Mun Mun's Blog

2011-11-06T20:02:00.000-08:00

I feel shitty and depleted.

2011-09-24T23:25:00.001-07:00

I am tortured by dreams of you having way more fun than me at the Malibu Colony frolicking in the waves with Jim Carey and Adam Sandler.

2011-08-07T16:57:00.000-07:00

PMS is unfuckingbelievable today. Jesus Shit!

2011-02-26T07:33:00.001-08:00

I am a Gorgon and I only eat gorganic.

2011-02-05T18:08:00.000-08:00

A hefty, middle-aged woman lumbered out of a new VW Beetle in the parking lot, so I said, "Sorry, only cute, petite Asian women are allowed to drive those."

2011-01-30T21:50:00.000-08:00

I'm nearly 42 years old and my skin is breaking out like a motherfucker. I hope the eventual onset of menopause will take care of this. Something to look forward to.

Unter Brüdern

2011-01-15T16:45:00.000-08:00

Library patron is "shocked" that we don't own the autobiography of two Ukrainian boxing champion brothers with PhDs written in GERMAN.

2010-11-18T18:12:00.001-08:00

I am bleeding like a stuck pig.

Fantasy

2010-10-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

Today
Kid (pointing to my daughter): "I can see her diaper."
Me: "I can see your ugly face."

Tomorrow
Kid (to daughter): "Your mom is old."
Daughter: "Your mom is a whore."

Things I never thought I'd have to say to anyone repeatedly before I became a parent

2010-04-25T18:01:00.001-07:00

Get your finger out of my nose.
Could you get your foot out of my vagina?

2010-04-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

What does Mun Mun have to say? Not much. Mun Mun is meditating on some themes:

We're more alike than we are different
All kinds of people make the world go 'round
Substance over form
No risk, no payoff

What else matters to Mun Mun? What???

My daughter's vocabulary so far, continued

2010-03-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ball
Burt
Ernie
Dorothy (not enunciated quite right though)

My daughter's vocabulary so far

2010-03-18T15:15:00.001-07:00

Hi
Bye
Hair
More
Thanks (pronounced Ta)
Hat
Hot
Oh!
No
Wha'this?
Yay!
Wow!
Mama
Daddy
Milo
one
two
Elmo
ABCDE
Moo
Baa
cockadoodledoo (pronounced roorooroorooroo)
poo
towel
baby

2010-03-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

Shrinky the Bear says:
Judge not lest ye be judged...motherfucker.

Best Frosting Ever (And I Don't Even Like Frosting)

2010-01-01T20:03:00.000-08:00

Here's my mother's Mocha Cake recipe. When she started to go downhill with lung cancer, I made her this cake for her birthday which she enjoyed.

Mocha Cake Recipe

Ingredients
1 Sunshine orange sponge cake
1 cup half and half
2 teaspoons powdered coffee
Whipped cream
Chopped walnuts
Butter mocha frosting

Bake or buy a sunshine sponge cake
Slice in 4 layers. Pour over them with a teaspoon, a cup half and half to which 1 teaspoon vanilla and 2 teaspoons powdered coffee dissolved in a very little water have been added. Fill with whipped cream and chopped walnuts. Frost with butter mocha frosting and decorate with whole walnuts.

Butter mocha frosting
½ lb. sweet butter
6 egg yolks
1 ¼ c. powdered sugar
4-5 level teaspoons powdered coffee, dissolved in water (least amount)
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Beat butter first, then add 1/8 cup of the sugar, then the egg yolks one at a time. Add ½ cup more sugar, then the coffee and vanilla, then the rest of the sugar. Refrigerate frosted cake for about 3 hours.

Norman Rockwell?

2009-12-18T14:57:00.000-08:00

Doesn't this picture totally look like
a Norman Rockwell painting?

2009-11-03T18:28:00.001-08:00

You know you're irritable when the way someone types bugs you. Tap tap tap tap tap. Shut up!!!

Toddler minutiae

2009-08-22T18:02:00.001-07:00

My daughter does not have any birthmarks.

Yesterday she discovered if she yanks at her hair hard enough, hairs will come out of her head.

"What Do You Say, Pops All Year Round" to emerge from chrysallis, God willin'

2009-06-22T22:49:00.000-07:00

I wrote a draft of the fourth installment of What Do You Say, Pops, but never hoped to have time to draw the cartoons with my toddler running around. I floated the idea of recruiting my niece Molly to draw the pictures and she and my brother seemed open to it. I also have a partial draft of a shorter pops book insert, called, "The Wisdom of Pops."Must get specifications to Molly before her vacation.

2009-04-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

Shrinky the Bear says,

Next time you attempt suicide, try jumping off a taller building, dummy.

It was your impressive front and backpack that drew me

2009-04-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

Recently at the library, I was looking for a book in the open stacks reference section and one of our regular homeless patrons who wears a huge backpack was standing right next to the section that had the book I was looking for. As I slowly sidled up to him, he says (without looking at me), "Not in a million years." I guess he thought I was trying to hit on him. My ego was crushed being rejected by a transient!

I turn my head for one second

2009-03-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a friend's pit bull sat on my baby.

No, my baby's feet are not fucking cold

2009-02-07T22:14:00.000-08:00

Whenever I'm out with my infant daughter alone, I get criticism inevitably from total strangers about how she's dressed or covered up or not covered up. No one gives my husband shit about anything when he's out with the baby. Everyone is like, "How nice that he's giving the mother a break," not knowing he is the primary caregiver.

My daughter takes after her father and grandmother in that she does not like her feet covered up when she sleeps. She kicks off socks any chance she gets. But if you touch her feet on a chilly day, her feet are warm. So, when I take her out without socks, I wish all these busybodies would stop asking me if her feet are cold. Touch her feet! They are not fucking cold! Stop asking me if they are cold!

2009-01-09T17:47:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one who gets Bahrain mixed up with Brunei?

2008-12-16T22:46:00.000-08:00

There is a library patron who comes in every day who mostly reads about bees and silkworms. Every day he asks me a meandering nonsensical question. At first, I felt bad and wondered if the language barrier was the problem (he comes from Guatemala), but today he asked me an incomprehensible question and then, to help me understand what he was asking, wrote the question down only what he wrote down was yet another group of non-sequiters strung together that made no sense and bore little resemblance to the question he formulated verbally.

"if C.E.O. is philosophy or teacher ~~with~~ wearing red neck tye [sic] belong to Federal Government?"

I realize now it is not the language barrier. He is looney tunes.

Mun Mun's Law

2008-12-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

If you put on your socks but not your shoes to avoid waking up a sleeping baby, as you are getting ready to leave the house, you will step in cat vomit.

Audiobooks I wish I had

2008-11-03T21:57:00.000-08:00

Why didn't anyone convince Hubert Selby Jr. to record audio-books of his work. He had the greatest voice. Damn.

Mun Mun ahead of the fashion curve as usual ;)

2008-10-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

According to Mun Mun, it is now cool to wear Christmas socks all year round.

Wish Fulfillment

2008-10-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

Long before I had my baby, I fantasized about dressing my future child up in one of those cute pea pod costumes for Halloween. Yesterday TK and I bought a pea pod outfit at Babies R Us!

Screaming

2008-09-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

For some reason lately every night I scream in my sleep from a nightmare and TK has to wake me up. Only the nightmares are getting dumber and dumber. The last one was so, dumb after I told TK what it was about (it involved discovering that I was lying on a very dirty bed), he joked that he wasn't going to bother waking me up any more.

Big and tall

2008-09-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

I bought my dad some underwear at Casual Male the other day. They really need to stock more boxers that don't have beer or rum emblems on them. These are the other major categories of underwear at Casual Male: Satanic, Pink Floyd, poker chips.

Mun Mun ponders

2008-09-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

If Weird Al Yankovic had been born German, would all his lyrics be about poop rather than food?

Best reference question this week

2008-09-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

A man came up to the desk yesterday and said, "I want books on hacking...because I'm going to be hacking the Martians." I proceeded to read him the titles of books on network security from our library catalog and he shushed me. I guess they were listening.

Misadventures

2008-09-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

Mun Mun has never tried cocaine, but Mun Mun thinks she'd like to one day. I'll probably wait until I retire though. Remind me after 65.

Mun Mun has not had much success with illicit drug use. The first and last time Mun Mun tried to take a bong hit, she immediately threw up into her hands.

Mun Mun is real smooth.

Latest baby nightmare

2008-09-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

Killer bee attack this time. Thankfully TK woke me up after weakly shouting, "Help, help!" in my sleep.

I love MacDougal's new ice coffees - synthesized goodness

2008-09-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

In the movie, Time After Time, H.G. Wells travels with a time machine into the future where he ends up eating at MacDonalds. However, he refers to the fast food joint as "that Scottish place," "MacDougals." So, I like to call it MacDougal's as well. Won't you do the same?

Samurai Sam's register

2008-08-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

Confidential to the flirty African-American gent manning a fast food counter in the Arco plaza

When you offered light or dark meat, my selection of dark meat wasn't code for "...like my men." I merely like to choose the least healthy option possible.

(Nothing against men of color, but I AM wearing a wedding ring) Hee hee.

Like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic

2008-08-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

The other day a man came into the library looking for an issue of Popular Woodworking that had an article with the exact specifications of the actual deck chairs on the Titanic. It didn't occur to me until later that there is a commonly used simile "like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic" to describe a hair-brained or fruitless attempt at improving a situation.

I guess those editors at Popular Woodworking have a sense of humor.

Gregnog

2008-08-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

I discovered this cartoonist Greg Nog through a funny Uncle Shelby-esque Metafilter post he did. I really like his comics about working at the Olive Garden.

Baby digs it: she's an angel

2008-08-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

When I was pregnant, TK and I watched a documentary about the band, They Might Be Giants, and I thought the baby started dancing in the womb. Now she's 4 months old and she still really responds to their music.

Chub

2008-07-12T02:19:00.000-07:00

I took my baby to a party the other day and this woman had a cute nickname for those Michelin-man like extra baby upper-thigh creases. Damn, what was it?

Nightmares

2008-07-09T09:04:00.001-07:00

Now that I have a baby, I have nightmares about bad things happening to her. So far in my dreams she's been torched, drowned, and kidnapped. Ugh.

Sugar Binge

2008-06-22T16:06:00.000-07:00

I was on a strict diet for gestational diabetes for 9 months and have been catching up on my unhealthy eating since giving birth. Some of the items I'd been missing: Thai ice coffee, See's candy, Jack in the Box milkshakes, peanut-butter-and-chocolate ice cream, frappucinos. I still have not had an ice cream sundae though. Nor have I had a donut. I've got to get on that.

When you're hiccupping, no one can hear you scream

2008-06-21T16:44:00.000-07:00

It's kind of funny when my baby wants to cry at the top of her lungs, but the hiccups interrupt her. (She has a lot of gas pain these days; We aren't beating her or anything)

Veruca Salt's Golden Goose Song Lyrics from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

2008-06-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

Gooses, geeses
I want my geese to lay gold eggs for Easter
(It will sweetheart)
At least a hundred a day
(Anything you say)
And by the way
(What?)
I want a feast
(You ate before you came to the factory)
I want a bean feast
(Oh, one of those)
Cream buns and doughnuts and fruitcake with no nuts so good you could go nuts
(You can have all those things when you get home)
No now

I want a ball
I want a party
Pink macaroons and a million balloons and performing baboons
And give it to me now

I want the world
I want the whole world
I want to lock it all up in my pocket
It's my bar of chocolate
Give it to me now

I want a today
I want tomorrow
I want to wear 'em like braids in my hair and I don't want to share 'em

I want a party with room-fulls of laughter
Ten thousand tons of ice cream
And if I don't get the things I am after
I'm going to scream

I want the works
I want the whole works
Presents and prizes and sweets and surprises
Of all shapes and sizes and now

Don't care how I want it now
Don't care how I want it now

Breastfeeding blues / Weirdass shit

2008-05-20T18:03:00.000-07:00

Not much time to blog with a newborn in the house. Today one of my breasts hurt a lot and I thought it was just engorged. Then, I read up on blocked milk ducts and mastitis and I think it was just a blocked milk duct. I put hot towels on it and actually felt something pop inside. It felt better afterwards.

I would like to blog about my labor and stuff, but don't know if I'll get to it. Maybe you readers are better off.

Blessed

2008-05-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

The past eleven days have been challenging, but I'm so happy to have given birth to an adorable little girl and we are both doing well. The past few days have not been so kind to others I know. I just learned Richard Sandman, a friend of my sister's, passed away. So sad! He was very young.

My luxurious vacation / maternity leave

2008-04-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

Gigantic baby is pushing my insides. Help.

The Art of Bret Falk

2008-03-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

I get quite a few hits on this blog from people searching for Bret Falk. Bret passed away in 2006, but if you have a yen to revisit his artwork, his brother, Steve, put together a book Bob Hope Is Dead: The Collected Works of Bret Falk. Check it out, yo.

An Easter Wish

2008-03-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

I hope this trend of manufacturing stuffed animals dressed up as other stuffed animals never ends.

Mademoiselle, Sing, Sing, Sing!

2008-02-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

My good friend, Renee LaMour, has another big production of her musical, "Mademoiselle, Sing, Sing, Sing!" coming up on February 23rd at the Wilshire Ebell Theater. Check it out, man!

God I fuckin love the in'ernet

2008-01-26T09:55:00.000-08:00

I had a nice, but loony roommate quite a few years back, who went to live with a relative and left me all her kitchen stuff, including a pretty set of everyday Blue Delft china. TK has been slowly busting all the salad plates. (He doesn't think I notice that they keep disappearing and we're down to two.) I guess that's what happens when you have hardwood floors.

It took me exactly 4 searches in Google and eBay to locate a vendor that sells replacement china in this pattern and I just ordered some. I am so stoked. In the olden days, we would have had to put up with mismatched plates!

[Confidential to TK: I still love you, butterfingers]

General whininess

2008-01-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

So, during the first three and a half months of pregnancy, I only had the energy (barely) to go to work, come home, and lie around. Now at 4 and a half months, I have just enough energy to feel frustrated and bored with myself about it.

I guess this complete listlessness and oversleeping has paid off in that I haven't gotten any colds or flus since getting knocked up. Due to gestational diabetes, I don't eat anything sugary anymore. I once read that too much sugar makes one susceptible to infections. So, maybe going off sugar is helping me stay healthy. (Knock wood) If I do get sick, I won't be able to take any OTC medicines for it. So, I'm trying my hardest to avoid getting run down.

I'm on this horribly strict diet for the diabetes. On this diet you get to eat minuscule amounts of fruit. On this diet, it feels like eating fruit is like a treat. But fruit is not a fucking treat. A Starbucks peppermint mocha frappuchino is a fucking treat.

Stigma

2007-12-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

A National Institute of Health panel got together to talk about ways to dispel the stigma of urinary and fecal incontinence.

If we can't laugh about pee pee and poo poo anymore, what can we laugh about?

Xmas is around the corner

2007-12-12T09:04:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't a lovely item from the MunMunHouse Store make the perfect gift for a loved one?

Corky Test Comes Back Normal

2007-12-11T16:53:00.000-08:00

Hooray, I got the results back from my amniocentesis and there were no chromosomal abnormalities detected!

Also, it's a girl!

Just being contrary?

2007-10-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

Why is it everyone I meet, who professes to be a libertarian, works for a big, fat, tax supported government institution?

Crazy Product

2007-10-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

Mun Mun was perusing bathtubs for babies on Amazon and came across this model called the "Wash Pod." Looks like the "Baby Bucket" to me.

My Husband: Evil Prankster

2007-09-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

TK's friend, J, a burly guy who is a fan of true crime novels and movies, left a computer at work still logged on to Netflix. TK went into his account and added "Care Bears: Kingdom of Sharing" to the top of his queue. It has probably shipped by now.

Back on track

2007-09-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

Mun Mun has been working at new liberry with good results! Rarely do belligerent teens pass through new dept. Only mentally ill and homeless are now new friends and constant companions! New friends are so much more quiet (except when screaming from bad trip or assaults on their persons every so often.) Mun Mun also happy with BEST new companions, city officers with billy clubs!

Mun Mun getting fun questions like, "Are scientists teaching dogs to talk?", "Have buffaloes and cows been interbred with fertile offspring?" (answer:yes! Beefalo big industry), and "Where are the muscle car repair books?"

Mun Mun still reading last Harry Potter even though Mun Mun knows ending 'cos of loudmouth fuckers.

Started writing new Pops book. Title is "What Do You Say, Pops?: All Year Round."

Gay Angel Fight!

2007-07-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

I've almost reached the end of the His Dark Materials trilogy. The Amber Spyglass alludes to some sexual stuff which is unusual in a kids' book. For instance, there are a couple of male angel characters that are super, super close and some weird garden of eden comparisons with the main characters. This trilogy has been quite a ride.

Leaving this veil of tears

2007-07-22T22:52:00.000-07:00

Friday was my last day working in South L.A. You haven't lived until you've had a two and a half year old African American boy tell you, "Get out of my face, bitch."

Rod Steiger dancing

2007-07-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

Mun Mun had always loved a scene from the movie, "The Chosen" in which Rod Steiger dances at a wedding to this awesom Klezmer music. I finally tracked down who performed this music and it is a band called Kapelye. If only my lame clarinet teacher had had me learn music like that, instead of boring classical etudes, I probably would have continued to play.

2007-06-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

TK and I watched the 90's version of "The Island of Dr. Moreau" with Marlon Brando the other night. I hadn't known that a character in that movie was the inspiration Mini-Me from Austin Powers. It made the movie worth seeing for me (though I don't recommend it.)

Mun Mun through with ghetto fools up in here

2007-06-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

Mun Mun is escaping her job in the 'hood in two months and will transfer to a job downtown. Woo hoo! Mun Mun's going to the show.

Mun Mun called in sick Saturday and lucked out by missing another random shooting and pool of blood outside the liberry.

Mun Mun was at home watching her favorite show in pajamas. Mun Mun loves the Sarah Silverman Program on Comedy Central.

Dear New York

2007-05-24T15:57:00.000-07:00

Dear New York,

I know there would be problems with drug use and prostitution if you had them, but if you would add more public restrooms, I bet your streets and parks would smell less like pee.

Love,
Mun Mun

P.S. If you added some elevators to the subway, I bet people with baby strollers would appreciate it.

Audiobook of Golden Compass

2007-05-18T21:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finished listening to the first book of the "His Dark Materials" Trilogy by Philip Pullman on tape. Though I was alone in my car, I was tempted to stand up and applaud when it ended. It was that good. Philip Pullman narrated and a large cast did the voices on this Listening Library production.

Oge had recommended the trilogy a few years back and I'm finally getting around to it. If you like Harry Potter, you'll dig the Golden Compass fo' sho'.

I love Iorek Byrnison!

TK Sleeptalking

2007-05-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I talk to TK and he seems awake, but he's really asleep. This morning around 5 am he had his arm around me.

Mun: I'm gonna get up and go to the bathroom.
TK: Are you going to call someone?
Mun: Like...am I going to call one of the cats? (once I'm in there)
TK: I don't know. I don't work for your organization.

Lost Bitch

2007-05-09T22:37:00.001-07:00

I was driving on Gage Avenue in South Central today on an errand for my job and saw a flier someone must have put on a telephone pole looking for a missing person. There was a goofy close-up of a Latino girl and some information about her. Someone had scrawled at the top of the flier, "Lost Bitch."

Depressing and funny at the same time.

Commerce Casino Billboards

2007-04-22T23:01:00.000-07:00

Commerce Casino has the oddest ad campaign. TK and I can't quite figure it out. There is a big billboard on Highway 5 that says, "Don't play with yourself. Play with us" and it has pictures of these two weirdos

Are we supposed to want to hang out with them or something?

My fascinating ophthalmologic problems

2007-04-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

Since Dr. J injected steroids into the white of my eye, my vision has improved significantly. However, there is still a nagging blind spot. Two weeks ago when I looked at my face in the mirror with my left eye, all I saw was a blurry circle with eyes. One week ago, a mouth started to appear. A couple of days ago, a little bit of a nose started to poke through.

Maybe I will get lucky and be able to read with that eye again.

Mun Mun gets poked in eye with needle

2007-04-03T10:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my doc injected some steroids into the white of my eye. Not much change yet.

May have to get something to stop new blood vessel growth injected into the middle of my eye. Not looking forward to that.

Apparently this is all to stop new damage. My crappy eyesight may not be reversible. Waaah.

I'd rather stick needles in my eyes, not

2007-03-26T17:09:00.000-07:00

Mun Mun went to another eye specialist today who thinks Mun Mun has a rare condition called punctate inner choroidopathy, which I guess is part of a spectrum of disorders called Multiple Evanescent White Dot Syndrome (MEWDS). What is it with my family and rare diseases that only 1 in 100,000 people get?

The doctor is going to track the blob in my eye. I may have to get an injection of steroids in my eyeball to make the inflammation go down at some point. If it comes to that, bring on the Valium.

There was little boy ahead of me when I was waiting to get blood drawn to see if I have West Nile Virus or some shit. The boy was screaming his head off for about 15 minutes while they were trying to pin him down to draw his blood. He screamed that he wanted to get his lollipop and go home. I could relate.

Two Great Toys That Play Great Together

2007-03-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

My in-laws have bought the perfect pair of toys. They have an off-road version of the Segway and own a couple of remote control airplanes. That way when they fly the toy airplane and it crash-lands far away, they can just jump on the Segway and retrieve it.

I got to ride the Segway yesterday at a family reunion and it was fun!

I have so many nieces under two years of age all of a sudden.

Fluorescent Pee

2007-03-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

Mun Mun had a medical procedure today where they injected dye into my blood, so they could take pictures of the veins in my eyeballs. I turned away when they injected the dye and didn't see what color it was. I was surprised later when I went to the bathroom and the pee was highlighter-pen yellow. You could have dyed Easter eggs in that pee it was so yellow.

It turns out the blob in Mun Mun's eyeball that is screwing up Mun Mun's vision has gotten smaller. So, I may not be going blind after all.

Wouldn't it be nice if one could just expect one's body to go on being healthy?

Not Mun Mun's Week

2007-03-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

Mun Mun has suddenly lost some vision in left eye. Doctors are testing. What is wrong with Mun Mun???!!! Might be Mun Mun going blind, or has an infection, or even has parasite. Mun Mun suspects toxoplasmosis. Mun Mun's life surrounds cleaning cat litter.

Trails

2007-03-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

A favorite new hangout of TK and me is Trails Cafe in Griffith Park. I went there last Wednesday when I got out unexpectedly early from a CPR and defibrillator class I was taking for work. On the way up there were two coyotes brazenly walking around in broad daylight, unbeknownst to two sunbathers a few yards away.

After a delightful ice coffee at Trails, I decided to take a little hike up a trail I had not been on before. I noticed a lot of men hanging around solo that gave me the creeps. On one nook of the trail there was a guy lurking behind a tree smoking when I walked up and on the way back.

I found out later some of the Griffith Park trails are gay cruising areas. Someone I know has actually come upon people having sex on one of these trails that was littered with amyl nitrate poppers. As long as nobody's going to pounce on a female, I guess I don't care. It's a weird vibe though. It reminded me of walking around red light areas of Amsterdam and seeing creepy men on the prowl.

Chocolate now a vitamin?

2007-03-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid I used to pretend my M&M's were prescription pills. I wasn't far off base.

http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/cocoa-vitamin-health-benefits-could-outshine-penicillin-12768.html

Dear Tokey...

2007-02-16T09:56:00.000-08:00

My friend "Sundiver" has a fun, new drug (and drinking) etiquette advice column. You should submit a question gentle readers!

The moment I became a Cher fan

2007-02-12T20:01:00.001-08:00

Around the late 1980's, I saw Diane Sawyer interview Cher on TV. At the time, Cher was in the gossip magazines because she was dating a younger man, Robert Camilletti. I believe Diane Sawyer was already married to Mike Nichols at that point. I didn't know a lot about Cher, but I knew she had experienced a lot in her life, including marriage, motherhood, many different relationships, long-time independence, and career highs and lows. At a certain point in the interview, Diane Sawyer asked some questions about Robert Camilletti. Then, there was this exchange:

Diane Sawyer (bright eyed): So, is he...the One?!

Cher stared at Sawyer wearily for a prolonged moment.

Cher: You know, I really expected more from you.

I don't remember how the rest of the interview went, but Cher earned my deep respect that day. I can't watch Diane Sawyer on TV without thinking of that dumbfuck question. It just doesn't seem right to ask such a thing of an old soul, such as Cher.

AFI reject: 100 Flicks 100 Trips

2007-02-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

Mun Mun's husband's best friend works at the American Film Institute where they have put out various fun movie lists, such as 100 Years 100 Cheers: the 100 Most Inspiring Films of All Time and 100 Years, 100 Movie Quotes.

Mun Mun made a suggestion for a list, but apparently AFI is giving up the lists soon. Here's my idea:

100 Flicks 100 Trips

The hundred most surreal moments in American film

Nominees

1. Salvador Dali dream sequence - Spellbound
2. Brainwashing/garden party - Manchurian Candidate
3.Bathroom becomes torture chamber - Head
4. Jack Nicholson in red bar room - The Shining
5. Tracking through the woods - Evil Dead 2
6. Zoom in, dolly out on Roy Scheider's face - Jaws
7. Ghouls thrashing - Jacob's Ladder
8. Talking trees - Wizard of Oz
9. Closet door opening repeatedly - Patty Hearst
9. Erasing memories - Flash Gordon
10. Everyone looks like John Malkovich - Being John Malkovich
11. River sequence - Night of the Hunter
12. The mirror becomes liquid - Donnie Darko
13. In heaven everything is fine dance from Eraserhead
14. Circus Circus scene from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
15. Brooms carrying water in the Sorceror's Apprentice - Fantasia
16. Cantina scene - Star Wars
17. Cereal falling in slow motion on boy - Mysterious Skin
18. Typewriter bug - Naked Lunch
19. Large Marge - Pee Wee's Big Adventure
20 Baby old man - 2001
21. Pink elephants - Dumbo
22.Replicant workshop with little Prussian soldier - Blade Runner
23. Fight scenes - Matrix
24. Rollerskating guys with one beard from 5000 fingers of Dr. T.
25. Talking fish from the Road to Utopia.

Can you think of any more nominees? Maybe I need to consult the Psychotronic Film Guide. I guess more science fiction and horror films could go on this list.

Your Natural Selection At Work

2007-02-10T09:39:00.000-08:00

Morning Dove,
originally uploaded by hearman.

A few years ago at my old apartment, before I had cats, a mourning dove built a nest in the window box on my porch and laid an egg. It was lovely having it there. However, one morning I woke up to total carnage; feathers and nest scattered everywhere, egg gone. Either a cat or a raccoon got it.

The past couple of days, outside my new place with TK, a mourning dove has been hanging out on a low wall. I am hearing that chirpy sound mourning doves make when they fly over and over. It's probably building a nest on the wall, goddamnit. Stupid bird. My cats are indoors, but there are about four outdoor cats that live here.

1-2-3-4 University High School!

2007-02-05T23:57:00.000-08:00

Mun Mun played two semesters in marching band to avoid PE in high school and developed a deep dislike of football. Nevertheless, Mun Mun went to a fun Superbowl part on Sunday and memories of some of the high school cheers came back. Mun Mun also has a deep disdain for cheerleading, but has to admit Uni High's cheerleaders were pretty saucy.

The following are Mun Mun's favorite cheers.

1.We Ain’t No Cougars

We ain’t no (sh sh sh sh, sh sh sh sh) Cougars!

Hey hey we ain’t no Cougars
Hey hey we ain’t no Bulls
Ole, hey hey, ole
We ain’t no Roughriders
Whoa hey haw
We ain’t no dolphins
That swim through the sea
We ain’t no lions
They cannot scare me
We ain’t no comets
That fly through the sky
We ain’t no [chargers?eagles?]
I can’t tell a lie
We ain’t no sheiks
That ride camels back
We are the Warriors
So send them on back

We are the Warriors
Hey hey the mighty Warriors
Hey hey so check us out

Hey, you know that!

2.
OK
All the way
One play

3.
One, two, you know what to do
I said, freeze
Defrost
Three four, you don’t want no more
I said leave, bye-bye, get lost

4.
We are so live
Class of '85
We're in the mix
Class of '86
We are in heaven
Class of '87
We are so great
Class of '88

See you later on the Rooter Bus.

Hey, you know that!

And you are...?

2007-02-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

Mun Mun has never been great at remembering faces and names. The November 2006 issue of Wired had an interesting article about prosopagnosia or face blindness. Some people can't even recognize their loved ones that they see every day. I went to the website of the researchers www.faceblind.org and took one of their face recognition tests. As I anticipated, I scored somewhat below average (5%).

I recently didn't recognize a, ahem, high level director of the organization I work for and it was a little embarrassing.

Red passion flower

2007-01-22T23:17:00.000-08:00

Red passion flower,
originally uploaded by JanetD.

Found this on Flickr. I've only seen red passion flowers at the Juice It Up on Venice Blvd.

Mun Mun Endorses Sharon's Sorbet

2007-01-22T19:18:00.000-08:00

Mun Mun has had a scratchy throat for many days and has been sampling sorbets from the supermarket to ease her pain. She picked up some Passion Fruit sorbet from Trader Joe's today and cannot f'ing believe how good it is. If you like passion fruit, try Sharon's Sorbet. Mun Mun also likes Haagen Dazs peach sorbet, but does not like the mango flavor quite as much.

Mun Mun is a big fan of passion flowers. There is going to be a noon lecture at LA Central Library soon on passion flowers that she will sadly miss.

Lyrics to Song From "The Daydreamer" by Rankin and Bass

2007-01-17T17:59:00.000-08:00

Luck To Sell

I've done enough waiting for my lucky day
I'm gonna start searching for my dream today

Does anybody have some luck to sell?
Or an extra wishing well,
My luck's run out
My well's completely dry

Does anybody have some luck to sell?
Or a mystic, magic spell
The star I wished upon has left the sky

I want to pick my future from a bush, a rosy one,
Where happiness grows,
Find a clover with one leaf over,
I'm charmed right down to my toes

Does anybody have some luck to sell?
Or an extra wishing well
My luck's run out,
My well's completely dry
Does anybody have some luck to sell
To a real unlucky guy

Slowave submission?

2006-12-31T00:23:00.000-08:00

I was on a reality show that was being shot at a hotel in Century City. The production values of the show were not very good. The set was not lavishly decorated.It was sort of like MTV's the Real World,but people in their twenties and thirties would be voted off by judges each week. The challenge this week was dressing up for Christmas and I beat out four other people in order to go on with the show another week. I had sparkly make-up on my cheeks and the other people who had survived that week were in costumes. One hairy guy dressed as an elf was vaguely Armenian-looking. It turned out the whole theme of the show was about having Christmas spirit. I had little talent in any other respect, but I had a lot of Christmas spirit.

Dream 12/29/06

Mun Mun has the flu

2006-12-20T10:13:00.000-08:00

Yes, Mun Mun has the flu and has not stepped out of the apartment for days. Mun Mun has, however, updated munmunhouse.com finally, just in time for winter solstice. Some of the drawings did not compress well, but have been thrown on the web anyway. Mun Mun stopped being a perfectionist a long time ago.

TK is also horribly sick. We were thinking about making a suicide pact on Sunday when it was really bad, but the worst seems to have past.

2006-12-03T11:42:00.000-08:00

TK has a new great nickname for our evil cat, Inkblot...Inkula.

Mun Mun suffered explosive stomach flu last night. Cats were worried. TK super caring, above and beyond call of duty.

2006-11-19T22:10:00.000-08:00

TK and I are trying to buy an elliptical trainer so we can be less fat.

Setback/Pitch

2006-11-16T08:02:00.000-08:00

I did something very dumb. I downloaded a free trial of a Pitch game program for Macs aka Setback. Then, I proceeded to waste over an hour playing it after watching America's Next Top Model. I'm supposed to be working on my children's middle-grade novel!

Back from the Rockies

2006-11-14T08:01:00.000-08:00

Mun Mun was in Colorado for a few days visiting the in-laws. They live on a beautiful ranch in the Rocky Mountains that borders a national forest. It snowed over two inches while we were there. Unfortunately there wasn't quite enough snow for my father-in-law to take us on a one-horse-open-sleigh ride. There are seven horses on the ranch and at the moment they are free to wander at will. They have winter coats and live outside. However, they tend to move as a herd and come back to the corral for feeding time. There were many unfamiliar birds to watch outside the cabin. I was surprised so many birds hang around despite the snow.

On the flight to Denver I enjoyed looking through the SkyMall catalog. There was a do-it-yourself backyard ice-rink for only $700. I mentioned it to SK and EBK, but alas they did not seem interested. I think they are more likely to install a predator proof hen house before they install an ice rink.

TK and I gave his dad and stepmom a run for their money in a Pitch tournament. It's a weird card game with trumping and something called "The Jick." Anybody wanna play?

Diabolical Plan

2006-10-25T22:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I put out Word Searches in the liberry for the little keeds to look for words from a list in a block of letters. I was thinking it would be funny to create a Word Search where the words on the list were not actually anywhere in the block of letters. The children would lose their minds!

Frittering life away

2006-10-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

I've been playing with generators found through The Generator Blog all morning. The picture below comes from atom.smasher.org

The boring librarian report

2006-10-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

When I'm not keeping kids in the library from strangling each other (literally!), I am reading The Lighthouse Almanacat coffee shops with TK. I've also started listening to audio books in the car, catching up on children's classics I somehow missed growing up, such as Anne of Green Gables and Little Women. I avoided these two like the plague as a youngen, but how I love them now! Anne of Green Gables can actually be downloaded through the LAPL website as an e-Audiobook with your library card. I just checked out the audio book of The Lobster Chronicles by Linda Greenway. Remember in A Perfect Storm there was a female fishing boat captain? She quit fishing for swordfish after twenty years and became a lobster fisherwoman. This book is about living on Isle au Haut off the coast of Maine. I'm loving it so far. Lots of lingo about buoys, warps, traps, and such.

TK is reading a collection of gay themed mysteries set in Los Feliz. I've lived in Los Feliz for a year, but don't feel I know it too intimately. I'm trying to be more observant and notice more things like what kind of trees are here. Mostly they are the kind of trees that leave shit all over your car when you park under them. When we visited Claremont lately there was beautiful crepe myrtle all in bloom. I need to learn more trees.

Sa-weet!

2006-10-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

Mun Mun's "friend," Stella updated her MySpace page with some Gilbert Williams art. Now it's all stylin'. http://myspace.com/evilkins

Ghetto Slang/Ghetto Style

2006-09-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

After accepting a job in South Central Los Angeles a few months ago, I expected to be learning cool, new, inner-city slang all the time. I've been rather disappointed, however. The only new slang term I've heard was from a library clerk who used the term "booty" to describe a bully or bullying.

My best source of African-American slang remains my friend, Rene LaMour, and her son, Sampson. Here are a couple of my favorite Rene phrases:

I was to' up or
I was to' up from the flo' up (That's Tore up from the floor up to all you caucasians)

I was too through

Sampson of course introduced me to the adjective tight to describe something "cool" a few years ago. Tight still seems to be in use because a teen at the library described my glittery, Chinese shoes as tight the other day.

One day a few weeks ago, a teenager came into the library who had a different style than the rest of the kids. He had a super-sized skateboard and a light-colored Afro with three hair picks stuck into it. A little girl said to her friends, "Ooh look. Three hair picks. That's the new style."

I wonder if the three-hair-picks-in-a-fro style will overtake the Allen Iverson-style braids that are popular among some of the boys. Let me know if you spot anyone with this look.

Aardvark? Bullshit!

2006-09-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

There is a series of children's books (and apparently a PBS show) about a character named Arthur by Marc Brown that I believed was supposed to be a mouse. However, yesterday my co-workers who have children informed me that Arthur is an aardvark. (I wondered why those kids in the library looked at me funny when I asked them if they wanted the Arthur books about the chimpanzee or the Arthur books about the mouse)

I cannot accept that Arthur is an aardvark since he has no nose. About the most distinguishing feature of an aardvark I can think of is its nose. It has a long nose it uses to catch termites or ants in their holes or whatever.

My co-worker says Arthur used to look more like an aardvark. Here are two versions of Arthur I found online. One has a longer face which looks a little more like an aardvark.

Why is everyone buying into this CHARADE???

Below is a real aardvark.

Oldlyweds

2006-08-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

TK and I had our first wedding anniversary yesterday, so we can't call ourselves newlyweds anymore.

If you ever want to get in good with Mun Mun, be like TK and give me a customized box of See's candy with half Maple Pecan Bon Bons and half Molasses Chips (Dark Chocolate). The benefit to you will be significant.