Simple America

When my family is home for a long holiday we try to catch up on all those movies we have missed as we are so busy the rest of the year. So we made a number of trips to the local grocery store’s red box to rent these flicks.

Have to admit that all of these movies were pretty entertaining too. None made me want to scratch my eyes out or plug my ears. Actually wish I could have watched Click a few more times. I bet it had a lot of cookies that I missed. Loved the music from this flick and may go find the soundtrack. Adam Sandler is so funny. The story’s theme can really hit you between the eyes.

Fun With Dick and Jane was a good ride. You really had to feel sorry for this couple. So glad this movie had a happy ending.

Did not know what to expect from Monster House. Being in the horror business to an extent I liked the premise they had here. Kind of reminded me of my youth and the fear of passing the local haunted house.

To appease the teenagers (my daughter and niece) I had to get some “cool” flicks. First was Accepted. I think this story is every student’s concern. What do you do when you spend your whole life getting ready to go to college and you are not accepted? Anywhere! It is funny what they do and the tension that builds between this fake school and the real one up the road.

The obligatory high school story was John Tucker Must Die. It was very funny and I enjoyed it despite holding no expectations of finding it entertaining. It is basically a revenge story meets Cinderella. I liked it.

Then I finally caught the big cartoon hit Cars. Pixar hits another homerun. Though my favorite part is the end of the movie at the drive in theater. They had the car versions of many old Pixar flicks. Pretty cute. They also paid a tribute to someone from Pixar that died. Not sure what he did. He was only 46 so it really opens your eyes to life is so short. I don’t know if he is an artist or voice for some charactes. Anybody know?

I finally caught Steve Martin in the Pink Panther. I loved this flick. Only Steve Martin can get away with this role. So hard to out do Peter Sellers.

But not all of our movie watching was limited to DVD. We try to go to the theater every holiday to see the big hits. This time our movie of choice was Casino Royale. Once more a Peter Sellers flick is out done. hehe

This had to be the best Bond flick I have seen since Sean Connery pulled out the Walther PPK. It had to be one of the most realistic. Stayed some what close to the story as I recall (been a while since I read) though it was also nicely modernized for current real world events. I hope they redo all of the Fleming stories with this Bond. My missus liked it so much she says she wants the DVD. This is after saying no to the two volumes of Bond films currently being marketed. I think she might find Mr. Craig to be a little bit hot. Hmmm…

Go see it if you have not done so already.

Over here in the USA the day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. I don’t know why. This has happened during my lifetime as I do not remember this moniker as a child. What is Black Friday? It is the first official shopping day for Christmas in America. Store open early in the morning and I mean before the sun rises. The sad part is there are cues of people waiting to be admitted.

I planned on joining the madness. The two stores on my hit shopping list are Best Buy and Circuit City. Best Buy has a deal on a 52″ LCD TV for US$1,299. They only guarantee five at each store. I plan on waiting in line at 2 am so I can have a chance. My in-laws scout out the place for me on their way home from dinner. They inform me that there is line already down the side of the building. People are there with lawn chairs and somebody even pitched a tent. I realize then there is no way I will get the TV. So I plan to go to Circuit City to get my daughter this which is on sale for $199. Usual price is $250.

I went to bed at 1:30 and the alarm stirred me at 4:30 to go shopping. I woke my missus as she had her stores to visit too. Tried to wake the girl as I wanted her to pick up things at Best Buy while I shopped at Circuit City. Did not happen. She was dead tired from her MissChef activities. So I left her there.

I made it to the parking lot of the shopping center in Sugar Land at 5:00. Just as the doors are being opened for the folks. I parked on the far side. I looked at CompUSA and they had no line at all and the store was open. Then I saw the line for Circuit City. It stretched towards Fingers Furniture. In fact it went beyond the doors of that store. This is quite a line, well over 100 meters. I got in it and watched as people left the store with boxes holding TVs and computers. The line dragged. Some people gave up and left for the next shop on their list.

Finally, at a quarter to five I entered the store. I looked for video games first. I wanted to pick up and . Unfortunately Gun was already sold out. Then I hit the DVD bins and grabbed , and before they disappeared. Total Recall was only $3. I always want this movie and now I have it. Yay!

At 5:55 am I entered the camera cue. There were two of them. One for each cashier in that part of the store. An employee came by and asked what camera we wanted to purchase. I told him and he wrote it on a notepad and handed it to me. He said they had plenty of those cameras in stock too.

Then the waiting started and continued and continued and yes it continued some more. I got to meet some nice folks though. Especially the girls behind me. They watched my spot and let me do a little extra shopping. Found a 2GB memory chip for the camera on sale for $29. Saved $10 on that purchase. The girls were kind of interesting. One was American (no surprise huh?) and the other was an exchange student from Switzerland. The American wanted to show her guest what Black Friday was all about. A trip to Circuit City and then on to the mall to gawk and awe. But that did not happen. We took so long that the American girl had to call her dad to pick up the Swiss girl who had swim team practice at 8 am.

We had a shopper hold up our cue for over 30 minutes. Maddening. Very disorganized on this cash register. Sad thing is the guy is a regular empoyee but he just cannot handle the pressure or multitask. Finally the problem shopper is satisfied, or maybe she just left. I don’t know. Just glad she is gone. The average shopper is taking five minutes at check out. We are so bored that we are actually timing each customer.

At 7:45 the other cue gets a problem shopper. It had been moving noticeably quicker. But not anymore. This shopper plugged the works on the other line. Then we see them pull some shoppers in the other line to ours. We got so mad. No one did that for our line when we had the problem shopper. Just as I am the next customer the clerk said he was going to let a customer from the other line in front. The American girl argues that we have been in line for two hours and it is not fair to make us wait any longer. The cashier is a wimp and relents. I high fived the American girl and then made my purchase.

It went well until I notice the basketball game is listed at regular price. Damn. Only the Playstation version is on sale. Now I’m scared I will be a problem and create a delay. But he removes the game easily and I pay. I leave the store at 8:10 am. Hoo boy. On to Best Buy.

It only took a minute to drive down the street to Best Buy. I entered that store at 8:25 am. The first item on my list was this Bluetooth headset . Unfortunately, at $15 these sold out rapidly. Then I looked for blank DVDs priced at $5 for a package of 100. But those are gone too. I’m thinking everything has been sold that I want. But I go look anyway.

The next items on my list are and as I really wanna basketball game. I go to the XBox 360 section and look it over. I do not see these games. Just a big empty space with spaceholders that have those names. But I did not give up. I found a Best Buy employee and he took me to the games. So the Grinch failed to steal Christmas games altogehter.

Next on my list was DVDs. I wanted and . Hitch was on sale at $3 and Batman Returns listed at $7. I found the $3 bin but it was picked absolutely clean. Then I looked for Batman Returns and found it no problem. I really wanted Hitch as I never saw it and the price could not be beat for a Will Smith (I hope). So I went on a hunt for this. I know on big shopping days folks will load up on bargains. Then before they leave they will call their spouse who is shopping at another store and they will discuss buying strategy. This results in stuff being dropped off where the customer deems convenient. Or may be they leave stuff as they forget their wallet. So they try and hide it so they can go home and come back.

I went on my treasure hunt and sure enough I found Hitch off in a pile of DVDs in one corner of the store. So I grabbed it.

The next items on the list were $7 CDs. I wanted and my daughter wanted and . Yep I bought her CDs even though she could not get out of bed for me. I was lucky too. I found the last AC/DC Highway to Hell CD.

My selections complete I made my purchase and walked out of the store at 9:15 am. Time to go home and take a nap.

My daughter worked hard on the feast. Though she started a bit late. We had planned on a 6:30 dinner and it did not happen until 8:00. Made some phone calls to relatives to let them know of the delay so they would not rush. She managed to pull off one heck of a meal. The only thing she ruined was the corn bread, so there was no stuffing. Oh well. Christmas then.

Little MissChef making scones.

Fresh from the oven.

And the feast looked like this:

The pigs brought their own blanket. Cranberry sauce as I demand it. And sweet potato casserole with apples and cinnamon.

Greenbean casserole does not look near as good as it tasted. My neice from #3 BIL loved it. This dish had no leftovers. This is the third year my girl has made zuccini squares and I vote for a fourth. Scones have been raided already. Have to be a quick photographer as these were gone quickly. And they were the best she ever made. She used more cream than the recipe calls for. Perhaps that is the trick.

We served shrimp coctail. The chef made a salmon pasta bake for the first time. It’s invited next year. #3 brought a lovely ham. Yum!

And then the star of the show. Front and back. What did she put in the bird’s butt? And the chef gets to sit next to the carver while he does what he does. And that drumstick is for Titoki.

And we had a nice Australian wine. And look at that little drunk. All passed out in his chair. I’ll fix him with my Vulcan head crush.

And we pigged out as you can see. I cannot believe I ate all of that. No room for pie. Tomorrow. And the missus looks good no matter how much she pigged out.

Hope everyone that celebrated Thanksgiving had a great day.

Well in the spirit of Thanksgiving I am baking some pies. Pumpkin and Apple to be exact.

Pie crust is an important part of the pie. Years ago I used to make my own crusts. But after a while I realized that pie crusts are just too cheap and easy to buy. It takes a lot of work to make a good pie crust and I choose to take it easy on the holiday.

This year I bought these Pillsbury pie crusts. They come rolled, but you slowly unroll them and set them in your pie tin. I had a lot of extra hanging over on my crust. So I just rolled it back along the edge, pinching it together as I went around. One crust develeoped some holes. I used the overlapping bit as a patch. Think it should work just fine.

I made the apple pie first. I peeled, cored, and diced some green apples and placed them evenly in the pie tin. The recipe calls for 4 cups. Then I sprinkled 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon over the apples.

I then took a bowl and mixed 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour, and 1/2 tablespoon salt together. The recipe actually calls for 1 & 3/4 cups of sugar, but I found that is a bit too much in the past.

Once the dry ingredients are mixed, I added 3 tablespoons of milk and 6 tablespoons of creamer in bowl and combined them. Then I added the liguid to the dry and beat it four 8 minutes.

Then I poured the mixture evenly over the apples. You bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour to hour and quarter. You can serve it warm. Ice cream is always a nice touch.

With the apple pie in the oven i took a peek at the turkey. My daughter is soaking it over night in a brine. Actually letting it thaw out. The brine consist of two gallons of water to which she added 2 lemons cut in half and squeezed. Drop the lemons in. One cup of sugar. Salt mabe a cup there, don’t recall. A handfull of cloves and several cinnamon sticks. First year we have done this. Am curious to see how it tastes.

Before I leave my the subject of my daughter, she passed her drivers test this morning. 100%. The lady said she does not see a lot of those. No wonder all these drivers are so bad.

Peeking time is over. So I worked on the pumpkin pie. The pumpkin pie is all out of can. I have never made a pumpkin pie from scratch.

I combined several dry incredients first. 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves. Once this is combined, add one can of pumpkin pie filling (might be called puree too). Once this is well mixed with the dry ingredients, slowly add one can of evaporated milk.

Pour the mixture into the pie shell.

Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees fahrenheit. Then bake for another 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees fahrenheit. Serve it immediately or put it in the fridge for later.

I made a mistake with mine. I misread the instructions. I baked the first 15 minutes at 350 and then baked the second 15 at 425 to compensate. Dang. We’ll find out if I dun good or not in a few hours. It looked good coming out of the oven. We’ll see how good it is tomorrow.

Edit notes: The apple pie needed more apples. My fault. Its just begging for more apples. The pumpkin pie, well it’ just perfect. Whatchu expect out of can. Also I will restart the Hug Hug Club count for this post. So it is possible to get to ribbons off this post my friends.

Thanksgiving was great. I’m so full I did not eat any pie or cake. haha. Tomorrow after shopping. Got to get up at 4:30 cuz the stores open at 5:00 am. It’s 12:45 am now. Tata!

Note: Pictures will be posted later today. Got memory problems which means a reboot is needed. I will post photos then. I’m a sleepy headed pie man. Good night!

I am so pumped up. It is Thanksgiving on Thursday over here in the land of golden mountains. My kids are excited. My son is counting the hours of gaming which are imminent. My girl is planning Thursday’s menu. (Plus she hopes to get me to take her to get her Driving Learner’s Permit. Please think of me. I am going to need some patience.) The missus is inviting folks over. Me. I wanna bake some pies. I have not done this the last couple of years. Also seen a few recipes on the web that I may try if I can sneak into the kitchen long enough.

Only have to work Monday and Tuesday, and I get to leave early Tuesday. I love holidays. Hopefully I can get some blog postings done that I could not finish earlier.

I am very happy with Fire in the Hole. There has been a great review already at ENWorld and the Savage Worlds version is getting tidied up so the Savage Worlders can play too. I also finished editing Neal’s module and it feels good to have finished that. I spent too much time on that and Neal deserve quicker response on his work.

Having cleared my plate, I now can focus on the novel. I have already plotted the book out to 27 chapters and have the treatment completed to chapter 12. If I can write eight pages a day I figure I can make my goal of having a completed draft by year’s end. This will give me a couple of more months to tidy it up before the big writing show in Houston. A lot of the major publishers and agents come to town in March. It would be sweet to attend that with a finished clean book to sell.

Happy holidays to my fellow Americans. Hope you have good food, good friends, and of  course good family times.

Chapter One

Shit List

“The old bastard’s going to put us on detail.” Tucker’s voice broke the silence.

A voice from behind him asked, “What can they make us do?”

“They’ll think of something. They always do.”

“There’s no grass,” the voice said. Bodies swayed as the van the men sat in swerved. “Do you see any grass? There aren’t any weeds to chop down.”

“Dude! We’ll be painting rocks all weekend.”

“You’re kidding me.” Large blue eyes peeked over the seat cushion, staring at Tucker.

“Dude,” Tucker spoke. “If we’re not painting rocks we’ll be painting the barracks? The only reason those old relics are still standing out here is that termites can’t survive in hell. They don’t even have a/c in ‘em.”

“No a/c?” The eyes disappeared as the speaker plopped against his seat. “How long are we staying here?”

“Six months.”

“Six months of hell.”

“Tell me about it,” Tucker said. He snorted at the thought. The time would be a lot more agonizing if he had to put up with this dude’s whining.

“Who volunteered us for this?”

“We volunteered when we signed the dotted line and swore I do.”

“Damned recruiter.” Blue eyes peered over the seat once more. “I really getting to hate that son of a bitch. That guy promised just one weekend a month and two weeks a year and I could get cash for school.”

“Live, learn, and die.” Tucker smiled, callous and uncaring.

“And suffer every moment you’re on the ride.”

“Well at least you didn’t get sent to Iraq.”

“Will you two clam it?” The voice came from the front.

The ring of authority behind it struck a wrong cord with Tucker. “Who said that?”

“I did.” Dark hard eyes stared back at Tucker from the shotgun seat. His flat bristled haircut, confirmed US Army no bullshit would be accepted. The chevrons on his collars backed up that thought.

“Sorry, Sarge.” Tucker swallowed. He wished could hide under the seat.

“Quit worrying. Sergeant Major is a reasonable man. Not our fault the plane was delayed.” The sergeant’s smile held as much reassurance as a rattlesnake.

“Easy for you to say.” Tucker said, “Worse thing that’ll happen to you is babysitting all us peons with paintbrushes.”

“Beg your pardon.” Those black eyes narrowed, completely fixated on Tucker.

“Nuthin’ Sarge. Thinking out loud.”

“Is that what you call that? We got us a frickin’ L-T wannabe. Thinking my ass.” The sergeant turned back around, glaring at the long empty road.

Tucker took a deep breath and blew it out quietly. Someone nudged his back. He looked behind him and saw the soldier sitting next to blue eyes. Another private, looked to be Chinese or maybe Vietnamese. His nametag read Leung.

He looked at Tucker, smiled, and mouthed the words, “Dumb ass.”

Tucker smirked and mouthed back, “Fuck you very much.”

With that Tucker resolved to be quiet. They were getting closer to their destination. He could tell by the big mountain rising in the distance. Trepidation Rock. The camp had been built in its shadow during World War II. The rock had inspired the base’s name, Camp Trepidation, New Mexico.

The oversized van’s engine coughed and sputtered. Eight sets of eyes opened and looked about and then stared at the driver. Another reason they were late, was this pipsqueak got lost. And now it sounded like the van ran on fumes.

“What’s your name again, Mario,” Tucker asked?

“It ain’t Mario,” the driver responded. He craned his head back, glancing at Tucker, who sat in the third row. “It’s Marizo, you got it? That’s got to be the seventh time I told you. You stupid or what?”

“Or what!” Tucker smiled a little victory. He did not like getting placed on detail. Marizo needed to be ridden. He could use a butt kicking too. That could be arranged later.

The van jerked again and Tucker slid into the man who slept on the seat beside him. Large paws pushed him back. Blood shot eyes glared in his direction. Tucker read the nametag sewed on the large black man’s battle dress uniform or BDUs. Jones.

“Yo, Jonesey! Mario thinks we’re in a race or something. I ain’t messing with you.”

“I don’t like you,” Jones replied. He emphasized each word with a heavy poke of his thick fingers. “Gimme some room.”

Tucker slid back just in time to miss Jones’ jabbing elbow. Tucker held up his hands, shaking them in submission. The brakes on the van screeched as Marizo brought the vehicle to a stop along the shoulder. Jones looked toward the front and Tucker slid the door open and exited. The heat lashed out at him, but he wanted to get away from Jones. What a grump!

He took a couple of steps and stretched. The rear door on the far side popped open and Leung stepped out. He walked around and grinned at Tucker. Did he ever not smile? “Feels good to stretch my legs,” the smaller man said. “How many hours we been stuck in that thing?”

“Seven hours.”

Tucker turned to look at the speaker. The man’s nametag read Ulm. What kind of name was that? Dutch? German? “Course we was losted the first four hours,” said Ulm rolling his eyes.

“Don’t block the doorway,” an agitated voice demanded. “I want to get out of this piece of shit too.”

Ulm moved aside. His lips smiled, but his eyes did not. Tucker recognized the next soldier that stepped out. Calloway had trained with him at Benning. Jones and Norton came out in short order; while the sarge exited the front door.

“We look like the circus,” Tucker remarked. Leung and Ulm laughed at the observation, while Calloway sneered.

“Sorry guys,” Marizo spoke. “This has got to be the worst day of my life. Looks like we’re walkin’ the last mile.”

Calloway spat on the asphalt in front of him and shouted, “Ain’t that a piece of shit. Maybe you can walk while we wait for you to come back with some gas, vato.”

Marizo looked down at his feet. The quiet hung in the air for a moment and then he spoke, “Look I got up on the wrong side of bed.” He glanced up at Calloway. Stared straight into his eyes. “I’m really sorry that we’re late. Shit, man. I don’t know how this day could get any worse.”

The ground shook followed by a rumbling sound to the north. Tucker looked around at his companions. Was this an earthquake? Then he looked towards the rumbling and he saw smoke rising in the distance, a lot of it.

“Is that smoke green?” Tucker did not expect an answer, but he had plenty of questions to ask. “Camp is over there right?”

“Yep,” somebody confirmed.

Then a new noise attracted Tucker’s attention. He looked to the northwest and spotted a chopper heading towards them. He did not recognize the model yet. It carried no visible guns or rockets so it had to be a transport. It turned back towards the camp just as it moved over their position besides the road.

“What’s that over there,” Calloway asked?

“It’s a chopper,” Tucker said.

“No goofball. What’s that?” Calloway pointed toward the camp and Tucker squinted in that general direction.

“Whoa!” Tucker had no time to say anything else. A large bird flew directly toward the chopper. It was hard to make out. As it closed the distance, Tucker saw bat-like wings.

Before his brain could confirm what he saw, the bird slammed into the helicopter. Tucker saw glass and other debris eject from the impact. The chopper spun around once, twice, and caught itself halfway on the third rotation. Then its nose pointed down and it dropped. He thought he could hear screams as the chopper lost altitude. Just when he knew they would need a spatula to clean up the mess, it leveled off. It looked like a roller coaster as it jumped and dipped. Then it briefly hovered and two figures jumped out.

The chopper lost it at that point. It bit into a boulder and flames shot high into the sky. Tucker stared, mouth wide open. Definitely going to need that spatula after all.

I have mentioned my desire to write with a few of you on IM. However, I keep floundering and doing things that are not writing fiction. But over the last few days I have decided that I must write. Not an adventure. Not a blog entry. Not an essay that no one cares to read. No it is time to write fiction with an eye on selling it for print publishing.

So I am challenging myself. Not only do I want to write a novel. But I want to push myself and finish this work by year’s end. Do I sound crazy? Maybe. But folks that know me recognize that I am prolific when the muse strikes. When the fire is lit under my ass I can really crank words out. I am not able to do this because of any special writing techniques or voo doo idea ceremonies. I just perculate story ideas in my head. Sometimes these ideas bubble for years. Words boiling up there making a stew of character and plot. I feel the words are at a point that I can just open up and let it pour out.

This is why I think I can take on this challenge and make it happen. Wish me luck. And a note to my partners. I promise to edit Neal before I write any words in the novel. But I need to put myself on the spot.

Kopi dong is one of my favorite sentences. It is a major component of my Indonesian language skills. In other words I probably don’t know a hundred words. But I can order coffee. I think this phrase is used in Malaysia also. I suspect I will be corrected quickly if I am wrong in this regard.

Looks like the kettle is on the boil. Whatever for? Any ideas. I suspect you may have guessed if you have been a consistent reader.

Look! See you were right. It is the Aik Cheong coffee. The same kind that Angelina Jolie threw up on me. Right Winn?

I made a little trip to the Chinese bakery too for these bao. They are filled with coonut paste. My missus favorite. Though she likes the crispy tops better. But they had none in the shop when I visited.

Now for the record. You all can see I shared my Aik Cheong Kopi with the missus. She was very delighted. Then she kicked me out of her office so she can go teleconference.

Then I finally sat down and sipped the wonderful brew that Kat sent from Malaysia. Thank you! Thank you! I cannot say enough times thank you Kat. It tastes wonderful with condensed milk. And domesticgoddess asked if I liked the coffee. I hope you are certain of my answer.

Later this week my new adventure module will be available for purchase. To the gamers that come by and see what I’m up to this is a sequel to Weekend Warriors. Now you get to go back to Fort Trepidation and discover what happened. Can you stop it? Or will it stop you? If you like military horror, then this will be your cup of tea. Fill it up baby. And don’t forget to lock and load.
I have been cursed blessed with a tag trio. The tag team trio of Velverse, Winn, and May have got me cornered. And the following memes are the result.
Velverse has waited the longest, so I will complete her’s first. Here we go!

1. Are you happy/satisfied with your blog, with its content and look? Does your family know about your blog?

I love the way my blog looks right now. I think it is clean and easy on my tired eyes. Hope that is true for the reader too.

The missus and the kids know about the blog. They have not posted in a while. Every now and then they comment to me personally on what I’ve written.

2. Do you feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog or you just consider it as a private thing?

Heck my friends were blogging before I was. They led me to the darkside.

3. Did blogs cause positive changes in your thoughts?

Blogs do not affect my thougts. They provide a means to express them.

4. Do you only open the blogs of those who comment on your blog or you love to go and discover more by yourself?

In the early days I did a lot of searching for new blogs via the randon button. Now I mostly visit those who have visited me and we have commented. Though on occassion I may see someone’s comments on other blogs and I may go to see what their blog looks like.

5.What does visitors counter mean to you? Do you care about putting it in your blog?

The counter lets me know if I’m being read. I do pay attention to it and I guess others can go and see if they choose. But truly I value comments more than hits.

6. Did you try to imagine your fellow bloggers and give them real pictures?

Most of my bloggers have pictures out there or I will see their photo on IM. I find I create voices for my bloggers. When I read someone’s blog there is a voice in my head that is unique to each individual. What is cool is when I can Skype someone and I hear their voice for the first time and it close to what I created in my head.

7. Admit. Do you think there is a real benefit for blogging?

Yes. I get to meet people all over the world. I have a much better understanding of Southeast Asia then I did in the past. Wish I would have known sooner. Feel like I missed out a bit.

8. Do you think that bloggers society is isolated from real world or interacts with events?

Bloggers are just a microcosm of society. It is our hobby or passion. Some folks blog, while others do not.

9. Does criticism annoy you or do you feel it’s a normal thing?

Everyone is a critic. I prefer criticism that will make me better. Kick my ass and make me better is okay. Kick my ass and laugh and you will just tick me off.

10. Do you fear some political blogs and avoid them?

Actually politics was a focus of why I started blogging. Before I realized there was more to blogging then just social awareness.

11. Did you get shocked by the arrest of some bloggers?

I’m ignorant of this event. Don’t like free speech being suppressed. But I do not stand for sedition.

12. Did you think about what will happen to your blog after you die?

I told my daughter to post that I’m gone. After that who knows what will happen. I imagine Yahoo will wipe it off their server.

13. What do you like to hear? Whats the song you might like to put a link to in your blog?

I like metal and show tunes along with some orchestral music. Songs to link to? I’d rather put em on my iPod.

Flyday I finally hooked up with Winn for an IM session. Wow! She is really fast on her feet. Witty Winn ought to be her name. Well after my nice Flyday chat I woke up in the morning Saturday to dsicover Winn had tagged me. This is a 10 question tag. You answers 10 questions and then you make up 10 questions to tag others with. And Winn has some interesting questions as you will read.

1) Close your eyes. What do you see in the bright?

Looks like an Excel spreadsheet.

2) What are the things you would NOT do if you are trapped in a titanic figurine?

Ask for directions out. I’m a guy ya know.

3) Why do you think god created seafood?

Cuz he knew I would get hungry.

4) Look at your watch. What was the time yesterday ?

I don’t wear a watch.

5) If a drunkard Angelina Jolie come up to you and puke aik-cheong coffee all over you. What would you say to Brad Pitt’s mother?

Got a napkin please?

6) Now Slap yourself four times hard-hard. What do you see? ( pls repeat this act till you see Something)

I see that the palm of my hand is very red.

7) Tighten your fist and hit yourself hard on the chest….Got milk?

Got pain. Ouch!!!!

8) If you were to go to a plastic surgeon for a manicure session, do you think i am sane?

As long as the plastic surgeon is not Hannibal Lector, I think you are just fine.

9) If Big Mac is BIG, why is there no small mac?

Big Mac is so greedy he ate the small mac.

10) Find a sampat word to NOT describe your tagger.

I know you are not Miss Chung.

May has hit me with the same tag as Winn, done entirely at my request. Really interesting questions here too.

01. How soon can you get here to eat some great Malaysian food?

I win this $70 million lotto jackpot and I’ll be there next Saturday.

02. Do you like today’s pop music, or do you think they’re junk these days?

Some of the new tunes are pretty good. But some of this stuff is just trash, or sound the sames. I find that rather boring. Out of the younger musicians I really like is Michelle Branch. She could be the 6th Beattle. Her music is really dynamic and exciting.

03. Do you enjoy slapping bottoms?

Haha. You know what? I do enjoy slapping a bottom now and then. Used to pat the missus and the kids bottoms. But when kids started doing it to friends at school, I realized that I better stop before they get into trouble. So now I just pat the missus bum, when nobody is watching.

04. Would you still be blogging 5 years from now?

I hope so. The only thing that will stop me is death or suspension of my liberty.

05. Once you’re done writing your new book, would you send me a copy

Once I get published I’m going to Borders at the Curve (or is it the other mall) in Kay El and autograph books. I’ll bring a few comp copies for those that knew me when. I assure you will get one.

06. What’s your opinion on the colour purple?

Purple does not look good on me. Looks great on rock stars in spandex though.

07. Could your daughter get a jab and not be allergic to dogs anymore?

I don’t know why we have not looked into that. We already take my son who gets jabs for his allergies. Though his are pretty bad, as he is allergic to all things botanical in nature it seems.

08. What dog breed do you like the most?

When I was a boy I had an Samoyed (sp?) She was beautiful with long white hair and husky body type. I like that type of dog a lot. I am also partial to Golden Retrievers and Black Labs.

09. Do you think love is over-rated?

Lust is overrated. Some folks confuse love with lust. But love just… well there’ not enough to go around. Which is the fault of those who need to give love. There is a great demand for love that is never met. That is probably because real love requires thought. And most folks just don’t wanna be thoughtful in this regard. Lust is the lazy man’s choice.

10. Should I stay or should I go?

Well this is tricky one May May. Because you have brought up a number of scenarios that this could apply to. I’ll tackle three I can think of now.

a. Oz. Does it have what your looking for? Then go and don’t think twice. Are you fishing for your dream? Go for your dream. No hesitation. Is this to satisfy something for someone (I’m speculating) else? I would say follow your heart. Do what is best for May.

b. Keep blogging May. No matter where you go. Do not leave the blogosphere. We need your spunk and creativity as it is inspiring.

c. You should go on a vacation. Come to Texas. The family and I will show you around town and treat ya good. You can help me figure out if this Cafe Malaysia serves good food or is just the Malay version of chop suey.

Sometimes as an American I need to read the words of the Declaration of Independence. To reflect upon the wisdom of the nation’s forefathers. It is disappointing that this country no longer possesses men of this mettle and determination that are willing to “serve” America as politicians.

I think the problem in America toaday is with those who are willing to become politicians. These people have confused the service part of their duty. Instead of representing  a constituency they choose to serve themselves and special intersests. The kinds that carry cash. The folks we send to Washington D.C. would be incapable of producing this noble document today.

I’m tired of party politics. Tired of the representative system. Could there be a better way for me to be represented. There are more than two opinions in this country, yet only two are allowed to be voiced on the political stage with any amount of appreciable support. Do we need a representative government, when we have email, fax machines, and cell phones? Could I not better represent myself? Certainly I would be cheaper. I would not tax my neighbor so that I may pay myself more. Nor would I give my neighbor’s money to someone else who would in turn scratch my back. No, in fact, my neighbor should have the same equality of representation.

There has to be a better American way.

I cannot think of a perfect change today.

But I can read the words of the wise.

And wonder what the future might comprise.

I’m just thankful these men knew what to say.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Approved by the American Continental Congress and signed July 4, 1776