How to spend $116 at the drugstore



1. Do not hesitate to spend on something other than food, regardless of what your dad says.



2. In fact, go ahead and buy anything that catches your eye.



3. Do not be afraid to buy cleaning implements, such as Swiffer dusters; you will eventually find time in your busy life to use them and they will surely be worth their weight in gold.



4. When buying shampoo, aim for the expensive ones.



5. It is necessary to buy three kinds of shoe polish.



6. Ditto with expensive shampoo.



7. Buy anything on sale.



8. Do not dare go to a grocery store to get staples such as tissue paper and breath strips. Although they are surely cheaper there, one avenue is too too long a walk and it is raining and you are tired from work.



9. If you are broke, no worries; charge it.



---



The fruit wars



The two rival fruit stands in my neighborhood are renovating to kingdom come. Here is a side-by-side comparison of their progress reports.



FS1

shuts store down for three days;



has a new sign made;



builds new fruit bins;



comes up with a color scheme - blue;



puts up transparent tarp curtains to protect customers from the rain.



FS2

shuts store down for five days;



has a prettier sign made;



paints fruit bins with new, funkier color scheme - brown and orange.



puts up plastic side panels around store, shutting out rain, snow, hail, etc.



I used to be partial to FS1. The owners smiled more and their fruit seemed to be fresher, the colors in their store more vibrant. But now, I don't know, dude. I mean, nobody wants to be pelted by hail stones while shopping for the perfect cauliflower. Tsk tsk. FS1 definitely needs to step up their game.

---



I saw Hairspray this week-end. I wasn't impressed by the opening number that much, but the Tracy character just grows on you. You can't help but love her. And Bruce Vilanch as Edna is amazing. He adlibbed like crazy which, to me, is really what made it special.

Ooh whee ooh



Hello internet. How are you? I'm just dropping by to pay my Keyspan bill. Okay. I go now.

Rocking the vote all right



I'm glad I don't have the right to vote here, because as of 9:41 p.m. today, November 2, 2004, I still don't know who to vote for. I was setting my sights on Kerry, but now I'm not so sure anymore. I haven't been keeping up with current events. What I know about their platforms are what I've heard from other people. I wouldn't be able to make an informed decision. I'm glad a reportedly unusually large amount of voters turned up, though.



Meanwhile, this from Jeline:



10 FRIENDS/BUDDIES YOU CONSIDER CLOSE TO YOU (in no particular order)

[1] Grapes

[2] Andrea

[3] Rocs

[4] Mario

[5] John

[6] Nikki

[7] Deo

[8] Charmaine

[9] Cousins

[10] Mullein



9 THINGS THAT U REALLY WANT RIGHT NOW

[1] cough medicine

[2] a bigger paycheck =)

[3] a baby grand

[4] a down jacket

[5] a driver's license

[6] a laptop

[7] a bigger, softer bed

[8] a massage

[9] tea



8 IMPORTANT THINGS IN YOUR BAG EVERYDAY

[1] wallet

[2] keys

[3] Metrocard

[4] cell phone

[5] lip balm

[6] ID

[7] iPod

[8] debit card



7 THINGS IN YOUR ROOM OTHER THAN THE BASICS

[1] overflowing CD holder

[2] piano pieces

[3] magazine rack

[4] ironing board

[5] pile of books

[6] boombox

[7] rollerblades (?)



6 THINGS YOU DISLIKE

[1] missing the train

[2] being late

[3] rude people

[4] garbage

[5] spoiled milk

[6] paper cuts



5 OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS

[1] mushrooms

[2] Sausage McGriddle (i know, gross)

[3] ubad with chicken and kadyos

[4] Red Hot Chili Pasta from Bangkok Thai House

[5] Vietnamese spring rolls



4 THINGS YOU ATE/DRANK TODAY

[1] Hany

[2] an orange

[3] a Venti iced caramel macchiato

[4] grilled ham and cheese sandwich



3 CURRENT/RECENT CRUSHES

[1] tech support guy

[2] this guy I used to see on the train a lot.

[3] Ethan Hawke in Before Sunrise. Sigh.



2 THINGS YOU READ EVERYDAY

[1] my email

[2] things to do list



1 PERSON YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT (must be living)

[1] my dad (me too, Jeline!)

Jersey City



Today's adventures took us to the Filipino district in Jersey City. We drove around the city looking for Filipino drivers we could ask directions to Fiesta Grill for. I hadn't had lunch and I felt like eating everything in sight. Batchoy, bopis, dinuguan. They had this turo-turo (literally point-point) counter where steaming trays of Filipino dishes were begging to be picked, just like carinderias back home. A meal with two dishes and rice or pansit costs $3.95! Afterwards we went across the street to Tindahan where I got VCDs of Keka and Shake Rattle and Roll III, loads of goodies like sampalok (sweetened tamarind)and polvoron, and the last pack of Nissin's Yakisoba in the store. Then we passed by the Indian street fair and my friend haggled with an Egyptian guy to sell us these thick, incredibly warm, queen-sized blankets for thirty bucks. Not bad, especially because he was originally selling them for forty.

---

My Netflix queue is just getting out of hand. 108 movies and I'm adding constantly. Lately I've been lagging behind my three-movies-a-week ideal rate. But then they're charging even less starting November ($17.99) so that takes some pressure off beating the system.

Life outside my apartment



Last night, Kuya Joel drove us back from White Plains. He had an awful cold but we talked non-stop all the way from Queens to Brooklyn. We talked about getting a drivers license, getting your first car, getting your first house, mortgages, real estate, God, faith, fasting. I love talking to older people, especially people who have a lot to say about things that they've been through that I haven't. Sometimes I feel so clueless about a lot of things. I'm a really good listener, though. These past months, I've met so many people who have done extra-ordinary things with their ordinary lives. I'm surrounded by people who have done amazing things. One of my friends decided to apply for culinary school and she's one of only two scholars in her school. Another got a Fulbright scholarship. How amazing is that. One of the girls I was talking to last night didn't have a job for a couple of months. She and her husband still managed to pay their rent and put food on their table. Inspite of my struggle with my faith, it's being made clear to me that no matter what happens, God will always provide. All my life I've never lacked for anything. I've always been comfortable. I might moan and groan about not having stuff but I've never been hungry. Going to the States after grad was a given. I found a job three weeks after I got here. Sometimes I feel like I'm being complacent about a lot of things and there's really nobody to blame but myself. I tend to be passive; to react rather than make the first move. I guess I've never really failed. But I guess I've never really done something that would have a remote chance of failure, either. I've always chosen the safest, most logical, most low-risk way. I need to go out there and just do it.

---

Is there anybody here who it doesn't suck to be?



My long week-end did not suck one bit. Friday, had dinner with my cousins at our usual Mulberry Street Chinese restaurant. Took out four mango puddings for midnight snacks or whatever. Cousin arrived from Texas. Saturday, went to meet up with another set of relatives visiting from Texas who are staying in New Jersey. The last time I'd seen them was about ten years ago. Had lunch at Japanese buffet restaurant Minado. Food was delicious and not at all expensive ($15 for lunch) and the waitress made origami chopstick rests out of our chopstick wrappers. Cool. Also bumped into a bunch of Filipino med students from UP.



Saturday night, watched Avenue Q with cousin and her friends. Show was great. Funny and fresh and smart. If you're a few years out of college and clueless, or was at one point in your life, you'll love this show, too. We had nosebleed seats, but they weren't bad at all. I'd watch it again. Ooh, one lady I was standing with outside got her third-row tickets just before the show started.



Sunday, hung out with friends. One day soon we'll be able to get to White Plains from the city without maps and arguments.



Monday, did my laundry. (Yey!) Had lunch with my cousin in Chinatown. We were supposed to meet up with her friends at this restaurant. They were an hour late so we just decided to go ahead and eat. Turns out they were at the other restaurant. Of the same name. On the same street. What are the odds. We never got to meet up with them. My cousin wanted to buy Chinese mary janes but they were all too big for her. What ever happened to Asian sizes?



Afterwards, we caught the 1:30 Circle Line three-hour full island cruise. It was very interesting. The boat started out on the Hudson River and crossed over to the East River going under several bridges. I never realized New York had so many bridges! The weather was great. The skyline looked fabulous.



From the pier, we took a cab to Central Park and walked around for a bit. Went to the rink and asked other tourists to take our picture and took pictures for other tourists. Then we took another cab to the Met, which was closed but still photogenic. Outside the museum, there was a girl selling her boyfriend's digital artwork. He took two or more photos and digitally fused them, turning them into quirky and unexpectedly beautiful works of art. I bought a small print for 25 bucks called Day/Night Prospect Park.



Dinner was at Serendipity Cafe . Their food was good but their desserts are just too delicious for their own good. Three of us shared a Frrrozen Hot Chocolate and a Strawberry Fields sundae (cheesecake, fresh strawberries, and strawberry ice cream). Our waiter, who incidentally created Strawberry Fields, was very friendly.



After dinner, we trooped over to the Empire State Building. Twelve bucks for a 360 degree view of the city? Definitely worth it. It was too cold to stay out too long, though. So we went around the observatory, oohed and aahed over the view and pointed out buildings, huddled for a picture and then hung out at the souvenir shop.



Tuesday night we had dinner at a Polish restaurant in Brooklyn. The food was great. Three kinds of cabbage and carrots with apple juice, tripe soup, cucumber soup, chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms. Pierogis (potato dumplings with spinach or mushrooms or whatnot) are the best.



And now I will go and sing along to my Avenue Q soundtrack! Yipee! It sucks to be me!

Sonic fixations



1. Her Space Holiday's video "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend" is awesome! Click on sights and sounds.



2. While browsing through the iTunes music store, I found out that Postal Service has a cover of Phil Collins' Against All Odds. It's in the Wicker Park soundtrack, which has an interesting track list.



3. The saddest song I've ever heard: Arvo Part's Spiegel im Spiegel



4. If I Were A Carpenter. I love Sonic Youth's Superstar cover.

Under the Blazing Heat of the Sun: A Day (Well, Six Hours) at the US Open



This is supposed to be a slide show presentation of sorts but I'm too lazy to actually make one so you'll have to imagine the pictures fading out instead of you actually just scrolling down. While you're at it, imagine Polyphonic Spree's Light and Day playing in the background.









Arthur Ashe stadium





an Agassi action shot





another Agassi action shot with some tummy exposure





Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams played a really good game. (Davenport won)





Venus (in one of her pretty little outfits) action shot. That's Serena in the orange shirt above the Heineken sign.



The pictures have a paparazzi-like feel precisely because they were taken from quite a distance. Last year I saw a pregnant Steffi Graf through my binoculars. Later in the day, when our brain cells got enough sun stimulation, we realized that the people on the other side of the stadium were less likely to get skin cancer as they were under some sort of shade, so we moved and found some seats a few rows down.

Dog day Friday



Today when my co-worker, the one who always gives me a hard time, snapped at me, I snapped back. We snapped at each other for a good two minutes and the whole department fell silent. Even my boss was quiet. That was the first time I ever really talked back to her after months and months of her being nasty to me. I think I shocked everyone. When I got back to my desk, I was upset but also kind of giddy. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from grinning like a crazy fool. Woohoooo!!!

All quiet on the eastern front



The RNC sessions and related events have been peaceful, to my knowledge, so far. Arrests have been plentiful and unreasonable at times. 264 arrests at the bike rally. On the other hand, I've also had the misfortune of being stuck on the same train as drunken young men who had come from a protest. Next.



Giancarlo Giannini, who played the sailor in the original Swept Away, also plays Enzo the producer on CQ.



Today was interesting. One of my co-workers was so obviously drunk; if we had struck a match near him he would have burst into flames right there. I am officially sick of my job.



Still loving my iPod.



Betsey Johnson dresses are $100 in Woodbury Commons.

Dela- where?



Camping was fun, if you're into the whole sleeping-in-a-wet-tent-smothered-by-a-sleeping-bag thing. We went to this shithole called Upper Delaware Campgrounds that didn't even have proper bathroom facilities. The campsite itself could have been beautiful if it weren't surrounded by puddles of water. We were right by the river and the mist in the early mornings made it all the more authentic.







When we got there late Friday night, the rain was pour-ing. That cute little tent I bought on ebay wasn't so easy to set up particularly when it is dark, wet, and one is wearing an oversized soaked poncho - a real one, not one of those pretty little numbers. It took six of us to finally get my "water-resistant, not waterproof" (according to the wet manual) tent up. By that time, of course, it was soaked. I was soaked. My slacks and blouse were soaked (I came straight from the office). So we just changed into swimsuits and splish splashed in the rain, Filipino style. We also waded in the river (the current was too strong to go further than a foot or two from the bank) and ducked and turned our flashlights off when the roving patrol came by. So that was fun.



One of the things I realized on that trip is that I am not an outdoors person, no matter how hard I try to be. I thought I came prepared. After all, I had been to the camping section in KMart and bought essentials and nice-to-haves like a floating(!) lantern, an emergency blanket, utensils that interlocked, a poncho, an extra duffel bag. And the day before I'd gone to Modell's and bought a backpack, a flashlight, a tarp, and pool slippers (they were on sale). But the next day, we went hiking and got lost and the only shoes I had were these pretty, white Tommy Hilfiger maryjanes that were clearly made for city walking. Of course, I slipped and slid on the rocks and the mud and my disposable poncho was torn and I had to roll up my capris because I hadn't brought shorts. Also I had to borrow an air mattress because I clearly could not just lay out my sleeping bag on my wet tent floor. I'd forgotten to buy extra seam sealer and I slept with a roll of paper towel beside me just in case the water soaked through the towels I had lined my tent seams with. Also, the next night when it was freezing, I only had the cable knit hoodie that matched my outfit, but could not keep the cold out.



Anway, the next day, we sent a team to the town to buy out the local grocery store's tarp supply. We completely rain-proofed the entire campsite. One guy, whose talent in tying tarps bordered on genius, set up an elaborate web of tarps, in anticipation of the direction of rain flow. True to the laws of the universe, it did not rain at all.

Pe! culiar culiar culiar



Last Sunday, on a MetroNorth train, while reading a particularly sad part in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, I suddenly burst into tears. I put away the book and tried desperately to calm down but I couldn't stop. I cried all the way to Westchester. I know I looked awful when I got to where my cousin was having her birthday dinner, so I took a walk to give my eyes a chance to de-puff. I ended up walking back to the train station. So I took the next train home. On the train ride home, I didn't dare read the book so I closed my eyes and tried to sleep while tears streamed down my face. It was hilarious.



The Southern American cab driver who brought me home claimed to be psychic. He knew I was Filipino, that I spoke Tagalog but that I spoke another dialect that started with Ilo- (Ilonggo). We talked about Asian geography and history, which he knew more about than I did. And then it turned out that he spoke a little Japanese too, so we traded a few Japanese phrases. (Konnichiwa, O genki desu ka?, etc.) NYC cab drivers are a riot.



Last year, I remember being extra cranky/moody in the weeks leading to my birthday. It's my own little rebellion against aging.



Sometimes it amazes me how, at 24, I can be so immature. Half my life I've lived away from home and yet I'm still not used to taking care of myself, making decisions and following those decisions through. I'm apathetic and lazy when it comes to my own life. I guess that's the main reason behind these yearly birthday episodes. I hate being reminded of my irresponsibility.



On that note, I bought an Ipod iPod. It has become the focal point of my day and the bane of my existence for the past week. I used to hate listening to music on the train because I could never hear the announcements. My greatest fear was getting on the train to get to work and ending up in Coney Island. But all that has changed. My life is a music video. I get through the day with a soundtrack. I am dreading the coming week-end because I'm going camping and there is a possibility that I will not have personal access to electricity while there, and therefore will not be able to charge my iPod.



In other news, tomorrow I am buying this book . The great Sarah Brown of Queserasera.org fame has a few pieces in it. I know, I know, I can go to Mcsweeneys and click away, but I think Sarah B. is an excellent writer and is a girl after my own heart and I will gladly fork over $15 or whatever Borders decides to overcharge me. (Just kidding, Borders. I know I can always count on you on a rainy day.)



With that, I am ending this post with three random pictures.







Juxtaposing: In the living room, the ceiling fan, the mirror and my friend Jethro's painting









Zach is one of the happiest people I know. These are his wheels.







When I'm not being impulsive, I practice flying kicks at Diet Pepsi bottles in the living room in my pajamas

Breaking up is hard to do



It's always sad to see a band go. Last year, Beulah guitarist Bill Swan said on their website that the aptly titled Yoko was going to be their last album and that they were going to "go home to our wives, girlfriends and kids, get real jobs and become adults." The next day, they retracted the announcement. During the recording of Yoko, released September 2003, four out of the six band members broke up with their wives and girlfriends. They finished Yoko, toured Europe and announced their final show, held today at Castle Clinton.



Miles Kurosky has this to say: "What I write about is not so much mortality, but the mortality of being in a band: How long can this last? Here I am in an indie rock band that's done quite well and done a lot of things we never thought we would. We've played festivals, we've been on Conan O'Brien... but at the end of the day I wonder what I've done. All I got is some crow's feet. What's the fucking prize?"



Tonight's Castle Clinton show was fun and yet there was the knowledge at the back of everyone's (or at least mine) minds that the last song tonight is going to be their last song ever. I wonder what it must be like to be in a band for a decade, to record songs, go on tours, be on the road with these guys, who you see more often than you see your own family, and then to just suddenly stop playing together.



At tonight's show, they played my favorite Beulah song at the exact moment that I crossed my fingers and wished they would. For five minutes, I forgot about the craziness at work and having to deal with dishonest siblings and the gnawing fears and doubts I have about my life. At that moment, I was just singularly happy. Music can do that to you, I guess.



In the end that's what really matters: that you've played your songs and have made people happy and made yourself happy. That's the fucking prize.

Teaser



This is Asha, who I only get to see every Fourth of July. She and I have the same size hands/paws.







 

Plugging

 

# Keka is showing in NYC on

 

Tuesday, July 20, 9:15 p.m.

IMAGINASIAN THEATER

239 EAST 59TH STREET (BTN 2ND/3RD AVENUES), NYC

 

and

 

Thursday, July 22, 9:45 p.m.

THE ASIA SOCIETY

725 PARK AVENUE (@ 70TH STREET), NYC

 

# Help this girl get to the 3rd World Youth Festival.

Tangina



Tama ba namang ang impulse purchase ko ay tent. Shit.



Translation: I bought a tent. WTF?!??

Saved



Patrick Fugit has grown up. He no longer looks so innocent. In fact, he looks sinister even though he plays a pastor's kid in Saved. Of course there's more to the movie than this little blurb about Fugit. Saved saved my Saturday from totally sucking. I laughed through the entire movie, a lot of times involuntarily, which scores major points with me. The kids (Mandy Moore, Jena Malone, Eva Amurri, Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit, etc.) were all terrific and in character. Props to casting. Also props to the stranger on my right who somehow found the same moments funny. Synchronized laughter is the best.

Winning the battle



I have been planning to put away my winter shoes and bring out my sandals and flipflops and flats, clean out my bedside drawer and organize my receipts, return impulse purchases that don't look that awesome on second thought, put up a photo album, etc. etc. But no, I haven't done any of that. Thus, my shoe rack is ridiculously still filled with boots in the dead of summer.



What I have been doing is launching an all-out war against those stupid spyware thugs who keep installing annoying little programs on my computer that cause those freaking pop-ups! No more. These reckless, almost smug, pop-ups have got to stop. I would like to be able to check my mail and read blogs and whatnot in peace. I abhor IE windows appearing out of nowhere advertising online degrees. I want my one MSN window, damnit!



It has not been an easy path to spyware-freehood. In the process, more trojans, spybots, keyloggers, adware, and spyware have flooded my PC. I have had to reboot countless times. I had to hunt down executable files deeply embedded in folders within folders. I've had to resort to good old DOS to change attributes and delete "inaccessible" files. I've had to kill seemingly invincible processes that insist on recurring countless times. Thank God there are amazingly smart and thorough and incredibly bored people out there who seem to have dedicated their lives to clearing one's system of spyware.



My own technique is simple. I arrange my executable files by date created order and anything that's been created recently that is unfamiliar is suspect. Some spyware are bundled together with free software downloaded from the internet. If you have downloaded software that allows you to share MP3s illegally, the warning is somewhere in that long winding thing that you're supposed to read before you click Yes, I Accept. Payback is a bitch.



Watch out for cheesy names like AllCyberSearch, Bargain Buddy, Dealhealper, n-Case. Check your Prefetch file for any suspicious .exe files. Do not use uninstallers packaged with the spyware. They are evil. If you have DSL, disconnect.



Two days of relentless pursuit after, I am relatively spyware-free (at least I think so) and I am able to watch Maps eighty times in peace. Geek.

Tiny dancer



Am I the only one who hates the Six Flags guy with a passion? Every time I see the commercial I want to cut his head off with a nail clipper and stuff it with porcupines.



I missed Imelda today. I got caught up at the shopping wonderland that is Century 21. When I got to Film Forum, I was the last person in the line and the 7:50 tickets were gone. Sayang. Filmmaker Ramona Diaz was supposed to be there.



So I met up with my cousins instead and had dinner at Krystal's where Friday night is apparently karaoke night.



Circuit City is the best! I got Almost Famous and The Virgin Suicides for $10 and Go for $7. The $10 Spike Jonze DVD is gone though.

Trainspotting



On my way home from work today, I was jolted awake by a guy screaming and cursing his head off. Like any other commuter in his right mind, I pretended not to hear him even though his screams filled the whole car, and went back to sleeping to discourage eye contact. About five minutes later, when I opened an eye to check on him, there was a full blown fight going on between him and another guy. They punched and kicked and shoved while most of the female passengers, including myself, migrated to the other end of the car. It was one of those cars without an exit so nobody could transfer. Seconds later an MTA employee came barging in from the other car and tried to calm them down. He called for police assistance on his radio. The wannabe hero had the banshee pinned to the floor on his knees while the MTA employee swatted at his hand periodically to keep him from hitting the guy. The train seemed to take forever to get to 36th Street from Pacific. At 36th, a cop came in to break the fight while the MTA guy screamed at rubberneckers to step away from the train. I took a cab home.

Listless



1. DVDs to return/review: The Debut, Better Luck Tomorrow, and Spellbound.



2. Movies to watch: Imelda at the Film Forum. Filmmaker Ramona Diaz will be at today's and Friday's 7:50 screening. (thanks, Heidi, for the info)



3. Kings of Convenience's Riot on An Empty Street is set to be released on June 21.



4. The Japan Society is holding summer language classes beginning June 2.



5. I had dinner at Todai last Saturday after walking the streets of White Plains. I was a kid in a candy store. I can live on unagi rolls.



6. It is 96 degrees in New York today.

Museum hopping



In true fashion, I spent last week lounging at home in my pajamas, ordering breakfast in or wandering out occasionally to my favorite diner. I did get to catch up on my DVD-viewing. I went through Catch Me If You Can, Reservoir Dogs, The Debut, Spellbound and Better Luck Tomorrow in five days. Reviews forthcoming, if I get to it. Also I spent about a day making lists. Things to Do lists. A Museums to Visit list, with addresses, subway directions, office hours and entrance fees. I made a spiffy two-week calendar in Photoshop with bright, springy colors and filled it with my tentative itinerary. I updated my Movies to Watch and Books to Read lists. And updated and revised my Things to Do list. I went to the doctor's and the lab. I went to my friend's baby shower, where I manned the grill and assembled baby bouncers for her twins.



The company I work for ties up with most of the major museums so, fortunately, I have free entrance! On Tuesday, I went to the Met, which houses works of art ranging from Greek to modern. The weather was beautiful and the museum was packed. People sat on the steps outside eating sandwiches. I didn't have time to walk through the whole musem - a day isn't enough, more so the measly couple of hours I had left until closing time just because I waited for the Ellen DeGeneres show. Urgh. I did get to finish the whole first floor (yes!), including Arms and Armor, Egyptian Art, the Temple of Dendur, and the Greek Sculpture court.







I had my map out the whole time, which was good because the Met is a dizzying labyrinth. I had to pause quite a few times, gather my bearings, pinpoint my location on the map and find my way in and out of various galleries. I know it would have been delightful to just get lost but this is me, I would never have found my way out. There was a particular group of paintings in the Medieval Art section that caught my attention. They were mostly Roman Catholic images - Jesus in the Garden, the Apostles - but looking at them, the first thing I thought of was the set of tarot cards that my lola (grandmother) used to have. Come to think of it, it's very strange that my lola would even have tarot cards as she wasn't so inclined. I did like those paintings very much and even spent a couple of minutes just sitting on a bench and admiring them.



It's always a little overwhelming when you actually see a famous work of art "in the flesh". It's amazing how this work of art conceived of and actualized hundreds of years ago by somebody long dead can still strike a chord in somebody like me. I didn't realize how much I liked art. Damn, too bad I haven't taken advantage of the corporate discount thing until now. I found this woman admiring Renoir's Two Girls at the Piano. She didn't know I was taking her picture.







One of my favorites at the Greek sculpture court is this one.







I don't know who he is and it's been bugging me all night. Those are his sons surrounding him and they're pleading with him about something. Does somebody out there know, until I read up more on Greek mythology?



The Temple of Dendur was given to the United States by Egypt in 1965 as a gift. On one of the walls is the tag of an ancient graffiti artist. (Leonardo 1820)







I spent the most time in the section containing the mummies. It was eery and fascinating at the same time.







The next day I renewed my passport at the Philippine Consulate (disorganized, nasty clerks, coin-operated copy machines). And then afterwards I went to Cooper-Hewitt, where Christopher Dresser's works were on exhibit. The people there were incredibly snotty so I didn't even attempt to take pictures. The Guggenheim was exquisite. I could stay there all day staring at the Picassos and Van Goghs. Their current exhibit is Speaking with Hands, a collection of artworks that have anything to do with hands.







Last stop was the American Museum of National History where I finally met my childhood idol, Stegosaurus.







Yesterday, back to consul to pick up passport. Was told office was closed. Extremely pissed. Headed to Museum of Television and Radio where The Jury was premiering. Spent two hours in the library watching Best Television Commercials from 1994.



Today, MOMA QNS and PS1. At MOMA QNS I spotted an old couple sitting on a bench in front of a painting. They looked so cute I took out my camera, but they stood up before I could take a picture of them. I did manage to take a picture of this museum attendant with two Warhols.







I spent five hours looking at Dieter Roth's work today and I think I'm going a little crazy. This is one of his installations. It's called Solo Scenes. Pictures weren't allowed but I took these before I asked (oops). It's composed of 131 DVD players and 131 monitors, mounted on three shelves. And it's hundreds of hours of footage of Roth at different points of his day - eating, playing the piano, reading the newspaper - from 1997 to 1998.







He's one of those guys who are walking the thin line between genius and lunacy. Do check out the online exhibit. Will post more (maybe with pictures) next time when I'm not as sleepy and when I don't have to walk three miles the next day.

The earth is a conductor of acoustical resonance








I saw Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes last week at BAM Rose Cinemas. Coffee and Cigarettes is a collection of eleven vignettes filmed over 17 years in which famous people talk about, what else, coffee and cigarettes . There was an article about it in last month's TimeOut NY that caught my attention because the cast includes such notables as Steve Buscemi, Bill Murray, Roberto Benigni, Iggy Pop, and also Cate Blanchett, the White Stripes, the Wu-Tang Clan, etc. I had never heard of Jim Jarmusch until then. Jim Jarmusch is the eccentric Einstein-coiffeured director of Stranger than Paradise, the 1984 Camera D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.



I was late for the movie, of course, so I missed Roberto Benigni's, which was the first one filmed in '86, and I only caught the tail end of Steve Buscemi's. Nonetheless it was interesting. I did feel like I was perennially waiting for something to happen while watching it. My favorite is the one where Cate Blanchett plays herself and her bitter, jealous cousin Shelly. In another vignette, Alfred Molina (Frida) and Steve Coogan (24 Hour Party People) play two actors dealing with the recent discovery that they are cousins. Bill Murray is a waiter serving the Wu-Tang Clan coffee. Jack White shows Meg White how his Tesla coil works but when the device breaks down Jack and the audience discover that Meg knows more about electric circuitry than the average person.



There were funny bits here and there but there were also really boring parts. I hated one vignette where two men, which I found out later to be Alex Descas and Isaach de Bankole, toss about the same two phrases for ten minutes. It was like a painful version of Godot, with no underlying philosophical significance. Horrible. Iggy Pop's vignette was incredibly boring as well; thank God he's such a character.



Interesting tidbit: There were not more than ten people in the theater including myself. There were two elderly couples probably taking advantage of their senior citizen's discount. One of them said, "Oh, it's just stories. There's no plot at all." Another actually went out for a couple of minutes and came back as the credits were rolling.



Over all, if not for an interesting cast, Coffee and Cigarettes would not be worth $11.25.

So here's the deal.



My two-week vacation starts today. I scheduled vacay way too early because I was planning to quit my job and look for another one. So, thinking ahead, I thought I could use this time for interviews and take another vacation with the new job. But it turns out I won't be quitting. Something came up and I'm going to hang on for another year and see what happens. So here I am with all this time on my hands and no plans. My high school friends want to go to Vegas but that's not until July. And as far as I know, everybody else is working. Apparently, nobody ever schedules their vacation in May. Everybody gets a WTF look on their faces when I say I'm going on vacation.



So after much head-scratching and pondering in general, I've decided I am going to be a tourist in New York for two weeks. I'm not going to wear shorts and a sun visor but I am going to go to all the places I've always wished I'd gone to but never had the time, with a digicam slung around my neck. (Darn it, right now would be the perfect time to be Japanese.)



Today is Domestic Chores and Errands Day I. I called the gym to find out when my membership is expiring (05/28/04 according to the irritatingly perky attendant). Of course, being naturally suspicious of strangers on the phone and consumer rights-driven, I pulled out my receipt from my bedside drawer (which is a minor miracle as it's crammed full of two years' worth of receipts) and now I have written proof that my membership expires in August, and NOT in two days. So it's off to the gym tomorrow. I also scheduled my first medical check-up in three years for Friday. I did my laundry, put away most of my winter clothes, went to the supermarket and made Filipino-style spaghetti for dinner. For the uninformed, all the google searches will tell you that the secret ingredient in Filipino-style spaghetti sauce is hotdogs. In place of hotdogs I found some kosher beef franks and instead of plain ketchup, Heinz has a hot and spicy variant. Plus the Ragu I used was green-pepper-happy. So my spaghetti turned out to be a Jewish-Filipino-Mexican hybrid.



On the way to the supermarket, I dropped by the bank and found out that I have half as much money as I thought I had. So now I am a tourist on a budget. I'm thinking movies and museums. I'm thinking BAM, MOMA QNS (one whole day), Met and the museum row, Angelika, Central Park, AMMI, etc.

Brilliant



Something is wrong with me, definitely. Last week, after watching The Office Series 2, I bawled for, like, two hours.

Goodbyes suck



Today I had to say goodbye to some people at work who are moving to another location - people who I've seen every weekday for eight hours or more for two and a half years. We all swore we'd visit each other. One girl and I promised to do lunch some time but I know we probably never will. I'll miss them so much. Although we just exchange casual office banter most of the time, it'll feel really weird without them. I had to pack up my desk too, because we're moving to another floor. It's funny how when I first started working there I refused to put personal stuff in my desk. I always told myself it would be temporary. While packing my desk today, I found a sewing kit, toothpaste, about ten dollars worth of quarters and pennies and more stuff I've amassed over the years. I've settled in. On the train I read the part about Alex's dream about playing an instrument made of skin protruding from his belly about fifty times. I felt so bad that I went straight to the deli as soon as I got off. And now I'm eating Guacamole Doritos and a pint of Ben & Jerry's (none of that non-fat crap) and blogging. Best therapy there is.

Spinning your new 45's



It's time for my annual Hedwig obsession. I'm sort of in love with John Cameron Mitchell, a little bit. He does have some lovable qualities, only one of which is the fact that he directed an entire movie in three-inch heels. If you haven't seen the DVD yet, it's a must. Also, Wig in a Box The Songs from Hedwig and the Angry Inch was released last year. The Bens (Kweller, Lee and Folds) do Wicked Little Town and Cyndi Lauper does Midnight Radio plus many more (The Polyphonic Spree, The Breeders, Yoko Ono, Yo La Tengo, Sleater Kinney)!







In other news, HTML help needed. I can't get the damned scroll bar colors to change in frames. Help. Please.

Sounding it off in threes



1. Sunday night was fireworks night at Pleasantville. The fireworks show, the first in three years, was held in an enormous field right in front of a friend's house. Some people brought blankets or chairs. We sat on the bleachers and the fireworks were lit right in front of our faces. I had a blast.



2. Sometimes I feel like I let myself be carried with the tide too much. I've never made irrational decisions. All my big decisions have been carefully thought out in a logical process. I always put practicality above other factors. I don't think I've made a bad decision yet, at least in the point of view of, say, a board of directors managing a company. But sometimes, I feel like I'm missing out on something.



3. I think I'll listen to this song for the rest of the night

Update in progress...



That explains why everything looks shitty.

May Day

Bikes and buildings on the BQE

More coming as soon as I get off my butt.

Quijano de Manila







R.I.P, Nick Joaquin: National Artist of the Philippines, author of May Day Eve, The Woman with Two Navels, and more.

We can be happy underground



Touted Best Ticket Bargain by TimeOut NY, Loews State, inside Virgin Megastore, two floors down, supposedly shows second-run movies for half price. In my state of brokenness (as in financial ruin), I decided to try it out. Besides, TimeOut said, "All that money you save on a movie can go straight to the first CD you'll pass on the way out of the store." Besides, comfy theater seats after a long walk around Times Square, AC on a hot day, entertainment after a particularly stressful lunch, etc. sounds pretty enticing.



I picked Main Hoon Na, a Bollywood movie, as I didn't feel like watching a thriller/suspense movie (Secret Window) or a lengthy movie with a lingering effect (Lord of the Rings). To my utter dismay and horror, the ticket did not cost $5.50 as I had been led to believe (damn you, TimeOut, damn you!), but $10.25, 25 cents more than regular price. I forked over the money anyway because I really needed to sit, and I've never seen a Bollywood except for that short Jaan Pehechaan Ho sequel in Ghost World. Well, I'm glad I did, because I enjoyed it thoroughly. I was entertained, at the very least.



This is a still from the movie to illustrate my point:







The lead character, who looks like Ray Romano, is a Major in the Indian army. His dad gets killed by Raghavan, a rebel who is opposed to the military's Mission Milaapa, a project to further peace between India and Pakistan. Raghavan is intent on causing havoc, so the army's main man, General Bakshi, sends Ray Romano to Darjeeling to protect his daughter. When Ray Romano's dad was dying, he revealed that Ray Romano actually had a half brother. Dad left his family to take care of his illegitimate son, Ray Romano. His dying wish was that Ray Romano and his half brother could scatter his ashes together.



Now, Ray Romano didn't want to go on a mission to protect the General's daughter, because he would have to go undercover as a college student, and he is about a decade too old. But! But! Incidentally, this daughter, Sanju, goes to school with Ray Romano's half brother Lakshmi. So off he goes to college.



College is wonderful. Everybody loves Lakshmi, who is known as Lucky, and is, like, the coolest guy in school because he has long hair, wears torn jeans and leather jackets, has failed three times, and does his song-and-dance numbers so well. Everybody breaks into song AND dance at key points in the story. Pompom girls appear out of nowhere and everyone throws confetti all the time. Lucky and Sanju don't like Ray Romano because he dresses like a thirty-year-old undercover army major pretending to be a student. But then Lucky falls off a roof and is rescued by this nerdy over-aged student and so everybody dances, and now he is well-liked.



Oh! Oh! Lucky's favorite expression is "Avoid!" His mom: "Lucky, when are you going to cut your hair?" Lucky: "Avoid, mom!" Ray Romano: "Lucky, I think you like Sanju." Lucky: "Avoid, man!" Anyways. So Ray Romano becomes friends with Lucky and he starts to live with the Laksmans as a tenant. Lucky's mom loves him because he loves her cooking and is the son she never had.



Ray Romano has the hots for the new Chemistry teacher, who was Miss Universe in 1994, when the Miss Universe pageant was held in the Philippines. Yes, Filipino readers who lived in the Philippines in 1994 who had access to any kind of media, the new Chemistry teacher is (all together now) Sushmita Sen. Every time Ray Romano bumps into Sushmita Sen, he gets an uncontrollable urge to sing (and he does), and violinists and saxophonists appear out of the blue [see picture].



Meanwhile, Raghavan's attempts at tomfoolery are foiled by Ray Romano so he decides to kidnap the Physics teacher and pose as the substitute Physics teacher. His disgrace of a disguise works because nobody knows how Raghavan looks like anyway; he always hides behind a mask. When the students find out that the Physics teacher resigned and will be replaced by a creepy-looking fellow, they all cheer because now they don't have to wear goggles to Physics class. Their old teacher had a serious spitting problem.



Notables: the Hindi teacher who screws up her English words, the absent-minded principal, the school nerd who pretends to turn down Sanju's prom invite so she can go with Lucky.



To summarize, Lucky finally realizes he likes Sanju, they go to the prom, Ray Romano and Sushmita Sen dance and fall in love, the General and his daughter are reunited, Lucky and his mom find out who Ray Romano really is, India and Pakistan exchange POWs, Raghavan kidnaps everyone in school, Ray Romano rescues them and is forgiven by Lucky and his mom.



This movie manages to incorporate all genres: comedy, drama, romance, action (obviously in the scene where Ray Romano does a Matrix to dodge the Physics teacher's spit globules). Plus, it's actually a musical AND a socio-political commentary. It is almost three hours long, yes, but if the projector guy is kind there is an interval so everyone can run to the bathroom for five minutes, and it is worth every minute.



---



Speaking of Underground, did you know that Ben Folds Five released a Complete Sessions at West 54th DVD? If so, and if you have seen it, and are female (OR male, for that matter) of a certain persuasion, don't you think that Ben Folds circa 1997 is, like, the perfect guy?

The J Poem

Holding on



Spring time is here, the leaves are here

Committed to holding on, holding on

And even when they fall, I won't yield

I'll still be holding on, holding on.

Holding on.



I found this Dear Nora song today deep in the bowels of my mp3 archives. It's funny how certain melodies convey emotions so aptly. It doesn't even have to be the lyrics, because it's when she starts hollering that you feel stubborn, defiant, triumphant even, just holding on to whatever it is.

---

I saw a quarter of Wings of Desire last Saturday. Wings of Desire won the 1987 Cannes Best Director for Wim Wenders. In 1998, Wenders made City of Angels, but it tragically pales in comparison. Wings of Desire is a poem. It opens with one, yes, but more than that, in the way the movie is shot, and the whole tone of the voice-over, you feel as if you are watching a poem. Peter Handke's Song of Childhood sets the tone:





When the child was a child

It walked with its arms swinging,

It wanted the stream to be a river,

the river a torrent,

and this puddle to be the sea.



When the child was a child,

it didn't know it was a child,

everything was full of life,

and all life was one.



When the child was a child,

it had no opinion about anything,

it had no habits,

it often sat cross-legged,

took off running,

had a cowlick in its hair,

and didn't pull a face when photographed.



And later,



When the child was a child,

It was the time of these questions:

Why am I me, and why not you?

Why am I here, and why not there?

When did time begin, and where does space end?

Isn't life under the sun just a dream?

Isn't what I see, hear and smell

just the mirage of a world before the world?

Does evil actually exist and are there people who are really evil?

How can it be that I, who I am,

wasn't before I was,

and that sometime I, the one who I am,

no longer will be the one I am?





It sounds better in German, but then it'd be a bit more difficult to understand.

---

Was it a coincidence that I picked up, and read, The Bad Seed and In the Miso Soup on the same week-end? Both are about serial killers who started early on, in childhood, when most of us only have a vague idea of what murder is. It's very interesting to compare the two books though, because one is set in present-day Tokyo in the midst of the sex industry, while the other was written in the 50s, a strange novel by an equally strange author (read the preface).

---

I swore I'd wait until Kill Bill Vol. 2 was on one of its last runs to see it. (I watched Vol. 1 in a virtually empty theater, just me and my Raisinets, and I loved how I was able to watch my movie in peace.) But I couldn't resist. I saw it last Saturday. The theater wasn't full as AMC was showing it in several screening rooms. What can I say. I loved it. Even though I hate Quentin Tarantino (he just loves to listen to himself talk), you can't deny the man has talent. I loved the scenes with the Chinese kung fu master, and how the camera wriggles a bit before it zooms in on the kung fu master like they do in old kung fu movies. Also, the way the film was colored and made to look like an authentic 40's detective/western/kung fu movie, depending on the story. That was cool.

---

At The Body Shop, they were playing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Maps when I went in. This song is so oddly infectious. I waited for it to finish and ended up buying more stuff than I had planned to. (Attention market research specialists!)

---

Last post in this horribly long, winding, fragmented post: I finally made it to beard papa's! [see close-ups of cream puffs and box taken by enthusiastic fan] Rocs (Firipin-jin) has been bugging me for the longest time to try it. When I got to the Upper West Side (76th and Broadway) location, there was a line forming outside the small stall, but it was definitely worth waiting in line for. Beard papa's makes the best cream puffs. It's fluffy and light, and not at all sweet. It's hard to describe; you have to try it yourself. I understand there's a branch in Manila. It is sort of expensive at $1.25 per, but it's so delicious you totally forget yourself and end up buying half a dozen even though you know it has to be eaten in 24 hours and no one is at home and you have to eat it all. I kept mine in the fridge though, and it still tastes fresh. I'm going to go back there to try the cheesecake slice things. Mmmm.

My not-so-bad reputation



I finished watching the Freaks and Geeks DVD. Not the whole thing, because 29 commentary tracks is no joke, just the episodes and the auditions and bloopers. I'm doing the deleted scenes next.



Anyway, in retrospect, I don't know what I'm talking about. I hung out with geeks all the time when I was fourteen. Practically everyone I knew was a geek. Geekiness was the norm in high school. The only difference is that it was science geeky as opposed to pop culture geeky. But then (you're right, Mikey) college more than made up for that.



To further illustrate: one of my friends (who was maybe 15 or 16 at the time) said that if the dorm burned down, the first thing he'd save was his thesis (Hi Deo, are you reading this?), another friend would randomly blurt out scientific names (I bet he still remembers them to this day), my band was named after the thickest part of a light wave, and I spent week-end nights at the lab (preserving angiosperms).



The best thing about it was that the geeks weren't the outcasts. In fact, geekiness was sort of proportional to popularity. Yeah, my high school was sort of twisted. It was a little bit freaky, but hey, we didn't turn out so bad.

Piano day



So today I woke up at 8:00, called in sick (there goes one of the sick days I was saving up for another mini-vacation), and woke up at noon. I felt terrible, I haven't overslept in a long time and I've forgotten what an awful feeling it is. Also lying to my boss about it being that time of the month (in tiny, pained voice: "I've got cramps...") makes me feel so damn guilty even though it works every time, sorry guys.



I ordered in from my favorite deli - a fish fillet sandwich for lunch and a mushroom burger for dinner. I got out the two books I got from Borders yesterday. (I've been buying too damn much from Borders lately. I go there everyday and I'm spending at least 30 dollars every time. This has got to stop.) So anyway, I bought two piano books - the Les Miserables score and a compilation of classics yesterday. My sister just got a new piano and I've been dying to try it out. It's one of those digital pianos that I've been suspicious of, but it turns out that it sounds and feels just like a real piano. Unlike the old keyboards which you can't accomplish dynamics on, these new ones are such perfect little creations. You can adjust how the keys feel, i.e., hard, medium, soft, and how the sound comes out - hall 1, hall 2, room, etc. It's a total marvel.



I like how I can lose myself when I play the piano. I let my mind wander. It's something that I've been able to do ever since I learned how to take naps while having my piano lessons with Ms. Hilado. My fingers would continue to move but I'd be nodding off. She'd only notice when she'd turn to me to say something about the piece, and I'd have my eyes closed. I'd wake up then because she'd poke my wrists. Those were fun times.



The classics compilation book had Fur Elise and Liebestraum and Moonlight Sonata and The Minute Waltz and Clair de Lune. Different pieces evoke memories of different people. Fur Elise was probably the first piece that I memorized. It was what everyone asked you to play and I've never enjoyed it as much as I did today. It's funny how years after my fingers can still remember the notes. They don't move as easily across the keys now. My Minute Waltz (this crazy waltz that Chopin wrote that's supposed to be played in a little more than a minute) is almost comical; it was the last piece Ms. Hilado taught me before I quit and I've never been able to nail it. Clair de Lune is my dad's favorite song and he'd always bug me to play it. Moonlight Sonata reminds me of week-end afternoons at the make-shift rec room at my old high school.



Afterwards I took out Dan Coates' arrangement of Desperado, which for some unknown bizarre reason is my LSS song.

29 commentary tracks!








Oh my God! I am loving my Freaks and Geeks DVD! How did I ever live without this? Why did I never hang out with 14-year-old geek boys? I would blog more, but I have 11 episodes to go...

Israel and Japan



Most of what we hear about Israel is what we hear on the news - bombings, assasinations, the building of fences. I didn't know much about Israel before Liat and Mike, members of Israel at Heart's current delegation to the US, talked about life in Israel as twenty-somethings. Liat came to Israel as a child, from Ethiopia. Her family walked for 12 days and stayed in a refugee camp in Egypt (?) for a year and a half before they were finally flown to Israel. There were casualties along the way and in the refugee camp, which she said was the worst experience she has ever had. Mike was born and raised in England. He moved to Israel when he turned 18, leaving his parents behind, and was drafted into the military and served for two years. He told us about how difficult it was to defend yourself against a Palestinian child who has been trained to attack. Before Saturday night, I had felt little empathy to the cause of the Jews in Israel. But listening to them talk about the sense of belonging that they felt in Israel, I felt their passion towards their country. Liat's coming to Israel was the end of a two-year-long journey, and Mike could have chosen to stay in England. Surely he wouldn't have been dodging bombs or carrying an M-16 there. This year, Joey Low brought 40 students to the US to talk about Israel. As far as I know, he founded the organization and takes care of the funding himself.



Israel at heart is an independent entity, whose single concern is the well being of Israel. We wish to do everything we can to promote a better understanding of Israel and its people. We are not part of any Jewish organization, do not represent any government agency or political party and are, therefore, free to express ourselves in any way we wish.



We believe that Israel has been unfairly portrayed in the media. It is not simply that it has gotten a bad deal from the world press, but more importantly, its significance as the only free democratic society in the Middle East has not been conveyed to the public at large. We are hopeful that if people truly understood what their Israeli counterparts are going through, they would be more supportive of Israel?s struggle.



While we aim to reach as diverse a group as possible, we have specifically chosen college campuses as the centerpiece of this effort. By targeting the leaders of tomorrow and one of the most misinformed groups, we think we can have the greatest impact. Accordingly, we think Israel?s best ambassadors are likely well-educated students that are fluent in the language of the country they visit. These Israelis have completed their military service and are between the ages of 21 and 27. They carry opinion sets and life stories that demonstrate the diversity within Israeli society-one of its greatest assets. By simply telling the stories of their lives, we hope they can begin to change the way people see Israel and its people.



We hope our efforts will convince more people to take a trip to Israel, study after high school there, do a junior year abroad program at one of its many universities, call a friend to let them know they care, buy an Israeli product, and most importantly, educate themselves about the conflict, so they can defend Israel against verbal attacks by its enemies.



Our efforts to date have centered on speaking tours for groups of young Israelis like those described above. The success we?ve seen has been overwhelming, and we have just completed our biggest trip yet. We find that no matter who is in the audience, because the stories these Israelis tell are so real, people?s views are changed forever.





If you want them to speak at your school/organization, the email address is info@israelatheart.com.



Liat said that the kids over there basically live lives that aren't that different from ours. They go to clubs and hang out with their friends. She said travelling to Israel, with a group tour, is quite safe.

---

If you left your umbrella in the subway in Japan, chances are it's at the Tokyo Metropolitan Lost and Found Center, which is four stories, and is filled up to the kazoo with umbrellas.



I am posting the full story from the New York Times because I think it's amazing.





Never Lost, but Found Daily: Japanese Honesty

By NORIMITSU ONISHI



Published: January 8, 2004





TOKYO, Jan. 7 ? Anywhere else perhaps, a shiny cellphone fallen on the backseat of a taxi, a nondescript umbrella left leaning against a subway door, a wad of cash dropped on a sidewalk, would be lost forever, the owners resigned to the vicissitudes of big city life.



But here in Tokyo, with 8 million people in the city and 33 million in the metropolitan area, these items and thousands more would probably find their way to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Lost and Found Center. In a four-story warehouse, hundreds of thousands of lost objects are meticulously catalogued according to the date and location of discovery, and the information put in a database.



Smaller lost-and-found centers exist all over Japan, based on a 1,300-year-old system that long preceded Japan's unification as a nation and its urbanization. More recently, it has apparently survived an economic slump that has contributed to the general rise in crime.



Consider that in 2002 people found and brought to the Tokyo center $23 million in cash, 72 percent of which was returned to the owners, once they had persuaded the police it was theirs. About 19 percent of it went to the finders after no one claimed the money for half a year.



If the original owner is not found after half a year, the finder can claim the object or money. But most finders don't bother making any claims, and the objects and proceeds usually end up going to the Tokyo government.



Hitomi Sasaki, 24, sporting a suntan and a nose-pierce, found $250 in a tray under a plant outside the restaurant where she works.



"I always hand in something I find, like purses," said Ms. Sasaki, who had come to claim the money after waiting half a year. "I imagine that a person might be in trouble, losing money or a purse."



"I used to live in Chicago, so I can tell you how wonderful this is," she said. "Inside the center, I saw a woman come to pick up an umbrella today. Only for an umbrella. It's something almost impossible to imagine in other cities in the world."



Children are taught from early on to hand in anything they find to the police in their neighborhoods. So most of the 200 to 300 people who come to the center every day take the system for granted, as did Tatsuya Kozu, 27, who had just retrieved his leather business card case.



"I'm glad," he said. "I just dropped by here to pick it up, since my office is nearby."



On a recent morning, shelves were heaving under bags containing lost items that spoke of the rhythms of commuting life: keys, glasses, wallets, cellphones, bags. A small bicycle helmet with "Suzuki" on it and a toy horse testified perhaps to a child's fickleness.



Skis and golf bags attested perhaps less to misplacement than to an abandoned hobby; unclaimed wedding bands perhaps spoke of the end of something larger.



Wheelchairs and crutches were harder to explain, though Nobuo Hasuda, 54, and Hitoshi Shitara, 47, veteran officials of the lost-and-found system, had well-rehearsed lines.



"I wonder what happened to the owners," Mr. Shitara said.



Mr. Hasuda said with a smile, "If they didn't need them anymore because they got better, it's a good thing."



One floor was a sea of umbrellas, the most commonly lost item ? 330,000 in 2002, or 3,200 for every good rainfall ? and, at a rate of 0.3 percent, the least reclaimed.



The low rate is an indication of how rapidly Japan has grown rich in the span of a few generations. "In the past," Mr. Shitara said, "one person barely had one umbrella, or a family had to share one. So your father scolded you if you lost an umbrella."



Everything changes. Mr. Hasuda remembered that at a local lost-and-found center decades ago, people brought in cabbages, radishes, oranges and other vegetables and fruit they had found. Because the products would spoil, the police sold them at a bargain to the finders. Nowadays, fearing contamination, the authorities immediately dispose of any food.



The item with the highest return rate ? 75 percent ? is the cellphone, which has flooded the center in the last three years. Owners typically call their own phones, or the center traces the owners through their subscription and sends a notification postcard.



The lost-and-found property system dates to a code written in the year 718, according to Hideo Fukunaga, a former police official who wrote a book on the subject, "Notes on the Law on Lost Property."



Back then, lost goods, animals and, mysteriously, servants had to be handed over to a government official within five days of being found. After a year, the government took over the belongings, though the owner could still reclaim them. The code stipulated that people had no right to keep lumber found adrift in a flood.



In the 18th century, finders were given more rights and were rewarded with a certain value of the found property. Finders who did not hand in objects were severely punished. According to Mr. Fukunaga's book, in 1733 two officials who kept a parcel of clothing were led around town and executed.



A new law was created in the late 19th century and then reformed most recently in 1958. Currently, a finder must hand in an object to the authorities within seven days, or lose the right to a reward or ownership. In the case of lost money, if the original owner is found, the finder has the right to claim 5 to 20 percent of the sum, though usually it is 10 percent.



Today, the authorities are thinking of ways to update the system by creating an Internet listing of the items at all lost-and-found centers nationwide, or at least those in Tokyo. The system's survival, though, will depend less on technology than on simple honesty.



Last June, Tsutomu Hirahaya, 55, a photographer, found 13,000 yen ? about $120 ? on a counter at a betting booth. He handed over the money to an employee and left his name and address. A few weeks ago, he received a postcard from the police informing him the cash was his.



"I feel uncomfortable holding another person's money," Mr. Hirahaya said "I think many Japanese people feel the same way and hand over something they find. I think among Japanese there's still a sense of community since ancient times."





If you want to get your stolen phone back in Manila, you have to buy it back in Recto, where stolen things are re-sold.

Domain down Up and running






It was a picture perfect day in DC.

We spent 15 minutes taking pictures of what we later realized was the BACK of the Capitol.

Cops lined the road leading to the White House, the entrance was blocked, and sirens went off. Somebody important must be arriving, we said. We didn't stick around long enough to find out.

I like this sculpture. At the National Gallery of Art.

This guy sold photos with a cardboard cut-out of Bush for $5.

Industrial spider with long, spindly legs.

There are so many nice buildings in DC, and half of them have inscriptions.

On the way to Virginia Beach.

Stalls along the main avenue.

The beach was deserted except for a few kids throwing frisbees, oblivious to the cold.

This is me, reflected on an aquarium at the Virginia Marine Science Museum. Also posted at mirrorproject.

We sat on a bench by the shore and pretended not to be shivering.

Randomness of random things



I would very much like to post pictures and kuwento (stories) but I have to wait for my new host. Easyspace sucks big time, man. They put banners on your page, and you have to pay an additional 45 bucks to have them taken out. I had to pay $7.50 so I could transfer my domain.



In the meantime, interesting story (for me, haha). The other day I fell asleep on the subway and woke up only when the lady beside me said it was the last stop. Thank God for the kindness of strangers, or I would have found myself in an empty train in the middle of who-knows-where. I didn't want to cross the platform and take the train going the opposite way as soon as I stepped off the train because I was terribly embarrassed, of course. So I exited and found myself in an unfamiliar neighborhood. It was like being in a suspense/thriller movie. The lead character takes the train, falls asleep and finds himself in a strange neighborhood, unlike any he has ever been to. He tries to reach his destination but he keeps falling asleep and missing his stop and finding himself in unfamiliar places. Of course, I was only about twenty blocks away from home, so it wasn't exactly that strange, but indulge my imagination I'm bored. There was a library right there though, so I went in and borrowed a couple of books.



Bill got the apprentice position. I thought he deserved to win even though he did resemble a hurricane in the last episode. Donald Trump wanted to copyright "You're fired" but apparently it's already owned by some woman in the midwest who stamps it on the bottom of her pottery.



Some bored Asian guys made their own milk and cereal. I liked this better than the other one, although why I would take the time to compare them is beyond me.



Yesterday, I downloaded a Gloria Estefan song. Fool, don't judge me.

Dizzy



Spending the week-end with my friends was awesome. We drove around in circles in DC and Virginia but I had the best time. I love my friends! (Pictures next time, maybe.)

Week-ender






view from one of my favorite spots

I'm off to DC, kids.

Oh, shit



Pisay suicide

What kind of world is this? It's kind of crap!



Today is all about the Cure and shirts at engrish and fruitsy clothes and Irregular Choice London shoes.

Argghh. Why must I be so poor?



{In Between Days, The Cure} - come on, sing it with me: go on, go on, just walk away, go on, go on, your choice is made...

Eternal Sunshine in Jersey



Today, lunch at acclaimed low-profile Chinatown spot Chanoodle (79 Mulberry), AMC for movies, McDonald's for Oreo McFlurries.



We went to see two movies whose lead actors I have no affection for. I think the word I'm looking for is loathe. I saw Punch Drunk Love just a couple of weeks back, and despite good reviews about the movie, I could not get over the fact of Adam Sandler playing the main character. Instead of focusing on the movie, I zeroed in on his irritating mannerisms and facial expressions.



Jersey Girl, starring Ben Affleck, J.Lo briefly, and Liv Tyler is tolerable. Of course, being a Kevin Smith movie, it has to have Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and a couple of shock value scenes in it. Raquel Castro steals the show in this movie. I loved the alcoholic street sweeper team. The Sweeney Todd scene was entertaining. Oh, and is Jason Lee losing his hair?



I went in really wanting to like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. There's something compelling about the Focus logo that makes you like the movie you haven't seen yet. And then I started to hate it about a third of the way because of the jerky shots. I understand this is to enhance the quirky film rep, but it is hell watching on a wide screen. Then I started liking it. I mean, winter in Long Island is such a far-off concept to me that the scenes of Clem and Joel frolicking in the snow on the beach, to me, could only be a product of a brilliant mind. I'm a big fan of beautiful shots. This movie actually made me see winter in a different light. This is not to undermine the story - the whole concept behind the story - because Charlie Kaufman's brilliant twisted ideas are always mindblowing. Jim Carrey was low-key, which is a good thing. Sometimes his irritating mannerisms stubbornly show up in Joel, but he gave a good, controlled performance. I'd buy the DVD because it's the kind of movie wherein you'll discover something new everytime you watch it, depending on your state of mind. Jon Brion, who also did Punch Drunk Love's, did the excellent music.

Witchcraft



An old denim bag of mine needed revamping. So I bought some felt from the trim shop, drew a pattern on a paper bag, and came up with this:







Ain't it cute?

At home with my cam (non-porn you dirty idiots)







clockwise from left: my knees and checked bedsheet, cold feet, cds, my pretty Dick and Jane calendar - $1 from Borders, my apple bag, my soundtrack collection

I have arrived



I made top ten in orisinal.

Close encounters



In the two plus years I've been in New York:



1. I've been asked questions by a detective. He was wearing a trench coat, I remember. I was in my pajamas. He was inquiring after a co-tenant, who wasn't even staying in the apartment anymore.



2. My apartment has been burglarized. That was Apartment #2 in Park Slope (same apartment as above), where the co-tenants just loved to leave the door open. The police came and poked around in the basement, the only room the thief was able to break into.



3. I've been visited by the fire department thrice. Once, in Apartment #2 when the upstairs tenant left the water running in his tub, and the ceiling almost caved in. The second time at my office - ten fire trucks parked along Broadway as I stood and watched across the street. And the other night, a firetruck stopped right in front of my apartment. Instinctively, I looked up at the bedroom window, didn't see any smoke, and quickly went up to check anyway. Minutes later, a fireman came to look around. Apparently, the next-door neighbor's smoke alarm went off. They smelled smoke in the apartment, but didn't see a fire, called the fire department anway, in case it was an electrical fire. The firemen left soon after.



Before I moved here I've never even so much as seen a fireman up close.



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Yesterday, after looking for my travel agent's office in the depths of Chinatown, I decided to walk along Broadway to the next nearest train station, which was Prince. Pearl River Mart was right across the street and I'd been planning on getting a lantern, but decided against it because I didn't feel like crossing the street at that time. So I just kept walking along Broadway. I discovered a funky little jewelry shop where I spent most of my time browsing. I finally left when I noticed it was getting dark. About a block away from Prince, I heard a huge explosion. It came from across the street. An underground explosion of some kind blew a manhole cover into the air. The explosion we'd heard was the cover popping. Manhole explosions are almost common in New York; last night 44 buildings were evacuated in Brooklyn because of high carbon monoxide levels caused by burning electric cables in manholes. I shudder to think, though, that someone could have been stepping on that manhole at the exact moment it blows. After looking to see if anyone was hurt (nobody was), I quickly walked towards the subway station. Sitting in the train, I still had goosebumps all over.

---



A bit of good news: I finally got a camera. I think I made a good choice. All the S50 vs S400 debates come up with the same conclusion. Sure, the S400's pretty and tiny, but the S50 has way more features. In quite a number of forums , a lot of digicam users have said that the S45 was even better than the S50 because squeezing another mega-pixel into the same size sensor affects picture quality. Unfortunately, no one carries the S45 anymore. J & R doesn't even have the S50 anymore. My contact says they're ordering a new shipment, but who knows when that's arriving. I had to go to the almighty B&H, whose drab color scheme I abhor. I must say though, the way customers are herded like cattle in an impressively organized assembly-line style, is very efficient. At times it does feel like a violation of one's humanity. But hey, gotta get with the program if you want your camera before the store closes at seven.

Lessons from the fishball game



1. Treat the ball gently. Once you get the hang of it, it'll be a lot easier



2. If you doggedly pursue a particular fish instead of bouncing around like a maniac and getting distracted by other fish, you will almost always catch it.



3. Head to the surface once in a while. You don't want to lose all those points if a pufferfish gets you.



4. Beware of the pufferfish. They look cute but they'll burst your bubble, literally.



5. If you see those special balls, grab them.



6. Take advantage of invincibility. Go attack a pufferfish if you have it. But remember it's only temporary.



7. With the proper soundtrack, everything is more fun.



8. The ocean is pretty.

Ichiban suki na moto



Shame on me for not exploring Fulton Street sooner. There's a strand in my neighborhood (my work neighborhood, that is) and I didn't even know it. This I discovered yesterdey en route to the seaport for dinner. It was a weird, gloomy, wet day for dinner at the seaport and with our luck, Sequioa was closed, so we ended up eating at the foodcourt. The view is still fabulous though, clear day or not.



Today I set out for a cheap books expedition and emerged with three finds. Hey, that's pretty good for thirty minutes. At the train station, I discovered my copy of The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing had a Gore Vidal price tag on it, and thus inflated my total. Otherwise, all three books would have cost less than twenty bucks. Word of advice: You might as well walk to Fulton Street if you're in the Wall Street area. Uptown trains are always crowded and take forever, such that when you get to strand, you'd be in such a hurry and yet still be totally awed and fascinated at the disarray that when you finally get back to your office, you'd only have time to pick up a diet Snapple and a pack of cashew nuts for lunch, which you'd have to eat at your desk because you're already late.







Tomorrow I'll be on another expedition to get a refund and perhaps a nice little Japanese-English dictionary. If you adored Lost in Translation like I did and love singing along to songs, here's a neat little thing I found:



Mochi no hazure no, senobi shita roji wo

Sanpo shitetara, shini darake no

Moya goshi ni okinuke no romen densha ga

Umi wo wataru noga

Mietan desu sorede boku mo

Kaze wo atsumete, kaze wo atsumete, kaze wo atsumete

Aozora wo kaketain desu, aozora wo



Walking on the overstretched alley

In the outside of the city

Through the blemished haze

I saw a first tram across the sea

And so,

Gathering the wind, gathering the wind, gathering the wind

I wanna fly the blue sky, the blue sky.





[from misanthropic]



{Kaze Wo Atsumete, Happy End}