BIOGRAPHY: Kirsten Erickson

Mar 28, 2008 10:24

Character name: Kirsten Erickson
Medium: OC/ SG-1
Age: 34
Physical description: Standing at a whopping 5'2", Kirsten has a round-faced, Nordic look to her, owing to her Swedish ancestry. Pale blonde hair falls down her back, complimenting her light complexion and grey eyes. She wears simple clothes, blue jeans, long sleeved cotton pull-over shirt, and white cross-trainer sneakers.
Occupation: Librarian (MLS)/Museum studies (PhD). Specialization.. early ships and shipbuilding.



Kirsten Erickson had always been drawn to the sea, ever since she was a young girl. Having lived at the Jersey shore helped a great deal, certainly, giving her the chance to look out over the seemingly endless expanse of water, imagining life there. Her parents, Jon and Ruth, encouraged her growth there, her father finding and giving her books of life on the sea written in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Her childhood was pretty common. Life in a small town allowed her to make lasting friendships, and the simple, day to day bumps and bruises were easily countered with care. Idyllic, sure...

With each 'stage' of life came opportunities. Young child, Kirsten had a canoe and was allowed shallow creeks and slow moving rivers. A sober teenager, she was allowed to work part time at a marina, and managed to save enough money to purchase a small motorboat; one of the perks of working on the shore... free berthing. High school led to college, and still coming home on weekends and holidays to work, she accompanied some of the others to move yachts down the shoreline for those millionaires that wanted access to their boats. (One such trip, they'd been going at a clip of about 30 knots, and was passed at a rapid speed by the USS Kitty Hawk... She'd describe it as being passed by the Empire State Building.)

Of course, Kirsten had the 'bug'... the need to learn more, and while 'doing' was good, there were simply things that couldn't be done 'in the present'. She'd taken the occasional vacation up to New England, taking those 'windjammer cruises' on the old three masted sailing ships.. and each time, was transported back to those times she'd only read about, shrouded in history.

There had to be a way to 'get there', however.. and the way she knew, after several discussions with advisors, was Library science, and continuing on to Museum Studies, which would give her full access to the museums of the world... including those that she coveted, the 'living museums'-- those that actually built ships based upon plans and extrapolated designs based upon descriptions. Her schooling was all in a single package in the form of Rutgers University in New Jersey. Not far from home.

In her career, unfortunately only a couple of years in before the major announcement, she'd been able to set to sea a small handful of wooden ships-- each a lesson in the amazing history of shipping.

The announcement itself didn't turn her life upside down. Her life was the sea and shipping. It was the lottery and shuffling out to the Gamma Site... away from Earth, away from everything she'd ever known. Friends. Family. Colleagues that were chosen for other sites...

Snippet: POV
Kirsten stood on the shore, staring at the expanse of water. The shipwrightery behind her was in pieces due to the meteor shower, or was that asteriod? She never really 'got' the difference. The logs from the clearing of the fields were settled beside the large, broken shop, seasoning so that, come spring, they can be cut and used for the first fishing boats. At least they'd been spared, for the most part.

Twisting around to look at the home she'd begun to carve out, she smiled wistfully, her thoughts settling; the water always had that effect on her. She'd have to get Carl to start work on the nets, making more, repairing what they had, because this season, most of the fishing was going to be done from the shore. The first ship won't be launched until summer.

biography, kirsten erickson

Previous post Next post
Up