Rabbits and Molly

I'm thinking of getting rabbits. I had two white bunnies before, one of them had a broken foreleg and swam more than she jumped across our wood floor.

This time I want to let them lose on our lawn, the entire compound. Lots of grass. But the two bunnies before, we did the same thing to them every once in a while. Each time they managed to escape past us, past our guards, across the jeepney-infested street to get to the other compound and wind up with the neighbor's bunnies. Talk about "impossible is nothing" and "just do it" despite the setbacks, like, well, a limping leg.

But I'm also thinking that Molly might have them for a snack. So far, Molly has proven herself quite the hunter. She's brought home several birds, a cockroach and a rat on occasion. Rabbits would be easy for her. But when it comes to boiled fish in her bowl, the other cats always manage to get to it while she just sits and stares. Maybe she likes food that's more challenging.

Biyahe tayo!

Ang galing nito! Got this from Hannee Subukan niyo rin!

My Lakbayan grade is C+!

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Created by Eugene Villar.

Rain and Laundry

So it's true. When it's that kind of cloudy like it's about to rain, and the whole day is like that, your laundry will most likely still be damp by the end of the day. I really thought that was some sort of myth, and that clothes left to dry will do their own thing when you're out of sight; you come back after a few hours and just like butterflies out of the cocoon they emerge dry.

The pleasure of discovery

Discovery #1: There is virtually no place among the thousand sari-sari stores at our local hub of commerce and activity where you can buy red cane vinegar — although I have proven that each one will carry a variety of Datu Puti suka packaging. If you need red cane vinegar, go straight to the hole-in-the-wall mini-grocery run by a Chinese family next to the biggest ukay-ukay stall. The bottles will be a bit dusty and some might even have a nibble or two on the label. You might want to watch out for that.

Discovery #2: We have an overwhelming number of drugstores along the street from my house to the main road. But only the big one at the end of the road will carry things like Orahex and Streptuss lozenges. Believe me.

Discovery #3: The store along the road next to ours, beside the small canteen that comes alive every lunch time with videoke songs rendered for our listening pleasure by a seeming group of regulars, has a wall full of pirated DVDs on display, but it does not sell DVDs. Janice, the proprietress, rents it out for P15 (new titles) and P10 (old titles) for two days. Finally! I mean, if you buy the DVD it will cost you P60 or so at Metrowalk, and that's a good price, but sometimes you don't need to own it, you just want to watch it. So I tried renting Fantastic Four (Rise of the Silver Surfer) and it was a clear DVD copy, no jumps or stalls. Janice is a genius!

Compulsion

I seem to have an almost compulsive need to keep checking for updates on AVG (my sweet and free anti-virus) and Ad-Aware (also sweet and free, my adware sweeper). Every time. Every single time.

I also can't seem to resist these little flash-based games. I blame it all on Diner Dash and Fish Tycoon. That's when it all started, and now I'm a different person. I download the free trials and play straight through the 1-hour freebie. I get the Big Fish games e-mail updates and the pictures never fail to enthrall me. I just have to click 'em. Grr.

But after several hours of Monopoly, Scrabble, Boggle, Alice Greenfingers, and all other tycoon games, I just think this has to stop. The clicking has to end!

Long time no post!

I haven't posted anything new in over a month - wow!

Well, as an update, let me just share that I'm now halfway through John Le Carre's "The Constant Gardener," and am also dipping into Alice Munro's collection of short stories, "Runaway" every now and then. On my mp4 player, there's a Focus on the Family radio theater rendition of "Les Miserables" and the usual audiobooks of Sherlock Holmes adventures thanks to one of my favorite links, Project Gutenberg.

My sister and I have finally finished the complete season of Friends, thanks to the friendly people at Metrowalk and the beauty of piracy  6 DVDs and 10 seasons later and many, many nights in front of the TV, it's mind-blowing to realize that no, Ross, Chandler, Joey, Phoebe, Monica, and Rachel are not our next door neighbors. Because by now it really does feel like they come over for dinner all the time!

Another thing: I'd like to have a bird feeder for all the mayas in the neighborhood. I think it will be fun. We used to have love birds, but ended up letting them go. It just seemed so wrong to have them caged. Ask Maya Angelou.