I'm in my late 40s, with a somewhat plump figure (I've had kids, so sue me!), brown hair going grey (unless I dye it! which I do, frequently, Just LIKE JOHN BARROWMAN DOES! SQUEEEE! sorry John...). I'm five years John Barrowman's senior and old enough to be Gareth David-Lloyd's mum (aww). I'm happily married, with two growing boys (one of whom can do an alarming impression of David Tennant's Doctor Who complete with glasses) and a lovely husband. I'm an historian, potter, historical re-enacter and English (I'm British too of course, but just not Welsh, Scottish or Irish, no matter how much I would love to be). I'm just not ashamed of my identity. Why can't we call ourselves English any more? I'm not intolerant of anyone who wants to live here and make my lovely country their home. I'm the last person to be intolerant of anything really. Everyone has the right to live, love and worship in their own unique way, it's what makes the human race so diverse. I'm a pagan too, so there you go.

I have, I hope, a romantic and optimistic outlook. I like hearts, flowers and happy endings, romantic dinners, random acts of kindness and paying it forward. I don't like too much sugary fluffy stuff, but it has its place. I hate "-isms" and anything intolerant. I'm a lover, a dreamer, a healer. I'm an inveterate role playing gamer, since the early days. OK, OK, I'm a GEEK! I don't care. I have an imagination! Why else do you think I'm here? And I never grew up! Second childhood be damned, I never left the first one...

Growing older is compulsory, growing up isn't (If I were a movie, that would be my by-line)

I now contribute to the on-line free-read gay soap opera, Redemption Reef. This can be found at wordpress and is a work in progress. You can find it through the link on my blog - see the link above.

I love Torchwood, Dr Who (yes, straight up, I admit it, I was one of those kids who hid behind the sofa when the daleks came on! although I find the Cybermen more scary these days), LoTR (mmm, Aragorn and Boromir), Sharpe, Eureka, Stargate and Star Trek (particularly Nex gen.)

I am an admirer of Brian and Wendy Froud (Dark Crystal, Good Fairies/Bad fairies) and Ari Berk (co writer of The Runes of Elfland with Brian) whom I have met (lovely man, even autographed the book for me!). I am a convention go-er (fantasy and sci-fi) and have met some wonderful, lovely people through it.

Favourite Characters ~ Indiana Jones, Captain Jack and Ianto (of course), the 9th and 10th Doctors, Richard Sharpe, Jack Ryan, Captain Jack Aubrey, too many to mention really (might add to this when I remember them...), most seem to have the name Jack...

Got this from Kausingkayn's profile:
Ever notice that most of the main characters in, like, everything, are named Jack? Name one Tv Show/Movie/Book etc. where there is not at least one Jack in the entire series. Add your Jack on the end of this list and repost it on your profile! Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Jack Harkness, Captain Jack Aubrey (Master and Commander), Jack Bauer, Dr. Jack Gallagher, Jack Shepard, Jack Carter, Jack the Pumpkin King, Colonel Jack O'Neil, Detective Inspector 'Jack' Frost, Jack Ryan (Hunt for Red October). Oh just put 'Jack' into Wikipedia and you'll find 'em all...

And so to a few things I want to include here, to illustrate my allegiances ~

Firstly, a friend of mine sent me the following:

"Recently, in large French city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said:
THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE?
A middle aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern:
Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Barren Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia. Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them not to mention how could they have sex? Therefore they don't have kids either. Not to mention who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me; I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a coffee with my friends. With time we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think,Good gosh, look how smart I am..."

Now, I found this on another profile and I want to share ~

SEXUALITY
Love is love, be it between two men, two women, or a man and a woman. Why should it matter?
Love is the most valuable thing in the universe; why should loving be a bad thing?

One of my favourite Shakespeare sonnets and it says everything about Love (we had it at our wedding) ~

“Let me not to the marriage of true minds
admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
Oh, no! It is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love is not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

And a personal Favourite I wish I'd had at our wedding ~

“My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange one for the other given.
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss:
There never was a bargain better driven.
His heart in me keeps me and him in one;
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides:
He loves my heart, for once it was his own;
I cherish his because in me it bides.
His heart his wound received from my sight;
My heart was wounded with his wounded heart;
For as from me on him his hurt did light,
So still, methought, in me his hurt did smart:
Both equal hurt, in this change sought our bliss,
My true love hath my heart and I have his.”

From Arcadia by Sir Philip Sydney AD1590

And from D8rkmessngr's Witness (on Livejournal - read her stuff, its great Torchwood fiction) who kindly allowed me I could post this very simple and succinct phrase of hers ~

...love in any form always beat the dark

Copy this into your profile if you believe homophobia is wrong. Please do your part to end it.

I am the girl kicked out of her home because I confided in my mother that I am a lesbian.
I am the prostitute working the streets because nobody will hire a transsexual woman.
I am the sister who holds her gay brother tight through the painful, tear-filled nights.
We are the parents who buried our daughter long before her time.
I am the man who died alone in the hospital because they would not let my partner of twenty-seven years into the room.
I am the foster child who wakes up with nightmares of being taken away from the two fathers who are the only loving family I have ever
had. I wish they could adopt me.
I am one of the lucky ones, I guess. I survived the attack that left me in a coma for three weeks, and in another year I will probably be
able to walk again.
I am not one of the lucky ones. I killed myself just weeks before graduating high school. It was simply too much to bear.
We are the couple who had the realtor hang up on us when she found out we wanted to rent a one-bedroom for two men.
I am the person who never knows which bathroom I should use if I want to avoid getting the management called on me.
I am the mother who is not allowed to even visit the children I bore, nursed, and raised. The court says I am an unfit mother because I now live with another woman.
I am the domestic-violence survivor who found the support system grow suddenly cold and distant when they found out my abusive
partner is also a woman.
I am the domestic-violence survivor who has no support system to turn to because I am male.
I am the father who has never hugged his son because I grew up afraid to show affection to other men.
I am the home-economics teacher who always wanted to teach gym until someone told me that only lesbians do that.
I am the man who died when the paramedics stopped treating me as soon as they realized I was transsexual.
I am the person who feels guilty because I think I could be a much better person if I did not have to always deal with society hating me.
I am the man who stopped attending church, not because I don't believe, but because they closed their doors to my kind.
I am the person who has to hide what this world needs most, love.
I am the person who is afraid of telling his loving Christian parents he loves another male.

And I really hope the following is not lost on folks who read it... if you don't do sarcasm, please don't read...

GAY MARRIAGE
1) Being gay is not natural. People always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, liposuction and air conditioning.
2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behaviour. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.
7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.
9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

I, myself, am not gay, and although I've had relationships with both sexes, I don't think of myself as Bi. I think I'll take a leaf out of Captain Jack's book on this one "you people and your quaint little categories". I hate labels. If I like someone, I like someone, end of story.

And finally, I think my favourite movie quotes are becoming my life philosophy! How Geeky is that? No prizes for guessing where these come from:

"Be excellent to one another" (we really should)

"Party on Dudes!"

"Sleep all day, party all night, never grow old, never die"

"No matter where you go, there you are" (think about this and you'll never be lost, ever again, no matter what the pesky sat nav tells you!)

"To boldly go where no one has gone before"

"Second star on the right and straight on til morning"

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain. Time to die" (the human condition really).

Live well, Love much, and consider any day wasted where you haven't laughed at least once.

And finally, remember, don't join dangerous cults, practice safe sects...