what i did during my (increasingly recurrent) blogging hiatus(es)...

* auditioned as a dance extra in a johnny depp / christian bale film shooting in chicago now called public enemies. (i didn't make it but the thin man did!)

* celebrated my 36th year on earth in vegas w/ a posse of my girls... where i got carded at social house! woo-hoo! and still caught my flight despite daylight savings time! BONUS!

* had our bedroom and entryways painted - by the slowest painting crew known to man. got trapped indoors because of inclement weather. and then, went bankrupt. and contemplated murdering painting crew and then suicide.

* immediately after painting mayhem, JUST BARELY survived another grueling spring break with the paloma and the porkchop. it was like a scene out of lord of the flies up in here people...

* watched cars and polar express with the porkchop at least once a day.

* thought up a GAZEEEEEEEELION craft ideas to entertain the paloma.

* went to our local public library with terrible tantrumming two yo at least once every week.

* shopped for fabric and sewed up a bunch of dresses and costumes as gifts for the paloma, friends and family.

* got to hang wid my sistah filipina moms bloggers - gena and mj- more wimmins i wannabees when i grows up....

* visited my chiropractor and my hair salon and my ob/gyn in an effort to get into the shower more than once a month.

* missed any and all easter holidays... bad catholic!! BAD catholic!!!

* interviewed a handful of potential babysitters so that the thin man and i could actually get a date night in a week. found mary poppins was available. SO. NOT. KIDDING. very excited!!!

* hosted a jewelry trunk show/party for one of my oldest and dearest grrlfriends, eva rios.

* got terminally obsessed, depressed and over ate desserts over the paloma ( who incidentally HATES ME! WANTS TO KILL ME! and HOPES THAT I WILL DIE!) possibly having non verbal learning disorder (just like i did this same time, last year....)

still over eating. as i type.

suffice to say the winter was bad for me.
the spring didn't start so great either.

but i'm ok and hangin' in there. slowly coming out of hiding... kinda like the butterflies i'm seeing more and more of...

i've missed blogging and commenting and reading your comments and posts.

but, i think i'm ready to play catch up.

tag. you're it. :)

the loudest baby she'd ever heard...

(i know i said no more pics of the kids... but i made the dress and the matching one for her doll!!!)

when i think back five years ago to when the paloma was born, i think about my steadfast, exhausted and golden midwife who placed an 8 lb swaddled bundle on my chest and quietly said, "i've helped a lot of new babies into the world and that little girl is by far and away the loudest one."

and she still is. i've said it before and i'll say it again... it's a crime that i can't apply for worker's comp for on the job hearing loss.

anyhoo, although the paloma's birthday is today (which you might've known if you happened to be watching sprout tv this morning), we celebrated her birthday with friends and family on saturday. by 1:30 she was birthdayed out, exclaiming in her very loudest voice, "I AM DONE PLAYING BIRTHDAY GAMES NOW! I THINK I'M REALLY TIRED!"

to which almost all parents responded with a resounding "Coats! Now!"

admittedly, i was feeling a little ordinary and inadequate because we didn't have an inflatable jumperoo, or a magician, or a storyteller, or a singer, or a balloon animal maker... like all the other birthday parties that we've been to. but, even with the few games we played (duck duck goose, red light green light, etc) and the pinata, the kids seemed like they had a good time. the parents looked bored out of their gourds, but hey, i'm only human and slightly socially inept - i can only do so much... ;)

and happy girl day btw! i've been feeling pretty down and blue lately, due to the weather and general physical and emotional malaise, i'm thinking maybe i should make a little doll (since i do that so well), entrust it with all my woes and sorrows and launch it off into lake michigan...

then, with my luck i'd probably get arrested for littering by some CPD on a segway.

thinkin' o' yous...

happy valentines day!

:)

the very persistent glllbrrt of palomaville

one of my faaaaaaaaavorite children's book illustrators is lane smith. one of my favorite books that he illustrated is george saunders' the very persistent gappers of frip.

in the book, the town of frip consists of three shacks by the sea inhabited by three families. the ronsens, the romos and a little girl named, capable and her father. the town of frip has been eternally plagued by gappers - orange, baseball sized, burr like things with multiple eyes - who like to attach themselves to goats and shriek happily all day and night. this does not bode well for people who make their living off of goatmilk or goatcheese.

the children of frip spend their waking hours brushing the gappers off the goats, transporting the gappers in gapper bags to a cliff, disposing of the gappers into the sea. but, the gappers (like zombies) simply walk back to the houses on the bottom of the sea to shriek goat havoc again... until one day, a very smart gapper realizes that one house is closer to the sea than the others.... capable's house.

except for people of faith kinda looking like zealots and idiots (admittedly, not too hard in some extreme cases...), i really enjoy this book - the story, the dialogue, the rhythm of the language, and most of all the lovable and hard working character of capable.

apparently, the paloma's favorite part of the whole book is the orange shreiking gappers themselves:

she drew this picture and asked me to make her a gapper whose name is glllbrrt and unlike his frip cousins is blue:


and so i did. (actually, it took me quite a while to make glllbrrt because i didn't have the right color felt or embroidery floss. and finally when i cut him out and started sewing, i kept losing his little spikes...)

:)

btw - i finally opened a teeny tiny store on etsy.com here.

stream of empathy

since hearing of heath ledger's death, i can't seem to get his former fiance (and the mother of their child, matilda), michelle williams, out of my mind... i really don't know a thing about her - the first and last time i saw her was when she played his young wife on brokeback mountain.

i think i know what it's like getting that kind of news. i can still remember sitting on the floor of my drafty garden apartment, getting the phone call that informed me that my best friend and her sister had died in a fatal car accident. i'll never forget how the world stopped revolving for a moment... how in the middle of a clear, blue september day. it felt frigid and sounded dead as any midwestern day in february.

i can't even imagine how she'll explain his death to their daughter. or how she and matilda will fill such a vast hole in their lives.

i heard that michelle williams was flying to new york from sweden where she's working on a film and i was curious so i headed to imdb.com to seek more info and i found that she's working on a lukas moodysson film called mammoth:

"While on a trip to Thailand, a successful American businessman tries to radically change his life. Back in New York, his wife and daughter find their relationship with their live-in Filipino maid changing around them. At the same time, in the Philippines, the maid's family struggles to deal with her absence"

one of my fave actors, gael garcia bernal, plays the american businessman and michelle williams plays his wife. of course, i was very interested to hear more about this film with filipino actors (marife necesitos and martin de los santos) and the philippines in the storyline. i read somewhere that soon after shooting in sweden, the film crew would be shooting in thailand and the philippines.

and immediately, i remembered a vacation in cebu when i was a teenager... when i met a bunch of australian men on a surfing/diving vacation... who i mistakenly assumed and wrote off as "ugly" americans. after i got over my initial prejudices, they turned out to be very friendly, outgoing, vibrant and funny. and i thought to myself that i should really be less of an ugly american myself and elongate a future trip to the philippines to include a jaunt to australia...

and so i began to wonder if heath ledger had ever been to the philippines, since according to the australian surfers i met, aussies do like to visit the philippines... and i wonder if he had ever visited, if he liked it...

i wondered if the character that michelle williams plays will have to travel to the philipines. i hope she does as there's so much to experience, see and do there... and what if, heath had actually talked about someplace or something in the philippines that might have actually affected him or his perceptions...

which made me think of grace lin, one of my favorite children's book authors, who is sort of live-blogging a trip she's on, travelling thru china. last august, her husband passed away and she mentions her loss and her grief in a recent thoughtful, heartbreaking post on her new blog:

"And it is only from this vantage point, from way above, that I see what Robert had told me about Shanghai. He had called it a modern architect's dream, a city without any rules--allowing an architect to design his/her dream. Shanghai is an enormous hodgepodge of buildings, seemingly built upon eachother. And perhaps because I know how much Robert would have loved to have seen this, it is here that I see how much my life has changed. Faster than I had anticipated, I have created a new life for myself with a future that looks different than expected.

So, strangely, the pangs of grief I suddenly feel are not for myself but for him. It is for all the dreams he had that will not come true, all the plans he made that will not happen and all the things he wanted to see but never will.

I am glad, at least, I will see some of them for him. "

it's been over a decade and i still don't think i'm "fully recovered" from the sudden loss of my dearest friend. i don't think anyone ever really does. sometimes, i feel that her presence follows me around - she's bored out of her mind but still she follows. :) sometimes, days pass and i actually feel a little guilty that i haven't thought about her, when in the early days, she was never out of my mind... not. one. second.

i empathize with grace lin's thoughts and feelings in so many ways.... while i live this "unexpected future" - in all its brilliance and mystery. sometimes, i feel especially guilty that this present even exists for someone like me - who was not as bright, gifted and/or promising as my friend. sometimes, when i'm feeling especially pensive i ask myself what she would have done given a particular situation and find myself actually cracking a smile and supressing a laugh...

i sincerely hope and pray that as they grieve, heath ledger's family and friends will feel some comfort knowing that they are not alone in grieving and that they too will eventually recognize their "unexpected future" as the present and feel at peace.

the legend of snowy hollow

overnight, it snowed here. a LOT.

before i went to sleep last night, i looked out the window and tried to imagine what today would be like. i don't know if i do this to psyche myself up or out.

i prayed that one of my generous neighbors/fellow preschool parents would offer to drive the paloma to and from school. because as most of you know i don't drive. at all. i walk. which for the most part is fine with me... when i'm by myself. and as 8:25 am rolled around (10 minutes past our normal departure time), i knew we would have to brave the elements.

as you know from experience (or can imagine), walking anywhere with a 4yr old and a 2yr old is difficult. add frigid temperatures, general morning crankiness and layer after layer of acrylic puffiness and/or gender neutral embroidered fleece (more than enough to choke a whale shark) and you could have the making of a perfect tantrum storm - times two - one fully mobile and one strapped to a jogging stroller that i'm struggling to push thru 2" of fresh unshoveled snow...

and then my kids surprise me. as they always do.

a sigh turns into a laugh while i'm being pelted in the head w/ poorly formed snowballs by a laughing paloma. despair turns into pleasure as the porkchop coos and points excitedly at the snowplows and salt trucks grumbling by.

the sun is shining and the sky is clear and blue and my faith in that silver lining bullsh*t is restored.

i present to you our headless snow angel...

oafeelya

needless to say, all of my sewing has piqued the interest of the paloma who asked me, a few days ago, if i could sew up a monster.

this monster (that she drew):



whose name is "oafeelya" :)

i really didn't think i could do it and yet:



i think i did....

IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!

symphony in slang

days and days later and i'm still thinking and giggling over juno... especially how utterly idiotic i felt when i couldn't figure out what she and her bff were saying during a phonecall...

it reminded me of one of my favorite tex avery cartoons, "symphony in slang". i can't believe i actually found it! i had to share the goodness...


Silly Symphony 'Symphony In Slang' - Watch more amazing videos here

years ago, i actually owned a copy of this and other tex avery gems...

...on laserdisc.

stop.

laughing.

now.

say hello, loopita.

"hello loopita." she says.

yesserday... while i was finishing sewing up loopita's tail... the paloma looks at me (see HUGE blinking lightbulb over her head) and says, "MOM! when you grown up YOU could be a TOYMAKER! JUST. LIKE. *insert pregnant pause* SANTA!"

to which i should have responded, "child, who do you think taught santa how to shimmy down the chimney?"

can't sleep...

i went to bed around 10:30 and around 12:30 i gave up trying to sleep and figured i could try to get a post out...

i've noticed that my mind wanders most (and creatively so) around this time at night but after a full indoor day with the kids i have little energy or spirit to act upon any stimulus. so, i can't promise this will be interesting or thought provoking - apologies in advance...

some backstory - the thin man and i were treated to a mostly kid free weekend (tan-Q, mom!) saturday night, we got to double date with some friends of ours (whose daughter attends the same preschool as the paloma). i spend a lot of spare (ha!) day time with my fellow mom so it was fun to get dolled up and strut out on the town with our respective huzs' at our favorite restaurant, frontera grill. it was SO good that i think my tastebuds and stomach are processing the fives stages of grief.

then, my gal pal and i were ready to go dancing - she's a former salsa dancer and i'm a former lindyhopper.... however, our boyfriends just wanted to go home and watch football. which they did. we, in turn, found ourselves in a suburb, catching the last evening screening of juno. which was FAN-TAS-TIQUE! i don't remember another time when i wholeheartedly enjoyed 92 whole minutes of something. some random thoughts about the film:

1) i am SO old... that in the first few minutes of the film... i secretly wished that there were subtitles. i don't know twentysomething slang for sh*t.

2) there were actually cool (albeit quirky) asian high schoolers in the movie! su-chin, the pro-lifer buttinsky (played by valerie tian) and vijay, the gossip mongerer who vows to stop wearing underpants (played by aman johal) . thankfully, there was no foreign accent affected english spoken.

3) i was curious about the writer, diablo cody, and found that she hails from our fair metropolis, chi-town!

4) i could listen to the juno soundtrack over and over and over again... it's a shame that i've just learned about the moldy peaches - now disbanded. thankfully, the bandmembers are still making great music though...

5) i absolutely love how the dad explains how unconditional love can happen between two people without explaining how unconditional love can happen between two people. :')

anyhoo, on sunday... i also got to do a teeny tiny bit of thrifting... i miss it so much... and i scored a great vintage crafting book about making dolls and toys. i made the easiest toy - a snake (see above) - and it turned out kinda cute. so, i started to cut out a monkey and a mouse. i was thinking that i should name the snake and give it to the paloma. and i was also thinking, what should i name the monkey and the mouse? and then, i remembered that as a child i kept a mouse in a shoebox for a few days.

i often say that our tenants/roomates in our brick three flat were the roaches and the mice. i didn't mind the mice nearly as much as i minded the roaches. my mom would bait the little mousetraps with archway oatmeal raisin cookies. (i know - i can't tell you how nightmarish that was...)

mind you, we NEVER bought cookies to EAT. the cookies were specifically bought to TRAP MICE. yeah, my kids have it REAL good... ;)

by some strange happenstance, a trap caught a mouse by the tail. and by some even stranger happenstance, my mom said it was ok for me to put it in a shoebox as a pet, in the pantry. i dunno - maybe there was some guilt... over the mouse holocaust... or denying me cookies...

and for a few days, it was ok. i fed it oatmeal raisin cookies. i sang it lullabies. it let me pet it gently. it never bit me . and then, a morning or so later, i found that it was dead. :(

i hope you're well, mouse friend, wherever you are. you were very dear to me. i hope you forgive my childhood selfishness. when i make this new little mouse friend, i'll name him "shoebox" to remind me always of you.

ok, it's 2 a.m. now... i should try to get some sleep. if you read this far, thanks. :)

please pass the salonpas....

just an fyi - i have a new post up at filipina moms blog - please pass the salonpas...

i started writing the little ditty around 1:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon. i had to stop writing when the porkchop tossed his cookies around 2 pm. changed him, his bedding and started laundry... the day came and went. writing did not resume.

i went to bed around 10 pm and then, broke out in hives around 2 am this morning... so, i took some benadryl, snuck down to the keyboard and re-started writing the post.

then, around 4 am the paloma tossed her cookies. bedding/clothing change and laundry started again.

now? now, it's 5:17 am. i'm going to go upstairs to pretend i'm sleeping....

happy holidays!!!!

i'm sorry it's been so long... :( i hosted our big family christmas party and it really knocked me for a loop - physically, emotionally, etc...

suffice to say, the blog silence and the distance from my blog reading has taken its toll... in a way, i'll be thankful when things quiet down (a little) here.

so, i send you our best and brightest wishes (see below) for a joyful and peaceful holiday!

happy birthday porkchop!!!

ten things about yourself:

1. Name: porkchop, the

2. Birthday: december 7, 2005 aka pearl harbor day

3. Where do you live: upstairs.

4. Right or Left handed: yes

5. Favorite color: blue (even though mommy and daddy keep telling me it's not blue, that it's yellow or green or red or purple.... i don't think they know their colors very well.)

6. Favorite sport: riding people piggyback while pummeling them with hard plastic toys

7. Biggest Fear: the christmas tree

8. Status: "single" (on facebook) and "in a relationship" (on myspace)

9. Do you like someone? nina on sprout and sophie on go baby!


Nine Lasts:

1. Cigarette: this morning after mommy sprayed my nose with saline. i ate it. tasted nummy crunchy.

2. Beverage: milk. chocolate preferably.

3. Kiss: 2 seconds ago.

4. Hug: 1 second ago.

5. Movie seen: meet the robinsons. if only i could loop the dino skipping train scene... "choo choo on this!"

6. CD played: cars soundtrack

7. Song listened to: "life is a highway" rascal flatts

8. Bubble bath: i prefer to shower. a night or so ago....

9. Time you cried: 3 seconds ago when daddy tried to remove me from mommy's lap.

Eight Have-You-Ever's:

1. Dated one of your best friends or wanted to? all my best friends are either related, metallic, plastic, wooden or furry.... i couldn't date one of them if i wanted to... now, if i was in san francisco...

2. Skinny dipped: ALL. THE. TIME.

3. Kissed somebody and regretted it: two words. cat. breath.

4. Liked someone you knew you couldn't have: i respond the same way everytime - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
5. Been overseas: no

6. Dressed in costume: yes. i rocked the purple dinosaur.

7. Been drunk: on boob juice. often.

8. Run away: i prefer to call it asserting my independence.



Three Favorite Things (In No Order):

1. cars, trains, airplanes.

2. food - especially candy

3. my family - the paloma, mamazilla, the thin man and the cats.



Three things you can't live without:

1. my family

2. food - especially candy

3. cars, trains, airplanes


Two Things That You Want To Be When You Grow Up:

1. owner of all things transportation

2. happy

MZ's PSA - the shopping FAQ...

the funny thing is around this time of year, i frequently get asked questions about shopping... i don't know if it's because i tend to be a very picky shopper or because i know a lot about garment manufacturing (that being my degree and having worked in manufacturing for 10+ years) or both. anyway, since i get asked these same questions every year, i thought i'd post them here with my stock answer. and if you have any other questions about shopping, garments or manufacturing - please post them in comments and if i can answer them i will. :)

1) what stores aren't connected to sweatshops?

this is by far the most popular question. which i guess is good since it means more people want to shop with a clear conscience. the bad news is that no one (except the manufacturers) can tell you if they're connected with a sweatshop. sweatshops exist here in the US as well as overseas. and it's extremely difficult to police the activities of any manufacturer.

in a nutshell, here's how it worked when i was still in the biz... i would only place orders with manufacturers who were approved after a long drawn out, detailed audit process - including factory visits, numerous samples of work, etc... to ensure that they did not allow sweatshop environments or child labor, etc... after placing the order, either one of our employees or an agent overseas would be expected to monitor the work in progress. they do not and are not expected to monitor all the time. so, every once in a while, i would get a call from an employee/agent overseas letting me know that at his/her last inspection, a child was found working and that all production had ceased. after we felt that the situation had been resolved, production would begin again. if this directive was violated too often however, we would stop working with that specific factory altogether.

personally, i try not to shop at places where the pricing is too good to be true. because if the price is too good to be true, my knee jerk reaction is that some kind of cheap, possibly sweatshop, labor was involved.

if i do have to buy something at one of those places, i try to buy on sale because by the time the goods reach the store, the manufacturer has already been paid. so, theoretically, if i buy on sale, the manufacturer doesn't get "hurt", the store/ designer does. consequently however, the buyers/sellers for the store/designer may think that the price point of the item was too high and the following season will ask production people (like me) to find manufacturers who can produce the same item for an even lower price. because of that, i'll buy stuff at TJ Maxx or Marshalls and save all of those buyers and sellers the trouble. that stuff is usually overstock or stuff that was ticketed with the wrong ink or some random stupidness like that.... no, really. it happened to one of my orders that went to a store with black inked tickets and not blue inked tickets. (admittedly, my random stupidness, but you should have seen that store's quality assurance binder, it was bigger than a phone book.)

2) is this * insert shirt, pant, shoe, hat* really worth the $$$$$?

it depends. first of all, (in my experience) the more "processes" put into an item the more expensive the item was to produce - every button, buttonhole, zippers, zipper pulls, snaps, plackets, belt loops, extra finishing seams, embellishments like embroidery, patches, iron on transfers, etc... costs $.5, $.10, $.25 more... so, the more bells and whistles an item has, the more it will cost you. and if it's made in the US, it will cost more.

second of all, manufacturers will produce similar items for different labels. i used to work for a large lycra manufacturer who made garments for high end labels and discounters. we bought the same fabric for the same customers from the same vendor and except for maybe a slight adjustment in fit, the left side of the manufacturing floor would sew in a discount label and tag it with a discount price ticket and the right side would sew in a high end label and tag it with a high end price ticket. so, if it's something "basic", i don't buy it at a high end retailer.

lastly, i always find sweaters are good bet. i'm a beginner knitter and yarn is kinda pricey (for me) so when i find a sweater (at one of my "approved" shopping venues) that i like, i'll buy it because i can't make it for less.

3) what about organic cotton and recycled fiber clothing?

when i buy organic cotton clothing i always make sure that the cotton was grown here and the garment was made here. in my experience with imported clothing, it is sprayed with pesticides when it enters the country at customs. maybe there's an exception for organic overseas cotton but i don't know about that. re: recycled fiber. a common misconception is that all fleece is recycled fiber. it's not. you have to check the label/tags to make sure it is. other than that, i'm over the moon about recycled anything... i love to shop resale shops and thrift stores. often, i'll purchase stuff and update them with new buttons or patches. i've always thought that when the paloma gets a stain on something that i should just buy a bunch of patches, put one on the offensive stain and just scatter the rest on the garment...

4) can i hand wash this even though it says "dry clean only" on the tag?

no. labels are very tricky. often, to get by with cheap labels, manufacturers/designers will sew in "dry clean" tags. this means that you CAN hand wash. but dry clean ONLY means dry clean ONLY.

however, if you do intend to hand wash something - use your shampoo to clean it. many of the chemicals in hand wash soaps are really not good for delicates in the long run.

and if you're handwashing something made of wool. don't wring it or move it or agitate it around too much - that's what makes the wool shrink (unless already preshrunk).


ok, i think that's it... hope it was helpful! happy shopping!

i'm a thinkin' and a rockin' and a random...

i should preface this post with sincere apologies and heartfelt gratitude first of all to puglet who nominated me back in april (yikes!) for a thinking bloggers award :

Tag you're it! The participation rules are simple: 1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think. 2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote."

...and to lien who nominated me back in july (yikes squared!) for a rockin' blogger award:

Rockin' Bloggers and Five Random Thoughts About Feminism


i have a very hard time accepting compliments of any kind - an infuriating quirk of mine - so, i apologize. not excusing my behavior, just explaining it. mea culpa! here, i will attempt to make amends:

the 5 blogs who make me think and who i consider rockin' (and who haven't already received these awards to my knowledge):

bloggo chicago - who makes me think about what could have happened if i'd continued playing hockey and that i should keep better tabs on my friends (especially the furry four legged kind) and ensure that they're doing better than ok, physically and emotionally.

Chicago Chick - who makes me think about the trials and tribulations of a chicago working mom. and pretty much scares me off of full-time, out of the home employment... kidding!!!

imPerceptibility - who makes me think about what life is like after kids turn 5. it looks as if it's easier to find the silver lining and time to spend with your mate - flirting unapologetically.

kitchen fire - who makes me think more about raising a mixed race child and that maybe if we'd found ourselves in california that we'd be neighbors. her passionate posts leave me pensive... good thing she's a teacher.

my funny funny family aka the nutmeg news - who makes me think about basically everything... which speaks to/of her journalist leanings.


and my five random thoughts on feminism:

1) i don't consider myself a feminist. i just don't see where i fit in. i'd like to fit in, but i just don't think i fit in.

2) a friend of mine in high school who considered herself a feminist gave me a short list of reading materials to into me into feminist writing. the only one i read was the awakening by kate chopin. that last scene in unforgettable.

3) in college, i read the beauty myth by naomi wolf and the feminine mystique by betty friedan. i don't remember feeling very empowered by either book which makes me think i should re-read them.

4) i'm currently reading the yellow wallpaper by charlotte perkins gilman and feminism is not the story of my life by elizabeth fox-genovese.

5) i worry that i'm not much of a feminist role model for my daughter.


last but not least, i've been tagged by sarah over at deliberately random thoughts for the eight random things about me meme.

Rules:
Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they've been tagged.


1) i made a new dress for the paloma's BFF. it's from a late 50's pattern and modern fabric/trim. my grandmother taught me how to sew originally. she could make a dress for anyone without a pattern. then, i took sewing classes in high school and then, refined all of that when i went to art school and studied fashion design. during my first year, i won a very prestigious award at a contest judged by a very famous american designer who's spring collection the following year included a dress that looked strikingly similar to the one that won the award. i know sewing seems "too domestic" and "housewifey" but it managed to help my grandmother raise 13 children and planted the seed for what i realize now is a misunderstood and underappreciated art form.

2) i was (am?) a fan of olivia newton john. i have Xanadu on DVD and in a high school talent show, i sang "The Promise" - a song from her Physical album. originally, i auditioned for the talent show to get over my fear of doing something like that. i never expected to get the solo. i almost said "no". looking back and watching the youtube video, i really wish i'd said "no".

3) i can sing christmas carols in polish (as in Poland, not furniture). i was part of my neighborhood church choir as a kid. the choir and the congregation was mostly polish. so, alongside "silent night" and the other traditional carols, we sang "cicha noc", "lulajze, jezuniu", "dzisiaj w betlejem"and "gdy sie chrystus rodzi". i was an alto most of the time.

4) when i do get to take a shower, i blow dry and iron my hair to get it stick straight. i put a hat on or wear a headband if i can't get to it. i feel like a fraud.

5) when i was little, i couldn't really afford glasses and the optician who looked at my eyes found a pair of used glasses to give me for free. for some reason however, the glasses were tilted very far forward - we're talking at a 45 degree angle. i'm really not sure why he did that. we never went back to him despite his kindness. (i finally got new glasses btw. no more cyclops for me. yay!)

6) i share a former flame with another blogger who i've never met IRL. instead of comparing notes, we tease each other about it via facebook. i just found out that his band, an iconic chicago punk band, is coming out with a dvd in a few days. the whole situation is comical.

7) i used to breakdance as a kid with a handful of other kids and we used to carry around a couple of ratty, old, duct taped, balikbayan boxes around the 'hood. they called me "penny" - and not because i could do the move - 'cause i couldn't.

8) i've never broken a bone. sometimes i think because i was born with cystic hygroma and we had such a tough time of it all, i've been spared the whole breaking a bone thing (knock wood). once when i was bitten by a dog, my mom took me to my pediatrician right away. she was frazzled and worried. the ped did his usual wellness check up routine and finally, looked at the bite. he sighed, took off his glasses and said, "how's the dog doing?" he said that i'd been injected with pretty much everything known to man to keep me alive that he was shocked the dog wasn't dead.

i tag the thin man, puglet, flahute, ms bees knees, bertville, toronto gyopo, uncle hambone and samok daddy.

the close up

just an fyi, i was recently interviewed by journalist/blogger jeremy wagstaff for his wall street journal online article, "My Friend Flickr?" , about my (bad) experience with posting public photos of our kids on flickr.

he also gives some tips on his blog on how to monitor your flickr albums here... which i will be implementing as soon as i stop my head from inflating and deflating while attempting to cough up an organ...

"desperately seeking santa" & "full equity now"

just an fyi - i have a new post up at chicago moms blog called "desperately seeking santa".



and another new post up at filipina moms blog called "full equity now"

Boycott H&M!!!

UPDATE 11/15:

i just received the link to an online petition for Richards v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz:

the petition demands:

1. That H&M terminates Joseph H. (the individual who made the anti-Asian, xenophobic, and misogynist verbal attack) AND discipline the managers who did not quickly intervene.

2. That H&M changes and enforces its cultural diversity classes.

3. That H&M recognizes and understands that ignorant and racial remarks towards H&M customers from H&M employees should never ever be tolerated.

4. That immediate and serious intervention should take place from an H&M manager when a complaint about an H&M employee is made by an H&M customer regarding a racial remark from the H&M employee.

I will not shop at H&M until this is resolved. As a customer, I should be able to go shopping at a retail store without being verbally abused by an employee who uses racial slurs.

please sign the petition and pass the word on... Boycott H&M!!!


UPDATE 10/07:

just saw this chicago tribune article about the protest. and here's the cbs story and video that aired last night.


UPDATE 10/06:

i attended the H&M protest today. :)

all the way there, on the metra, the L, the walk, i thought about how it was my turn to pick up the torch that generations of filipinos before me carried and i felt truly empowered. then i got there to find that i was the oldest sistah there. (old fart, much?)

later, some of our "elders" showed up. but i gotta say that after two and a half hours of marching, screaming and sign holding. i am plum tuckered out. and rethinking that whole torch bearing business... maybe i should leave this to the young'uns. ;)

i don't know what the organizers of the protest thought, but i was really happy with the turn out and the energy, positivity and dedication that the protesters brought with them. the majority of the protesters were filipino/asian but there were caucasian, latino and african american protesters too. every once in a while, passersby would stop to see what the protest was about and then actually ask for a sign to help protest.

if you're curious we screamed the following:

"2, 4, 6, 8, H&M discriminates!"

"H&M racist! H&M sexist!"

"What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!"

there were about five people near the front door passing out flyers about the protest and i saw how they persuaded customers from shopping there today. unfortunately, we couldn't persuade everyone not to shop at the h&m store. at one point, an older woman (and i could have sworn she was wearing a neck brace) shouted at us that she would never stop shopping at h&m. it was disappointing to see so many women of color shopping there and it was especially heartbreaking to see a handful of asian people walk in to shop.

i haven't heard anything yet about whether or not H&M has taken any action re: their racist *ss employee. our local cbs news crew was there, the local filipino news show, CPR-TV was there, and there were what looked like reporters taking notes and quotes... there were also many video cameras and digital cameras out - hopefully, there will be some youtube videos.

already, pics are posted to flickr here, some are mine even! :)

hopefully, all of our hard work will have paid off. i can't express in words how proud i was to protest alongside such great people.

UPDATE: i just received this comment via my personal blog:

10.02
Hey everyone!

We wanted to post the final arrangements and clarify information regarding the protest in front of H&M on Saturday, October 6th. It will start at 10:00am and last until 11:00am! Media will be contacted and asked to cover the protest from 10:00am - 10:30am. Please meet in front of H&M, 840 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago no later than 9:55am. Who is leading it? Family and friends of Frannie (LosBañes) Richards, there is no specific person or persons. Do we need a permit? NO; just keep moving in sync in a line and do not block the entrance ways of the stores on that block or the street. Please do not disrupt traffic.

The previous tentative message & VIA Times presented a tentative time of 10:00-1:00pm. Because those were tentative times, we are informing you of when the media is informed to be there. We are hoping that you would be able to be there at that time. We apologize for such short notice. We understand that you have busy lives and truly appreciate all the support you have given to us! You are welcome to stay until 1:00pm but most of the people arriving at 10:00am are planning to leave at 11:00am. We were not expecting a huge crowd. Thank you for spreading the word! Please continue to help educate others on how discrimination towards any gender and any race is intolerable and unacceptable. We know you will act civil and that you understand this is a peaceful and informative march.

Thanks again for all your time and support!

Hope to see you there:

October 6th, Saturday
H&M
840 North Michigan Ave
Chicago , IL 60611
10:00AM CST-11:00 CST

Thanks,
LosBañes Family

ORIGINAL POST:

from angryasianman.com:

h&m: the new a&f?

"A Filipino American woman is suing clothing chain H&M on allegations of anti-Asian and sexual harrassment, claiming that on a recent trip to the Magnificent Mile store, employees called her a "mail-order bride" and made fun of her ability to understand English: Woman Says She Was Harassed For Ethnicity At H&M. The Asian American Institute has filed a discrimination complaint with the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations, seeking redress for Frannie Richards, who says that in addition to the "mail order bride" comments and ridicule of her English, an H&M employee made mocking "ching chong" noises at her. That's racist! And when she complained to management, they refused to do anything about it. What the hell?

Now, this kind of mocking and harrassment is nothing new—we've all had to deal with this crap on some level. It sucks. But this ain't the schoolyard. This is a freakin' clothing store. People should be able to shop in peace without feeling insulted and humiliated like this. It's ridiculous. Here's the Asian American Institute's press release on the incident: Asian American Institute Represents Filipino American Nurse Harassed by H&M Employee.

And here's a Filipino American news report on it up on YouTube: H&M Racist.




I've heard rumors of a protest being planned for this Saturday outside the Magnificent Mile store. If anyone out there has further details about the gathering, let me know."

let me count the ways...

i love you for...

* trying not to litter the streets with your pennies when i'm around.

* your idiosyncracies...

* dancing around the house with the porkchop to frank sinatra on halloween night.

* taking a break from playing volleyball more than once a week. this too shall pass.

* moving from california to chicago.

* being patient. 'cuz i know how hard that is for you.

* listening to me. you may not always hear me, or even understand me, but you really do listen to me.

* looking like you're stable, invincible and herculean on the outside but being somewhat damaged, insecure and fragile on the inside.

* your ability to think up song lyrics on the fly.

* telling me you love me all the fracking time....

* loving me as much as you do, even though you really don't want to or have to 'cause i give you plenty of reasons not to....

when i think about "the big picture" i see you and me growing old and crotchety and senile and incontinent together. i don't want us to screw that up - especially that incontinent part. SEXY!

i know were going thru a rough patch right now, babe. we seem to have more bad days than good lately. so, i hope today of all the days is a good day. i want to be happy and i want you to be happy but i want us to be happy together too.

happy, happy, happy birthday, thin man. i love you. i mean it.

why i could never be a teletubbie....

(teletubbies (or any preschooler show for that matter) the second time around is actually kinda painful for me. i don't know how i put up with this tripe when the paloma was into them a year or two ago... seriously, my hormones were on fire or something back then... that's the only way i can explain it.... i was chemically altered....)

1) if a drum roll preceded everything i did and/or a trumpet toot followed it - i would have to kill someone. specifically, someone playing a drum or a trumpet.

2) i do not respond well to authority figures or narrators. especially when they're disembodied and speak before invited or announced.

3) i could not eat tubby custard or tubby toast. i would rather spear one of those fluffy rabbits and wear it's pelt for a merkin.

4) i like smiling. with teeth. no wonder they eat slurp that custard... are they related to sloths or armadillos or anteaters? are they even considered part of the mammal family?

5) i like that it's obvious i'm a girl, a shy, private, Catholic girl... - i used to think that the whole teletubbie gender ambiguous thing was disturbing. and then their little antennae (?) reminded me of a shelf i'd *ahem* perused *cough* at good vibrations MANY MOONS AGO and realized that maybe the teletubbies weren't all that ambiguous at all... FORNICATORS!

6) i would not want a tv for a tummy and i would not shout "again! again!" after a video was displayed on it. i wonder if they're even digital.... *snort* modification's a b*tch.

7) i like being warm especially when sleeping in a bed. those silver lame (lah-MAY) blankets are sooooo 80s fortress of solitude for me. no christopher reeve? no contest.

ok, end senseless rant of drinky winky, tipsy, taa taas, and hoe....