User Profile

Right now I go to college at UCSD (NOT the party school - that's SDSU, get it right, guys), majoring/double majoring/minoring in some combination of Bioinformatics, computer science, ecology, geochemistry, geology and/or marine science - at this rate, I probably won't figure this out until I've graduated. My eventual goal is to do work/go to grad school in something that combines computer science and climate science, so I can study the effects of global warming and climate change, to hopefully make a difference in these areas. I want to go on research cruises, go crazy places, and always be studying different things in different areas.

One of my life goals is to do biological/geological research in Antarctica. I don't care how batshit that sounds, it's what I want to do, so I'm going to do it. A second one is to run a marathon; this I am fairly confident about, since I've already run a couple half-marathons and had no problems. I do want to do a bit more training first though, in order not to hurt myself (by which I mean "any training at all" since the half-marathons I pretty much ran on a whim.)

My favorite weekend activity is to do various volunteer events, especially any environmental/ecology type things, and habitat restoration. I love volunteering, especially the kind with an environmental focus. I do a little bit with the Green Campus/MEC clubs at ucsd, and want to continue to work toward conservation and sustainability in my own life and at ucsd. I've also volunteered in two labs in the past and I try to go to as many sciency lectures as I can. I'm minorly obsessed with Scripps Institute of Oceanography and everything that goes on down there.

I am introverted and somewhat awkward, but always (possibly overbearingly so) eager and earnest. I have a hard time reading people and picking up on visual cues, and trip over my words a lot or say something stupid and useless without thinking, with the result being that I am talky or silent but turns, but still have a hard time holding a conversation. I have difficulty doing that "casual chat" thing, sometimes. In general though, I probably don't hate you.

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Fannish-me:

I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. Of the fanfic-reading, podcast-listening, wizard rock-stalking, convention-going variety. I just love going to live fannish events and meeting other geeks with similar interests. I recently went to SECTUS in london for the 7th book release, and it was probably the most amazing experience of my life. Also WROCKSTOCK in Missouri, twice (2007 + 2008). Harry Potter isn't just a book, it's a lifestyle! =P

Favorite Fandomly Fannish Things (more or less in order):
1. Harry Potter
2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
3. A Series of Unfortunate Events
4. Daily Show/Colbert Report
5. Brave Little Toaster (yes I know it's a kids' movie, but I love it dearly)
6. Good shows, like Veronica Mars/Arrested Development/Kim Possible/Joan of Arcadia/South Park/Queer as Folk/Hollyoaks/Star Wars/Firefly/Xena

Also, I love analyzing queer representation in books/media etc, and queer theory stuff - okay basically I am obsessed with AfterEllen and AfterElton. And within that vein, queer characters in young adult fiction. My favorite book genre is young adult fiction/fantasy, and you know how many queer characters there are in young adult fantasy? Seriously, almost none. (And before go all "It's a children's book!" on me, consider just how many straight characters you can name in any given young adult book.) All I can think of is:
1. the neighbors in Coraline by Neil Gaiman
2. Charles/Sir in A Series of Unfortunate Events (though this was more like EXTREME SUBTEXT that was then confirmed by the Beatrice Letters)
3. the gay angels in His Dark Materials (sort of iffy whether to include this here though)
4. Dumbledore does not really count, sorry guys. Not in the books; we wouldn't have known but for JKR's interview; I was fully expecting this to remain my pet slash pairing and only that.

If you know of any more, seriously tell me. I'm obsessed with this particular observation of mine (though note, I am being very picky about the category: young adult or children's NOT teen or young adult that is actually teen -there are a fair amount of queer characters in teen books - and NOT any sort of sense where a "statement" is being made, what I'm looking for is completely INCIDENTAL queer character in young adult/children's fantasy books where the focus is on the fantasy story)

Pairings:
Harry Potter:
Remus/Sirius - OTP (what got me into fandom and slash etc)
Harry/Draco (sort of. mainly because every slasher does this one)
Dumbledore/Grindelwald/Elphias any combination (WHY OH WHY IS THERE NO FIC FOR THESE? Srsly, it was practically DH canon)
ETA: I WAS RIGHT IT WAS DH CANON!!!! I officially win the internets (along with everyone else.)
Pansy/Any Female Character

Other:
Willow/Tara - they are completely adorable. Seriously. And red hair is hot, you know it.
Buffy/Spike - it's so wrong it's awesome. I don't care if girl-falling-in-love-with-a-vampire is a bit cliche, just remember that Buffy came before Twilight, guys
Charles/Sir (yays for subtext that has authorial intent behind it, for once! PS I called this at book 4, I did)
Spongebob/Patrick (yes, the Christians were right on this one - it's absolutely canon. I've got a spongebob calendar to prove it)
Bob/Larry (from Veggietales, again with the corrupting Christian children's shows- soooooo canon)
Lewis/Clark (yes THAT lewis and clark - look at wikipedia, clark's woodpecker and lewis's nutcracker? it's totally canon, I tell you)
Sam/Dean (Supernatural - like the icons say: "Because you watch the show, right?")
Glinda/Elphaba (Wicked! - It's only cause it's two girls that the audience isn't reading it that way, I think. But, semi-book canon, yes)
Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert (daily show/colbert report - this one is a little "older" of a thing to be sure and I know it's RPS, but I guarantee you, they absolutely ask(ed) for it)
Ron Stoppable/ isGayOkay (Kim Possible - not a pairing, but I am completely convinced that Ron Stoppable is gay. I've got pages of quotes to prove it.)
Anakin/Tahiri - Star Wars Expanded Universe. Seriously, when one member of that pairing died tragically, that was the end of my Star Wars fandom days, I'm not even kidding. (but then I got into harry potter, so it was all right.)
Xena/Gabrielle - come on! It's just so canon. And adorable. More on this when I actually watch more than just the first season
River/Simon - CSI for the win! And Joss ships it (so I hear) so you can't make fun of me. Also, is turning into my second OTP. Man, I love this pairing too much.

Current Websites: My Book Review Blog which amazingly I actually update from time to time. I'm pretty sure no one's seen it, but it's more of a personal thing anyway. I use it to review books, mostly young adult fiction, but also a side of everything else I'm interested in. I rather like it.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/thecottonginny Yes, everyone and their mother has a youtube these days. I have joined the craze. I put all my harry potter stuff on there, basically. I'm way behind, but eventually I'll get more up there (all my wrockstock video, basically) and even more eventually, I plan to put most/all the Simon/River scenes on there, and some of the more pertinent Brave Little Toaster scenes. This will happen eventually, really! Maybe if I write it down it'll happen?

Websites from my past: I may not update or anything, but they're still out there:
All You Ever Wanted to Know About Recycling and Way Too Much More. Made for my highschool senior thesis. I'm kinda proud of it.

http://www.fictionpress.com/~tairatalledo My fictionpress page, where I have some really old stories. Except now I think it's gone and died in the abyss. Darn.
http://www.geocities.com/catapultsortinghat Only works on some browsers. Erg. A junior year project for the Catapult Program at Rose Hulman.
-I have a myspace and facebook too of course, but really, who doesn't.

I'll friend you if you friend me first. Unless you can't spell, are homophobic, or are a serial adder or some such. Um. I harbor the misguided notion that no one would ever want to read my journal, so probably will not go rampantly friending people, but will be flattered if you do.

Oh, and note on comments: I, uh, really suck at responding to comments in a timely manner. This is probably why I don't get very many. I apologize for this in advance, but be assured even if it's 3 or 4 days later I will get back to you. And even if I don't respond, to some types of comments, I do read the comment and appreciate it muchly.



Also, to prove that I'm not funny at all:









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My Mottos For Living:

"Be patient, for the world is broad and wide." (Who SAYS I can't quote Flatland??)

When in doubt, take the hypotenuse.

Every book is slashy if you try hard enough.

"It has been my experience that those who are well read are less likely to be evil." - Lemony Snicket.

If you're into Harry Potter fandom, these are fics that are just ridiculously awesome, yes they are, and you must read them:
shoebox_project
stealingharry
_hdcomic
Underwater Light




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