a93-77fe-414e-bb0d-03facecea9fe 2009-01-25T10:21:26Z 2009-01-25T10:21:26Z

Neur@l wrote: ...People who try to be different ... > The key word is "try" If trying is what you're doing, being is what you're not. Which includes "trying" to explain how alter-native you are. If you have to convince others of your validity then you're not alternative. You're just neurotically insecure.

skooter 2009-01-25T10:21:26Z Neur@l http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#17c02f0e-82b4-46f5-bb19-655b6a708669 2009-01-25T08:13:35Z 2009-01-25T08:13:35Z

Well let's look at the word "alternative", generally in the fashion we are using this word is to mean breaking away from the normal followings of mainstream society. To be completely honest with you, in this day and age there really is no "mainstream". People who try to be different are basically being conformists to this newly found belief of trying to be different, as in being different is cool. With that said, I do not try to be different, I have never tried to be different, it just happened that way. Therefore it brings me to this word, I am a transcendentalist. I follow that which I want to follow, I don't follow the trends because everyone else is doing it, I do it because I see some form of benefit or aesthetic beauty in the activity. I don't get piercings because I want to present this "outcasted" image, I get them because I find them beautiful and sacred. My piercings are spiritual to me, the suspension rituals I have involved myself in are spiritual. I am drawn to body modification not because it is "abnormal" or "cool" to do, I do it because it is downright fucking brilliantly gorgeous to me. I dress in the fashions that I dress in not because it is again "alternative", but because it is aesthetically pleasing to me. To be honest I really don't try that hard to dress "alternatively", I wear carhartt pants because of their quality and they look good on me, I wear band t-shirts because I like to support the bands and music that I listen to. If that makes me alternative than so be it. And the hoodies and coats that I sew together exist because I wanted to make something cheap and that expressed who I am for conversation starters, like, "Oh wow, that's a neat jacket, did you make that?" I'm not really trying to shock anyone I'm just trying to please people with my, so to speak, artwork. That is why I'm alternative, if you truly wish to consider me such. Because I am a transcendentalist. I don't try to be different, I just act, do, and participate in what I want to participate in, it just so happens that the activities I participate in seem to branch off from "mainstream" society. That's it, simply put. Neur@l

Neur@l 2009-01-25T08:13:35Z Watchdog http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#4eca22b7-112e-4166-b69c-a4c8140ae2f7 2009-01-25T05:18:06Z 2009-01-25T05:18:06Z

To many of the people I know, I'm pretty alternative. But compared to the more radical friends I admire, I feel I'm just vanilla with a few drops of Tabasco. Remembering something I read back when I had the hair and the beads: "If you call yourself a hippie, you're not one." (?) The fact that I even own a suit and tie bothers me, but it would bother me worse not to have one. I YAM what I YAM. (You can either go into "La Cage..." with that or with Popeye.) I do know that not too long after I came out, I grew very weary of what I called "prescribed gay behavior," and couldn't wait to leave a world of disco in search of the edgier clubs in town. That alone was enough to put me outside the gay in-crowd. But I found others like me there. Counter culture within the counter culture. Was fun seeing Ru Paul with his mohawk and mile-high boots entering with his entourage before he hit the big time. I still long to go to a blues bar or a rock bar where I could also be comfortable being gay as a goose. I want to see a leather bar that isn't playing disco diva feather boa music. I want hard nasty rock to go with hard nasty sex. I want to dance on a speaker with a whip again, but to better music. Only now I'd just look like some desperate, odd old fart, I think. Still considering re-piercing that one nip, adding the other and putting a chain between them. Only I'd bring the chain up around the back of my neck and then haul them tits back up where they used to be. The thing is, I'm so interested in so many different kinds of people that I can't just stick with one group, so the people I know are all over the place from conservative (but not like Southern Baptist conservative...UGH) to radical faeries to people I met in the BDSM community. I soak up their energies like a good vampire and it gives me life. But even saying something like that is odd to a lot of gay guys I know. There's another thing that I think makes me a bit alternative to many of the gay guys I know: I can take or leave having a partner/husband. It's good with one and it's good without one. More time for painting without one. Besides, JO is just so damned fun. So I guess some of that makes me alternative. Sorta-kinda. (If I call myself alternative, I'm not... maybe.)

Watchdog 2009-01-25T05:18:06Z Sizzle http://altgays.tribe.net/thread/5ce0c6bf-d2c5-436a-8b94-dceedfc53ab8#ea25ed28-2c2a-45ba-9f6b-f604e0314f7a 2009-01-25T01:09:57Z 2009-01-25T01:09:57Z

we are a diverse and varried people, with different backgrounds and enviroments So consider and answer this... what about you makes you "alternative " or an "alter-native"? couriouser and couriouser

Sizzle 2009-01-25T01:09:57Z