The Name:
“Tatyana” is like the “Jennifer” of Russia ; it seems like half the female population in the former Soviet Union has the name. As such, it has many Russian diminutives, like “Tanusha,” “Tanechka,” and “Tasik.” There is also a more common diminutive which I hate, so I don’t tell anyone what it is. In the US , some people refer to me as “Taty” or just “T” to shorten the name. Now that there’s a PhD in front of my name, you can also call me “Doctor.”
The Woman:
Jersey Girl, California Girl, Jewish Doctor, Russian Bride.
Doesn’t get better than that, does it?
The Legend:
Born in the Soviet Union in 1974, then moved to New York in 1978, then New Jersey in 1984. Had a rather wild set of teenage years as an official “drama queen” until the discovery that reading and critical thinking can be even more stimulating than drama. Went off to Amherst College and graduated in 1996 with a degree in microeconomics. Then worked in advertising and brand consulting at Leo Burnett in Chicago and London between 1996-1999. Spent a year in Princeton as Director of Emerging Thought for a loyalty marketing firm in 1999-2000, then moved out to Berkeley , California for an anthropology PhD program in 2000. Between 2000-2007, was working on the dissertation, and spent a few years in Russia during that time to do fieldwork. Met Peter in early 2005 in an intermediate sailing class at Cal Adventures in Berkeley . Started teaching yoga in late 2005 and still teach a few nights a week. As the end of grad school loomed, academia proved just too damn political and depressing to base life around, so moved across the bay to San Francisco to work at IDEO. Baika comes to work at IDEO a day or two a week as my executive assistant.
