| .5 ---> Biography |
[20 Sep 2008|10:31pm] |
Ashling Wynter Steiner. 25. Simple. That’s how Ashling would like to describe herself, but unfortunately, her life is much more complicated than she would have chosen for herself. But she subscribes to the philosophy that you live your life as it comes, no questions asked, no complaints. Who knows? Something’s gotta give someday.
Ashling’s mother, Rose, met Ashling’s father, David, in her hometown of Dublin. He was studying in Ireland for the semester, and she was just beginning her studies at the University. It was a typical Irish-girl-meets-American-boy-and-falls-in-love. All very well and good, but when he went home, she was devastated. They kept in contact through letters, though he really didn’t realize how much she loved him until she moved to New York to be with him – Brooklyn to be exact, and had their first child, Ashling's brother Aidan. Ten years later, on June 15th, 1984, Ashling was born a green-eyed, black downy-haired beautiful chubby baby. Her mother claimed she was perfect, and told her that all the time, right up until she left for college. “Yeah, Mom,” she always said, rolling her eyes. Her father would catch her eye and make her laugh, her mother would get angry, her brother would wonder what was going on, and they’d go back to their food.
She was a happy baby, and a good child. She had a few close friends, but wasn’t one of the most popular ones. She wrote her alphabet and did flashcards diligently, learned her multiplication times tables, read her books. She did gymnastics and played soccer. Ashling was your typical teenager. She was good – to an extent. She didn’t party or drink – much. She did her homework – nearly all of the time. And she got into college – George Washington University, by some God-sent miracle. She and her parents fought many nights over it. Her father, a doctor, wanted her to go, but her mother, who owned a bookstore, wanted her to stay closer to home. Even though Ashling’s older brother, Aidan, was attending NYU and not even living in the dorms, Rose hated having her children too far away. But in the end, David won out and Ashling was off.
Despite being a good girl who studied and work hard, she had no idea what she wanted. Her parents weren’t anything especially special. To make money while she was in school, she worked in an independent bookstore, but she didn’t want to own one. She took biology for one semester and hated it, so being a doctor was out. But when she took her first Art History class, she was fascinated. She went to the National Gallery and walked through the art work and realized, for the first time, that she wanted to be one of those people who sat in front of art for hours and took notes and fell in love with paintings. She wrote her senior thesis on Egyptian art, the mummies found at Saqqara and the way that they’d been ignored in comparison to those at Giza or King Tut’s tomb. When she graduated, she applied and was accepted for a job at the National Museum, acquired an apartment in Washington D.C., and lived, more or less, quite happily.
Besides falling in love with paintings, she had her fair share of men. There were some who were trailing after her, mouths drooling – she didn’t like those. There were some that just wanted sex –she didn’t like those either, though, you know. Carnal desires and all that. And there were the few that actually won her heart. In terms of romance, she cried over the movies that were so silly that most people just stared at the ridiculousness. She applauded when people got married in restaurants in which she was eating. She always felt butterflies when her boyfriend would bring her flowers or would whisper sweet nothings in her ear. She was, for all intents and purposes, a hopeless romantic. But she knew, she knew, even when she was with her two long-term boyfriends, that none of them were The One. And she’s still waiting, still waiting for him to come along because she knows that sometime, somewhere, something’s gotta give.
FAST FACTS
- Born June 15, 1984, Ashling just turned 25 years old.
- She works at the National Museum doing behind-the-scenes work, preparing works of art for exhibition and working on a committee that designs the exhibitions.
- Ashling's name means dream, or vision. Her mother had actually had a dream the night before she found out she was pregnant; when she consulted her mother, Ashling's grandmother suggested the name.
- Most people don't believe her eyes are her own, they think she wears contacts.
- Ashling plays the violin and the piano, though she only rarely touches the piano and keeps the violin as something to do when she's kind of bored and has no work. Which is not often.
- Favorite foods include grilled cheese, french fries, chicken salad, cheese pizza, olives, artichoke hearts, and salad.
- The one thing she spends too much money on is her perfume - Belle de Nuit by Fragonard, a brand she fell in love with on a school trip to Paris. She orders large bottles and wears it every day.
- She has a slight obsession with Converse sneakers, flats, and heels. Okay, shoes in general.
- Ashling is actually quite shy. She has to force herself out of her comfort zone all the time and does a good job at acting the part of an extreme extrovert.
- Her favorite movies are The Princess Bride, Little Miss Sunshine, Sunshine Cleaning, Taxi Driver, Paris, Je T'Aime, and Silence of the Lambs, along with plenty others. She despises scary movies but watches them anyway.
- She considers her brother, Aidan (35) her best friend in the whole world, even though he's 10 years older than her.
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