Who Is Ianthe?

"Any fool can see that I'm a bad example
If the only advice I bring is to chew on your food and save your string."
Ames, The Bluetones

Who Am I?

Name: Well, I write under pseudonyms because I like to stay anonymous. On writing.com I use Ianthe, as it’s my favourite name, and the M stands for Merlot or Marlett or Marr depending on my mood! If I were to have a book published (wishful thinking) I’d probably use to pseudonym Nadia Marney, just because I think it has a nice ring to it.

         At the moment I’m swapping between two handles. ‘Impossible Child’ comes from a song lyric by my favourite band, The Bluetones, and also from my childhood, where my long-suffering mother would joke that I was impossible as every question she asked was answered by some random story! For example, “Did you have a good day at school?” “Ooh yes, there was a big tidal wave, and we all got swept off to a tropical island, and we had to eat coconuts for lunch and then we found a cave, and in the cave was a big dragon, and the dragon tried to eat us so we ran up a tree, and in the tree was a fairy who gave us wings so we could fly home again, and then…” “That’s nice dear.” The lyric goes “Impossible Child, revered and reviled, come along for the ride.” And is from a song called The Favourite Son, so it’s not very relevant to me!

         The other is more relevant, it’s The Fountainhead. Again a Bluetones song, the lyric going: “Hell could feasibly freeze, but in your eyes I’ll always be The Fountainhead, the one whose thoughts keep running away.” Which is more relevant to me I suppose.

Age: I was born in late May 1985, which means at the time of writing (October 2003) I am 18.

Siblings: I have 2 sisters, aged 21 and 27.

Location: I live in the north west of England, right on the border with Wales, in a village near to a small historical city.

Background: I’ve had a nice upbringing in a stable family. I went to the primary school in my village and the high school in the slightly larger village nearby but then I struck out on my own and went to a sixth form college a little further away, I was always good at school but not popular, middling I suppose, but then I wouldn’t want to be popular! I’m just the quiet one, lost in my own little world. On the last day of college I was given the award for being the most “cutely eccentric.” An award I’m very proud of. Especially seeing as other people got things like ‘college bike’, ‘least likely to exceed’ and ‘most likely to die young’.

Personality: Well, I guess I must be cutely eccentric. I do get ‘cute’ a lot, in an ‘aww, bless!’ kind of way. I think I’m reasonably amiable, I might not like a lot of people, but I keep myself to myself and try not to get involved in disputes or bitching, so I hope people think I’m an ok, friendly person. I am quite scared of people to be honest, always worried about what people might think. I am always anxious and worried and I’m always deep in thought. No one else seems to notice though, so I expect that’s just how everyone feels inside! My friends describe me as quirky, quaint and quiet.

Occupation: I’ve just finished my a-levels, and I’m taking a gap year before going to university next September. For my gap year I’m working in an office that does something to with insurance, I don’t really understand insurance, but luckily the job doesn’t require me to! It’s pretty simple and uninteresting, but it’s better than nothing! I’m also hoping to do some volunteering. Then, next year sometime, if I’ve saved enough money, I’m going to Peru to do an intensive Spanish course. Next September I start at a university in London reading archaeology.

The Future: Well, my plans for the future anyways. Once I’ve finished my degree, I’d quite like to do a PhD. After that I’d like to work in conservation, perhaps for the national trust or English heritage (though I don’t like English heritage at the moment as they won’t let us dig up our amphitheatre (another story)). Or perhaps for a national park, as they need an archaeology department. Something practical and useful anyway, and not something that is just trying to get a company machine more money, so a museum or a charity perhaps.

         Like most people, I want to travel all round the world. And like most people on this website, I’d like to get something that I’m proud of published.


Likes:
· Icecream and Sorbet, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
· Writing and reading! (Stating the obvious)! Writing stories is something I’ve always done; my first story was dictated to my dad when I was 3! One of my aims in life is to publish a book so I’m here trying to improve my writing skills. My reading skills have also been improved by this wonderful place, I find myself being able to pick so much more out of other people’s work than I could when I first arrived. My grammar is still dire though!
· Theatre, though not so much the acting. I used to act when I was younger but as I got older my theatre group became full of wannabes who couldn’t care less about the magic of theatre, just about getting famous, so I left. I’m quite content just being in the audience now though.
· Music. I have no musical talent whatsoever unfortunately, but I love to listen! There is music constantly playing in my head (the soundtrack to my life I suppose!) and just a word or a sight can make me start humming a particular tune. My musical tastes are more on the alternative side, Indie music mainly, and Britpop, but I love good old-fashioned Rock and roll, a little jazz and classical music too. My favourite band (as mentioned above) is The (mighty) Bluetones, who I adore. I’ve seen them live 3 times so far this year; their music just makes me so happy. I also like The Bees, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Super Furry Animals, Ben Kweller, Ed Harcourt, The Music, Tom Mcrae, Bright Eyes, Teenage Fanclub, Beth Orton, Mull Historical Society, The Smiths, Supergrass, Hot Hot Heat, Mansun (not Marilyn!), The Stone Roses, British Sea Power and hundreds more, though I won’t bore you with the full list! I also have things in my collection from every decade since the 40’s! A couple of new bands I’d like to introduce people to are The Vessels, who are a better version of the thrills! The Ambershades, who are nice and upbeat, and Ricky who have a very retro sound that they aren’t ashamed of! I go and see bands whenever I get the chance, which is unfortunately not often, as I don’t really know anyone with my musical taste, none of my friends are particularly interested in music and I’m too scared to go alone! I don’t really like rap, scary shouty music (!), nu-metal, or much mainstream music at all, though I don’t hate it. I like music that seems to have some intelligence behind it. I have respect for people such as Beyonce because she has an amazing talent. If you see her performing, she makes the effort to give a proper performance, she goes dancing round the stage, so full of energy and she’s still note perfect. Crazy in Love was a good pop song, my ears don’t particularly like listening to that kind of music, but I do have time for it when it’s done well. I don’t have any time for someone who doesn’t make the effort, just sits on a stool and mimes half-heartedly to a backing track, where’s the talent involved in that? Cheesy pop bands do have their place, for young people, but I don’t think they can really be taken seriously; they are there to entertain, not to inspire. Umm, I get the feeling I am rambling, shush Ianthe.
· Travelling. Ok, so I haven’t done much. With my parents I’ve seen a few places in Europe, France, Spain, Corsica, Holland, Germany and Belgium. My sister (age 21) and I went to Prague in the Czech Republic last year. And in September this year we went backpacking round Malaysia and Singapore for a month (see "Ianthe's Adventure in Malaysia!" . I think travelling is an important thing to do; it makes you more aware of how life is, and understanding of different races and cultures. It’s all very well going on all-inclusive package deals to resorts, but you don’t actually experience anything real.
· Photography. This is a bit of a hobby of mine; my walls are completely covered with photos! I’ve got 4 cameras that I’ve collected over the years. One is my dads old SLR thing, one is just a snappy thing with just a small zoom that I bought myself, its just used for taking normal pictures of places I go and events, it’s handy but nothing exciting. For my 18th birthday about 10 of my friends clubbed together and bought me a Lomo camera (www.lomography.com), it’s a bit like the camera version of a cult film! You use it to document the world, the idea is to ‘shoot from the hip’, and just to take photos of everything and see what weird and wonderful ways they come out! The colours are often distorted and you can stretch images and capture movement. I love it. I also have another kind of lomo camera which is just a cheap, fun, kitsch thing, it has 4 lenses next to each other that take a photo one after another, but print them all together, so you get an image of movement, a bit like those little flip books where you make a stick-man walk along by flipping the pages. At the moment I’m taking portraits of all my friends and family, and taking really close up images of face parts to create a collage person! My next purchase, when I’ve saved up enough, will be a coloured flash for my lomo camera, basically, rather than sending out white light to highlight the image, its sends purple or green or blue so you get odd colour washes across the picture. It’s all just a bit of fun really, and I love it.
· Weird films. My favourite films are Being John Malkovich, Run Lola Run, Amelie, Donnie Darko and Dogma. Run Lola Run is (I think) German, it’s literally just about a girl running to get to her boyfriend in time but it’s split into 3 sections and it really draws you into the story and puts you on the edge of you seat! Being John Malkovich just leaves you going ‘Huh?’ and ‘Eww!’ which is its beauty I think! Amelie is quirky and happy-go-lucky. Ooh, and I love Edward Scissorhands, what a random idea! I like black comedies, and something that seems to have a bit of intelligence behind it.
· Eccentric people. I just love quirkiness and eccentric dressers, I admire people who aren’t afraid to like what they like and believe in what they believe in.
· Clutter! Anyone who likes minimalism should avoid my bedroom! It is full of junk from Lego people to fairy lights! Nothing chintzy or tacky, just random pieces of junk, from road signs to broken clocks!


Dislikes:
· Slugs! I’m not a squeamish girl, I’m good with most creepy crawlies, but something about slugs just makes me freak out
· Mushrooms, a.k.a edible slugs, though why anyone would want to eat them is beyond me! I also call them Satan’s vegetable!
· Dolls. Another random phobia, it’s their eyes, the way they follow you, and their innocent faces, you can tell they’re really evil but are trying to lull you into as false sense of security with their angelic smiles! Or perhaps I just have an overactive imagination.
· Wannabes
· Romantic comedies and teen comedies
· Sheep. Well, not actually sheep as in the animal (they’re just cute and fluffy!) I mean the characteristic of a sheep, following each other, in people. Trendy-ness and In-crowd-ness, where is the originality?
· Being tickled. I am THE MOST ticklish person in the world, and I go all high-pitched, slightly violent and usually fall on the floor! I hate it, but my friends think it is highly amusing and like to do it at every opportunity!
· Being shy. I wish I were braver!
· Being anxious and just generally socially inept! I have inherited awful anxiety from my mother so I worry all the time and I get butterflies whenever I go anywhere, it’s most annoying!

Favourite:
· Book – I’ve only recently read it but it’s gone straight to the top of my list: Armadillo by William Boyd, so cleverly written. I also like books by Stephen Fry, though you have to be feeling intelligent (and open-minded!) to read them! I love Enid Blyton books, and also books about other cultures such as Hannah’s Daughters by Marianne Fredriksson, The Binding Chair by Katherine Harrison and Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah.
· Band – Just so I can mention the name one more time in case you missed it and haven’t gone and bought their entire back-catalogue yet, THE BLUETONES!
· Drink – non-alcoholic: Semi-skimmed milk. Alcoholic: peach vodka from Prague or Daiquiri mmmmmm!
· Food – Sandwiches! When I came back from my month in Malaysia the first thing I had to do was make my self a proper sandwich!
· Song – This changes all the time, but at the moment I can’t stop listening to A Poetic Retelling of An Unfortunate Seduction by Bright Eyes, it’s an absolutely stunning song.
· Comedian – I love to laugh, at the moment its Ardal O’Hanalon (I hope I’ve spelt that right), he was Father Dougal in Father Ted. His stand-up character is quite similar to his father Dougal character I suppose and it is absolutely hilarious.
· TV program – Again I love to laugh so it’s a tie between 2 comedies, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and the sitcom Coupling.

         So now you know who I am. Feel free (ahem, go on, please) to take a look around the rest of my port and do a little r’n’r-ing, I’ll always return the review within a few days, I promise!