Hello Gentle Merfolk!
I recently signed up to the MerNetwork and have posted a few replies to some topics...I figured it was high time and only polite that I introduced myself and provide a bit of background information.
My name Is Jolene, and I am probably the oldest Mer on the site! While I might not come right out and say how old, I did participate in the first Coney Island Mermaid Parade in 1983, and my daughter was born the year after that. Help yourself to all the math you like!
I was raised mostly in the South...not completely landlocked, I lived on the Ohio River and in and around the myriad lakes, creeks, streams, ditches, ponds and puddles near home. I developed a fascination with dolphins at a very early age, which led more to the Mer-Mindset as I got older. I got my first taste of the Ocean at 10 years old in Florida, and moved to the NYC/NJ area a few years after that.
Funny, but my inner dialogue led me to think that mermaiding (to verb the noun) was more of a solitary pursuit... quite frankly, I didn't want my friends and colleagues to think me mad, so other than constructing my tails and floats for the Parade every year, and proliferation of mermaid knick knacks and artwork everywhere, my passion for the lifestyle was/is largely unknown. (Holy crap! Am I coming out Davy's Jones' Closet? Hahaha!)
I live on a small lake in northern NJ and swim in my monofin every single chance I get! EVERY. SINGLE. CHANCE. I. GET! I've been swimming with my fin for five or six years now, and a five mile afternoon jaunt is not unusual. While out there, my mind races with ideas for tails and fins and modifications and workarounds and effects...well, suffice it to say, I have many tail ideas in the works. I work for a hobby tool and supply company, so I have access to a lot of neat stuff (I just missed the Smooth On rep yesterday! DAMN!), and before you ask, I have already spent my employee discount for the year. Ha!
I hope to have my business plan and logistics in place to become a professional mermaid/performer by next summer, and in addition to advocating for ocean conservation, I hope to book appearances to teach kids (and adults!) water safety. PearlieMae is/will be the matronly mermaid type, with a modest 3/4 full body tail, sharing stories, songs and safe swimming/splashing tips!
I've already started working on the parade entry for 2014 (It's my Burning Man), not an easy thing to do when mermaids are expected to MARCH down Surf Avenue in Coney Island!
Well, the library is about to close, and the sun has come back out, so I'm off to go jump in a lake! Nice to meet you all, and happy to find so many of a like mind!
Feel free to ask me anything! I am chock full of ideas and opinions!
<3
Pearlie Mae!
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Originally Posted by PearlieMae
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