I love Renn Fest

and turkey legs.

Extremely Important Poll

Which Natty Boh shirt should I get?



or
Pro Orange
- I don't have an Orioles shirt and unless I have a strong affinity for a player, I like sports shirts that don't have players names on the back. I like to feel I'm supporting the whole team. I now wish I had gotten a Red Soxs Edgar Renteria shirt, but that's a whole other ball of wax.
- With the orange shirt, it is good for the entire baseball season.

Anti Orange
- I miss the little curl.
- Would only really be suitable at baseball games or other Baltimore pride events.
- I think I will still kinda want something with the old school Orioles smiling cartoon bird on it.

Pro Green
- Um, hello? MARYLAND FLAG. SHAMROCK. I could proudly display my regional and familial heritage while proclaiming my taste in cheap beer.
- Green goes with so many more things.
- Have I said MD flag? Because it counts twice.
- Good transition from my green miniskirt to a more family appropriate St. Patty's Day outfit.

Anti Green
- Really made for just the one day a year.
- While Orioles and Natty Boh are very Baltimore, it can be argued that other cities have a stronger claim to St. Patty's Day. That being said, my Irish family connections are through Charm City.
- MD flag. I get enough flack as it is with all my pro Maryland sentiment. Do I really want to add fuel to that fire?

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.

YES!

YES, yes, yes.

Um, I may have a little bit of state pride.

aren't i a little tease?

so, i start posting again, only to fall off the face of the blog planet. i know, i'm the epitome of going back on my word.

but i don't know if you know this. summer classes- TIME CONSUMING! i'm going to the beach this weekend (hazzah!) so i had to work doubly hard the past week and a half to get ahead on my reading, finish my first assignment, and complete a take home quiz. all worth it to fell the sun on my pale pale belly. because i will not be hiding my tummy light under a one piece- oh no, it will be like a great beacon, calling one and all down to the shore.

but besides the unveiling of the great white for the first time this summer- seriously, what is the world coming to when i haven't been (outside) in a bathing suit until the end of july!- i promise that i've got some good posts abrewing. including a photo essay of my day with a 18 inch sandwich.

crabcakes, football, and FASHION

that's what maryland does!
though christian, darling, annapolis is not really a 'small town'. it is the state capital. and the naval academy is there. though i'm sure you were always a little too fierce for the confines of a historic mid-atlantic city.

ps. how cute were you with your runway tears? sniff sniff. and as soon as you you got posh to say 'mah-ja', i knew you nailed it!

welcome to the list of famous marylanders- we truly are the best!

first time for everything

as a 24 year old concerned citizen, this will be my first presidential primary. i've never registered with an official party, just because i thought both major parties had some huge flaws.

i finally made the step this year to register in an actual party- that's right, i'm no longer independent but can proudly say i'm a democrat in one of the most corrupt democratic states in the union. so while i was able to vote for kerry in 2004- absentee from mass to new jersey- this is my first round of presidential primary voting. due to my course schedule, however, i will have to vote absentee. and you should too. because every vote counts. even though maryland joins in pretty late in the game.

i'm still undecided though.

according to washingtonpost.com's choose your candidate quiz, i am most aligned with john edwards at 47 pts, with hilary clinton coming in a distant second with 25pts, barak obama nabbing the bronze with 19pts, and bill richardson finishing with a devestating 8pts. this quiz doesn't show much, as almost every multiple choice question was answered the same way in four different sentences, so i picked whatever sounded the best, flow and grammar wise. i basically chose which candidate's speech writer i liked best.

that and i must be drawn to edwards because we share a love of wendy's.

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.

obsession

i thoroughly enjoy my blog. yum. throughout the course of any day, i make mental (and sometimes physical) notes of things that i want to relay to my loyal public. for example, while at best buy yesterday, my friend elle picks up the movie rain man and says 'you know, for a person who really loves movies about retarded people, i'm surprised i've never seen this.' hilarious because she is being most sincere. she really loves developmentally challenged people. these snippets, my mom's jokes, stories of pee puddles, the history of my hair- the things blogs were made for.

and yet i can't stay true to rizado.

i have two other blog names in reserve, waiting for the right time.

i have one for my museum work and another for- who knows! the museum one has my real name on it, so i'm not going to say it here. the other one is just blank so you can check it out to see if i'm lying. it is crabcakes and football. yes, like the movie. as in, those are the things that maryland does. i don't have a deep passion to blog about regional cuisine or sports, but i had to get the name before someone else. just in case.

and now i am feeling the need to get another one. both me and friend karel have aching uteri for two things: children and to be mom bloggers. now, neither of these things are going to happen in the near future- heavens no. and that is how i want it to be. the ache is for later. but in my insane desire to have as many blogs as possible, i want to reserve my mom blog name now.

any suggestions? i love a good pun. oh! how about pun in the oven! oh man, i think i may have just saved myself from framing my children's lives around old bay and the terps.

i'll still take suggestions though. one can never have too many blank blogs.

go soxs!

woohoo boston won! though i grew up in maryland and am at heart an orioles fan, i've always hated the yankees so it was easy to become a red soxs fan when i was in boston. so while i'm pleased as punch that they won tonight, i'm also a little down in the mouth that i can't be at the riot. getting texts from the riot does help (thanks, wise man!) but i do wish i could be with the rest of boston, being really really insanely happy.

so, a bit of an intro...

well, for those of you who know me- and i'm assuming that's most readers- this section will prove a tad boring. unless you want a bio, than you will find it super interesting. to the others- i thought some context would be nice.

hi. my name is tatiana. i grew up in maryland and was not particularly proud of this fact until i left it and then oh boy, did i grow some pride. official state sport? jousting. official state TEAM sport? lacrosse. bird? oriole. flower? black eyed susan. song? 'o maryland' sung to the tune of 'o christmas tree'. and don't get me started on other md trivia. seriously, don't.

so the point is that i grew up maryland, with a year of rearing in england. that's where i picked up my thing for henry VIII's wives- really just the first two, but again, don't get me started.

high school for me was spent at an all girls catholic institution on the outskirts of dc. from there, i went to a marvelous small quaker college outside of philly. from there, i spent three years living around boston. i tend to inhabit the edges of major east coast cities.

i am now back at home. as in living at home. with some of my younger siblings and my parents. i go to school IN a city, where i'm learning how to make museums. i like museums. classes gives me headaches. or it could be the lack of water.

in further posts, i will lavish you all with tales of my childhood and young adult life- what it is like to grow up the four younger sisters and two baby brothers, an immigrant mother, huge hair, and choreographed dances to wilson phillips. i'll tell stories as the come to me but if you want a story focusing on a particular era of my life, please, ask. i just may care enough to listen.

or i may abandon the story telling jaunt and just amuse you with my wit and candor. this is my blog so it is pretty much my show. one thing i can promise you is that i will eventually have some sort of weekly feature- on what, i'm not entirely sure.

ps. labeling posts is my new favorite thing. ever.