Well, there's a few different answers to that. Let's start with...

Who was Tisiphone?

A rather gloomy and bloody figure in Greek mythology, I'm afraid. Our gal Tis was one of the three dark goddesses that went around punishing kin-slayers, and she and her gory sisters were part of an older pantheon of gods and goddesses that held sway in Greece long before Zeus' grandfather was even castrated. Most people know of them through the "Orestia" trilogy, as Homer thought that the earth-tied deities were a bit too nasty for his epics...not that the Olympians weren't a bunch of lying, cheating, adulterous bastards. But that's godhead for you...always sticking their noses in & making the poor mortals keep the golden apples & decide their silly contests. But we know who's really the fairest, don't we?

Who am I?

I haven't figured that out yet myself, although I have gathered together a few thoughts on the subject for display here, arranged in bite-sized bits for your digesting pleasure. Bite away!

the basics:

"Real" Name:

Aleta (which fittingly enough, means "Little Wing" in Greek)

Butch/Femme:

According to the newly revamped Unofficial Butch/Femme Test, I'm a hard androgyne. And here I thought I was so butch...

Orientation:

North, usually (I do live in Canada)

"Shadwell hated all southerners and, by inference, was standing at the North Pole."
- Good Omens

Education:

I'm between degrees right now. I have a Specialist B.A. in English from the University of Toronto, and I'll be popping off to teacher's college in a year, dragging my poetry compilations and boyfriend in my wake.

Gender:

Occasionally indeterminate, but mostly female. Although I try to leave my armpits unshaved as much as possible in order to scare the older people at the mall.

The 2 phrases of Spanish I have mastered:

"Yo quiero Taco Bell" (I want Taco Bell) & "Chiquita, quanto deniero?" (Hey, baby, how much?)

Super Alter Ego:

The Pink Bag of Justice

Occupation:

World's Mightiest Temp

Fragrence:

Chanel #13 (yeah...think about it...)

Number of times I've been mistaken for a goth:

countless

Nation:

Canada, home of Spider Robinson, Rickard's Red, Smarties, and all my stuff.

Highest Level of Swim Class Completed:

Maroon (I still can't dive)

Hobbies:

I'm too busy doing nothing to have hobbies.

Best Friends:

When I'm not crouching in my basement, hiding from the sun, I can be found in the company of a number of very odd people.

Sweetie:

His name is James. He didn't get mad when I accidentally cut Vanilla Ice stripes in his hair & had to shave his head. (Well, he wasn't mad for very long.) He smells like Pat the Bunny and likes to pick his cat up by the hind legs & pretend she's a wheelbarrow. I love him very much.

Nickname in High-school:

Moosehead (don't ask).

Favorite Motion:

Brownian

Mutilations:

Rose tattoo & cartilage piercing in upper left ear from when I was 20, plus 4 other "normal" ear piercings & graphite pencil tip embedded in upper left arm from when I was 5 (put there by my very angry 4 year old brother).

What I listen to whilst composing this madness:

The Smiths & the Pixies.

Greatest triumph this year (1999):

Winning 5th prize in the annual Poet Inebriates Contest with drunken doggerel about domination.

Greatest defeat this year:

Failing to convince my parents not to send my ex-roommate a cheque until she left a message on the machine like a civilized person (long story).

Why am I Tisiphone?

Well, I'm not really. I'm just a slightly goth girl with a webpage & a gory pseudonym. But this is why I chose this weird nom de plume:

The year I started this webpage, I was involved in an ugly destructive pseudo love affair with another English major. One of the ways in which we hid from reality was by adopting a whirlwind of different identities, mostly culled from books and plays. What can I say; I just get pretentious when I'm hurt. Some girls cut themselves. Leave it alone for now.

The storm climaxed during a spectacular period of temporary insanity, when I drank hideous amounts of port, listened to the Braveheart soundtrack & was utterly convinced that I was Ophelia (and not just because my somewhat unbalanced objet d'amore insisted on being Hamlet.) A month later, when my heart broke resoundingly for what I hoped was the last time, I decided to forget about playing the victim. I wanted to fuck shit up.

Of course, I continued to moon after the guy for months. But at least I had a bad ass web pseudonym. I've calmed down quite a bit since then, but the Tisiphone thing seems to have stuck through it all. I rather fancy it now. So this is who I plan to be for the foreseeable future.

That's all. Move along.

The disturbing painting is Saturn Eating His Children by Goya.
But you're so smart, I bet you knew that already.

Last modified on June 17^th, 2001.

Did I leave anything out?