FaceTime: Larissa Deyneka
By Jamie Peraza
You might recognize her as the girl with funky hair, tattoos, and buttons who works in the art supply section at the SU Bookstore, but Larissa Deyneka has much more to offer than her unique sense of style. Deyneka talks to JERK about her unfounded dislike for actor Shia Labeouf and tells us what’s on the top of her bucket list.
1. Name, Age, Occupation.
Larissa Christina Deyneka, I’ll admit, I’m 35 and I work for the Syracuse University bookstore.
2. How long have you been working at the bookstore?
Close to 10 years.
3. Has anything super exciting ever happened in the bookstore?
Not particularly within the bookstore. The bookstore is pretty much a self-contained little unit of family measure kind of thing so, for the most part, we’re pretty much on the same page. But on campus definitely! If it’s not one thing, it’s another and today is the zombie chase so that’s pretty exciting.
4. In one sentence, what do you do all day?
I sell art supplies and give an awful lot of advice. I’m the answer girl, and that’s generally what I do all day.
5. Can you tell us a little about your change of hair color and what inspires it?
Well, I’m a natural blonde. I think that from high school to college I was a red head, like a real red head. I went shock red like Columbia from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Then I bleached it all out just a couple of months ago, strangely enough, so I’ve been red for quite a few years. I started changing and putting the colors in after I went to London one time. I got my hair done and essentially the hair dresser just put a little shock of pink and it was all over from there.
6. What’s something people don’t know about you?
My life is pretty much an open book. I feel like I wear tattoos, and crazy hair colors, and T-shirts from bands and I have buttons everywhere so everyone kind of knows that, but something that they don’t know about me? I wanted to marry French Stewart from 3rd Rock from the Sun when I was younger. He’s an obsession of mine.
7. What is at the top of your bucket list?
Oh, I have the best answer ever for this. But, for me, my bucket list is more like a “things I would do if I knew this was my last day on Earth” almost,(laughs), Or at least that’s how I treat it, which is not the right answer, but I want to be wearing a desiccated wedding dress with a gold lame sash that says “Spinster for Life,” and I want to jump off the Empire State building while screaming, “I regret nothing!” or, perhaps, “Somebody feed my cats!” A girl’s got to have options.
8. If you could be reincarnated as someone dead or alive, who would it be and why?
From the past I feel like women had it hard, so there’s a lot of things I don’t want to relive per say with that stuff, but if you could be reincarnated into Dorothy Parker’s wit, perhaps, that would be kind of amazing. But for like a day if I wanted to be someone, I’d go with David Bowie. He’s still the thin, white dude for me and he’s still kind of like a God. Him or Mick Jagger! I’m not sure.
9. If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy?
The first thing I would do is pay off my debt, my friends’ debt, my parent’s debt, and everything after that would be buying a place somewhere outside of the country. I’m not sure where, but I’m feeling Italy right now.
10. Worst pet peeve?
I hate it when I’m watching a commercial and someone doesn’t take a real bite out of the food they’re trying to sell me. It’s a simple, small detail but it bugs me. It’s like, “Who are you fooling? You’re not fooling me!”
11. What celebrity would you love to punch in the face?
Oh God, Shia Labeouf. I can’t stand him. Have you ever had an irrational hatred for someone? You just look at them and think, “I really just hate your face.” I really just can’t stand him, so that’s my answer.