Net.name: Penny Dreadful Real name: Jeniphir Taylor-McIntire Location: Boston, Mass (well, a suburb of Boston, but let's just say Boston) Age: 29, but I turned 24 (yet again) on my last birthday Where to find me on the net: HipMama.com, alt.gothic.fashion (lurk), alt.comedy.bill-hicks (lurk). Photo taken by Ruhiel at Convergence 5, New Orleans. April, '99

Where to find me in real life: Target. My Mommies-and-Babies group. Man Ray nightclub. Bookstores, but not the big chains, and not ones with coffee shops built in. Miniature golf courses. My mom's house. Various comedy clubs groupie-ing my secret agent loverman, Tim McIntire.

Signature scent: Lately, I smell mostly of sour milk (thanks, Jude!), but generally speaking, Fendi Roma perfume in the winter, Tea Rose oil in the summer.

Occupations: Co-proprieTress of Tart Blossom, purveyors of the Big Plastic Hair (and more) if you like my hair, you can buy yr own. Mama to the world's sweetest baby, Jude Bradford McIntire. Hip homemaker.

What you wouldn't know from looking at me: I like Donovan records. I'm funny and silly and love a good joke *way* more than any Bauhaus song. I do embroidery/cross-stitch. I have a BFA. I suffer chronic pain.   This photo was taken by Ruhiel at Convergence 5 in New Orleans. April, '99. The shirt says "BRAT" because I am one.

Obsessions: strippers and other sex workers, Tetris, finding attractive nursing clothes, lipstick, making money without actually getting a job, fitting into my pre-pregnancy wardrobe, Mt. Everest and its tendency to attract people despite the fact that when you climb it, you're more likely than not to die. New Orleans-style Voodoo and Hoodoo.

Identifying characteristics: what my friend Posey calls my "53-inch gams," (that would be long legs, for those of you not living in 1938), the darkest lipstick possible, four tattoos, and a standoffish, some would say "bitchy" manner (really I'm just a social retard and can't deal with people very well).

Fighting the good fight: My pet "cause" is anything to do with children, their health, safety and welfare. It infuriates me that the world is increasingly unsafe for children, and that their rights are put last at every turn. I am also something of what might be called an anti-feminist (in the sense of antihero, not anti-christ, if you can grasp the subtlety of difference there).

Bad Goth!: I don't like much of the gothic music recorded since 1990. I can't tell the difference between Teargarden and the Legendary Pink Dots (please don't email me to explain it--I'm just going for a joke there!). Anime gives me a headache, especially those little animal characters like Bad Bad Leroy Brown Badtz Maru and Helly Kitty. Hidden talents: passable skill in American Sign Language, the ability to choose the perfect gift. A photographc memory of commercial jingles. {Friends insist--and I have to agree--that this picture of Death looks eerily like me--was there an artist stalking me and I didn't even notice?}

Things I'm not thrilled with about myself: I'm a packrat like you never saw--I'm a magnet for papers. I'm currently carrying an extra 20 pounds (I gained over 50 while pregnant, so it's actually not so bad--I've lost 32 since his birth). I watch too much TV (who doesn't?). I'm not the most disciplined person when it comes to saving money.