Well, well, well...you just can't tell...

For whatever reason, I've been dragging my feet on this "six" meme that Vania tagged me with. I [secretly] love being tagged, so that's not it. I think I've been feeling somewhat unoriginal, wondering what's new or interesting to say about myself that I haven't already said. I've been in a little bit of a blog funk, too. So, I'm going to get a little help from my friends, as they say, and borrow liberally from their topics and themes to get this done and pass it on.

1. Like Mishka, I get obsessed about things so quickly and I fall so hard. This often means that I drop things quickly, too. I love to get into projects, specific collections, or specific things or activities or places, but then I move onto something that takes all of my attention. And then I go back, and I'm like "what happenend to that?" and then I go back to it full swing. It's kinda shocking to me that I still knit so regularly, since at the time it seemed just like something I was getting into and would quickly move away from. Things I've gotten into, with varying degrees of staying-power: knitting (and then getting really into specific projects like legwarmers or hats or now socks), sewing, beading, making beads out of femo, cooking, being on the internet, collecting tupperware or pyrex or milkglass or old jewelry or clothes, watching tv series on dvd, following film directors, taking pictures of buildings, taking pictures of development projects, being an academic, reading a lot of books, going to poetry readings all the time, going to art galleries/museums, getting into different types of music, making albums, making friends, going out a lot, being a homebody, editing video, recording what I wear, looking up word etymologies, reference books, etc...

2. Both of my parents grew up in the Bronx, and I grew up in the northern suburbs of NYC, and as a result of this, I had an accent as a kid. You know the one. When I was 12, I went to sleepaway camp in Pennsylvania, where people said "chah-colate" and "wah-ter," and when I came home, I no longer had my accent. My sister did this too to some extent (though she didn't go to sleepaway camp), both of us trying to move away partly (consciously or not) from the "oh my gawd" aspect of our surroundings (not so much our parents). So people don't often know that I'm from around here when they first meet me. After, I moved back to the city a few years ago, I noticed I sometimes slip back into it. Like the word "daughter" is a tough one for me. When Vania was talking about her name, and how it's pronounced like "Michael Vaughan(ia)" [I don't actually know who that is], I kept thinking (like Jen) that I probably would pronounce Vaughan different than Vania, so I'm confused now. I'm thinking it's "Vaaaah-nya" (and not Vawnia, as I might say if I was talking quickly or with a lot of people from New York, cause it rubs off on me). I sometimes wonder if I've picked up some Buffalo things in my accent, both from going to school there and living with Aaron. I love accents so it's strange not to have one. But maybe losing my accent IS my accent...

3. Also like Mishka, I can be very shy. And one thing Jen and I (along with Aaron, local Jenn, and a bunch of other people) have discussed is how niceness in and of itself can be somewhat overrated. It can be pretty boring or doormat-ish to be too nice. And a deception, too, since many people who think of themselves as "nice people" are often secretly catty or not nice, whereas sometimes people who are willing to admit they're not always so nice can be very sweet and caring towards the people that matter most to them. I've been looking for the perfect balance, both in myself and in my friends, for some time. Most people who know me know that given the right circumstances, I can be quite loud and kinda funny, making jokes and acting ridiculous. I'm not sure exactly what I am sometimes, in that it can change really in a second and I get all quiet. I'm working on it but it's still, in some way, always there.

4. I've been dancing my whole life, and when I was younger, we had a bare room with wood floors and a record player, dedicated to dancing. I even studied dance my first year in college. Then I was in a car accident over the summer between my freshman and sophomore years where I hurt my neck and upper back and stopped dancing for awhile. Now I'm dancing again, though not in that way, and mostly in my own apartment. I completely love it, though. I think I dance at least a little bit each day. The other day, someone was parked outside our house playing music, and "The Hustle" came on and I was all ready, and then they turned it off. Boo! And when Jen talks about her Thursday night dancing gig, I get that "heart-hurty" feeling that she was talking about that I can't join her! And I think that Vania also studied dance in school, yes?

5. The high school I went to didn't have a dance club or anything, so I thought it might be a good idea to, get this, try out to be a cheerleader! I, along with some of my friends, were picked, but I couldn't last a long time because I didn't have a lot of school spirit or like football or want to hang out with football players or go to football parties. I would sometimes get in trouble with the coach for not being able to make all the practices if I needed to study or meet after school or something, so I quit. I liked the active part of it, trying to convince myself that learning cheers was like learning dance routines. I still remember some of them, though, and they're fun for a dull evening. "Are...you...ready...to...jam 2 3 4..."

6. I'm essentially very silly and whimsical. I like to skip around. I'm constantly feeling dewy eyed and in love with simple things. I'm in love with love. I'm very nostalgic and songs send me to a special place. My voice is less than stellar but I love to sing around to songs, replacing words with things that are going around. Or replacing things I call Aaron with within the lyrics. I make up jingles for everything. I like to appreciate small things: a cup of herbal tea, a talk with a friend, a kind gesture, fun mail, a book, a cupcake!. When I was talking to my sister and saying how I want to go to Franchia and get a Korean Pear Fantasy, she said "that's just your thing, to like something called Korean Pear Fantasy."

and...
I really don't know what I want to be when I grow up. There are so many things I like and love to do and see and think about. I think I don't want to be one thing, but lots of things, and I want to figure out a way to do it all and be really happy. And time moves so fast.

and...
I turn 30 tomorrow.

and...
you're it!