A bunch of useless information about Natasha
I decided to compile some useless information about me in case you would like to know what a contemporary female artist might like and be like. Not that I'm trying to imply that all female artists are alike... Although, I do find certain similarities between some 'artsy' women that I know personally. Most of them seem to be wonderfully odd. I'm not going to use the word 'cuckoo', no matter how tempting it is. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I seem to lack the level of eccentricity that a lot of people believe a real artist must possess... Of course, it's hard to be objective when it comes to one's self and maybe I appear as odd to other people as some of them do to me.
Name:
Nataliya Konstantina Sazonova (AKA "Natasha" or just "N")
Try to fit all that in those tiny boxes on the SAT test. Fortunately for a lot of people who tend to butcher my real name, I just go by Natasha Sazonova (pronounced like Casanova with an "S" instead of a "C"). Actually there is a funny story about how I acquired, so to speak, my name. Before I was born my parents picked out a bunch of great (possible) names for me with "Julia" as their favorite and "Alina" as a runner-up. However, after they saw what I looked like they decided that I wasn't pretty enough for any of them, reason being that apperantly I had an enormous nose, (that I eventually grew into), the size of which was completely innapropriate for any Julia or Alina. So for the first month of my life I just went by 'baby girl'. My folks finally settled on Nataliya*, because they thought it to be a very neutral name that would fit just about anybody.
*In Ukraine Nataliya is a very common name and not an exotic name like it is in the States.
Born:
July 22, 1978 in Poltava, (Ukraine) a city that not too many Westerners have heard of unless they are fans of Marie Bashkirtseff, who was born near Poltava...
Note: lots of famous people were either born or died on the 22nd, although not too many people that I actually care about were born on July 22nd... However, Rufus Wainwright whose song "Hallelujah" is one of my favorites was born on the same date as me. If I were to be born a day later I would've have to share my birthday with Monica Lewinsky... Dodged the bullet on that one. I'm kidding. I think poor Ms. Lewinsky should be left alone at some point.
Nationality:
Ukrainian with some additives.
Basically I'm a mutt. I must admit that it's a pretty good thing to be, because it allows me to freely make fun of several nationalities, as well as religious groups simultaneously, without anybody accusing me of being prejudiced against them.
Height:
5'8" (and anywhere from 5'6" to 5'9" depending on the blood alcohol level of the person measuring me).
Weight:
Instead of lying I adopted 'don't ask, don't tell' policy for this one.
Measurements:
36-24-36 (Just kidding! I only got one of those right, but I'm still very happy with the two that don't match).
Occupation:
Starving artist (but only when I'm on a diet.) Just artist at all other times.
Likes:
painting; reading; writing; researching all the things I ever see or hear about; playing with my pets; updating my web site; meeting new people and examining their psyche (unbeknownst to them, of course); coming up with endless theories on how things came into existence; checking Reuters Odd; listening to Rush; having dinners with my family; drinking tea
Dislikes:
ignorant people (stupid I don't mind, stupidity is genetic, ignorance is a conscious choice); people who believe in something so strongly they don't listen to the counter arguments anymore; snakes (I'm not afraid of them I just dislike them, because they eat mice, who are very close relatives of my chinchillas); chinchilla farms (because they kill chinchillas for coats); know-it-alls; socialites (how can I like somebody, whose primary purpose in life is to be seen?); angry socialists (I don't mind the idealistic ones. I find all kinds of naïveté cute).
Dreams:
To make the world a better place.
I have a rather unambitious, but fool-proof approach to accomplishing my dream. Unlike a lot of people who are trying to help everybody at the same time, I try helping just a few instead. This way I can actually insure that whatever I'm doing is working.
Favorite qualities in people:
Sense of humor, reliability, thirst for knowledge, compassion
People I don't like:
Spoiled brats and people who are happy when they find out that somebody they dislike is miserable, phonies
Qualities I like in my male friends:
Straightforwardness, sense of humor, an ability not to care what other people think about them, chivalry, good manners
Qualities I like in my female friends:
Same as men except for chivalry and plus common sense. I also like the ones that don't try stabbing other women in their backs (a rather rare quality for women, wouldn't you agree?).
People I admire:
Winston Churchill, Mother Theresa, Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld, George Sand, Marlene Dietrich
Favorite artists:
Frida Kahlo, El Greco, Georgia O'Keefe, Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Mikhail Vrubel
Favorite Authors:
Antoine De Saint-Exupery, Boris Akunin, Ernest Hemingway, Erich Maria Remarque, Mikhail Bulgacov, John Galsworthy, John Stuart Mill, Gabriel Garcia Marques, Prosper Merime, Guy de Maupassant, Rudyard Kipling, Victor Hugo, James Fenimore Cooper, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, Jack London, H.G. Wells, Gerald Durrell, Jules Verne, Georges Simenon, O.Henry
My favorite books:
"The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov, "One hundred years of solitude" by Marquez, "Cabbages and Kings" by O. Henry, "All Quiet on the Western Front" and "Three Comrades" by Remarque, "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Hemingway, "Hearts of Three" by Jack London
My absolutely favorite fairytales:
"Little Prince" by Saint-Exupery, "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass" by Lewis Carroll, "Mio, my Son" and "The brothers Lionheart" by Astrid Lindgren, "The Blue Star" by Alexandr Kuprin, All of the Moomintroll Series by Tove Jansson
Favorite Music:
Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, Scorpions, Roxette, Joe Dassin, Robbie Williams, Josh Groban, Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Adriano Celentano, Beatles, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, System of a Down, Enigma, Fat Boy Slim, Doors, No doubt, Sash, Sarah Brightman, D.J. Alligator, Gypsy Kings
Favorite Songs or Musical Compositions:
Mozart's "Requiem", "I just want you" by Ozzy Osbourne, "Come along" by Tityo, "Feel" by Robbie Williams, "Hallelujah" by Rufus Wainwright, "Shape of my heart" by Sting, "Oceano" by Josh Groban, "Deep Forest" by Deep Forest, "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" by Edith Piaf, "Dream on" by Aerosmith, "À Toi" and "Si Tu T'Appelles Mélancolie" by Joe Dassin, "Con te partiro" by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli and "Naturaleza Muerta" by Brightman
Favorite Movies (and movies that I can watch endlessly):
"Moonstruck", "The English Patient" (first movie that made me cry), "Groundhog Day", "Super Troopers", "The Birdcage", "Kindergarden cop", "Solaris" (Tarkovsky's, not Soderbergh's), "American Beauty", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Enemy at the Gates", "Breaking the Waves" (the second movie I cried at), "Amadeus", "Star Wars" (Episodes IV, V, VI), "Tootsie", "Overboard", "Twins", "The American President", "Terminator" (all three of them), "The Last Emperor", "Last Tango in Paris", "Thomas Crown Affair", "Shrek", "Kramer Vs. Kramer", "Spaceballs", "Jane Eyre" (the one with Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke), "Some like it Hot", "East-West", "Back to the future" (all three of them), "Lord of the Rings" (each one is a gem!)
Favorite Actors:
Adrian Brody, Edward Norton, Christian Bale, Robert De Niro, Judd Law (I think the love scene he did with Rachel Weisz in "Enemy at the Gates" was the best love scene I've ever seen on film), Peter O'Toole (especially in "How to Steal a Million. Every time I see it I wish I were sixty years older), Johnny Depp (I loved him ever since I saw "Crybaby"), Joachin Phoenix, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Gerard Depardieu
Favorite Actresses:
Rachel Weisz, Emily Watson, Naomi Watts, Hillary Swank, Julienne Moore, Audrey Hepburn, Cate Blanchett, Catherine Deneuve, Sigourney Weaver, Judi Dench
Favorite TV shows/series:
"Red Eye", "Mad Men", "Frasier", "Bones", "House", "Coupling", "Absolutely Fabulous", "Quantum Leap", "Golden Girls", "Desperate Housewives", "Army Wives", "Star Trek", (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine), "Psych", "Monk"
Favorite cartoons:
"Simpsons", "South Park", "King of the Hill", "Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers" (I used to have a huge crush on Chip, but as a teenager dated a guy who looked exactly like Dale, isn't that ironic?).
Favorite animals:
Chinchillas (obviously), dogs (especially akitas and bichons frises), cute white mice, elephants, ponies, parakeets and of course my cat Tishka, who is the best cat ever!
Favorite Food:
watermelon (when I was little I could've been in the Guinness Book of Records for eating watermelon, because when I weighted 40lb I could eat 20lb watermelon all by myself), apples, broccoli, cauliflower, melon, chicken tenders, Cole Slaw, fajitas
Favorite flowers:
calla lilies, irises, sunflowers, tulips, poppies
