I like fish too...

...but this is too much.

Rest in peace, Francis M.

The man was responsible for my introduction to rap, Filipino-style, with "Mga Kababayan." And for music class in high school, I sang "Cold Summer Nights" for a passing grade. One thing he always was was proudly Filipino.


So long, Man from Manila.

Help!

I was a Girl Scout once, all the way through high school, in fact. Loved every minute of it too--the camping weekends, the competition for best patrol, the cheering and singing (okay, that part not so much). But for all that we did and have, we missed out on the whole Girl Scout cookie experience.

I encountered my first Girl Scout cookie at the first office I worked in. Everyone's got a co-worker who has a kid selling something at some point during the year. While I begrudgingly purchased Chirstmas cards and gift wrappers for this, that, or the other fund-raising effort, the Girl Scouts and their cookies, I looked forward to.

The season is upon us again. The little girl who came to my house a few weeks back to take our order delivered 4 boxes of cookies last week. By Saturday, we were out. Luckily, on a random trip to Long's Drugs (I never go there), we stumbled upon a Girl Scout cookie booth/table and bought more. That lot too is gone now. And today, I drove to 3 different locations, under pretense of having to go there anyway for one thing or another, looking for more Girl Scout cookies.

I wish I knew where that little girl who came to my house lives. Is it weird that I'd totally be knocking on their door right now, if I could?


For the love of God, I just want some more Do-si-dos!

An odd kinda day

This morning, I woke up in tears from a nightmare. A little boy that I adopted was trying to kill me with my husband's guns. I kept calling my husband for help, but he was downstairs vacuuming while talking on the phone so he couldn't hear me.

Not a good way to start. No wonder today has been an odd kind of day. It's alternately cold and sunny, outside and within.

On a downswing, I found myself looking for this.

25 Way Random Things

My friend Sarah tagged me with this on Facebook.

1. I wish I was better at making new friends, and keeping in touch with old ones.
2. I learned to drink coffee at a very young age. We're talking grade school here. Daddy (my grandpa) taught me how. It was instant coffee with lots of sugar and powdered milk. I remember pouring it over a plate of steamed rice and scrambled eggs. And liking it!
   
3. I dream of living in the Philippines again.
4. In another life, I think I could have been an architect. In this one, I'd settle for becoming a better writer.
5. The best thing to come out of my grad school stint was meeting V. I still sometimes can't believe he married me.
   
6. As far as I'm concerned, it's never hot enough.
   
7. When I was 6 or so, I swear I saw a vampire. He was standing in the middle of the street, in front of our house. I stared at him from my bedroom window, frozen in fear, for what seemed like forever. Finally, I mustered up the courage to roll myself off the bed. I fell with a thud, waking up my parents who wanted to know what on earth I was doing.
8. I have a brown thumb, which V suggests I parlay into a weed control business.
9. I miss being near my family.
10. I regret not being there when Mommy (my paternal grandma) died.
11. I'm scared of swimming in open water. But I love the beach. I'm deathly afraid of drowning, so I forced myself to learn to scuba dive.
12. I'm really good at making V laugh.
13. Ever since I can remember, I've always thought about adopting a kid. Or two.
14. I had a hard time learning the multiplication table. I used to cheat on tests by counting the windows of my classroom. To this day, I can't recite tables 7 and 8. That's why I got a calculator watch this Christmas.
15. I dream of being my own boss.
16. So far, I've lived in 17 different houses/apartments, in 14 different towns/cities. I'm used to moving around but look forward to planting roots one day. I could be happy and fulfilled in one place, as Tracey would say.
17. I used to be sporty and outdoorsy. The smell of freshly cut grass still takes me back to those countless afternoons on the football (soccer for the Americans) field. And the sight of my hiking boots makes me yearn for the time when I climbed mountains for the view, and the good company.
    
18. In Los Banos, my adoptive hometown, I was happiest walking among the trees.
    
19. People buying cases of bottled water at Costco annoy me. Unless you're catering a party, or going on a long road trip, or living out in the woods for months on end, there is no need for individual serving-sized bottles of water in the house. Ever heard of a pitcher and glasses? A Nalgene bottle and a Brita filter? Folks, let's all try a little harder for the environment, shall we?
20. I would always want to travel more.
21. If I ever win the lottery, I'd pay off all my friends' student loans.
22. I was only ever as cool as the friends I surrounded myself with. Left to my own devices, I read gossip magazines, shop at the Gap and listen to Top 20 music.
23. I was once described by a medical professional as a "mole producer." As in, I have lots of moles all over my body. Her terminology suggests that I will constantly make new ones. So does that mean that one day, I'll be totally spotted?
24. I will tell anyone who asks that I went to the gym today. Even though I didn't.
    
25. The only thing I miss about being young is being fearless.
    

One more reason to love Trader Joe's

Well, what do you know?

They have San Mig Light at Trader Joe's!

Now you see it.

Now you don't.

Happy Monday, all!

Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul

I thought I'd explain more about the exhibit V & I saw at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. But lacking the information to write knowledgeably about it, I defer to the experts.

From the National Geographic website:




The Hidden Treasure

In 1988, Afghanistan was ten years into a violent civil war. As the security situation in the capital worsened, government and National Museum officials worried the Kabul museum, home to thousands of historical artifacts and works of art, would be destroyed or looted. They made a plan to transfer many of the objects to secret hiding places.

By 1989, the transfer was complete, and caches of priceless historical objects were secured in the Ministry of Information and the Central Bank treasury vault at the presidential palace. Among the hidden treasures were Bronze Age gold pieces, hundreds of ancient coins, and the famous "Bactrian hoard," a collection of some 20,000 gold, silver, and ivory objects from burial plots at Tillya Tepe in northern Afghanistan.

Workers involved in the transfer swore secrecy and designated "key holders" for the vaults. They kept their covenant through civil war and Taliban rule at enormous personal risk.

The objects remained hidden despite nearly constant conflict and political upheaval in Kabul. But a campaign by the Taliban in 2001 to "destroy all images" resulted in the loss of thousands of irreplaceable artifacts throughout the country, including many of the items hidden in the Ministry of Information. But the palace treasures survived.

In 2003, after the Taliban had been thrown from power by a U.S. military campaign and Afghanistan's first open elections had installed Hamid Karzai as president, a report from the Central Bank in Kabul revealed that the museum trunks deposited at the palace vault in 1989 were intact.

A team of local and international experts, including archaeologist and National Geographic Fellow Fredrik Hiebert, assembled in Kabul to see the vault opened and verify the authenticity of its contents.

When the first safe was finally cracked, the team saw piles of small plastic bags with old labels, each one containing beads and jewelry. Russian archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi, whose team had discovered the Tillya Tepe objects in 1979, smiled when he spotted an artifact with a small wire repair that he'd made with his own hands.

In June of 2004, an announcement was made to the world that the Bactrian hoard and other hidden treasures of Afghanistan were found, and an international effort was mounted to preserve these collections and put them on exhibition for the world to see.

Images from nationalgeographic.com.

If nothing else, this exhibit shows us a side of the Afghan culture and people different from the images we've been seeing on TV all these years. "Hidden Treasures" goes to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, then the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Is it raining where you are?

What not to give

If you're like me, you are still in the process of getting your Christmas gift shopping done. And at some point over the last few weeks, you've probably asked yourself what on earth else you can give your dad, or your co-worker, or the mailman, that he/she hasn't gotten yet.

I don't have any answers for that question (I'm resorting to getting underwear to family members, for crying out loud!) But this list tells you what to definitely avoid.

I've given magazine subscriptions, and I know for a fact that they were appreciated. I've received them too, and liked them (Thanks, Sonia!). It can work, if you are thoughtful enough about your selection.

Other things on the list seem obvious: don't give your old things; an I.O.U. is just tacky; and who would ever want a singing fish (wait, we had one!)?

But this caught my attention:

8. A dusty tin full of edible stuff

This is not a tin of just anything—everyone loves getting homemade cookies or candies or a favorite cake and holiday tins are great for storage. I'm talking about when you're in the dollar store and you see some extra-dusty tins on the bottom shelf filled with, say, those chocolate turtles. And you have no idea how long they've been there, or if what's inside is even edible. But you buy a couple anyway because you're desperate for a few last minute gifts. And the person you give it to opens it and the chocolate-whatever inside is stale and the candy breaks their tooth.

While at the local dollar store yesterday afternoon (where else can you score rolls of wrapping paper and bags of ribbons and bows for a buck each?!), I spotted a middle-age looking guy filling his basket with Christmas-y mugs stuffed with what looked like peppermint candy. He was pulling them from deep within the bottom shelf of the Christmas food aisle, just as entry no. 8 warned above! The man was in front of me at the check out counter, so I know that he paid all of seven dollars and change for what I imagine to be his gifts to his co-workers or maybe his employees (or his secret enemies?).

The kicker is that as I was about to get into my car and drive off, I see who else but the dusty Christmas mug guy climbing into a shiny Porsche Cayenne. I guess he has to make up for his car payments somehow.

Merry Christmas!