FUNNYACCENT

Ugly Swans

I just saw on tv, Fox Channel 25 is coming up with this show where they go out and scout the ugly young women, fix them, I meant fix them under surgical knives and put them on the stage. From these ugly turn into beautiful, they will pick the most beautiful girl from this group.
What else is there to say?

Is Spring Here Yet?

SolongMarchseeyouagainnextyear.

Rain, cold, rain, cold.
I should've known. I've been living here for almost a dozen years.

Lay Down Our Baggage

My former boss at the women shelter was right, working with people from substance abuse background is more challenging than working with battered women. Maybe challenging is not the right word. Either they are abusees or abusers, one thing I've learnt they are not easy to work with. Each of them has different needs and different agendas, but all of them have been dragging a heavy baggage for a long, long time.

Speaking of dragging baggage, we are all doing it, heavy or light baggage, we do carry them at some point of our lives. If we are aware of it sooner, we might have tossed it away. Unfortunately many of us choose to carry over the baggage to our new lives. Why do we do it? Why do we choose to live in a past instead of present? Why don't we lay down the baggage and get on with our lives?

Opposite Attraction.

Frasier will off the air soon. This is the last season. I wonder is he going to meet the woman of his dream? A woman who enjoys fine wine, dines at expensive restaurants with tonguetwisted dishes in their menus. A woman who likes to go to the theatres and share the same passion for classical music like him?
Or a woman who is opposite of what and who he is?

I've been following Frasier for years even when he was living in Boston when he daily chilling place was at Cheers. Sometimes he walks with his nose sticking out in the air, pompous, competitive (even with his brother Nile), can be manipulative sometimes and most of all he is too analytical. He enjoys making life more complicated than it is. I wouldn't have watched Frasier if it was drama, but when they twirl and twist and turn the series into comedy, I am laughing my head off. I've been laughing at myself for years as a matter of fact.

I scrutinize his characters because I recognize them. I am not rich or far from holding high paying job let alone dining at an expensive restaurants. But I don't need to be rich to be arrogant, or to be over-confident, but I recognize those characters. They say we despise or like a person because we recognize those characters in us.

I Ride a Train With Papillon.

The man sitting next to me on the train was reading Papillon. I forgot what year was it when I read it? Was it 24 years ago. Papillon is an autobiography of Henri Cherrier, a Frenchman. He was convicted for murder he didn't commit and sent to Devil Island in French Guyana. I was so engrossing with the book I couldn't put it down. The first chapter hooked me up immediately. I remember when the first time I read it, I was working on graveyard shift. I couldn't wait until my shift was over to read the next chapter. I usually went to bed as soon as I got home, but Papillon kept me awake until three in the afternoon, until the book fell out of my hands, until I couldn't fight the sleep that took me over.

I've always considered Henri Cherrier as a hero for his determination to get out of Devil Island when everybody else was accepted the fate. He kept trying to escape many times. As soon as he was brought back to the island after numerous attempts to escape, he planned another escape. I considered him as a hero for not being bitter to the people who put him in the island, for not carrying grudge to the people who did him wrong. His forgiving attitude reminds me of Pramoedya Ananta Toer, an Indonesian author who was put away in Buru Island for sixteen years for the crime he didn't commit. His memoir The Mute Soliloquy is not as adventurous as Papillon but both of them love and value their lives.

Mr. Coffeemaker is Here

Finally I bought a new Mr. Coffee at Target which was opened last week. I wonder if Target is going to be messy like they did to K-Mart? They means some of irresponsible customers who turn the place upside down even when they have no intention of buying anything. I've seen people rip the bedsheet cover and spread it on the floor to see how big the bedsheet is. I guess there is no point of enclosed all the necessary information for the products. Some people do not care at all.

While scouting the aisles, I come across the waffles makers. They have seven different types of waffle makers, the cheapest is $14.99 to the most expensive cost $129.00. I'm thinking of getting a Belgium waffle maker for $19.99, but I pass this time. Probably next month.

Sharing a Space

I was five minutes late to a workshop. When I pushed the door, two speakers were passing around a stack of papers to the participants. I swept the room with one quick look, no empty seats available. The seats were set up in square shape. A man in green moss barret got up and took a folded chair from behind a white board. He made an eye contact with me to signal the chair was for me. He walked up to an open space between two seats on the left side. The space would be enough for a folded chair in his hand if a man and a woman between an empty space moved their chairs an inch to each side. Instead they got busy scribbled on the blank papers in front of them.

The green berret man was about to ask the two participants to move their chairs, but I quickly put my hand on the chair, "I'll sit right here, there is plenty of room here."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive, thank you for being helpful."
He unfolded the brown chair against the wall and went back to his seat. Four more late comers came in while I was taking off my jacket.

The workshop didn't start until seven minutes later when the third speaker rushed in short in breath. Aaaaaa...hah.

Sheila Majid

Sheila Majid was waiting outside in the verandah. As soon as she saw us coming out through the front door, she leapt at B's feet, she looked up at B as telling him, "I'm hungry, please give me some food."
B won't let her in because Sheila Majid is a stray cat. Angel and Raquel would've a fit if we let her in the house. B went back into the house to get some cat food. Now that she has her kittens, B makes sure she has her meal at least four times a day.
I picked SheilaMajid up and put her on my lap. Her fur was sticky when I stroke her, her fur was sticky, she sure needed a bath. She snuggled against my neck. Finally she settled on my lap waiting for her food.

Calamari Is On My Mind

We had dinner at Lumar Lobster on Burnside Avenue, about three miles from JFK Airport. It was not a fancy place for a birthday dinner, but it was the most romantic birthday dinner I've ever had. Thank you, LOVE. The place was already packed when we got there. B had to drive twice around the block to get a parking space. The building was painted in red with huge fake lobster as tall as me standing outside the store. The place was built in a very simple way. Fake giant crabs, horseshoecrabs, lobsters, mussels and old Long Island maps were hung on the interior walls. Two narrow counters facing the street with high chairs, just enough 10 people to sit side by side at one time.
We ordered fried calamari and medium combo platter, which came with big azz jumbo shrimps, scallops and fish. I even tried coleslaw which was crunchy. Within 12 minutes we had our order. Hot, steamy and looked scrumptious. Calamari, and shrimps were evenly battered and scallops were crunchy outside and tender inside. The food was still crunchy after 30 minutes it was delivered.

I learned to eat fried calamari when I came here. Back home, calamari or squid is prepared in three or four different ways except deep fried. I have no idea why didn't we tried it before. Stuffing squid is our favourite dish. My mother learnt to make stuffing squid when abah was stationed in Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan. I remember when Mak took me to the fisherman wharf at the end of the village in Pengkalan Chepa to wait for the fishermen returned from their daily catch. We

To Spring or Not to Spring

Mak and KakN called me to wish me happy birthday. Mak's voice cracked before she even finished the sentence. I know she misses me as much as I miss her. maybe more. Mother's love goes beyond the oceans, boundaries, skies and mountains. Oh........How I wish I'd just could pack and go home for a short visit, for Mak, KakN and M. The day will come. It will come.

I put back a box of my cotton dresses and skirts back into a closet. I should've known. New England weather is a big teaser. Batik wraps have to wait, at least another month or...may be less.