Tamara on Vox

Have you ever volunteered for something? If so, what?

I didn't a bunch of volunteer work when I was younger. First, I worked for the local library all summer. Then I talked with Alzheimer's patients at the local center. By college, I had volunteered for five years for the National Science Center. I need to do more now.

What word or phrase drives you absolutely nuts?
submitted by, revolt

My least favorite has to be "You know what I'm saying?" It drives me up the wall. What is funny about this phrase is that it finds itself in so many cultures.

For example, I was watching "Cristina" on Univision one night. Granted, I don't speak Spanish, but I do know some phrases and names of body parts. I think it was about women and their lazy, no-good boyfriends/husbands. One of the men seemed to be defending his actions or lifestyle in Spanish, but he would finish his sentences with "You know what I'm saying?" in English. This phrase is everywhere.

Show us what you wish you were doing right now.

Four or eight years later

Music-wise, what was the first 45, single or download you bought? 
Submitted by Paddy Melt Wagon.

The first one was Lisette Melendez's "Together Forever." I was 11 and I didn't know what good music was back then.

What are five things that most people don't know about you? 
Submitted by mika.

1. I don't eat canned corn. I just don't trust it.
2. I have a birthmark on my left side that is the shape of Australia.
3. I have a fear of maps (cartophobia).
4. I had hair extensions for three days in the fourth grade.
5. I am a champion square dancer and hula hooper.

What kind of camera

(s) do you own?

I own several cameras. Most of them are pretty old school, but the two I use the most are the following:

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P73

Nikon FM10

Then, there are three that are in my collection:

Polaroid Colorpack 100

Canan Supershot Owl

Kodak EK4 Instant Camera

Tell us two truths and a lie about yourself.

1. I won a Fantasy Basketball contest and received a satellite TV package. Since I didn't have my own home, I couldn't accept the prize.
2. I'm the youngest of four children in my family. The others are all boys -- Carl, Anthony and Nate. If you put our names in order of birth, it spells out CANT. My mother loved music and thought that it would be cute for all of us to be a musical quartet.
3. I only lasted in preschool for a week. I couldn't handle the monkey bars and fell, scraping my face or something like that. My parents pulled me out.

What's the infamous story people tell about you? 
Submitted by Cherney.

I know that I'm not answering this question right, but oh well.

For some reasons, other than it's really funny, I like to share the story on how my house was broken into when I was a teenager. The robbers ransacked the house, going through drawers and piggy banks and grabbed a pillow case to stash their loot.

The reason why it was funny is that the robbers really went through my room the most. Every letter I had and all my stuff was scattered on the floor. They went to my music collection, and when they were selecting what they wanted, they didn't take anything. They took the time to look at what I had and didn't take a single CD. I took it as a sign that I have bad musical taste. But that's OK because I got to keep all of it.

What were you doing one year ago today?
Submitted by CassandraMorgan.

Last year, I had applied to four graduate schools and was upset by then because I had gotten into only one of three. The one was a three-year program when I wanted to get into the two-year program. What made it worse was that the money I had saved for grad school was tied up, and I couldn't go to any school at all. The situation is slightly better now.

How have people mispronounced your name?  How is it supposed to sound? 
Submitted by Lorie.   

Mispronouncing my name is the theme of my life. When my mother was pregnant, she thought that Tamara would be a good name -- simple, easy to spell, sticks around through life. She wanted it to be like Tamara, as in like tomorrow. Once I was born, a nurse mispronounced it as Tamara as like Ta-mare-a. My mother liked that one better, and changed it once I was taken home. Months passed and a relative pronounced it as Tamara as in camera. My parents like that way the best. So, the third and final pronunciation stayed.

My middle name is another story. It's Dulva, but most people pronounce it like vulva. However, the "a" at the end is a long a, in my case. But we could never figure out if it was supposed to be that way.