31 December 2007

the pentultimate night

december 30th is perhaps the worst night of the year to stay up until 3:30am, looking at clothes online and watching bones. not like dec 31 has any sort of history of being a big night.

i need a nap.

have a fun and safe new year's eve!

30 December 2007

you like me!

you really like me!

vintage sally fields is totally embodying the way i feel!

so yesterday was apparently my best post ever. thanks, friends! it is always nice to hear that other people enjoy my posts.

but now i'm a little scared- ah the pressure!

so i'm going to again steal a meme from karel because it will give me time to shore up my creative reserves and because i was planning on taking it from her sometime anyway.

What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
hmm, not sure. all the big milestones of the year are things that i've done in the past (go back to school, breakups, etc). oh, finally feel comfortable getting around nyc!

Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
towards the end, i finally got into the whole healthy eating and exercise thing- same resolution as the rest of america. and i will make this again next year. i also tried to make myself a morning person. it is kinda working.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
nope, though everyone and their mom got married.

Did anyone close to you die?
just my grandfather. seems callous to brush it off like that, but believe me, he wasn't a nice person.

What countries did you visit?
nada.

What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
a semi-professional wardrobe. more good hair days than bad.

What date(s) from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
aug 4, sept 1, sept 22- weddings i went to. sept 3- day i flew down to maryland to live at home again. dec 14- last day of my full time semester of graduate school and unveiling of my work in a smithsonian museum.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
deciding to leave behind my independence in boston to go to my first choice grad school.

What was your biggest failure?
losing myself in school and getting bogged down by academic isolation.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
i feel down the stairs in early september and still have a faint bruise on my arm.

What was the best thing you bought?
grad school. and a leopard print silk/cashmere cardigan.

Whose behavior merited celebration?
karel for taking me into her apt at literally the last moment over the summer. juliet, brett, jonny, and katie for constantly having me in their homes so that i can feel a little like an adult.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
britney spears.

Where did most of your money go?
grad school and flights to boston.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
interview weekend in cooperstown in march, getting into gw in april, all the weddings in the late summer, visiting boston before each time i went up, the end of the semester and christmukkah party.

What songs will always remind you of 2007?
stronger- kayne west, bartender- t pain, bubbly- coblie calliat

Compared to this time last year, are you...
I. Happier or sadder? happier in some ways, sadder in others. huzzah for ambiguity!
II. Thinner or fatter? thinner! i haven't talked much about this but i am big on losing weight right now. haha, get it? BIG on LOSING weight. eh, that was a stretch. but yeah, thinner.
III. Richer or poorer? i have less money but more smarts.

What do you wish you'd done more of?
early rising and gardening. and dancing. and keeping in touch with friends.

What do you wish you'd done less of?
complaining. worrying about school.

How will you be spending Christmas?
it is over now but i spent christmas eve at my aunt's house, then christmas vigil. slept in christmas morning, opened presents, went another aunt's house, saw national treasure:book of secrets and then had chinese for dinner.

How many one-night stands?
none.

What was your favorite TV program?
oh god, i have so many shows i watch. but new ones that i started watching this year: lost (i know, totally late to the game), chuck, pushing daisies.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
hate is really strong though i don't even think there is anyone i even grew to strongly dislike.

What was the best book you read?
hm, hard one. i read a lot of great romance novels (thanks, karen!) but deathly hallows was pretty good- i'm a sucker for happy clean endings (sorry if that spoils it for anyone!). nothing else is really sticking out for me, though i'm excited to get into these and share with you.

What was your greatest musical discovery?
i am woefully behind the times in music but i guess the greatest discovery is that my brothers are really good at making it.

What did you want and get?
into grad school.

What did you want and not get?
my own place.

What was your favorite film of this year?
ah knocked up is fantastic and i loved superbad and juno (hi, karel! i'm you!) i watch so many movies that i can't really remember most others that i watched. my standards for tv translate to movies so i will watch pretty much anything.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old?
i turned 24. on the actual day, i think i went to work. i'm sure i was taken out to dinner.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
getting into cooperstown so i could have turned them down. getting my driver's license.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
whatever is clean, starbucks dress code, lots of dresses, more tailored pieces, riding boots and the women that love them.

What kept you sane?
my friends. and tv.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
michael cera- seriously karel, sometimes we do like the same things.

What political issue stirred you the most?
it is sad how detached i am sometimes. i get caught up in my own little world. but generally, i get most into sexuality education and abortion rights.

Who did you miss?
karel, barb, alice, juilet before i moved (and now when she is away), elle before i moved down, wise man, khat, liz, other assorted boston people

Was 2007 a good year for you?
yeah, overall. got my butt in gear re: future.

What was your favorite moment of the year?
a lot of good ones- dancing at weddings, getting my acceptance letter to gw, finishing up the semester, visiting friends.

Where were you when 2007 began?
in boston, at a horrible party, getting sprayed by champagne. that then dried and made my hair super nasty.

Who were you with?
wise man, todd, juilet, brett, and a smattering of match people.

Where will you be when 2007 ends?
most likely in baltimore or sitting at home.

Who will you be with when 2007 ends?
elle

What was your favorite month of 2007?
um, i have no idea! it is hard to remember back to january. i'll say one of the early months because i was done with applications but didn't have the pressure of having to decide where i was going yet or packing things up or going to weddings or starting up school in a new place. so yeah, february.

How many different states did you travel to in 2007?
travel to: mass, new york, new jersey, maryland, dc, virginia, new hampshire. travel through: rhode island, connecticut, delaware

How many concerts did you see in 2007?
two, i think. larissa maestro and minnie driver (yes, that minnie driver) and nick ogawa and jason myles goss.

Did you have a favorite concert in 2007?
i think it would be mean to pick from just two.

Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year?
i try not to feel shame, but yeah, i threw some tantrums.

What was the worst lie someone told you in 2007?
i'm pretty gullible so if anyone lied to me, i probably believed it.

Did you treat somebody badly in 2007?
i decafed my fair share of bitch customers.

Did somebody treat you badly in 2007?
well, i certainly didn't decaf them because they were pure sweetness and light.

If you could go back in time to any moment of 2007 and change something, what would it be?
eak! i have no idea- be better prepared for my move down to maryland, plan my trip out to san fran better, be more open to meeting people in the first few weeks of school.

What are your plans for 2008?
finish grad school and find a full time salaried job. lose those last 10 pounds. enjoy myself so that i don't go crazy with stress.

**note: to those of you who read both my and karel, you'll notice that i didn't answer all the questions. like i've said before, i'm pretty guarded about personal details. sorry but if you want to know my worst moment in 2007, you'll just have to ask me in person. maybe one day, i'll become a blogger who lets it all hang out but i'm just not there yet. maybe it will happen sometime during the next 365 days. not including feb 29.**

28 December 2007

what's in a name?

you might have noticed that while i sign things tatiana, other nicknames of mine have appeared in guest posts and comments. or maybe you hadn't noticed and now you are like 'what? i thought she only ever went by tatiana? i have no idea what she's talking about. do you, willis?'

'um, what? i'm a tv star, i don't know about any blogger. leave me alone and the name is gary, not willis!'


a rose by any other name would still make me nauseous: my nicknames through time

age born: my mother names me tatiana leigh. she later tells me that when she was growing up, she had a friend named tatiana and she always loved the name and promised herself that she would name her first daughter tatiana. that's me! as for the leigh part, she just liked it but it does fit rather well with my irish lineage.

as an aside, all of my names are nature oriented: tatiana means fairy queen (like titania from a midsummer night's dream, leigh means field and my last name deals with horses.)
me and my entourage.


age a few months: tati/y. tatiana is just too long for most people! besides, everyone in my mom's family goes by nicknames. my tia mona is actually christened myriam, my mom, marcela, is either tia machi (just nonsense) or negra (litterally blacky, she's the darkest in her family). so i'm taty. yes, spelled with a y even though my name is spelled with an i. i brought this up at christmas this year and my aunt and cousin apologized for misspelling it all these years! eak, oh well.
the first image that appears when you google tati. also fun because i studied flamenco.


age 6: as every child with an unusual name, i fantasized about having a 'normal' name. and because i was an unusual child, i wrote these fantasies down in the form of what my diaries would be like if i was 16. my name was charlotte rose and i could drive and i had the best boyfriend in the world. ironic how at 24, none of these things are true. also funny that the smell of roses makes me nauseous and this:



You Are Most Like Charlotte!



You are the ultimate romantic idealist

You've been hurt before, but that hasn't caused you to give up on love.

If anything, your resolve to fall in love is stronger than ever.

And it's this feminine optimism that men find most appealing about you.





Romantic prediction: That guy you are seeing (or crushing on)?



Could be very serious - if you play your cards right!




age elementary and middle school: my bus driver calls me tidy. for years. i guess i was a really neat kid.

not nearly as embarrassing as the librarian calling me titiana.

this is little miss tidy. as you can tell from my neat pig tails, clean shoes, and impeccably even yellow skin tone.


age 11: while in england, i experienced a new kind of put down based on my name- previously, all insults had to do with my nerdiness- brain, walking encylopedia, etc. my new male classmates call me tart, which i didn't get at all, until one of my teachers over hears them and they get in huge trouble for insinuating that i'm a whore. they should know that americans don't put out until they study abroad in college, not in 7th grade.

this is not a self portrait, you cockney bastards!


age 12: apparently, my tormentors back in the states can tell that my name is now fair game and i gain the nickname tardy, short for retarded, not because i'm late because i'm super timely. but something strange happened in england. while i was able to take crap for being smart, i saw no reason to make fun of my name or the fact that i was american, so once i came back for 8th grade and people started to bother me, i flipped a desk, talked back in class, and threw rocks at cars. basically, i was a cool kid for like a second. so tardy was more of an endearing nickname than a taunt.

i am tatiana, the anti-tardy tiger and i will rip your face off.


age 13-16: ah high school. so witty! my life was split between my all girls school, where i was the basic tati, and coed catholic youth group, where sexually repressed boys liked to call me titiana, titi, and the most basic of them all, tits. yeah, good times, good times.

(i am not even going to attempt to google image titiana, titi, or tits. i may not necessarily be family friendly but i don't need to revel in it.)


age 17: i feel like tati makes me sound like a 3 year old, so i decide to introduce myself as leigh when i get to college. yeah, that never worked out. but i did always introduce myself as tatiana. of course, four syllables is too much for most people, so it quickly got shortened again to tati, t money, t bone (never really in seriousness) and sometimes just t. ah well, i tried.

i prefer filets myself, so you are welcome to the right handed side of the steak.


age 19: i study abroad in australia, the land of nicknames and shortening of everything. if americans couldn't deal with tatiana, aussies' heads would explode for all the enunciating. i was briefly deemed fisty being able to stick my entire fist in my mouth but that really isn't something you want to shout across the quad on a crowded spring day. so, i was christened tats.

i have to say, i think this may be my favorite nickname. it just seems so spunky and fun. you wouldn't really hear 'oh tats can't come out because she is such a loser and has to cat sit all night long'. instead tats is the kind of girl who tells crazy stories at brunch before going shopping. she's the lady who gets second degree sunburns in sydney. she sleeps on dunes with kangaroos! she wins catchphrase all the time! tats is a mascot of fun! woohoo go tats!
tat this! for that to be at all funny, you will need to know that tatting is one way to make lace. see, i make you laugh AND you get to learn something.

age 20-present: apparently, adults can handle the full name, so now i get tatiana in addition to friends who still call me tati, tats, and t. because of all these names, i will often respond to most names that begin with t, causing me to raise my head often and look around like a fool. there are a lot of names that begin with t. at this point, i do really like my name and i think it suits me. i no longer cringe when people tell me that they love my name- instead i respond 'well thanks, i didn't have much to do with it but i'll pass along your thoughts to my mother.'

i no longer dream up diary entries of myself with different names.



i just daydream about having a real salaried job. one day, i'll need that lanyard for some sort of work affiliated id.

my computer is flithy

so instead of an involved post, i'm going to magic eraser the shit out of it and then find an internship for the summer.

if you know of any fantastic museum opportunities for this summer, please pass them along.

**update**
the a key is by far the dirtiest key- who knows why my left hand pinky is dirtier than my other fingers.

27 December 2007

i will maul you!

don't tempt me or i will tear your face off.


my name is tatiana and i don't take well to taunting.

26 December 2007

happy boxing day!

don't you just love back to back hoildays! sure, we don't celebrate boxing day here, but as a shout out to our fellow british colonies, wish anyone with bad teeth or a crocodile dundee hat a happy boxing day.

i'm heading to out with the fam for a quick two day vacay, so posting will be a little light. but you should be out shopping for those after christmas sales for next year's christmas presents anyway.

but come back soon for another stumble! another timeline! high quality photographs! movie reviews! self deprecation! and maybe a movie of my sister singing michael jackson's 'man in the mirror'.

because it isn't the holiday season until your sister wakes you up by belting jacko.

25 December 2007

merry christmas!

merry christmas, everyone! my advent calendar is complete, presents have all been opened, family is trying to figure out what chinese restaurant will be open and what movie we should go see. we take the jewish roots of christianity very seriously.

and, as you can see, i still haven't decided what camera i want so i'm still taking pics with my macbook. but the crappy quality is kind of endearing.

hope you enjoy all of your december 25 traditions!

24 December 2007

christmas eve, part 2

so, yes, i did post already today but since i hadn't gone to sleep and woken up, i feel like it really counts for yesterday. i don't count it to be a new day until i've gone to sleep, though i think i was that annoying kid at the sleepover who would correct people when they would say 'i hope we can eat pancakes for breakfast tomorrow!' and if it was after midnight, i would say 'you mean TODAY!'

anyway.

i have little shame in what i'm entertained by. i used to, feeling that i had to hide my love of journey, crappy tv, and predictable movies. but i soon learned that most people don't really care, some find it funny, and those who do care are ugly.

so while i was looking for hall and oates on youtube, i found this.



and it took me some time to figure out that they aren't the REAL hall and oates! fantastic. compare for yourself.



hope everyone has a good christmas eve, doing whatever your traditional christmas eve stuff is. at my house, it is wrapping presents, going to my aunt's for dinner, and falling asleep at christmas vigil, the only mass out of the whole year that i'm allowed to snore through.

23 December 2007

oops!

sorry about the debbie downer post earlier- i'm doing much better now.

but here's what i should have posted today.



brett, happy birthday! i know that bret spells his name differently, but you too, have got it going on.


lauren, i'm sorry that i don't have a youtube video for you. but if you want to be known as jenny, this is for you!

family

on most days, i have something pretty lighthearted and what i consider funny and interesting to say. actually, most of the time, i struggle about what is the most timely witty comment to share. i'm just that good.

i also wonder pretty frequently about how much of my personal life i should share. i read a variety of blogs along the personal life spectrum, from sex lives in the midwest to strictly recipes in new york. in my personal life, i have a tendency to talk a lot (big surprise, huh?). but on this site, i thought that i should keep info about my life to a minimum because a) it is print and repeatable b) i'm not entirely sure who is reading this, now and in the future c) i mean, i know i'm funny but not everything about my life is necessarily entertaining and d) i'm not the only person in my life and what i write here could affect them (believe you me, THAT'S a realization).

all of this it to say that today, i'm not feeling particularity witty, due in large part because of stuff that i usually don't talk about here.

when i decided to go for my master's in dc, i thought i was going to continue on the whole living on my own/roommates gig i had going. the people i knew in dc prior to moving here were either living with significant others or moving away from the city. so, then i began looking into random apartments. the thought of doing random roommates again was utterly unappealing, coupled with the fact that i couldn't afford anything within an hour from my school. so, since i was going to be far away in any case, i decided to save money and live at home in suburban maryland. with no direct access to either baltimore or dc. oh, and did i mention that i don't drive? yeah, so there's that.

at this point, living at home has been different than i thought. the last time i lived at home was several years ago (summer after sophomore year of college) and my parents and i did not always get along (another big shocker, no?). i was afraid of butting heads with my mom about curfews again, but it turns out that when you are a full time grad student, you tend to sleep a lot more and ask your mom to drive you to the library more than anything else. not to say that everything is perfect with the parents, but we certainly get along much better than i thought we ever would. and this makes me very happy.

on the other hand, i have two younger brothers that live at home with my full time, in addition to a younger sister away at college who is home for the holidays (hi, cecilia! i know you'll read this!). again, the last time i lived at home, we weren't always on the best terms, but several years ago, i was also still physically larger than them and could sit on them if need be. i'm now the shortest person in my family but still with the most senior sibling status. very odd, very odd indeed.

but it isn't even that me and my siblings are fighting too much. my parents might disagree, but we certainly butt heads less than i thought we would, mainly because i don't see them as much as i thought i would. but what has become a problem is the fights that erupt (and i do mean erupt) between my brothers and my parents. they are 14 and 17, terribly fun ages, if i remember correctly.

so, if anyone has any coping mechanisms for dealing with your brother punching a hole in the wall and slamming doors, i would love to hear them. you can skip escaping to your room, listening to daft punk, and blogging. oh and making a countdown advent like calendar to mid may when i move out for the summer. i'm already all over that.



the only fists i can deal with right now.

22 December 2007

you know it is has gone too far

when you see if you can get gmail addresses with your random famous peoples' last names.

tatiana.levi- no :(
tatiana.pace- YES! sweet
tatiana.daly- oh yeah, i'm on a roll
tatiana.urie- sweet, this rocks
tatiana.schwartzman- seriously, i could marry just about anyone. no levis though.
tatiana.wilson- oops! spoke to soon. no former beach boys in my future
tatiana.heimbold- ah just a temporary setback
tatiana.lewis- damnit! not that we could get married anywhere except massachusetts anyway.

(all these last names come from here)

more addresses i could claim now, just in case:
tatiana.clinton
tatiana.obama (but not edwards)
tatiana.spears
tatiana.tancredo
tatiana.romney
tatiana.huckabee
tatiana.ferrera
tatiana.pitt (but not jolie)
tatiana.aniston

obviously, the iowa primaries, thursday night television, and old hollywood couples are occupying my mind.

i was testing this out last night while i was getting about 9 legitimate gmails for myself. unfortunately, the standard firstname.lastname format is unavailable for my name, so i've come up with a bunch of alternatives. i may poll my four commenters at a later date, but in the mean time, if you want to contact me, you can do so at rizado.tatiana@gmail.com

because apparently rizado is already in use! curly headed spanish speakers are more tech savvy than i thought.

and, because i am excited beyond words, i have to share what may be the best hair day of my life.

try to keep cool about it, but really, really excited.

ah, couldn't hold it back anymore! just too happy! and no, i didn't strip down to take this pic. my awesome hair is just too cool for my shirt to shine through.
ok, scaled back again. but, behind that cool mug, i'm thinking 'it only took 24 years, 6 months, 17 days to get my hair to do what i want!'

for those of you keeping track at home, this means that you now have less than 6 months to pick out the perfect birthday present for me. it is too late for christmas, wow me on my holiday.

21 December 2007

nyc gastro recap

so, i basically ate my face off in nyc. for the most part, it was FANTASTIC.


monday night- masala bollywood

their claim to fame is playing bollywood movies and music videos on a large screen above the bar. that and tasty food. we had sosoSO much food. ugh i couldn't even do my share of the dosa. i got to that another night.

verdict: good times, nothing too spectacular, but an enjoyable place. the wait staff were a little slow, considering we were the ONLY people there for the first 3/4 of dinner.


tuesday lunch #1- some pita place

i had fries. they were tasty. not really worth going just to the place for fries.

verdict: obviously, not good enough to remember the name, it is ok to miss it.


tuesday lunch #2- penelope

ok, well a little mixed here. they were UBER busy and i could understand by. my grilled cheese with tomato was delicious! it had three cheeses and crusty sourdough bread and oh, tasty fries. generally, all things i fully enjoy. however, they said the wait would be 15 minutes and it was 30, meaning that karel literally had 13 minutes to eat her grilled cheese before sprinting back to the office. i understand that it can be hard to predict tables opening up, but if you are as busy as they guys, get better at it.

verdict: def go, but only if you schedule an extra 30 minutes or so for waiting. or more, if you are going during prime lunch time. we were there at 1:30p on a tuesday.


tuesday dinner- zaytoons

i LOVE this place. karel took me there this summer before we went to see knocked up, and even though that night had some tears in it, it certainly wasn't because of the food. it is middle eastern food and mm mm MM. you can get a combo plate with five small servings of salads and spreads and it is def the best deal there. i got hummus, fatoush, grapes leaves, tabouleh, and labnah. ah, labnah, how i love thee.

verdict: must go, must get combo plate. don't be detered by the slightly pushy wait staff. hey, if you are going before a movie, you won't have to worry about getting out on time!


wednesday lunch- quickly shabu shabu

karel first introduced me to shabu shabu on one of my first post-collegiate new york visits years ago and every time we come, i ask that it is included in our plans. it is a little like fondue- you cook veggies and thinly sliced meat in boiling broth and make your own sauces at a condiment bar. as it is asian (different sources cite different countries), you get fun veggies like straw mushrooms and taro (barf) and fun extras like crabstick and fish balls.

this trip to shabu shabu was pretty dramatic. the food was great- as i cooked it myself, i can take full credit. good sauce, me. hey, thanks tatiana! you're welcome, tats!

but oh my god, was the service SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. we sat down literally right in front of the serving bar and were there for a full 15 minutes before they asked us if we were ready. we had been ready for about 14.5 minutes. i was tempted to call the resturant on my cell and say 'hi! yes, we are sitting right in front of you and would like to order!' i hope i don't come off as a huge bitch with service, because believe me, with seven years of starbucks and other various cafes, i understand servers are human too. but. there were two other parties and they already had their food. and we just sat there and stared. the guy behind the counter just stared back. so, yeah, not the best service. and the check... ugh, yeah. another excerise in patience.

verdict: shabu shabu is great and this place does give you free bubble tea with your meal. a plus. but either be much chiller than me (most are) or more forceful in demanding your meats and broth. or go to another shabu shabu joint.


wednesday dinner- cafetasia

the single anon commenter, you are correct! we went pan-asian and i'm so glad we did. karel and i split three dishes- two from their medium menu and one from the large. the crispy duck and green apple salad was fantastic. there should really be more meat stuffs in salads. while i ussually don't go gaga over tamarind (my mom makes the juice from scratch and the floating seeds creep me out), the ribs drenched in a tamarind sauce were super tasty. and the beef and shitake fried rice was so tasty but i had to save my portion from filling up on duck and ribs. hmm, i seem to have a strong affinity for meat.

verdict: go! it was a little loud because of communal tables and music, but not entirelly unbearable. plus the floating candles make it look a little like hogwarts' great hall.


thursday breakfast- hudson news

in port authority, i got a diet coke plus, some smartpop white cheddar popcorn, cheese crackers, and some free soy joy bars.

verdict: actually, not bad. i didn't have to pay for the soy joy bars and i still have the crackers, so overall, not my worst traveling breakfast decision ever.

20 December 2007

a few months away from spandex inserts

so, a lot of people having been coming up preggers lately. A LOT. and by people, i mean celebs. and by preggers, i mean rumors.

all that being said, there has been a great deal of preggo rummblings , more than normal. in the past few weeks, the following have been proven to be doing it.

- britney spears. rumor, though, come on, it is probably true
- jamie lynn spears. bad decisions seem to run in the family. as she is 16 and her long time live in boyfriend is 19, the sex that led to this child is technically illegal.
- lily allen. she's going to be wearing some really cute maternity wear.
- jessica alba. her baby bump is tres cute.
- fantasia. this is the reason that most people are giving for her missing a ton of shows of 'the color purple' on broadway.
- rielle hunter. yeah, i have no idea who she is either, but apparently, there were rumors earlier this year that she was having some extracurricular fun with presidential candidate, john edwards.

DAMN! i think it is all because of global warming. seriously.

see, with rising temperatures and summers getting longer and longer, people are taking more last minute vacays and making babies in cabanas.

that or celebs (and especially spearses) seem to think that they are impervious to conception.

or they loved the movie knocked up as much as i do.

congrats to all the new parents. now we just have to see what kind of crazy names these kids end up with.

19 December 2007

be our guest, be our guest, put our service to the test!

karel and i just had a boston creme cupcake and a cider at crumbs and now we have time to kill, so while i have a KILLER blog fermenting in my mind, karel is going to wow you with her genius while i pick my butt.

hi tati's readers. this is actually much more high-pressured than it may seem, because as i have tati beat in blogging tenure (i'm proud to announce that i have been a blogger since roughly fall of 2001), her wit is far quicker than mine, and speaking of fermenting, that's what my blog has been doing for quite some time. what can i say? working for the man has effectively scattered a layer of cobweb over my once prolific brain.

we just came from seeing juno in indulgence of our (schoolgirl) love for jason bateman as well as our (slightly pedophilic) obsession with michael cera. we both cried. i didn't quite soak my shirt as much as tati did, but i can't exactly expect to compete with an expert. after all, my human emotions have only recently been excavated by the first legitimate boyfriend i've had... probably ever.

HOWEVER. I DIGRESS.

the movie was fantastic. i did emerge with several questions, none of which will spoil it for those of you who haven't seen it yet so no need to run screaming:

1. do 16 year olds really talk like that these days? no, really? maybe the 16 year olds i've encountered as of late have all been inner-city kids in brooklyn, and not suburban minnesotans.
2. are there really parents out there who would not even raise their voices as their acerbic 16-year-old daughter announces that she's pregnant? then again, i guess i shouldn't have expected orthodox behavior from a couple who named their younger daughter 'liberty bell.'
3. no, they really did, and she seemed mildly stupid.
4. will michael cera ever finish puberty?

now my brain has been overtaken with the question of what to have for dinner. we are conveniently located in a neighborhood with which i am very familiar, and the options are endless.

this is a somewhat useless poll because by the time anyone reads this we probably will have already eaten, but - lighten up ok. this is supposed to be fun.

KAREL AND TATI RETROACTIVE DINNER POLL:

---interruption:
tati: you know you can put an actual poll on the sidebar.
karel: um... i don't feel like it. i will comment on it later. oh what the hell. [goes to put italics in HTML]
tati: no you have to put it in HTML here.
karel: what the fuck. this is why i stopped blogging.
end interruption---

should we have:
a. pan-asian fusion
b. thai (though, i think, highly americanized)
c. gourmet sandwiches by tom colicchio
d. AWESOME though less gourmet sandwiches by... some guy?

WE WANT ANSWERS!

ok i think that is all. this is more than i've written in my blog, plus my secret blog that you're not supposed to know about and even if you did, it's password protected so HA IN YOUR FACE, in like... months. oh well.

it was a pleasure speaking to you all. that is, unless you don't answer the poll. in which case i may never guest blog again.

bye

18 December 2007

i can do it!

nyc transit has always scared me. numbers AND letters! you've got to be kidding me! seriously, i'm terrified of getting lost on just about any public transportation, at least in the united states.


when i was staying with juliet at boston college for a week during my senior year, i was so paralyzed by fear that i refused- REFUSED- to go anywhere without her. to be fair, i didn't have a cell phone at the time. since she was still in class, this meant that i had a lot of time on my hands. so i watched every single episode of sex and the city. IN ORDER. because if i'm crazy enough to refuse to go anywhere, i'm obviously crazy enough to be orderly in my laze.


the odd thing is (yeah, the ONLY odd thing) when i was in melbourne, australia, i was all about getting around on trams and taxis. booking flights for the next day. renting cars with people i had just met. to drive along a road on the edge of an ocean. my first day of australia, i jumped onto the tram, despite having no idea what my stop looked like or how to get back. maybe it was the 16 hour time difference or the fact that i was in a foreign country, but i was completely comfortable just winging it. oh and i went to boston AFTER australia. so it obviously didn't stick.


i eventually warmed up to boston public transportation during the three years i lived there. but, new york remains a daunting task. i get really really uneasy at the prospect of not knowing where i'm going. so today was a test for me.


i'm visiting karel but she has to work all day today, so i decided to arrange a meeting with a friend from high school i haven't seen since graduation. SO I HAD TO TAKE A TRAIN BY MYSELF. TO THE FIRST LUNCH. THEN TO LUNCH WITH KAREL. THEN BACK.


and i did it! i know, most people probably wouldn't be as excited as i am, but honestly, the fact that i was able to transfer trains, use the right exits, and navigate different areas of new york is a huge deal for me.

so huge that i'm posting about it!

so, in summary.

nyc subway intimidates me. i conquered it today. go me.

17 December 2007

i made a promise!

to bring you more hilarity into your life via youtube and i do not disappoint.




teehehe. 'i was literally laughing out loud and when you are doing that while talking to someone on the internet, you have to tell them.' true, very true.

i'm off to visit karel for a few days, leaving behind temperate and dry maryland for freezing, nasty new york. the things i do for love! i don't know how this trip will affect my posting schedule, as we have a pretty packed itinerary that basically revolves around fantastic food for each meal. so i might be too stuffed to sit upright and post anything. or i might have a ton of time on my hands and i will post like five thousand times a day.

it will be one of those two extremes.

16 December 2007

party etiquette 101

so, last night, i went to a lovely party thrown by my lovely friends juliet and brett. i had a fan tab time chatting with old friends and new, but there were certain people there who obviously don't know how to behave like adults once they had some alcohol. so, i figured that everyone could do with a refresher course in some basic party etiquette.

1. be kind and bring something to the party so that the host isn't put into the awkward situation of sending out an email asking for people to do what every human knows what to do. don't go to a party without something!

examples of what you can bring.

2. party conversation: funny stories from childhood, connecting over favorite movies, dishing about the food and ambiance. NOT good party conversation: saying things like 'i don't believe in human rights'. um, could you please top off my wine so i can leave you and never talk to you again?

she believes in human rights. and so should you.

3. if you are clumsy and in your mid 20s, odds are that you know you are clumsy. that being said, don't drink red wine in a room with white carpets. or, do it in the kitchen. don't keep on drinking it once you've spilled it multiple times, forcing the host to get out oxy-clean in her party dress.
this should not be necessary during a holiday party.

4. if you are playing an awesome game, for example, catch phrase, and your team loses because the other team is just supremely AWESOME, don't throw a tantrum. you are not four. and, as part of your tantrum, really don't throw shit around. seriously, don't.

not to be tossed like a frisbee.

5. don't get so drunk that you fall over a table, spilling red wine all over the place. or if you do, know that it is then time to leave.
if you look like the alien, go home.

now, i know that i haven't always been the perfect party guest. i'm sure i've spilled dip onto a table cloth or sloshed beer out of my cup onto a table. but i was IN COLLEGE and since then, i think i've learned how to carry myself so that i don't cause harm to those people or things around me. i have also mastered the art of making small talk and it doesn't include saying things like 'i don't believe in human rights'.

despite tantrums and nihilists, the party really was fantastic and juliet and brett should be proud of throwing such a swanky affair. though next time, i may suggest posting this list in the bathroom.

15 December 2007

weekly stumble...

human clock and calendar

two for one deal this week! i can't imagine how much time it took to amass all the photos necessary for this project, but i can imagine how much it was. everyone is so smiley!

as you may have guessed before even clicking the links, the human clock is website that tells the time through photos of people all over the world, holding up times of numbers found in the landscape. and of course, you can set it to your time.

human calendar is much the same, except that everyone is looking at today's date in the calendar, so the photos change every day!

you can get portable calendars for google homepage, websites, with widgets for mac dashboard coming soon. as soon as i figure out how to do something fancier that twitter, i'm putting the calendar on this baby.

it is also just fun to have the clock open in another tab and check the photos out every few minutes. you know, in case you have a short attention span and need distraction. not that i know anything about that.

***UPDATE***
so, it turns out that it is pretty simple to put things in the sidebar. enjoy the calendar :)

13 December 2007

oh, that's passion

so, i haven't been able to actually watch project runway this season.

and that makes me very sad.

but because i still read project rungay, i am able to get the highlights from my most trusted pr commentators.

and honestly, their story is a dream. start a blog about a show that you love.

AND THE SHOW LOVES YOU BACK!

so, while i'm not super attached to anyone this season (except, perhaps, the little slip of a boy from maryland!), how can you not love this?



ps. i'm done with finals and i just couldn't wait to celebrate! what a feeling!

i promise that...

i will be done with finals in 27.5 hours and stop talking about it.

i will replace the happy curlsgiving graphic in the next few days.

my posts will go back to some sort of normalcy, just in time for the holidays to come in and mess them all up again.

i will keep my talk of advent calendars to a minimum.

i will continue to post things from youtube with increasing frequency. sorry if this makes your soul hurt.

i will get back to the whole best of and weekly stumble.

i will have stories to tell about my visit to nyc and karel.

i'll be announcing the return of a fav blog very very soon!

if i can chose sometime soon, i won't ever have to take pics like these ever again.






but i might want to.

12 December 2007

who understands why

unlike this, which i watched multiple times, this song just jumped into my head and hasn't stopped hopping around despite my focus on the local preservation movement and saving the recent past.

though i guess you could argue that asia is part of the recent past that needs saving.


11 December 2007

this is the best use of my time. obvi.

You Are A Vampire

You have a real thirst for bliss, and you consider yourself a true hedonist.
And you're not afraid to walk alone in life, if it means getting what you truly crave.
You truly enjoy entrancing people. Not to mention the ensuing pleasures of the flesh.
Your tastes have been called decadent and bizarre. You usually give in to your temptations, no matter how primal

Your greatest power: Your flawless ability to seduce and charm

Your greatest weakness: Human flesh

You play well with: Werewolves


You Are Fall!

Thoughtful
Expressive
Creative
Poetic
Smart



People Envy Your Ingenuity

You're a person with unique ideas, big plans, and a zany outlook on life. Many people look to you for inspiration.
People envy your creativity and "who cares?" attitude. They feel very ordinary next to you - and they usually are!


You Have Many Alpha Tendencies

You're not a total alpha female, but you certainly know how to - and like to - get your way.
You're forceful without being intimidating. You're confident without being vain. A perfect mix.


Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well.
An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly.
You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view.
A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary.

You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

10 December 2007

omg

i've been so studious this afternoon, i almost forgot to post before class! eak, like i'm a real graduate student during finals. quick, take a picture, it will be gone in a flash.

i think i deserve a medal or at least a day off for my post yesterday- i think i'm beginning to develop carpool tunnel syndrome. haha i know, it's carpal but i always thought is was carpool and it made sense to me. carpooling is more efficient, like multi tasking. but multi tasking can make you too busy and you can hurt yourself. or something like that.

all of that is to say that i'm totally phoning it in today with this.

enjoy.



NSFW.

09 December 2007

time for another trip down memory lane

well, i don't know if it actually is time, but i don't have much else to share with you (except more flight of the conchords, but i think i need to space that out). and i apologize now, this thing is LONG. i tried to throw in some pictures to break it up.

Prayer through the Ages: Religion in Tatiana's Life


age under 1: am born to roman catholic parents, mother colombian, father irish. needless to say, am baptized when i'm a few months old. by immersion, getting my kicky rainbow baptismal gown wet. seeing as it is november, i get a head cold. hurrah for god!

age 6: leave montessori school for parochial school because i give myself too much homework. there is a crucifix in every room. kinda creepy. i also skip a grade but that's for another time. had nothing to do with god.

age 7: go through first reconciliation and communion. i LOVE my gloves. and hat with veil. i play dress up in these clothes after school for years.

ps. i thought it would be creepy to post a pic of some random little girl in her first communion dress, so here is a first communion gift basket, available for purchase online.


ages 8-11: am extremely pious. EXTREMELY. want to be a priest. say the rosary every night before going to bed. am very serious about confessing all sins. all of this changes when a deacon talks to my class for career day. he tells us that women can never be priests because they are women and jesus wasn't a woman, so we can't be priests. but we can be nuns! i ask if nuns can say mass and he says that they can do everything except consecrate the host. being a good little catholic, i know that this is the whole point. i am VERY angry, think it is TOTALLY unfair because i am the MOST HOLY PERSON in my ENTIRE GRADE. MORE HOLY THAN ALL THE BOYS. THEY SUCK. I LOVE GOD THE MOST. sorry for the yelling, but i was really upset. i swiftly lose a lot of faith in the catholic church and become a feminist.


ages 11-12: live in england and run into some random americans in tescos. they happen to be mormon and our only friends for awhile, so i start going to mormon youth group. i develop a huge crush on a little blond mormon boy named scott. he is third in a family of EIGHT BOYS. we slow dance together at week long sleep away mormon camp, where i learn how to conduct music. i think about being mormon, but their service is just TOO long for me. besides, i move back to the states and scott stays in england. maybe if i had stayed, i might have pulled a casey.


ages 13-17: still not hip to the whole can't be a priest thing, but at this point, i've kinda made my religion bed so i've got to sleep in it. i am an active member of my parish's cym (catholic youth ministry, they don't have a wikipedia page for it!). eenywho, i plan dances, retreats, and service projects. i give upteen numbers of talks during monthly youth mass. i am an usher at 9:30 mass. i go to world youth day. TWICE. it is also during this time that i stop saying 'in the name of the father, son, and holy spirit' and start saying 'in the name of the creator, savior, and gift giver'. that whole feminist thing i started back in middle school is obviously in full bloom.

during this time, i'm at an all girl catholic high school. yes, the kind with kilts. we are required to take theology for four years, which i'm very pleased to learn is VERY different from the religion classes i was subjected to until that point. i LOVED theology, thanks in great part to the teacher i had all four years, mr. boman. i learn what transubstantiation is all about and decide that catholics are even more wacko than i thought. i mean, i ALWAYS thought it was symbolic, even in the throes of my intense piety. i was devastated when i didn't get the theology prize upon graduation. i thought i had that thing locked up. again, my whole i'm the holiest person in here thing. i've since learned i need to let that go.

despite my misgivings about the church, i feel that i have to go through all the motions and enroll in confirmation classes. i bug the HELL out of my poor teacher by asking all sorts of questions, mostly relating to gender and sexuality in the church. i somehow don't get excommunicated and am confirmed. for those not in the know, you pick a saint's name to be confirmed under. most people chose their middle name, but i wanted something more exciting, so i chose nympha. 4th century virgin marytr, thought it would do the trick. but my parish rejects it! the nerve! i'm pissed and can't decide between my two back ups, pious and innocent. i decide innocent is less cocky. the bishop confirming me has me repeat it three time during my confirmation because he's confused, as i'm the first innocent he's ever confirmed (his words).

ages 17-20: in college, i stop going to mass all together. this does not sit well with my family. at all. but they realize that they can't control me while i'm at school but they CAN while i'm at home (hence me still going to church now). though i've declared myself officially lapsed, i fell the need to continue studying religion and considered majoring in it. instead, i just take enough classes to have minor (if haverford gave one). traditional african religions, history and principles of quakerism, gender and religion in pre-modern japanese literature, and history of religion in china. ok, so i fell one short of a minor. but the point is, i don't stop thinking about it.

ps. apparently, the hulk is a lapsed catholic. i'm in green furious company.


ages 21-present: rarely go to mass unless i'm at home or some event is going down (baptism, etc). decide that if someone held a gun to my head and made me chose, i would be quaker. also decide that i think it is important to be raised with some sort of religion but catholicism isn't it, for my family at least. will defer to whatever the husband's religion is and if he doens't care, quakers we shall be. as i think these things right after graduation, i also decide that i'm crazy to be thinking about this stuff as i have no job, no place to live, and no boyfriend. even as these things change and change again, i still think it is crazy to think about it, but there isn't much to do if you can't watch online tv or go shopping.

08 December 2007

has been in my head for DAYS

NSFW

haha i've infected you with flight of the conchords!

ps. happy birthday, mom nancy! i don't think my stepmom reads this site, but i still like to put those positive vibes out there.

07 December 2007

i am remiss

you think with a daily blog, i could manage to wish my little brother a happy birthday on the actual anniversary of his birthday, but no, i have to talk about shopping instead. so happy birthday, andy!

you are 17! you are tall! and you are wearing your hair curly! i'm so glad i could convince you to join me in the curly girl way of life!

and because i don't have any recent photos of you on my comp, i'll do the next best thing and embarrass you with pictures almost five years old!

there you are! with your white blond hair in the mists of new zealand!

what's that you say? you want a picture of us playing mancala? in another country? man, you're strange. but since i did miss your birthday by a day, i'll heed your requests.


don't mind joseph. he was just tuckered out from frolicking in the shire.
i hope all your days make you at least as happy as you are in this picture, andrew.

(click pics to enlarge like WHOA!)

06 December 2007

time for another...

weekly stumble!

things i've bought that i love
as you might be able to tell, i do like to shop. but because i'm a grad student, hoping to make a career in a non-profit field, i have to do a lot of vicarious shopping.

in comes the interweb!

i love scrolling through etsy shops, looking at online deals, and of course, talking with karel about any purchases she's made lately or cute clothes she's seen.

but it isn't enough to just SEE things i like, i want to see what things other people buy too! this blog fulfills this need so perfectly.

and the bonus?


she's the author!

can't tell who she is? go here. it's cool, i'll wait.














yes! it is kelly from the office! she's also one of the writers on the show and the hilarity comes through in 'things that i love'. so go read it and revel in the fact that someone you watch on thursday nights (or saturday afternoons on the internet) has a blogger account too.


05 December 2007

today is an awesome day!

no, i'm not talking about the weather, though who doesn't love the first snowfall of the year? i feel a little like lorelai gilmore, though not nearly as spastic about snow. she LOVES it.

and no, it isn't the fact that today is my half birthday, though again, a good guess. birthdays are my fav days- like your own holiday- and it stands to reason that MY birthday is my favorite of all birthdays. making my half birthday a little like presidents' day.

TODAY IS THE DAY OF THE NINJA!

now, i heard this from npr, so i know i must be right. my mom and i both decided to honor the day by dressing head to toe in black and being generally sneaky.

i was able to scrounge up all black clothing, down to scarf, hat and coat but then my backpack and gloves had to foil me.



the most un-ninja-ey accessories ever. i'll have to be more prepared for next year.

04 December 2007

meme because i'm brain dead

i wasn't even tagged! i stole this from karel in order to get through finals without having to think too hard.

Four First Names of Crushes I Had i am adding last names because i'm classy like that
1. zachery levi as chuck from chuck
2. lee pace as ned from pushing daisies
3. tim daly with his personality from as joe montgomery from wings but his looks as dr. pete wilder on private practice
4. michael urie as mark on ugly betty. i know his character is uber gay but i love his curls.

Four Pieces of Clothing I Wish I Still Owned
1. a navy blue peacoat that was stolen out of my locker in high school. yeah, rich bitches, steal from the scholarship girl! REAL COOL!
2. my red cords from sophomore year of college. i doubt i could fit into them but they were so awful as to be fantastic.
3. pale pink long sleeve tshirt with button detailing on the shoulder. i think i stained it with hair product or something. le sigh, so soft.
4. any of the THREE pairs of pants i split while in australia/my senior year. if my lard ass hadn't tried to squeeze into them, i might be able to wear them now.

Four Professions I Secretly Want to Try
1. interior designer
2. personal shopper
3. anything on a cruise ship, like activities director
4. masseuse

Four Musicians I'd Most Want to Go On a Date With
1. jason schwartman, max fisher from rushmore. apparently, he's also a musican.
2. brian wilson, so that i can find out what it is like to father one of the members of wilson phillips and also to have a bare naked ladies song named after you.
3. pete heimbold from dispatch, mainly because i used to have very involved dreams about dating him and getting his bandmates to date my friends. and i wrote a book in there too.
4. juliette lewis. because she's CRAZY and i'm sure she would show me a good time.

Four Foods I'd Rather Throw Than Eat
1. bread pudding. nasty and would prob make a nice mess.
2. any stone fruit (plums, peaches, etc.)
3. corn fungus
4. tripe

Four Things I Like to Sniff
1. babies' heads. yes, more than one baby at a time.
2. thanksgiving dinner kitchen air
3. laundry and starch
4. popcorn

03 December 2007

should i do this?

yet another daily posting challenge.

it doesn't offer prizes, as far as i can tell.

and it isn't nearly as much fun to say as nablopomo.

02 December 2007

advent is here

yesterday, my chocolate was in the shape of a train.

i am a super lapsed catholic that goes to church every week. a little taste of the whole 'while you are living under my roof, you will obey my rules.' my soul has been bought with free rent. so i go every week and sit there while the rest of my family receives communion and i make snide comments under my breath when people offer intentions and pray for more young people to join priest or sisterhood.

but.

i love any tradition that involves a small present everyday. if i could combine advent and hanukkah, my holiday season would be complete.



















even agnostics like candy.