About Me:I live in an apartment in the Central West End of St. Louis with my cat, an orange and white Savannah mix named Donatello, and a multitude of plants, from roses to bonzais to hanging plants on my shower curtain rail.
I attend SLU, studying anthropology and women's studies, and minoring in creative writing. I attended Bryn Mawr for a year, as well, but was unhappy there -- I'm a native St. Louisan.
I artist's model on the side, for drawers, painters, and photographers. I'm open to other media, like sculpture. If you need a model, you can message me, but please, only people with a professional interest. I come from a family of artists and graphic designers, so art was sort of in the cards for me (in some manifestation) from birth. I'm taking sculpture for the first time this semester, working with plaster, metal, wood, and stone. I took ceramics last semester and loved it. I think sculpture may be my art.
I'm a poet and writer; I prefer older work (renaissance, romantics, some modernism). Post-modernism is... not very lovely to my ears. I find it trite and sometimes, truly emotionless. Kind of hackneyed. I wish more poets wrote just what they liked to write, instead of writing to be published or accepted by peers. Poetry would be so much more interesting!
I'm pagan, and eclectic. Eastern Philosophy and older, earth-based religions intrigue me especially, but I'm a general spiritual explorer and experiencer (although, admittedly, not always a believer). Right now, the Yoruba religion has intrigued me. It's an indigenous faith in East Africa -- and parallels the religion of Ancient Egypt in some ways; it may be the oldest faith. Anthropology is definitely one of my greatest delights and sources of wonderment!
Music:Bessie Smith, Patti Smith, Pat Benatar, Blondie, Cindy Lauper, Madonna, Joan Baez, Cat Stevens, Carole King, Elias Eliane, Etta Jones, Eartha Kitt, Billie Holiday, Julie London, Shirley Bassey, Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, Andy Williams, Peggy Lee, Monica Marcini, Esquivel, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, the Smiths, Basia, Elysian Fields, Amber Spyglass, Inkubus Sukkubus, Josephine, El Jezel, Zeitmahl, David Reilly, the Lost Gyrls, the Ancients, Ani Difranco, Aaron MckEwon, Liquid Overload, Sarah McLachlan, Dido, Po, Lorena McKennitt, Enigma, Enya, Nightwish, Theater of Dreams, Rhapsody, Wind wraith, Cage, Sins of Thy Beloved, Chimaera, Black majesty, Axenstar, Arsis, Beholder, Enslaved by Beauty, Crystal Eyes, Children of Bodom, Amorphis, Dimmu Borgir, Sinergy, Isis, Weezer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Ramones, The Misfits, The Queers, Alphaville, Romeo Void, Rolling Stones, Operation Ivy, Queen, The Ataris, 12 Stones, Seether, Linkin Park, Bad Religion, Eels, Motorhead, The Dwarves, Bauhaus, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Slayer, Atreyu, Iron Maiden, Nirvana, Anti-flag, Bob Dylan, Hendrix, Finch, Beatles, lynyrd skynyrd, Mudvayne, Godsmack, SOAD, NoFx, Social Distortion, The Vandals, Calico System, Against Me!, Bob Marley, Norah Jones, Shadows Fall, Dropkick Murphys, Stroke 9, Allister, Taking Back Sunday, Oasis, A Perfect Circle, Tool, Green Day, Pink Floyd, The Cramps, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Dead Kennedys, Dead Milkmen, UK Subs, The Exploited, Circle Jerks, Kill Hannah, Egostatic, Bright Eyes, The Casualties, Begin Again, Jane's Addiction, Velvet Underground, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Fear, Stevie Wonder, Dar Williams, Hole, Placebo, Alkaline Trio, In Medias Res, My Chemical Romance, Evanescence, Shakira, The Pixies
Movies:Better than Chocolate, Velvet Goldmine, Neverending Story, Amelie, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Being John Malkovich, Pride and Prejudice, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Best in Show, Wicker Man, Tipping the Velvet, Like Water for Chocolate, Chocolat, Back to the Future, The Last Unicorn, Office Space, A Nightmare on Elm St., Edward Scissorhands, The Shining, The Ring, Princess Mononoke, Mad Hot Ballroom, Me and You and Everyone We Know, What The *Bleep* Do We Know?, Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, Clueless, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Night of the Living Dead, Interview with the Vampire, Underworld, Nightmare Before Christmas, High Fidelity, Priscilla, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmore, Sixteen Candles, The Heathers, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Mary Poppins, Big Fish, and Frida, Meet the Fockers, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Abre Los Ojos, Constant Gardener, Capote, Walk the Line, Trans-America, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, Moulin Rouge, Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away
TV:Desperate Housewives, Charmed, Buffy, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Mad TV, Top Model, American Idol, The L Word
I don't really have TV here, just streaming video & fuzzy local channels. I had cable for two years as a young child, so really. TV ain't my expertise.
I am, however, addicted to Top Model & the L Word. Utter superficial nonsense that ropes you in unawares, I know. I got lassoed.
Books:The Magic Touch, Three Lives & Tender Buttons, Anatomy of a Rose, Memoirs of a Geisha, His Dark Materials, Interview with the Vampire, the Last Unicorn, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, The Adventures of Blue Avenger, the Neverending Story, the Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, HARRY POTTER, Curious Wine, I was a Teenage Fairy, An Emergence of Green, Dreams and Swords, Daughters of a Coral Dawn, Clan of the Cave Bear, Changeling, Hey, Gorgeous!, Derik's Bane, A College of Magicks, Trickster's Choice, Changeling, Alanna of Trebond, Enchantress from the Stars, The Autobiography of Foudini M. Cat, The Undomestic Goddess, Can You Keep a Secret?, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Scion, A Kiss of Shadows, Guilty Pleasures, Into the Land of Unicorns, The Ivy Chronicles, Tipping the Velvet, Matilda Authors: RACHEL SIMON, Roald Dahl, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ibsen, Joyce, Austen, Faulkner, Poe, Millay, Plath, Loy, Anna Carla Gonzales, Dickinson, Cummings, Pound, Collins, Hawthorne, Sexton, Marge Piercey, T. S. Eliot Neruda, Homer, Virgil, Camus, Conrad, Sartre, Achebe, Cather, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Buck, Michael Ende, Orwell, Bradbury, Golding, Keyes, Ursula Le Guin, Charlotte Perkins-Gilman, Jon Krackauer, Kurt Vonnegut, Malcolm Gladwell, Ayn Rand, Peter S. Beagle, Francesca Lia Block, Louise Rennison, Tamora Pierce, Ellison, Shakespeare, AI, Orr, William Carlos Williams, H.D., Carolyn Forche, Laurell K. Hamilton, Jacqueline Carey, Delia Sherman, Sophie Kinsella, MaryJanice Davidson, Turgenev, Chekhov, the list goes on. Food:
Raspberries, blackberries, mochi ice cream, crepes, hot bananas and strawberries, banana splits, welsch rarebit, gruyere, banana bread, summerfruit wine, chocolate stouts, mango lassis, dark chocolate, and of course the many flavors of box.
Likes: alliteration, chaos, blood, lesbian sex, roses, fancy dark chocolate, odd words and phrases, beautiful gardens, alicorns, poetry, asiatic and romance languages, Iberic and Latin American cultures, roleplaying, sexual and inventive fantasy, outside-the-goldfish-bowl fashion and glamour, comedy movies, art films, good kisses, loveletters, legs clothed in stockings, hands in white gloves, ancient Japanese villages, Arthurian legend, magick, herbs, scents, big, smiling, giggling blushes, the sound and feeling of the ocean, people who are not psychologically active at all, shells, pebbly brooks, good books, similes, the San Francisco Chronicle, liquid crystals, foreign sodas and mango lassis, raspberries and blackberries, flirtaceousness, shopping all day at Goodwill, 50% off days, amazon.com, craigslist.com, freecycling, cats and horses, wild forests, beach fires, exotic flutes, sculptures, gay flicks and tv, the colour red, and secrets
Dislikes:People who tap their feet in class. Distracting! Broccoli. Dog breath. Hmmm. I have to think about this one.
Hobbies:Traveling, raising plants, writing poetry, biking. Collecting things, like chucks or funky hats or first edition novels -- for a while. I tend to move on after a period of time. Jack of all trades might describe me. Right now, Russian language, literature, folklore, & cuisine are a big interest for me.
Vices:paranormal romance, chocolate, chatting up too late, bubble baths & girlie teas, marmalade, blackberries. muchas cosas.
Virtues:Man. I try to be honest. It's a blessing and a curse, to be blunt. It's hard to be both kind and honest, and still see the world. I try to be even-tempered & open-minded, but not sugarcoat my words.
Hmmm... virtues. You tell me.
Heroes:Ann Carter Stith, Frida Kahlo, Ella Fitzgerald, David Bowie, Patti Smith, Sarah MacLachlan, Marianne Moore, Leonardo Da Vinci, Xenobia of Palmyra, Emma Goldman, Grace O'Malley
but where are the books about Trows, Domovoi, or the Bo Derrig? Siriusly. The under-Folks need to be represented as protagonists.
I've mentioned "Paranormal Romance" in my Vices. As an ivory tower soul, I list it with a pure (and flabbergasted) heart. (I could list Top Model, but shamelessness has its limits!). Right now, I am reading Swimming Without a Net, the second volume in the Fred the Mermaid series by MaryJanice Davidson (marine biologist who is secretly a Mermaid, and tied in a love triangle between a tall, dark, handsome (rich) marine biologist and Prince Artur of the Black Sea, a sexy redheaded merman). I'm all for this literary onanism, honestly. Yet still.....
I'm looking for something apart from the "usual" suspects -- such as the lovely and snarky sidhe, Merry Gentry, heir to the Unseelie Court -- how romantic. Laurell K., whom perhaps some of us know and love, does a fabulous job of interjecting many folkloric races and creatures; but not really. It's all about the sidhe. As for the Werachnids... there is a series with werachnids, for all those interested (or infected, as you prefer). Jennifer Scales, a weredragon, discovers her long-lost half-brother is a werachnid in Jennifer Scales and the Messenger of Light (yes, I read Young Adult books... the confessions stream...). Werachnids. How creative. How original. How unusual! How... completely invented. As are "were-dragons." Oh, my.
On to contestent #3. "Changeling" by Delia Sherman. This book is wonderful and I have nothing bad to say about it. It uses an underdog and creates a believable "other-realm" -- New York Between. Precisely like New York City, but applied to faerieland (the fae are immigrants who came to ellis island centuries ago, of course; they have European cousins, too) -- she portrays a faerie-dusted NYC right down to the greedy "Dragon of Wallstreet" -- whose "scales" (literal, Libra/Justice/money-balance scales) turn paper into gold. Lovely book! Tiny issue: it's from the point of view of a Human. A human changeling used as a pet for faeries in NYB, that is.
Terry Pratchett also does a fair job with some of his characters, but most
of them are still Vampires, Werewolves, Dwarves, Trolls, etc.
Then there is Gaiman's Death. We all love Death. There are many wonderful People. Yet still...
Someone out there should write about the little fae that get overlooked or ignored. I loved "Gnome," actually -- but I suppose I should indicate that I mean a "novel" -- not an informational (if whimsical) book. A redcap, with a passion for painting, perhaps. Felipe the redcap, who ran away and disguised himself as a deformed hunchback who wore a mask to hide his face. Who painted grotesque scenes and garnered local fame... until his dark nature was revealed to the public. Gwammir, a trow with a small nose who gets poked fun at in his history class (since trows should have big noses, to be sure) until Dosene, the wise, older trow teacher from "OOH" (Out Of the Hill) tells everyone that he is secretly the reincarnation of Filibus Troulles, the great Trow legend who singlehandedly baked the largest dwarven pie in the history of their Trowish countryside (who they also happen to be studying). Then Gwammir has to learn to cook asap to prove his (fake) identity (with a little help from Dosene and the cute girl Trow in his class, Juli -- for Julipaniar, of course). Just some ideas. I might undertake this fight for the underdog, but other folks should too, of course.
Have you read any of Kim Harrison's Hollows series? not exatcly about the unsung folks but very good reads (fantasy/romance/young adult) she is my favorite author (yes I read young adult too) and this series is addictive!
check her out @ www.kimharrison.net I think you would enjoy her work.
XOX
MM
Hmmmmmmm... Now you've got me wondering a 'Why?' about this posting. It would seem to me that you have created the characters and have a semblance of plot for each, so the why question is, "Why aren't YOU writing these stories?" You can say you aren't a writer, but that may be only because you have yet to try. I think you just might be able to do it yourself -- and that gives the answer to the question you posed. Amazingly simple how these things solve themselves, isn't it? (Grin!)
I am indeed a writer & could very well write these stories... assuming I can find time, which I probably could if I squeezed myself very hard around the brain. I posted these as prompts, though; I shouldn't be the only damn person writing novels about trows and redcaps and other little creatures. Treants? A toad familiar? Salem from Sabrina? (Ok, maybe not Salem...) but the point is, be inspired and join me in my magick quest.
& I haven't heard of the Hollow series, but will definitely check it out.
I never realized there was a network dedicated to faeries. I'm excited. Also, I was extremely tempted to check "undead" or "alien" for my race, but I put "other" instead, because technically I'm not an alien... and as for undead... people don't need to know that. But, the truth is, I'm biracial. It makes answering questions about race on forms very hard. We're not all one single race, you know.
Hi Emma, thank you for joining our EF community - sorry about the fixed questions on your profile, we're restricted to the platform we rent from Onesite, glad you were able to add extra categories though, I didn't realise you could even do that! All your different studies sound so interesting (wistful sighs;) I look forward to learning more from you - have fun with the sculpting. I've enjoyed your 'About Me' & where your written thoughts take you, good humour, great journey...
Grins to you & Donatello,
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Have you read any of Kim Harrison's Hollows series? not exatcly about the unsung folks but very good reads (fantasy/romance/young adult) she is my favorite author (yes I read young adult too) and this series is addictive!
Mystik Musecheck her out @ www.kimharrison.net I think you would enjoy her work.
XOX
MM
09:02 AM CST