Parts of a Heggie - new edition

I was scrolling through old blogs to see if I'd already written about something but, being me, I got distracted and forgot what I was looking for!

Anyway, I stumbled across a post entitled "The Parts of a Heggie" dated 30th May 2013. In it I discuss my identity based on my twitter bio and it seemed like a good idea to do a sequel of sorts. After all, twitter bios change over time and mine had gone through several variants since that blog.

I also found that I wanted to write an update because during the whole shit-storm referenced in my last post "Unequal Equality" some asshat - since blocked - made some comment that my whole twitter profile offended them.

• I like to think that I am very much the same person online as I am in real life. More expressive perhaps, I find it easier to type than to talk to people, but I don't hide behind a 'persona'. I am who I am.
• If you don't like me that's fine - I'd rather that than pretend to be someone else. My twitter profile doesn't exist to make friends and influence people. I don't WANT to be some popular account by sticking to 'safe' topics and going with popular opinions. 
• I'm offended by people who've gone out of their way, for no reason whatsoever, to be offended by my existence while I'm just being myself over here .

I'm going to write this assuming you haven't read my blogs or follow me on twitter, simply because it's easier to just explain stuff as I go.

First things first. WHAT IS MY CURRENT TWITTER PROFILE?

Heggitha ;;

@HeggieTBK

Opinionated potato. Agender. Slytherin [snake emoji]

Mother of adults. Graduated 2017 [graduation cap emoji]

Ordained. Attorney. Carer.

Hedgehogs & coelacanths. Praise the Aten.

Location: Looks like hell, but colder

Joined: October 2009

USERNAMES

Heggitha - Yes, Heggie is my 'real' name, I changed it (aged 15) back in 1993 and never used my birthname for anything official. This nickname was given to me by Drew Woolnough, former bassist of Fearless Vampire Killers (FVK), now of The Broken Kings. 

;; - the typed version of FVK's fangs logo.

@HeggieTBK - formerly @Heggie 42, @Heggie31 & @HeggieFVK - 42 was for 'Life, The Universe and Everything', 31 was the age I was when I restarted my account, FVK for Fearless Vampire Killers and after they disbanded three of the five members became The Broken Kings...ergo, TBK.

So far so straightforward. No ambiguous user names or aliases here; just my own real world identity. As a matter of fact I tend to use 'Heggie' alone as I have a problem with my surname - it's the name of my mother's former husband from long before I was born so I have no connection with it. Using my surname only reminds me that I am a bastard.

PROFILE

My avi is a photo from my graduation - I am the green haired one in robes in the middle, my dark haired younger daughter is on the left and my blondish haired older beastie is on the right of the shot. My header is a montage of ten pics of me with my celebrity crush - Laurence Beveridge (formerly of FVK, now of TBK).

Okay so these pics aren't exactly recent. My graduation was September 2017; the pics with Laurence date from April 2013 to July 2016. Hair colours vary and none of them are natural (which hasn't been seen since 2012). But I am not a no avi pic anonymous tweeter like a bunch of the people who've given me grief. Nor do I have a bitmoji avi (although I did when they were the in thing) or a pic of a celebrity or whatever.

BIO

Opinionated Potato - a big ol' clue there. My twitter is a lot of me ranting about whatever's got my knickers in a twist that particular day. I call myself a potato cos I am ugly.

Agender - I don't much like labels but since I realised this was me I think it's worth a mention. I do not conform to gender stereotypes and I think basing any kind of assumption about a person based on their biology or how they present makes no sense to me...so don't expect me to accept your ideas of gender norms. For the record I am perfectly fine with female pronouns - I didn't even hear the term 'agender' until my late 30s so I am really used to it.

Slytherin - this tells you two things...I love Harry Potter and I think my house fits. Slytherins are much maligned - traits are considered to be pride, cunning, ambition, determination & resourcefulness. I have not been a go-getter in my life, yet I do what I have to do to get things done - whether it's to raise my kids as a fully single parent or to get my degree from the Open University while raising aforementioned kids and working two jobs. Yes, I am selfish as Slytherins are often thought to be. Why? Because I have no one else who is going to consider my needs, let alone put me first. (I am very VERY single. Practically a nun.) I am a strong believer that if you don't take care of yourself you'll be of no use to anyone else.

Mother of Adults - I'm not actually allowed to watch GoT anymore (my daughter decided it was too scary for me - and she is so right, I am a wimp!) but obviously this is paraphrasing Daenerys' 'Mother of Dragons' title. My 'kids' are now 20 & 23. Being involved in a music fandom where a lot of the people are a helluva lot younger than me I like to own my age so as no one suddenly 'finds out' and thinks it weird. I think being older and a parent goes some way to explaining the opinions I express too. A lot of tweeters work on the erroneous assumption that everyone on the platform is under 30.

Graduated 2017 - My BA (Hons) Humanities with Classical Studies from the Open University is probably the only thing I will ever achieve in my life so yes, this is definitely getting a mention.

Ordained - you know that thing when you suddenly start wondering HOW people get ordained on the internet in the middle of the night? Well, yes, that kind of went further than I expected. It's a nod to my spiritual and philosophical outlook. It's also in respect of the really weird shit my life is made up of.

Attorney - again with the weird. Attorney doesn't just mean 'solicitor' or 'lawyer', it simply means 'representative'. I have Enduring Power of Attorney - a legal status to take care of my mother's affairs.

Carer - my mother had a severe stroke on 16th April 2018; I now look after her full time. Not only does this mean I don't have a job anymore but I'm also not able to pursue my other interests - such as art and reading - fully at this time. I am struggling emotionally with the unexpected change in circumstances.

Hedgehogs & coelacanths - I am a hodgeheggie. Prickly outside, squishy underbelly, unhealthy relationship with slugs (I am limaxaphobic) and generally in decline. I have a bunch of hedgehogs in my bedroom; I was going with a woodland theme for my home - owls for my eldest, foxes for my youngest and a theme of poppies and cornflowers for the story 'Sleeping Murder' which made me a real Agatha Christie fan. Coelacanths are my favourite animal - I have been fascinated by their rediscovery since I was 7 - and they have been the subject of several of my paintings.

Praise the Aten - I'm not a sun worshiper in the traditional sense, I have an interest in Egyptology and since my mum took me and my kids on a Nile cruise for my 30th I have had a particular fascination for the sun cult of Akhenaten. My elder daughter and I designed tattoos for each other - the one I got includes an Aten.

So as I said in my previous edition - I am a Heggie of many parts. Is this all I am? No. Is it representative? I hope so. I chose key words and phrases carefully to sum myself up as best as I could with a limited character count. It's a bit of a mishmash but then who isn't?!

And if, after all this, you agree with that random asshat who was offended by my profile...BYE!!!