Greetings from New Zealand. It's 3:40am on a cold winter morning.
To mark my induction into Gothic.net, and my status as 'baby Goth' I searched the Internet for a suitable picture of a foetus of some description which I could use as an avatar. The notion of modifying the picture in Photoshop to give the impression that the baby was 'flipping the bird' proved irresistable.
I'm currently what you could call 'between jobs.' Whatever that means. By the same token you could take a few steps into the ocean and call yourself 'between continents.' I'm not sure how long my unemployment will last. My last job was working as a Lab Technician, which I enjoyed - especially working on the website the business also ran- and felt I had some aptitude for. I'm disinclined to do anything that doesn't challenge me or require some sort of creativity.
Right now I'm working on a short story/novella which I have been told is in the Gothic vein - which I shall submit to this site when I feel it is suitably polished. That's my primary motivation for joining. It's the first thing I've written in seven years.
My last work - the prologue for a much longer story I'd already written - was published in a magazine. Good for me, right? The bad thing was that the cover story of said magazine was about a girl who'd committed suicide - the same fate that my heroine met in the complete story. I'm not sure if I'd been externalising such thoughts and embodying them in a character as far removed from myself as possible, but it had an impact on me somehow.
Which brings me to how I want to die. That's a tough one - I want it to be on my terms, and yet I don't want to commit suicide. Maybe I'd be able to take part in a duel? My coffin - definitely a black one with a hot-rod style flame paint job. If you're going to go, go with some style.
I've been told that it would be well worth taking the time to read some of the works of the great Gothic authors to better acquaint myself with the subjects and its target audience: and am currently reading the stories of H.P. Lovecraft (who I'd have to say is one of my favourite authors at the moment.) Complete etexts of many of his works can be found at:
http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary...aft/index.html
Cradle of Filth would have to be my favourite band right now. I like the juxtaposition of classical undertones with the modern death metal trappings of gutteral voices, savage drums and electric guitars. That, and the fact that almost all the lyrics are rendered indecipherable amidst the clamour - so it's possible to hear something different with each listening. That's just through personal experience. Their album "Damnation and a Day" inspired me to go to the library today and borrow a copy of 'Paradise Lost' by John Milton.
What I really miss about being a child is that, although you've got such a huge imagination, you can find almost everything you need to entertain you in such a small area - remember how large your neighbourhood seemed to you as a child? Now it's like I've become jaded with my familiar surroundings, and the things that could bring some variety and enjoyment seem so distant and farflung.
