Bane of the week:

MIGRAINES!



Gag me with a spoon! Migraines so make me want to throw up.

Like last Wednesday when I woke up at 1:17am feeling like a red-hot poker was being driven through my right eye. I went straight to the bathroom and emptied my stomach.

Four days of my five-day break from school were spent incapacitated and nauseated. Seven days later, my dear friend is back for a visit.

Is this Karma?

This time I'm not on break. I have to face a room of 12 pre-teens tomorrow morning at 7:30am. I'm praying to the pagan gods for a miracle.



-----------------

And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for.

I lied. Yes. Here is my falsehood:

I went water skiing on the canal one day with my family and some buddies, and I really busted it in the water. When I came up my ear was dangling, half cut off. When I made it to shore, my parents, maintaining their composure very well considering the situation, ushered me into the van and rushed me to the emergency room where my ear was stitched back on.

All the events in the above story are true. They just did not happen to me. They happened to my brother, Larry. The same Larry who saved my Monchichi's hat in story number 3.

Dolly Parton

was robbed.

(I agree with Ad Rock on that one.)

The third time's the charm.

Right?

Apparently not for Dolly.

9 to 5 lost to Fame in 1981.


Both songs are classics in my opinion. I can't really say she was robbed here. Slighted, maybe.


In 1994, her collaboration with James Ingram, The Day I Fall in Love, was up for the Oscar, but it lost to Bruce Springsteen's Streets of Philadelphia.

I'm not a big fan of The Boss, but if that song from Beethoven's 2nd would've won, it would've been more of an upset than Whoopi Goldberg hosting that year instead of Billy Crystal. To her credit, Dolly had nothing to do with the writing of that song. The credit for that goes to Carol Bayer-Sager, James Ingram and Clif Magness.

Oh, Academy of Motion Picture, what is in that pipe you are smokin'?

Crack?


It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp? WTF

Do you remember the year Eminem won for Lose Yourself? Barbara Streisand was the presenter. Remember her thrilled expression when she opened the envelope? Can you imagine what it would've been if she were the one to present the award for best original song this year? OMG.

This was supposed to be the year of Dolly. The third time's the charm. I don't make the rules.

Did the teleprompter not scroll up, and the presenter just got confused like Jack Palance in 1993 when he presented Marisa Tomei with the award for best supporting actress? (Denzel was also robbed that year. Academy! Lay off the crack! Look what has happened to Whitney!)

I know that the Academy Awards took place over three weeks ago, but the reality is just sinking in. Travelin' Thru is on heavy rotation on my iTunes these days; in fact, I'm playing it as I type. It is simply a great song and very fitting for the movie it was written for: Transamerica.

Questions I have many, answers but a few...

Sing it Dolly!


Travelin' Thru

Well I can't tell you where I'm going, I'm not sure of where I've been
But I know I must keep travelin' till my road comes to an end
I'm out here on my journey, trying to make the most of it
I'm a puzzle, I must figure out where all my pieces fit
Like a poor wayfaring stranger that they speak about in song
I'm just a weary pilgrim trying to find what feels like home
Where that is no one can tell me, am I doomed to ever roam
I'm just travelin', travelin', travelin', I'm just travelin' on

Questions I have many, answers but a few
But we're here to learn, the spirit burns, to know the greater truth
We've all been crucified and they nailed Jesus to the tree
And when I'm born again, you're gonna see a change in me

God made me for a reason and nothing is in vain
Redemption comes in many shapes with many kinds of pain
Oh sweet Jesus if you're listening, keep me ever close to you
As I'm stumblin', tumblin', wonderin', as I'm travelin' thru

I'm just travelin', travelin', travelin', I'm just travelin' thru
I'm just travelin', travelin', travelin', I'm just travelin' thru

Oh sometimes the road is rugged, and it's hard to travel on
But holdin' to each other, we don't have to walk alone
When everything is broken, we can mend it if we try
We can make a world of difference, if we want to we can fly

Goodbye little children, goodnight you handsome men
Farewell to all you ladies and to all who knew me when
And I hope I'll see you down the road, you meant more than I knew
As I was travelin', travelin', travelin', travelin', travelin' thru

I'm just travelin', travelin', travelin', I'm just travelin'
Drifting like a floating boat and roaming like the wind
Oh give me some direction lord, let me lean on you
As I'm travelin', travelin', travelin', thru

I'm just travelin', travelin', travelin', I'm just travelin' thru
I'm just travelin', travelin', travelin', I'm just travelin' thru

Like the poor wayfaring stranger that they speak about in song
I'm just a weary pilgrim trying to find my own way home
Oh sweet Jesus if you're out there, keep me ever close to you
As I'm travelin', travelin', travelin', as I'm travelin' thru


Travelin' Thru was the best song written for motion pictures last year.

No, no, no, no.
Baby.
No, no, no, no.
Don't lie.
Whatcha gonna do when it call comes out?
When they really see you...
What you're all about...
No, no, no, no.
Baby.
No, no, no, no.
Don't lie.


I had my class play the Alternative Break Corps favorite, Two Truths and a Lie, today. We are doing a study on our identity, and I wanted them to think about less commonly know facts about themselves that they think are interesting. I also wanted the learners to invent something fictitious about themselves, something they wished were true or thought that others would believe were. I am proud to announce that I have a class full of great liars. This worked so much better than the last time I tried it. My students (grown adults) just did not get it. They would always pick obvious truths and even more obvious lies. There was never any attempt to truly deceive their peers. Ho hum.

Here is my own list of two truths and a lie. See if you can figure which of these stories is not true.

1. I used to own practically every Masters of the Universe action figure, but my brothers took them all from the top shelf of my closet and sold them to some neighbor friends who bashed them all to pieces before my parent could go over and recover them.

2. I went water skiiing on the canal one day with my family and some buddies, and I really busted it in the water. When I came up my ear was dangling, half cut off. When I made it to shore, my parents, maintaining their composure very well considering the situation, ushered me into the van and rushed me to the emergency room where my ear was stitched back on.

3. I once owned a Monchichi doll. Come on! I was like six. Anyway, one day my brothers and I were playing down at the clay pits on my grandfather's property and some older bully types came along and started harassing me a bit. One of the big boys, I think his name was Greg, took the cap off of my Monchichi, put a stone in it, and he tossed it into the back of a dump truck that was hauling red clay from the pit. I was devastated for a second; however, my older brother, Larry ran yelling at the truck. The truck stopped, and by some act of kindness of the pagan gods, my monchichi's hat was rescued from the rubble. Yay!

Can you handle my truth?

So, which is the lie?

Come on. Leave a comment with your guess.

I will post the TRUTH on Friday. (Remind me if I forget!)




Always soft and cuddly

I finished my computers in education class last week. I really enjoyed that class. At first I did not think I would because it seemed like it was going to be a boring introduction to computers and Microsoft Office. It could've been, but my instructor, Laura was great and gave assignments that the learner could take as far as his/her ability would permit. I had a great experience, got some great ideas for my class, and am very happy I stayed with the course.

I have one more class to finish, and it goes until the 8th of May. It is an educational philosophies class. I like the subject matter of the class, and I think that our text is great. However, I've been a bit disappointed in the discussion that takes place in the classroom. No one does the reading. I feel like the over achiever, and I am a little uncomfortable with that. I voice my opinion quite frequently in class, and I remind myself of those obnoxious students from univeristy that I detested that would sit in the front of the lecture hall of my general biology lecture and act like they knew everything. The problem is I am very interested in the topics we cover, and I want to discuss them to learn more. I also have a different point of view than the instructor, and I feel like I need to express it.

Anyway, today we were discussing educational theories: progressivism, perennialism, and essentialism. Well, John Dewey is considered the father of progressivism and came out of the University of Chicago. When I read chapter 7 in our text, Mr. Dewey's name hit me like a sledge hammer. Chasing Vermeer! He's the guy who founded the school that Petra and Calder attend in Chasing Vermeer. I love Ms. Hussey. She is my idol as a teacher. I aspire to be as quirky, weird and great as she is some day. That is my goal.

I love the book Chasing Vermeer. I has become my new friendship book. Harold and Maude is my friendship movie, the movie I have to share with all my friends. It is kind of a test to see if we are really compatible, if we are just (eh) friends or if we are soul mates, kindrend spirits (The Anne of Green Gables inside me is speaking again.). Chasing Vermeer is so fantastic. Petra and Calder are who I wanted to be at their age, who I wanted my friend to be. I respect them even now.

If you are reading this and you consider yourself my friend, take this as you invitation to read Chasing Vermeer. Let me know what you think, and I'll let you know if we can still be friends.

EXTEND! EXTEND!

Public transportation is the reason of the week that I am happy to be returning to Uganda. Pictured above is my favorite taxi driver of all time, Julius Amooti. Some people, especially non-Ugandans, had a problem with overfilled taxis, vehicles that were designed to carry 14 passengers carrying upwards of 30, but after standing by a dusty road with the sun scorching above for three hours waiting for a vehicle to carry me to town, I had no problem with it. Personal space be damned. Julius would never leave me stranded. One day there was almost a riot in the taxi part when he made sure I got on a vehicle going to Kampala on a day when taxis were few and passengers were many.

Regardless of where I am, I love to take public transportation. Reason number one is that I hate driving. I am a good driver, but I find it tiresome. I'd rather talk with the drive than be in the driver's seat. You can also meet some very interesting (good interesting and bad interesting) when taken public transportation. I take the aiga buses everywhere I do not walk here in American Samoa.

Universal rules for taking public transportation:

1. Empty the bladder before boarding the vehicle. You don't want to be the one to ask the driver to stop for you.
2. Take along you own headphones. You never know what your driver's taste of music will be. I think that one of the cardinal rules of driving is that the driver selects the music. I respect that, so I come prepared.
3. Keep an eye on your bags. No matter how honest you would like to believe your neighbors to be, there is at least on who is not.
4. Carry Dramamine, Bonine or something like that. (I suffer from motion sickness.) Save yourself from suffering and potential embarassment.
5. Check the vehicle's wheels before boarding on a long journey. Being stranded on a roadside is never what you hope for.
6. Don't get in a vehicle with a driver you even suspect has been drinking. You don't drink and drive, so why ride with someone else who has.
7. Find out what the correct fare is before boarding the vehicle. The sky's the limit if you don't.
8. Take snacks. Some sweet, some salty. You'll need them.
9. Vie for the seat with the seat belt that actually works. It might save you life.
10. Exit the vehicle with all of your possessions. You would be very lucky to recover any forgotten items.

Yay for

public transportation!

Have you had your dose of PINK

today?

Katie Holmes's alien baby

Britney's heinous dress

More fun being poked at International Male catalog

It's whacha like.

Dare! Dare to believe you can survive

Remember 1986?

1986 was the year that brought us the screen gems The Hitcher, Aliens, and Children of a Lesser God. 1986 is also responsible for dumping on us the baneful scourges Top Gun (Tom Cruise = Gross) and Crocodile Dundee (Linda Kozlowski in a thong... I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.).

In 1986, we also saw the sectacular of animation, The Transformers: The Movie hit theaters. This pretty much forgotten feature is an underappreciated quasi-masterpiece that my former roommate Jason--a huge anime fan who doodled Sailor Moon cuties anywhere there was blank space--saw as one of the finest examples of American animation. Jason's admiration of this film in 1997 put the retrieval function of my brain into overdive. I saw Transformers: The Movie back when it was released in 1986 and was as shocked as everyone to learn that Spike, the Autobots' human friend and occasional recipient of sweet robot love, had a foul mouth and could be provoked to exclaim, "Ah Shit! What are we gonna to do now?" However, it had been years since I had thougth about the movie, so I was unable to discuss it's artistic merit with my disappointed roommate.

Seeing the Transformers movie was so high up on my priorities' list that I finally sat down to watch it again yesterday, approimately nine years after that motivating conversation with Jason and about 20 years after I saw the film for the first time.

The Transformers: The Movie has one powerful soundtrack. Vince DiCola, contributor of song to both Stayin' Alive and Rocky IV, is in fine form with this film. The hard rocking anthems drive the story foward. The souped up version of the Transformers' theme song performed by Lion during the opening credits get our engines revved up, and the motivating tunes perfomed by then unknown (and still unknown) Stan Bush keep the movie audience's adrenaline a pumpin'. Lyrics like "You got the touch! You got the power! Yeah!" add strength and power to a film full of strength and power.

Who's in this movie? Who's in the movie? Well let tell you who's in this movie. A-list talent that lent their voices to this major motion picture.


It is a year after The Breakfast Club made him a star. In a move to prove his versatiltiy as an actor and show the world that not only can he play a high school rebel, but he can also be a convicing sports car/robot in disguise, Mr. Nelson tackles the role of a young Autobot trying to find his path and reach his full potential.


Mr. Spock tries to shed his good-guy image and becomes one of the most merciless villans to hit the big screen. Galvatron is a revamped Megatron, bigger and better and purple. He no longer needs assistance to shoot his load; he can handle it all by himself now.


The host of Unsolved Mysteries is not yet known to the young movie going crowd as the host of Unsolved Mysteries. He is an Optimus Prime wannabe who is handed the mantle of leadership after his superior's demise. Ultra Magnus is pretty worthless. Sure, he's a big semi truck with missiles, but what good is that when you are pretty worthless. He botches things up and almost costs the transfomers their home planet of Cybertron.



Mr. Welles gives voice to one of the biggest villans ever. Unicron is so big, that when he gets hungry, he has a planet for lunch. The man who gave the world Citizen Kane must've seen somthing special in this film. It was one of the last that he completed before his death in October 1985.


Nothing is sacred, so nobody is safe. Like the killing off of Janet Leigh at the beginning of Psycho and the gruesome disembowlment of Drew Barrymore in the first scene of Scream, many imporant veteran characters lose their lives very early in The Transformers: The Movie. As a kid, I was utterly taken aback to witness the annihilation of Star Scream, the traitorous fighter jet/robot in disguise Decepticon. If it happened to him, it could happen to anyone.

While watching this film, I could not help seeing similarities between it and The Matrix trilogy. I'm not making any accusations, but...

1. One of the alternate titles for The Transformers: The Movie was The Transformers: The Matrix.
2. On his deathbed, fallen leader, Optimus Prime, instructs his fellow Autobots: "Do not grieve. Soon I shall be one with the matrix."
3. After scoring an important victory against their powerful foe, the good guy transformers hold a rave to celebrate.

Like the television series before it, The Transformers: The Movie is ultra violent. (It's not bloody because robots don't have blood.) Weapons are being fired left and right. Destruction and mayhem rule the day. However, there is also just a touch of sweet robot love. The movie, of course, took it a little further than the television show. A humanoid robot trying to hook up with a dinosaur one does test the boundaries of decency in my opinion.

Well that is what I think; that is The Transformers: The Movie in a nutshell. I know, I did not give any information about the plot. I did not want to accidentally give too much away and spoil the movie since I know that you are on your way to the video store to rent it just as soon as you close your web browser.

Cheers.

I <3 Veronica!

All righty then... Well, if you wind up getting to number 8, be sure and bring mouthwash.

What have I told you about thinking?

That it makes my breasts smaller.

Well, if it helps you deciding on your wardrobe, I'll be wearing an "I'm with stupid" t-shirt.


This not Nam. This is bowling. There are rules.


I'm confused. You're talking, and your clothes are on.


You know what's really disturbing about you, other than everything...

(Quotes from season 2 episode 15: The Quick and The Wed. Watch Veronica Mars, Wednesdays on UPN... for now at least.

Where Does

All the Time Go?

It seems that there are just not enough hours in the day. Some days I just feel like I get nothing done. Where does all the time go? Am I being robbed, or am I just the most inefficient person to ever walk the planet? I know. I know. It is my spring break. Why am I not relaxing? Why am I worried about efficiency? I've asked myself that every day this week.

As an experiment to see where all the time goes (and to try and spot the thief if I may), I decided to document my day and see what really goes on in my life.

I woke up a little late today, around 8:30am. I checked the normal morning websites and read my email. I chatted for a while with Nicole at work, looked for Veronica Mars t-shirts online, window-shopped for a Blogography t-shirt, a Piggly Wiggly t-shirt and made an attempt to find a Pink is the New Blog t-shirt for sale anywhere. (I know; they were a limited Edition. Trent said on his blog today that there are plans for another one "later on this year"!)

I then proceeded to watch
I know what you are thinking. I'll blog about it later.




When I finally convinced myself to get my bootay out of bed, I cooked lunch for my roommate, Nicole, and I. I made for her macaroni and cheese, and I made rice, miso soup (from a packet) and egg rolls for me. (Don't you just love the green jacket thrown at the foot of my bed. I just got it from an order I placed at gap.com)



We took a power lunch and watched two (or was it three) episodes of Arrested Development. I don't remember which ones. I think Lindsay was being selfish, Lucille was being a real bitch, Gob wanted to be a real magician, Tobias was behaving ambiguously gay, George was in jail, George Michael and Maeby were behaving either inappropriately and/or awkwardly, Michael was being a tad bit self-righteous, and Buster was being, well, Buster. You know the episode.



After lunch, I rode in to Nu'uuli with Nicole and went to get my hair cut. I hate to let my hair grow too long. I really like it nice and short. Unfortunatly, because of the salary I earn and the cost of a haircut, I'm only able to get it cut about once a month. I know I must look like a wooly-bugger every time I enter the doors of the barber salon.

Vogue is my favorite barbershop on island. It is run by two Korean women. They do a fantastic job with the cut, but the icing on the cake is when they wash my hair after cutting it. I've never been to a place that washes after cutting. I've only had my hair washed before a cut. However, washing afterwards gets rid of the loose trimmings that would later find their way into one's collar and cause irritation. I also love it because she gives me a scalp massage while she is washing. (It's that or she just thinks I'm dirty and need a little something extra to get me clean.)

From the salon, it was off to the Lafou Shopping Center where I paid Nicole a little visit at work.

(I have a great photo of her at her desk working, but I've been forbidden to post it until she has a chance to do a little work on it. Shhh!!!)

Because of the miraine that I was plagued with all week, I am a teensy bit behind in my preparations for the next school quarter, and I have an assignment due in my UH class Monday. It was time for the Koko Bean.

I almost finished my assignment.


I got some planning done for my thematic unit. (School starts in three days!)


I even had some time to work on a The Transformers: The Movie blog. It should've been posted today, but I ran into a slight problem. It will be posted tomorrow. (I hope.)

When Nicole got off from work, it was off to la casa, and then off to do a little grocery shopping. I dropped my laptop off at the A-P-T before going to Cost-U-Less, but I forgot this small detail. I almost had a small heart attach when we reached home, and my computer was not in the vehicle.

I love me some BMac. Don't we all just love us some BMac. I saw these

while shopping, and I had to have them.

Guess what I had for supper.

During each delicious (and nutrious--they are made from whole grains) spoonful, I could taste Madonna's tongue in Britney's mouth at the 2003 MTV Music Video Awards. Oh, fond memories of the Blue Mango, a VHS tape, the communal bowl and us.

That about sums up my day. Wait a minute. I almost forgot the 117 minutes of my life that I will never get back. I watched as much of Get Rich or Die Tryin' as I could bear. From the moment 50 opened his mouth, I knew it was on. High points include:

1. Terrence Howard (my favorite actor of the moment) plays Bama.
2. The guy who plays Eco on Lost is once again a bad guy in a movie. Is it because he's African?
3. There is an intense naked fight with a blade in the shower when 50 gets incarcerated. He's bad ass, you know.

It is after midnight, and I'm sitting in bed wearing my new green briefs (I usually don't wear briefs, but I got a pair in my last order from gap.com. I've got to refrain from buying online.), making this update to my blog. Where does all the time go? My actions are about as random as my thoughts. It is like I say in my profile, I'm a jack of all trades but a master of nothing. If I could just focus my attention or energy on one thing... I'D BE BORED OUT OF MY MIND!!!



Hatcher out.

I scream.
You scream.
We all scream for
ICE CREAM!!!
I love ice cream.

I once wrote an ode to Ben and Jerry's.

Samoans love ice cream. There is no lack of ice cream on the island. You can find it sold at almost any location. Any social event could be called an ice cream social. I have no problem with that.

Ice cream on a stick is what I really crave. I fell in love with it during my two-year stint in Brazil. I love a good palito. Here are some of my favorites on island.

First we have the Paddle Pop

This was actuallly the first ice cream on a stick I had in my early days on the island. It is like a rainbow in a stick. I'm not sure what flavor it is supposed to be, though. It is just kind of sweet.

Then there is the Golden Gay Time

Warning: If you eat this one, it turns you gay.

Magnum. No, not what you are thinking. Get you mind out of the gutter. Although, it is a rather larger ice cream on a stick.

This one reminds me of the Mega Bars from Nestle that I used to buy in Uganda. Yummy.

And then there's this one.

It's not ice cream on a stick... but it is shaped like a fish.
It's a Korean ice cream with sweet red bean paste.
I <3 this one.

That about wraps it up my infatuation with the stick.


ICE CREAM

Yeah!

I was tagged. Now I’m “it”. Thanks Nicole.

List seven songs you're into right now. Old, new, whatever…

These are the top songs being played on my iTunes these days:

1. Not Ready to Make Nice-Dixie Chicks
2. Smile-Vitamin C (Been watchin’ Hairspray again)
3. Screwed-Paris Hilton (Is it really? Sounds like her. Very catchy. I love it.)
4. Upside Down-Diana Ross
5. Groove is in the Heart-Deelite
6. Naughty Girls Need Love Too-Samantha Fox
7. Dreams-Gabrielle




Choose a band/artist and answer ONLY in titles of their songs...

Ok, it's Brit Brit.

1. Are you male or female?
Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman

2. Describe yourself:
Chaotic, I’m So Curious, Stonger

3. How do some people feel about you:
Toxic

4. How do you feel about yourself:
I’ve Got that Boom Boom

5. Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend:
Lucky

6. Describe your current significant other:
You Got It All

7. Describe where you want to be:
The Hook Up

8. Describe how you live:
Me Against the Music

9. Describe how you love:
Touch of My Hand

10. What would you ask for if you had just one wish:
Breathe on Me

11. Share a few words of wisdom:
Do Somethin’

12. Now say goodbye:
Don’t Go Knockin’ on My Door

I just watched 13 Going on 30, and now I'm watching last Sunday's episode of Grey's Anatomy.

I loved 13 Going on 30. When I was home last summer, my mother had it, but I never watched it; I did not think I would like it. The whole premise of a child becoming an adult over night does not usually equal a good movie. I had also recently seen Elektra (and never seen Alias), so I was not a very big Jennifer Garner fan. Well I passed on a real gem. Dance routines to MJ's Thriller and Pat's Love is a Battlefield!

What more do you need for a fabulous 98 minute film? Hmm... Judy Greer (aka Kitty "Say goodbye to these!" Sanchez).

"On your best day, that corpse is twice the man you will ever be." Izzy to Alex


I'm very picky about what I watch. I do not get very interested in many shows. I'm a recovering television addict, so I try to avoid nonsence shows that have the potential to suck me in a for nothing. If I am going to indulge it should be something that has some kind of value. From 2000-2002, until I left for Peace Corps, the one show that looked forward to each week was Buffy the Vampire Slayer (see my wish list). Peace Corps = no electricity = no television. Since I've been back, I've been introduced to the show that was Arrested Development (R.I.P.), Veronica Mars (Number one in my book, I love Kristen Bell. Reefer Madness!!!), and Grey's Anatomy. I must admit that I would not die if I missed an episode, but I do so enjoy catching one every week. It has really grown on me. I love Sandra Oh.




You'll never see these again!

Bow down and worship me!!!

Charm? Nah.

Charisma? Nah.

Skill? Intellect? Birthright? Merit? Nah. Nah. Nah. Nah.

Oh, Sunshine, you do not realize what you gave to me.

You know you worship the quicksand I walk on.

I'VE GOT DA POWA!

Give it up.
Do as I say.
Give it up and let me have my way.
I'll give you love; I'll hit you like a truck.
I'll give you love; I'll teach you how to ...

There is beauty all around...

Hello Beautiful!

Today was my first official day of spring break. How was it? Eh. It was good. I got my lazy bootay out of bed somewhat early, of course not before checking my email, updating myself about current events from cnn.com, and getting my daily fix of Pink (what really makes the world go 'round). I'm trying to get leaner so that one day I, too, may have nice abs. I went jogging before eating breakfast because that is supposed to jump-start my metabolism, so I can burn fat. I love to run. I just HATE running in the mornings. I want to get into some kind of routine that I can keep up when school starts back next week. Dream on! How many good fitness habits have I attempted to acquire since this semester began? Why do I keep doing this? I've got to look good in those jeans.

Besides going shopping for cleaning supplies at the supermarket, defrosting the freezer and cleaning the 'fridge, I did not do a whole lot today besides surf the net and napping. I thought about watching a movie, but I passed on that idea. I ordered the Fame DVD from amazon.com, and I'm working on an order from oldnavy.com. They are running a special for this week only. $10 off of any purchase over $50. I'm more of a Gap man myself, but there is a pair of trousers I've had my eye on. I'm having trouble finding $50 of merchandise that I really want.

I skipped class tonight. (My UH courses are on a different schedule than my school.) Steve, Cristy and I went to the beach this evening; it was so great to get my ass out of the house. I'm a person who is always on the move, and I'm happy that way. I feel miserable when I'm cooped up. It's depressing. I've just got to be out. It was a nice evening, and we watched the sun set. Beautiful. As much as I complain about being on the island, it has its charm. It is truly a beautiful place, especially if you can find a place with no garbage strewn about. To borrow an idea from my beloved mother, I need to stop being so critical. I think I'd be a happier person if I could just stop noticing all the flaws around me and be happy with the positive qualities that surround me. I would also cease to exist.


You are beautiful.


You are ugly.

I am feeling a wee bit like crap right now. I've got a headache (not a migraine, thank my pagan gods!). I feel like I want to throw up. I think I need a good massage.


Remember my name!

Sunsets and
Plantations

*BMac not included
This week's reason I am happy to return to Uganda is the simple pleasure of daily life. Life is simple in Uganda, but that doesn't mean that it is easy. In many ways, you have to work harder for what you get. However, because there are fewer distractions there, you have more time to appreciate what you have, including the company of the people around you.

Remember 2003?
There was the comment:

“Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.”
Natalie Maines
Dixie Chicks singer

Then there was the reaction:









"We're starting to catch on," Methodist pastor and regional protest organizer Blick Franklin told The Holy Observer in a phone interview. "After purchasing all 87 of Best Buy's Dixie Chicks CDs in Austin, I started thinking, 'This seems oddly counterproductive.'"

That's when Franklin began the "Burn to Burn" campaign, which has built up quite a following. He explains, "Now we just download their songs for free on Kazaa and burn them onto CDs. Then we burn the CDs! When you break God's law you pay."

When asked regarding breaking God's law what he meant by 'we download their songs for free,' Franklin sounded confused, responding, "What do you mean? We can just download them… it's free."--Holy Observer, June 15, 2003

"I along with my family and freinds will for ever boycott the Dixie Chicks. Our father's, son's, mother's, and daughter's are over there fighting for our country, and they had no right to say the things they did. Guess its time for them to stay home and have their baby's now."--Dorie

WELL, BOO HOO!


Go on GIRLZ!

It is now March 2006, three years after the London incident, and the grudge is still on. There are still radio stations that refuse to play the Chicks music, including those in Lubbock, Texas, Natalie's hometown.

What are the Dixie Chick's doing? They are preparing to drop their latest album on 23rd May 2006, and their first single Not Ready to Make Nice is HOT.


Forgive, sounds good
Forget, I’m not sure I could
They say time heals everything
But I’m still waiting

Bane of the Week:
Blue Sky Communications

Island life, like life in general, if full of its ups and downs; however, on the island, you kind of have to accept what comes your way because you have no choice. Okay, maybe I exaggerate a tiny bit. There are some choices. For example, when you go out to dinner, you have the choice between the meal where everything is fried or a sandwich. I mean, I am stuck on a volcanic rock thousands of miles away from any mainland, so it makes sense that the pickin's are a little slim. I am used to living in the world of the have nots, so I did not think that I would be so bothered by the havenottedness of American Samoa. No customer service. I can live with that. No real variety of food. I can deal. Mobile phone network that overcharges and provides backward services. I've drawn the line.

Blue Sky Communications is awarded the Bane of the Week recognition for their exorbitant prices, lack of quality services, weak network reception, and the inabilitly to allow me to make my weekly Sunday-evening phone calls (which I could do until last month) because the number I have to dial is not available from your calling area. Has the island moved?





I have three letters for those working at the Blue Sky offices that got a laugh out of the email that was circulated about the African iPod: MTN.





MTN is an African based mobile phone network that offers services leaps and bounds beyond what we have here in American Samoa. It's easy to poke fun at the creative problem solving employed by our impoverished African brothers and sisters, but some things they really got right.



Sometimes less is more.
(I don't want to be nit-picky, but who ever designed Blue Sky's web site should definietely take a look at the MTN site and get some ideas.)

Oops... Blue Sky did it again. How much plastic coated paper do you need to print a 10-digit authorization code? Apparently in American Samoa they need 18cm x 8 1/2cm. There is not enough trash lying around the island already.

www.paperdollheaven.com

I just had to let you know about this fabulous site I stumbled across today. It's called Paper Doll Heaven, and it is heaven for anyone who loves clothes and has ever dreamed of dressing celebrities.


Dress them up for some fancy awards ceremony, a night out at the club, or a day just chillin' at home. Everything is there: pants, shirts, hats, belts, even socks!


You can make your celebrity as skanky as you like or as matronly as your mother would.


Bjork couldn't be here tonight. She was trying on her dress, and Dick Chaney shot her.--Jon Stewart, Academy Awards, 2006

Be warned: Do not go to this site unless you have hours of nothing to do.

SWEET Robot Love!
For many children, growing up in the 80's meant having a big, white satellite dish planted in your back yard providing you with a fair amount of shade, but also making the summer job of mowing the lawn a bit more difficult because the riding lawn mower just would not make it under the beast. (You also had to be careful not to trim too close with the push mower or you'd end up cutting some wires at the base of the dish with the blade causing the robotic arm that adjusted the sucker to no longer function, then you'd either be stuck with the dish in the same position to view only a limited number of stations--which defeats the purpose of having a dish to begin with--or you'd have to go outside and manually adjust the dish to find the stations you wanted. Ask me how I know.) Having a satellite in my back yard in the 80's teamed with a descrambler ensured that I overdosed on hours and hours some of the best televisioin programming in history.

There were not many children in my neighborhood that I found interesting. This means that I spent a lot of time alone. I did not mind so much because it allowed me time to feed my addiction. One of the best hours ever on tv was weekday afternoons on WGN from Chicago. They broadcast two of the best shows: G.I. Joe and Transformers, Monday-Friday on Galaxy 1, channel 3. G.I. Joe was great. After each and every violence-filled half-hour episode, a buff, often top naked male fighter, delivered an important message for life: "Don't play with downed power lines!" or "Be careful when building a tree house. It might fall on you!" The Transformers were what they were and did not try to hide it: A violence filled half hour of entertainment that was going to sell millions of plastic toys.

Because of nostalgia, I decided to try and find some old episodes of Transformers online, and, with luck, I found the first and second episodes to download (probably illegally). Oh, what joy! I viewed them yesterday. I'd forgotten all of the love in that show. I was a little taken aback when the first scene of sweet robot love took place in episode two. "Where is the Love?" Spike and Hound found it one day out on the rocks. Ouch!


Looking back, I think that it was beautiful that no one ever made an issue of robots loving humans and humans loving robots. Love was love, and that was enough. It conquered all.


More than meets the eye.

(Having a satellite also exposed me to much more than the Transformers and robot love. I saw much more than I probably ever should have seen as a child or at any age. Maybe that's why I'm so warped today. Mother, remember the time you got fed up and unhooked the descrambler--not just an electronic device but a practical lesson in ethics and honesty-- because you wanted to chunk it, and when Dad tried to hook it back up, all that would come on the tv screen was: "Hi Asshole. Have fun."?)

You give up your dream... You die.

Believe it, man.

You have to do what's right for you.

Dance, I say!

Despite all the flaws in this movie, it works, and you love it because deep down you can relate to Alex. You have dreams. You want to make them come true, but you have fears of being inferior, and you want to make them happen on your own terms.

First, when there's nothing but a slow glowing dream
That your fear seems to hide deep inside your mind
All alone I have cried silent tears full of pride
In a world made of steel, made of stone

Take your passion, and make it happen.

(Deep down inside, didn't we all want to be strippers at one time? I know I did. That is the first thing I remember wanting to be, as a child, when I grew up. I remember seeing strippers on Donohue when I was like five or six, and I was sold. Dancing and taking your clothes off--my two favorite things. Then there was the stripper episode of Chips.)

The trees have eyes
(At least our car did not break down and leave us stranded in the desert in California to be stalked and murdered by savage people.)

This entry was inspired by a photo taken by a friend. He is a self-proclaimed "amateur", but he's taken some pretty great shots. Check out his photoblog: A DISTORTED PERSPECTIVE

A photo that he posted a couple of days ago made me think of an experience I recently had while on recess duty at school. A little over a week ago, a small second grader, Alec, came to me on the playground and told me, "The tree has an eye." I went over to see what he was talking about, and sure enough, the tree had an eye.



Oh, imagination!

Take a journey.

Why do I have a problem with this?


Receiving the following email this afternoon made me sick, physically made me sick. I'm not into judging others or using their misfortune for my benefit. This email is so mean spirited, Satan in my inbox.

Read on if you like, but I'm warning you; I'm still feeling a bit naseated from my perusal.

Make a personal reflection about this. Very interesting, read until the end...

It is written in the Bible (Galatians 6:7):
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

Here are some men and women who mocked God:

JOHN LENNON:
Some years before during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:

"Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about that. I am certain. Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, Today we are more famous than Him" (1966).

Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.

TANCREDO NEVES (President of Brazil):
During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency. Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.

CAZUZA (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet):
During a show in Caneco ( Rio de Janeiro ), whilst smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and said: "God, that's for you."

He died at the age of 32 of AIDS in a horrible manner.

THE MAN WHO BUILT TITANIC:
After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic would be. With an ironic tone he said: "Not even God can sink it"

The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic.

MARILYN MONROE:
She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show. He is a preacher and Evangelist and the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her. After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said:

"I don't need your Jesus"

A week later, she was found dead in her apartment.

BON SCOTT:
The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang:

"Don't stop me, I'm going down all the way, wow the highway to hell".

On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked by his vomit.

CAMPINAS/SP IN 2005
In Campinas, Brazil a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend. The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her friends and she said to the daughter - holding her hand, who was already seated in the car: "MY DAUGHTER, GO WITH GOD AND MAY HE PROTECT YOU",

She responded: ONLY IF HE (GOD) TRAVELS IN THE BOOT, COZ INSIDE HERE IT'S ALREADY FULL"

Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident, everyone had died, the car could not be recognized what type of car it had been, but surprisingly, the boot was intact.

The police said there was no way the boot could have remained intact. To their surprise, inside the boot was a crate of eggs, none was broken.

Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that was given so much authority as the name of Jesus. Many have died, but only Jesus died and rose again, and he is still alive. JESUS!!!

P.S: If it was a joke, you could have sent it to everyone. So are you going to have courage to send this?. I have done my part, Jesus said "If you get embarrassed about me, I will also get embarrassed about you before my father."

What benefit does it have, if a man gains the whole world but loses his soul?

What can man give in exchange of his soul? (Mathew 16:26)

***MOM STOP READING HERE!!!***

"When God gives you AIDS, (and God does give you AIDS, by the way) make lemonAIDS."--Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic

I'M GOING BACK
TO UGANDA!



It's official! I received the official appointment letter from Ambrosoli International School last week, and I sent them my acceptance letter today. I'm going to begin the next phase my stage as an elementary/primary school teacher in Uganda in August. I'm so excited!!!

I cannot believe that I'm going to be back in Kampala in less than four months. It is almost overwhelming. There are so many preparations to be made.

I've decided that from today until I arrive in Uganda, I shall post each week a reason that I am so excited to be going back to Uganda. Today's reason is FRIENDS.

I miss my dear friends in Uganda so much. My very best friend is Kyazze Charles. He is one of the most intelligent, kind-hearted, hardworking, determined people I know. I've been friends with Charles for over three years now. He was very suppportive of me during my time in the Peace Corps. If it were not for him, my third year would not have been as successful or enjoyable.

Other amazing friends in Uganda include: Kobusinge Jenny, Kato Erisama, Bisamunyu Kalindi Tom, Kalindi Raymond, Asaba Arthur, Mr. Amon, Madam Mary, Liz, Ani, Bingi James, Badru Kassas, Shirley Byakutaba, Eppy, Florence, Kyamuhendo Marion, Gordon, Ruth, Roger Follas, Innocent, Geoffrey, Murungi, Mama Tony, Tata Tony, my taxi driver friends, Herman, Swizen, Arthur, Kristina, and many more that I am blanking on right now.

As sung by Marie Osmond as Rose Petal:

Friends
Nothing better than friends.

Need to loose a few extra pounds?

Get AYDS.



This commercial is from 1982. Talk about bad timing. The strange disease that was turning up and killing young gay men in New York City finally got a name in August of 1982: AIDS.

For a brief history of AIDS, go to http://www.avert.org/his81_86.htm.

Ok, so I love Natalie Portman.
She's beautiful; she's intelligent; she's talented;
she's



Check out Nat's rap video from SNL on www.youtube.com. You might not find it there because either SNL, NBC or both are being real bitches, and anytime it gets posted, they shut it down. Good luck because the entertainment value of the clip is well worth the time it takes to hunt it down.

"What you want, Natalie?"

"To drink and fight!"

All Hail the Queen!!!

On Saturday night, some friends and I went out to have a real Samoan cultural experience, and we attended the Mizz Corona Pageant in Pago Pago. Now this was no ordinary beauty pageant (no scholarship opportunity here). It was a beauty pageant for fa'afafines. What's a fa'afafine? Look carefully at the above photo. A bit manly? Guess what...

Fa'afafines are transgendered men who play an important role in Samoan society. They are very accepted and respected here. Google fa'afafines and do little research.

The pageant was a little bit Miss America and a lot drag show. It was a hoot!



I found it very interesting that the Jr. ROTC were on stage during the evening gown portion of the pageant saluting the wannabe queens. No, they are not the military yet, but they are the next best thing. I saw it as an interesting combination of gays and (almost) military.

Prizes included cans of tuna and cases of beer!!! Alright!