Here he comes...

She, err, he came strutting down the hall, swinging and swaying to the tune of "Here comes Santa Claus! Here comes Santa Claus! Right down Santa Claus Lane..."

He was given a rousing welcome by all, old and young members of the Philippine-American Association of SCV. Each year the association celebrates the birth of Christ with a party in one of the local churchs' hall; each year it's participated by everyone. The young do their own singing group, while the older members have their own as well.

Of course, there's the usual potluck dinner. We have all the great dishes which included lechon, pancit, lumpia, fried rice, and etc. ; desserts made up of leche flan, cake, fruit salad, and others I couldn't remember the names.

Here's Santa handing presents to the little ones. The older ones have theirs as well. Why not? We oldies want one too.

I made a special request to Santa to give me a car like this one I saw at the mall. It's all set to go, with a ribbon tied neatly to it, polished and so shiny. All I needed is the key and some $$. I, however, do not have a lot of that $$. So, I was thinking that if I ask Santa, he would give me this one request. He said no. All right. I'll try again next year.

Maligayang Pasko sa Inyong Lahat!

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Meme the Third

The face behind the blog.

peek-a-boo

It's getting cooler nowadays. Winter is fast approaching and so is the coming New Year. No resolutions for me to make, as I know I'll never do any of them. Oh, maybe, a couple of weeks, then I'd gradually forget the whole thing on purpose...like, oh, I forgot I was supposed to wake up early today. But, we all know that old habits are hard to break.

Having said that, let me move on to the matter at hand--the assignment handed to me by Nona many moons ago. Why a meme? Who knows? I'm not the so important person that I would have a memoirs. So how many pages would there be if I really write one. Probably about 40 pages or less and in pocket book size, and that would cover from my birth till today.

Now on with the meme.

1st step:
Post a short blog article that includes a photograph, or a series of photos showing the face behind your blog. If you already showed a photo somewhere on your site, such as in your profile, then make your post more interesting and choose a photo that’s not currently online.

2nd step:
Include links to other people that have displayed photos, or include their photos in your post, adding a reference.

3rd step:
Tag as many others as you like to spread the meme.

And now the face...

Oops!

I'm hardworking when I get to it; and would be rolling full steam ahead once I get started. A caring, loving wife and mother of 2. Can't be bothered with frills when dressed; likes simple things; less is more - but more money is not bad at all, if I can get a hold of more, of course. Can be a great friend; trustworthy; and helpful. Don't like show-offs; arrogant people; braggarts; hypocrites and the like.

Who to tag? I don't know anyone who hasn't pasted their photos. I know two friends, but for sure they would not do it; they would go into hiding; or pretend they never read this. Har har har. So, I'd leave it to anybody who is willing to put on their blogs their glamour shots, or unglamour shots.

Anybody?

It Was Raining and It Was Cold

This is the temperature reading in my patio.

When I woke up yesterday morning it was raining and cold. A 50 deg. F (10 deg. C) for others may not be that cold, but it is to me. So, I wrapped myself with layers of clothes and a sweat shirt and went downstairs to have breakfast. It was close to 9 already. (I'm not an early riser. )

It was wet out there and my plants got a good dousing of water.

The rain would let up a bit and then would drizzle again. The ground was wet, of course, and it was good for the plants. I have a plant in the patio that needed watering yesterday, but I never got to water it. It was nearly close to death...I think. The branches were about to drop on the ground. Now, it's watered by the rain and it's doing very well. It's now a happy plant.

As I looked out to the backyard I see mist hovering amongst the trees and ground cover on the slope. Brrrr...it's a somewhat wintry scene. Out on the front of the house, south east side, I can see very little of the hill beyond. It was mostly covered by fog...thick fog. On the west side I can see the bright red-orange glow of the sun as it sets. At this time of year the sun goes down at about 5 PM.

I made dinner early so I can bundle up and watch TV.

The mist creeping slowly as it covered the valley.

The bright red-orange glow of the sunset.

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Today we have a bright and sunny day. It is so clear we can see forever. Hmmm...I feel like singing that song.

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We Gobbled The Turkey...and more.

My Thanksgiving Day little party went well, everyone came, except the one who was invited first. It was that invitation to her that made me thought of doing the party. She accepted the invitation right there and then; however, when I confirmed with her, she was not so sure she could make it. It will depend on her transportation, she said. I asked her to call me back whether she could make it or not. She never called. My husband was not happy. He said he would not ask her anymore to come to any of our gatherings.

Some of my guests came a little bit late. It was alright, we had a fun time. The food was okay. I'm not sure if they liked it, I didn't see them throw up; I didn't see them writhe in pain for ingesting my food. My older cousin brought "turon" which the Anglos loved; another guy brought bread with spinach dip inside its cavity. It was good, but I can't eat a lot of it as the sour cream in it upsets my stomach. Another guy brought pumpkin pie.

My turkey turned out good, it was moist. We almost devoured the whole thing. I gave some to my guests to take home, so I won't be left with so much turkey I would have to have it morning, noon and night. I made turkey soup for dinner last night; this morning I stir fried some then poured a little bit of gravy over it, fried a couple of eggs then toasted some bread and we had it for breakfast. No turkey for lunch. Tonight, however, I made turkey soup again...this will be the last of the turkey dinner. The leftover has to be consumed within 2 or 3 days, otherwise I'm going to freeze it.

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The mad dash for Black Friday had come and gone. I find no reason to wake up so early and line up at a store to get bargains they have advertised. They opened as early as 5 AM, and I heard some have started opening at 4 AM. I once did go to Wal-Mart's 6 AM sale, and, my husband and I got there 15 minutes after it opened and parking was already full. The buying frenzy was already in full swing. Most of the discounted items were all sold out when we got in. We got a sewing machine for half the regular price, but that's about it. That was about 4 years ago. I've not gone to another one of these after holiday sale since.

During these holiday sales people just dash through the door as soon as it is opened and some, I heard, have been crushed to death. Yesterday I watched on TV as this was going on and someone was almost pinned on the ground. Lucky for that person a guy pulled her up to safety. I wonder why they have to rush in when they are already at the door. Why lose an arm and a leg or even life for saving a couple of hundred dollars?

I slept through Black Friday.

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Gobble...gobble...gobble...

I have been a slacker lately. I have made drafts to post, but somehow I have decided not to publish it. I lost the interest to do so, and now it's there lying untouched, unedited and incomplete. I was mostly bloghopping...reading and commenting. So many things on my mind it had overwhelmed me and I can't seem to focus on any of them.

It's now just a few days till Thanksgiving. I have thought of making a menu for my little get together with my, and my husband's, kin that I have lost touch with for quite sometime now. Were it not the invitation extended by my husband to his cousin, which we run into last month, I wouldn't have thought of doing this...the get together. Oh well, I guess, it's about time I dust my house - have a somewhat thorough cleaning; take my glasses from the cupboard; the dishes and linens which sat there unused for a while now.

Having a party takes a lot of effort...for me, that is. I have to do most everything - shopping, cooking, cleaning, setting the table and all that. Cooking is something I'm not fond of doing. Nope...it's not my cup of tea. Neither is cleaning. (Tamad talaga.) I, however, have to invite some people to have a little party, otherwise, I won't be asked to their own gathering. Hi hi hi.

I bought my turkey last Friday. I have to do it way early so I'd get the size I wanted. Last time I had turkey I waited till it was close to the day, and the small ones were all taken. I was forced to get a big bird, else I'd settle for ham. Thanksgiving doesn't seem to be Thanksgiving unless turkey is served.

I'm thawing it now in the refrigerator. It will take roughly 3 to 4 days to thaw. If it's not thawed by Wednesday night, I'd have to do it in cold water.

I hope it turns out good. If it burns, sorry, I'm not a good cook.

Thanksgiving is what is defined clearly by the word itself. There is no point in pulling the dictionary and defining it the way Mr. Webster did.

I am thankful for the good graces that me and my family have; for our good health; for being safe from harm (the recent wildfire); for having good neighbors, good friends and most of all good blogger friends, of course.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

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The Real McCoy

The classic movie buff was a test and here's the real deal...the result of the test, and this one is final.

Tagged by Ev to do the Classic Movie Personality Test and here is my result.

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Har har har...I am an Easy Rider? Alright, I take it the way it is.

Who to tag? Anybody who stumbles on this and wants to do it.

Classic movie buff

I was tagged by Ev back in Oct. 17, and finally, I found the time to do it. So here goes the whatchamacallit.

What classic movie am I into?

I wouldn't consider this a classic movie as it was released to the public in 1996 and that would make it fairly new. I would consider classic as an old one of 50 years or more. I wouldn't want to go back that far. I like a movie that is fairly new, althought the English Patient's setting was in the 1940's, it was made 11 years ago.

Poster courtesy of Wikipedia.

This movie was of romance, which is why I like it very much; drama and intrigue. It had won the 1997 American Academy Awards for best picture; best actress in a supporting role; best director and 7 other categories.

Who to tag? Anybody who stumbles on this and wants to do it.

There you go Ev. I am done with my duty.

The Day After

Trick or treating is now over. The kids have all gone home after a night of going from house to house, trying to scare the homeowners. Some were kind of scary, some were cute, some were pretty, and they all come in different ages from toddlers to early teens. They started trickling at my door as early as 6:30 PM and came in droves an hour later. By 8:00 PM they trickled down to a few and I finally locked my front door at 8:45 PM and turned off all lights leading to my front door.

I had 5 pounds of assorted candies to give away...

and in the end I had just a few left.

My back up pack of Hershey's chocolate was left unopened, and it's now all mine. Bwahahahaha!

I think, I should visit my dentist for teeth cleaning soon.

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Happy Halloween!

This is a rush job. I did it this evening at 6 PM, right away as the idea clicked in my head. It took me less than a half hour. LOL Normally, I would draw something on this 7' x 4.5' black piece of cloth, and it would be of pastel. When I work with pastel, it would take me a couple of days to finish it, as I would be forming the scene as I go along. But I didn't have much time because of so much things going on. I was not going to make any decoration at all, until the idea came to me. So, here it is. Tadaaaaah. LOL

Happy Halloween to all.

7' x 4.5'
pastel on black cloth
Halloween 2005

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Oct. 31, 2007

Note: Since I rushed this post last night, I thought not necessary anymore to put in detail the materials I used in the first photo, however, I think, I need to do that now.

First photo was made of fake spider web, plastic blow-up skeleton and black cloth. All I did was tack the black cloth on the wall, hang the skeleton and drape the spider web over. Nothing was drawn here. I simply put them all together...3 materials and some small spiders not visible in picture.

Second photo was an old Halloween prop I made in 2005; made of same black cloth; and figures and scene were drawn with pastel. This took me a couple of days to finish.

Sorry folks!!!!!

Mari

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The Aftermath

A week after the fire here in the valley, we slowly return to our normal routine. The fire has died down, and we cleaned up our surroundings, as the gusty winds have strewn debris all over the place. I vacuumed and dusted the house; swept the back yard of leaves and ashes; hosed down the patio; put my potted plants back up to their places and watered them. In the early morning hours as the dew drops moisten the ground, the smell of ash permeates the air. It hangs there until the sun warms up and dries everything around.

This lady is back to her usual morning of roller blading with her pet dog.
A family (below) have just visited a haunted house at the civic center.

Sunday morning, my husband and I went out for our weekly meandering. We drove down White Street and found some of the brush burned hills very close to homes. No houses were burned in this area, but it clearly shows that the fire was too close for comfort.

We had lunch and then came back a few hours later. We drove through the back street leading to our place, and we found these houses burned to the ground. There were 5 of them in a row. It's sad to see these homes turn to ashes, even their cars were burned. It's a grim sight to see, and most especially to the homeowners. These houses are a mile away from my place.




Hopefully, the homeowners would get back to rebuilding their homes after everything is worked out by their insurance companies. The federal government have promised to help those who do not have home insurance.

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California fires.

About last week I took the picture of these tall pine trees standing erect on a property across the street from my house. One of it is bent by the weight of a black bird sitting on top as it sways lazily with the gentle breeze.

Last Sunday morning the same pine trees, this time, however, they are bent by the gusty wind going 60 to 70 miles per hour. It was a windy day...very windy.

My husband and I went out that morning and we ended having lunch at the mall. After lunch we walked around the shops to get rid of some of that food we just had. We went around the mall twice. It was so windy outside it was much better to do a bit of walking in the confines of the mall. By perhaps 2:00 pm or a little past that hour we called it a day and we headed home.

As we stepped out of the mall we saw smoke billowing in the sky, and it was coming from the direction of our house, about 6 miles away or 5 - 8 minutes drive. We got in the car and took the road with less traffic. We both were tense, thinking of our house out there, near the fire or in flames already.

The most dreadful sight one could ever see. My home is in that direction where the smoke is coming from.

When we got close to the street where we have to take a right turn we were told by the sheriff we could not go through. The street was blocked. What the #*$q%&g8. We turned back and took the other main road, which made our travel longer. As we drove up to our place we found that the fire was farther from our place. We breathed a sigh of relief, we felt safe. Some of the trees were felled by the gusty winds.

About maybe an hour passed the fire was still on. Later on, the place darken, it's like it's early evening already. I kept looking out the window. The sun was obscured by the thick dark smoke.

Without the thick smoke it would be impossible to get a good shot of the sun. It was red-orangey in color. Here it looks more like the moon surrounded by reddish clouds.
By early evening the fire got this close. The brick fence on the lower left hand corner of the picture is my fence. The fire is on a hill just down my street. By this time, we have loaded our cars with clothes, documents, my camera, spare shoes and whatever I could grab. A little later on I remembered my photo albums. I went back in the house and grabbed all of them and dumped them in my car. I have a comforter and my purse in my car, the documents in my husband's car and he grabbed some snacks - biscuits and whatever - and some bottled water.

We were ready to evacuate. All our neighbors nearby have also carted stuff to their cars. The guy across the street have them all in luggage...fancy guy. LOL I just dumped everything in my trunk, no time for organizing or primming. I had my jacket on, as the wind is making me cold and nervous. We talked to the lady across the street. Her husband could not get through the barricaded streets. She was loading her car, as well, and she looked very nervous. We offered our help in case she needed a hand.

Later on a helicopter came over and assessed the fire on the hill. Then another helicopter came and doused the fire. The guy across the street applauded. He was so happy, as all of us are for the help that came. Soon another helicopter came and poured more water. A few minutes later there were just embers left on the hill and soon they died down. We were all relieved. Not one of my neighbors nearby left, we all stayed put.

I warmed left overs and my husband and I had dinner. We stayed up some more and watched TV to see how the fire is going on. There were still flare ups farther down the road.

The next day (Monday) our area was quiet. There were some smoke farther away, but we were out of danger. All schools - kindergarten to college - were closed for the day. My husband went down the hill to take a look at what was left by the fire. Coming back up he drove the back street and found 3 houses burned.

The wind was still gusty, and the fire had gone farther to another part of the city. Farther down south in the Foothills, in San Diego and in other areas, the fire was still raging. Hundreds of people evacuated and hundreds of homes burned to the ground.

I feel for the people who lost their homes; I applaud the firemen who put their lives on the line to save homes and people; for the heroic effort of others who volunteer at the evacuation center; and others who help in any way they can. And, I pray for the lives lost in this catastrophe.

The weather prediction is much better the rest of the week, and a little rain is expected. This will be a welcome sight...a relief to all.

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More on the fire here.

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The wind has stirred the ground and my allergy has flared up. My eyes are itchy, my nose is runny and I have a terrible headache. The medication I took didn't work at all. It must be that cheap one I bought. LOL

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Street Art

On the last Saturday of the month of September, my husband and I headed once more to Redondo Beach, about 30 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Before reaching the place, however, we made a side trip at Manhattan Beach, which is north of Redondo Beach, to check out the latest stuff they have at a computer place. The truth is, this is the main purpose of our trip down south, to browse the computer show. My husband bought some gadgets and other electronic stuff that I don't know what they were for. When we were done, we headed down to Redondo Beach where we'll have our lunch and take a leisurely walk at the pier and the board walk.

We usually have lunch at a Korean restaurant, right on the pier, and our regular fare there is their hot and spicy fish soup. It is so spicy it feels like smoke is coming out of my nostrils, eyes and ears. But I just love it.

As usual there were people fishing along the railing of the pier. On this day, however, there's something that people were gawking at. It's this English artist who's been doing his three dimensional street paintings. Julian Beever has been all over the world painting on pavements and his work has been featured on TV, on the internet, in newspapers and magazines. It is a treat to see him in person and at work on one of his famous paintings.

(click on image to enlarge)
Sign on the pier concrete floor.

View of painting at its lower end.

The artist at work on the edge of the painting.


The painting has to be viewed at a certain angle to make it appear three dimensional.

(click on image to enlarge)

The three dimensional view.

See some of his artworks here (click here).

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Street Painting

"Street Painting" is the activity of rendering artistic designs on pavements such as streets, sidewalks and town squares, by using impermanent materials.

The Origin...click here.

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Love is a many-splendored thing

It's the April rose that only grows in the early spring,
Love is nature's way of giving a reason to be living,
The golden crown that makes a man a king. *

....and so on and so forth.

While going down south on Freeway 5 last Sunday afternoon, I spotted this small man-made cloud in the shape of a heart. Some one out there is expressing his/her love to someone. Or perhaps proposing marriage.

Love truly is a many-splendored thing, that someone would do anything to profess his/her love to the extent of spending hundreds of dollars for a puff of cloud that would disappear in a few minutes.

A few seconds after, we took the interchange to Hollywood Freeway and I never get to see if something else was written after the heart.

Hopefully, she or he gets to see it and responded with a "yes", or a "I love you, too." That would be sweet.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

*Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
Song by The Four Aces
Lyrics by Paul Frances Webster
Music by Sammy Fain

My Desktop Free View

Ghee on the red carpet.

I've been tagged by the beautiful, sexy, wonderful, good looking, smart, bright, talented, great, Ghee. Thank you Ms. Beautiful! Now I know how to print screen through the instruction below. I never knew it could be done.

I chose this desktop (above) for it's simplicity. I abhor clutter. I can't stand them...I sit on them, maybe. (Arh, arh, arh...that's supposed to be a joke.) And besides, I like the cloud formation and those palm trees.

The Desktop Free View Instruction:

A. Upon receiving this tag, perform a screen capture of your desktop. It is best that no icons be deleted before the screen capture so as to add to the element of fun. You can do a screen capture by:

1. Going to your desktop and pressing the Print Scrn key (located on the right side of the F12 key).
2. Open a graphics program (like Picture Manager, Paint, or Photoshop) and do a Paste (CTRL + V).
3. If you wish, you can “edit” the image, before saving it.

B. Post the picture in your blog. You can also give a short explanation on the look of your desktop just below it if you want. You can explain why you preferred such look or why is it full of icons. Things like that.

C. Tag five of your friends and ask them to give you a Free View of their desktop as well.

D. Add your name to this list of Free Viewers with a link pointing directly to your Desktop Free View post to promote it to succeeding participants people who have already pimped their desktop:iRonnie - I Set No Corner Thess - Thesserie Rebecca - Skippy Heart Knoizki - A Dialogue With K, Beng - Kauderwelch, Vanidosa Marie, , Vanidosa at blogspot , MyGoodFinds with KK, Dom Lawrence, Rebecca, BluePanjeet, ROSE, Girlie the hipncoolmomma, Francine of La Place de Cherie, Chez Francine ,carolyn,Eden, and Ghee.
From Mel Chan`s links,the partcipants are:iRonnie - I Set No Corner ; Thess - Thesserie ; Rebecca - Skippy Heart ; Knoizkie - A Dialogue Wih K ; … Nita @ Nita’s Random Thoughts ; RECEL’s Unsealing My Mind ; Roselle - Roselle’s Blog; redLan’s web of arts ; MeL -Indulging in her Pleasures;Ghee`s Gentle And Compassionate; Mari - Art and Soul; who's NEXT!
Please combine the links above and put your name after.

Okay. Now that most of those I know have been tagged, I'm leaving it to anybody who wishes to do this Desktop Free View. Anybody? You, you and you?

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Stop and Smell the...

...roses? Hold on! This rose is by the wayside and I know that people walk their dogs here. And everyone knows that dogs do their business here, out here. Oh, you know what I mean by business...they poop and pee.

And what is this rose doing here? It should be there in a yard, out there in a well cared for place, where it's watered regularly; where it's beauty can be admired by all. Here it gets nothing but dust, and dogs' businesses.

Now, if I smell this rose, what's going to happen? Would it make this dark clouds above me disappear? Would it bring me tons of money? Or would I just smell pee? Ack!!! Forget it, I am not going to do it...unless, of course, I'd get that tons of money. That...I'm sure will get rid of this gray puff of clouds above me. :-p

I better get going. I bought sardines at the fish store and I'm rushing to have it for lunch. Yes, it's fresh sardines. I love fresh sardines. I grill it, bake it or fry it, and it's umm, umm good.

They were caught in the sea. They can be canned, grilled, baked or fried. Umm, sarap, nagutom tuloy ako. They can be dried or smoked (tinapa) as well. Sardines are our tunsoy in Tagalog. Each time, however that we go to our neighborhood sari-sari store to buy "sardinas" Leung or Akong would give us the canned one. I love the canned Tomi brand that is in oil with a bit of red chili and a tiny slice of carrots in it. Umm...lalo akong ginutom.

I have to go back to that rose. I got this fortune cookie from the last time I had lunch at a Thai restaurant, and it said:

"It's okay to slow down and smell the roses. "

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Into each life...

"Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary."
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I was sailing...whistling, happy, not a care in the world. The gentle ocean breeze was caressing me; the fishes in the sea swimming along, as I sailed lazily. Life was good. Oh, pitty day, as Lady Cess would say. Then out of the blue skies loomed dark clouds. The sea turned choppy; tossed me and my boat up and down, side to side with the heave of the swells and the waves. With it went my tummy, upset as ever. It tumbled and grumbled and I ran to the nearest loo. The wind and rain came. I began to have the shakes; and at times I walked like a zombie; ate tasteless food, and didn't know where to go or who to turn to. Quietly I yelled for help. Someone heard me...someone from the shore tossed me a buoy, a small lifeline. It was help, it was hope.

The rain turned to drizzle and the wind to a gentle breeze. Soon it was calm again. My tummy, however, would churn each time the storm would come to my mind. The trips to the loo have somehow become infrequent...which was a relief.

Days have gone since then. However, there are still dark clouds hovering above, but sail I must go.

"Hey, wake up! You're having a nightmare."

Huh?????

Just freakin' hot.

I'm hot and don't know what to write about. I don't know if I'm coming or going. Can't sleep; can't eat. I wonder if a tub of water filled with ice would help? It would probably numb me.

Ah, whatever!

Come wander with me...