Dragons and clowns

Our Weekend Memoirs: Chinese New Year

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Chinese people in Thailand are celebrating chinese new year this week. This is how the exterior of Siam Paragon looks like:

The 'pavilion' that houses two dragons, one on each side of the stairway:

Inside the mall:Less than six weeks ago, the same place looked very christian with all the christmas decorations. Now dragons and mostly red hanging balls are everywhere. Well, anything that generates income seems welcome.

Ebie and Arlene host

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Sunday Stealing: The Clown's Meme 1

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Today we ripped this meme off blogger named Boppo from the blog Boppo the Clown's Journal. He states that he grabbed it at Drgncrystlwkr. 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 is a long meme, so we will do it in parts. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!



Cheers to all us thieves!



1. How old will you be in five years? as old as paper



2. Who did you spend at least two hours with today? my kiddo



3. How tall are you? enough to reach everything I need to reach



4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks? some time alone, duh!



5. What’s the last movie you saw? Chatran



6. Who was the last person you called? a cousin



7. Who was the last person to call you? a friend



8. What was the last text message you received? "I pressed the wrong PIN"



9. Who was the last person to leave you a voicemail? nobody



10. Do you prefer to call or text? call



11. What were you doing at 12am last night? sitting in front of the computer



12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? they were a til-death-do-us-part couple



13. When is the last time you saw your mom? 2 January 2008



14. What color are your eyes? black



15. What time did you wake up today? about 7 a.m.



16. What are you wearing right now? pink spaghetti strapped top



17. What is your favorite christmas song? Ring christmas bells...



18. Where is your favorite place to be? a charming countryside



19. Where is your least favorite place to be? city



20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere? some place where I can dream purple



21. Where do you think you’ll be in 10 years? same place where I can dream purple



22. Do you tan or burn? I'm happy with my purple



23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child? white vampire



24. What was the last thing that really made you laugh? I forgot



25. How many TVs do you have in your house? I have one in the apartment I watch programs from once in a blue moon



26. How big is your bed? king size



27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer? desktop



29. What color are your sheets? blue



30. How many pillows do you sleep with? 5



31. What is your favorite season? spring



32. What do you like about Autumn? everything turns golden



33. What do you like about winter? everything turns magically white



- that's according to photos and what I once saw from a bus window

Bud Weiser hosts

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Peace talks and a love message

Friday's Fave Five: Peace Talks
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Peace talks
In a previous FFF post, I mentioned that students from another school fought with our students, and our billboards were damaged but I was oblivious. Well on Tuesday this week administrators and student representatives from that school came and did peace talks with us. This time I made sure I wasn't oblivious to such a good and happy event.

A playful fish
One of the fish in the pond at work somersaulted just when I passed by. It swished and backflipped. I thought I just imagined it but the gardener also stood watching the same fish in the same pond doing the same antic.

Dental appointment
After 3 weeks of searching I finally found a dentist who explained all I needed and wanted to know about CJ's teeth. There are problems. Ex is playing hard ball with me on the insurance. My mind whirled as the dentist went through words like x-ray, infection, operating room, sedation. But I'm thankful that I'm no longer ignorant of what's going on and can therefore start thinking of the next steps. It made me breathe easily.

Contagious smiles
One was CJ's when he opened his box of old but favorite toys from his dad's house. The other smile belonged to a little girl riding on a moped. She just kept smiling at me :)

A film still
I browsed around and found this:

still

Quiet, cool and quaint, no wonder stories are woven at settings like this. Maggie Smith starred as an English novelist who invited train bombing survivors to recuperate at her home in the Italian countryside. You must have guessed the film title already.

Susanne hosts

There are more faves at Living to Tell the Story

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Mommy Moments: Love Message
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This month marks my one year of blogging. Despite believing otherwise I must have eked out a few solid lines from the heart. Today the topic at Mommy Moments is message of love. I don't think I could wax poetic when it comes to the most important man in my life...

I almost skipped this week's Mommy Moments but expressing feelings is essential to good relationships so I will try to croak one out.

My dearest Baby Pooh,

You're a handful, don't you know that? Oh yes, you are and I'm sure in time you will agree with me. Yesterday your dentist told me you need serious procedures. I didn't tell her you're eating candies as much as Pooh Bear is eating honey. Or that your milk was in my purse as we spoke. But I did tell her that you're scheduled to play with Roo, Mickey and Simba at Disneyland on April 26th. The procedures would be arranged after.

Everytime you sketch a dinosaur, color it pink and say, "this is mommy" on, of all canvasses, my research sheets, I'm on top of the world.

Sometimes you're a screaming machine and I'm yanked out of my reverie, but this I would do eventhough I'm scared: I would go through hell and back for you. Now don't go competing with Mozart on who's got the bigger head.

Love,
Mommy

P.S. Toys galore the moment you stop drinking milk from the bottle. I might even drop Baby from your title. Deal?

Chris hosts

Moms are doing love messages today at the Mommy Journey

Austenuating Jane Austen

Two weeks ago I wrote an essay in a bid for a PhD slot in a university in the southwestern pacific. Just when I was about to send it over, I realized that if I were offered a place, the very topic I built a case on would send me back to Thailand for data-gathering. I didn't fancy that and decided to work on something that will keep me afloat should I face drudgery at some point in the research. Since I have always been a fan of a rector's daughter who was a writing machine at a time when a king's son ruled England, I happily spent hours breezing through massive literature on her. Jane Austen, the name that could launch a thousand nights of delightful observations.

Except for the titles in bold font, I listed them according to how they appear on Literary History. They should help me nail an idea on how to proceed with brainstorming later. If I ever change my mind about the unfinished essay yet again or even abandon PhD for some reason, I know I won't regret the pleasure of this reading experience:

1. Ascarelli, Miriam. "A Feminist Connection: Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft." Persuasions 25 (2004).

2. DeForest, Mary and Eric Johnson. "Computing Latinate Word Usage in Jane Austen's Novels." A description of a computer-aided study developed to identify the use of Latinate language by characters in Jane Austen. Computers and Text (2000).

3. Graham, Peter W. "Born to Diverge: An Evolutionary Perspective on Sibling Personality Development in Austen's Novels." Persuasions 25 (2004).

4. Graves, David Andrew. "Vocabulary Profiles of Letters and Novels of Jane Austen and her Contemporaries." Persuasions 26 (2005).

5. McCawley, Dwight. "Assertion and Aggression in the Novels of Jane Austen." McCawley makes use of the distinction between assertion and aggression from popular books on "assertiveness training" to discuss Austen's characters. Persuasions 11 (1989).

6. Nelles, William. "Omniscience for atheists: or, Jane Austen's infallible narrator." Narrative (2006). On the comparison of the narrator to God.

7. Zunshine, Lisa. "Why Jane Austen was different, and why we may need cognitive science to see it." Style (2007).

8. Ellwood, Gracia Fay. "'Such a Dead Silence:' Cultural Evil, Challenge, Deliberate Evil, and Metanoia in Mansfield Park." Persuasions 24 (2003).

9. Duckworth, W. "Reading Emma: Comic Irony, the Follies of Janeites, and Hermeneutic Mastery." Persuasions 24 (2003).

10. Gilbert, Deirdre E. "'Willy-Nilly' and Other Tales of Male-Tails: Rightful and Wrongful Laws of Landed Property in Northanger Abbey and Beyond." Persuasions 20 (1999).

11. Jones, Susan E. "Thread-cases, Pin-cushions, and Card-racks: Women's Work in the City in Jane Austen's Persuasion." Persuasions 25 (2004).

12. Rytting, Jenny Rebecca. "Jane Austen Meets Carl Jung: Pride, Prejudice, and Personality Theory." Persuasions 22 (2001).

13. Dinkler, Michal Beth. "Speaking of Silence: Speech and Silence as a Subversive Means of Power in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility." Persuasions 25 (2004).

Megan and Janet host

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Bananas and concubines

What did Thailand's King Narai and Israel's King Solomon have in common?

After exploring King Narai's throne hall, I made my way to the living quarters of his women. My mind was prepared for large, cavernous remains; half-expecting a dusty, out-of-tune grand in the midst. I was both surprised and disappointed. The place looked like a row of classrooms. Ah well, they were minor wives. A Hanging Gardens of Babylon replica, no matter how skeletal it's imagined to be, was too much digression. The renovation at some parts nudged me all the more back to the present.

But not for long. Towards the end of and opposite the quarters I found something I have never seen before:

Could King Narai's concubines be as numerous as these?

My outdated camera went bananas...

The entire bunch looks bent on lengthening down. Stretch, blossom, wither to the ground. Take my kiss back to Mother Earth, will you?

See more worlds at
brought to you by the MyWorld team:
Klaus Sandy Wren Fishing Guy Sylvia

A Filipina at the Dodgers

Musical Monday: Star-Spangled Banner
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For several weeks I wanted to feature some piece I thought was patriotically moving, but was always sidetracked by something else. This weekend's Super Bowl in the US and today's Monday Mayhem seem in tune with the time to finally post this. Here's 16-year old Charice Pempengco, a Filipina singing America's national anthem at the Dodgers game opening on April 13th 2009.

Diane @ Good Mourning, Glory! hosts

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Monday Mayhem: Our Homelands
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Today's meme is a reflection of our participants. It is called the Philippines and the Americans. Let's test our knowledge of our country and others.

Answer these questions as best as you know how. You may learn something new....

What is the 'official name' of each country?
Republic of the Philippines
United States of America

Which country has more people living in it?
U.S.A.
P.S. I cheated; can't believe the population explosion in RP could surpass the geographical size of America and therefore relative population figure so I googled it and my USA hunch matched the search results.

Name a famous Spanish explorer who had a great impact on each country.

<>

Christopher Columbus, USA * I doubt Columbus was spanish though
Ferdinand Magellan, Philippines * Magellan was not spanish either. He just wasn't happy with Portugal oh... Grandma Hazel apologizes for the blab.

Who has the better shoe collection?
Imelda R. Marcos
Carrie Bradshaw
Harriet
*Marie Antoinette

What is the shape of a football?
Oval
Round
Don't want to stir up controversy.
Oval

What's the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon?
Same damn thing stupid
Where they occur according to the dateline
One is intended to wipe out Florida the other is intended to keep relatives from moving in.
1 and 2
one is intended to ax crab mentality among pinoys; the other is intended to teach humility to humanity

What is the proper spelling of the word ' color '?
Colour
Color
Don't want to stir up controversy.
color is American, colour is British. As to 'properness' I don't want to stir up controversy.

Who makes the best Pizza?
Domino's
Pizza Hut
Lou Malnati's
Some dude in NYC
I'll just answer Pizza Hut because it is what we have here

Which country does Thom live closer to?

US
Philippines
Who cares?
Who the heck is Thom?
Doesn't Thom live in Hawaii which is USA? and Philippines (to me at least) seems soooo far away from Hawaii.

Finally, tell us something great about your country.
If you are earning dollars you can easily buy an entire island. Contact me for more details. No, I don't do hard-core real estate but I may be able to lead you to someone who does nyahahah!

Harriet hosts

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Grand Hyatt and Pretentious Meme 2

Our Weekend Memoirs: Grand Hyatt Weekend
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A friend visited and we spent a weekend at the Grand Hyatt.
We discussed tours in the breakfast area.

One perk of luxury hotels is that reading materials available in the rooms are no-nonsense, elitist types.

That and the fact that I didn't have to cook eight meals were what made this weekend very enjoyable.

Ebie and Arlene host
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Sunday Stealing: The Pretentious Blogging Meme 2

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This is a note from Judd. You can read more about Sunday Stealing by clicking the link:
Hi everyone and welcome to this year's Super Sunday Stealing! Today our meme originated from TWO sources. When I edited last week's meme, most questions were multiple questions. So I separated them. It was suppose to be an 18 question meme. When I realized that 7 questions

were missing, it was too late. At least a dozen people had already done the meme. So the first questions today are from the meme we stole from Little Bark from the blog The Tree Unleashed. Last week a player, Going Like Sixty added questions of his own and invited us to use them this week. So we took the questions that I didn't published (Boy, was Bud pissed! Only joking...) and most of Sixty's questions and we now have part two of a 25 question meme. If you missed last week, here's your chance to do a two for one!

12. How many drafts of potential blog posts do you have right now? one

13. In what medium do you draft your posts? 'instruction' and 'psychic' are the only 2 things my brain can muster when I see or hear medium

14. How often do you completely scratch or delete drafts or blog post ideas? rarely

15. If you had to leave your blog in your will to another blogger, who would you choose? no one

16. Are there other blogs that you feel are similar to yours in content, style, or voice? yes

17. Has anything surprised you since you started blogging? What a great companion it can be to someone bored and sometimes insomniac like me

18. What are your goals or plans for your blog going forward? to blog about non-bloggy goals-come-true

19. Do you make any money from your blog? (optional) about how much a month? I once told a friend I wanted to sell rice; and he said 'you won't even sell a blog'

20. What blogging system do you use? blogger

21. How did you come up your blog name? Des is from a title of a poem on the wall of a high school classmate's house

22. How many blogs do you have? What was your peak? one

23. Are you having as much fun as when you started? more in fact

24. Where do you find other bloggers like you? in the memes

25. What’s your one wish when it comes to blogging? that commentors could focus on at least one idea from the post and not give me the impression that they only commented so I would comment back or because I commented on theirs

CHEERS TO ALL US THIEVES!

Bud Weiser hosts

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Regency delight and love language

Friday's Fave Five: Regency Period Cake
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Ambience of Banana Leaf
Restaurant dinners continue to be the trend for us this week. Rustic charm has always been a big hit to me and Banana Leaf's got it. Buckets of real wheat, garlic and pumpkin hang adorning the wall. Plus the sweet and sour fish and chicken with cashew nuts and mushroom are a real pleasure.

J Lo Live
This was a gift to me two years ago. Cj is too young to be choosy with scents. He smiles playfully when I spray it on him and I laugh inwardly thinking he is a boy wearing a girl's perfume. This week we both smell the same :)

Cyberbanking
I finally dragged documents and myself down K Bank to register for online financial transactions. Spending only what I earn suits me best as I avoid debts and the convenience of sorting expenses any time of day in familiar surrounding is always welcome.

Music in the air
Whatever happened to the PA system at work? An old song was coming off it this morning. The sound led my eyes to the open gym where members of the ballroom dancing club were practising slow dance steps to You Needed Me. It was an auditory treat to think that this PA normally trumpets off announcements like "those who have INCs in Taxation 101 please proceed to...."

Regency period delight
I browsed sites about Jane Austen, one of my favorite authors, and found this very delightful thing. The post includes instructions on how to create it. Although I'm not baking anytime soon nor am I a huge cake eater, I'm blown by the loveliness of the idea that one day I will come up with this thing of beauty on my table.

Susanne hostsYou can read more faves at Living to Tell the Story

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Mommy Moments: Love Language
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Based on Chris's Thursday post about love language as described by Gary Chapman, this is how Cj and I communicate our love to each other:

• Words of Affirmation. People need to hear compliments. Simple "thank you" or "you look wonderful today" is important to this people.

Cj always says, "Thank you Mommy" everytime I give him his milk. I also say "I love you, Baby Pooh" constantly, besides affirmative adjectives when he shows me his drawings (eventhough I look like a dinosaur most of the time) or shapes he forms from his blocks.

Once in the Philippines I was curious as to who Cj was playing with outside the house so I went to check. As soon as he noticed me, he stopped playing, put his hand on the back of my legs (that's all he could reach at the age of 2) and addressed his playmates, "My Mommy." At first I didn't realize that he was introducing me to his friends, but when I did, I thought I just experienced one of life's greatest pleasures!

Acts of Service. People receive love through acts of service like fixing the bed, preparing a meal for them or doing a chore for them.

Now that I'm taking care of Cj singlehandedly, I get to do what I never did when a caregiver was around. I would be lying if I said that on top of my official duties outside the home, domestic chores do not tire me. They certainly wear me down but when Cj does what I ask him to do like, "turn off the light, please;" "hand me the spoon, please;" "go to the computer, Ceej and please play a movie," I am thrilled and ready to face another day.

Physical Touch. People need to be hugged, touched, or sit close together.

Cj gets this love in abundance; he responds well.

Receiving Gifts. People need to receive thoughtful, not necessarily expensive, gifts.

Check.

Quality Time. People equate love with spending time with them like listening to them, walking, talking and the likes.

*sigh* As a working single mom quality time seems to be my shortcoming. But I'm working on improving the situation.

Chris hosts

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