About me
"I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, I'm a mother, I'm a sinner, I'm a saint. I do not feel ashamed.
I'm your hell, I'm your dream, I'm nothing in between.
You know you wouldn't want it any other way.
So take me as I am this may mean you'll have to be a stronger man.
Rest assured that when I start to make you nervous and
I'm going to extremes, tomorrow I will change and today won't mean a thing."
Bitch by Meredith Brooks
The Basics...
My name is Heather and this is my personal domain, Artistic Chardon.com. I'm 21, turning 22 on the 9th October, and I live in South East London with my parents. I'm currently taking a break for a year, while working for my dad. I have just graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in History of Art. My degree classification was a 2.1. Prior to University I achieved 10 GCSEs and 4 A-Levels. See here for a full list of subjects studied since GCSEs.
I am an only child, and I almost had an elder brother. He was born still-born a few years before I was born. While I have no siblings I do have 20 cousins and 4 second cousins, spread evenly between my mum and dad's families. When my mum was pregnant I had to be held in with stitches, and I was born with slightly bent feet. I was also born with Hypermobility Syndrome (HMS) and now suffer from asthma, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), migraines and depression. My asthma, IBS and migraines are under control thanks to medication, but my HMS causes me a lot of problems, which you can read about here. My depression has caused me a lot of heart ache over the years, especially online, and I have lost a lot of friends due to it. I have never been on medication for it (the doctors say I'm too young for anti-depressants). I am lucky that counciling has helped me cope with the past (bullying, bad relationships, online drama) and helped me regain some of my self-confidence. I still have off days, but I can now say that I am happy and I have a lot of support from my parents and my friends.
My Personality...
One of the main things people notice about me is my honesty. I am honest to the point of blunt at times. This doesn't mean I am against lying. Small white lies have their place, but lying completely or concealing the truth I don't agree with. I don't like talking behind someones back, if there is a serious problem then I tell them. My honesty has caused a lot of problems in the past, but it has gotten me a lot of friends who like my honesty. They know that with me they'll get the non-sugarcoated version. This doesn't mean I'm completely tactless, I can be subtle and I don't jsut blurt things out. But if I'm not happy about something I will speak out. Other than my honesty I am just a whole tonne of adjectives rolled into one. The A-Z of me lists these.
I can be quite anti-social at times and I don't like small talk unless it is with someone I know. I get to know most people via RPGs, World of Warcraft or livejournal.com. I am also very opinionated, although you can guarantee that if I do open my mouth about something, I know what I am talking about. My opinions are based on knowledge or experience, and you won't see me touch the realm of Science since I have no interest and very little knowledge of science. You can read about some of my opinions in my rants.
Art...
As an Art History graduate I do have a love for art. I used to paint and draw when I was in lower education, which you can see in my Photo Gallery. My interest in Art History begins in the Middle Ages, continues to Renaissance Art and ends with Impressionism. After the Impressionists there are a few Artists that catch my attention, but in general I really don't like modern art. I have a particular interest in female artists, religious art, the monstrous races from Medieval Manuscripts, and Apocalypse art. My dissertation was a study of the Lambeth Apocalpse, and asking whether Apocalypse manuscripts were a response to a moral panic of sin.
Asking me to pick a favorite artist is impossible, so I am just going to name the ones I do find interesting: Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Michelangelo, Leondardo Da Vinci, Raphael, Mucha, Rubens, Renoir, Artemisia Gentileschi, Klimt, Frida Kahlo, Escher, William Blake, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Carravagio, Degas, Le and many others I cannot remember to name. I also love fantasy art, especially the work of Luis Royo.
Animals...
When I was younger I used to go horse riding and wanted to be a vet. I still adore animals and at home at my parents house I have 3 Cats (Tiger, Ginger, Patch and Lizzie), and a whole bunch of fish in our pond (goldish, orfe and koi carp), plus the occasional frog. I used to have two leopard geckos, but sadly they passed away while I was at University. You can see pictures of my pets in my Photo Gallery.
Star Wars...
I am a massive Star Wars fan/geek. I have been reading the Expanded Universe books since I was 13, and I prefer the Original Trilogy to the prequels. I don't hate the prequels and believe they have an important role in the Star Wars Universe, but they just don't capture my attention as much as the OT does. Out of all the films Return of the Jedi is my favorite. My favorite character overall (including the EU) is Mara Jade. After that there are too many characaters to name or put into an order. I love them all in their different ways and I've yet to come across a character that I felt was badly written. Timothy Zahn is my favorite author and unlike other fans there isn't an author I particularly hate or don't enjoy. Just Mr. Zahn manages to create the most amazing stories and I love the books featuring Mara and Luke, especially Survivors Quest.
Bookworm...
Star Wars books are not the only books I read. I am a huge bookworm. The first author I grew to love was L.J.Smith, and while I do still love her books, now I'm older I don't read them as much as I used to. Laurell K Hamilton and Jacqueline Carey are most likely my favorite authors if I had to name one. I am not a whiny LKH fan, and I will freely admit to liking the sex and adult scenes in her books. I do not believe them to be smut or porn; they are as much a part of the plot as everything else. I love both her Anita Blake series and Merry Gentry series equally, and have also read Nightseer which I wish there was a sequel to.
Jaqueline Carey's Kushiel Legacy is absolutely amazing. I feel a very close bond with Phedre and every time I re-read those books I am gripped, even though I know what happens next. I have read book one of The Sundering and also enjoyed it, even though fantasy is not my favorite genre.
Coming closely behind those two authors are Marianne Curley, Tamora Pierce, Anne Bishop and Kim Harrison. I have all Marianne Curley's books and love them all, I also run Old Magic the largest fansite for her on the web at the moment. As for Tamora Pierce I only read her Tortall series, I could never get into her Emelan books and I'm up-to-date with all the Tortall series at the moment. Other authors I read include; Catherine Fisher, Ceelia Rees, Cate Tiernan, Annette Curtis Klause, Alexander Dumas, Alice Borchardt, Louisa May Alcott.
A list of all the books I own is here and you can read what relationships I ship in each fandom here.
Geeky Hobbies...
As well as being a bookworm, I am a geek and a proud one at that. I am an online roleplayer (play by email mostly, see here for more information) and I play World of Warcraft. I have three characters on the EU server Kul'Tiras; a human priest called Eleasea (my main), a night elf druid called Bryanna, and a human warlock called Briar. You can read more about my characters at my WoW Character Archive.
Paganism...
One last thing to mention about me is I am a Neo-Pagan and anti-Christianity. I do not hate Christians, unless they cause harm to others, I just do not agree with the religion. I definetly do not agree with anyone using their religious beliefs as an excuse for bad behaviour, i.e. prejudice, and this goes for any religion. I believe in faith rather than religion I guess. I do not practise spells or divination all that often, and I consider faith to be a personal thing. I am a neo-pagan, I believe in the Mother Goddess and Father God and I worship the Greek Pantheon, especially Aphrodite, Aries and Athena. I am a libra influenced by aries and this makes my personality confusing and complicated. I am a chatty, friendly, flirty and loving Libra with all the anger and insecurities of an Aries. I also tend to clash with anyone who is an Aries. As you can tell I do believe in Astrology. I also believe in crystal divination and tarot cards. I have an affinity with all things related to love since I am a libra. Rose Quartz is my chosen crystal and in a Tarot deck I have an affinity with The Lovers card. I use crystals mainly and have a large collection. More details about my religous views are here.