My name is Victoria Ordin. I am a Ph.D. candidate in English (University of California at Santa Barbara, but the academia ship sailed long, long ago), one of whose greatest joys in life is writing. I went to Yale College, where I studied with amazing people both in English and philosophy including George Fayen, Carol Rovane, Paul Fry, John Hollander, and David Bromwich.
I am a Victorianist/19th-century person. I’m also an LA girl in love with New York City (and the Tri-State area more generally). Since 2011 I have returned to dance, taking the 5-hour a day Luigi Summer Intensive and I have just begun to study with Risa and Jerry Evans at Hama Jazz Dance Centre. I hope to start taking with Hama again, for whom my main teacher (for whom I assisted a year) was an assistant.
I travel back to the city every two months for two weeks and meet both new and old friends, many of whom came into my life through Facebook, which has truly transformed my existence. I was severely depressed a decade, till mid-2009. Another fundamental part of my personal identity is a childhood embedded in the entertainment industry. The vast majority of my childhood friends were the children of highly successful figures in television and to a lesser extent film. Mine were prominent attorneys. I 
attended St. Augustine (K to 6) and Westlake School for Girls (7 to 12).
I graduated in 1990, the penultimate class of girls, and when not studying, I danced seriously–Luigi jazz–and debated in state and national tournaments, before becoming apolitical from 1990 to 2010. I’m a registered Democrat but only really far left on social issues and only slightly interested in politics. Pop and high culture are my true passions.
I am extremely feminine–love (designer resale/consignment) clothes, makeup, hair, lingerie, jewelry, as well as food and wine. When not in NYC, I live 2/3 of the month in SB with my boyfriend and his purebred yellow lab, Emma, and his Norwegian Forest cat, Ollie, and 1/3 of the month in Pacific Palisades (West LA) with parents, where I am “Schlepper Number One.”
In the past year, I wrote two book reviews for The Weekly Standard which can be found on the magazine website and subsidiary blogs like RealClearBooks. My blogs can be found on www.jblangconsulting.com and occasionally, www.juntoblogspot.com (Philadelphia Junto). Recently, I’ve become a Yelper which I absolutely love! My Yelp handle is Victoria O./Victorian Chick. You can also find me on LinkedIn and I have a Facebook page, Victorian Chick, on which I post daily between blogs.