Therese

City of residence: Albuquerque, NM

Age: 18

Length of time in the scene: "Around two years?"

Occupation: "Student of life"

Education: "I recently got my GED."

Musical taste: "Death in June, Bauhaus, Tones on Tails, Elijah's Mantle, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, the Cranes. This is only the ones I can think of off the top of my head (the ones I listen to the most now). The bands I listen to change from week to week, but my tastes tend to be fairly eclectic in the gothic genre. I also like experimental noise music like Throbbing Gristle and Deathsquad."

Distinctions in appearance: "I have five piercings, all on my ears. I usually dress how ever my whimsies catch me, though comfort is something I always keep in mind. I usually wear lots of jewelry, but my fashion changes as often as my moods. My next goal is to get my tongue pierced. After that I plan on a large tattoo on my back of an ankh done in Celtic knots."

Hobbies, activities, interests: "I love to write speculative fiction and horror fiction. I write prose poetry as well. I tend to read a lot of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, non-fiction and comic books. My favorite poets are: Arthur Rimbaud, Charles Baudelaire and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Favorite authors: Tanith Lee, Storm Constantine, Poppy Z. Brite, Robin Hobb, Janny Wurts, Michael Moorcock and Joan D. Vinge. Favorite comic books: 'The Invisibles', 'Kid Eternity', the 'Sandman', 'Johnny the Homicidal Maniac' and 'Squee' (I adore anything by Jhonen Vasquez and Grant Morrison). I'm also a big gamer, I'm always involved in at least one role playing game. I enjoy playing live action Vampire. I like to create 'artwork', I make things with my hands like free form sculptures and collages. I sew some of my own clothing and like to make my own jewelry."

Spiritual, philosophical, religious affiliation: "I believe firmly in the three fold law: whatever you put out will come back to you threefold times. So better make sure you're putting out what you want to get back in return. I'm constantly fascinated by the contradictions that our lives offer. Here is a quote that I found that describes some of my ideology: 'As soon as you look at the world through an ideology you are finished. No reality fits an ideology. Life is beyond that. That is why people are always searching for a meaning to life. Meaning is only found when you go beyond meaning. Life only makes sense when you perceive it as a mystery, and it makes no sense to the conceptualizing mind.' -Anthony De Mello, Indian Jesuit and Scholar."

Goals, dreams: "My dearest dream and goal is to get a novel published. I'm very serious about my writing, I want to be able to do nothing but write for a living. Until that day, I plan on experiencing life to help my writing. I plan to attend the University of New Mexico this next spring semester. I am hoping to get a degree though I haven't decided on a major. I also am on the look out for someone to pass time with and someone who I won't get bored within a few months (ah, the search for a soulmate). As for a job, I eventually plan on being a flight attendant. I'm also hoping to move out of New Mexico. Albuquerque is a fantastic city, but I'd really like to live somewhere else for a while."

Do you consider yourself gothic?: "To an extent, yes. By my own definition I fit into the goth label, but by others' definition I sometimes don't. Being Goth is only one facet of my personality, and I don't let it limit my tastes. Albeit, Goth is the most visible, but it disappoints me when that's all people think I am when they look at me. I'm secure enough in my own gothness to actually say 'hell yeah, I'm gothic as fuck,' but I don't feel obligated to go out and prove it to the world. Justification is a word for the insecure. I like the aesthetics that most Goth people have. At first it was a way of expressing another side of my personality that I felt couldn't be expressed. The personal freedom attracted me immensely. The freedom to express myself and be accepted and tolerated played a big role in 'becoming a Goth Then it grew into a opinion of the world and of others. Another part of me loves the pretentiousness and the primping and posing. I love the theatricalness of it all. I also love the dark humor and poking fun of myself and the world. The music genre also attracted me."

9/23/97