Memoirs of a Teenage Goth Pt 1 the early years

I was destined to be a goth and there's no denying it. A sullen, skinny child, a loner and a moaner; just look at those emos hanging around your local mall and tell me if you could come up with a more apt description. Yep, I was on a one way trip to fishnet stockings and eyeliner coverage that would make a drag queen proud! Over the coming winter months I will outline this remarkable transformation from willowy child to screaming teenage banshee in all its tawdry glory.

I can't really pinpoint a moment in time where I leaped up and cried "Eureka, a goth I shall be!" It just seemed to always be there, lurking under the surface; a barely concealed secret waiting to slip out in to the light. My primary school library can probably be blamed for some of it at least, replete as it was with a plethora of titles on goblins, ghosts, vampires and, my all time favorite, witches. My top two were a pink covered book on the adventures of a witches cat and one called Late for Halloween, about a girl who finds a witch living under a shrub in her back yard. I diligently searched under the bushes in my back yard for witches but the bitches never showed up. I was reduced to skulking around in my cubby house or popping over to my dad's shed for a sneak peek at the porno mags he kept under his work bench.

My parents are at least partially responsible as well. My dad was a Readers Digest man and I was kept well supplied with anthologies of fairy tales and folk tales, and books on mythical creatures and the paranormal. Such benevolence was no doubt regretted later when they were confronted by a 15 year old in a black lace corset and thigh length boots! My spare time as a child was spent hunkered down in my cubby house drawing scenes from a parallel universe that my dogs and cats secretly inhabited, and writing epic fantasy tales of quests and battles between darkness and light. I really should have got out more.

And eventually I did get out more. Probably way too much for an underage girl. And I don't think I could ever, ever make it up to my parents for such appalling behaviour. My good friend Delilah Gherkin once said that it would have been better for everyone if she was kept in a cage from the age of 15 -19 and I can only say that it would have been best if the same had happened to me. That said I don't think I have had as much fun or laughed so much since that time. I had no scruples and no responsibilities, a cigarette in one hand and a glass of appalling cask wine in the other. Aaah those were the days!!

Stay tuned for details of my first gigging experience with the Thin White Duke at Adelaide Oval...