Friday, July 30, 2004

"aloha, care for some math?"

What would you say if someone greeted you that way? I visited my in-laws two days ago. My niece-in-law, Nica, was there, and as soon as she saw me, she said, "Tita Donna, ilan 'to?" holding up three fingers on her right hand (the forefinger, middle-finger, and ring finger) and three more fingers on her right hand (the thumb, forefinger, and middle-finger). Of course, you'd think she was holding up the number 33. But, no, three unsuccessful guesses later, it turned out it was the number 37. And she was doing some kind of finger math called Aloha. Her book is called "ALOHA Mental Arithmetic". She's in Grade 3.

It is no wonder then that kids today are short of being mutants. I swear, the stuff they teach kids in school these days! I've never even heard of that kind of arithmetic! I know about finger math but my knowledge is limited to mulitiplication (and only single digits multiplied by 7, 8, or 9, at that). So, I asked her to teach me the trick. She said all I needed to know was how to count with my fingers, er...somewhat differently. It was rather confusing at first because it went against the counting logic I've been accustomed to since pre-school. But, I got used to it after a few run-throughs. And you won't believe how easy it is to add and subtract two-digit numbers with the Aloha method! Definitely saves not only time, but paper and pencil as well. Oh, count the eraser in, too.

We then proceeded to tackle about five pages worth of exercises in her textbook--my threshold I would suspect, as after that I was already complaining of a headache (my feeble brain's attempt at genius left me exhausted). Yet, Nica still had the mental stamina to keep going (though I think her enthusiasm was already bordering on obsession ;p). What an amazing kid! :D

Maybe next visit there will again be something new to learn. Meantime, if you'll excuse me, I have another skill to add to my resume.

posted by haiku @ 2:57 AM 1 wisecracks

Monday, July 26, 2004

i heart toys

Just got back from Galleria after accompanying my hubby to his stripping gig. Oh, yes, we are quite a tandem! You can say we've had much practice. (Insert naughty look here.) Actually, I tagged along because I had a another agenda in mind.

I bought a Doc Ock (Tentacle Attack) action figure a couple of days ago, but I carefully wrapped and sealed it in plastic then stored it in our toy bin. That one is not for playing with. It is just meant to be looked at and appreciated. I put him beside a similarly plastic-mummified Spider-Man with 46 points of articulation, which, can I just say, is simply the best! :D We have another super-poseable Spidey, this one we freed from the blister pack...which brings me to my other agenda for tagging along to Galleria: I wanted to get another Doc Ock figure that I will take out of the packaging so he can be Spidey's playmate... or nemesis, whichever he prefers. I think he's bored out of his wits. Saw him vandalizing our Buddha bust last week. I knew then I had to take action 'cause that could mean bad karma.

However, now this is the part that sucks big time, when I got to the toys section, there weren't any Doc Ocks left! Waaah! The last two have just been purchased before I arrived. Woe is me. :( I was hoping I'd find one there. Ended up just buying Marvel Legends V Silver Surfer with Howard the Duck (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Donald, by the way) for my hubby's sadistic hobby. He will be mangling him, disjointing, stripping (the paint, dummy, besides, SS is already nude), and what-other-torture-have-you, when he eventually uses him as base for a custom figure. Poor surfer dude. He just had to shoot for the moon (well, literally). He should've just stuck it out in the beaches of California.

Okay, that's enough toy-talk for today. I have to cut this short, anyway. Our band is playing at some hole-in-the-wall tonight. We didn't practice, but it's okay. We blindly believe that no practice makes good gigs. Still, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we don't suck. Before I leave, though, I've got a haiku for you.


Rained on my parade,
Drenched the band and majorettes,
Sadness overflowed.

posted by haiku @ 11:55 AM 0 wisecracks

Sunday, July 25, 2004

escape from jail free

Brrr...it's a cold morning. Somehow it feels colder when you haven't got enough sleep, or in my case, if you haven't gotten any sleep at all. First light's come and gone and I didn't even notice it. I spent the evening (and most of early morning) playing Star Wars Monopoly with my bro and cuz. I won two rounds of four! I got Starports (hotels) on Death Star and Colonies (houses) on Yavin Four. Hah! Never in my wildest dream did I ever think dorky R2D2 (my token) would topple Chewbacca (my bro's token) and dethrone Darth Vader (my cousin's)! Even upscale Coruscant (the place equivalent to Boardwalk) was no match for my middle-class apartments. Boy, did I clean them dry! Bwahahaha! If only all the money I had can cure my 3+1=5-syndrome. See, every time I throw a 3 and a 1, I keep moving my token 5 spaces! I don't know why. I seem to be having double vision with the 1. Or maybe it's some sort of compulsive behavior. Sigh. Further proof of my ineptitude, I guess. As if you need more.

Okay, enough of Star Wars and that stupid Monopoly game. People might think I'm a geek or something. I'm not. I just happened to buy three different Star Wars Monopoly sets on eBay: Star Wars Monopoloy Limited Collectors Edition (in replacement of that which was lent to me but has been guiltily over-played to pieces by my family), Classic Trilogy Edition, and Episode 1 3-D Edition. Freakoid.

******
I was supposed to post that at 6:20 this morning. However, my hubby walked in on me when he got home from work. It was like I was caught shimmying with the neighbor! I felt so guilty, and you should've seen the look on his face! I promised him before he left for work (he keeps weird hours, he's a stripper--just kidding! :D) that I would not stay up late as I have been sleeping at 4 or 5am almost daily now, and I have to re-acquire normal sleeping habits 'cause I'll be back in the workforce soon (hopefully, 'cause my lazy ass is getting fat). He looked real angry and disappointed. As with most promises I've made, I've broken yet another one. You have to make me promise three times before I follow through on it. Sometimes, even ten. Anyway, I got a good spanking. It wasn't kinky, though. Would've been a lot more fun if it was.

posted by haiku @ 6:36 AM 1 wisecracks

Saturday, July 24, 2004

as a matter of fact

Have you ever wondered what happens to deleted text?  Are words that appear on your screen considered matter?  They do occupy space.  But, do they have weight?  If there is some way that you can gather all the letters on your screen, can you actually put them on a scale and weigh them?  I don't think those words tranform into a state of gas.  Or liquid.  I am even hesitatant to call them solid, to begin with.  I sure as hell cannot touch them.  Maybe the cursor can elucidate.  After all, it is the only thing that comes in direct contact with the stuff on the screen. 

You must be saying, "Oh no, there she goes again with here senseless dissection of mundane matters."  Hold it, remember the greatness that lies within?  I may be onto something here.  You'll see how this will all tie in with Einstein's Theory of Relativity and quantum space.  Prepare, for the earth might tremble any minute now! 
 
Okay, back to earth and my pseudo-intellectual musings.  You're probably wondering what brought all this about.  Well, I was writing on this blog and due to my brain's incapacity, I was having a hard time stringing words together and I kept fumbling with stupid typos that I had to delete every other three words I type.  Then it crossed my mind.  When you write something in pencil and you decide to erase it you see the lead come off with the eraser.  It's still there, though it's transformed in shape.  On the other hand, where do deleted stuff on the net go and what form do they take once they've been erased?  Do they become metaphysical souls stuck in some sort of cyber limbo?  Is there a hell for bad words?  That would be the religious point of view, I guess. 
 
Sigh.  I think this may be too much for my brain.  This monologue can spin off to any direction and I don't think I'm prepared to tackle existentialism in various levels.  I better stop now before I cross that fine line into insanity.  

posted by haiku @ 7:13 AM 1 wisecracks

Friday, July 23, 2004

the awkward beginning

I have always wanted to start a blog. However, given the procrastinator that I am, the idea never pushed through. Now, having found the perfect reason, I am ready to venture into yet another relative unknown (the first one was marriage). With that, let me tell you more about myself--

What? Oh, you want to know more about what finally prodded my lazy ass to start this blog? Okay, if you must insist. This is more interesting anyway than the lies I was gonna tell you about myself. Here goes...

I have a couple of friends or couple-friends since they're in a relationship, rikrik and tintin (no, they're not imaginary nor are they pets however silly their names may be), who were asking for suggestions for a band name (whether the band is fictitious or not, I have no idea). As I had a couple of brilliant suggestions my dim-witted brain nearly died of thinking up, I created this blog. Blogspot said I had to be a member (and lose my privacy as well) to become privy to and interfere in others' secret lives--a fair enough deal, I guess. I don't know if there was any way I could've circumvented the whole thing and just posted without having had to create an account. As I said, I'm a dim-wit. I'm as knowledgeable about blogging as I am about cold fusion. You see, my netizenship is still pending; I haven't yet acquired the required number of surfing and blogging hours to become a netizen. Oh, and I have yet to build a page I can call home.

Anyway, now that it's here, I might as well put it to good use, such as contributing more junk to the cyber wasteland (after all, there are about a gazillion permutations my keyboard can dish out). Or, spying on other people's business, writing pointless comments on their pages, or maybe, just maybe, coming up with something that will change the world. Now, that's an idea. So, in the future when you feel the world shake on its axis, don't be alarmed. It's just me writing something earth-moving that will change your lives and shift your perspectives. And you can then check it all out here--right on this blog where dreams are made.
P.S. I should probably get a tutorial first. I might end up deleting this whole thing accidentally. Then the whole sorry world will never know the greatness that lies within this home of dreams.

posted by haiku @ 4:45 PM 0 wisecracks