25 February 2009

Because y'all care

I will be live Twitter blogging the Top Chef finale. I totally ripped this from Pop Waffle, who is HILARIOUS, go watch it all.

Follow me here.

23 February 2009

Disturbia

On Saturday night, I headed into the city with Lauren and Sam for Steph's birthday, a friend of Lauren's from college. It was full of dip and sparkling wine, a sharp contrast as to where my night would end up (Miller Lite and car bombs). Lounging in the apt, I found myself bouncing in my seat and singing along under my breath. It was all pop songs, wonderful, danceable pop songs. And I had to ask- how did you make this wonderful mix?

Of course, no one makes mixes anymore- there is Pandora. Now I totally love Pandora, but I there is something about a carefully sculpted playlist for a party that is dying. I'm totally guilty of this (I'm listening to the Disturbia station that was the fun party music) but they next time I have a party, I may go the way of selecting my songs to play in a certain order. And have no one care because they are eating hot dogs and drinking bears. I mean, beers.

Though I can see how drinking bears would be more captivating then my carefully selected musical accompaiments.

PS. The intial intent of this post was how I should not listen to fun poppy music while I'm trying to get to sleep because twitching in time to music is not conducive to a restful state. And while I still believe that is true, I am apparently mourning the lost art of mixes and playlists on a deeper level.

I can haz blogz reederz!

I never thought the day would come- I made it onto iambossy! Actually, I first typed that as "iamboozy" and while I am not currently in that state NOW (nor is she. or at least I hope not. It is in the morning. Though it is always 5 o'clock somewhere) I thought it was apt. Whew longest parenthetical EVA.

But welcome if you are clicking over from Bossy! This is just what I needed to jump start my Monday. That and a jug of wine. I mean....

22 February 2009

Waste of space

So, I have been a total bump on a log this weekend. Main example: I've watched almost the entirety of New Adventures of Old Christine. The only reason I didn't finish? Not all the links on sidereel were working. It certainly wasn't because I was motivated to do anything.

MAIN EXCEPTION: I made a King Cake! As a strong contrast to my two previous baking for the office- vegan ANZAC biscuits and vegan lace cookies- my king cake (sadly, sans baby) is made of store bought cinnamon buns in a can. With psychedelic icing.

Pics to follow. Right now, I have to go rest from my strenuous FIFTEEN minutes in the kitchen and watch the Oscars and Big Love.

20 February 2009

Brisbane, here I come!

It has happened! My mom got my tickets today and I will be heading over to Australia in just under 6 weeks.* AH! I need to start making so many lists. What to bring, how much to save, how to make up extra hours at my internship, and perhaps most importantly, what to do while I'm there.

Now, even though I studied abroad in Australia six years ago, my little sister whom I'm going to visit is studying in a different city. So, thoughts on what to do in Brisbane/Surfer's Paradise? I guess it is a bit more obvious in the second case, but other than a few museums to check out, I don't really know much of what else to do in Brisbane. If you've been or had friends lucky enough to visit, let me know what you think I should do.

I'm sorry this is such a lackluster post on what is supposed to be an exciting topic. How about:

WOOHOO AUSTRALIA! KOALA BEARS! BEACHES! KANGAROO (BURGERS)! FISHES!

There, that's a bit better.

*Thanks, Mom! I don't know when I'll be done thanking her for this great opportunity. And even though I don't think she reads this, it is always good karma to put it out there.

17 February 2009

Etsy, my love for you grows

I love it when people turn me on to Etsy shops because it gives me just that. much. more. to want to buy. Just what I need, right?

But what do I love even more? Contests! And winning things!

Head over to Softspoken and Oh! How Lovely! to participate for yourself. See how nice I am, sharing the wealth? Though if you win, you need to give me something in return. Like a milkshake. Or a kitten.

Heading to the other side

So those of you who know me on the 'book or talk to me in real life already know this, but in March/April, I'm heading to AUSTRALIA to visit my little sister!



Isn't she cute? I'm super excited. I haven't been to Australia since I studied abroad there myself six years ago. And I haven't been out of the country since Peru last year.

I guess that can come off sounding a bit like a brat- omg, it has been, like forever, since I've been ANYWHERE?! But I grew up traveling, and living, abroad and I do really think that it is a major part of my life, my connections to other countries. While in Australia, I will be looking for jobs and trying to set up informational interviews, not because I necessarily think that finding a job there will be easier but I certainly won't get one if I don't try.

I also recently applied to a job that is mainly administrative, which I can do and well, but what I'm most excited about is the international aspect of the program I would be supporting. As much as I love DC and the Maryland area (you know I do!), the prospect of getting to do something international is something to keep me going through my last semester.

12 February 2009

Ballet, swoon!

Last night, Maggie and I went to see Highland Fling at the Kennedy Center. And GOODNESS, my heart was in my throat almost the whole time. It has been so long since I've seen a dance performance and I forget how much I miss dance in my life. It has been years since I've been in a formal class and every once in awhile, I find myself looking at belly dance or flamenco or latin dance classes but right now, I just can't afford the time or money to commit to a formal class.

But performances, performances I can do. While the entire show was great, the group scenes made me grab Maggie's hand. No joke. Scottish reel, Irish step dancing- AH, god. Totally made up for the fact that I was sick and got home later than I wanted.

And in two weeks- FLAMENCO! YES!

06 February 2009

I'm going to be OLD

According to the death clock, my last day on earth will be on Friday October 5, 2085 when I am 102 years and 4 months old. Of course, with things like this, you get a different response each time you submit the same variables. So far, the youngest I will be is 96 and the oldest is 106, but I average around 102.

What is keeping me alive so long? My relatively health BMI, the fact that I don't smoke, I'm female, and that I'm optimistic. Apparently, my ability to laugh at myself and others will keep me around for a long time.

05 February 2009

For a total of 100

76. I have been cursed with two cold offices for my past two internships. No joke, FRIGID. Scarves. Coats. Fingerless gloves. But at least I like the work I do!

77. Until I went to school, I spoke mainly Spanish. I understood English but communicated mainly in Spanish.

78. Though this relates to the previous one, it deserves its own number. Once, when I was about 3 or 4, I ran out the room, holding my butt and screaming "Yo tengo poopy! Yo tengo poopy!". For the gringos in the reading audience, that literally translates to "I have poop! I have poop!".

79. When I was waiting around for my mom to finish shopping, I used to pretend that I had a limp and bumble around the store. Sometimes I added a dead arm or a blind eye.

80. I think candy hearts taste nasty but I still like them because they have writing on them.

81. When I got the IKEA catalogue growing up, I would give myself a budget to outfit my first apartment and would sketch the layout on graph paper.

82. I still wish on clocks- 12:34, 11:11, etc.

83. I need dead silence and dark to sleep but can nap in a moving car at the drop of a hat.

84. Sleeping in a car only comes quickly if I'm in the back. If I'm up front, I will be the best navigatrix you've had.

85. I once burned my finger on a hot plate that turned into a nasty blister because I refused to wait to eat to run my burn under water. It was a baked potato. And totally worth it.

86. I love garlic. I read a recipe that calls for 2 cloves of garlic and I will use 8. EIGHT. But no one complains, so it just goes to show that GARLIC IS GOODNESS.

87. When standing at concerts, I dance big to give me and my group more room. People avoid me because they don't want to get hit by my flailing limbs and because I look crazed.

88. If I had facial hair, I would play around with it SO MUCH. Think handlebar mustache and muttonchops.

89. I dream of having a Dyson. And I mean that literally. I've had dreams about using a Dyson.

90. I used to drink Diet Coke like it was my JOB. And then I've had sixteen cavities in the past five years, so I consciously avoid soda. And rinse with fluoride daily.

91. I like to have people guess my ethnic background because they never get it right on the first shot. I mainly get Greek or Jewish. I am (PROUDLY) Colombian and Irish.

92. The best story regarding my identity? When I had to break up a fight between two third graders at my after school program who were screaming at each other "Ms. Tatiana's Dominican!" and "NO! Ms. Tatiana's Pureto Rican!". They were very sad when I told them I was neither.

93. While I can deal with hand to hand violence on screen, any sort of weapon FREAKS. ME. OUT.

94. I am super skittish. As in if Sam, my teeny tiny roommate, sneezes next to me, I jump. Or if she turns on the light, I jump.

95. Back in college, I once organized my AIM list into guys I had made out with, guys I wanted to make out with, and guys that I hope to never, ever make out with.

96. My feet peel at every change of the season but worst is spring to summer. I have pulled off sheets from the bottom of my feet.

97. I used to clip clothes pin to random parts of my face, arms, and hands to see how far my skin would stretch and how much pain I could take.

98. During high school, I put cream cheese on lunch meat and rolled it up, like a little hot dog shaped salt lick of love.

99. If I have more than 5-6 emails in my inbox, I get antsy.

100. I tell people that Shakira is my cousin and while that isn't exactly true, her first boyfriend is my mom's cousin's brother-in-law.

04 February 2009

And 25 more!

Whew, just when you thought I was done.

51. I see food best by dates as suggestions. Loose suggestions. I eat questionable food all the time and have a stronger stomach for it.

52. The toilets at my ocean conservancy non-profit flush when you think about maybe possibly standing up. Wastes a lot of water, ironically. This means that I'm super slow and cautious because I'm afraid of getting some unwanted bidet action. But not just at the office. On all toilets. Awesome.

53. I have a large freckle on my scalp. All of my siblings who have the same mom as me have one too.

54. I get panic attacks on planes.

55. I'm allergic to cats but have lived with 8 over the course of my life.

56. I STILL have delusions of being an actress one day.

57. I want more than one gas fireplace in my grownup house.

58. I can not wait- CAN NOT WAIT- until I have silver/white hair.

59. I have a million places I want to travel but most of the time on vacation, I want to sit on the beach and have drinks.

60. I hate it when my cellphone is all slimey with my face grease.

61. I miss wearing my kilt everyday.

62. I buy foam inserts for almost all my shoes. Cushy.

63. I have an inordinate amount of Restoration Hardware merchandise because my mom works there. My favorites: black out curtains and all the blankets.

64. I force people to be my friends by inviting myself along to outings, sharing way too much personal information, and telling other people that we are friends.

65. In any group of 5-6 people that I force to befriend me, most become acquaintances and 1-2 stick and become really really close.

66. I tend to wear solid color clothes rather than patterns because I want the largest amount of things to match. Exception: socks and underwear. Because you can't see them.

67. I get stress stomach. When I'm upset, I can't eat. It kinda blows because I LOVE food, but hey, when I get sad, I get skinny. Silver lining.

68. Corndogs!

69. I will tell you if you have something in your teeth because I want you to do the same for me.

70. I want to get Invislign to fix my front teeth but it is expensive, so once I save up, I'm probably going to take a hit to my vanity and get a RETAINER.

71. I'm proud of my old school FIRST GENERATION iPod nano. Sure, I lust after the new technology but I also like my thriftiness and will power from not buying the shiny loveliness.

72. It makes me so unhappy when you go in for a first kiss with someone and it is BAD.

73. I've had a lot of blogs. My first one was called Star's Hallow (yes, like Gilmore Girls) while I was studying abrod in Australia 6 years ago. When I got back for my senior year, I started Boring the Betta, which I named after my freshmen year fish.

74. During the months of November and December, I rarely went more than 4 days without having a burrito bol from Chipotle. I didn't have a single one for the entire month of January. I broke down and celebrated my will power with a glorious, glorious mound of beans, cheese, rice, and love on Monday.

75. If you sing "5-8-8", I will be compeled to sing "2-3 hundred EMMMPIRE. Today." a la Roger Rabbit.

02 February 2009

25 More

I always love going through those 100 about me lists that you see on blogs, but have always been daunted by doing it all in one sitting. After doing 25 things on FB, I figured I could do it in four installments. Here's the second.

26. I read magazines while I brush my teeth. This often results in many splattered copies of Oprah and Smithsonian.

27. To avoid hair tangles, I sleep in pig tails every night.

28. I've had glasses since I was seven years old and have had six pairs over the years. I always think that they current ones are the best.

29. I try in vain to be a hat person. I own hats. They are cute. Sadly, not on me. I should realize this and give them away.

30. I have dozens and dozens of children's books at my parents' house that I won't let them get rid of. Because they are MINE but I don't have room for them in my current place.

31. I get very excited about things/people that are connected to me. And by excited, I mean I VERY. ENTHUSIASTIC. Main points of YEAH: Maryland, Haverford, my name. Also, you will know we are friends when I get excited about things connected to you that have nothing to do with me.

32. Junior year in college, I got ringworm from a new kitten at home. I showed it to two friends during class and they both screamed at the same time. We named it Charlie.

33. One major thing I've inherited from my parents: the urge to write letters to fix issues with the system. Put it in writing!

34. Did you ever play that game in middle school where you wrote out the name of your crush and then your name and then crossed off letters that you had in common? And the number of letters left over meant something? Yeah, I still do that. Not only with crushes, but also with random important figures.

35. Speaking of middle school games, I still make cootie catchers.

36. If we are friends on Facebook and I'm able, I've looked at all your pictures. Not even kidding. Every single one. It bothers me when people aren't tagged in FB photos.

37. I take great pride in being on planning committees. Always have.

38. I listen to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on my iPod and laugh in public.

39. I like to make Venn diagrams of situations in my head. And I like it when I'm in the shady bit.

40. I saved my wisdom teeth. They are wrapped in foil and HUGE.

41. High on my list of favorite feelings: clean sheet day. Bonus: shaved legs. HEAVEN.

42. I don't own many fancy pants. Haha. No seriously, it is all jeans and maybe one pair of khakis. So when I need to be professional, it is a dress or a skirt.

43. I'm deathly afraid of being a hunchbacked old woman. Especially since I'm already a bit of a hunchbacked young woman.

44. I love reference books. Atlases. Dictionaries. Books of facts. Mmmm.

45. Once, when I told a guy that I liked him and he responded that he didn't like me "like that" and that "we could be friends", I responded: "No, I don't think so. I have enough friends. I don't have time for you if we are not making out."

46. I love old timey expressions of exclamation like egads, zooks, oopsy daisy, etc. Also, random exclamations a la Ron Burgandy, like Odin's raven!

47. I love people's secrets. I can't help it, I just really do. You can make anything that much more interesting by following it with "but you can't tell!".

48. That being said, I keep secrets well. I mean, others' secrets. My own just fly right out of my mouth.

49. I have to dress carefully when I'm going to be playing any sort of game because I will get over excited and sweat profusely. Every time. Without fail. This is why I own a lot of black.

50. I secretly like you a bit better if we share an initial. Though I guess that isn't really a secret anymore.

01 February 2009

FB on the blog

I am apparently not immune to this. But I won't tag. All explained in one of the notes.

1. I feel like my personality is too aggressive and typically masculine, so I try to temper that with appearing super feminine, wearing lots of dresses, skirts, long hair, big ear muffs, etc.

2. I try to make my bed every day but I've been slipping a lot lately.

3. I have my email set that I have to do math problems if I want to send an email between midnight and 7am. But I have the math problems set on the easiest level, so it actually hasn't ever kept me from ever sending anything.

4. I went to a Post Secret event and I realized that I don't have a single secret. There isn't any one person who knows everything, but I share each and every thought, fear, wish, hope with at least one person.

5. I hate the whole licorice flavor group- anise, fennel, blech.

6. I have a secret blog called hot lust bucket. And no, you can't get access.

7. I'm just waiting for the curtain rod I hung to fall on my while I sleep.

8. I get obsessed with songs, play them on repeat, dance around to the wee hours by myself in my room, and then forget about them for months and months.

9. I'm terrified that I won't find a job post graduation.

10. I'm scared of finding a job and having to move and uproot my life for it.

11. I am always happy when people tag me for memes and shit but I'm afraid of tagging people myself for fear that they will think me uncool. So I just answer memes but don't carry on with the tagging.

12. I'm a night owl and always have been. I used to stay up until 4am, watching Nick at Nite. Go F Troop!

13. I am superstitious and am nervous about taking comps on Friday the 13th.

14. I took me a long time, but in the past year or so, I've finally become comfortable with sharing all the supposedly embarrassing things I love and enjoy. Including made for TV movies and romance novels.

15. I have tried online dating. I don't know if I will try it again or not.

16. I am graduating with my MA the same day that I graduated from undergrad. I'm now convinced that it should be my wedding date.

17. My ape index, how much longer/shorter your wing span is compared to your height, is plus 3 inches. I have large hands and in particular, long fingers.

18. My feet are also big for my height. They were a size 8 before I was 100 lbs or 5 feet tall. I'm now a size 9-9.5 and can share shoes with my friends who are 7 inches taller than me.

19. I practice songs for karaoke. First, I get the songs on youtube with the lyrics and read them while singing along. Then, I perform in the mirror to make sure I really know the songs and to perfect my moves.

20. Until very recently, I could pass for 14. I think with the haircut, the youngest I can get away with would be 19.

21. While still solidly an omnivore, I like to take recipes and make them vegetarian and if possible, vegan.

22. I am pretty much the same drunk and sober and I get a little sad when I realize that not everyone is like me.

23. I have the same bedding as Dooce and it makes me happy each time I see it in a photo.

24. My favorite thing to do during shitty weather is to read through casual encounters. Storms of all kinds really bring out the kink in people.

25. 27 is my favorite number.

Despite your enthuasium, ma'am, I don't think we'll be chatting

I was greeted this morning to this message in my inbox.

Subject:

Hi, Hi!!!, Hello, Hi dear, good day, how you?, how are you?

And the body:
Hellooo!!!
How are you??
I found your profile on the dating site! You seemed to me a very interesting man!
Now I live in Russia, I am going to travel in the US!
I have no friends in the USA. I want to find a friend to fun spending time together!
I have everything ready for the trip!
If you are interested, please write to me at my email address: nastya088@gmail.com

--
Now at first, I thought this was a bit fishy because a) my email address isn't posted on any dating site. I'm not on dating sites anymore anyway. But then I looked closer. She's from Russia. SHE SHOULD KNOW THAT I'M A WOMAN! So not only is this some sort of ruse, but they aren't even from Mother Russia! That's just poor form.