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Alison Skirtboston

Skirt! Boston editor

Skirt! is evidence that the universe is paying attention: I spent the last six years at mach speed, whether finishing college (Emerson) while writing full time for Boston Globe West (2001-2004) or editing the Boston Parents’ Paper during the day while holding down the steady gig writing for Globe ...

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Under the Radar

Alison, editor

I don’t live under a rock, but I’m frequently surprised to learn about people who do unusual and fun things. There are so many subcultures and cool, eclectic people that rarely get attention from mainstream media.

Take go-cart racers, for instance. Or precision ice skating groups. Or those... hmm.. hula-hoopers...

Last summer I wrote an article about adult fans of Transformers who were gathering to share info on their collections (yes, they’re adults, mostly men, who collect toys – let’s not make assumptions, OK?) and they were among the first to preview the Transformers movie (admit it, the movie was pretty good).

So I shouldn’t have been surprised last weekend when dozens of people turned out to run through the woods at an orienteering meet. And I shouldn’t have been surprised that it was really fun – even though my husband and I, as novices, spent 2.5 hours looking for the same checkpoints (”controls”) that some people were able to find in 45 minutes.

Those are the orange and white markers, the controls, that we sometimes struggled to find in the woods (using only a topographical map and drinking from muddy streams – just kidding). After a while the joke was “we’re looking for a big rock, right?” In short, it was an incredible way to get outside, have fun and let the credit cards cool off for a while (you can only spend so many weekends in malls, IMHO). And anyone can do it – they set up courses for every level of ability.

Back to my  main question: when was the last time orienteering – the NEOC group (www.newenglandorienteering.org) for instance, was mentioned in mainstream media? If your view of the Boston area is informed only by the large newspapers and television shows, you’d think we all LIVE for the Red Sox and only the Red Sox. Until October anyway, when life revolves around the Patriots.

And you wouldn’t have been in line at the Hynes Convention Center last weekend for the Anime Boston event. It was a religious gathering of sorts for people who like Japanese cartoons. It only looked like Halloween to me. And my kids are still trying to explain the people carrying keys and wearing wings and terms like cosplay (huh?).

Vive la difference!

 PS: the more I thought about this topic, I realized I’ve been so fortunate, as a journalist, to meet and write about so many people with unusual hobbies. I guess it was my niche. Here are a few:

• the Experimental Aircraft Association in Carson City, NV, which included a woman who was building a scale model of a WW2 fighter jet at her house (she planned to fly it, of course);

• Civil war re-enactors and hobbyists. One gentleman from the local area has spent years cataloguing members of a particular Union unit, including tracking down records, family heirlooms and reading letters and journals;

• a successful woman who pieced together several adjoining properties to create an equestrian enclave of her own, including hiring full-time dressage trainers and adding a pilates studio to stay in shape; and

• a talented young woman who returned to her hometown to open her first dress shop with her own designs.