It's official. The season has shifted from mild, a-scarf-will-do, thick comforter cold season TO hell freezing over (see: excruciating)

Excruciating (adj.)

1. You require three layers of clothing to prevent your blood from congealing.
2. You require another hour to rise from bed... your nervous system is on holiday.
3. You see smoke from your mouth and you're not holding a Marlboro Light.
4. Despite the meteorological impossibility, you swear you saw snow.
5. You forget where you parked your dogsled.
6. You entertain the idea of hugging... even with complete strangers.
7. Even you're hair is numb, and is perpetually towel dried despite the aid of hairblowers, you're new bestfriend.
8. You're basic necessities are air, water, food and a radiator.
9. The idea of ice cream is blaspemous.
10. You contemplate selling your soul for a one-way ticket to the Caribbean or a pizza furnace, whichever you could afford.
11. You're only vocabulary outdoors include "f"s and "s"s and "brrr"
12. You wanna maim anything resembling Frosty the Snowman.
13. You prefer boiled Coca-cola.
    

Baguio, my city (wanna see the deed?) is set atop a plateau. I've lived here for most of my life and it still amazes me that people during the American occupation literally paved the way to this relatively remote place. The attraction was/is the cool weather due to the elevation. I've never actually seen any but they* say that it was so cold here in Baguio then, that icicles hung on pine trees like tinsel. It's not a big thing compared to people who live farther from the equator... but living in the tropics... people come to see these things.

*They - everyone heard "them" say it but noone seems to know who "they" are.

Global warming has started buying tracts of real estate here, and although the only place you see icicles in are freezers whose regular defrostings have been forgotten, it is STILL very cold here... and the tardy typhoons aren't helping either.

I'm not complaining...

If you'll excuse me, my marshmallows are starting to burn, I've decided to turn all the wooden furniture in my room into kindling. This is gonna be the best bonfire ever! the only problem is where I'm gonna sleep. Meh...



Art Cred:
Melting Snowman



Oh happy day!
Dreamy Tyler and James won the Amazing Race. Ooh la la... It doesn't feel as cold anymore.


Welcoming my new tenant: Blonde Chick Bloggin', Sorry but the heater is kaput. You are however free to burn any flammable thing in the room. Link at the right sidebar... Tell her I sent you.

Labels: baguio, BE tenant, boo-freakin-hoo, holidays, list-o-rama

Nearly everyone in the house is infected by a cough virus that's been an unwanted visitor for weeks now. I am surprisingly one of the uninfected ones. I received the label of "weakling" from my mom not in a derogatory sense... she merely stated a fact. If anyone is bound to get the flu during the rainy season, it would be me. My mom blames my smoking and my indifference to citrus fruits, I in turn think it's inborn.

The brother passed it my mom, my nephew to my niece, and so forth. The cough virus relay made me impose a quarantine on myself. I hate having the cough... your throat aches, you sound like a rabid dog, medicine sucks and I don't find chucking up phlegm particularly alluring. But worst of all, I miss my golden Marlboros whenever I'm fighting the cold war.

Everyone is on antibiotics now. The first thing my family drinks during the onset of cough is the premier drug of self medication... Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa. My sis discovered this during the "neozep-causing-heart-ailments" scare. We turned herbal. Aside from actually getting immediate results, loquat and honey based cough syrup is yummy. I've been perpetually scared of the taste of Benadryl, so this sweet syrupy medication earned an immediate rave. (Do I sound like an endorser now? haha)

I never looked at the packaging before. I saw a pamphlet that comes with the bottle lying around the dining room... informative AND hilarious.

These are the normal understandable ones. The old guy looks like Pai Mei from Kill Bill.

Awww... Look at the subtle use of a clock and the crescent moon to tell the time. The woman in bed showing the international hand gesture for "mind over heart"

The man on the left showing the international hand gesture for indigestion. The illustration on the right is a riddle. The caption: "Dryness of the skin caused by lung infections" is illustrated so intelligibly by a woman with red earring holding a glass and a chicken leg.

Right: Lung infections cause pimples? Gawd, I never knew that.
Left: I wonder if the opened window (with wafting leaf) contributed in any way to his cough... hmmm... lemme think...

Left: Honey, that's not dryness OR soreness... That's an Adam's apple.
Right: That woman sure looks agitated. Kudos to the artist.


I found that Pei Pa Koa is effective only for me during the onset of colds and cough, a sort of preventive delicious medication. However, I need an actual non-imaginary doctor when things get worse. I'm an extremely pathetic self-medicator.

It has a website: Nin Jiom


New Tenant

Check out The Dana Files. I had four bids this time and I chose Dana because she too likes the Charlie Brown cartoons. Thanks to Stev, Ivan and Blondechick for bidding.

Labels: BE tenant, blah (3x), comics

All Friday night well into Saturday morning, I was deeply engrossed in the twisted memoir of Augusten Burroughs. I was powerless to put the book down. From burlap lined hallways to masturbatoriums, from electroshock therapy machines to Queen Helene Cholesterol, from Bible dips to fortune telling with turds, from eating McNuggets to eating candle wax, from psychotic parents to sociopathic offspring... This is a pageturner.

I owe the discovery of Running with Scissors mainly to book lover extraordinaire, Kat. (Thanks, I had such a twistedly fabulous time reading it!)

A quote from Jules Renard in the first pages of the book sums it all up... "Look for the ridiculous in everything and you will find it." Although the "names and other identifying characteristics" of the people described in the book have been changed, this is an Augusten Burroughs autobiography... dark, twisty and uber hilarious.

Most of the stories he confides here border on preposterous. In Toilet Bowl Readings, one of my favorite chapters... Dr. Finch, his mother's beyond peculiar psychiatrist, discovers divination with feces. The chapter begins with Augusten and two of the Finch daughters, Natalie and Hope, gathered around a toilet bowl examining Dr. Finch's floating turd. The doctor was astounded by the way the tip of his turd was above water and pointing upwards (I was gagging, but I couldn't divert my eyes away from the pages) The Finches were undergoing some financial problems, so the doctor instantly took this as a "sign from God" that things will be turning around. The grossest part yet was Hope, as ordered by her dad, scooping the coiled feces with a spatula and setting it out in the front yard to dry. (hahaha) And they do not stop there... they continue to scoop daily #2's and set it on the front yard picnic table as a chronicle of "messages from heaven". Dr. Finch kept a journal (with turd illustrations) to grasp the "bigger picture". Things did change for the better... well relatively, Hope won a frozen turkey from a radio station contest and the doctor received $1000.00 from an insurance company. This divination with feces episode of the Finches finally ended when the doctor became constipated. He lost his "gift" after that. The story is sooo ludicrous, that it HAS to be true.


The cover of the book I bought had a "Now a Major Motion Picture" tag on it. My curiosity made me click on IMDB, one of my really used bookmarks, in an instant.

• Ryan Murphy directed and wrote the screenplay of the movie. I have no idea who he was, as it turns out, he is the director of the Nip/Tuck series. I haven't seen an episode of that show yet (aside from the opening sequence with the twitching pinky)
• Augusten will be played by an unknown (for me at least) young actor named Joseph Cross who had numerous TV roles.

Main cast with corresponding previous borderline psychotic roles:

• Joseph Fiennes as Neil Bookman (Augusten's lover) His was the first name that caught my eye. What can I say, those Fiennes brothers sure are fine. He repeatedly bashed a guy's head using a phone booth door in Killing Me Softly.
• Annette Bening as Deirdre Burroughs (Augusten's mom) She was amazing Carolyn in American Beauty. I absolutely adore her in that dining room scene... "Then, I must be psychotic then! What is this? Let's bring out the laugh-meter and see how loud it gets!" Remember that scene in the take-out window? "Smile! You're at Smiley's!"
• Evan Rachel Wood as Natalie Finch (Augusten's bestfriend) I was actually thinking about her in that character while I read the book, especially so because of her role in Thirteen. Although, she does fit the role talent-wise, Natalie has issues with her weight, I dunno how they'll translate that into the movie.
  
• Brian Cox as Dr. Finch. For me, he is one of those old actors you see everywhere and they are really good but you can't seem to remember their names (like that actor who played Saruman as opposed to Sir Ian Mckellen). He was in Troy, the 25th hour, Adaptation and the Bourne movies.
• Alec Baldwin as Norman Burroughs (Augusten's Dad) The first crazy role of his I could think of is that chipper person he plays in FRIENDS (I would like to take a mental picture! Click!) Norman was often times just referred to in the book and has dialogue only when he and Deirdre fight, and he is drunk everytime he speaks.
• Gwyneth Paltrow as Hope Finch (Natalie's older sister) I loved Gwyneth as Margot in The Royal Tenenbaums. That mink jacket was to die for.
  
• Honorable Mention: Patrick Wilson as Michael Shephard. I can't for the life of me remember this character in the book! But I do remember Patrick Wilson in Angels in America.

There is an extreme amount of talent in this cast. However, books turned movies rarely live up to their expectations. I guess it's time for a bible dip ala Hope Finch. A bible dip is basically asking a question and then opening a bible to a random page, pointing your finger on that page and making sense out of the phrase/word you're pointing at in response to your question... only I'm gonna use Running with Scissors instead of a bible.

Here goes: Will the movie be as good as the book?

(point) ...stove...

huh?

I read the whole paragraph just to get a grasp of the context...

"Your father isn't going to kill me," my mother said, switching on the front burner of the stove, pulling a More from her pack, and leaning over to light it on the heating coil. "He'd rather suffocate me with his horribly oppressive manipulation and then wait for me to cut my own throat."

huh? I can't get how that relates to my question. "But, Roll of the eyes, What can you do? Shrug."




Winsome Gunning Art Walk
Oh, I've been a terrible lessor... I'm late introducing The Artist. She is my tenant for this week. She creates amazing paintings in her posts that are reminiscent of the art in The Little Prince. Do check out her blog at Winsome Gunning Art Walk. :)

Labels: BE tenant, Bookworms Anonymous, movies

There is a shampoo ad on TV that aired earlier this year with a song that I got obsessively hooked on for some reason. The commercial wasn't anything especially interesting, just a guy and a girl on a bench. But the song, that drasted song was so catchy. I googled lyrics, song titles, artists to no avail. I looked at forums dedicated solely to this enigmatic song. I even contemplated sending a mad e-mail to Unilever. It was that serious.

I never believed in shampoo commercials. I am using "believe" here instead of say "like" or "appreciate". They are extremely deceptive. First of all, dead things can't possibly be healthy... they can be peaceful or decomposing. Imagine reading "for shinier, more peaceful hair" on a bottle. Noone, without resorting to expensive chemical treatments, could possibly have natural hair so soft and straight, it moves like fine chiffon. Plus, the models are always happy... perky... chipper... you'd think they were selling anti-depressants, or liquefied prozac infused into the shampoo absorbed by the scalp through osmosis. A lot of people buy into it (myself included) especially if they have a catchy song that comes along with it. This wouldn't be the first time rich people got richer by selling crap in a nice easy to grip bottle.

Last friday morning was serendipitous. I left my radio on the night before and I was still half asleep when I heard that song. What is it about finding something you have been painstakingly looking for when you aren't even trying?

(Wait a sec... Jon Stewart just put Amy Sedaris on the Seat of Heat, What is it about Jon Stewart? *sigh*)

...

(Ok... I'm back)

Where was I? ah yes... THE shampoo song wafted into my unremembered REM dream. I usually laze in my sheets for close to half an hour before I rise, but on that particular morning I was on my feet in a microsecond rummaging through my drawers for a pen to write the title of the song. I was lightheaded from my abnormally fast arousal, so I did what any lethargic nocturnal creature would do, I crawled back into my blankets and came to work late... again. What is it about the invisible adhesive between my back and my bed? If I could work horizontally, I probably would. But then again, horizontal jobs usually involve sexual favors, grease and hydraulic jacks, or losing your eyesight under the Sistine Chapel. I think I just found a deeper appreciation for my vertical, sometimes inclined, job.

At the office, I stole some paid minutes to download the song on my office computer. "Applewire" worked invisibly behind the Photoshop presentation I was finishing. In less than 3 minutes, the song that took me three weeks to get over was flooding the office. What is it about ownership, even through felonious means that can satiate the most insatiable person? I must have played that song a gazillion times over the course of two days. It got old really fast, I never noticed how hollow the song is until I etched it on my ear drum. What is it about losing interest when the enigma is lost?

Oh and yes, the title of the song... What is it?
"Let Me" by Orange and Lemons (I'm not a big fan of this band especially after they ripped off The Chandeliers... but hey Mr. Tambourine man... play me that song)

Now, if only I could figure out the title of the song in that Bailey's ad... The one where a short haired woman in a bar, after touching a glass of this yummy concoction starts spreading the "dance fever" to the people around her.


New Tenant
Plugging my new tenant, Stumbling Through Life With Grace, I rented her out before already but her blog was undergoing a renovation... Check out her redecorated blog.

Labels: BE tenant, idiot box, music

A third world country on the third leg. The Amazing Race sure is tough on the present teams. They were also given zero money during the onset of the leg and were not allowed to beg or sell anything they had. Such harsh conditions were usually saved for the last 5 legs of the race or so when the teams were likely to have nervouse breakdowns.


TAR taught me:

1. Save money...
2. 5 US Dollars = +/- 80,000 Vietnamese Dong... sheesh!
3. A bouquet of flowers in Vietnam costs something between 2,000 to 3,000 dong
4. Coal can be molded like Play-doh.
5. There is a truth in the conniving beauty queen stereotype. The beauty queens should have thought twice before cutting in front of the middle-aged queens with orange shirts. Rawwrrr!
   
6. There is a Hanoi Hilton, It is a prison where French colonists in vietnam interrogated/tortured political prisoners... no it is not owned by the Hiltons, although watching A Simple Life does come close to torture.
   
7. There is an innate camaraderie between American southeners, or at least between two teams in the show. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorite books.
8. Attractive people are attractive with or without the coal stains.
9. Paying your respects to important historical people pays off, and in this case the prize is a kick-ass state of the art entertainment showcase.
10. Make sure you are riding the right bus to Vac.
11. I spotted a boom operator! Haha... last leg it was a camera man, and unless there are people in Hanoi who walk around with a microphone on a "fishing pole", then I'm sure I saw a boom operator.
12. When a local at the airport tells you she'll bring you to your destination, have second thoughts... she may ask you to drop her off at her brother's house 30 minutes away from where you were supposed to be going. Note: Do not take her at all when you only have 11 dollars for taxi fare.
13. Never ride a motorcycle in Vietnam. You could be charged with a 30 minute penalty or lose a couple of limbs.
14. Oh and by the way, the title of the post is "Do you speak English" in Vietnamese... It's a lot easier to just ask it in english and wait for those who understand to talk to you... But where is the fun in that?? More Vietnamese Phrases. Cam on! (Thank You)
    

One of the teams I like got axed... Boo Hoo. They had the worst luck with their money management, interaction with locals and navigation. They HAD to make a perfect bird cage, I think so long as the bird couldn't get out of the cage, it qualifies as a cage. Duke and Lauren took too much time impressing the bird cage maker, and so... they were sent home on the mat set atop a rice field.

All pictures from CBS




Grip Guden
It is Norwegian for "Catch the God". The Queer Chef is raising funds for an independent film with this existential title. If you are interested in indies and would like to help, please visit this page.




Green
My favorite color and the name of this week's tenant. This blog is owned by Rache from Bristol, UK. Oh, and I just noticed it... Rache Green, an "L" and I have a tenant from FRIENDS!

Labels: amazing race, BE tenant, idiot box

Beyond Genghis
I never realized how little I know about Mongolia until tonight. The only relevant thing I could enumerate about the land bound country between China and Russia is Genghis Khan, and this knowledge is solely based on a poor memory of history and Age of Empires. It has a fascinatingly desolate landscape.
The second leg of The Amazing Race started in Beijing and ended in Ulan Bator.


TAR Taught Me:

1. Ulan Bator is pronounced, according to Phil, Ulan Bat(aa)r. My highschool history class mnemonics allowed me to match a lot of countries with their corresponding capital cities... correct pronunciation of exotic names was never an issue then. Spelling was what got you the measly point. There sure are a lot of new countries now, watching an international beauty pageant has transformed from "Miss Venuezuela is so statuesque" to "Where is Moldova?"
2. The Mongolian nomadic shelter is called a Gir. It is, as seen in pic, a cylindric tent supported by wooden bracing. It didn't seem easy to build and rebuild. I'm in love with the Mongolian language already. So simple and you produce sounds I have only done when I tried to read the Dwarf scripts in The Lord of the Rings.
3. Another Mongolian word is Hynik. This is the name of an indigenous bovine animal similar to a cow. Althought my knowledge of cattle is very limited, I would know how to pick a good hynik to help me fetch water for the Detour. Simply put: Horns = Bad... Cow that looks like that cartoon on a chocolate drink = Good.
4. There are camels in Mongolia.
   
5. The easiest way to fix a Russian military jeep whose battery died = Ask someone.
6. There are people who have never met a homosexual. David and Mary, married from Kentucky admitted to never having been around gays. Mary quickly adding "... I like them!" with a sincere smile and bewildered eyes.
7. There are cameramen! I have always been amazed that in shows like this and Survivor, you rarely (possibly never) see any of the cameramen. At first you take them for granted and merely enjoy the omnipresence that television gives. But when you get obsessed (like me) such ideas creep into your brain. If I recall properly, I have only seen one cameraman on The Amazing Race. This happened about two seasons ago when a team accidentally upended a jeep causing some injury to themselves and their cameraman. I didn't actually see the cameraman on TV, but I spotted him here...
8. Lastly, If you don't want to get eliminated... don't drive away from where you need to be going. A map (or directions from locals) is a racer's best friend. Kellie & Jamie did just that and got booted. I guess they ran out of cheers... (they're cheerleaders... get it? hahaha... I'm so lame)

All photos from CBS


Baguio's Dose of Irony
Miss Jessica Zafra (Goddess of Irony) will be giving a talk on Personal Essays on Wednesday (September 27, 2006) 2 pm, at University of the Philippines Baguio. I'm sure that will be interesting so if you're in the city, that would be the best place to spend the afternoon. Boo Hoo for me because I got work... but I'm thinking I'll develop a pseudo-headache after lunch on Wednesday. har har har... Bring your Twisted books because she'll sign them if you're nice.
Information from her relocated blog.


You Want Flies with That?
Got me a new tenant.


Hop on over to the Enchanted Lily Pad and give Ribbiticus a Ribbit.
Pond Perspective

Labels: amazing race, BE tenant, idiot box

B & Blog Guest

I welcome The Chad. The Chad is from Oregon but grew up in Michigan. He is really blunt and uber hilarious. He's got an amazing 500+ DVD collection. (Anyone who watches that many movies is a buddy in my book) He has two dogs, Kaeo (I had trouble pronouncing it) who is a German Shepherd - Pit Bull Mix and Fezgig, a chihuahua seen in the pic (left)

The Chad owns the name, despite a certain unreliable claim that says otherwise. I'm a few days late introducing my tenant, my apologies. Check out his blog, link at the right sidebar.


DC Episode 312: A Weekend in the Country

Jen: God, it smells good in here.
Grams: Hickory burning in the hearth, smells like 46 years of my life.
Dawson: They say that smell is the most powerful sense of recall that we have. It can bring back all kinds of buried experiences.
Gale: Vanilla.
Mitch: Still?
Gale: Every time I smell it... Your Father worked in a restaurant when we first started dating...
Mitch: The Franklin Family Fish House.
Gale: And every night after work, when he would come to pick me up, he always smelled like vanilla.
Mitch: Well, I used to soak my hands in it to, uhh, alleviate the smell of the cod.
Dawson: Phenylene diamine. It's the main chemical used to process film, might've been the first time I ever opened a film canister. It's an intense smell. At the time, it smelled like possibility.
Jen: Mothballs. I love the smell of mothballs. No, when class would get out at the Chapin's School in New York, um, there was this old storage room in the back of the auditorium that the drama club used to keep all their costumes and props in. God, I would spend hours in there hiding under Guinevere's skirt, wrapped in Lady Macbeth's cloak. It always seemed like, no matter what had happened or how bad the day had been or how much I thought I was falling apart, there was nothing that could get to me in there.
Jack: Kickapoo juice. It was this grape juice, and they used to hand out a cup of it at the end of every day at summer camp. And the owner of the camp, Mr. A, gave it that stupid name. We all knew it was Hi-C.
Pacey: This might sound a little goofy, but do you think it's actually possible to smell snow?
Mitch: Absolutely.
Pacey: Well, that's my first memory, then. I don't know, I was maybe two or three years old. I just distinctly remember getting up on my tippy toes so I could look through this half open window at the snow falling down on the frozen creek, and everything just blanketed in stillness.
Andie: New car. We'd go on these family trips, and dad would always request a brand new rental car. And I guess, um, that smell just reminds me of all of us traveling together down some big open highway.
Joey: Bacon. Sizzling, crackling, wafting into my bedroom while I was still asleep, starting in my dreams and coaxing me into awake.
Bessie: I know that smell.
Joey: Mom.
Bessie: Yeah.
Joey: See, every Sunday when she didn't have to work, she would make breakfast. And I would find my way down the hallway and stand next to her by the stove. And we would talk about school, and boys, and we'd take the pancake batter and pour it into tiny molds shaped like pine trees and animals. My Mom always loved to cook and take care of everyone, and hated working at that bar every night. She always told me not to worry, because eventually she was going to make enough money and she was going to open up her very own, um, her very own Bed and Breakfast. She obviously didn't get the chance to see that dream happen, so I thought I would give it a shot. So, thank you everyone for coming and helping us. You're the best fake guests a girl could ask for. But really, you can all go home now.

That was a segment of an episode from Dawson's Creek. Full transcript here. After doing the Suri post yesterday, I remembered how much I loved that show (Shoot me now please). I remembered loving that episode because all the main characters were in a single scene and each "favorite scent" showed the idiosynchrasies of each of the characters.

It was an age defined by naivete. If I watched episodes of it now I'd be amused a little and gagging alot, as much as I would if I scanned through photographs and letters of and by myself during that time. Hahaha... what was I thinking wearing that? What did I ever like in him? What the hell was I thinking?? Knowing more and knowing better isn't always fun. I wish I still liked Dawson's Creek.



Olfactory Memories

Although I don't eat them anymore (except tofu ones... ullk), I love the smell of hamburgers. It reminds me of the way my mom smelled when I hugged her everytime she came home from work when I was a kid. She worked then at the CJH Mile-Hi and the smell of the yummy burgers they had clung to her clothes.

Victoria's Secret Pear Lotion reminds me of the time SV2G spent in Europe. I made myself stop using the lotion when the trip ended. That way, everytime I smell that scent, I instantly think of Kurfurstendamm or the Sans Soucci Castle or Koenigstrasse or Champs Elysees.

I love the smell of new shoes, especially the first Chuck Taylors I bought with my own money.

The smell of my dad's extra hot Kaldereta coming from the kitchen.

The smell of my newborn niece's mouth.

The smell of my newborn nephew's mouth.

The very strong lemon scented air freshener of our family car when I was a kid. Especially on trips to Bulacan for the Holy Week.

Jovan Musk, Tommy Hilfiger, salt in the air at the beach, lilacs, freshly laundered clothes, Butterfingers... from failed relationships... *sigh*... It's when memories like these are awakened that I'd want to have my vorneronasal organ removed, A tip I got from Ashley Judd in Someone Like You. That would mean less hours depressive binge-eating, less mushy god-forsaken sentimental songs, less Sleepless in Seattle, et al. But if that meant losing all the other olfactory memories I have... then just pass me the ice cream and put Meg and Tom on the player again.


Photo Credit
Dawson's Creek Screencaps
The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dali

Labels: BE tenant, flashback music please, idiot box, list-o-rama

New House Blog Guest

I got me a new tenant. Her name is Dawn. Her blog is named "Reflections in the Mirror". She lives in Northeastern US, is married and a mom of 2 adorable kids. Her main interests include critters (Abby the Tabby in the pic below) and crafting. Check out her blog at the sidebar.



Me + Pets = Disaster

I was browsing Dawn's blog and I never knew you could have butterflies for pets. I always thought butterflies were free spirited creatures, but perhaps they can be domesticated like bees.

I have the worst luck with pets. We've had several family dogs baptized with typical filipino dog names like Blackey, Whitey, Browney... just a matter of looking at the dogs general fur color and adding an "ey" at the end to make him/her seem cuddlier than he/she actually is. I've never really bonded with our family pets after having been bitten (actually only a superficial tooth scratch but trauma can make anyone exaggerate) by a dog and mauled (ditto with the dog) by a cat. They seem to think I'm not animal friendly or something.


Mimo (December 25, 2004 - January 4, 2005)

Two Christmases ago, my office had a Greedy Kris Kringle (I forgot the actual term) It goes like this, you pick numbers and no. 1 picks an unlabeled gift (each one brought a uni-gift... a gift that's ok for a boy or a girl) After no. 1 opens the gift (and oohhs... ahhhs... subside) no. 2 has the option of either taking no. 1's opened gift or pick another gift... No. 3's options are no. 2's gift, no. 1's gift (I know... poor no. 1) or another unpicked gift. And so on.

That Christmas, I picked a gift, which incidentally my PI boss brought. She cautioned me to keep the gift horizontal at all times and that it was breakable. It appeared spherical and suprisingly cold. I opened it and got Mimo!


MIMO (Made In Manor... added the O to allude to the then popular clownfish) I got him exactly as the picture shows... water, castle, sand and plastic vegetation.

I remember the first fish I took a liking to was a small gold fish. This was in early gradeschool. Being the genius that I was and a proud sort-of pet owner, I brought... let's call him Poopy, I never had the notion to name him before. Ok, so I brought Poopy to school in a clear plastic bag... an unholed one. I did the whole show and tell thing and sometime after recess, My seat was wet (no, I didn't pee). I kept Poopy in the outside pocket of my bag. The plastic bag had a small leak so I ran to the lavatory as fast as my gradeschool legs could carry me.

When the water level barely covered Poopy, I started to panic especially when he started flipping and flopping. I struggled at opening bag to let Poopy out onto the first receptacle I saw, a water closet. By the time I did open the bag and heard Poopy made a plop, he started doing a backstroke. I knew then that when you saw a fish' belly like that, It only meant one thing... So with watery eyes, I flushed poor Poopy. I didn't know then that this was quite an honorable funeral for a fish.

Mimo too met an early demise (I told you I had pet jinx) However, this time it was not because of my stupidity but someone else's. It was sometime after new year. I kept Mimo alive for more than a week. I kept the windows in my room open, I loved the chilly holiday air in Baguio. Sometime during that day while I was busy playing with my niece and nephew and eating holiday leftovers, a burglar entered my room thru my windows and stole my digital camera. This sort of thing didn't usually happen, but since then I've started to believe that crime rates do rise during holidays.

We called the cops. Ten minutes later, they were there asking questions and having me reenact what I think might have happened. etc etc... I am an obsessive CSI viewer so I gave my theories with gusto you'd think I was Gil Grissom himself. The main thing I pointed out was that Mimo's bowl was moved. It was located on a table near the window and I was 100% sure it was moved. The other cop, the rookie I presumed, went out to get their fingerprinting paraphernalia. This got me sort of excited, CSI in my room... yey! (I was in lost camera denial)

The rookie cop came back with a kit and a 4" wide roll of scotch tape. I had no idea what the tape was for. He started putting dust on the bowl, I was watching him. Then he brushed the powder lightly (at first) and when the powder kept falling off, he brushed heavier with circular motions (erasing whatever fingerprints were left behind!!) He managed to make some powder stick so he took the 4" tape, looked for the end, pulled some and bit on the tape to cut it. He proceeded to use the tape to lift the prints... (I was sooo disgusted and disappointed by this time)

He said he got it, told us he'll inform us of the developments and left. He didn't even take my own fingerprints! The idiot. Most of the fingerprints there would have been mine. He could've eliminated my fingerprints... oh yes I forgot, he erased most of them already with his stupidity. That was a bad way to start the year. I lost a camera and Mimo died from fingerprint dust and from the constant jerking around done by the rookidiot cop.


Foreboding

I guess I don't have luck with fishies. I've always wanted to own a Siamese Cat, those blue eyes are amazing...


However, I broke my cup (with a cat on it) just yesterday (even cut my right thumb picking up the pieces) I had a pic of it in a previous post and now it looks like this.


Its pretty obvious the gods are telling me not to get a cat... Question though... If you break a real cat, like I did with the mug... Can you fix him with masking tape?

Labels: baguio, BE tenant, blah (3x), flashback music please

My first Tenant!

I have recently been looking into the feature of Blog Explosion. I see the "Rent My Blog" thing when I bloghop and I never fully understood what it meant. Until now. hehe.

I introduce Rhoda, my first tenant. Her blog is named Rho Rho's Flow. Rhoda writes about her life and experiences in California. I like her sense of humor and she takes great pictures! You feel California in all the pictures she attaches with her posts. Flow on over to Rho's blog by clicking on the thumbnail on the right sidebar (My Tenant)



Canines Can...

I was doing my daily blogroll. I was so amused by Snglguy's post about these adorable mendicant dogs. I'm gonna check them out next time I go down to Manila.


The post reminded me of an article I read a few weeks ago in the Daily Mail. Ratty the Jack Russell, five years old, had an unusual habit.

Twice a week he would trot out alone through the farm gates, jump on a number ten bus and head for his local, the Black Bull. The five-year-old dog would stay all day at the pub in York, where he had his own water dish and was fed his favourite sausages. He would even get a lift home at closing time from a friendly barmaid.

First begging dogs at SM Manila, now a bus-riding dog that goes to a pub, what's next? Dogs running for mayor? (although... non-literally, that has happened here in the PI)

Read about Ratty here... Dog that Takes Itself to the Pub (on a No. 10 Bus)



The Game of Cat and Mouse

These items have been on my office desktop ever since I started but I never made that connection.



A Babel Fish!

I have never known anything about "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" until about two weeks ago when my brother-in-law told me about www.abandonia.com. This web site has an archive of free downloadable games that have been abandoned (abandonia... get it? haha) DOS games. Abandoned in a sense that they aren't supported or being developed anymore.

The game is based on the homonymous sci-fi book by Douglas Adams. It is purely text! Like a "Choose-your-own-adventure-book" kinda game with limitless possibilities. It was super annoying at first but once I found out that my character in the game had a hangover and needed to drink a pill for him to function properly, I was hooked. This was a hit in 1984 and gamers then took weeks to finish this game. It took me just one night! ... and just one reliable walk-thru! haha. I was getting agitated with the game so I cheated. Oh well...

The Babel Fish in the game/book/movie is a small yellow fish you place in your ear and acts as a universal (literally!) translator. Altavista used it as the marketing logo for their webpage translator tool. (BTW... I didn't know Altavista is already a part of Yahoo!) To translate my blog, just click on the corresponding flag (right sidebar) and the Babel Fish does the work of translation. As to accuracy, I don't know how the translations rate... but it sure is one nifty tool.

Labels: BE tenant, bloghopping