Definitely wear lip gloss



Mmmhmm.



In true couch potato fashion, we've (my sister and I) registered with netflix. We're renting movies that everybody has seen but us, or that she has seen but I haven't and vice versa. The greatest thing about DVDs is subtitles, hope yet for half-deaf people like us. My mom swears I have selective hearing. I only hear what I want to. She says this is because as a child, I would pretend not to hear whenever somebody asks me to help out in the household chores



A craving for spicy noodles led us to a little Thai restaurant in Bay Ridge, the name of which escapes me. Anyhow, the waiter was Filipino, which my sister and I found strange because we swore we heard him speak Thai. (didn't I mention we're half-deaf?) We gave ourselves a good bonk in the head as we pride ourselves as being quite good at Spot-the-Filipino. As he was handing us the check, my sister, who almost always has no cash on her, reached for it, and I muttered under my breath, "As if ikaw magbabayad" (As if you're paying). The waiter, who was trying to suppress a chuckle, then said "Filipino kayo?" (Are you Filipino?), to which I stupidly said, "Ikaw din?" (You too?) On the way home, we marveled at how versatile the Filipino's features are. It's even ironic how my (biological) sister can pass for Vietnamese, while I am sometimes mistaken to be from one of the Spanish-speaking countries.



The Wiz was having a closing out sale so I thought I'd get some CDs that I had left back home. Last night I was listening to Ben Folds Five's Whatever and Ever Amen. I remember spending an entire summer trying to transcribe the whole album because I was jealous of Jazz, who could play Missing the War (and the Mr. Belvedere theme!) on the Glee Club's keyboards. sidenote: Even with 10% off, CDs at The Wiz are still more expensive than those at other record stores.



Sandra Cisneros (House on Mango Street) has come up with her version of a Latino epic. It took Cisneros nine years to write Caramelo, which will be out by September 24.



"I want, I want, I want, I wanna be Kate!" - Kate, Ben Folds Five