"West Bank Story"

this ought to be a good laugh! a review to come soon...





http://www.westbankstory.com/index.html

il qahira...

this picture reminds me so much of my time in egypt. one of my friends lived in a poor section of town and i would visit her and her family from time to time. i loved going to her neighborhood since there was so much visual stimuli. i would always pick up my vegetables and cheese here since they were fresher than close to where i lived. at night it was even more chaotic with the good and the bad smells, insane traffic, tons of people, and more. you have to love it!

Pabu...

we have had Pabu one week now and he is doing so well! he does lots of little naps and here he is taking a snooze with a stuffed dog that i think reminds him of his mother. we also realized J and Pabu share the same birthday!

Happy Birthday To You!

one of the best trips i have ever taken was with my sis A to Thailand. what wonderful memories...

eating fresh oysters, bushwhacking our way to a deserted beach, loads of sun, kayaking, elephant rides, hiking, u-ing, orchid farms, long talks, crazy bus ride stories, Patpong at 2 a.m., more long talks, lots of laughing, snorkling, eating tons of Italian food, Ko Phi Phi, the ATM incident, talking about OJ, buying pearls, Suk 11, to bed at 3 a.m., kickin' new years party, Abercrombie skirts, DVDs and the police, temples, the hill tribes, time wasted at the Myanmar embassy, the crazy taxi ride to the bus station, nail biting, custom fit suits, rock climbing, boat rides, and the great companionship of a best friend! I love you A and Happy Birthday to you in Zurich!

one time tonight...!

waking up 4 times in one night to take Pabu to the bathroom was fine the first night. he is now waking up less and so i am in a deeper sleep, thus making me feel as though i am sleep walking as i take him outside to do his business. i'm finding myself having very active and completely wild dreams. last night one of my wild dreams took place in Bolivia during new years. somehow mom and dad with S were there and were at a full moon rave party dancing with locals. then A and i show up and we're all surprised and happy we somehow managed to all be together on new years eve which hasn't happened since we were in high school. the second part to my dream was A and i trying to set up our tent in the back yard of some random persons mud house during a revolution in Bolivia. could it get any wilder or exciting?! tonight Pabu slept for 6 hours straight! he and J fell asleep on the couch together before we put him to bed. they both fell asleep so fast and a loud thump couldn't have woken the two of them up.

why...?

Kareem Raheem/Reuters

"there was never a good war or a bad peace" - B. Franklin

it's hard to know where to go from here when when numbers are at 300,000 for Iraqi casualties and American casualities at over 3,000.

a sweet indulgence...

is he cute or what?! this little boy, now a man, has been wonderful for the past few days with the new addition of Pabu to our family. he has never been a lover of dogs like myself but knew some day we'd have a little pooch running around our home. thank you J for indulging me.

Pabu!

welcome the newest member of our family! Pabu!

NPR

as most of you know, J and I don't have a t.v., therefore we do lots of reading and listening to NPR. i thoroughly enjoy 'This American Life' with host and producer Ira Glass. i believe he started working for public radio when was around 19 years old. the show is so wonderful and every time i hear it i feel as though i am living through the lives of the people who are on the show. on every program they pick a theme and center their pieces around that one theme. this weekend's theme was 'settling the score.' an interesting discovery of a young woman of Polish origin. check it out and enjoy. http://www.npr.org/programs/

i traveled to India this week...

looking at old pictures of my trip to India and Nepal brought back many memories. one of the first phrases i hear in my head when i think of India is, "excuse me miss..." which i always ignored. i did one time give in to this phrase when i heard it from a young sweet looking boy on a rickshaw. before i knew it we were heading down a crowded passageway as he told me his story of learning to paint. we stopped suddenly at a small shop and a man comes out stating he is 'Deepak's' boss and he is excited to show me the young boys art work. as he is raving about the natural talent of this young boy i am thinking of a way to escape. and no, i did not buy Deepak's art work. : )

last week J received one of his text books from Delhi. how strange is that? what a surprise to receive a thick package from overseas with postage from India.

Happy Birthday To You!

today is Dad's birthday! since he and Mom are in south america i had to resort to an e-card with Hoops and Yoyo and these little guys are hilarious. Hallmark carries their e-cards which are quite funny. http://www.hoopsandyoyo.com/

a fond memory i have of Dad is watching him shave in the mornings. the earliest memory i have of this is when i was in 3rd grade. he would always shave in the downstairs bathroom which was painted light blue and had white cupboards and shelves. i would sit on the toilet cover and he would talk to me as he shaved. the best part of this event was when he was done he would splash on his aftershave and jokingly dab a bit on me which made me laugh and it always smelled good. now that i am married i find myself sometimes watching J shave in the mornings as we talk. i can still smell the scent of Dad's aftershave lotion after all these years. it's a comforting smell.

Moosewood

i got this recipe book years ago and it has done it's share of sitting on the shelf. i dusted it off tonight and made 'mushroom-and spinach-stuffed zucchini' which turned out delicious. for those who like a hardy carnivorous meal, you might not be satisfied. : ) the Moosewood Restaurant http://www.moosewoodrestaurant.com/ has been around since 1973 in Ithaca, New York and creates natural health foods that are always scrumptious. i know A would appreciate the dish i made since she loves fresh veggies and has such a wonderful access to them at the large farmers market in Prague. i'm sure she could find superb portabella mushrooms that the recipe calls for. i remember zooming along the country road back to Prague from our jaunt to Poland to pick up polish pottery. all along the road the locals were selling fresh mushrooms, honey and jams fresh from their homes. so check out Moosewood and try out their easy and delicious recipes.

God Grew Tired of Us...

http://www.godgrewtiredofus.com/index.html

the movie industry in america seems to turn out movies each year that are not satisfying. we rarely rent movies because of such a poor selection of quality films. winning the grand jury prize and the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006, the film, 'God Grew Tired of Us' explores the journey of three young men from Sudan who were part of the lost boys. the film documents their passage to america from Kenya and their new lives in a country that is so different from their own. it's exciting to see how one of the men in the film has used his experience to help his own community in sudan. http://www.directchange.org/sudan/ this documentary looks like a must-see film!

i am reminded of the many sudanese refugees i saw in Egypt when i lived there. in 2005 i recall hearing about a refugee sit-in located in a park in Mohandeseen where they were physically forced to leave . what a terrible event. there were a lot of negative feelings naturally towards the Sudanese from Egyptians. i am glad to see there is more of a focus lately on what is happening in sudan and a film can reach many people.

chicken with plums...

http://www.marjane-satrapi.com/

Marjane is at it again. this time she tells the story of her great-uncle who was a well-known Iranian musician; a tar (lute) player. it sounds as though it is more emotional than her other books i have read. i do hope though, that she continues with her signature humor in this book which is seen in her other work such as the Persepolis books which were autobiographical comic books. they were quite humorous and insightful and i learned more about life during the islamic revolution. maybe we should start teaching science and history to kids in school through the use of comic books. what do you think?!

kiss the llama...

we drove by this image every time we left the island when we lived on whidbey. i always wanted to take a picture of J with it since i always thought the large piece of drift wood sticking out from the ground looked very similar to a llama. the light was right, the colors were right and i quickly told J to pull over and kiss the llama. and he did.