i'm sure you are very interested in my organizational plan

every time i move, i vow that i'm going to be cleaner. more organized. a better human. it is like the beginning of each semester, with brand new notebooks and study schedules. but then i end up slacking on dusting and studying. not that i'm a terrible student or horribly dirty- grad school suits me fine and i'm not a slob, but i could grow in both areas.

which is why on this move, i'm making some organization investments.

i've already have this. and i LOVE it. here's hoping it will fit in my new closet.
yesterday at ikea, i bought the following, to store cds, dvds, and misc items that need to be accessible but i don't want to stare at all the time.
but not papers. because i have two file boxes for that. *hair toss*

now the quandary. i have a lot of little odds and ends: hair clips, scarves, bracelets, necklaces, earrings. i know, very surprising, as i rarely wear any jewelry. i think i would if i could see them, so i want something other than the current shoe box they are in. no joke- a shoe box. i'm classy.

but i can't decide between this

and this.

or maybe... i'll just go crazy and get both!

except instead of shoes and scissors, it will be full of girly frippery.

oh and happy 29 feb! i'm 'allowed' to not post today, but since i'll be taking a break for a bit in a few weeks, i figured i barrel on through today. plus, i'm really excited about ORGANIZATION!

particle board and veneer heaven

i love ikea. not only for fabrics and curtain rods and kitchen containers.

but for the hot dogs. and fro yo.

off to pack and day dream about returning to my swedish eden...

adios... in a fortnight

ah yeah, i thought i had mentioned that at some point. well, in about two weeks, i am heading off to peru! i haven't been out of the country since august 2005 and it is time i use my passport for more than getting into bars. i mean, proving that i'm a us citizen for employment purposes. right.

i'm going with my immediate family. i do not travel particularly well with my immediate family. my parents enjoy NOT making plans, my younger siblings enjoy annoying me, and i enjoy when we can get back so that i can be alone again. whine, whine, my life is so hard, i'm going to peru. sob, woe is me. i know, i sound like a spoiled brat.

but.

my last experience traveling with my family was enough for me to swear that i would never do it again. but, it is peru! machu pichu! and i've just met my new lover so i'm planning on entertaining myself with him. oh and because i'm in grad school, i will of course have three major things due as soon as i get back, so i'll be spending a great deal of my time, wistfully staring out a window at the andes and thinking about a make believe museum budget. here's hoping the mystical aura of south america will lead to smoother family relations than the hustle and bustle of new york city.

as if there could be another possibilty

You Are An Exclamation Point

You are a bundle of... well, something. You're often a bundle of joy, passion, or drama. You're loud, brash, and outgoing. If you think it, you say it. Definitely not the quiet type, you really don't keep a lot to yourself. You're lively and inspiring. People love to be around your energy. (But they do secretly worry that you'll spill their secrets without even realizing it.) You excel in: Public speaking You get along best with: the Dash

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

quizzes are my failsafe when i don't have time/anything to say. as i am packing, moving, entertaining an out of town guest, doing school work, and preparing for my trip to peru in the next few weeks, gear yourself up to learn snippets of my personality, such as the color of my aura and what '90s dance song i am.

oh kate

so far, this season of lost... meh. it's ok. i mean, i'm certainly not going to stop watching it any time soon but it just isn't grabbing me in the same way. it could be me. maybe i've changed as a lost viewer. *shrug*

perhaps i should call up my local canadian live links circa 2004 to connect live with kate. maybe ms lilly can help put the pep back in my lost step.

updates

best actor: YES! congrats to ddl.

best actress: marion cotillard. she was super cute so i'll get over the fact that neither of the people i named won.

best animated movie: d'oh! 'ratatouille'! the only one i had real faith in!

best song: 'falling slowly' from 'once'. yeah, it's nice. i guess. but it's no amy adams.

best picture: 'no country for old men'. i should have picked this for the sole reason that it is adapted from a book by cormac mccarthy. CORMAC. i love the name CORMAC. oh well, i suck at this game, clearly.

but it was fun.

my oscar picks

i love movies. i love award shows. i love the end of the writers' strike. so oscars night tonight will be exciting. here are my predictions for who i want to win and who i think will win.

disclaimer: i didn't see many of the movies this year. doesn't mean i still can't have opinions!

actor in a leading role
want to win: johhny depp in 'sweeney todd'. because i love a murderous barber.
will win: daniel day lewis in 'there will be blood'. milkshake and all.
actress in a leading role
want to win: ellen page in 'juno'. she's snarky, drinks sunny d, and dates michael cera. i want to BE juno.
will win: laura linney in 'the savages'. this is actually more of another want to win because i love laura linney and have always thought of her as kind of my pet actress whom no one really knows but is fantastic. and i've had this movie on my list for forever. plus, she's pretty.

animated feature film
want to win: 'persopolis'. i read the graphic novel in college and saw the film in san fran with alice. twas fantastic.
will win: 'persopolis'. as much as i think it is great that 'ratatouille' is nominated, i don't think the acadmey is going to miss a chance to give an oscar to an animated film about the iranian conflict.

best music (song)
want to win: 'enchanted' 'happy working song' or 'that's how you know'. ah, both so good, i can't decide! i am totally going to buy this film because it has all the best parts of classic disney films- princesses, singing animals, evil stepmothers who turn into dragons- plus patrick dempsey and dancing. and it acknowledges the fact that random sycronized musical numbers don't happen in real life, as much as we wish they would. here they both are; you decide.



will win: one of the above and i'll be so happy.

best picture
want to win: 'juno'. in addition to ellen page, michael cera, jason bateman, and that guy from 'thank you for smoking', 'juno' is a lovely movie. i laughed, i cried (of course), it made me wish i had someone in my life named liberty bell. besides, when was the last time a comedy won best picture? true, 'juno' isn't your typical mainstream comedy like 'i now pronounce you chuck and larry' but it is certainly full of more chuckles than the other best picture contenders.
will win: 'there will be blood'. i haven't seen it, but there seems to be lots of the famed oscar buzz around daniel day lewis' performance and the general overall greatness of the film. i wouldn't be sad if it won, but i'm still holding out for 'juno' in my heart.

good old days

i've mentioned karel, oh i don't know, only about a million and a half times. suffice it to say, she's one of my best friends, and of all my currently practicing bfs, the one i've had the longest. we met freshmen year (she hated me, a story itself), were acquaintances through sophomore year and didn't become close until junior year and REALLY close until i studied abroad and we would talk online. all. the. time. which is largely how we keep in touch now. honestly, i feel like my day is some how not a real day unless i've spent hours complaining with her.

in any case, we were chatting last night and i randomly remembered one lazy afternoon from senior year. enjoy its retelling. and a warning: if you don't want to hear me talk about bras, leave now and come back tomorrow.

so, senior year. the year in which i asked out multiple sophomores to have them reject me- 'o6, oh sucks. yeah, good times. karel and i were probably complaining about boys (we keep up traditions) and discussing how bad they were at taking off bras. slow and clumsy. and wouldn't let us assist. because if there is anyone who is good at taking off a bra, it is a woman, right? we do it at least once a day. they should take our help.

so we decided to see how hard it was for guys to actually take bras off. we got pillows. and bras. and practiced. and to be fair, it was harder from a guy's angle. i could still do it one hand but it was more difficult than me taking off my own. we sat on her twin bed, snapping bras off pillows, laughing our asses off because we were better than guys at removing women's undergarments.

and i just tried it again. seriously, so easy. i mean, i guess nerves can come into play but guys, do yourselves a favor, get a hold of a bra, and practice on a pillow. a suave bra removal is a thing of beauty.

happy birthday!

today is george washington's birthday and while we as a nation celebrate it the third monday of february, i feel that as a student at THE george washington university, i should say a little something on his actual day.

or at least show you what brad neely thinks of him.

oh so very NSFW.

trying to be positive

so, i can complain. a lot. A LOT. of course, when i do complain, i try to be witty and make people laugh, so that someone is getting something out of the never ending misery that is my life.

but as i displayed yesterday with my love of consumer goods, i can be happy too.

so here is a partial list of things that have made me happy in 2008, so far:

- a new toothbrush and new toothpaste (seriously, my mouth is so overjoyed.)*
- moving
- new bedding
- connecting with classmates
- someecards
- burgers of all varieties (in-n-out and mini and the turkey jalepeno blue cheese burgers i will be making again in my new kitchen.)
- ellen page celebrating her golden birthday (turning 21 on the 21st! not sure if canadians get down like that.)
- wii bowling
- wii boxing too
- mild winter
- stephan colbert at the national portrait gallery
- argyle socks
- lunar eclipse
- big love


*that's what she said.

in lurve

so, perhaps after you got over the wonderment at my incredible videography skills, you were wondering, 'how did tatiana capture those amazing little creatures on film?'

with my new lover.
as in any new relationship, the honeymoon phase is sweet. we can't keep our hands off each other.
who knew a canon could be so lusty? but our love goes beyond an intense physical connection.
here he is, just gazing into my eyes. *swoon*
and so funny! this guy cracks me up!
whoa, sorry! the feelings, they are just so strong.
i think this is the beginning of a beautiful and long lasting union.

and don't worry, isight camera that came built in on my computer, we can still be friends. i mean, i know we had a good run there, but really, you weren't willing to travel and i needed more flexibility. i will still use you when i need to make a quick pic or vid for the blog! oh please, don't get upset.
oh man. and we still have to work together too.

flutter, flutter

this past weekend, elle and i celebrated our five year anniversary of being friends and meeting in australia with a trip to the national aquarium in baltimore. aquaria are big in our story.

soon after meeting, elle and i flew up from melbourne to sydney for a long weekend. i think the time in my life has passed where i plan out of town trips with people i've just met, but with elle, it worked out beautifully. we had just completed our welcome program, where, to help us get over our jetlag quickly, they had us up to the wee hours of the morning drinking and then breakfast at 8a. really, a rough life.

so, by the time we were going to sydney, i had been on this schedule for a solid 10 days. and the night before flying out at 8a, i was out until 4:30a, came home to pack, and didn't sleep. elle participated in similar shenanigans. in short, we looked AWESOME as we found our hostel in king's cross, the red light district. just awesome.

but we weren't going to waste our time! we were studying abroad! we had to do something all the time! plans, plans, plans! so we dropped off our stuff and headed out to the sydney aquarium. where we promptly found a bench and feel asleep.

for two hours.

and i'm sure we could have slept longer but we were woken up by a very friendly woman who alerted me that someone could have taken my purse. oh, and my mouth was open.

so we rubbed the sleep out of our eyes, stumbled around for a little longer, attempted to will the grate marks off our legs from the bench, eventually gave up and went back to our hostel, where we slept from 5p through to 9a the next morning.

this trip to the aquarium is demonstrably less funny, but it has a much higher cute factor.

and now, as elle demanded yesterday, fluttering seahorses!*




you should all know that posting these is a sign of true love on my part. i have never been a huge fan of the way my recorded voice sounds. in my head, i'm like lindsey lohan, when in reality, i'm much more along the lines of minnie mouse.

*elle, i was in no mood for an involved post yesterday. i wanted to give the seahorses the back story they deserve. now stop complaining!

who doesn't love a bank holiday with great weather?

*fingers crossed*

i'm whiter than post consumer recycled paper

weekly stumble is back. and by stumble, i mean i was directly sent the link. in any case, prepare to fall in love with

stuff white people like

i'm not totally white- there are a few things i'm not in love with, like the sunday new york times, manhattan, and... um, that may be it. because i love living by the water, apologies, kitchen gadgets, sushi, arrested development, juno, recycling, traveling, apple products, the colbert report, wine, yoga, tea, and the list goes on and on.

do yourself a favor and spend the rest of your three day weekend learning all about the predictable tendencies of the caucasian race.

man made malarkey

i love the show 'carpoolers'. it is true, i do. i think it is funny, i love the dancing/song intros because that is what i do in cars with my friends, but mostly, i love it because of marmaduke.

i kinda secretly wish to have someone like this in my family. not in my immediate family, though lord knows, with the names that i have picked out, it is a distinct possibility that one or more of my children will be shaped by their odd name.

not a bob, to be friends with the daves, the kevins, some of the gregs.

such a cheater

ok, so actually, i saw my little computer clock click over to 12:02am and realized that i hadn't posted today. not because i had huge plans, though i did spend a fair part of the day driving around with my mom, having to leave the gym early because my brother got in trouble, and contemplating maybe starting a paper.

in other news, yay for emily! i mentioned her lusty pancakes yesterday (eak, two days ago!) but i wanted to give her a formal introduction since she's now in the sidebar. count this as her best of.

emily and i went to school together at the lovely haverford. a year younger than me, she was part of my adopted customs group (freshmen hall) because i was good friends with her customs people (kind of like RAs except they don't enforce rules. just love). in any case, i've known her for years and she's bubbly and fun and joy and light.

i hadn't seen her in a few years when i met up with her and lise (also part of the aforementioned group) this past week and it was just like time had stood still. we cooked. we sung. we danced. we went to the botanical gardens (ok, that was a new one for us).

and she played me this song. delicious.



so, hi emily! let's be online friends in addition to our face time lovin'.

i'm in lust

with emily's pancakes.

happy valentine's day!

yes, the writers' strike is over. but something else also happened today.

five years ago today (yesterday? tomorrow? so hard to tell with a 16 hour time difference), i landed in melbourne, australia to study abroad for 6 months. when i talk of my time there, i usually describe crazy nights out with friends, five day weekends, and frequent trips to victoria market.

but i also went to school! shocking, but true. i wanted to stay on track with my anthro degree but also take advantage of being in a foreign country, so each course had a strong australia slant: history of indigenous australia and pacific islanders, australia as an immigrant nation, contemporary aboriginal art, and love, family, and society (the least ozzie of the four, but focused on national concepts of family). and while i wouldn't say that i'm an expert on australian history (see: crazy nights out, five day weekends), i know enough to recognize that this is a huge deal.

unlike other colonized lands, australia's native peoples weren't recognized as people. when the british went down under, their official documents said that it was an empty land- terra nullis- and free for the taking. never mind that thousands of indigenous people had lived there for centuries. they did not count as people. and this was law until 1992. now, i'm not saying i'm all rah rah colonization, but at least in other places, native people were considered to be human. and to exist. rough start for a new country.

another thing i learned while studying abroad is that australia really doesn't like to talk about this. they really really don't. in addition to ignoring the humanity of original inhabitants, the australian government had a fun little time of stealing aborginal children and putting them in schools to assimilate them to general white australian society. not that they would ever be treated like white australians, but still, sounds familiar to a certain part of american history, no? this australian 'stolen generation' is more recent than america's and this adds to a general unease around the topic. i found that australians have a real trouble with any discussion of wrong doing. while race is always a touchy subject- and one can argue that americans don't know enough of our own atrocities committed against our native peoples- the vast majority of australians i met just ignored the issue. not that i'm constantly walking around, ready to throw down about civil rights, but if it comes up in conversation, i'm willing to engage.

this is not to say 'take that, australia! america is so much better about dealing with our attempts at genocide aimed at original inhabitants better than you!' this is all to say that while saying sorry doesn't seem like a huge step, it is.
parliament lawn in canberra.

si, se puede.

and yes, i cried. of course. but besides being moved to tears and wondering what took me so long to decide, i also had fun naming all the celebrities. like tatyana ali! her name is so close to mine! her middle initial is the same as my last!

so, i hope that my dc, md, and va friends get out to vote today. and send in your absentee ballots.

ps. was it just me or did herbie hancock totally endorse barak during his acceptance speech? "to coin a phrase, 'yes, we can'."

off to dry my face and participate in democracy.

i can't be the only person who does this

Biography for Tatiana Fantastic

Date of Birth
5 June, 1983 Columbia, MD

Birth Name
Tatiana Leigh Pretty-Awesome

Nicknames
T
Tati
Tats

Height
5'4" (1.63m)

Trademark
Curly hair
Sidekick character

Mini-Biography
Tatiana was born and raised in Columbia, MD, a suburb of both Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC. She went to high school in Bethesda, MD, where she began acting in school plays. She continued with a few roles in college, but didn't start up again until after she completed her Master's. Working at the Smithsonian, she was asked to step into a documentary for an unnamed star narrator, who was later discovered trying to steal the Hope Diamond. She lit up the screen with her bubbly wit and trademark spark. From there, she was whisked off to California and the rest is history.

IMDb Mini Biography By: tatianarocksmysocks

Trivia
Eldest of seven children

Daughter of Colombian mother (Marcela) and Irish American father (Timothy).

Has an intense love of Maryland and often shares state related facts.

Has a BA from Haverford College in Anthropology and Feminist and Gender Studies and a MA from George Washington University in Museum Studies.

Was rejected from Haverford's improv group 'Lighted Fools'.

Worked in coffee shops throughout her teen and early twenties, though she doesn't drink it at all.

Acted throughout high school and college, usually as the comic relief in an overall dramatic piece.

Is an open TV addict.

Personal Quotes
(on always being cast male, old, and disabled in high school plays): I went to an all girls school so someone had to. I didn't mind plus they tended to be the funnier and lighter characters anyway. Best part though- I had really long unruly hair that I was constantly containing under hats. I cut it all off my senior year and then I play a young, able bodied night club dancer! Go figure.

(on life goals): I want to be on Jeopardy! And now that I'm kinda famous, I have a better shot of actually winning!

I still get star struck. All the time. I don't think it will ever stop. In my mind, I'm the nerd asked to stand next to the pretty girl and say something funny. So, basically, my life on screen.

(on if she would ever go back to serving coffee for a living): I'd rather shower with a bear.

planning ahead

if you are looking for something to do on thursday afternoon- you know, besides work and preening for your valentine's day date- and you are in the dc area, consider joining me here (second activity listed).

for those havereaders, doesn't this sound eerily like what i planned in feb 2004? those rascally smithsonian bastards, stealing all my good thoughts!

oh yay yay YAY

please don't tease me.

i need new episodes. as much as i love trashy reality, scripted dramas and sitcoms are my true loves.


can't help lovin' those shows of mine.

late night habits

anyone who has ever met me could tell you i'm a bit of an extrovert. yeah, just a little. this goes beyond being talkative (which i am) to being recharged and reassured about life and my issues through talking things out with people.

now, i don't particularly like crowds but i do feel most like myself when i'm with a smaller group of friends. i mean, i base most of my self worth on how hard i can make other people laugh and that is a bit hard to do when you don't have contact with anyone.

but despite this extreme need for other people, when it comes to winding down for the night, i can't go straight from hanging out to snoozing. i need time to decompress, by myself, to do something that is just for me.

i wonder if this is the cause or effect of being a night owl- did i fall into the habit of finding stuff to do once other people went to bed or did i start staying up late because i need some me time?

weekly stumble returns!

ah yes, i used to have some sort of rhyme and reason here. and here's an attempt to bring it back.

this isn't technically a stumble because karel actually sent me here. and there went all hopes of a productive afternoon.

i love quizzes. and surveys. and questionnaires. oh yes, i do. and as i love personality type indicators, i love quizzes that tell me what time of day i am



what movie nerd i am


my presidential soulmate


my flavor


my inner (and coincidentally, outer) hair color


and so, so much more.

i took a ton that don't have badges- like i belong in the 1930s and 40s. and that, i'm like, you know, so crushworthy. like totally. and that my life is apparently most like the adventures of pete and pete.

if you have a vast amount of time to kill and are dying to know what character you would be on some obscure show, click away. always more fun than dealing with adult stuff.

impending partnership

i've just done the unthinkable.

i reapplied to starbucks.

now, for those of you not in the know, i worked at starbucks for three years in boston. three years filled with irate customers, scalding coffee, coworker drama. it wasn't all horrible- some of my dearest boston friends were fellow starbucks chumps and i met my fair share of lovely customers who could totally brighten my day. but i would be lying if i said that i'm happy about my return to the service world.

where bitches make me cry about the temperature of their soy, the aroma of overflowing grease traps welcomes me first thing in the morning, and christmas music starts playing the day after thanksgiving.

i'm not giving up on the job hunt but as i'm moving in less than a month, i want some source of income to be settled. so, in you walk into a starbucks and see me in a green apron, please be nice to me.

or else i will decaf you.

super fat tuesday

so i've been composing a very deep and introspective post in my head for awhile, but i'm not going to post it today because it is mardi gras and the day of the most primaries! rock the shrove vote!

i've been trying to find where i can get a king cake and some miniature donkeys, but alas, no such luck :( i shouldn't be too upset though, because in addition to allowing myself to eat chick-fil-a guilt free and watch some electoral action go down, my toes are enjoying some sun.

aw yeah, flip flops in february. with some sexy clear band aids. because fashion has a price and it is BLOOD.

as if i would let it go without mention

karel's birthday is today! by now, you know that i started blogging because of her and that i should never slight her about her loyalty least she yell at me in all caps like book five harry potter.

so happy birthday lady!

if it isn't one thing...

so, new housing is squared away and i couldn't be happier about it! i didn't really want to do the whole random roommate thing again, even though it worked out pretty well in boston. but now, i have to find a way to finance my new digs.

sweet sassy molasses-y, do i hate the job hunt.

i'm torn between finding a museum job that could help me get an actual career going after i graduate and being an office bitch somewhere to just pay the bills. so i just apply for them all and hope that i'm sending out the right resumes. right now, i'm trying to not work on weekends (wishful thinking, i know) but i don't know how much longer i'm going to hold out before i return to the dreaded starbucks. blah.

all that being said- if you know of any part time positions in metro accessible dc, please pass them along to me.

in other news, this blog is starting to suck. i think i am coming down with something (like everyone else) and my mind is in a bit of a fog. i need to resurrect my weekly stumble and best of blog roll installments. i am also going to start going through my tags and plump up the ones that only have a few posts, to round out your knowledge of me just a bit more.

i wish it was spring so that a) i could wear all my dresses b) be settled in my new place c) have a job d) well, it would be spring and that is always nice. off to daydream of cherry blossoms in class.

so late

by my standards, anyway! i hope i didn't have too many of you worried about my lack of morning posting but i was *gasp* doing school work earlier today and then shopping at marshall's (yay!) and staples, eating some good food, watching the half time show, and then getting ready for tomorrow. i can be so productive sometimes.

but that's not what i'm here to talk about. yesterday, juliet and i were discussing our myers-briggs personality types and we are both ENFJ, or givers. and we just can't imagine how anyone else functions other than how we do.

until i retook a test and found out that i'm an ESFJ, or caregiver.

oops.

in any case, i love doing personality types like this. i know that astrology isn't a hard science but i am a very typical gemini. of course, sometimes i feel a bit silly believing in my horoscope (which, yes, i do check) or discussing the finer points of the zodiac, so i feel something like personality indicators lend a bit more credence to categorizing folks.

test yourself and let me know what you are. i try to type people in my head and sometimes, i'm actually right.

oh and happy groundhog day

Breakfast of champions

Mobile post sent by rizado using Utterz.  Replies.

my mind feels like is has been scrubbed clean

and while this can be refreshing, it does make writing two papers and any blog posts a tad difficult.

so today, instead of my sparkling wit and turn of phrase, i give you a man with a pointer and a large pad.



charts are rad.

no longer undesirable!

it's a miracle! i've found a place to live!

thank you, facebook!

a good friend of mine from high school found me on facebook to say hi and invite me to a cocktail party (so adult, no?). we chatted about our lives, i lamented about my fruitless apartment search, and she said that she needed a roommate! i went to see the place and meet other future roomies last night and it is all set! i will have a northern virginia address come 1 march.

now, i just need to focus on getting a part time job, locking down a summer internship, devoting substantial amounts of time to school work, and generally keeping some sort of balanced life.

oh and happy birthday, pauly shore!