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Friday, July 30, 2010

A promising foretaste

It has been a fun-filled week. These are my faves:

Black Forest
Usually I resist and often I am successful. But just this once I gave in to one slice of chocolate delight. Sometimes I wonder about the status of my workplace: is this still a university or has it turned into a party hub? Ok, it's still a university where birthday parties happen. I'll worry about the expanding waist later.

Alone time
Work on Wednesday made me forget to eat. By the time I came back to my apartment I was famished. I treated myself to brunch at my favorite Japanese restaurant. Isn't it also lucky that I got seated right away?

Items that serve one's intended purpose
This sounds to me like a shopping result that's worth the money: books that kick off stress, footwear that weaves 5-second dreams of a suit-clad 21st century Cinderella and accessories that compel you to relax.

Time out with friends at an album promo tour
When you've done nothing but focus on your job for a long time, it's always fun to socialize outside work. Emotional and mental batteries get recharged.

A promising foretaste
Near the stage when the artist (of the album promo) belted out Whitney Houston's "don't... make... me close... one more door...." I remember a youtube clip of her singing the Star-Spangled Banner at the Dodgers last year. Charice is coming back to Bangkok in October with David Foster. There's a household name to look forward to.

Visit Susanne @ Living to tell the Story for more faves.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Until your heart stops beating

Musical Monday: Supermassive Black Hole
Please scroll down for Monday Mayhem

Stephenie Meyer's writing prowess is my weekend-with-Monday-and-Tuesday-off drug. I've never actually read anything until now. Not into much of the fan mania either. I'm using the books to soothe crazy nerves over future stuff I'm dealing with. As far as the movie goes, this has to be my fave scene and tune.

Visit Amanda for more Monday music.

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Monday Mayhem: Top Ten Repeated Meme Questions
Please scroll up for Musical Monday


Today's meme is The Top Ten Repeated Meme Questions. You know, the questions that we see always popping up in memes all over the place. This is your chance to have fun answering them. Choose a cartoon character, celebrity or someone in the news to answer them as. For example, if you are a fan of Homer Simpson, answer the questions as if you are really Homer.

Who are you answering these as?

1. If you were on a deserted island, what three things would you want to have with you? A cold one, a space heater and my Wuthering Heights

2. What is your favorite song? I debated between my (Bella's) Lullaby and this:


3. Do you have any tattoos? If so, tell us about them Jacob, my Jacob's...

4. When was the last time you cried?
When I found out I was in love with a mutt too!

5. When was the last time you laughed?
I'm happiest in the meadow with the lion

6. What is your dream job?
To be a full-time bloodsucker's wife

7. Are you sarcastic?
A bad liar

8. What was the last big ticket item that you purchased?
Concert tickets

9. What's your favorite movie? Face Punch


10. Use six words to describe yourself.
I wish I could marry both

Visit Harriet for more Mayhem

Friday, July 23, 2010

Park day

Age or science is backing up my aching heels - from 3 inches virtually 24/7 at work down to a couple of cms, tendons had to be on adjust mode while I traipsed a huge park with CJ, fulfilling my promise that I'd give him Disneyland for his 6th birthday.

So I attempted a Mommy-made up version of Winnie the Pooh's Blustery Day while relaxing tired muscles. I didn't realize how much fun a day out could be...

especially if you didn't have to worry about humidity.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Main course


For starters, I'd like some milk and whiskey....

A muscle towed my brow upward. "We are talking fine dining, people, and I want you all to go international," I announced to a group of Marketing majors last Sunday. These are what I fancied from their presentation:

1. Red mullet and skordalia (Greek)
2. Salmon sashimi with avocado (Japanese)
3. Braised halibut provencal (French)
4. Chargrilled prawns with lemongrass, tomatoes and coconut (Malaysian)
5. Lamb Steak with tequila and chilli (Mexican)
6. Veal roast with aromatic herbs and potatoes (Italian)
7. Roast mutton with red currant jelly (English)
8. Vermicilli with oyster mushrooms and king prawns (Vietnamese)
9. Somboon crab curry (Thai)
10. Chicken chow mien (Chinese American)
11. Barbecued lamb cutlets with mango and coriander salsa (African)
12. Bulalo (Filipino)
13. Paella vegetarian (Spanish)

Never again will I go to work with an empty stomach.

Megan and Janet host Thursday Thirteen. Click here for more lists.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Salmonella-less

Our Weekend Memoirs: Yellow
Please scroll down for Sunday Stealing



The VP passed by, waving, "Mae, I got a meeting on the 12th floor..." shifting my reverie from Bonito chocolate cake to the realization that most of those I voted for in the latest national election are now in office. The convenience of absentee voting. A hanging similarity zooming into a daydreamer's line of vision.
The Thai monarch and the new Philippine president have the same identity color.
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Sunday Stealing: Meme of Many Odd Questions, Part Two
Please scroll up for Our Weekend Memoirs



Today we ripped this meme off a blogger named Kuda Girl of the blog named Kuda Girl's Journal. Kuda Girl explains that she ripped it from two bloggers Slay Me Softly and Dragon Fly Lady. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. It has 65 questions, so we'll do it in parts. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Cheers to all of us thieves!

Sunday Stealing: Meme Of Many Odd Questions, Part Two

Cheers to all of us thieves!

23. Do you rent movies often? I buy them or just go to the cinema

24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in? Total Eclipse of the Heart clip in my youtube faves, which is in my netbook which is in my room

25. How many countries have you visited? about five; excluding capitals where people changed aircrafts

26. Have you made a prank phone call? nope

27. Ever been on a train? gimme French TGV

28. Brown or white eggs? salmonella-less

29. Do you have a cell-phone? I'll have one for a boarding pass sooner or later
30. Do you use Chap Stick? in the tropics, no

31. Do you own a gun? would a toy gun count?

32. Can you use chop sticks? on a tiny, slippery cube of soft tofu, oh, that too

33. Who are you going to be with tonight? nobody

34. Are you too forgiving? I don't even easily forgive lol

35. Ever been in love? I have been neurotic a couple of times

36. What is your best friend(s) doing tomorrow (or the next soonest week day)? I haven't checked Facebook today yet

37. Ever have cream puffs? not really a fan but sometimes I have them

38. Last time you cried? an hour before hitting an airport

39. What was the last question you asked? What question will I ask?

40. Favorite time of the year? vacation time

41. Do you have any tattoos? nope

42. Are you sarcastic? not if I don't want to

43. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect? I'd like to see how deterministic systems can be engineered into becoming predictable

44. Ever walked into a wall? literally and on both sides


Thursday, July 15, 2010

Limitless


I'm riding along Mommy Moments this week; my first post in months. I miss this meme, the kids' photos and the mommy chats. Alrighty here's CJ eyeing the next ride...

This was some space capsule if I remembered it right -


Everytime I fasten CJ on a helicopter, I daydream of my very first experience with aircrafts. I was his age. A helicopter with a bride on board flew low over our neighborhood dropping us bunches of red bougainvillas. To this day that beautiful spectacle remains alluringly fresh in my mind.

For CJ I like to think this ride symbolizes a limitless sky he could soar into. I love the sensation of holding and releasing my breath watching him take off, and hoping he will be just fine.

Check out more kids' rides at The Mommy Journey.

Behold the Man



Yahoo Business listed books as some of the things you shouldn't buy brand new. I don't recall ever buying a second-hand book; thought I'd explore a used book shop down Sukhumvit this weekend. It's been awhile since I read any biography and these titles piqued my interest:

1. Samuel Beckett by Deirdre Blair
2. As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Lee Laurie
3. For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming & James Bond by Ben MacIntyre
4. J.K. Rowling: The Wizard Behind Harry Potter by Marc Shapiro
5. Jane Austen and Leisure by David Selwyn
6. His Eye is on the Sparrow by Ethel Waters
7. Into my own: the English Years of Robert Frost by John E. Walsh
8. Ecce Homo by Friedrich Nietzsche
9. All God's Dangers by Theodore Rosengarten
10. Karl Marx: a life by Francis Wheen
11. Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel
12. Leonardo da Vinci: heights of the mind by Charles Nicholl
13. Beginner's Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize by Peter Doherty (It doesn't sound like biography to me. I'll find out soon enough)

Visit the Thursday Thirteen home for more lists.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Fear and oddities

Our Weekend Memoirs: Little Boy White
Please scroll down for Sunday Stealing

Night fell fast. We hurried out of the office. As we got off the lift and into a garden, my kiddo stalled. It was the dark. I started shooting still figures in the water.

A few clicks later, he urged, "one more, Mom." It was my first time to come up close to this part of the garden in twelve years. Fear was of use to me that night. We walked home.



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Sunday Stealing: Meme of Many Odd Questions, Part One
Please scroll up for Our Weekend Memoirs


Today we ripped this meme off a blogger named Kuda Girl of the blog named Kuda Girl's Journal. Kuda Girl explains that she ripped it from two bloggers Slay Me Softly and Dragon Fly Lady. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. It has 65 questions, so we'll do it in parts. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Cheers to all of us thieves!

1. First thing you wash in the shower?
face

2. What color is your favorite hoodie?
aqua blue

3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?
it was my kiddo so a thousand times yes

4. Do you plan outfits?
usually

5. How are you feeling RIGHT now?
full

6. What's the closest thing to you that's red?
my gum

7. Tell me about the last dream you remember having?
I was shopping for cacti in a Mandragora greenhouse

8. Did you meet anybody new today?
nope

9. What are you craving right now?
ice cold Pepsi

10. Do you floss?
yes

11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage?
patch

12. Are you emotional?
if the subject is worth it

13. Have you ever counted to 1,000?
in denominations of 100

14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it?
I use an ice cream spoon

15. Do you like your hair?
when it's recently been to the saloon

16. Do you like yourself?
most of the time

17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush?
if it's on him, why not

18. What are you listening to right now?
the hum of my e-fan

19. Are your parents strict?
Ma is, Pa was my partner in crime (way to go Pap, see you on the other side :D)

20. Would you go sky diving?
maybe

21. Do you like cottage cheese?
I don't dislike it

22. Have you ever met a celebrity?
celebs in the academic world, yes. Scientists are not really dull. And if politicians count, I introduced a governor to a graduating class. We had to talk briefly before either of us faced that packed auditorium.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Decisions, decisions

A few not-so-routine stuff and a rare one in the offing, out come my week's faves:

1. "You're blooming... are you dating?"
someone at work suddenly asked me that. I laughed hard and coughed out, "what? of course I'm not!" He walked away looking pleased and determined at his own conclusion, "I knew it...you're dating." Now if it were true... but well, I loved the laughter.

2. String-tying ceremony (I forgot my cam but here's an idea)
the charm of the tradition unfailingly upholds cultural identity

3. Walking on soft earth
a refreshing break from tick-tocking on concrete all the time

4. Outdoor warmth
an assignment requires me to be out of the office for four hours every Friday this term. The warm morning breeze works better on me than freezing AC's. Bye-bye, shrinking skin.

5. Hard but exciting choices
a weekend with colleagues in Beijing or a few days in Bangkok with someone I haven't seen in two decades? There's only one slot on the timetable for either. Being sweetly torn does not happen everyday. I'm warming up to it.

Visit Susanne @ Living to tell the Story for more faves.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Waxing classic

When I feel like passing out attacking terrene everyday-ness, I turn to classical music. These things dance in my mind as the first strain goes off:



1. film scores

2. those childhood piano lessons

3. Europe

4. killer essay exams

5. pregnancy and babies

6. orchestra

7. Math and Science

8. relaxation

9. plenary halls

10. qualitative research analysis

11. humming to self

12. appealing quaintness

13. being at peace with the world



What are your associations with classical music?



~ header from Samulli / click here for more T13 ~

Friday, July 2, 2010

Soul alight


This Friday is just great! I had a few irritants up my back and didn't count on coming up with a set of faves, but although life sometimes looks so dim, it also has pleasant surprises so here I am --

Possibilities
I'm working on publishing a couple of academic articles and found a feasible place for them.

Facebook thrill
It's been 22 years since high school graduation, and so wonderful to reconnect and reminisce with former classmates and teen crushes.

Another sentence, clear and straight!
There's something I'm fixing nowadays. It's why I was absent from the blogosphere for some time (wrote a page about it). CJ is making significant progress and I'm on cloud nine. Although he uttered "I'm the winner, you're the loser" to his friend, I'm okay with that. I mean CJ sounds like he got some of his Dad's cold and hard, competitive stock market spirit; but as long as there is improvement or anything better than the present clinical impression, I'm for it.

Friends who ask and listen
and don't chicken out even when you sound scary and toxic. The best part is they offer positive advice, and I'm so grateful they're around.

Eclipse
No matter how momentary, it is amusing to ogle at the teeth-chattering scene, feel like an 18-year old again and forget problems.

Visit Susanne @ Living to tell the Story for more faves.

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