RIP Jack

Jack will forever be remembered as our first Jack O'Lantern. He is the pumpkin we received free on the at J. Perry Farm field trip (yes, the one the size of Axel's head.) We have only ourselves to blame but we did everything we could.

Shortly after being knived and tortured (his insides hallowed out), Jack went on public display. After which, Jack got soft. And that the candle kinda cooked him from the inside. In two days, Jack's face collapsed, suffering major internal damage. He eventually just disintegrated into nothingness and was flushed down the garbage disposal.

Happy Halloween everyone!

One Titanic Exhibit

The $22 I spent to get into the ongoing Titanic exhibit at the Metreon in San Francisco wouldn't have even gotten me a 3rd class passage on the real Titanic ship back in 1911. In fact, a third class ticket or "steerage" class ticket back then would have cost $38 or an equivalent $700+ by today's standards. A first class ticket would have cost me $2500 or a whopping modern day's equivalent of $78,000. That's just some of the interesting trivia I learned today.

Note for photography buffs: there was absolutely no photography allowed inside because of the extreme monitoring for UV lights on the artifacts. Some portions of the exhibit had fiber optic lights (according to my friend Horace) and using flash was equivalent to a year's sunlight exposure. The only object we were allowed to shoot was this big model ship.

All that's missing are one inch Leo and Kate dolls.

The exhibit itself was amazing. With all the Discovery documentaries, corny Rose and Jack references and books written, the Titanic story has been retold over and over again. But this time, the exhibit allowed the actual recovered artifacts to tell the story. It finally became real for me. Items such as shaving implements, letters written to loved ones, leather luggage and jewelry were on display, perfectly preserved by sea water and time. But what saddened me the most were the stories of the hundreds of immigrants on board, who dreams drowned in the Atlantic Ocean that fateful night.


As we entered the exhibit, we were all given replica boarding passes and assigned "characters." I was Mrs. Nils Palsson. Towards the end of the exhibit, you could check if your character survived the tragedy. I didn't =(

David Hume Kennerly @ Apple SF

A friend and I attended a free seminar at the Apple store today, featuring Pulitzer prize winning photographer David Hume Kennerly. While it was nothing more than a portfolio slideshow, I still enjoyed the talk. He took the famous resignation shot of former President Nixon. However, I did wish for a little more in-depth explanation of his techniques and approach. See his award winning work at www.kennerly.com

Dad Shoots Axel

This is my new favorite photo of Axel, taken by my husband. I'm pushing him to join me in the photography business. I think he has a great eye.

Axel Axel Pumpkinhead

Field trip! Axel's Pre-K class took a field trip today to J. Perry Farms in Ardenwood, Fremont. Good thing they were color coded (orange) because 5 other schools had their field trip as well. Highlights were the tractor hay ride. We got a quick tour of the organic farm and learned interesting factoids about vegetables, like how pumpkins grow. The tourguide-slash-farmer also had interesting advice for people with allergies. It's apparently good to consume honey made by bees in the region you are residing in. This is because the bees will carry the pollen from your area, and the honey will help you build a strong immunity to the allergents in the pollen! You learn something new everyday. Later, all the students were allowed to pick one free pumpkin, the size of their own head. When we got home, I went ahead and carved the pumpkin's face, under Axel's careful supervision. We'll use it to decorate our patio on Halloween.

Another One Bites the Dust...and another one...

While we were off gallavanting in the Central Coast countryside, our two dear friends Tikoy and Caloy were busy getting hitched...but not to each other! Yes, best wishes and congratulations going out to Caloy and his new wife Tetet, and Tikoy and the new hubby Mejandro! May the "smug marrieds" continue to multiply and be smug about it.

Carmel Mission

My favorite photo taken at Carmel, CA at the old Mission church. It was our first time inside. I was fish-eye lens crazy on this vacation but for this photo, I think it was just perfect, if I may be my own fan for just a second.

Zebras on Highway 1

Yep! We had just driven back to Highway 1, after a great tour at the Hearst Castle in San Simeon when we had to do a double-take. The tour guide had mentioned that Mr. William Hearst had purchased wild animals in the 20s and that some of them now roam free on the property. Never had we expected to see zebras mingling with the cows in Highway 1. Here's the photographic proof!

Guilty Pleasure #1: Project Runway

Ok, confession time. I LOVE watching Project Runway. I'm PR junkie. I even follow this blog for the inside 411. AND all the Bravo blogs. It's deathly addictive. Now that it's over, I fear that Bravo's replacement Top Chef will not fill my Wednesday night TV void.

Can I just say, I secretly hoped Jeffrey would win from the beginning? I love this guy's style, his Unabomber outfit, his hideous neck tattoo. But then again, I always did root for the underdog.

Doing the Touristy Thing: SF

We had to bring Mama around and see the Bay from the boat-perspective. It was too bad the Alcatraz tours were sold out, but it makes a nice excuse to come down to the City.

I uploaded more photos at my brand spanking new flickr account (which I have yet to figure out)!

Half Moon Bay Part II

Just more beach-bumming on a sunny Saturday....

Unveiling a New Superhero

Much to our surprise, my 3-year-old has finally taken to the concept of "dressing up." An old family friend gave us a Spiderman costume, which I had pretty much written off as an ebay to-sell item. But he proudly put the costume on and did a little song-and-dance number to the Spiderman theme, while checking himself out in the mirror. Well...looks like we're all set for Halloween!



Spiderman scales a California King size bed, with only his bare hands and an Ikea footstool!



Spiderman, Spiderman,
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web, any size,
Catches thieves just like flies
Look Out!
Here comes the Spiderman.

Of course, my lispy speech delayed son says it as "Pie-ther-men." It's adorable all the same.

Lunar Park

I am a huge fan of American Psycho. Disturbed as I was by the book, I completely devoured the movie. Every last bit. Christian Bale, yum. I even bought the DVD, director's cut.

Now, upon seeing a paperback copy of Lunar Park at my local Borders, I just had to have it. And as an unevolved bookavore, I finished this novel in 3 days. Not a quick departure from his usual world of booze, drugs and hedonism, Bret Easton Ellis managed to bring the familiar theme into his alter-sense of reality. Confusion hits the reader as you slowly realize that this a book of fiction, not fact. Check out the author's official website, and you'll see what I mean.

It's the perfect book for novelist groupies.

Here's the premise. Lunar Park is supposedly the memoirs of bestselling novelist Bret Easton Ellis, post-American Psycho. He's battling with the ghosts of his past, namely the one big ghost of his father whom the character Patrick Bates is based on. The book quickly draws you into Ellis' own Twilight Zone (insert Rod Serling's voiceover here) and the reader starts contemplating whether the author is zonked out on hallucinogens or if he's sincere in his fear and paranoia. It's an amazing read.

The more obvious theme is the complex father-son relationship and the irrepairable damage a father can inflict. The secondary skin is lighter, humourful, almost satirical as Ellis pokes fun at the horror genre from a honest and fresh voice of incoherance and insanity.