Red Interviews Tanya

How does your temperament reflect the typical characteristics of your star sign?
I think I am pretty much a Gemini. I have loads of Gemini in my chart, and absolutely no earth signs in my chart. This means I have nothing to ground me and I spend a lot of time living in my head and more than one person has told me that I think too much. I place a lot of emphasis on communication, which is a very Gemini trait. I am also born in the year of the Ox, and I possess a great deal of the Ox qualities too. I think that some of the Ox influence acts as grounding to the Gemini flightiness. But, I can be contradictory and indecisive. And I get bored very quickly.


Do you have a favourite cat breed? Which is it, and why?
My favourite cat breed is the common garden variety accidental mix. I wouldn't want a cat with a pedigree as long as my arm. I think that regular cats are far more psychic. Yes. I did say psychic. And they are not prone to diseases that run through the pedigreed sort. I love cats, all cats, but I prefer the ones that have not been engineered.

Is England home for you these days or do you think you'll want to go back to South Africa one day?
I think that going back to South Africa will happen some day. Home really is where the heart is and it has nothing to do with going back to my roots. It's going back to my heart. It will be some time yet before I can even contemplate this because I have debts to pay and a life to get back on its feet. Ask me again in two years. But South Africa is definitely still home.


Dating: do you prefer to be asked out or to be the one doing the asking?
Oooh. I don't know. I like doing the asking, but I also like being asked. There's less risk of being rejected if I am asked, but I like to make someone feel special. Either way, if she's a lovely person and I want to spend time with her, I don't mind who does the asking.


Do you like your first name? Were other names considered for you at birth?
I like my first name. As a child I had problems saying "Tanya" and so named myself "Tammy". My family still call me Tammy. Only family, however, get to do that. I hate it when someone outside of family calls me Tammy, unless I feel comfortable with them to such a degree that they are like family. Tam or Tammy is a lot more familiar to me and until I went to primary school, I believed that was my name. My parents had to explain to me that people would be calling me Tanya and that Tanya was really my name. It was a little weird being Tanya in the beginning. Only the people in South Africa call me Tammy. I hate being called "Tan". Taz and T are very acceptable.