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Another week

Hey hey mama said the way you move gonna make you sweat gonna make you groove

There was some serious Led Zeppelin leaking out of the window of the car next to me this morning, and not only did I not mind navigating through my day with Black Dog playing in my head, but I now have this irresistible urge to get my friend Lucky to come over with some ethnic food & have an evening of hippie documentaries with us.

I already have some Tibetan incense burning here as well as wearing a pair of bell bottoms that are old enough to have a driver's license so all we need is Lucky, an old VW, maybe some sideburns for Geoff and we're in business. 

Come on Lucky we're waiting.

Lost and found

Well, admittedly overdosed by the end of Season 5, I am quite happy to be back to reality again after having just wrapped up an eight-day, five-season marathon of LOST. 

Just ordered Season 6 (the final season) on Amazon -- it won't be out on DVD for three more weeks so still no spoilers please...

Which reminds me, reading your comments on the last post, I just couldn't believe how many of you got hooked on the show -- we had never even heard of it before! 

Well, however much I wish it weren't so, there's eight days worth of paper plates waiting to be cleaned up here (so gross I know), an empty fridge to fill, eye brows to be plucked and a very greasy crown of hair to be shampooed before I make my grand entrance into "the real world", in which, to my utter surprise it's August already. 

Have a wonderful week ahead everyone.

Until next time.

Agnes  

p/s: Smokey was not lost, I posted his picture for no other reason than the fact that he's so damn cute. That and also he looks better than either of us after eight days of infrequent hygiene routines. 

LOST

 

My goodness, I don't know what's got into me. 

I mean, how does someone as nonchalant about television as I am end up doing a LOST-marathon -- camping out on the couches with the husband, watching back to back episodes of a show that up until four days ago I didn't even know existed? 

Next thing you know, Geoff and I are closing in on day four of not having left the house, about to wrap up season three here, pretty much only taking breaks for bathroom, sleep and cup/plate refills. Plus the occasional shower/wardrobe change and when I say 'change' I am using it in the most liberal sense of the word you can think of. And it's sooooo good!  

Well, two and a half more seasons to go before the final season (which I just googled and it won't be out till Aug 24 -- what a bummer) so no spoilers OK? 

Through the looking glass

Geoff found some Irish eatery we were about to go check out when it started to pour. 

 

Everything's been rather calm and quiet here lately, and I really have nothing to blog about. Unless of course you wanna hear about my self-imposed restraint to go see Alice In Wonderland -- a restraint I religiously observe every time a favorite book of mine gets made into a movie. I know there's no way I am not gonna see it eventually,  but I find it necessary to diplomatically remain in a state of resistance for as long as I can, preferably with bona fide witnesses to my vacillation who will tell the descendants of Mr Carroll how very reluctant I was to go see it and how very conflicted I felt when I went anyway. 

 

It's not even that old broken record cliche that a movie can never be as amazing as the book (although it almost never is), it's just that once you expose your senses to the wonders of cinematics, how can you tune it out again and go back to the freedoms of your own creative imagination? 

I could probably come up with something smart and cheesy to say here, like "life is a one-way street" or something to that effect but lucky for everyone, the rain has just stopped and I want to go sit in that Irish pub with Geoff. 

Until next time.

Agnes

TITLE CREDIT: LEWIS CARROLL -- THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Peace and quiet and quite a bit of mess

 
 

The nice thing about jamming five days worth of errands and appointments into four, is that on the fifth day I don't need to leave the house at all. The art of stealing time -- Geoff can rest all day and have a much needed break from the clinic/doctors/the whole cancer thing. Ironic, how taking a break from all the freaky drugs and reconnecting with the very things that make life worth living is actually rejuvenating.  

 
 

Smokey is so happy we're home. Isn't it funny though, how doing nothing is only relaxing when you're taking a break from hard work?  I can't even imagine how torturous it would be doing nothing all the time -- but right now, it is everything BUT torturous and I am contemplating bagels and cream cheese with my next cup of coffee as I watch back-to-back episodes of FRIENDS. 

 
 

I sometimes wish Monica was my neighbor and would sneak over to sterilize my house. Plus how cool would it be to have Central Perk downstairs? 

Well, have a great day everyone, I know I will.

Love;

Agnes

"The whole universe was in a hot dense state..."

{CREDIT: THE BARENAKED LADIES: THE BIG BANG THEORY LYRICS}

I am officially hooked on the masterpiece called The Big Bang Theory. I picked up the first two seasons at Target last Saturday and was addicted before I knew it.

I make my dad, who is a nuclear physicist, proud. At long last, his daughter is watching a science show. A science junkie!

I wish Mrs Garday, my high school science teacher, the woman who let me graduate with the absolute condition that I pledge never to go near anything electrical in my life, the woman who used to glare at my expressionless cast as she was cracking these supposedly hilarious science jokes, I wish Mrs Garday could see me now, as with everything going on in our lives, at the end of a long day I opt for quantum physics as my choice of entertainment.  

I am this close to jazzing up my resume with "subjective mastery in theoretical rocket science". Maybe a Nobel Prize one day, who knows?

Thanks for stopping by everyone, now

where did I put the remote? 

Last Minute Halloween Costumes

As my beloved husband always says, we all wear costumes all year round anyway...

If you're looking for a really economical, fool-proof Halloween outfit, may I recommend the good old fashioned zombie?  Going the Frankenstein route does have its own advantages, namely, you can use your own hair, no need to comb it and the make up is impossible to mess up. Spooky, huh?

Another economical and no-hassle option is being Marilyn:

No resemblance needed. (Well.... Geoff tried on the Marilyn wig but looked more like the guy from the Blue Lagoon...) Cheap Marilyn wigs can be found at just about any supermarket. Make the eyebrows as pointy as possible using a pencil and don't forget the dot. Throw on LOTS of black eyeliner and red glossy lipstick. Any evening gown and sparkling jewelry will suffice. In a worst-case scenario you’ll still be able to pass for Madonna or Christina Aguilera.

 

The obvious downside is that people will inevitably compare us to the real Marilyn and under no circumstances will we come out as winners. Also, it is pretty tiring carrying yourself as Marilyn for longer than 5 minutes --striking the pose is a pretty exhausting activity.

Dressing up as though you were from a different era is also a great last-minute option.

The obvious advantage is that you can't mess it up and no one will say that you don't look anything like Marilyn. This is a $5.99 Halloween wig from K-mart and the rest of the outfit could be anything old-fashioned-looking from your closet.

The real bummer is your friends telling you that you look better with this hair than your own. (Robyn, do you want the knife back or should I just keep it in my chest? Kidding... But still...)

If you have decided to skip Halloween all together and are having a quiet evening instead, soaking your feet in a hot lavender soak wearing a deep penetrating cleansing mask... well, when you decide to change your mind and go to that party after all, it won't be too late. Leave the mask on and go for the Joker look. The Joker look is also a great back up plan if you just can't get the Marilyn right. Just smudge the whole thing and you're good to go.

Good luck.

Agnes

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*P.S.: These costumes are from last year. 

Warning: Long Post

(This post was inspired by Zhu)

It's a strange mixture of a deluxe cosmopolitan and a less lavish and more drifter-like feeling to simultaneously make you feel like you're always on foreign land and at the same time feel right at home on three different continents. 

Five things that make me an Asian:

1.    My dad is Asian and thusly there's this whole side of the pedigree that's Asian. Too bad I can't speak my Asian family's tongue and if you ever wondered whether it's possible not to learn your father's native tongue, I am living proof that it is. In his defense, he did try to teach me...

2.    I am enamored of the East in a way that I cannot explain. Just BEING in the Orient makes me feel so content. Love Asian food, love rickshaws, love straw hats, love the crazy traffic, the insane bargaining over a dime, I love absolutely everything Asian. Moreover, I have an inexplicable love for the third world that keeps calling me back... and let's not forget Thai foot massage, Himalayan jasmine tea and Indian mango lasse!

3.    Even though it wasn't until the tender age of 10 that I first set foot in Asia, it immediately resonated with me in that it was both noisy and quiet, fast and slow, tranquil and aggravating, abundantly rich and shockingly poor, pampering and disturbing all at the same time.  

4.    I am crazy about all the street food (though not big on curry), I miss being able to buy a cracked open coconut at the junction and drink it with a straw, and don't even get me started on fresh mango juice or freshly pressed sugarcane juice. I am a big advocate of the Asian beauty regimen. Wax legs instead of shaving, get eyebrows done the Asian way (threading, where a thread is used in place of tweezers to pluck any stray hair -- I know the Asian readers know exactly what I talking about but this method isn't well known here in the US or even in Europe, even though it's by far the best). 

5.    Asian bathrooms and I have had our differences, and I will be the first to admit that I am not a fan. I have however mastered a whole assortment of techniques that get me in and out of there safe and dry. I can't believe I am actually saying this, but I think that the "hole-in-the-ground" style public toilets do actually make more sense than the English ones. You know, from a hygiene point of view alone. Squat toilets are a perfect example of great theory meets poor execution. 

Moi in Asia:

(the first one's in India and the second one I believe is in Pakistan)

 

Five things that make me European:

1.    Was born in Europe. I can only speak a couple of European languages but I do get by in most EU countries. I am totally proud of this aspect of me. 

2.    I so LOVE Europe!!!! I miss the architecture, the life style, all the walking streets and cafes. I love the mixture of banality and glamour, the style and I adore small towns. You know, the current green movement? Like having your own grocery bags instead of the disposable plastic ones at the checkout counter? You know, back in Europe, when I was a young girl, we used wicker grocery baskets for shopping. Pretty woven baskets to carry half a loaf of fresh French bread, vegetables and cheese in. 

We also had hot fresh bread every single day but Sunday, straight out of the bakery. It sounds so romantic and I guess it was.

3.    European accents are so so so pretty! At least I think so. OK, my W's don't sound like V's and I am fluent in English, but I definitely pronounce the T in "dentist" "intersection" and "bounty"! I don't say toe-maah-toe but I'll say beet roots instead of beets. I don't call a pill a tablet, a cell phone a mobile, a condo a flat, an elevator a lift, but I can't help but stick a "please" at the end of my order in a restaurant -- as in "Could I have a cup of coffee please?".   

4.    The most obvious symptom indicating that underneath the surface I must be European is that I feel morbidly obese at my current 123 lbs.  I simply don't know how to function in society as a less-than-100%-thin person. I am convinced that the day I start sporting a double chin will be the day people will stop bending over backwards and going out of their way to greet me when I enter a room. If I didn't have something bigger to worry about right now, I'd be totally freaking out over the 15 lbs I gained since last year. 

5. Although I can't even remember the last time I picked up a pencil, as an (inactive) artist and illustrator I love that I can just set up shop on a walking street and people pay me to draw their portraits. I can draw with photographic accuracy.

Five things that make me an American:

1.    This is the country I care to call my home,  this is where I pay my taxes, this is where I have a Social Security number and the only place where I don't have to explain the purpose of my visit when my plane lands.

2.    The only place on Earth, where, it doesn't feel like I am traveling. 

3.    Bathrooms! Although any architecture is closer to my heart than the wonders of the American construction world, it still only makes sense to me that bedrooms should come with attached bathrooms, that buildings should have central air (love the moodiness of European radiators, but those incredibly loud unreliable A/C boxes sticking out of every Asian window just aren't my cup of tea.) And in spite of all the lavatory skills I have flawlessly mastered along way, including adventurously "showering" from a bucket of ice cold water in the middle of rural Asia  -- I have to admit that I love love love our big American bathrooms with showers and tubs and windows and and all the light bulbs and the fluffy floor mats and soft robes.  

4.    Driving is second nature to me. That being said, I would never, ever, not in a million years drive in Asia!!!! Especially in India! (I already have but we won't talk about that...)

 

5.    In Asia, I feel American. In Europe, I feel American. In America however, I feel European and Asian. At heart, I am truly, equally all of them.

photo credits: Geoff (pictures of me), Gaiam (fountain), SPA travel+beauty+living (Bhutan photo), Malaysian Garden (Malaysian garden photo), She Helix (grocery basket photo), Starbucks Shared Planet (paper cup photo), Balki Blog (Indian street photo) 

P.S.: If you're multi-cultured you're "tagged" {That's you, Nancy :-D}. Anyone who decides to do this tag, leave a link to your URL, I love reading stuff like this. 

All That Glitters...

My lucky day. The email I got from Mr. Omar Kalif:

Good day, I am Omar Kalif by name the manager of bill and exchange at the foreign remittance department bank of Africa Benin Republic west coast of Africa.This message is directed to you for the purpose of a transaction that is worth US$15.5million This funds belong to one of our customer Late.Mr.BRETTHARWOOD from united state of America who died along with his entire family in the ill-fated plane crash involving a UTA boeing 727 Chartered Flight that took off from Cotonou Benin Republicand crashed into Atlantic Ocean on thursday 25th december 2003.This transaction is completely legitimate and all legal documents will be provided which will cover you and the funds during the course of this transaction.If you are interested in this transaction,i will advise you send me an email with the following details: Full Name :Tel Number:Age:Occupation :Your response will be highly appreciated at this point because this money has been delayed for too long 

Best Regards from Mr Omar Kalif

Dear Mr. Kalif;

Thank you for your kind email. I hope my response finds you in good health and good spirits.

I am very much a person who's readily interested in other cultures and thusly the ethnic touch and the unorthodox spelling of your official email immediately captured my fancy.  Although I have travelled half the world and am as multi-cultured as they come, today is the first time that I have heard about the exotic paradise that is the Benin Republic and I am already in love with it. 

Here in America, where we lack culture, we like to capitalize the word "I" (how vain is that?) as well as the days of the week, we however see no reason to capitalize the words "chartered" and "flight". Is it different in the Benin Republic? Is "Chartered" a holy word over there? We also tend to use a space after a period.  In fact you would probably use a double space, given the fact that your letter is of official nature and that you're no doubt representing a well thought of bank. 

But why I am splitting hairs with you, Mr. Kalif, when you strike me as such a kindhearted person? You'll have to forgive my ignorance but I am just a spoiled blonde Westerner with no manners who doesn't even know the capital of the Banana Republic. 

Anyway, Mr Kalif, given the inexplicable fact that I have received two copies of the same email, yours and one other, on the same day, only the names of the senders were different, I have decided that it is an auspicious sign from the gods and my day of luck has finally come. 

Can you send me a cashiers check for the 15.5 million? Do you have PayPal? Should you decide to want to meet me in person, here in America, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'd be happy to arrange for your stay at any of our finest hotels, I am thinking Sing Sing in New York or Alcatraz near the lovely city of San Francisco. 

Sincerely;

Agnes