A few days ago J tried watching the TV series "Weeds" online. She had to download something called "Zango". To complete the download she deactivated the firewall on our laptop. It immediately went on the fritz and we had to send the dumb thing to the Geek Squad...we had purchased the laptop six months ago at Best Buy, so we thought that would be the thing to do. Yes, Vista was corrupted and we are out $130 to get it fixed. They say it's only a software problem, but there are still problems with the laptop, so they will probably have to send it up to get a higher level diagnostic.

J asked me if I was going through some sort of withdrawl from the laptop. I confessed that I was. She only uses it to talk to her mom on a daily basis. Her mom is in Hong Kong this week and won't be near her computer, so she isn't talking to her anyway. The laptop sits conveniently on the kitchen counter, so I do the dishes/sweep the floor/ clean up the kitchen I watch TV shows like Fringe, Bones, or Life On Mars. I rock out to Pandora when everyone's in the other part of the house. I also like to watch Arirang news...regardless of the fact that it's pretty benign stuff about Korea. I am abreast of Lee Myung Bak's trip to the states and Peru, and also up to date on German Shepards qualifying for a certain international standard in a Seoul park. J thinks I'm a nutcase for continuing to watch that news program and that I should be concerned with what's happening here and now in the twin cities. I think it's because I don't want to lose that feeling of closeness to that dirty, crowded, constantly buzzing behive of a city that I loved and called mine for a long time. Man...did I just go off on a tangent...

Well, anyway...we will be without the laptop for a little bit. I'm sure that during that time I'll look longingly over to the counter where the laptop sat. I know that withdrawl eventually goes away and is replaced by resignation. The laptop will return, but when...

Not quite there yet.

Thanksgiving is racing up to meet us and will soon pass us by. Christmas will be on the horizon and I have found my Christmas spirit...or rather it has snuck up and bit me. I got to my desk and sat down to work at the computer and I opened up media player...yes kids, I've been bad and ripped a bunch of music to my work computer...well, I fired up the old beast, selected some Christmas tunes, and slipped on my headphones. Isn't it amazing how a few bars from an old tune and conjure up warm images from deep down inside that completely color my perception for the day?

Crazy as it may seem, I'm wanting some snow. This is coming from the man who consistently whines about wanting to be in a warm place with crystal blue waters and soft sand. My kids are excited when they see a hint of snow on the roofs of the houses in our neighborhood. That little bit of infectious excitement has found its way into my chest and is slipping into my heart. The Bun is old enough to begin to get the fever for the season too. It's a good thing...

Now, we're doing something new. Instead of getting cheerfully robbed by the boy scouts at the neighborhood christmas tree lot, we're doing something different this year. We're actually going to a tree farm and cutting our own tree. Now don't picture the Griswolds going out and uprooting some huge evergreen in the middle of nowhere and lashing it to the top of the family truckster. The place we're planning to go to is a real tree farm that has trees that are specific for Christmas tree cutting. We've talked to my brother and there's a tree farm up near their place (about an hour away). We'll make a day of it and spend some time with them and share more Christmas cheer-plus we'll borrow his axe and saw.

I realize we have to eat our way out of Thanksgiving before we really get to the beginning of Christmas season, but gosh...I feel like I'm already immersed in it, and it's a good feeling.

Hugs in Seoul

Why do we shy away from human contact? What is it about us that makes us fearful of others? We shun the opportunities to either give or receive the gifts of kindness. The simple act of a hug is invasive and inspires fear. What do we have to fear? It's merely a gift from one to another. I am human and so are you...One simple act...with so much warmth and power. Let it begin with me...

Good Eats...assignment for class

Dr. Franchino has asked us to bring in a video from youtube that we might use in our particular fields. Initially, I thought about the youtube video with Paul McCartney teaching folks how to make mashed potatoes, but this probably is a better fit.

Mesopotamian fun

This is a cool video that my kids love to dance to. It's a little odd and a little like an animated spoof on the intro to the Monkees.

The Chicken Dance...

Check out the chicken dance from our vacation...

Dad loves his ladies...

Sugar Blues

For about three months last spring I purged my diet of all sugar. I lost about 10 lbs and felt great. I had energy and I felt as if I thought more clearly. I was an efficient machine. Then I was attacked by a rogue doughnut and the downward spiral began. First, it was a bag of sugar babies here and there. Then the occasional box of Good and Plenties. Our leftover Halloween bowl has been an evil nemesis, haunting me and beckoning me closer. I felt awful most of the time and knew it was a matter of time before I got back on the "no sugar wagon."

This morning, I put my foot down and said...No more!!! I want to feel clean and free of all the crud that has built up on my insides. About 15 minutes ago a student left a bowl of peanut brittle on my desk. They made a whole slough of it in Intro to Pastry (Why peanut brittle in a pastry class...I dunno...). It's just sitting there staring at me. I think I'll give it to one of the women in the cube.

Back from the wilderness

It's November...and I think it's a week or so before Thanksgiving. I know it's the last Thursday of the month or some such time. It's usually a gray day that we, as a family, gather to stuff ourselves into a near comatose food nirvana and then fall asleep to the glow of the TV with meaningless football on...maybe not meaningless to some folks, but by then I'm to groggy to care. By 7:00 in the evening it's too hard to even lift a remote control. After the whole gastronomic ordeal we've usually got enough leftovers to take care of lunches for the next two weeks or so...

It's cold at the bus stop again and I've started dreaming of south pacific islands once more. I know that this is frivolous and we won't be going back to the Philippines anytime soon. Heck, we'll be lucky to make it to Duluth by next year. But lately I sit all bundled up in my bus and dream about stepping off the plane and feeling that tropical blast of heat. My mind meanders to a land of "Manana"-note..I don't know how to put the little tilde thing on top of the "n" to make it Man Yana. I want to saunter slowly in my shorts and flip flops...I just want to feel sand in my toes...I want to relax...and just have life come to me in slow trickles...aaaahhhh take me away.

Nope...Ain't gonna happen anytime soon... I should just get over it.