don't mess with texas

Texas sues Sony under anti-spyware law

oh, and do your part. Boycott Sony.

~*~*~*
~Home~ from "Beauty and the Beast", the musical
~Mou Ichido~ Macross II

i'm not a pucci sort of gal

but i do like these rain boots. And these ballerina flats: red velvet, with a grosgrain ribbon, pointed toe and satin-covered heel!

There's a free screening of "rent" this evening

musical favorites:

~Seasons of Love~ from "rent"
~Meadowlark~ from "The Baker's Wife

i don't feel like blogging anymore

all the words to say have been said. I need to spend more time living. This place will still be here. Maybe it will become a glorified photo album-cum-audio file organizer.

Hit the ground running, don't look back.

we have a lot of sweets here at home

and i had plenty of time on my hands today, so i thought i'd share.

We have

Mexican sweets

..ojarascas (crumbly Mexican cinnamon cookies) and peanut brittle

baked goods

...marble cake and cream cheese-topped brownie bites

native snacks

...espasol, polvoron, and turrones de kasuy

single servings

... of Jello (strawberry and peach), applesauce, and yogurt. Have you noticed that Martini and Rossi's Asti now comes in individual-size bottles? It's 10.84 for a 4-pack.

frozen goodies

...orange creamsicle, grape popsicle, fudgesicle and vanilla ice cream

and of course, the post-Halloween candy bowl

seeing red

In Western cartoons, characters turn red with anger, occasionally venting steam through their ears or maybe even imagining how best to kill or maim the object of anger.

The Japanese, creative people, have developed a most wondrous concept in animation: the battle aura. It is a visual device that helps to denote either a fighter's skill level or emotional intensity, and is illustrated as a nimbus or shape either enveloping or hovering over the character.

It is usually just an amorphous cloud radiating from the warrior, but can be in the form of a flame, angel wings or an animal shape. Battle auras have varying colors and opacities.
Sometimes a particularly formidable opponent can be introduced as a dragon or large creature, which upon approach will dissolve to reveal the fighter generating so much chi.

Lately I have been simmering with barely-tempered anger, unmitigated with the passing of time. I can feel it like a storm brewing around my head, and I imagine that if i generated my own battle aura, my hair would spread out in all directions, not a pretty smooth pelt, but an ominous, living mass in the shape of a giant black dove. It would be twisted and angry and writhing, as if constantly battling itself, perpetually trying to break free.

Or maybe I'd have living hair, like Marvel's Medusa (remember her?). She was my second favorite superhero, after Wonder Woman. Yeah, I think red suits the angry hair bit.

And on that red note, i present my favorite shoes.



Alanis' ~Forgiven~
TFATDOC ~Pasko Na, Sinta Ko~

an alarming awakening

I woke up this morning to a shrill alarm. At first I thought it was the smoke detector, but the green light was shining cheerily. It was definitely coming from the bedroom, because closing the door muted it. I finally figured out that it was coming from a speaker in the wall.

When I went downstairs the neighbors were outside. Apparently it's a building fire alarm. The streetlamps and warning lights on each side of the building were flashing. I called 911 and the dispatcher reassured me that the fire department was already on the way.

It's been almost an hour and the damn thing is still beeping --- no, shrieking intermittently. False alarm, but they can't seem to keep it off. The fireman asked if there had been a power fluctuation, and the guy who lives two doors down said that he'd noticed that power fluctuates often in this building. Because I haven't, I think what it really means is that he's got faulty wiring or something that caused us all to wake up at 6 am on a Sunday morning.

This is the sound that greeted me: (recorded from the next room)
My morning wakeup call

~*~*~*

Xmas Song du jour
~The Christmas Song~

i woke up angry this morning

i haven't been getting enough sleep, and right now i really hate my job because the workload is increasing, the managers are getting more demanding, and there is no end in sight. The apartment's still a mess and I am soooo frustrated with all of it.

Happy holidays to you too.

(sigh)

In other news I still haven't ordered flowers or a gift basket for my mom's birthday, even though the day itself was this past Wednesday. Last night Patrick went out for Guys' Night Out II: Cheesecake Factory (Dallas) and Saw II. He came home at 3 a.m., with a slice of seasonally-available pumpkin pecan cheesecake to share. We ate it for dessert this evening.

The Chicago Sun-Times has the movie listed as "Saw It" in their box office sales table. I have three words for "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit": cute. little. bunnies. Waving happily. (!!!) Do see it.

The latest cheesecake offering sounds good: white chocolate caramel latte cheesecake. The tuxedo cheesecake reminds me: why do people insist on pronouncing it "maRscarpone"?

Today was Jessica in Jewelry's second baby shower. Second because it's her second pregnancy, a girl this time. I thought it was at 5 but apparently it was 2 pm, and over by 3:45, when I got there. My dental hygienist is 8 months pregnant. Gloria, Jen, Jessica plus her make 4.

Thought of the day:
Shit is fertilizer, anger is fuel. Use them.

Sound bites:
Alanis' ~Right Through You~
Jewel's ~Painters~
Carol a Day: ~O Holy Night~

i really ought to be more careful what I blog about

search terms that have led people to my blog:

panties hamper
"Rosanna Roces"
shoes with sequins

The Forty and Twelve Days of Christmas

Ongoing project. One new Christmas song recording every day until Christmas.

11/04 ~Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas~
11/05 ~O Holy Night~
11/o6 ~The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)~
11/07 ~O Little Town of Bethlehem~
11/08 ~Pasko Na, Sinta Ko~

you cannot fully know me

I am sorry, I have tried, but it simply cannot be helped.

Were I chained to the computer, and entirely truthful and forthcoming about every single thought that occurred to me, maybe then you would really know me. But I have a life, such as it is, and every day there are at least five things I want to write about, and only one or two can be accommodated.

Our doorbell did not ring on All Hallow's Eve. Not once. I wanted to reflect on this, and be sad for the breakdown of the American community, but we are off to run errands and catch a movie afterwards. I have one more free pair of Fandango tickets left, we've been yearning for a fun animated movie, and Wallace and Gromit (!!!) is playing.

~*~*~*

Sound bites
~Ili Ili~, an Ilonggo lullaby
~Danny Boy~, an Irish folk song

a little catty

A word of advice: if you ever decide to dress up for Halloween, go all-out and make yourself readily identifiable. It'll take people less time to go from "What is she?" to "Did she do it well?" to "What do I say?"

I dressed up as a cat, sans makeup. Though the majority of people got it right, two people mistook me for a wolf, and one person each thought I was a raccoon, a dog, and a mouse.

Texans being Texans, they are never at a loss for words. The one phrase I used to love but now dread the most was uttered but once by a lady who didn't know what to make of my getup. She said, "Well, aren't you just precious?"

If you don't understand what the problem is, see Sophia Dembling's instructive "Yankee Chick's Survival Guide to Texas".

~*~*~*

It's rather unfortunate that my two best friends at work also happen to be the only two people in the building with ailurophobia. That's right. Fear of cats.

I knew Blanca disliked cats, but I didn't know Luz would literally be paralyzed by fear when asked to touch my tail. Happily, they both got over it well enough to say my costume suited me. I look sweet as a cat daw. That was a compliment, right?

Oh, and people are really odd about fluffy, realistic tails. Either they want to tug it till it hurts (which it won't, duh) or they are extremely uncomfortable holding it, doing so perfunctorily with that ok-i-did-what-you-asked-can-i-go-now look on their faces.

~*~*~*

Site-find of the evening: Figleaves.com
It's like my department at work, only a lot nicer. And isn't the name just fabulous?

Ok, so you're probably not the type to shell out $110 for a Roberto Cavalli bra. Still, i think it's amazing to find a lingerie retail site that sells bras from size 28AA to 56FF and everything in-between. They've got all the great brands, too: Aubade, La Perla, Natori. The only name missing is Marlies Dekkers. For once in my life I wish I were a smaller bra size -- just so I could fit into this cute little $15 number from Miss Lepel.