Ernie is a [Girl Scout] Cookie Monster

A friend at work bought a couple of boxes of Girl Scout cookies as a favor to a friend. She's been on a diet and had left the cookies on her desk since late February. As a favor to keep her on her diet, I relieved her of the temptations. I just recently dropped twenty-seven pounds and decided to celebrate...by eating some of the cookies.



Thanks Le Ann!

Algorithm March! with Ninjas

Imagine your students getting into this craze:

More Mango...

Hopefully this vid will gain me more subscribers which in turn direct them here to my main blog.



Plus, I had lots of fun making this video and replying to all the responders.

Really Cool Pizza Delivery Guy

...Dan Balan: Crazy Loop

If I could end up being surrounded by Romanian supermodels, I'd deliver pizza.

My Favorite YouTuber - Retarded Mango

Mango is the man! He stands up in defense of the Asian-American male and fights the stereotypes that haunt us and hold us back. Through humor and serious commentary, the Mango strives to make right the many wrongs WE endure everday. (At least until we get girlfriends...)

Witness his genius below:


Here's my tribute poster to the Mango:

Samurai Sword Mekugi Repair

YouTuber karlos91 from Mexico asked how to fix his loose handling daito:

Sarcasm 101

I enjoy a good dose of sarcasm. Sarcasm is what keeps me sane. Too bad some people confuse sarcasm with "rude insensitivity." I believe the Brits are the best at it. Rowan Atkinson is a master of it (check out his Black Adder series).

Who would've thought, we had a sarcasm expert on this side of the pond. Check out Jennifer's lesson here:



Her choice of presenting from her living room makes me feel comfortable...NOT!

Saving Childhood Photos

I thought I had lost this photo, but I recently unearthed it among some other precious and not so precious treasures.

This is my second grade class photo. In an earlier post, I expressed my infatuation with Mrs. Gagnet. (She's gorgeous!) I'm the only Filipino in the class, so I shouldn't be hard to find.

[Original]


[HP Auto Color Corrected]


I'm so glad I found this picture before the color deteriorated too far. I'm going to archive this in gray scale as well.

Odd, I can still remember a few of my classmates names. Eric is to Mrs. Gagnet's left. Wade is top left. The guy in the white shirt (center) is Skip. I think the girl up front, left is Julie. And the half-pint behind Skip is Scooter...maybe?

In other classrooms, the coat room was accessible from both sides of the room. Kids often used the passageways as places to run laps and play tag before and after class. Mrs. Gagnet was smart enough to close off one side with a fish net to control traffic and tame us wild children.

I Miss My Cat

A few years ago, a feral female cat had a litter in my backyard. Though she was too wild to approach, she ate the food I set out for her. She rejected three of her kittens. I've always wondered how she could tell which ones weren't going to make it. None of them died quickly. So, heart broken, I'd collect them and kept them warm and as comfortable as possible. In my hands, I could feel that their rib cages were either incomplete or they were missing shoulder blades. The malformations were probably due to in-breeding.

Among the survivors, there was a jet black male with golden eyes. I called him "Bubba." He was the only male survivor, and his four sisters (I never named the girls...just called all of them "Kitty.")

Bubba was a real lazy cat. He'd climb a nectarine tree next to my house and take naps high in the branches. As he got older and heavier, he settled on sleeping on top of the fence on the property line between my neighbor and I. When I watched TV, sometimes I could hear him through the ceiling run across the roof just before feeding time. The sound of his padded feet was a reminder to me that it was 4:45 PM.

Bubba had to fight his mother and sisters to get a share of food I set out. I also had an old Cocker Spaniel, named Spotty, that would share his food with him. But would bark whenever any of the girls tried to steal a bite. (Note: Spotty used to find the dying kittens, gently pick them up, and bring them to me! I think he was just tired of hearing them cry all the time, and wanted me to make them quiet. Cute, huh?)

Anyway, as the feral mother had more litters, the number of cats got out of hand. My neighbor trapped a few and I trapped a few and brought them to the SPCA. We were never able to catch the mother, and I think she eventually passed away. Two of her daughters that escaped capture gave rise to two rival factions for my backyard and civil war ensued.

During the following two years, Bubba layed low and would occassionally visit to see if there was anything to eat. All of his sisters never let me pick them up or get close enough to touch them, unless I had food. Bubba, on the other hand, was the most docile. The first time I picked him up, he was asleep...in one of my bonsai pots. He wrapped himself around the trunk of black pine tree. Instead of shrieking out, claws exposed when I removed him from my tree, he just slowly opened his eyes and yawned. I wiggled my finger in front of him and scolded him, "No sleepy sleepy on the bonsai...Okay?" From that day on, he never slept in any of my bonsai pots.

As the feline civil war grew to its highest ferver, Bubba looked very ill. His black coat started turning yellow at the hackles and he lost a lot of weight. I think the women were starving him out. Eventually he stopped coming around. I always hoped he found better digs, for he frequently would disappear for longer and longer periods of time only to show up hungry. Perhaps he was seeking new territory and finally found the promised land.

Either way, I miss him a lot. Not long after Bubba stopped coming around, Spotty died. I don't think his death was because of Bubba. Spotty was almost twenty years old (in human years)! The last of the cats are now gone and my back yard is very quiet and peaceful.

I saw this vid on YouTube and it reminded me of Bubba so much, I just had to share it here: