Name:

Alison Rowan. I used to have a middle name but I lost it in the wash.

Date of birth:

2nd October 1966.

Sex:

Female.

Orientation:

Bisexual.

Tall:

5ft nothing - so no, not really.

Hair:

I used to have the sides shaved and the rest either purple (mostly),green (more rarely) or rainbow (when the punk festival was making me feel inferior). I back combed it and put it up with half a can of hairspray when I could be arsed, but it got so destroyed by this treatment that I'm giving it a rest now. Which means it's actually black and respectably short at the moment.

Eyes:

They used to be hidden behind dark glasses, but I now also have some clear ones which show that they are actually a rather dull grey.

Lives:

In a third floor flat near Haymarket in Edinburgh - a long climb but much less noisy than my old place.

Qualifications:

One degree in chemistry which I've forgotton all of, a post graduate diploma in multimedia technology which the nice government sent me on because I'd been unemployed too long, and an MSc in Actively Seeking Work issued by (and only valid within) the Edinburgh University Science Fiction and Fantasy Society.

Current job:

I now work at Children in Scotland, having not had a proper job since 1991 (see above).

Clothes:

Yes, I wear clothes. I'm particularly pleased with my T-shirt with the Angry Brigade logo and the one that says "I'm too sexy for a job" (although I'm not sure if I'm allowed to wear that anymore), both of which I painted myself.

Hat:

I do own a few hats, dating back to when I thought wearing a hat could make me more interesting. These days my favourite is the folding sun hat, 'cos I can carry it about with me.

Kinsey:

Talked a lot of bollocks. No, really, I suppose he did a good thing letting people know how much non-heterosexual behaviour there was, but I don't think attraction can be quantified like that. Mine is very variable. I've slept with more boys, but that's because boys are easy.

BiCons:

90 (Edinburgh), 91 (London), 92 (Norwich) - which I helped run, 93 (Nottingham), 94 (Edinburgh) - on the collective, 95 (Birmingham), 96 (London), 97 (London), 98 (Cambridge), 99 (Edinburgh) - which I ran without actually cracking up, 2000 (Manchester). Also the International BiCons in Amsterdam, London, and Berlin.

Record Group Sex Size:

If you don't count parties, five. After that it tends to dissolve into separate groups. And also the bed isn't big enough.

Sexual Relationships:

39, but "encounters" would be a better word than "relationships"...

Purity:

34% on the 500 question test, but personally I am more interested in the Dr Suess purity test, in which I score considerably higher...

Jewellery:

I've got a lot of silver rings, but I usually get pissed off with them and take them off. Same with my watch.

Piercings:

Clit hood, inner labia, labrett, right nostril, two in left ear lobe (one 5mm, one 1.6mm) and three in right (one 1.6mm, one 2mm, and one 10mm). I used to have my nipples pierced, but they weren't having any. I don't have any more planned.

Tattoos:

A pictish seahorse on my left breast, a sprig of rowan with the Ogham rune for rowan on my right hip, and a small tribal style spider on the front of my right shoulder.

Places lived:

Sutton (South London) nineteen years in one house (aarrgh!), Norwich seven and a half years in three rooms in student residences, two flats, and four houses (not necessarily in that order), Edinburgh six years in one flat and a year and 3 months in the current one.

Music:

Cop Shoot Cop, Patti Smith, Uresei Yatsura, Spiritualised, Portishead, Morphine, Pixies, Carter USM.

Books:

Ursula leGuin, Ken MacLeod, Neal Stephenson, Dorothy L Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Josephine Tey. I'll also read bad SF and detective stories if there are any lying about.

TV:

I have at various times been hooked on Babylon 5, Father Ted, Brass Eye, Twin Peaks, The Mark Thomas Comedy Product, Sleepwalkers, and The Simpsons. I'm currently into Buffy.

Movies:

I used to watch the latest SF but was discouraged by a very poor crop including especially Independence Day, which sucked dead worms through a straw, Star Wars was also a steaming pile of shite, but South Park rocked, the Truman Show was pretty good, and the Matrix was excellent.

Favourite Drug:

Expensive lagers and LSD, but not at the same time.

Favourite Food:

Steak, olives, anchovies, artichoke hearts in olive oil. All savory stuff - oddly enough I don't like cake or biscuits and can take chocolate or leave it.

Politics:

Anarchist, revolutionary and pleasure positive.

Identity:

Fat, non-monogamous, kinky, queer, permanently pissed off about something or other. I am not fluffy.

Other soc.bios can be found on the soc.bi soc.bio page

Last updated 15th October 2000