Miss Spookiness

Hang on to your hopes, my friend,
Thats an easy thing to say, but if your hopes should pass away,
Simply pretend,
That you can build them again
- Simon and Garfunkel
My name is Ruth, and I am 22 years old. I work as an admin assistant for the council – not what I want to do for the rest of my life, but it’ll do for now until I have enough money to do what I really want to do (something to do with history, and conservation, for which I will need more qualifications).
My favourite genres of music are goth, metal, EBM, industrial and rock, within that my favourite bands are Nine Inch Nails, The Sisters Of Mercy, Paradise Lost and Bauhaus. I like most things though – at the moment I am really liking the Beatles, and Siouxsie Sioux’s new album Mantaray. I can’t say that I like modern rnb, rap, or most modern pop though. I can be a little elitist when it comes to music, and music genres, but that tends to be feature of people who like ‘goth’ music, as many bands are so often catagorised as “goth” when they’re not – for example Cradle of Filth, Nightwish, and Marilyn Manson. I’m not saying they’re bad bands (well, Cradle of Filth are, but that’s not the point at the moment, haha ? ) – but they’re not goth. And talking of bad bands – my least favourite band is probably Guns n Roses, and I also dislike Pearl Jam and My Chemical Romance (not least for their song about cancer – its just so distasteful), and other bands of that genre (they are called ‘emo’ – although most people will tell you that they’re not “proper” emo – I just don’t like the whinyness)
I love spending time with my friends and my sister Katie, its probably my favourite thing to do. It does get a little confusing as I have a best friend and a sister with the same name…but we get by (green and pink! ? ) I (surprisingly to most people!) get on really well with my sister, and I love going out places with her, introducing her to new music, and generally chatting with her. At the moment though she’s away at university in Huddersfield, so she’s far away ? I’ve also been to university – I did history at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. It was there that I got into the goth/industrial genres, through going to the Chains on Velvet club there.
Which brings me on to another thing I like doing – going out and dancing! Whether its at a club in London (Tarantula, Inferno, Slimelight, for example) or at a local rock night, I love going out and dancing to good music! I also love going to gigs, and I have been really lucky in the fact that a lot of bands that I like which rarely (or I thought never would again) play, I have seen (Nine Inch Nails 4 times, The Sisters of Mercy twice, Bauhaus, Siouxsie Sioux). I especially like going to see people’s favourite bands with them, if they haven’t seen them before – I like seeing how excited and amazed they get about it! ?
I like living where I live (Hemel Hempstead) as it is so close to London, and so its really easy to get to anywhere in London. I like a bit of culture too, and enjoy going around museums, art galleries, exhibitions etc, and yes, I like going to the theatre :) At the moment I’m looking forward to seeing the Tutankahmun exhibition in London, and also the Terracotta Warriors at the British Museum. I find it amazing to look at something, and its just so old…it is amazing how things can last for so long, and it really interests me to think of the people who were around at that time, who made those things. I am also into more modern history, and medical history – especially the treatment of ‘mad’ people throughout time. I don’t know why I find it so interesting, but it really is, I like to see how people’s opinions and thoughts on things have changed. I am also really into family history, and have been researching my own family tree.
Talking about opinions and thoughts…I am quite opinionated, and I like to have deep and meaningful discussions about things which people are often advised not to talk about (religion, politics etc) I like people who can put their point across, and I will listen to others points of view, but I (like many) do not like it when others impose their beliefs upon me. This has been difficult for me at times, as although I would call myself Christian, many of the ‘Christians’ with whom I grew up with were very judgemental and narrow minded, and did not take the time to listen to any others, so I’m not sure that I want to believe in that if that is what it means you have to be like – but there are also Christians I know who are lovely people, so I know that not everyone is like that. I definitely believe in God, that there is someone there who created us and who is looking down upon us, but I don’t think I believe in the Christian Church as it stands – the Bible says some good things, but some of the ways that they have been interpreted I do not think are right. Although, like I said, I am willing to listen to anyone’s opinion on this ?
I do a lot of reading, and since September 2005 I have read 193 books! I like a lot of classic books, and also am into crime fiction for a light quick exciting read – not all books have to be deep and meaningful to be good. Some of my favourite authors are George Orwell, Kate Atkinson, Iain Banks, Ian McEwan, Sebastian Faulks and PD James. I also watch a lot of films – I like deep and meaningful films, such as Fight Club, but also ones which are just nice, or leave you with a happy feeling. Some of my favourite directors are Edgar Wright, Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarantino, and my favourite films are Shaun of the Dead, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Chocolat. More are in the box about films to the side of this! I also love Bill Bailey, and of course Monty Python! British comedy far surpasses anything else, it is just brilliant. I am going to see Bill Bailey on 29th November, woo! Now I just need to go back in time to see Monty Python….incidentally, my favourite Python is Michael Palin, the “nice” Python! :D
I like slightly ‘gothic’ styles of dress, and usually wear black – although I do have a very lovely purple coat, and am at the moment searching for a pair of purple jeans which aren’t skinny – if anyone finds some, please let me know! ? I am a fan of corsets, I think they make people look lovely, though unfortunately I don’t own any “proper” ones myself – maybe when I have a little more money I may treat myself! My sister makes clothes, and she has made me a couple of skirts, which are really nice. I like velvet, and crosses. So seeing as I own a long velvet skirt with crosses on it, that’s just perfect really! I like big shoes with chunky soles – although I find it really hard to walk in heels, I would love a pair of platform boots one day. I like the colours black and purple, and also red is quite nice…but just a quick tip, if you have a lot of clothes/things which are black, never have a cream carpet – getting black fluff/eyeshadow/nail varnish out of cream carpet is never good!!! (ah, don’t I sound like such a goth!)
Well that’s about it I suppose, as this has gone on for far too long! I hope those who have read this far have enjoyed hearing about me…and if you would like to know anything else, just ask! :D