Category Archives: About Me

Interviewed by [F]oxymoron

18thFebruary2009

The seventh installment of the “Interview Zan” series comes to us from [F]oxymoron. (If you remember, [F]oxymoron is the cupcake-man.)

1. If you had the opportunity to read the thoughts of one man (think What Women Want), who would you choose, and why?

I wouldn’t want to read the thoughts of someone I was romantically involved with. Although it would be nice to know if they were lying about something, I wouldn’t want to know what my partner was thinking all the time. In the absence of that choice, if I had to choose someone (this isn’t a skill I’ve ever wanted to have), I guess I would choose someone really evil who was planning to commit a terrorist act by killing a lot of people. I’d intercept his evil plans and save a lot of lives.

2. You are very involved with the BlogHer community. What advice would you offer to a woman interested in writing quality content for BlogHer, or any other established online community?

First and foremost, if you want to write quality content for an established site, you have to want to write whether you’re getting paid to do it or not. I’d been blogging on my personal site for over four years before I started writing for BlogHer. How did that come about? I’d been reading and commenting regularly on the site, and in late 2006 I read a post that was related to single women.

One of BlogHer’s co-founders, Lisa Stone, left a comment on that post eluding to the fact that she was looking for a Singles editor. I wrote her an email and told her I was interested; she decided to give me a chance…two years later, I’ve gone from four posts a month to eight and I also write about fitness. It’s a great thing.

3. One day you run into Oprah while devouring a chocolate cupcake with peppermint icing at Hello Cupcake. She says, “Hey Zandria, I want you to come on my show next week and discuss a few of the things you blog about.” What would you discuss?

I don’t watch Oprah very often, but I know she’s an inspiration to a lot of women. As for me, the posts I’ve written that are most important to me are the ones that I feel have inspired other people. Things that I find inspiring tend to be my favorite posts when they’re written by other people, too.

If Oprah invited me to be on her show, I’d want to be involved with choosing and interviewing everyday women who decided to stop being afraid of potential consequences and went outside of their comfort zone to accomplish something they really wanted to do. It doesn’t have to be something huge, like building schools in Africa or founding a nonprofit organization. I’m talking about people who quit a well-paying to do something they really love, or maybe they hiked the entire Appalachian Trail. I believe that seeing other people accomplish these things inspires other women to do the same with their own dreams.

4. After a string of five wonderful dates, out of six, you conclude that you’ve encountered a rare species of DC man — a keeper. What did you do for the first date? The second? And what was the “not so good” date?

Since I haven’t identified a “keeper” yet, I’m not sure if I’m supposed to answer this question with dates I’ve already been on, or ones that I’d like to go on. I’d say, in general, the dates I like the best are the ones where I’m able to get to know the person. This means no movie theaters and no loud concerts (which would be considered a “not so good” date, at least while we’re getting to know each other). I like sitting somewhere (not too noisy and crowded) to have a few drinks; I also like walking around outside on a nice day.

I also wouldn’t mind doing something active, like hiking, but I’d save that for at least the second date. There’s been a few times where I consented to spending a few hours with someone I’d never met before, and it turned out to be way too long (an excursion to a museum comes to mind).

5. Imagine this…your online reading is restricted only to posts including one “tag” (keyword) of your choice. What tag would you choose, and why?

I actually have Google Alerts set up to send me an email every day on two specific tags. The tags I chose are “single women” and “fitness,” which happen to be my two BlogHer writing areas. It’s a good way for me to stay informed about what’s going on, and sometimes the posts I write are based on a topic I’ve read about through one of these alerts.

If I had to choose one of them, I’d go with “single women.” That tag pulls up information about single women all over the world. Every day something interesting pops up that I click on and read about…it’s pretty cool.

By Zandria | Comments (7)

Interviewed by Nadine

11thFebruary2009

This is the sixth installment of the “Interview Zan” series. (I’ve already received five requests for interviews, so unfortunately…no more requests! However, because I’m mean and unfair like that, if you’re interested in sending me five questions to answer, I’ll be glad to do so.)

My sixth interview comes from Nadine.

1. What’s your opinion on home schooling? What are your memories about that?

This is probably the hardest question to answer because I have a lot of “What if?” scenarios in my head. (What if I’d never been home schooled at all? Or what if I’d never gone back to public school and “graduated” from home study like my older sister did? I’m sure both of these scenarios would mean that my life would have turned out very differently than it has.)

Basically, I’d have to say that I don’t think I always had ideal home schooling conditions — primarily because I feel like I missed out on certain things. I don’t care about the lack of school dances or junior high angst, but I think a larger taste of public school (other than just kindergarten/1st grade and 11th/12th grade) would have given me a better idea of what my options in life were. When I went back to public school for my junior and senior year of high school, I got A’s and B’s right away even though I’d been home schooled for the previous 7 years. I belonged to some honor societies and took a few honors classes, but I know I could have done more. It took me a while to feel like I fit in there, though, after having been gone for so long. By the time I was starting to feel comfortable, it was time to graduate.

That being said, I know that my home schooling experience contributed to who I am today, and I know my parents had good intentions.

2. Where do you think we’ll go when we die?

I grew up in a devout Baptist household, so I know the “correct” answer to this question as it relates to my upbringing. I believe in heaven and hell, but (sorry, mom and dad) most of the time it’s not something that I put any thought into.

3. Did you keep something from your childhood that still means a lot to you?

I still have the baby book my mom put together for me that follows my first few years after birth. It’s the oldest thing I can think of that I own, and it means a lot to me. I haven’t looked at it in a while…I should do that sometime soon.

4. If a non profit organization gave you enough money to live in a third world country for 6 months, would you move there to help this organization with helping people?

I’m trying not to sound like a spoiled brat, but it would probably depend on the living conditions. Would it be very-very hot there? Would I have enough to eat and drink? Would I be expected to do very hard, physical labor? If I were asked to go somewhere for that long and the conditions were right; yes, I would put some serious thought into it.

5. If you had to choose between keeping your memories from birth till now and forever lose the ability to remember new things OR forget all the memories from birth to now but keep the ability to remember new things? What would you choose?

I would choose the second option — I’d forget all the memories from birth to now but keep the ability to remember new things. Even though my past memories have made me who I am today, I can’t imagine going forward only remembering those things, but not being able to retain anything new. I could always build new memories.

By Zandria | Comments (8)

7 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Me

5thFebruary2009

(I was tagged by Liz and Wendy.)

1) When I was in college, living in Richmond, I volunteered at a domestic violence shelter for about six months. A big part of my job was organizing the vast amount of clothing donations in the basement (when women and children came to stay in the house, they were told they could take whatever they needed).

2) I’m a procrastinator. Example: I just took my car in last week to have the annual inspection done. It was over a month overdue. In the past, I’ve never been more than a few days late — but I don’t use my car very often (and when I do, it’s usually at night, when it’s dark), so I didn’t feel the need to make it a priority.

3) A few people at work have told me that I can be…scary. It’s not like I try to be scary on purpose! I think it’s because I don’t always go out of my way to be overly-friendly with people.

4) Mon-Fri, I have oatmeal for breakfast. And sometimes, because it’s convenient, I’ll have it for an afternoon snack, too. (Since I bring my food to work with me, it tends to be something simple that doesn’t take up a lot of room in my purse.)

5) Something that annoys me: if I finish lifting weights at the gym and someone says to me, “That didn’t take long” or “Leaving already?” C’mon, people! If I’m not doing cardio and I’m only there to lift weights, I don’t think it’s unusual to be there for only half an hour.

6) I keep a toothbrush in my desk drawer at work because I like to brush my teeth in the mid-to-late afternoon. It’s a signal to myself that it’s time to stop snacking until dinnertime (and also a nice way to freshen the breath). I’ve never seen anyone else brush their teeth in the ladies’ restroom, though.

7) I’m not a fan of sweaters. In fact, I haven’t worn any sweaters so far this winter. At this point I only own a few of them, and they’re sitting on the top shelf of my closet. I just don’t need something that bulky since I wear a big coat when I’m outside, and it’s warm enough inside my apartment and workplace to get away with short sleeves.

By Zandria | Comments (12)

Interviewed by Love is Blonde

4thFebruary2009

This is the fifth installment of the “Interview Zan” series. (I’ve already received five requests for interviews, so unfortunately…no more requests! However, because I’m mean and unfair like that, if you’re interested in sending me five questions to answer, I’ll be glad to do so.)

My fifth interview comes from Janet, aka Love is Blonde.

1. If I gave you a canvas and a full palette of paint right now, what would you paint and would it be any good?

I’d have to paint something abstract and hope, by sheer luck, that it turned out semi-presentable. In other words, no, Zan doesn’t have any mad painting skillz (which is unfortunate, because I do have a few family members who are talented artists).

#69 on my 101 Things list is to Paint a picture, so I guess I’ll have to locate painting materials at some point.

2. Do you think your birth order has made an impact on your personality?

Sure it has, but I’m thinking about it in the context of the experiences I’ve had compared to my siblings. I’m the second-oldest of five kids (one older sister, one younger sister, two younger brothers).

My older sister has been through situations I didn’t have to deal with, so I got lucky in that way. But I was old enough that I helped take care of my brothers when they were growing up, so I had that experience. And it also means that my youngest brother, with his oldest sister being fifteen years older than he is, has pretty much always had grown-up sisters in his life.

My brother was only three years old when our parents separated (and later divorced); I was already sixteen. I was home-schooled for seven years; he’s always been in public school. I wasn’t allowed to listen to non-Christian music or watch unsanitized TV programs and movies; the same restrictions have never been in place for him. We grew up in completely different environments — so yes, at least in my household, birth order had a huge impact on my personality.

3. Would life be any different if you were a brunette instead of a blonde?

It’s impossible to say. In certain situations, no, I don’t think life would be any different. I don’t think I’d be treated any differently at work, and I’m sure my relationship with my friends and family would be the same.

As for the more casual, first encounter-type meetings? Well, let’s say I decided to go to my favorite neighborhood bar with my hair dyed brown, or wearing a brown wig. When I go there as a blond, who I talk to depends entirely on the night — sometimes I talk to new people, sometimes I don’t. So what this indicates to me is that if I went there with brown hair, looking to talk to someone, and had bad results, it wouldn’t necessarily mean it was because of my hair color. Different people are attracted to different things.

4. Which type of uniformed man is the hottest of all, in your humble opinion?

Janet! Men in uniforms? What the hell are you talking about?

If I were forced to give it some thought, I guess I’d choose military guys and police officers. A big part of it’s due to how they keep themselves in shape — I like that. And because of that reason, formerly-uniformed guys (who look like they could still wear such a uniform), are included in this group.

5. Would you ever go on a reality TV show?

I like to think that if the right opportunity presented itself, I’d be open to trying something new. So I guess the answer is, “Possibly.” It would depend on what the show was about. I can’t say there are many reality shows I’ve seen that I would ever try (“The Bachelor” and “Survivor” are negative examples that come to mind), but if the concept intrigued me? Well, then…possibly.

By Zandria | Comments (8)

Interviewed by Zipcode

29thJanuary2009

This is the fourth installment of the “Interview Zan” series. (I’ve already received five requests for interviews, so unfortunately…no more requests! However, because I’m mean and unfair like that, if you’re interested in sending me five questions to answer, I’ll be glad to do so. I’m enjoying this series!)

My fourth interview comes from Zipcode.

1. Have you always been into fitness? What is your favorite activity to keep you into shape?

Honestly, for most of my life I never gave fitness a lot of thought. If we were doing physical activities in my church group, or if I was running around outside with my sisters, that’s just what I did. I joined a gym when I was in my late teens, but I only went a few times. (And I was charged monthly for two years after that. Luckily the charge was only about $16 per month — thanks to it being a small, ladies-only gym in Richmond.)

I’d never purposefully lifted any kind of weight heavier than a 5-lb. dumbbell (which doesn’t even count, since it was a halfhearted attempt and never on a regular basis) until July 2007. For a more detailed explanation of how I got interested in fitness, read this post about how fitness changed my life.

My favorite activities are walking and weight-lifting. Walking, because I don’t mind doing it anywhere, at any time (unless I’m wearing uncomfortable shoes). Weight-lifting because it makes me feel strong, and capable, and it’s changed the shape of my body.

2. Have you ever gotten in trouble with the law?

Do you mean “for real” in trouble? Or “fake” in trouble with someone who works in law enforcement?

(Oh, silly me, of course you meant the former. Too bad, because the second option would have been a more interesting story…)

The only “for real” trouble I’ve ever been in with the law was traffic-related. Running a red light, speeding, that kind of thing. The last time I got a ticket was years and years ago, though. (The last time I got pulled over, on Thanksgiving day, the officer let me go. I think it’s because I utilized The Almost-Hysterical Girl Voice.)

3. Are you in your dream profession? If not, what would you like to do?

I’m an Executive Assistant. I doubt many people in my profession would say that they’re in their “dream job,” but all things considered, I don’t have anything to complain about. My job is low-stress for the most part; I’m recognized and thanked for what I do; I have some great co-workers; very good benefits; I receive a salary that allows me to pay my bills, spend on entertainment, and still have some left over to put in savings; etc.

However, I don’t plan to be an Executive Assistant for the rest of my life. It’s working for me for right now, but if I have an epiphany, or a new opportunity comes my way that I just can’t turn down — I’d certainly address it. (And I certainly wouldn’t argue if that new job allowed me to write for a living.)

4. Where would you like to travel to this year?

I’m certain that I’ll get out of the U.S. this year. I still haven’t decided for sure which countries this trip will include, but I have some options. (I know people in the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, and Japan, and I’ve been invited to join a few friends for a trip to Rome this summer.)

5. Have you ever seen Monty Pythons Holy Grail? If so, what is your Quest? If not, go rent it this weekend!

Never seen it! If you have a copy and want to lend it out, I’ll be happy to oblige. Not this weekend, though — I’m spending the night in Richmond tomorrow night, have a hair appointment Saturday afternoon, plans for Saturday night back in Alexandria, and a Super Bowl get-together on Sunday afternoon.

By Zandria | Comments (4)