but do we really need another princess?

ok, so we could use a little more diversity amongst the awkward rebellious teenaged disney royalty but another princess?

can't disney animate a few dozen more everyday humdrum girls of color? it sounds like that's what we really need.

and for the record - no, mulan is NOT really a princess - show me where in EITHER mulan film, she magically becomes a princess. she rescues three princesses in that last film. but, c'mon, let's call her what she is, ok? "hun *ss kicker" is NOT a bad title.

however, having a daughter who is princess obsessed i am curious about the new african american disney princess - maddy.

after reading some articles, some things i found interesting:

1) my guess is the film is loosely based on the frog prince fairy tale... probably one of my least favorite fairy tales because the princess is such a spoiled brat and after all her eye rolling and whimpering and complaining she STILL gets the prince. maybe this time around, the dis-enchanted frog, gets a clue and up and walks AWAY from the royal...

2) the film is called "the frog princess" so, does that mean she's the one getting turned into a frog and then kissed? is the debutante (see cast list bbelow) taking over the role of the princess and maddy the chambermaid walking away with the prince? and what's up with all these princesses needing saving anyway....

3) people are assuming her prince is caucasian (see cast list below) let's hope disney thinks outside the box in more ways than one in this instance too... 'cause disney, not all of our good men have to be caucasian, kiss-bestowing, shoe-toting, horse-riding, enchanted princes in shining armor. blah, blah, blah, thank you for throwing us a bone aladdin.

4) i always thought that princess kida from atlantis would be crowned the first aa princess. it seemed like that was what the animators were implying. i believe kida was also voiced by mixed actress, cree summer. i dunno, the atlanteans looked poc to me. and i mean if they can make a mermaid from a danish fairy tale a princess. can't they do the same for an atlantean princess. she wasn't a ball gown wearing princess either. she kicked *ss too.

though i have to admit i wasn't sure how she changed/ lightened her skin color from "atlantis: the lost empire"





to "atlantis: milo's return"



5) lastly, a list of characters... how are they going to steer away from stereotypes in this one?

Maddy - A 19-year-old chambermaid.

Charlotte La Bouff - A 18-year-old spoiled, southern Debutante and Diva.

Dr. Duvalier - An African American Voodoo magician/fortune teller. The villain of the movie.

Mama Odie - An elderly, 200-year-old Voodoo priestess/fairy god-mother.

Ray - A lovesick Cajun firefly.

Louis - A Jazz singer alligator.

Prince Harry - A gregarious, fun-loving European Prince, in his early twenties.

Lawrence - Prince Harry's pompous valet.

Big Daddy La Bouff - Wealthy, Southern plantation landowner and father of Charlotte La Bouff.

Eudora - Maddy's mother. In her fifties. Used to be Charlotte's nurse maid.

George - The La Bouff family's cook.

Little Arila - Maddy's little sister. She's little, but very smart.

the mohawk is so five minutes ago...

bed head rules.

new accessories for spring!

first and foremost, i have been in a weird, hormonal "is-this-where-i-wanted-to-be-when-i-turned-35" funk for a while... so, i apologize for the blog pause... :(

i bought these shoes. they've alleviated the funk...

for a little while...

i think.

anyhoo... thanks to bloggo chicago, the zero boss and the "new and improved" blogger.com for introducing me to a whole new kind of substance abuse some of the new blogging accessories (? tools? obsessions? toys?) that you might've noticed lately on *MAMAZILLA*.

via bloggo chicago (VIVA LA DEPENDS PORN!) , i sniffed out cocomment. it makes all my worthless $.02 on all yer comment windows and haloscans... easily tracked and um, worth it. yes, i'm still stalking you. mwahahahahaha!

via zero boss, i got the 411 on mybloglog and google reader. although my(free)bloglog offers a lot of tracking features. i think my (free) sitemeter offers the same tracking features. unlike sitemeter, mybloglog offers up a handy little widget that allows me to put a "face" to a "name". so, even if y'all come by and don't comment i see you and it reminds me stop on by and do a reciprocated drive by on your blog as well.

google reader (pay attention, bloggo chicago) also provides the new widgets that have taken over where my blog links were on the right sidebar over yonder. i always wonder if it looks like i'm not linked to you (and i'm sure you know who you are) anymore. if it does, i apologize. mea culpa! but google reader really does simplify when my blog stalkees are posting new smack. and stalk, stalk, stalk, i must! this by far, is the most addictive of all the blogging toys. i'm constantly adding new blogs to it, only to find myself slackjawed and drooling over how much i have to read after just a day off of reading. IT'S. INSANE. how do you clever, articulate, hilarious, everyday posting bloggers find the time to do it all?!

lastly, i really like the "new and improved" blogger (stfu, haters). in most situations, i'm just a cheapskate and since my employers pay me in dessicated cheerios and sh*tty diapers - i'm also broke. so, for me, blogger is awesome 'cause it's FREE! admittedly, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of typepad or wordpress, but i'm just a humble destitute mamazilla, not dooce or city mama or motherhood uncensored. besides i have a low tolerance for noise - i send all bells and whistles to lola's (my mom's) house and she puts them in the overflow toy box we have over there.

back to the random things i like about the new blogger:

i can tag my posts
it's super easy to create a new post
it's SUPER DUPER easy to upload images (no more uploading via flickr or picasa)

ok... so, i can only think of three things.... suffice to say, it's not the same old blogger and with all new things bloggish - neither am i! :)

shaquille o'neal turns 35 today.

happy 4th birthday paloma!

so, i managed to pull a birthday party out of my ghetto *ss. it was no easy nor pretty feat.

normally, i would've planned the whole thing in advance, but the trip to manila took so much advance planning (plane tickets, passports, inoculations, hotel, etc...), i just didn't have time. then, when we got back, the priority was getting re-acclimated to chicago time and weather.

finally, last wednesday, i pulled out my "defeated and exhausted mommy" card and called some neighborhood moms and dads (and my awesome stepsister) and got a few "yeses" to my pathetic sob story phoned in birthday invite.

on saturday, the thin man and i got the kids up early for a grocery store run and for the most part that went well (unlike the usual screaming and/or wrestling match). we got the cake and most of the other par-tay provisions at the jewel (btw - i heard that that's a chicago thing to name a store with a "the" at the beginning. c'est vrai, chicagoans?).

then, when they went down for their afternoon naps, i sped out to the dollar store for the party favors and another tablecloth (because i had saved the ripped and stained "my little pony" one from last year... 'cause i'm SUCH a cheapskate... and decided at the last minute against using it).

the party favor gods were with me 'cause i scored a mess of random disney princess stuff for the girl goody bags and some random but cool stuff for boy goody bags (i freakin' hate goody bags... i NEVER got goody bags when i went to parties as a kid - ok, maybe i'm jealous). normally, i don't differentiate between boy or girl goody bags, but these parents did come thru on no notice... i wanted them to feel like i made SOME effort... mind you, i'm still jetlagged... i'm still running on fumes and yawning constantly most of the day.

when the paloma woke up from her nap she was over the moon... it was so good to see her so genuinely wholeheartedly happy. she's still jetlagged too and it's disconcerting not to see her chipper, energized paloma-esque self. she and her nine friends had a (2.5 hour) ball. with veggie booty. and goldfish. and pizza. and capri suns. and cake. and lots of tag. and toys. and crying. and screaming. and more toys. and 10 minutes of a dvd. and goody bags.

clean up was strangely easy however. so, you know i'm going to find a piece of cake in a shoe next fall.

that's ok... that smile is worth it. :)

holy f*cking hell.

the latest of what passes for humor on myspace:

"One part Pee Wee's Playhouse, one part crazy, unpredictable Japanese talk show, and one part whole milk. Mix and serve chilled. Written by Kim Evey and directed by Greg Benson. More episodes to come (if this one gets a good response), just ADD ME to catch future episodes! May not be suitable for children. Or adults."


Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show (Episode 1)



Add to My Profile More Videos

and here's some of the intelligent commentary from the myspace masses:

"...i'm with the general population of proud fatass americans when i say that intellect, creativity, normality, trend and talent, and pretty much the value of human life is completely contingent on how well one speaks english. and how white they are..."

"this is shit. real japanese tv rules, you've totally missed the point. i understand that this is a joke but the name sux and there was no food. EAT SOME WIERD SHIT, THAT'S WHAT JAPANESE TV IS ALL ABOUT!!! That and cute swimsuit models (also missing). "

"GOD DAMN asians get weirder and weirder everyday"

"wow im not suppost to watch this happy stuff buut i couldent risist and now im regeting me doing this that song was just scary but uhh none the less that was a good video uhhh ASIANS ARE WEIRD!!!!! "

"ENGRISH LOL JAPS LOL where did i put my chopsticks and buckteeth?"

"Can i slap the crazy stupid asian bitch LICK POOP hahahaha"

"Hahaha! I love it! And to whomever is saying it's racist, I don't think being able to poke fun at your own race is "racist". :P More, please! 321go!"

" It doesn't matter if her accent isn't right on or not, she is still asian DUHHH! Ha, I want those bubble chairs. "


the majority of the comments are congratulatory and complimentary towards the filmmakers... then, of course, there are all the comments about how HOT HOT HOT the japanese girl is and how much they want to take her home and love her long time.

what's unbelieveable to me is that kim evey, AN ASIAN WOMAN, is the creator/writer of the skit.

way to perpetuate the stereotyping of your fellow asian women! see, it's because of crap like this that i don't get angry when asian people call me a sellout or a race traitor. because sellouts and the race traitors exist and some of them are just outright ignorant.

i want to believe that common sense would prevail and that an asian woman would see how the rest of non-asian america, as well as asian americans, would process a parody film like this. because of films and characters like these, asian women (in america) will always be the exotic, foreign, disposable, comical, sex object.

while i was travelling to the philippines, it was so refreshing to see asian women in all kinds of advertising. in the airplane seat pockets, you could find us pictured in the airplane safety pamphlet, the entertainment and lifestyle magazines - we were represented as career women, mothers, students, etc... when we landed in seoul, i noticed the same thing on the terminal billboards and on the televisions at the gates. and in the philippines, even in the former red light districts, there were enormous ads featuring filipino moms serving liquid vitamins to their kids.

consequently, because kim evey is married to a caucasian and perpetuating sterotypes, the rest of us, asian women, who are also married to caucasians (or those who pass), regardless of how socially aware, ethnically proud or actively outspoken, will have to pay for it at the hands of other seriously pissed off, misunderstood, hurt and righteously angry asian people.

aren't there enough REAL japanese tv shows on youtube or google video to share and watch?

and is this film the kind of baggage we want to unload on the younger generations of asian women (american born and immigrant alike) who are soon to follow us?

chicago filipino news & events

1) ROCK, SHOCK AND AWE!

Ruckus Productions in cooperation with the Center for Immigrant Resources and Community Arts (CIRCA) presents...

Bamboo and Parokya ni Edgar in Chicago...

Park West Theater; 322 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago, IL 60614
Friday, March 23, 2007
Ticket price: $60

People Power Special: $45 if you purchase by February 23.

For more info about the pre-sale: Contacts: je.ruckus@gmail.com or anna.ruckus@gmail.com
Doors open at 7 p.m.


2) Truman Int'l Week

At Truman College, we are celebrating International Week on April 16-20 of this year. I have suggested displaying works of artists from the different cultures that are represented at Truman (e.g., films, paintings, sculptures, etc). Would you be able to help us with the resources that are available to you? If you are aware of groups from other cultures, kindly provide me with their contact information. While we are working with the different student groups in the college, we believe it is also important to involve the communities from where our students come from.

Let me know if you are interested in participating and, if so, what particular arrangements we need to consider to make your participation successful.

Thanks.

Raymund C. Torralba, PhD
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Physical Science and Engineering
Harry S Truman College
1145 W Wilson Ave
Chicago IL 60640

Tel (773) 907-4076

3) Chef Jennifer Aranas of Rambutan is publishing a new cookbook called "The Filipino American Cookbook".

read more about jennifer and her new book here.

4) Asian American Interview Respondents Needed

My name is Rosalind Chou and I am a sociology graduate student at Texas A&M doing in-depth interviews about the life experiences of Asian Americans. I have conducted 36 interviews thus far and am particularly seeking out Asian Americans of Filipino, Japanese, Malaysian, Cambodian, Sri Lankan, Laotian, Indonesian, or Thai descent. I have already conducted several interviews with Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Asian Indian, Hmong, and Pakistani Americans and still welcome more involvement from these ethnic groups.

I am actively seeking out male participants first because my sample is discporportionately female, but female participants are welcomed as well. I will conduct the interview over the phone, and the questions surround all aspects of life, growing up Asian in America.

Dr. Joe R. Feagin is my graduate advisor. If you are not familiar with his work, you can google him and may find information about him. He has written almost fifty books and several hundred articles about race and ethnicity. Asian Americans have not yet been the focus of any of his work, but I am hoping to fill in some gaps.

Interviews usually last anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours. If you would like to participate, please contact me at rchou@tamu.edu

Thank you very much

5) Bring books to communities in the Philippines

Read-To Grow Program

Our vision is: To reach out to just one child at a time. Can you imagine the effect if we teach a child to read? We have reached out to a family. This creates a ripple effect. We believe that literacy gives a child to drink, imparts knowledge to eliminate disease, and develops self-esteem in a child.

Our Mission: Partnering with OMF Lit, communities in the Philippines and friends in the US to help start reading centers among Filipino children in urban poor communities.

Become a Sponsor 1. Donor identifies a church, school or community 2. Donor provides one time gift of $200.00 3. MEANS process application and place the order to OMF Lit 4. OMF delivers books to the reading center 5. MEANS sends an update report to donor

To know more about our project, please visit us at:
www.meanssupport.org
www.meansusa.org

6) Digitally Entwined

"A collection of photographs from 15 chicago artists brought together through flickr" - one of the artists is filipino photographer, Ken Ilio.

Acme Gallery on N. Western Ave. in Chicago from March 2 - 10, 2007.

the first few days...

i wasn't really sure what, if anything, we were going to be able to do the first full day we were in manila. although the paloma was recovering, i didn't want to push our luck or her health. my older sister, mrs. f, came over with her husband, mr. f and my youngest sister, soon to be mrs. s, in the afternoon to check on her.

the paloma was eager to get outside. come to think of it, so was i. as i mentioned before, manila was warm - sunny, not too humid and in the mid 80s every day we were there. the paloma's got horses on the brain too and near our hotel, kalesas (the filipino version of the handsome cab) were parked one after the other. she wanted to meet every single horse and find out their names. and that view of manila bay from our window was too inticing to ignore.

we agreed that we should take it easy on the paloma and maybe just get a bite to eat and walk around a nearby airconditioned mall to kill some time and help the paloma run off some energy.

my sisters thought that we should hit the mall of asia. since it's the largest mall in the philippines, it has a pretty diverse selection of restaurants and shops and random diversions for kids. i was shocked at the sheer size of it. we weren't looking to walk the whole mall. but even what little we did see was overwhelming and overstimulating - hello!? they had great shops like mango, marks & spencer, national bookstore (where i scored a bunch of adarna house books for the kids) and kultura filipino and the currency conversion was something crazy like 48 pesos to $1!!??

we ate at the yellow cab pizza co. my sisters couldn't believe that it wasn't a chain from the US. i was kinda surprised myself. i was expecting some kind of city-fied shakey's but it was better - gastronomically and esthetically.



here's a picture of mrs. f, me , soon to be mrs. s and the paloma... this was taken after a hearty lunch and a couple of spins on the indoor carousel. btw - this mall also has an olympic sized ice rink in it. then, home again, home again, jiggety jig.... later that evening, i got to meet one of my cousins, mrs j. and her husband, mr. j.

mrs. j is my lolo and lola's first grandchild. she's not that much younger than my youngest aunt on my mom's side (my mom has twelve siblings). the family was a little freaked out by her because my uncle and her mom split up when she was very young. then, after the family tracked her down again, via a detective, she ended up getting pregnant before marriage. blah, blah, blah... they ended up getting married after she had their first child and they had a second child a few years later. the kids are teenagers and she seems like a happy career mom. i can't believe this is the first time i've met her... she's so awesome. she's funny, irreverent, intelligent, spirited and very giving.

the following day, soon to be mr. and mrs. s picked us up to chauffeur spend the day with us. we visited their reception site, villa immaculada inside the walls of intramuros (the oldest part of manila), to tie up some loose ends, drop stuff off, etc... then, we headed over to fort santiago for some sightseeing.

fort santiago is an old spanish fortress within intramuros. it houses the jose rizal shrine.


the paloma gets to ride a kalesa for the first time. the driver was really nice and let her sit on his horse, "pretty boy", for a photo op.



there's a picturesque lily pond underneath the bridge that leads you into fort santiago.



this is the building where jose rizal was imprisioned. his cell was located in the damaged part of the building. there is a mock up of his cell with quotes from his writings on the surrounding walls. it's a very moving tribute. the museum houses many of rizal's personal affects as well as a reliquary that holds one of rizal's bones.

these footsteps mark rizal's final walk to luneta park. it looks as if the steps end just outside the fort, but it's just that some of the footsteps have been paved over... if you keep looking you'll find they'll lead you all the way to where he was executed.


here's a view from inside the gates of the park outside fort santiago. i just loved the wrought iron, the church (?) dome and the filipino flag...

later in the day, my sister checked into our hotel for the night to get ready for the wedding the next day. everything seemed to be going well until my mom got upset that her name was printed incorrectly in the wedding invitation. she got even more upset when she found out that she had to sit next to my father at the reception. she was offended and upset because she felt she and her second marriage were being disrepected.

i knew that situations like this would arise, but i didn't realize how volatile they would be. my mom refused to talk it out with my sister. she just couldn't keep her emotions in check - which i totally understood intellectually. she was threatening to not smile, not talk, just show up and go home. she wasn't willing to compromise. but, i couldn't side with her. it just wasn't her day. it wasn't about her. i really felt that she had a responsibility, obligation or duty to my sister to let the animosity (for my father and for the hypocrisy of the philippines) go for one day.

i talked to my sister and she started to cry which made me cry. she opened up about how stressful the wedding planning had been. how often she felt she had to compromise. how awful it felt all these years to defend her upbringing in a "broken" family. she just didn't want to do it again on her wedding day. i knew that that was what the invitation and the seating arrangement was about. i didn't think it was right that my sister just slip it all under my mom's radar, but i understood why she did it. it was then that she told me that we have a half sister. basically, everyone knows she exists, but no one knows where she is. my sister thinks she's about sixteen. she saw her when she was little. she doesn't know her name. my heart just about broke... for my crazy family, for my father, for my unknown sister...

so, after i calmed her down a bit, i went back to talk to my mom who ended up crying as well... she kept saying things like "i made all the wrong choices.", "i ruined my life and the lives of my children", "i hate myself", etc, etc... it was awful... i asked her if she knew about my half sister. she said she did, but she felt it was my father's job to tell me about her. i did and said everything i could to try to salvage that day... in the end, my mom was inconsolable. my mom is strong though. she would get thru it somehow... and she did.

that evening we were expecting to have dinner with my dad's sisters. but, those plans fell thru. they came over but too late to have dinner. honestly, at that point, we'd all lost our appetites. i just wanted to sleep it all off and forget. just start all over again. just one of those times, i wish life had a "refresh" button.

getting there...

i guess the trip started when the paloma and i piled into my brothers car and we headed off to the airport. it was about 9:30 pm. i was really hesitant to leave. the paloma and i had come down with some pretty bad colds three days beforehand. i was doing ok. she sounded like she was getting better, but her cough was pretty bad - bad enough that it sometimes made her gag.

we managed to check in without any hitches. i was worried about security confiscating all of our cold medicines since they were all over the 3 oz limit, but they let everything through. the gate was further than i thought and the paloma was really tired so, i had to carry her part of the way - not easy, since i had to carry her carry on and mine - the laptop. at one point, she thought she was going to hurl which upped my stress level to "potential aneurysm".

i had hoped that she would sleep on the first 13 hour leg of the trip. but that just didn't happen. she was too excited, too sick and too tired. and she wouldn't eat. i gave her medicine anyway (i realize now that i shouldn't have) to help with her cough and the pressure on her ears... to no avail. she was miserable. i was miserable. i felt like the worst mom on the planet. (i still do.)

the interesting thing was that although the paloma was having a hard time. the other passengers on the plane seemed pretty cool about it. earlier in the day, i had talked to someone on the urbanbaby message boards about possibly cancelling the trip and worried about the possibility of getting kicked off the plane in seoul because of her throwing a tantrum. the poster replied, "if you were getting on a domestic flight, i would be worried about that too. but you're getting on an international flight to asia. in my experience, the flight attendants and the passengers on those flights are so kid friendly. you'll both be fine. don't cancel. just go." that poster was right. i never felt like i was getting the stink eye from anyone. i was able to focus on the paloma, her fever and her cough and not the wrath of my fellow travellers.

by the way, we flew via asiana airlines. it was a great flight. and by far the least expensive and most direct way to go. they even had toys and puzzles for the kids. the food was good. i finally got to try korean food other than korean barbeque. my first meal was bi bim bap which was YUM-MEE! however, i passed on the hot pepper paste cause that looked lethal. i don't remember what my second meal was called but that was tasty too. it was mystery beef in a mystery sauce.

in addition to the safety info film, they show another film about pressure points you can massage to alleviate nausea, earache, headache, deep vein thrombosis, etc... and they show another film showing excercises you can do in your seat. it was really cool. and i gotta say, the flight attendants were HAWT. can't wait to fly via asiana again.

this pic was taken on the flight from seoul to manila. thankfully, this leg of the flight was shorter - 4 hours ish... and the plane was pretty empty. we all got to stretch out and finally get some sleep. the paloma finally has a smile on her face... it didn't last long. she got her first nosebleed right after this was taken.



we finally land in manila. it's about 80 degrees out. we got thru most of the airport without much trouble from the hawkers looking to get tips from us for "helping" us out. it wasn't until we got to baggage claim where we got jacked into renting a luggage cart and a luggage cart dude. i think we were just too tired to say no at that point. he didn't do a thing. i found all of our luggage and put it on the cart. he just stood there waiting for payment. all we had was US$ too but he was happy to take the $5. we sailed thru immigration and customs too - which was really surprising. we used to bring cigs and chocolate specifically for those people so that they'd let us go. the woman who we saw, glanced at our passports briefly and said, "please go ahead. happy valentines day."

when we finallly got outside the airport and found my sister and my papa and my soon to be bro in law. my papa couldn't stop crying and hugging us and saying, "my daughter!" and "my granddaughter!" which of course got me all kinds of speechless and emotional...

i brought along our portable carseat which is really nothing but a board with a five point harness attached to it. it amazes me that carseats aren't even a blip on the radar in the philippines considering how aggressive the drivers are there and how bad the traffic is... my family didn't once consider that i wanted to use the car seat. any car we got into was always packed two people than the seating allowed. the paloma was usually on someone's lap. i rarely got to use the carseat. it was so hard to just let go.

we finally got to the diamond hotel. i managed to forget our printed hotel voucher back home, so i had to use their business center to open the email again. thank goodness we got there in the afternoon when it was open. the hotel is a beautiful luxury hotel located on manila bay. it was a good location, located midway between my sister's wedding and the reception site.

usually, i would stay with my family in the house in cubao. but, i was worried about my mom and my papa not getting along (which proved true when they saw each other at the airport). it was also going to be a full house with my older sister staying there with her newborn, her husband and her mother in law. and i was really worried about the paloma not acclimating to the heat, the bugs, the environment, etc... anyhoo, i booked our stay via hoteltravel.com so we got a really - and i mean REALLY - cheap rate. our room was less than $100 a night via hoteltravel.

once we got into the room, the paloma got worse and worse... her fever spiked again and that's when she finally tossed her cookies all over the bed. what scared me was that she'd gotten another nosebleed and there was blood in her vomit. rick, my brother in law, is also a doctor. he was the voice of reason and calmed me down. i was FREAKING out. he suggested we just let her rest - no meds necessary, just a cool compress.

i called my sister (another doctor) to get a second opinion and she agreed. so, the paloma slept for about 10 hours. when she woke up she thought she could keep down some soup and some bread. she did. in the am, my sister came over with some "gentler" meds - fever reducer, decongestant and some liquid vitamin c. the paloma was doing much better. she was regaining her sense of humor and her cheery disposition. see below:



breakfast at the palm court restaurant. the wall of windows looks out onto a giant waterfall and the hotel's two pools.



the view from our room of manila bay in the wee small hours of the morning...



the view of popular mabini street (i think?) . that's the hyatt on the far right. the hotel i wanted to stay at but there were no vacancies...



the paloma resting in our room. for some reason, the beds had down comforters. we either slept on top of the comforters or jacked up the ac in the room... who in their right mind thought of down comforters in manila!?

we're back!

we arrived around 5 pm last night... of course, the paloma and i are jetlagged.

it's 5 am now and she's watching boobahs on sprout and i'm contemplating bludgeoning my head in with something heavy and blunt if the advil doesn't kick in soon.

i'm so glad to be home. being reunited with the thin man and the pork chop is wonderful. but i must admit i'm not looking forward to a full energized day with the porkchop who should be up in about an hour - probably less. hopefully, the paloma will go to bed around 8ish for her full 10 hours sleep - manila time.

i can't believe how cold it is here... i was just in a sleeveless tee, turning up the the ac... by far, the rudest awakening....

i hope to return to regular posting soon with some stories and pics of manila...

hello from the philippines!

just wanted to let everyone know that we made it to
the philippines ok. the 20+ travel hours that we
logged just about killed us - especially the paloma
who came down with fevers, nosebleeds and
upchucking... :(

my sister (the MD) checked her out and she doing much
better... we've had some time to recover but we've
been very busy reconnecting with family and preparing
for the wedding...

it's warm and beautiful here. i wish i could share
some photos but i forgot my usb cable and getting
internet access is either pricey (for dial up) or
unavailable. so, i can't promise that i'll be able to
update the blog as much as i'd like. or answer the
latest comments.

i heard it's freezing and snowy again back home. i
miss the thin man and the porkchop so much... i'm
constantly asking to hold babies and am often telling
thin man stories... althoough, i'm so happy here - i
cannot wait to come home!!!

love love love... MZ

CHINKY CHINKY CHINAMAN?!! AGAIN??!!

pat roberston demonstrates "the oriental eyes"

WHY, LORD???!!! WHYYYY!!!???

anyhoo... on a related racist front... i hate to admit this but i watch that show, "real housewives of orange county". it's a reality show on bravo that follows the lives of five "housewives" living the high life in orange county.

last night, the thin man and i were sprawled out on the futon watching the latest episode. among the many "rhoc happennings", vicki, the housewife who is originally from the chicago area, accompanies her daughter on a drive to her (the daughter's) new condo. while her daughter drives, vicki conducts business on her cellphone. apparently, she's speaking to someone who's asian and after she hangs up, she goes on to say how all she hears is "chinky chinky chinamen".

i just couldn't believe i was hearing it again. i was curious to see if i could find a clip. i still haven't been able to find one but i did find that other viewers are calling her out on it on her blog. i posted my own comments but i'm sure they won't get published... here's what i wrote:

"...to all of you people who think asian americans should "just get over it" - just because you assume vicki didn't MEAN to be racist, offensive and hurtful - doesn't mean it WASN'T racist, offensive and hurtful to an asian person.

i'm asian. i was offended. i was hurt.

if you're not asian, you probably don't know what it's like to hear "chinky chinky chinaman" ALL THE TIME and what kind of pain or painful memories resurface.

a few years ago, my sister was walking down the street and some white men taunted her with ching chong. she ignored them and kept walking, assuming they would just quit. not only did they not quit, she was dragged into an alley and beaten. they screamed at her, "you chinks are taking away our jobs!" she's not even chinese.

i grew up in chicago and live here now but i've lived in nyc, asia and even (5 years) in california. i've experienced racism from every one - white and people of color, liberal, conservative, christian, non christian.

it's NEVER ok to be racist. that's what i teach my children anyway. this is not an isolated incident. shaquille o'neill did it. adam corolla did it. rosie o'donnell did it. pat robertson just did it.

everyone needs to own up to their own prejudices. everyone needs to reflect on why they think it's ok to be racist "in certain situations". it's not about being politically correct. it's about being respectful of people regardless of their color or culture. we all have to try to recognize subtle racism like this and stop it because if we don't, we're just enabling racism and ignorance to spread and thrive. "

UPDATE 2/10: i just googled and you can contact vicki gunvalson directly via email - vicki@coto/insurance.com - see here.

also, vicki posted a "rosiecarolla" apology:

Please accept my sincere apology for the comment about one of my Asian clients. It was no way meant to be racist in any way. I have a very large clientele that are Asian and I respect their communities and cultures. I would appreciate accepting my apology for anyone that was offended.
Regards,Vicki Gunvalson

UPDATE 2/11: i emailed vicki directly with the comment i made above and i just got an email back from her. she writes:

"You are right and I apologize! The comment I made to my daughter was wrong,and I am sorry. I had no idea what I said was going to be publicized on the air. I have learned from this and thank you for letting me know your side of this.

Vicki"

did you all catch that? she had no idea that what she said was going to publicized on the air. so, it's like rosie all over again... she won't make any racist comments anymore- on tv. THANKS A WHOLE HECKUVA LOT, VICKI!

please note the comment by lisa (below) reporting that some complaint comments seem to be missing from vicki's blog now.




i was just telling one of my neighbors (who is african american, married to a caucasian & also new to the neighborhood) about how weird it is for me to live in the neighborhood we live in. it's pretty much split 50/50 - african american and caucasian - generation after generation after generation. i told my friend that i feel like the thin man and i are "race spies".

some of our caucasian neighbors seem to think it's ok to say "watch out for the black people". then, i turn around and some of our african american neighbors say things like "i didn't think you spoke english" to me. the thin man (who is irish and puerto rican) has often had to endure conversations where neighbors talk about the negatives of "black people". he was even privy to a conversation about another latino neighbor who was vying for a captain position for the local volleyball league and how other players were trying to get him thrown out because they didn't want a latino in the league. why do these people think it's ok to tell me - a woman of color - these things? why do these people think its ok to share these thoughts with anyone - caucasian or of color? my friend was really interested because he realized that he really wasn't a "minority" in the neighborhood. he could see that clearly we were - our whole family.

i don't LOVE this neighborhood. but, it's not all bad. we've managed to fashion a pretty good life for us here. we've made very good friends here. we're able to live well and within our means. in some ways, i feel like i'm here for the same reason i'm still catholic. i can't run away from somewhere or someone that needs my help - EVEN THOUGH I REALLY WANT TO.

i guess what i'm trying to articulate (and not well) is does any one racist incident/statement make someone a KKK card carrying member? no. i don't think so. but it doesn't make that incident or statement any less racist. it doesn't mean we should just avoid talking about it or sweep it under the rug or excuse it as some isolated slip of the tongue. it came from somewhere and it doesn't disappear. it's just time for ALL of us to walk the walk and talk the talk.

how cold IS it?

it's SO cold that i may pull the trigger and buy (links are NSFW) this or one of these or even this...

because a) the obvious. b) if i'm still cold, i can light it on fire. c) it will keep the f*cking static electricity down to a minimum.




(and no, i did not post this in front o' the chillins... and don't you even think about posting your favorite thermometer pun in the comments.)

GO CHICAGO!

i'm not a sports fan. no secret there.

but i am a HUGE chicago fan.

YAY CHICAGO!

soul mate, sole mate

i have to admit that i used to believe in soul mates.

but, thinking back i realize now that for me there isn't a "one who got away". there's a "first love", a "wrong lust", a "love that moved to LA" and a bunch of assorted likes and loves inbetween. in fact, i can imagine myself living content alternative lives with all of them.

after dating the thin man though, i saw a life that i really wanted and thought i could make a reality. it kinda scared the sh*t out of me. sometimes it still does.

so, i think i mentioned this already... but in case i haven't, my sister asked me to be her matron old hag of honor at her wedding in february.

i didn't have my maid of honor speak at my wedding (she pleaded not to, not that i had asked). come to think of it, i've never been to a wedding where the maid of honor prepared a speech or a toast. but apparently, it's trendy now, so i feel compelled to write something up... like i don't have enough to do or worry about...

my impression is that when you prepare these speech thingys, you're supposed to share a story about growing up or how you met or how they met or failing all that - tell a joke.

the thing is i didn't grow up with my sister. and while we've written letters to each other consistently throughout the years, i really don't have a wealth of memories built with her or about her. certainly, none that i could use that would be appropriate at a wedding... "i remember when we used to wet our butts and make butt prints in the concrete. i can't wait to make butt prints with my new brother in law! welcome to the family!"

i really don't know the groom very well. i don't know remember how they met or even if he (or she) has any habits that may prove challenging to their marriage. i'm not even sure they're getting married in a church out of respect for both sets of parents or because they're truly devout catholics.

and i can't tell a joke to save my life.

which leaves me with the only two things i can give them in a maid of honor speech... words of "wisdom" and best wishes.... i'm not qualified to distribute wisdom. i can barely spell WIZDUMB. maybe i should just stick with the best wishes.... i want to sound like a hallmark card for my sister and my family, but i know i won't be able to pull it off. i'm either genuine or i'm a robot...

and i've only been married six years. that's a drop in the bucket. i've heard the average marriage lasts seven years. then again, six years is one year longer than my parents were together.

well, here goes nothing... as of today, this is the abundant wealth of wisdom i have gained about (my) marriage:

* i love the thin man and most of the time, my marriage is satisfying and challenging. it's balanced and loving and happy.

* my marriage is constant roadwork in progress. when the road gets damaged, we patch it up. eventually, the patches, the environment and the constant wear and tear will make the road bumpy again. so, we completely reconstruct the road. we make it smooth again. we make it work efficiently again. which reminds me, after a recent rough patch with the thin man, he sent me this lileks.com post criticizing a nyt article that cited statistics re: the majority of american women being unmarried. this is the quote i liked the most:


"...It’s a consequence of the triumph or Romantic Love, I suppose; if you don’t mesh at the elemental level, something’s wrong. The notion of simply inhabiting the same road as you move towards the horizon isn’t enough; you must both be fascinated by the same things. I prefer the model where one person is interested in the flowers that grow by the road, and the other discourses on the history of pavement, and you both speculate on the birds in the boughs above. But that’s just me. (Or rather us.) I’m sure marriages built around interests intensely shared work just as well. It all depends on what you put it into it, to state the obvious. It’s like a fireplace: you can let it go out, or you can add wood. Ahem."

[snort] he said "wood".

* the smooth patches, like the rough patches, are temporary. i need to live and love accordingly.

* i'm always afraid to fight. but i know that i should fight (verbally) as often as necessary. and fight "clean" while staying on topic. i knew those years in production meetings would pay off.

* like all marriages, ours is not carefree. it has weathered personal and financial struggle, physical and emotional crisis, crying, yelling, depression, metamorphosis, expansion, etc, etc... i have to remember that we are not alone. we are not the first and we will not be the last.

* the thin man always says, "if only i'd met you sooner, like in high school or in college." but i remind him that we aren't the same people we were six, twelve, eighteen years ago... and six years from now, we'll be different still... somehow we managed to stay together six years so far, (nine, if you count the dating years) so i think we can at the very least, make another six.

our marriage feels like a marathon right now. and i'm a much better sprinter. intellectually, i know that this marathon will end, even though i'm not sure where or when it began. and eventually another marathon will take its place... sometimes it feels like i'm running a different race than the thin man altogether. but, i always feel like he's there somewhere, either running alongside me or behind the barriers, holding out a cup of water... to throw at me. :)

evolution, why have you forsaken me!?

so, we were asked out on a playdate friday afternoon... the plan was to drive over to the local mcdonalds playland/playplace have lunch, let the kids run around a bit, yada yada yada... well, unbeknownst to us... chicago public school had the day OFF.

so? SO!? so EVERY OTHER MOM IN THE AREA had the same idea!

what they don't tell you is when you enter a mcdonalds playplace, all children flip an internal switch and move at lightspeed. the paloma was one of a ZILLION screaming, blurry horizontal stripes of pink. i was constantly trying to keep track of her to no avail. finally, at one point, she made her way to the tippy top of the behemoth vinyl, foam and mesh climbing structure and realized she was too afraid to come down and wouldn't stop screaming about it until i shimmied my fat *ss all the way up there to get her...

it was not pretty. then, i released her back on terra firma where she was resumed her screaming, fast moving pink stripeness again...

OH EVOLUTION! WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME!?





y'know. eight arms woulda come in handy too...

and on a related humorous note - who has this phone? HOW COOL ARE YOU!?

dude. where's my kid?!

metrodad had this funny post that made me reminisce about my own business and pleasure travels as a single person. like him, i worked in the garment industry (in production) and though i never got to travel overseas to visit the sweatshops factories, i did get to travel to new york to visit with the gestapos designers.

besides getting to visit with friends during off-hours, my perk was always a stay at the mansfield hotel, one of the nicest hotels i've ever stayed at... my room was always a minimalist oasis - the large comfy bed, the soothing sauna, the complimentary buffet breakfast, the complimentary cappucinos available all 24 hours of the day....

most of my overseas travel was to the philippines to visit my papa, my two sisters and my brother. between 1972 and 1994, those trips happened every couple of years or so with stops in hawaii, tokyo, or seoul. then in 1994, i got to travel to europe for the first time and save for the bohemian homelessness and the demise of a close friendship, it was AWESOME. and last but not least, there have been the unforgettable trips to the UK and italy with the thin man.

the picture above was taken during one of my first trips to manila. my father is helping my mom with something. and my lola (papa's mom) is standing next to my aunt who is holding my baby sister (the one who is getting married in february). that's me in the pink dress looking like i'm planning an escape or a hostile takeover or is that my potty dance? hmmm, i dunno...

when i travelled as a single girlzilla, i had single girlzilla worries:

* will i still have a signifigant other when i return from this trip?
* will i get kicked out of a train station for sleeping there?
* will i meet cool people at my destination or will i only run into "ugly" americans?
* can i expense report that?
* will i have to declare that?
* will i get mugged and what if he's cute?
* will i ever catch a flight home... flying standby?
* if i find love or find i love this place, can i find a way to stay... legally?

now, i'm a travelling mamazilla, i have travelling mamazilla worries:

* which and how many inoculations do i have to get to ensure i don't soil myself walking down the aisle?
* how badly will i lose my sh*t when i have to fight with wake the paloma up at o'dark early to catch our flight?
* how loudly can i scream at the airport without having security taser me?
* how full of *ssholes will the flight be?
* how much bribe in currency & paraphenalia will it cost me to get from the airport to the hotel room?
* do i really have a reservation at a hotel? or just a piece of paper that says "I'M A F*CKING IDIOT! TAKE MY MONEY!"?
* who's going to get b*tchslapped first - strangers, family or me?
* what do i do if/and/or/when the paloma gets sick?
* what do i do if/and/or/when the paloma gets lost?
* how hot and humid is it? enough to warrant UPPERCASE typing?
* will i really go to H*LL if i kill myself? will i notice?

as you can see, i'm mildly freaked out about this trip and it's only ratcheting up more and more the closer we get to departure time...

i'm not sure how my mom did it... but then again, she says that i was a pretty cool headed kid, unlike the paloma... i guess the good news is that i'll have my mommy with me when things go wrong. she has a way of making things all bettah.

forget-me-not

the porkchop hides crayons in my oven mitts.

the "GO DADDY GO!" sighting

every once in a while i spot a dad who is doing something SO COOL that i want to say something. but i feel like if i do, i'll either embarass him, or me, or piss him off or scare him. so, i don't say anything. i just smile to myself and silently send him all kinds of positive vibes....

but i always regret not saying something... so, i figure why not give the guy a shout out on here. i figure i'll call it the "GO DADDY GO!" sighting and i encourage you to send your "GO DADDY GO" sightings to me if you don't have a blog of your own - i'm happy to post them for you! :)

anyhoo... this weekend, i had to run some errands downtown and i spotted a "GO DADDY GO" on the corner of state and madison.

actually, i spotted six teenaged, high pitched screeching fashion victims girls on the corner of state and madison. they were all carrying bags from forever 21. (see... your eyes are rolling up and around your cranium, just like mine did!) right on cue, they started to yammer on and on about their myspace pages (STFU haters) and their shuffle ipods and some band that i've never heard of... it was then, i saw THE LONE DAD.

the poor guy had that "i just woke up from an emo music induced hypnosis, buried under an avalanche of retro inspired disposable fashion made by a foreign legion of sleep deprived naked children" look. his face was flushed. his eyes rimmed in red. he was wearing one of those practical yellow windbreakers, a pair of jeans and some sneaks. the wind forced him to hunch over a bit and to shove his freezing hands into his pockets. his salt and pepper hair was a little mussed up. it was obvious that the fresh air was slowly reviving him.

i just had visions of that poor man agreeing to take his daughter (i may be assuming too much, but he had that fatherly "the light's red, katie. (jaywalk and i'll kill you)" demeanor) and her five friends downtown to shop and hang out. (or i dunno, maybe he lost a bears playoff bet.) i mean you might as well say, "yes, of course, i can collect all the scorpions on the australian continent. BLINDFOLDED." if you're going to agree to something like that.

GOOD GOD! he may even have started the day by taking them on the L or on the metra. and when i spotted them, the day was young - so you KNOW they were on their way to even MORE shopping (i call it the bermuda quadrangle of shopping - macy's, old navy, nordstrom rack and H & M) and then *GULP* lunch!

*sniff* he was so BRAVE! :)

so, to the dad in the yellow windbreaker on the corner of state and madison with the gaggle of six teenaged girls - GO, DADDY, GO! BRAVO! BRAVO!

school picture day.

so, the paloma is taking her first preschool class (and individual) picture tomorrow. and i've done everything in my power (ok, save for a haircut.) to assure that she doesn't come home with a picture like this:



thank goodness a) she has perfect eyesight b) cystic hygroma isn't genetic c) her grandmother doesn't sew.

the unusual suspects

for all y'all who've been keepin' up... i have news re: some of my fellow writing homies from the atlantic center for the arts residency (that i did over a year ago... yikes).

first, for all you lucky ducks in los angeles, jessica hagedorn's (pictured above, second from the right) dogeaters play (based on her best selling novel) is at center theatre group. their website also has a short interview with her as well. you have until february 11th to see it. GO NOW. THIS MEANS YOU, MONKEYSTEEZ.

second, i also just got an email from mae (pictured above. bottom row, far left) that she's published a new book: FILIPINOS IN LOS ANGELES.

from mae: "The book is an interesting and intimate look into the lives of Filipinos in the L.A. area from the 1920s through today, largely through vintage photographs. I hope that the book will spark people's interest in exploring the Filipino-American culture, and perhaps even their own family’s personal history. FILIPINOS IN LOS ANGELES will be published by Arcadia Publishing and available online and in bookstores on April 16. The first major event it will be featured at is the upcoming Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (April 28 & 29), in conjunction with the Philippine Expressions Bookshop."

third, i just saw martha's nyt review of photographer andrew moore's show at yancey richardson gallery.

and last but not least, i found an action shot of chris, who in addition to being a fantastic writer and THE BEST T-REX IMPRESSIONIST EVER, he also plays hoops.

and what am i doing?

i'm applying toothpaste under my arms thinking it's deodorant.

that's what i'm doing.

the MZ flick crit

it's 4:56 am here.

i'm doomed. DOOMED, i tell you.

the paloma woke me up at 3:20 am because she had to go potty and i haven't been able to go back to sleep yet... i'm starving. i'm sneezing. it's raining sleeting. and the thin man is going to the seahawks v. bears playoff game today.

so, i figure i'll review a film because... well, because the only alternatives i have are A) to rot my feeble mind with infomercials B) reveal what a loser i am by pimping my myspace page at this hour C) actually listen to what the inebriated bimbo is saying slurring into her cell phone while walking stumbling down the street from the pubs.

anyhoo... let's get on with it shall we? (this may actually turn into a regular post from me (now that i can actually watch movies again). i'll make it/them short, i promise.



WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
boy (matt dillon) marries girl (kate hudson). girl's father/boy's boss (michael douglas) enjoys humiliating boy. boy's best man/friend (owen wilson) moves in with boy and girl. nudity, bathroom jokes, mormon librarian lust, post coital house fire, masturbation, mixed messages and attempted murder ensue!

APPALUSE!
* kate hudsons body - the return to pre-pregnancy. THAT'S what I'M talking about.
* michael douglas - it's like Jack T. Colton all over again... sorta. thank you CZJ! kinda crushin'! :)
* toshi, paco, random monied investors and the entire hawaii unit cast - WOO-HOO! ASIAN CANDY!
* taxidermied moosehead
* seth rogen - freaksandgeekslove!

BOO! HISS!
* matt dillon's dialogue - give the man SOMETHING, ANYTHING to work with, people...
* hello?! no mandy reveal!?
* you know the continuity was bad, if i caught stuff... pre-football party scene: check matt dillion's hand - bottle of alcohol, glass of alcohol, bottle of alcohol.

[YAWNS]
* asian fetish porn sighting
* owen wilson's character - don't get me wrong. i dig all that is owen wilson. but have i not met *insert owen wilson character* in *insert owen wilson film* already?
* the ending
* the alternate ending

MZ RATING - 72 mins o' bliss out of a possible 108 mins

we're not all bad, you know that right?

so, i read this over at strollerderby. i wish i hadn't. i was already feeling like an *sshole for something that happened this weekend that i didn't react to or respond to and i regret it now. although i really want to post rant about that, i'll post rant about this first.

the author of the post, patti, wrote in an earlier article about the diversity of an online parenting community called cafemom, "And may they add one another as friends, because dude, if there's one thing I've learned from partaking in online parenting communities, it's that we are all in this together."

but the impression i got from her post titled, "God's Little Gold Mine", is don't expect to be added as a friend if you're christian - 'cause if you're christian, you're a money hungry hypocrite who doesn't practice what you preach about humility and charity.

and patti is "in the know" because she was raised in a pretty strict and conservative christian church. and although she was an existentialist in high school, she still attends church at the holidays.

in her post, patti complains about a series of christian centric childrens books and a dvd called gigi, god's little princess. admittedly, i haven't read any of these books, but i get the feeling that patti hasn't either. all patti tells us is that gigi is a "cross between eloise and fancy nancy...a response to the princess phenomenon that nobody with daughters seems to be escaping....".

she writes "I can't help but feel wistful for the days when I cheerfully went to Sunday School because I took it seriously, not because I had a bunch of paraphrenalia to inspire my devotion. When the prevailing wisdom was that Christianity meant humbleness and charity, not a full-scale marketing attack. When the bracelets were made out of pipe cleaner and plastic beads, not pink marabou."

jeez. i don't even know where to start with this... i agree that there are many christians who are hypocrites that don't practice what they preach. but, not all christians are the same. this isn't rocket science. i'm sure the same could be said for other religions and for other *insert group title here*.

are similar posts written about children's books and dvds regarding judaism or buddhism or wiccanism? does everyone really think that every other religion besides christianity is completely altruistic, charitable and humble? and why does someone who isn't practicing christianity, even care about a christian writing a christian book for christian children?

incidentally, the author of the books, sheila walsh, echoes patti's sentiments re: mixed/missed messages,"Just check out your local mall and the message of peace seems to have been obscured by the racket of cash registers and the rush of harassed shoppers. We seem to have missed the point! Even as believers it is so easy to get caught up in all the things that have nothing to do with the gift of the Christ Child." the few pages i've glimpsed of "gigi god's little princess" seem to indicate that that's what gigi is wondering about too. it wouldn't surprise me if the book ends with gigi realizing that she doesn't need "swag" or "pink marabou" to be god's little princess.

and re: christian paraphernalia- as a child, my mother bought me rosaries, scapular medals, books (like the chronicles of narnia, lives of the saints, children's bibles), small statues of saints, etc. i liked all these things because i felt connected to them and they were small beautiful, tangible "souvenirs" for me to remind me of my journey and my faith. it's because of all of these things together that catholicism was never some big hulk that loomed over me. it was and is something i carry within me. i bought veggietale dvds and christian books for my children for the same reason. and in the future, i'll probably buy other things to commemorate their catholic memories/milestones like their first communion, confirmation, visits to holy places, etc...

while i do think that some merchandise that's marketed as christian is questionable and unnecessary. i don't think that's true of this book series. the books aren't about the author. they're clearly about this character and a message about/from god. i doubt they advocate hatred or greed. they seem sincere enough and passionate enough for a child to read - that's humbling and charitable enough to me.

national migration week jan 7-13



i just saw this beautiful image over at a blog i just found called evangelical catholicism and i just had to link to it.

my 10 day vacation in the OUTLANDS OF HELL....

the abridged "for the sake of my psyche, my brain has edited stuff out" version....

* we had our first of a million vacation fights in front of the curbside check in line. we weren't IN the line. we were fighting about whether or not to WAIT in the line.

* we RAN to the gate - with the paloma on the thin man's shoulders and the porkchop on my hip, with carry-ons in our hands, sweating in winter coats thru dense slackjawed crowds.

* somehow only MY luggage was lost. on a NON STOP flight. my luggage which contained the paloma's ear infection medicine in it. the medicine i wasn't allowed to take on the plane because it was more than 3 oz. not to mention all my clean clothes incl. pjs, underwear, summery stuff that was climate appropriate...

* my luggage was supposed to arrive later that same evening around 10 pm. it arrived at 2 pm - the NEXT day. THIS is why i should drive.

* the porkchop and the paloma had trouble adjusting to PST. the paloma finally figured it out. the porkchop never did and had a LOT of trouble sleeping. so much so, that he woke up crying hysterically apprx every THREE hours.

* i wanted to go home so bad i cried. often.

* we were staying at a relative's empty house. which meant we had to return there three times a day - twice a day for naps and once earlier in the evening (probably earlier than any other sun city resident) for the night. our house had cactus. grandma's house had a pool. you do the math.

* aunt flo stopped by for a visit. for a vengeful SECOND time, this month. overnight. fyi - if you ever bludgeon anyone in a bed, i can help you clean up the murder scene. i am a pro.

* the thin man was so worn down by fatigue that he actually cussed me out, multiple times, in the wee small hours of the morning, during a porkchop crying fit.

* during dinner, a relative, who doesn't really believe in organized religion, informed me that i couldn't really be a catholic and implied that i was a religious hypocrite.

* the thin man almost bludgeoned a different relative - with good reason. and i might've helped him, if i hadn't been so conflicted re: who i wanted to bludgeon more.

* we thought we'd take the kids to "the living desert", the local zoo. never visit an outdoor zoo. in the rain. while trying to negotiate a gravel terrain - with a stroller. and yes, we checked the weather report. we officially HATE the national weather service and mother nature better watch her back too.

all in all, i considered divorce 80 times and death by wild desert dog 160 times.

sharks and dingos averted.

status quo ante bellum.

ring around the rosie....

(you know, according to snopes, that little ditty isn't about the black plague. darn!)

so yesterday morning, we (me, the paloma, the porkchop and the thin man) all got up after a good night of sleep (for the first time in 10 days) and padded down to the kitchen, in our comfy pjs, to celebrate over a handful of favorite breakfast treats - an orange scone, a bear claw, a pumpkin muffie and a chocolate chip muffin.

then, a large, ominous, threatening cloud appeared and loomed over us. from the cloud, we heard an eerie cackle and then it said, "i'm rosie o'donnell and you're watching the view!". it was a repeat and they were talking about michael richards during the hot topics segment. rosie was explaining how the n word is used in the rap poetry of kanye west or tupac shakur.

i shoulda known my view/rosie watching wasn't quite over. while i was in palm springs, the thin man showed me this article criticizing rosie's "apology". and even before that, i heard about the whole rosie dissing trump suing rosie fiasco.

which made me more curious as to why some asian american celebrities haven't said anything about rosie's ching chong. is it THAT "dangerous" in hollywood to criticize a celebrity like rosie o'donnell?

margaret cho has written about michael richards' racist rant and gwen stefani's asian pets harajuku girls on her blog but remains silent about rosie o'donnell.

eric byler and daniel dae kim got together and produced this video denouncing former virgina senator george allen and supporting allen's democratic challenger jim webb.

i read over at reappropriate that lucy liu had this to say about rosie o'donnell during a CNN interview, "I think Rosie O’Donnell is...is a comedian and comedians do things that are outrageous and not politically correct all the time. If everyone has the right to their opinion, and, uhm, I think that if everyone had to apologize for everything, then it would just be ridiculous."

which left me speechless, frankly. about as speechless as i was when i watched those two asian ladies emphatically clapping their hands in support of rosie and reading their lips saying "we thought it was funny."

but, i'm going to go out on a limb (and will probably upset a large segment of my asian brothas and sistahs who may one day stumble across my babblings) and say that i don't think lucy liu is stupid or a sellout or a race traitor...

furthermore (eek), i think she is in the perfect position to "represent" (something i think she prefers not to do) without trying to represent. opportunity has never knocked so hard on any door.... first of all, she's got a movie coming out soon with cedric the entertainer called "code name: the cleaner". second, she appears in an anthology (and critically acclaimed) film about the AIDS crisis called "3 needles", where she plays a blood smuggler in china. third and last, she's the executive producer for a new film called "charlie chan". apparently, she plays charlie chan's granddaughter. yeah. i know that went over like a fart in church. but, hey it's not even in production yet - innocent til proven guilty...

so, here's the thing... lucy liu is scheduled to appear on the view on thursday, january 4. i sh*t you not.

maybe, just maybe, if we all ask, intelligently and politely, MAYBE.. lucy liu can kick the sh*t explain, slowly, clearly and monosyllabically, so that rosie can understand, the hows and whys, the heights and depths, the basic and detailed intricacies of her racist chingchongery.

anyhoo - i processed, i ranted, i googled:

i think lucy liu's manager is mary ellen mulcahy at framework entertainment:

Framework Entertainment
9057 Nemo Street
Suite C
West Hollywood, CA 90069
i also found this email addy - mem@frameworkent.com - not sure it'll work though.

however, fans are told to request autographs via snail mail addressed to the william morris agency

c/o William Morris Agency
One William Morris Place
Beverly Hills, CA 90212

i dunno. i'm going to write to both addresses because i'm a glutton for punishment as mama nabi so eloquently commented to an oblivious, attention seeking, *sshat f*cktard in barcelona "...I owe it to my young daughter, who only knows love and kindness at the moment, to stand up and fight for it to stop being okay, to stop being "indifferent" to outright racial slurs, to attempt, until my last breath on earth, to make this world a kinder place for her - so that something like 'ching chang chong' is not a commonplace taunts that she will hear and will brace againt. It is my duty as a parent to say 'No more'....."

NO MORE.


UPDATE 01/03 - fyi, i just heard today that rosie is on vacation for the week. so, lucy liu won't even see her tomorrow.

UPDATE 01/04 - so, the whole rosie ching chong thing never came up.

barbara brought up the fact that lucy liu gets mistaken for lisa ling all the time and joy behar added "well, they're both chinese and pretty." to which lucy liu totally shrugged off agreeing that it was good for both of them. incidentally, lisa ling just ammounced her engagement to a doctor here in chicago. i believe his name is paul song (which is weird cause there's a dr. paul song in oncology at the hospital down the street where the porkchop was born. i was considering seeing him for a follow up.)

then this whole conversation happens re: kabbalah and buddhism and the chinese zodiac because lucy is wearing a kabbalah bracelet. she mentions that she wears it for protection but her mom's buddhist. lucy explains that the upcoming year is the year of the pig. then, joy responds, you're wearing a kaballah bracelet and then you're celebrating the year of the pig? *laughter* to which barbara responds with a "related" story about maury povich and connie chung trying to adopt a baby from china. their only request was that the baby be chinese and jewish. which opened up the topic of transracial adoption from china and how difficult it is now. lucy liu mentioned some restrictions including age and weight (?). but the subject was moved back in the direction of her new movie with cedric the entertainer where she plays his girlfriend and a waitress. apparently, there's a HOT fight scene with nicolette sheridan.

it's about here where i start to feel like i'm involved in one of those awkward conversations that someone (who i don't know) starts up for no reason in particular. i'll usually get asked what my nationality is and to be polite, i say "filipino". (personally, i don't usually mind people asking questions. growing up with CH, i think i just preferred people asking questions instead of silently staring at me.) and instead of just leaving the question answered a stream of consciousness discussion evolves into who else this person knows who is filipino or what their limited experience with filipino culture has been - their childrens' teacher, their hairstylist, their elderly parent's caregiver, the nurses at the local hospital, the best pancit/lechon/lumpia they've ever eaten, the few tagalog words they know, etc...

it reminds me of the time i backpacked in europe and every time i ran into another american i was greeted with, "where are you from?". i'd say "chicago". and the response would be "i'm from *insert amercian city here*"! to me, it seems the person assumed since we were both american we had everything in common.

earlier in hot topics part of the show, joy was demonizing any parents who spank their children (like her fellow guest host, sherri shepherd) and added that studies have shown that some people who were spanked tend to be sexually deviant. so during the lucy segment, joy asked lucy is she was ever spanked. lucy revealed that yes, her parents spanked her to which barbara responded, "but the chinese people are so gentle." APPLAUSE!

so, there you have it.

home again. home again. six jiggers o' jack....

or however the f*ck that nursey rhyme goes...

yes, i've returned from what someone told me was a vacation. ha.

i'll fill you in on the gorey details of the "vacation" later but i'll tell you this before my brain beats me into forgetting it...

we woke up sunday morning around 2 am because the porkchop a) does not like his routine f*cked with b) never got tuned into PST. he was CST all "vacation" long. apparently you can take the boy out of chicago, but you can't take chicago out of the boy.

we got to palm springs international airport around 5 am to catch our 6:15 am flight back to chicago. after submitting to what might as well have been cavity searches in security, we finally board the plane.

we immediately set up "the emergency playroom" (like all the other responsible parents on the plane, who fear mob seatbelt buckle beating midair by their fellow passengers) - including every snack and beverage known to toddler kind, toys & crafts that make no sound but still encourage individual playtime with imagination, learning and fun, two human jungle gyms, portable dvd player with selection of g rated dvds and of course, quality headphones.

as soon as the kids are immersed in playing within the bubble of the emergency playroom, the captain informs us that we're delayed. you saw THAT coming didn't you? but, he thinks the delay is minor so we sit there for 30 minutes praying that the goodwill of our children lasts and that mother nature regains hers.

finally, the captain gets back on the horn and says,"the good news is the weather delay's been lifted. the bad news is a fuel truck scraped the underside of one of the wings so we're grounded until further notice. we'll have to ask you to gather your personal belongings and get off the plane."

at this point, sleep deprived, in denial and decaffeinated as we were, things we're still unclear and so as we slowly gathered up the gently used emergency playroom, the thin man asked the nearest flight attendant if we all had to get off the plane. (clearly, some people were as clueless as we were, since a handful were still sitting in their seats and not making a move towards the open door.) and she responded, quickly and angrily, thus,"doesn't it LOOK like everyone has to get off the plane? yes, EVERYONE has to get OFF the plane."

thank you, almighty b*tch on wings, wannabe glorified waitslut of the sky!

ALL GOOD WILL GONE. POOF.

so what CAN you do at palm springs international after some *sshat scrapes the underside of your plane's wing? i'll TELL you what you can do... you can walk numerous laps around the terminals stalking birds, buy and sample overpriced food that homeless people would deem hazardous and ooh and aah over every f*cking palm springs SANDglobe you can find and think up bizarre explanations as to why you're not going to buy them.

after a digital photo was emailed to tulsa and a mechanic touched up the plane with some paint, the plane's wing was finally ok'd for flight. we left california at approximately 2 pm PST.

thankfully, by some divine intervention, both children napped extensively during the flight home. our poor nerve wracked toes didn't reach casita zilla until 9 pm CST.

like i said, we're home and believe it or not that last travelling bit was NOTHING compared to the constant madness that happened the whole NINE days before it...

good. times.

not.


silver lining? it can't get any worse.
can it?