Miss Penny Dreadful

My name is Layla [yes, 'tis my REAL name, indeed!]. I was born in Casablanca, Morocco, and raised in France and Germany; I don’t remember France however, since I was only two years old back then. Such a pity, I adore the French!
I am usually ill with Consumption, the Vapors and Yellow Fever.
I love staring at the sea.
I smoke too much.
I am a widely read young Lady and a student of books. I study Linguistics and Literary Criticism at a University in a pretty little town in Bavaria. I enjoy it a lot! I certainly wouldn't mind spending my whole life in libraries; books are so much nicer than people.
I share an appartement with a dear old friend of mine; she’s an aquarius and she owns many pretty but useless things. Me, I am an only child, a libra and a loner. I love cats, I’ve got three of them; their names are Minou, Fanfan and Jaffar [in honour of my Arabian heritage and because it was the only name my Grande Mére managed to memorize].
I firmly believe I was born into the wrong time- I’m in love with the beauty of Yesteryear, the sweet sweet nostalgia of bygone eras, everything about it- from 19th Century Victoriana, the Edwardian Era, the roaring 20s, the Jazz Age, to the 30s and 40s. My favourite kind of movies are the silent ones. I am obsessed with Old Hollywood, its Golden Age, its decline, its scandals and dirty little anecdotes! Well, at least they had real scandals back then... They also had real Stars in the dear Old Golden Age! True icons like Miss Bette Davis or the lovely Tallulah Bankhead just don't exist anymore these days.
I like to collect things; mainly Rosaries, Victorian Die Cuts, Vintage Photographs and Tarot Cards. I also have a love for Vintage Fashion- a girl can never own too many dresses and feathered hats!
There is no such thing as too much make up. Or hairspray. A Beehive hairdo can never be too high.
I am a night owl and indoor person; sometimes I don’t leave the house for days, I don’t mind. As long as I’ve got my books, my music, a cup of fine English Tea spiked with rum and a reasonable amount of tobacco, I’m completely happy in my pretty little boudoir. So much nicer than going out!
I like Taxidermy; I live with a stuffed raven, a pheasant and a ferret. The pheasant is called Count Fosco, after the remarkable character in Willkie Collins' "The Woman in White"; the ferret's name is Heathcliff and the raven goes by the name of Doktor Finkelstein. I also hope to find a pretty peacock in the near future; we will see about his name.
I like to make up queer little stories and tell them to myself; they're mostly about a girl called Cecilia Lafayette and her numerous amicable companions, including a raucous mariner with a glass eye and a taste for Gin and sentimental seafaring-tales, a dazzling French-Libanese secret agent who works as a burlesque performer on the side and lures children into her IceCream-Truck in order to steal their pretty little teeth [she's the evil tooth fairy, you know], a handsome old-school gangster and melancholy gambler with bloody knuckles and a finely tailored but slightly moth eaten pin-stripe suit, and a hidden passion of wearing womens' underwear!, as well as a pair of pretty siamese girl-twins from Singapur; as for them, they like to crotchet doilies and make a fun game of swallowing strange things like screwdrivers or hat pins. They also dance the shimmy wearing nothing but a few strings of pearls and a sultry smile.
I am madly in love with a man who died some 82 years ago. We were starcrossed lovers, soul mates, booze buddies - we simply were meant for each other! His untimely death at the age of 31 broke my heart and scarred my soul. I will never ever forget you, Rudy! I also wont marry anyone else, just so you know.
I am a founding member of one of the most exclusive clubs on earth -The Conjoined Girl Poets Society- along with my lovely Elenor, my better half and fellow conspirator. As a matter of fact, this Society is so exclusive it merely consists of two members; this will never ever change. Being devoted connoisseurs of Yesteryear, we're all about telling odd stories no one wants to hear, creating frightening poetry, praising the beauty and supreme importance of a Girl Revolution, and saving old-fashioned words from their certain death and descend into oblivion.
Word to the wise: Black is appropriate for most occasions and doesn't show the dirt!
My favourite holiday is Bastille Day, my favourite dictator is Benito Mussolini and I rarely socialize.
I’m an amazingly talented liar- it’s true!
♥
"I live by the ocean
And during the night
I dive into it
Down to the bottom
Underneath all currents
And drop my anchor
This is where I'm staying
This is my home."